QUOTE : How the Tithe Changed From Food to Money What most people don’t understand is that early believers who followed Christ in various congregations did not practice money tithing. The congregations or the called out ones financed themselves the same way the early Israelite society did. Because they were accustomed to their cultural norms, they followed finance methods of freewill offerings, which according to Moses was more than enough to provide for the needs of the temple. Giving in the New Testament followed the pattern of Exodus 35:5.