Port Harcourt-based preacher Pastor David Ibiyeomie has sparked controversy with a sermon in which he claimed that Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden for touching what belonged to God, drawing a link between the biblical account and the Christian practice of tithing.
In the sermon, which went viral in October 2024, the Salvation Ministries founder argued that Adam’s offence was not eating an apple or committing adultery, but touching something he described as belonging exclusively to God.
“What was Adam’s sin? Adam was sent out of Eden for touching the tithe. Adam didn’t eat apple. Adam didn’t commit adultery. Adam touched the tithe which belongs to God,” Ibiyeomie said.
He continued by warning Christians against withholding their tithes, describing the act as dishonesty and disobedience to God.
“Every time you touch your tithe, you’re living in dishonesty, tampering with that which God has told you not to touch,” the cleric said.
His interpretation draws a connection between Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden and the biblical principle of tithing, which involves giving a portion of one’s income or possessions to God.
However, the account in Genesis 3 identifies Adam and Eve’s offence as eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, contrary to God’s command.
The passage does not explicitly describe the forbidden fruit as a tithe or identify the incident as a violation of tithing.
Ibiyeomie’s remarks have therefore raised questions about the biblical basis for linking the fall of humanity to the practice of tithing, with the distinction between a preacher’s spiritual interpretation and the explicit wording of Scripture at the centre of the debate.
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