Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 10]

ADDITIONS TO THE LAW OF MOSES

There are several references outside of the written Law (Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy) which include additions or clarifications to that which was already established. These all do, however, refer back specifically to the written Law.

A King Over Israel (1 Samuel 8:6-22)

6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

10So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. 11And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

19Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22So the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.” And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

This passage describes how, by rejecting God as their sovereign leader, the Israelites would be required to pay additional costs; monetary, their sons and daughters, animals, servants and land would all be required by their king. And they would serve the king, instead of God. And they would cry out to God to deliver them from their leader, and God would not hear them.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 9]

Summary of the Tithe as Legislated in the Law of Moses

This is the sum of the institution of the tithe, as part of the commandment given by God through Moses to the Israelites:

1. One-tenth (a tithe) of the produce of the land, fruit, grain and livestock, belonged to God, and was to be given to and used by His priests, the Levites. This tithe was dedicated to the Lord.

2. The Levites were in turn to give one-tenth (a tithe) of the tithe they received to the High Priest (Aaron, his descendants and their households).

3. In what is probably a second yearly tithe, a second-tenth was to be taken up and used specifically for festivals and feasts. This was consumed by the tithers and the Levites before God.

4. A tri-annual tithe, or a third tenth (of the produce only) was to be put into storage facilities to take care of the Levites and those in need in the local vicinity. This was not dedicated to the Lord, and was to be dispersed with generosity.

5. Using the above summaries, 20% a year would be given off the top, with an additional 10% every third year, to support the religious, governmental and social structure of the day.

6. Some attribute the inconsistency in the accounts of these tithes to the two time periods in which they were written; When the tithes were to be given exclusively to the Levites, the Israelites were still wandering around in the desert. After they entered the Promised Land, they became much more home-bodies, multiplied, and needed other ways to not only take care of the Levites, but ensure religious and social cohesion (through festivals) and social care-taking (through legislated welfare programs).

7. There were no specific penalties or consequences for not tithing; the penalty of withdrawal of the Lord’s blessing and His casting away Israel from being His people was if they did not keep THE WHOLE LAW! (Not, if you don’t tithe, God won’t provide. If you don’t wash your food the way they were commanded, they’d get sick. It was a package deal—all or nothing). No single aspect was singled out as more important to God than others.

8. The commandment of the tithe was in effect as long as The Law was in effect [from the codification of the Law (Moses) to the fulfillment of the Law (Jesus' Resurrection)]. We can conclude that God, through Moses, DID indeed command the Israelites to tithe! And He gave specific parameters, as to who, where, when, how and the consequences of both obedience and disobedience to this commandment.

9. “To tithe” is to fulfill the covenantal requirements as specified by God through the scriptures, laid out specifically in the Mosaic law in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 8]

The Tri-Annual Tithe and Declaration of Fulfillment of the Law (Deuteronomy 26:12-15)

12″When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled, 13then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. 14I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘”‘

Every third year was instituted as “the year of tithing.” After they have fulfilled their responsibilities toward the Levites and the needy, the Israelites are also instructed to pledge before the Lord that they have fulfilled the requirements of His commandments, followed by their petition for blessing and the fulfillment of His promise. We clearly see the Lord’s emphasis on both hospitality and charity. Notice also that in both this case and the previous, the needy were to “eat within your gates and be filled.” This was not meant to be a petty portion, but to fully satisfy those that came for help.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 7]

The Tithe for the Priesthood & the Poor (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)

22″You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, 25then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

28″At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

Here additional circumstances regarding the tithe are clarified; for those who lived a long distance from the center of the nation, so that the animals would not be up to traveling the distance, or the grain spoil en route, the Israelites could convert their tithe (grain and animals) to their value in currency (gold and silver), take the money “to the place which the LORD chooses,” and purchase there whatever is necessary to be able to celebrate the feast. Admonishment to include the Levites is repeated.

A third tithe is specified; every three years, the tithe of the year’s produce (not animals) was to be put into a community storehouse. This was to be a resource for the local Levites, and those who were in need (the stranger, orphaned and widowed). The one bringing the tithe did not partake of this tithe, neither was it dedicated to the Lord. THIS TITHE WAS SET ASIDE TO REPLENISH THE SUPPLY FOR THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE NEEDY OF THE LAND.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 6]

The Tithe of the Feasts (Deuteronomy 12:5-19)

5But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you. 8You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord. 12And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 13Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; 14but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

15″However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water. 17You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand. 18But you must eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all to which you put your hands. 19Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

The Israelites were instructed as to where to go to give their tithes (wherever the tabernacle/presence of God was), and the manner in which they should be eaten (as a family/nation, with rejoicing, especially including the Levites). Unlike the tithe described in Numbers, which was given to the Levites, this tithe was consumed by the ones doing the tithing, and was not specifically dedicated to the Lord. THIS TITHE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEASTS AND FESTIVALS.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 4]

THE CODIFIED LAW (The Written Law of Moses)

Tithing Instituted as Part of the Covenant (Leviticus 27:30-34)

30″ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. 33He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’ ” 34These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

Under the law, one tenth of everything from the land—plant or animal—was considered holy and belonged to God. This portion could be redeemed, but a fifth part of the value had to be added. There could be no substitutions or alterations (switch one cow for another, for instance; if you tried and someone found out, both would be considered part of the tithe). It wasn’t until Numbers 18 (following) that further instruction was given in regard to implementing the tithe; what to do with the cows, grain, etc.

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 3]

PRE-CODIFICATION OF THE LAW

Abram (Genesis 14:17-20)

17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Abram gave a tithe, or one-tenth, of everything he had to Melchizedek, king of Salem. So if Abram had 600 sheep, 450 cows, 316 goats and 800 pieces of silver, Abram gave Melchizedek 60 sheep, 45 cows, 31.6 goats and 80 pieces of silver. “Giving” is the verb, “tithe” is a quantity. Who commanded, or told, Abram to do it? As far as we know, nobody. How many times did he do it? As far as we know, this was a one-time-deal. Why did he do it? To bless “the most high God.” This was his grateful response to the Lord blessing Him, not as a part of a covenantal relationship, to fulfill a commandment, to incur blessing or prevent consequences.

Abram didn’t tithe; Abram gave!

Jacob (Genesis 28:10-22)

10And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. 11And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 12And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

16And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. 17And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. 18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. 19And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: 22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

In Genesis 28:22 the same word used above as “tithe” is translated “tenth.” In response to the promises of the Lord, Jacob makes up his own covenant. Even though God never asked for it, Jacob says that if God will take care of him, and bless him, he will, when he has arrived safely home again, give Him a tenth of everything he has. This reveals more the difficulty Jacob had in receiving unconditionally from God rather than a reflection of God’s heart and intentions toward him.

God never told Jacob to do anything! Nonetheless, Jacob made a vow, that at some point in time he would give a tenth of everything God blessed him with back to Him. We have no record of his carrying out the “giving” part, though God certainly blessed Him as He had said.

Summary of the Tithe before the Law was Written Down

1. In both of these instances, God never commanded anyone to “tithe.” There was no covenant. Later, God did indeed make a covenant with Abram; God made many promises to Abram and his successive generations. All Abram had to do was circumcise his sons.

2. The law had yet to be codified (written down). This is significant because it means that neither Abram nor Jacob were following guidelines previously given by God. These events were “outside” or “before” the law was given.

3. Neither Abram nor Jacob tithed; Abram gave (freely), and Jacob promised to give, if God did what He had already unconditionally promised to do. There were no consequences tied to either one of them NOT GIVING!

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 2]

DEFINITIONS

One of the main reasons “tithing” has become a divisive issue in the church could be boiled down to a grammatical misunderstanding. To clarify, we will discuss “tithe” in the two forms in which it is used in scriptures, as a noun and as a verb.

“Tithe” as a Noun

“Tithe” simply means “tenth.” So, if I give you a dime, I am giving you a tithe of a dollar. Please note that “giving” is the verb, or action, and “tithe” is simply a quantity or amount. A tithe of 467 cows is 46.7 cows; a tithe of 12 months is 1 month +1 week (approximately). In many places in scripture the word is simply a number.

It is also used as a verb, or an activity God requires as partial fulfillment of His covenant with Israel.

Elements of a Covenant

The main elements of a covenant are based on “If you do such and such, I’ll do so and so.” Both parties agree to it, so there is an underlying assumption that each participant gets something out of it. When Christians speak of The Covenant, it is the covenant made in the Old Testament that is usually being referred to; specifically, the commandments and precepts given to Moses to bring the nation of Israel into a covenant-based relationship with God. The parties involved are Israel and God; the conditions of compliance are that if Israel will keep all the commandments and the precepts, God will be their God, and Israel will be His people. The consequences are long, happy, healthy lives; basically material blessings. (Remember, salvation was not available until the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.) The consequences for disobeying were also spelled out: failure to keep ALL of the law would result in God bringing judgment upon His people. Like the benefits, the consequences were likewise material in nature: disease, drought, war and famine.

There were many requirements of the law, only one of which was the tithe.

“Tithe” as a Verb

In the following section we will look at the specifics given in the scripture that make up the covenantal elements usually referred to as “the tithe.” In general, we can say that “to tithe” is to fulfill the law by paying a set amount in specific ways to specific people for specific uses at specific times in order to maintain a specific relationship with God. If the Israelites did their part, to fulfill the commandments (there were hundreds, by the way) and the precepts, then God was obligated by His Word to fulfill His part, and take care of them and bless them.

It may help to remember that the Levites were not the first to tithe; many idolaters dedicated a tenth of their increase to their gods, and held festivals and meccas to celebrate the blessing of their gods. Giving a portion of the spoils of war and of the increase of the field was common throughout the ancient world, from Greece to China to Mayan civilizations. And giving in proportions of ten was common, as it was the basis of most of the known counting systems (by virtue of the common counting appendages).

Tithing, Giving and the Scriptures [Part 1]

INTRODUCTION

One of the most divisive issues in the church continues to be regarding tithing. Many mis-understand the term, its use in the scriptures and its meaning for the church today. We will be looking at the topic from as clear a perspective as possible, based on the scriptures. The act of tithing is clearly delineated in the scriptures, but a misunderstanding of the ways the term is used in scriptures and what happened at the Cross and Resurrection has caused many Christians to continue to be brought under the heavy weights of the Pharisees.

The scriptures can generally be broken down into the following time-frames: 1. Pre-Codification of The Law (before the law was written down); 2. The Codified Law (the written law); 3. Additions to the Law (included in post-Torah books of the Bible), 4. The Transition (when Jesus taught under the law), 5. The Fulness of Times: Grace! (from the Resurrection until whatever comes next).

For clarity sake, and to see the progression of God’s unfolding plan, we will review the scriptural usage and function of the tithe and tithing within each of these time frames. The scripture verses being discussed are included for clarity sake. References are in The New King James Version unless indicated; please feel free to refer to additional references and versions as desired.