TITHE A Good Starting Point ~ What actually IS the Tithe, as the majority of Modern Christendom understands it? It is the fulfilling of a Christian’s duty to give 10% of all his income to his church, or ministry. Now, many contemporary churches today have slightly different, or more relaxed, ways of interpreting the tithe, but the term is still used nonetheless when referring to the offering given by the Body of Christ. It’s probably important to also start off with an additional point – Is Tithing Biblical? That is not particularly the question addressed in the title of this article. The tithe truly is Biblical, and is something that came from God Himself. The point in this article, however, will be to discuss the difference between what is Biblical and what is Christian, and to possibly discover the complete meaning of what tithing is, and if that can be applied to a Christian body under the New Covenant established by Christ Jesus. WHERE IS THE TITHE SPOKEN OF? By this time in reading, this should be the question in any earnest reader’s mind. Part of the reason why traditions continue throughout many generations of time is because the societies who carry them out don’t even bother to question the REASON for the keeping of the tradition. “Why?” is such a rarely asked question in our culture, even in Christianity. “Why do we tithe?” “Where does the Bible instruct us that we as New Covenant Christians are supposed to/required to tithe?” Very excellent questions, and those two questions will propagate the beginning of our important Biblical study into this dynamic topic. Let us turn towards the Book of the Law in the Old Testament: Numbers 18:21-24 … 21 “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 22 Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23 But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 24 For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.’” Here we have the appearance of the tithe in the Bible, and how is it presented? As a law given to the children of Israel. This article isn’t a study about the law found in the Old Covenant, per se. However, I begin our study by sharing from the law, and about the law, because that is exactly what the tithe is – a LAW. Christians today week after week consistently calculate and give 10% of their income to their particular church, but what did Numbers just say that the tithe was for? “As an inheritance in return for the work they (the Levites) perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.” You see, the Levites as a tribe of Israel had a very unique responsibility and duty under the law. God ordained the Levitical tribe to be the “priestly” tribe, the ones who would bear the Ark of the Covenant in travel, should the people of Israel move from one location to another. They also were the specific ones called out to carry out the priestly ordinances and duties WITHIN the tabernacle. These duties were daily duties, and therefore, hindered the Levites from being able to live out a normal profession of their time such as a blacksmith, a tent maker, a doctor, a caregiver, or a carpenter. The Levites’ work in God’s temple gave them no money to be had of their own. Therefore, God instituted a unique law to all of Israel which dictated that they would give a tithe in order to care for and provide for the Levites. The Tithe then was Money, Right? Well, surely the tithe has always been in the form of currency…correct? Actually, the truth may surprise you. As always, let us turn specifically to the Bible for the answer. Deuteronomy 14:22-27 … “22 “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 23 And 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. 24 But 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, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 And 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. 27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.” The tithe, as a general law from God given to Moses, had absolutely nothing to do with money at all, but was rather based upon the “increase of your grain”, or, that which the people of Israel were able to cultivate from the earth, their crops. ESSENTIALLY, THE TITHE LAW WAS A TAX LAW FOR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AS WAS STATED EARLIER, THE TITHE WAS ESTABLISHED BY GOD IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR THE LEVITES, THE PRIESTLY TRIBE. THIS SUPPORT WAS IN THE FORM OF FOOD FROM THE LAND. There really is only one scenario where God allowed the tithe to be converted from produce into money, and this exception is found above in verses 25-26. In cases where the people were ordered by God to travel from one land to another, and they could not really bear the burden of all of the huge amounts of food they had to carry, then God in this case would give them permission to exchange their food for money, BUT WHAT DID THEY DO WITH THIS MONEY, IN THIS ONE EXCEPTION? DID THEY GIVE THIS TO THE LEVITES, OR TO ANYONE? “And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.” This is the ONLY time in scripture, even in the Old Testament, in which God allows His people of the Old Covenant to turn the tithe into money, and what did He instruct them to do? USE IT FOR THEMSELVES. Why would He do this? I see this allowance as God’s way of giving blessing to His people’s blessings. By giving the people this latitude in this rare occurrence, God was showing that He loved His people and didn’t want them to suffer. He gave them the law of tithing, but it is evident that He cared for them because He gave them a means of relieving their extreme burdens in the cases of travel. CLEARING UP A COUPLE OF MISUNDERSTOOD PASSAGES ABRAMS TITHE The first thing many people may choose to reply to what I’ve said could be, “Okay, you’re saying that the tithe made its first appearance to the world really as a law given to Moses, contained in the Book of the Law. What about Abraham? Didn’t Abraham give a tithe of all of his belongings to Melchizedek? Abraham lived hundreds of years BEFORE Moses.” Yes, Abram did give a tithe, but again, the Bible gives us a clear explanation as to the NATURE and the composition of this ONE-TIME-TITHE. We first need to uncover why exactly Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe in the first place, and of course, what this tithe consisted of. If we look at the events in Genesis about Abram during this time, we discover Abram to have been returning home from a nighttime battle with the enemies of his land, who had captured Lot. Abram was victorious in the battle, bringing back everything that had been taken. Genesis 14:17-20 … “17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.” Here we see Abram returning home from his complete victory over King Chedorlaomer and the other 4 kings, with only 300 of his own servants to serve as his soldiers. Yet in spite of being heavily outnumbered, he returns with everything taken from the 4 Kings whom Abram was an ally with, and also with Lot. An interesting scene takes place as Abram returns. He comes in contact with this character known in the scripture as Melchizedek. Let’s jump to the book of Hebrews to understand a little more of this exchange: Hebrews 7:1-5 … “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. 4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;” This passage in the New Testament, a reference to this exact event in the Old Testament, puts this picture together even more clearly. First, Abram meets with Melchizedek, who is referred to as King of Salem, or, King of Peace, who is “without father, without mother, without genealogy…but made like the Son of God. Melchizedek was apparently a very special person, one who has the exact characteristics of our Lord Jesus Christ. Melchizedek comes to Abram with good tidings and a direct message from God Himself, that it had been God who had delivered this great victory to Abram. SO WHAT DID ABRAM GIVE, OR TITHE, TO MELCHIZEDEK? HE GAVE HIM “A TENTH OF THE SPOILS.” Showing his gratitude to God for blessing him with this miraculous victory, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth, NOT OF ABRAMS INCOME, BUT OF WHAT HAD BEEN TAKEN FROM ALL 4 KINGDOMS. This powerful text makes it even harder to connect the word “tithe” with a need to give 10% of monetary income in our day, since this crucial Biblical text shows us that: 1) Abram’s tithe was not a pre-ordained requirement. 2) Abram’s tithe was not money, in and of itself. 3) Abram’s tithe was 10% of the spoils that he returned in victory from battle. 4) Abram’s tithe was a ONE-TIME tithe. 5) Abram’s One-Time tithe consisted mostly of the plundered goods from the other Kings, not his belongings. “WILL A MAN ROB GOD?” Have you ever heard a pastor ask this question, in relation to tithing in the New Covenant? If so, you may have heard the question accompanied by a subsequent verse in Malachi 3 such as, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse…And try Me now in this, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” Sounds nice, right? The problem is that pastors today, sometimes ignorantly or sometimes for desire for lucre, used this pieced out set of scriptures in Malachi 3 to try to support their belief, or desire, for the congregation of Jesus Christ to feel obligated to “tithe” to the Church. In all honesty, I believe that the majority of pastors today, at least in the smaller congregations, use or refer to the tithe in this way simply because it is their TRADITION to do so. Like so many weekly acts and rituals carried out in the Church (Body of Christ) today, the truth in scripture has been lost in hundreds of years of developing and passed down traditions. Now, what does Malachi 3 REALLY say in whole? I hope that is your question, because I assure you, it is about to be answered from all of the passage. Before God says, “Will a man rob God?”, let’s examine the surrounding verses before and after so that a complete picture can be formed. Who was God talking to in this passage? Was it Christian Gentiles? The passage leaves no unanswered question. Malachi 3:6,7 … “For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’” God was not speaking to the Gentile Christians of the New Covenant at all, was He? No, He says, “O sons of Jacob…You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them.” Does this sound familiar? God sets the stage in that part of the passage for what He is about to say directly afterward. Malachi 3:8,9 … 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” THE ENTIRE REBUKE IN THAT CHAPTER IS DIRECTLY TO THE SONS OF JACOB, OR THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. “In what way have WE (the sons of Jacob) robbed you?” “You have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. You have robbed Me in tithes and offerings, even this whole nation.” If we read this entire chapter, we begin to see an exchange between God and Israel. This is why He first spoke about them breaking His ordinances (laws), and gives them a clear example of a law that they had completely forsaken, the law of tithes and offerings. BUT DIDNT JESUS TEACH US TO TITHE? This is a common conception today in our Modern Church body, sure, BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT JESUS NEVER GAVE ANY COMMAND FOR THOSE UNDER THE NEW COVENANT TO TITHE. There is a clear reason Jesus never taught the Disciples that His future body would be required in some unwritten creed to give 10% of their food or finances to “the Church”, actually, two reasons: 1) The Church itself IS the Body of Christ, so to require a tithe law of the Body He was about to start would be similar to a person imposing a tax on himself. If the Church of Jesus Christ IS the body, then how or why would it be required to give to the Church, in the form of a law? 2) Jesus knew quite well that the tithe was a LAW in the Old Covenant, the Covenant in which He was born into while in the flesh. He also knew that He had come to FULFILL the law fully, and to abolish its ordinances by way of His complete sacrificial fulfillment. To leave certain specific laws behind afterwards, as if they would still need to remain even though Jesus had died and risen again would suggest that the sacrifice of Jesus was not a complete one, and this is certainly not the case. Now, let us turn to the Book of Matthew in order to take a quick look at the passage where Jesus mentions the tithe. After discussing the origination of the tithe and how it is concretely attached to the law of Moses, I hope that this passage will make much more sense. In this passage, Jesus was issuing a series of strong and sober rebukes to the Pharisees, who thought themselves to be leaders of the blind and great teachers of the law of the Covenant. In this chain of rebukes is found one concerning tithing. After understanding that Jesus, in the flesh, was living at a time when the people of Israel were still under the law of the Old Covenant, it should be no surprise to us that He would mention tithing to them, but even though tithing was a law under the Old Covenant, take a look at how Jesus refers to it as compared to the heart of the law: Matthew 23:23,24 … “23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” Jesus here acknowledges that the Pharisees were rightfully giving a tithe because of saying, “These you ought to have done…” However, Jesus shows them that it is not the tithe law that it is MOST important within the law of the Old Covenant. What is most important to God is what is at heart of the law – justice and mercy and faith. King David came to understand this wonderful fact about God concerning the law, even while David was in that Covenant. It is this reason that David was considered to be a man “after God’s own heart.” David sought after the characteristics that God seeks to amplify in us feeble humans – humility, faithfulness, obedience, devotion, love, repentance, and reverence for God. This is what the Pharisees were missing. The Pharisees and Sadducees were merely carrying out the parts of the law they felt more acquainted with, mostly the ACTS in the law that required a specific act to be done in a specific way at a specific time. Though they did these things, and even added some man-made laws of their own, their hearts were as far away from God as is the East from the West. This is precisely why Jesus states that they “strain a gnat [focus heavily on small matters] and swallow a camel [completely lay aside the more important matters]”, concerning the law. Since they were all still under the law, everyone in Israel was still required, by law, to tithe, but what God was seeking most in His people was a yearning FOR HIM and His greatness! A person who fulfills the Commandments of Christ Jesus in his life lives in love, mercy, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, humility – towards God and towards all the people of this world. CLOSING THOUGHTS Maybe what would help clear this misunderstanding a bit more would be to go even deeper into an analysis of the law of the Old Covenant. That wasn’t my direct intent with this article, and would take much more explanation to do, but my hope from this is that it will convict the reader that HE WHO IS BORN AGAIN UNDER THE NEW COVENANT, THE ONE ESTABLISHED BY JESUS CHRIST, IS NOT BOUND TO ANY ORDINANCE OF THE OLD COVENANT. As Paul says in Colossians 2, the acts contained in the Old Covenant were merely “a shadow of good things to come.” They, in no way, make up the essence of that which they foreshadowed. If they had, then the bloodshed of bulls and goats would have come to purify the conscience of those who committed sin under that Covenant, but they did not. “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.” A man under the New Covenant is just as much required to tithe as he is to be circumcised, or to keep the Feast Days, or to offer food and drink offerings, or to not strike a fire on the Sabbath day, or to observe the Jubilee year… and the list goes on, but this is part of what I believe is wrong with Christianity today. In all kinds of various ways, the followers of Jesus Christ, whether they know it or not, are helping to quench the Spirit of God in their own lives because of believing that they must still earn God’s approval. Whether it be by Sabbath keeping, Feast day keeping, dietary law keeping, or even tithe law keeping, people believe that in order to remain in God’s favor, they must still turn in part to these various laws. No matter which laws Christians believe they must uphold, something must be noted from the scripture – the law dictates to a man that if he is required to keep any parts of the law, he is required to keep ALL of the law, every last commandment, every last ordinance, every last statute, to the letter. Because you see, Jesus teaches us that there are only 2 ways that a man can enter Heaven: 1) Keep all of the law of the Old Covenant, never straying from it. Taking this route means a person under the law must have kept EVERY law perfectly from birth until death, never sinning a single time. OR 2) Believe upon Jesus Christ and allow Him to be your substitute for sin. Sin is a PERMANENT stain, and requires blood. No sin can enter Heaven’s gates, so if a person chooses to follow after Path #1…he has a LONG road ahead of him. This is why Jesus had to live a sinless life in the first place. In order for mankind to be saved, there had to be an ultimate sacrifice for sin. Truly, it is not possible to even observe all of the law to the letter anymore in this dispensation anyway. A person would need for the tabernacle to still be in existence, and the tabernacle was destroyed in 70 AD. God has removed all excuses and all obstacles from this world. He has given a complete bridge between us and Himself – Jesus. Am I telling you that a person should not give to the Body of Christ, or to give in many other ways? Of course not. Giving, for the Christian, is not based upon laws, or calculated numbers. Only a purified, transformed heart gives without being told to. God does not require you to give the Church 10%, or 12.5%, or 15% of your income. What He requires of you is a changed heart. Will a renewed heart SEEK to give to those who are in need, or to help with the ministry of the Body of Christ? No doubt! That is what giving in the NEW Covenant is all about – the kind of giving Jesus did while in the flesh. The height of this message can be summed up in a passage which Paul teaches: 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 … “6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” Also take close notice to what Paul says about how we should give just before this: 2 Corinthians 8:12-14 … “12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. God doesn’t even want His people who believe in Jesus, His Son, to feel as if they are bound to give __% of their finances to Him, or to the world. There is no hint in those passages that a Christian is required to give a specific amount of his finances to the Church body, especially if the gift is not 200% from the heart alone. God wants you, as His willing servant, to simply give from your heart every single day. By giving cheerfully as much as you are able, you bring great joy to God. This is one of the many steps I believe God is taking to spiritually renew His Church in these last days – by showing them how to give, simply from the heart. I hope you have been blessed by this message. May God bless you as you give freely in this short life.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 19:58:36 +0000
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