In most Sunday services it is common to put the “tithe” collection front and center, right after worship, along with a mini- sermon based on Numbers 27:30 or Malachi 3:8-10. However despite the many words being used and the time devoted to the topic, there is never any solid teaching on all the scripture pertaining to tithing in the Levitical Law. Why is this? If we read the Levitical law in context, would our tithing look the same, or different?
If Christians want to be known for “serving” rather than “demanding”, this needs to be modeled first by leadership to church members themselves. God makes clear that God’s “kingdom” gives spiritual nourishment for free, (Is.55:1 “"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”). In fact, going “into ministry” has been misused by many false Christians as a get-rich-quick scheme, and the reason why this is possible is that we have become conditioned to accept monetary business as a part of ministry and worship.
Where does this come from? Not the Bible; not Jesus. Jesus was the one who had no home, no income, fed people for free, and got his tax money out of the mouth of a fish- remember? Not from Paul; Paul was the one who took on full-time labor outside of this church ministry to pay for his own bills, lest any Gentiles suspect him of exploiting them and faith in Jesus for money -remember? So why are we, as church leadership, cajoling money out of “the sheep” with the precious little time we have to actually “feed” them? Our money is provided by God, not by people or business savvy- that is the entire basis for our testimony that God is more powerful than the customs of this world.
So let’s re-examine scripture to make sure that, if we do decide to preach on the tithe, our teaching is both in-context and accurate. That is our minimal responsibility.
Lev. 27:30 says “a tithe of everything from the land is the Lord’s”. First, what does the law say about how exactly what portion of the “Lord’s tithe” goes to priests. Secondly, who is a “priest”? Thirdly, how does 1/10th of “everything from the land” equate to the income of a modern worker who does not necessarily own land (very few do).
As we will see, the tithe was part of an economic system God created and which multiple chapters of the Levitical Law were devoted to. The purpose of this system was to eliminate poverty and promote equality of welfare annually in order to foster community. The priests received approximately only one third of the annual tithe, or 3%-4%, of the profit from everyone’s work-not including the cost of their dwelling and food In addition, the priests received freewill offerings made in response to gratitude for blessings already received- not for blessings one is hoping to receive.
The Portion of the Tithe for Priests:
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 clarifies that the annual tithe was eaten by the tithing family for the purpose of community fellowship. The portion going to the priests was only part of every 3rd year of annual tithes:
“Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.
"At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year’s produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
So the annual tithe was to be eaten/shared in celebration with the rest of the community, which included the Levites. It was only every 3rd year of annual tithe that was to be shared between the priests and the poor, so they could celebrate along with the community.
What? Well how can people claim that pastors are owed 10% of their community-member’s income? Are there any other tithes due to pastors? Yes, “firstfruits” and “Fellowship” freewill offerings.
Among all special-occasion offerings, (Guilt, Burnt, Grain, Sin, Fellowship), Lev. 7:28-35 says that the priest’s portion is only the Fellowship Offering (of thanksgiving): “This is the portion of the offerings made to the Lord by fire that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.. as their regular share for generations to come.” So priests were not to live off of the other types of offerings, but only from freewill offerings made in the context of celebration.
The “Firstfruits” offerings referred to in Numbers 18 and Deuteronomy 15, are not monthly but annually or very infrequently. Num18,vs13:“All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours”; similarly they received the monetary worth of each firstborn child or animal. Similarly, Deut 15:19 says “Set apart for the Lord your God every firstborn male of your herds and flocks. Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep. Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.” But in Deut, the law says that the family tithing them is also eating them, not just the priests. Also, “firstfruits of the land” is only referring to an initial portion of an entire year’s produce- not a full ten percent. Similarly, payments for the birth of first children were not regular but infrequent.
So, although Numbers 18:21 says “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the the work they do while serving at the Tent of the Meeting.”, this referred to an annual tithe for initial produce/reproduction as well as only a portion of every 3rd year’s one-tenth of profit. The rest of the tithes were to be handled by the priests but were going back to the tithing family, to God, or to the poor.
Who Are Priests?
Priests were people with no income and no source of food from land ownership. They lived in towns, acquired herds (from the “firstfruits” contributions to them), and had some common land for their animals to graze. Numbers 18 makes clear they worked full time to maintain the Tent of the Testimony and Tent of the Meeting (Temple), which entailed intercession, heavy labor in the form of animal sacrifices, and building maintenance.
The firstfruits offerings were literally payment for their full-time work. The Fellowship Offerings seem to be offerings of gratitude to them for their work, and the 3rd year tithes seem to be for them to minister to the community, including the poor, with.
How Does an Agricultural Tithe Equate to the Income of a Modern Worker?
The members of Israel had free land that was essentially equally distributed among them. This demonstrated life as God must have intended it: free land to build a house on, free building materials, and free food. Though there was a first-fruit donation to the priests for firstborn animals and children, as well as an annual tithe, this was not coming out of their provisions for housing or their basic food supply. In other words, it was not driving them into poverty or debt. So, this would be analogous to the modern worker tithing their Net Income minus their rent and food bill. For this reason, pastors that claim church members should tithe their Gross Income are claiming something entirely un-Biblical.
The tithe was also not going to build or decorate the Temple. That was a separate free will offering. The tithe was specifically to meet the needs of the community, and a third of this was to be split between meeting the needs of priests and the needs of the poor. I've seen churches using the tithe for everything from new chairs to audio-visual equipment. This has no Biblical basis, so using it this way brings church leadership, and the Gospel, into question regarding our integrity.
The tithe was part of an economic system God created and which multiple chapters of the Levitical Law were devoted to. The purpose of the economic laws deriving from the 10 Commandments was to eliminate poverty and promote equality of welfare:
Deut 15”4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.”
Some of “all these commands I am giving you today” include:
Deut 15:1 "At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.”
Lev 25: "Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan…In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property.” (Meaning their original property distribution, which if you remember, was split up equally among all families.)
Lev. 25:23”23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”
Lev. 25:35-37“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.”
Deut. 23:19-20“You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”
So the question we should be asking ourselves is, “Why aren’t we being consistent and teaching the whole economic Levitical law? If tithing is so important to God, would not cancelling debts regularly, eliminating usury, equal land provision, and interest-free loaning to family members be equally important to God? And if so, why aren’t we as frequently exhorting your church members to practice those laws?” Remember, Malachi didn’t just have a rebuke for church members who neglect to tithe. Before mentioning the tithe, Malachi rebukes husbands for materially abandoning/neglecting their first wives(who had no other source of food, shelter, and children), and rebukes priests for mishandling the Word of God.
Malachi 2:7 “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
None of us want this, even though other leaders have given our work and the Gospel a bad name. So let’s demonstrate the Biblical context for tithing and conduct our services in a way that teaches the whole of the economic portion of the Levitical Law. By teaching the Law in context, we give church members and unbelievers an accurate picture of Jesus, who is the “fulfillment” of the Law.
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