When building the case for tithing, the passage of choice is Malachi 3. But how do we make the leap from “storehouses of grain” to our checkbooks? How did the storehouses actually get filled in the bible? What was the tithe in the bible? Actually, there isn’t a whole lot in the bible about tithing! I could find only 11 passages that had an explicit reference to tithing. And most of them mentioned it happening, but were not explicit commands to do so, although the commands certainly do exist. Or did.
This is by no means an exhaustive study. But see if these points line up with what you have heard about tithing.
The first recorded example of someone giving a tenth (tithe) to the priest was when Abram gave to Melchizedek (Gen 14). What is interesting in this story is that the riches from which he tithed were not his own! Abram was not giving of his income. He was giving to Melchizedek from the recovery of stolen goods! Also, Abram gave after God blessed him. He did not give first, expecting a blessing to follow as many preach. When Abram gave, it was his response to God. It was not a requirement, as the law had not been given yet. (That did not happen until Leviticus 27 when Moses received the law from God on Mt. Sinai.)
The Lev 27 passage is a very interesting read. God instructed the Israelites to give every 10th animal that passed under the shepherd’s rod. Several interesting points here. (1) The tithe was not the first tenth as is usually taught. It was the last tenth. (2) Also, it was not the best of the flock. Every tenth animal is a random measure. It could be small, unhealthy, whatever – as long as it was #10. (3) Also, it wasn’t a tenth, or 10%, strictly speaking. If you had 9 animals, you didn’t tithe at all, because there was no tenth animal.
Ok, so that’s what God commanded them to give. But why? What did they do with the tithe? You won’t believe this. They ate it! I’ll bet you’ve never heard this in a message on tithing. Check it out: Deut 12, Deut 14, Deut 26, and others. They were to make a feast of this tithe they had gathered. Meat, oil, wine – the fruits of their labors that God had blessed them with. They were to go to a place that God chose, and enjoy this feast with their family. They were also to include the homeless, the widows, and the Levites, as none of these had means to provide a tithe for themselves.
The origins of the tithe sure don’t sound like what we are told to do now under the same name!
Let’s look back to Malachi, where it says that the storehouses are empty. The storehouses were places that the Levites (the priesthood) stored the tithe of the crops they received. In addition to tithes of animals, people were to give one tenth of their crops to the Levites every three years. For those using Malachi as basis for tithing, how did something that happened every third year turn into something we are to do every paycheck? It just doesn’t follow. God was talking about something different.
If Jesus came to fulfill the law, why do we still preach the tithe? It was part of the law presented via Moses. It is interesting to read the books of the law where it was described.
In Nehemiah 10 and Numbers 18, we are told to tithe. In those same chapters, we are also told to give our firstborn children and animals to God. Do we do that? Num 18 continues on to say that we are then to redeem (purchase) our firstborn sons back. We don’t do this anymore. Jesus redeemed all of us. So why do we keep the law of the tithe, but abandon the law of the firstborn?
God’s original instructions on tithing appear in Leviticus 27, along with instructions on how the priest is to determine the value of our homes. Why do we keep one tradition, but not the other?
Deuteronomy 14 says not to eat pork or shrimp. It also says to tithe. Who picked which parts we keep?
Nehemiah 10 says we will not buy or sell on the Sabbath. It also says that every 7th year we will cancel all debts. It also says to tithe. See a pattern? Why do we keep just this the one thing?
On the subject of giving, the same law that speaks of tithing also speaks of wave offerings, heave offerings, peace offerings, firstfruits offerings, gift offerings, slaughter offerings, challah (an offering from the first batch of dough), drink offerings, burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. How did we pick to keep only the one that we can (mis)interpret as meaning money?
- If “the tithe” as we preach it were so important, why is an obscure passage in Malachi the best we can do?
- Why did Jesus never tithe?
- Why did we never hear of the disciples tithing?
- Why did no NT author even mention the concept, let alone command us to do it?
- Why, at the Jerusalem conference (Acts 15), when determining which requirements to confer onto the Gentiles, did they not mention the tithe? If it were a requirement, certainly the tithe would have ranked somewhere between idol food and circumcision!
The answer, in my opinion, is that the whole system vanished along with the rest of the law. Ok – not vanished – but you get the idea. Fulfilled. The old covenant was replaced by the new covenant.
These offerings served the purpose of paying for people’s atonement and for honoring God. But Jesus has completed atonement for us, once and for all. And we are to honor God in more ways today, not less. Not just actions, but now our thoughts and motives too. So on the subject of money, we are not responsible for the 10% that the law called for. We are accountable for how we spend every dollar we receive!
So if the law does not dictate what percent we give, and how, and when – what does? Grace! Grace is a kindness God shows us because he loves us. Not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of who he is and what he has done. Likewise, our giving (time and money) should not be doled out based on percentages like an accountant would. It should be given freely in response to God’s goodness toward us.
There are biblical principles throughout both the OT and the NT which should instruct us. Not laws that were given for a different time and a different people, but principles that are timeless and universal.
A few examples:
- Everything belongs to the Lord (1 Cor. 10:26, Ps 24:1, Ps 50:9-12)
- Honor the Lord with your wealth (Prov 3:9-10)
- Give to God what is God’s (Mt 22:21)
- Give cheerfully & willingly (2 Cor 9:7, 2 Cor 8:12)
- Give out of gratitude (Ps 116:12)
- Give generously (2 Cor 8 & 9, Luke 21:1-4, Prov 11:24-25, Prov 22:9, 1 Tim 6:17-19)
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”
Deuteronomy 8:10-18
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ”He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
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