What then was the law of tithing for? Why did God require it in the OT? How could they be obligated when Christians are not? Let us consider the teaching of the Word of God about these things.
God spoke to Aaron and the tribe of Levi in Num.18:20: “You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.” The reason for this was because of the special priestly duties the Lord assigned to them among all the tribes of Israel.
Deut.10:8,9: “The Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers.”
It was because they had no land of their own as did the other eleven tribes that God made the provision of a tithe for them. They did not farm as did the rest of Israel and thus could not supply their own food.
The tithe was designed to provide food for the priests of Levi in exchange for their work in the Temple. Num.18:21: “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the Tent of Meeting.”
Tithing was to supply needed food for the Levites that they might continue to offer the required animal sacrifices in behalf of Israel. The tithe was always 10% of a person’s farm produce. Deut.14:22: “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.”
Tithes are described as grain, new wine, and oil in Deut.14:23. Ten percent of one’s oxen and sheep are mentioned as among the tithes of Israel in 2 Chron.31:6. Honey [2 Chron.31:5], ground meal and fruit [Neh.10:37], and garden herbs [Lk.11:42] were also to be tithed.
In every reference throughout the entire Word of God, tithing is always food items and nothing more. Azariah, the chief priest, rejoiced in 2 Chron.31:10: that “since the contributions began to be brought into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat with plenty left over.”
There is not even one verse in all the Scriptures where tithing was money. The people of God were never required to tithe money. God has never demanded of any man to bring 10% of his money. Tithing was always food items.
Even when Israel’s self-appointed king began to rule over them, the tithe he forced them to bring was of seeds, fruit, and flocks [1 Sam.8:15,17]. Tithing, even in this second demanded 10% beyond the one God required for Levites, was food items.
You may see for yourself that this is so. Tithing was never of money.
All references to tithing in the Scriptures are listed here: Gen.14:20; Lev.27:30-32; Num.18:21,24,26,28; Deut.12:6,11,17; 14:22,23,28; 26:12; 2Chron.31:5,6,12; Neh.10:37,38; 12:44; 13:5,12; Amos 4:4; Mal.3:8,10; Mt.23:23; Lk.11:42; 18:12; Heb.7:5,6,8,9.
Israel’s tithes of food for the priests of Levi were to be brought to the Temple and placed in storerooms. Neh.13:12: “All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses.” There they were kept and distributed to the priests according to their needs [Neh.13:13].
Malachi 3:8-10, though one of the most often abused passages in the Bible on this subject, teaches nothing else than what we have already seen. Tithes are of food items required of Israel to feed the priests in the Temple. They were that, and nothing more.
It was the nation of Israel that was obligated by Old Covenant law to bring their tithes, not Christians. Mal.3:9: “You are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!” The tithe they were to bring was not money given in church, but food items in Jerusalem’s Temple for Levitical priests, “so that there might be food in My house” -Mal.3:10.
It was not to a church collection plate that tithes were brought, but into the storerooms of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Mal.3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house.”
Besides the obvious misuse of verses about tithing in the church, there is much confusion about how Christians are to give. In our thinking, giving has been reduced to putting money into a Sunday morning offering. But in the NT, it was not this at all.
In the Scriptures, much, if not most, of the giving took place outside of the church meeting. The NT church had no buildings or institutions to maintain and collected no money for those purposes. Their giving was directly for the poor and the work of the gospel.
Most of this giving passed directly from the hand of the giver to the hand of the receiver. We are not to send away a needy person until a later time, but are to give to him directly and immediately. Prov.3:27,28: “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you.”
If you see a brother or sister in need and do not give to them, the love of God does not dwell in you. 1 Jn.3:17: “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God dwell in him?”
Giving is to pass from our hand to theirs directly. When a person is in need of daily food, it does no good to tell them to wait until next Sunday and ask for something from the church then.
Jesus speaks about “when you give to the poor” -Mt.6:2, not about when you drop money into a church collection. When asked about how people should show their repentance, John the Baptist said this in Lk.3:11:
“The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do the same.” In this way Christian giving can be with “simplicity” -Rom.12:8 and “in secret” -Mt.6:4 in contrast to our modern man-made traditions and regulations.
When the gift passes directly to the receiver, we know that we have done a good work according to the leading of the Spirit. When we place money in a church offering plate, we have no idea where that money ends up. From your hand into another’s makes giving a purposeful and responsible act.
Blindly placing money in an offering is irresponsible. In that way, you have no idea whether you have done a good deed or not.
Much of the money that comes into the hands of the church is misused. It is spent on things that have little or no relation to helping the poor or of supporting gospel workers.
When we place money into another person’s hands, we ought to know what that money is being used for. If we do not, then we do not know if our gifts are being used for godly purposes or not. We do not know if we have been responsible and obedient in our giving. That is irresponsible. Let us gladly give in a godly purposeful way.
Copyright Steve Phillips 2020