As believers, we are called by God to follow after Jesus in all our actions and attitudes. How we relate to money in included in our following after Him.
As mentioned in my introduction to this series, my family and I have been impacted a number of times in our church attendance by what appears to be the pull of money on church leadership. During our Christian pilgrimage, a number of churches, through thier leadership, have made decisions that directly impacted our status within the body of believers.
Some of these instances provided us reason to dig into the Word, to find correction in our own personal relationship to money, to try to understand the wisdom of a church leader’s decision, and in the end to apply God’s will for our own finances.
Little did we know the tremendously corrosive power the love of money has over our own hearts, and by extrapolation, the church as a whole. This should not surprise the believer for Paul provided a harsh truth on this topic.
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Alternately, the writer of Hebrews also provided no better command, (and for some believer’s no harder command) than found in Hebrews 13.
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Many of our experiences have included the topic of tithing in the church. Personally, our denominational background considers tithing to be Biblically mandated on the New Testament believer. I understand many denominations consider tithing to be an important commmittment of the believers relationship to the church body.
Let’s take a look at this topic, and consider each passage that contains a reference to tithing.
This post will consider Leviticus 27:30-32
30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge between our last instance of tithing and this particular reference. To be fair, there are some believers that may include Jacob in his reference to giving 10 percent as an example of tithing prior to the giving of the law.
Genesis 28:22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
I have left the passage out, for it was a promise from a negotiator, a business man seeking an edge. The Word does not indicate he followed through. Jacob made a vow, but it rings of an effort to give if he gets.
I love how he vows a full tenth. That is cute! Pass on that example.
It is somewhat amazing that a cardinal teaching such as tithing in the modern church finds so little support prior to the law being given, the sacrifices established, the priesthood being ordained and the nation being established in the land of promise. Of course one instance of a clear command is sufficient for the believer to heed unto, yet so far, that command has not been evident.
Let’s see how we fare with this passage in Leviticus.
It has been over 400 years since the prior incident with Abram, when he conquered a victorious army to bring back his nephew, and meeting up with the King of Salem. Mighty momentous times for Abram, and an offering of 10% of his plunder may be considered a perfectly acceptable offering to the God who provided the victory. (PS I think Melchizedek was Jesus!)
400 years have passed, with the establishment of the nation of Israel, based on the covenant “cut” on Mount Sinai between God and His nation. At this time, tithing becomes a teaching that attains to the status of a command.
Under this covenant, which included animal sacrifice, the existence of the tabernacle and the ordination of a priestly class, (many of which could own no land), God’s people were commanded to tithe.
As an aside, I recently asked myself about the way of life for the ancient Israelite, especially in regards to the taxation he suffered under. Back at my computer, and try as I might, I can’t seem to find the term tax or taxation in the Old Testament, nor the concept of taxation until we get to the kings of Israel.
God warned them that a king would exact a “taxation” and that it would be burdensome. He counselled them to not ask for a king. But they did, and they acquired a tax burden like they had never experienced.
So if there was no taxation prior to the era of the kings, how did the priests support themselves. They had no land, and their major skill was butchery, the slaying of animals. Thankfully they could consume some of the offering, and some of the fruits and seeds were available for them. So was the tithe established to support the priests of Israel in their work for the people before God? Is that a fair assumption?
Seed or Fruit
Verse 30 speaks of tithing the seed or fruit of the land. But it is interesting that God does not make a command, but states “every tithe of the land” implying that any tithe given should be given in this manner. Or might it be better to consider that the phrase does not say “every piece of land” is to be tithed of it’s seed or fruit. Is there a difference? I will let my reader consider.
But consider being directed by this passage at harvest season. What if the land produced both seed bearing plants and fruit bearing trees. Seeds and fruit. Now how is the Hebrew to tithe that? Base it on the square acreage, the percent of land covered by the trees as opposed to the plants, then prorate the 10% tithe based on the coverage of the trees as compared to the plants on the land? And what if the trees produced much but the plants withered? Too many arguments to muddy the water!
In all of this the motivation to tithe is the kicker. The tithe, (however the details were worked out) was holy unto the Lord. This seemingly minor phrase is the hinge point for the obedient Hebrew.
If the tithe is the Lord’s and it is holy, no faithful Hebrew will seek to find excuses or reasons as this author did above. He would gladly provide his tithe, and provide enough to safely satisfy the intent of the command, and not argue with the law as I did previously. (Am I not the worst?)
To tithe of the seed and the fruit is to tithe of the future goods the farmer needs to continue in his life. It is an expression of obedience, and an expression of his faith in a God who provides.
As the risk of appearing as a hard nosed literalist, it is good to recognize that the tithe consisted of seed and fruit. It was not the assined value of the seed or fruit converted into a denarius or shekel. The faithful Hebrew was to bring food stuffs to the tabernacle, and later by extension to the temple. Food stuffs. That minor fact might be important later on.
Redemption
Now this one was unexpected when I first read it. When a faithful Jew provided his tithe, the Lord gives the option to recover it. A bit of a price to add to it, being a 20% markup, and it would be certainly a strange occurrence to redeem a basket of fruit or a sack of seeds. But the next verse may give a clue as to the reason this particular practice was allowed.
Herd or Flock
The faithful Jew was to provide the best of his herd and flock. This is the message of the Old Testament, and we often consider the spotless lamb as the typical perfect sacrifice for the Hebrew to bring for one of the required sacrifices.
For tithing, it is a different. This tithe was indescriminate. If a herdsman were to tithe, the method of choosing the tithed animal was to let the herd pass under a staff. The tenth animal was to be the tithe. Pure chance. The best or the worst animal, if it passed as the tenth animal under the staff was to be chosen.
Consider a man with nine sheep. No tithe required. Ten sheep? One is to be offered as the tithe, a true 10%. Nineteen sheep. The herdsman provides one of his nineteen sheep, or 5.2% of his herd. The rate of tithing was varying, and not a simple 10% portion of the flock. That is until the herdsman approaches massive flocks. At that point, the tithe approaches an exact 10%.
But consider the herdsman that loves a specific sheep. Let me offer a case in point.
My wife and I have a couple goats and one of them (Sir Poopsalot!) is her favorite. If we had eleven goats, and we were under this covenant, and as our herd passed under the staff, and Sir Poopsalot was chosen, my wife would gladly pay the 20% extra to redeem that stubborn, entertaining, silly goat.
This command, or maybe I might better describe it as an allowance, exhibits the mercy of God in the law. He considers our frailties, our emotions and connections we have in our lives, provides allowances to minimize unnecessary hurt as the believer obeys.
I can’t help but close this short study on the tithe command of the old covenant with the consistency of the Messiah’s mercy as He spoke of His yoke.
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
This is the same God who provided an allowance in the regulated tithing, that has also expressed His severe mercy in the giving of His life for all.
He has rescued us from the old covenant and provided us life in Him. Could it get any better than that? He is so good!
Considering the Bible 