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 Numbers 18:28
Numbers 18:28 – So you shall also present a contribution to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the LORD’s contribution to Aaron the priest.
Are we having a translation problem in this verse?
The reason I ask is that it appears at first glance that the priests, who received a tithe from the people, were to tithe to Aaron. I have always thought the priest’s tithed of their tithes, but in this verse, the only reference to tithing is that which the priest receive.
Yes, just two verses earlier, we find the phrase “a tithe of the tithe”. I get it. The contribution that the priest were to offer up to Aaron was a tenth of a tenth, a tithe of the tithe they received.
Numbers 18:26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.
But in our verse this morning, the only time the word “tithe” is mentioned is in relation to what the priests received from the people. When it comes to the offering the priests were to offer up to Aaron, the High Priest, our translation uses the word “contribution”.
Is there some translation hiccup here, that the translators used contribution instead of tithe when referring to that which was to be given to Aaron, the high priest?
The term “contribution” is not a translation hiccup, for the Hebrew term is תְּרוּמָה tᵉrûwmâh, and is usually translated as offering. The word does not describe a specific amount or percentage of some goods, as the word tithe does. Remember, the word tithe is simply another way of saying tenth. Offering does not have that connection, other than by inference in verse 26.
Ok, so again you are laboring over an insignificant issue Carl. Get to the point.
This verse refers to the tithe described in the previous verse we have studied in Numbers, that portion of goods that the people were to provide to the priests. From the priests, the act of supplying to Aaron is considered an offering, described as an offering.
Why the difference?
At this point, I am simply thinking of a New Testament corollary. As priests in the New Testament, we are to offer up to our High Priest offerings. Not simply tithes, nor an amount restricted to a tenth, not even properly described as tithes, but an offering, a living sacrifice unto our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Himself.
Is this difference in Numbers 18:28 a nod to this truth? Does Moses provide a hint that we might find here, that directs our minds to the freedom of heartfelt offerings, and not a bind us to a strict percentage, a legal requirement, or even a taxation on a people in a true theocracy?
That I will leave with my reader. For one, I am thankful that God, through His prophet Moses provided this hint to a better way. And the blessing of living under this better way is due only to the One who gave Himself up, to deliver us from under the bondage of the law.
Thank you Lord for your continual goodness to a people who barely understand your grace towards us.
Thanks for joining and Considering The Bible with me. Your thoughts are always welcome, and I look forward to hearing of the faithfulness of God in your lives.
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