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 Deuteronomy 12:6
Deuteronomy 12:6 – and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.
Deuteronomy 12 speaks of the Lord’s chosen place of worship, the manner in which the faithful Israelite was to worship, and the rules and statutes which are to be observed in order for worship to be acceptable before the Lord.
We will see in the 12th chapter, the reference to tithing three times, with this one being the first one.
Moses is introducing to the people of God as to where the tithe was to be brought. Now at the time of Moses, the location for a permanent temple had not be revealed.
Deuteronomy 12:5 But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,
The nation would need to seek out the location from the Lord, that location where the Lord would dwell amongst the tribes, and that all the tribes would be required to bring thier tithes to. For the nation at the time of this message, the tabernacle was the location of the Lord’s presence. Yet there seems to be a future permanent (?) location that is intended in this message.
Now you may wonder why I question the permanent state of the Lords dwelling (habitation in our verse). As I have been studying in the life of David, I have found that as David sought a permanent structure for the Lord, the Lord seemed to be reluctant to accept “putting down roots” in a manner of speaking.
A bit of a side bar for a moment.
When David sought to honor the Lord in the building of a temple, the Lord instructed Nathan to disuade David.
2 Samuel 7:5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?
2 Samuel 7:6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
2 Samuel 7:7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”‘
In 1 Chronicles, the Lord is quite direct with his king.
1 Chronicles 17:4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in. (italics mine)
A temple is promised in Deuteronomy. A little later, in the life of David, the Lord promises that David’s offspring shall build a house for the Lord’s name.
2 Samuel 7:12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
So David previously assumed he was to build a temple, surely based on an Old Testament passage such as Dt 12:5 but he was rebuffed by the Lord. Then both David and Solomon assumed Solomon was the offspring to do this task of building a temple.
Was that a good assumption?
My question is meant to lead the believer to see that the offspring of David referred to in this passage is blatantly Jesus Christ, for David’s throne has been established forever through Him.
2 Samuel 7:16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
In all of this quick discussion on the habitation of the Lord that the nation was to bring the tithes to, much depends on some assumptions on future locations for His habitation.
So what are we to make of this passage? To be honest, there is little instruction regarding tithing in this passage other than it’s inclusion in the worship of the faithful Israelite at the temple.
No matter how you look at the place where the Lord’s habitation was to be for the nation, whether it be a temporary (moving) tabernacle, or a permanent (static) temple, this verse speaks of the tithe to be brought before the Lord.
The point of the passage isn’t really a discussion on the tithe, but on the location it was to be presented before the Lord at. Up until this passage, Moses, had provided guidance on the tithe for the faithful Israelite as we have seen in passages considered previously. He taught them well, and he could safely assume they understood.
As we continue in this series, I pray we will understand the place of the tithe in the plan of God. Hopefully, in our next verse within Deuteronomy, we will be provided additional instruction on our topic.
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.
Considering the Bible 