Tithing Throughout the Scriptures

From time to time, there is a subject that comes up. It's a subject that is found in the Bible. And just recently, I had to write a letter to a person that lives in another country asking me about this topic. And it sent me some questions to answer, and so I went ahead and did it. And I would like to share with you what this has to do with the topic that I'm going to cover today. It is a topic that is a bit sensitive because it deals with tithing.

It's a topic that a lot of people don't know that much about outside of the church. Some have said it's been done away with, but it's important to know from the Scriptures about it and to be ready to answer questions asked by others about it. So since I had to do this and do quite a bit of research, I want to share with you about this. The main point about this topic comes down to answering the following question. Is tithing a man-made law or one made by God? And is it binding today or not? If it is man-made, then it is an inferior rule. But if it is given by God and can be proved throughout the Scriptures, then it is something superior and binding. Now tithing in Hebrew comes from the word maser, M-A-A-S-E-R, which simply means a tenth of something. It's a tenth of something. It can be any type of possession you have. And it comes up in the Bible as early as Genesis chapter 14 with Abraham, way before the covenant at Mount Sinai. But Abraham did not come up with the idea of tithing. It was already in practice throughout that area of the world. It was practiced by Egyptians, Mesopotamians, that includes the Assyrians, and the Babylonians. Abraham knew a lot about God's laws than one can imagine. Notice in Genesis chapter 26, verse 4 and 5, God talking to Abraham said, And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands, and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Talking about Jesus Christ. Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So it shows that mankind's never been without laws. Even from the Garden of Eden, God gave laws to Adam and Eve, and throughout mankind they violated those laws, and the earth became so wicked that finally God had to destroy the earth except for one family, Noah's family, because of that wickedness, for it had broken God's laws. And then after the flood, again, you see throughout that whole area of the Middle East where Noah eventually descended, and he taught God's laws to the people. And so Abraham was familiar with this law. Notice now in Genesis 14, in verse 17. So God's laws had been given orally, which means verbally, until they were codified at Mount Sinai. In Genesis 14, in verse 17, this is the account of Lot's captivity and rescue. It says in verse 17, remember Lot had lived in Sodom, and these kings came and captured him and took the possessions of Sodom. Verse 17, and the king of Sodom went out to meet him, Abraham, who went after and rescued his son, his nephew Lot.

And it says, after his return from the defeat, and then it talks about the kings here who were with him. And then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High. So this wasn't some pagan priest at all. He appeared to Abraham, and Abraham recognized this was a being that was superior to him. And it says about this Melchizedek, and he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham of God Most High. So again, talking about the true God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And talking about Abraham, and he gave him a tithe of awe. So all what Abraham had captured, he gave a tenth, recognizing how Melchizedek was superior to him. It's interesting because we're going to cover this a little later in the book of Hebrews. The Believer's Bible Commentary makes an important point about the Scripture that we will cover later in the New Testament. Quote, Melchizedek blessed Abram, and Abram in turn gave to this priest of God a tithe of all his captured prizes. In Hebrews 7, we learn that there was a deep spiritual significance to these actions, because Abram was the progenitor of Aaron. In other words, he was a descendant, or an ancestor, rather, of Aaron. He is seen as representing the Aaronic priesthood. Abraham is actually the one that eventually Aaron came from. The fact that Melchizedek blessed Abram means that Melchizedek's priesthood is greater than Aaron's. The priesthood that we see in Mount Sinai in the covenant there. The fact that Melchizedek blessed Abram means that Melchizedek's priesthood is greater than Aaron's, because the one who blesses is superior to the one who is blessed. And we know at that time, Abraham was God's primary instrument on the earth. And so here we have a being that is superior to any human being. The fact that Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek is seen as a picture of the Aaronic priesthood acknowledging the superiority of Melchizedek's priesthood, because the lesser pays tithes to the greater. And here in Genesis, we not only see Abraham paying tithes, we see another person here paying tithes. It wasn't limited just to Abraham. Jacob also knew about tithing as well. Notice Genesis 28, verses 12 through 22. Genesis 28, 12 through 22. We'll talk about Jacob. It says, I will give to you and your descendants. And I want to skip over to a little bit later in verse 16. It says, And this is the gate of heaven.

So in a sense, this was a conversion moment because Jacob had had his ups and downs. But now he says, this is it. I'm committed following God.

So again, we see the same principle of tithing in the book of Genesis. Then, this tithing law, which existed before, as we have seen, was codified at Mount Sinai by God Himself. So this isn't when it was created, but it was placed now in writing as part of a covenant with the people of Israel. Notice in Leviticus 27, verse 30, God is speaking. He says, In all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or whether of the seed of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. So here the term holy is very important because it's something that only God can create. He can sanctify something. He can make it holy. And He says that the tithe, that tenth part, is holy to the Lord. He says, If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithe, he shall add one fifth to it. Talking here about the seed of the land, that if you want to keep a certain type of seed, which might be good for more fertile, you have to add 20% to the tithe that you would take. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it. And if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchange for it shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. The Bible knowledge commentary has the following. With the rod in hand, the shepherd would touch every tenth of the animal that would pass under the rod. He could in no way contrive to change their order so that a good animal would escape tenth place. If he tried to alter the order, both the real tenth and the attempted switch would be the Lord's. This first tithe, which was to God, was called the Levitical tithe because it was paid to the Levites. God's tithe then was transferred to the Levites, which was the ministry in the Old Testament. Then it goes on to say a second tithe, you might also about this, it was paid to the Levites, numbers 18, 21-24, explains that. A second tithe is prescribed in Deuteronomy 14, 22-29. That's the one to go to the feasts, which we keep during the year. We save up so we can go and keep the feasts of tabernacles in particular, but it can be used for any of the feasts that we have. The days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, then Day of Atonement. After the Day of Atonement, we can go out to dinner, use that second tithe, or then the feasts of tabernacles and the eighth day.

During the New Testament time, the Jewish historian Josephus mentions in his book, The Antiquities of the Jews, that at that time, the Jews were keeping the tithes. This was a system that when Christ was there in Israel, was being applied. And, as those that are here, me being just one of them, when I saw that tithing was a law of God and that it was taught throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, I began keeping it from 17 years on, and I've never looked back.

Go ups and downs, whether you have much or little, I have seen God greatly blesses those who walk in faith. Notice in Proverbs 3, Proverbs 3, verses 9 through 10, It says, So it says, So it says, So it says, In Proverbs 10, verse 22, It says, Again, a commentary brings this up. The blessing of the Lord brings wealth. The second part affirms the idea that wealth given by the Lord to the righteous and diligent is not accompanied by trouble or the tragedies of ill-gotten gain. There's a lot of ways to prosper, but if you're with God, He will not bring sorrow.

He will help you avoid. He will protect. Then in Proverbs 13, 11, it says, It will be under a curse. The contemporary English version puts it, So it doesn't mean you're going to strike it rich or anything. God knows how much we need. And that's part of what God tells us. He knows if we would be enriched too much and we can't handle it, that turns into a curse. That's why it says God gives us just what we need and to enjoy life, have enough, but don't give us too much where people will say then you can forget God. So I believe, all would agree here, that tithing is a law of God. How important is tithing to God? Let's read Malachi 3.8. I'll read it here. It says, And then he promises the blessing again of trusting in him. He says, He's not limited to chance and circumstances. He has millions of angels at his disposal. And he can know exactly what we need and how to bring it forth that it won't get us to be vain and cocky or whatever. Therefore, we do not find in either the Old Testament or the New Testament that tithing has been done away or has been substituted by another method in the Bible. Where in the New Testament do we find a controversy and discussion about abolishing the tithing law? And what substituted it?

For instance, circumcision is a big issue in the New Testament. We have the book of Acts, we have the epistles of Paul, and other places where you see the whole discussion and the controversy. Well, tithing was a law. Where do we see the big controversy? Oh, now we don't have to worry about that. We just throw it out the window. Where is the controversy? Do you think people that were abiding and keeping this, as it mentions in the first century, that all of a sudden it just disappears with no mention of a change?

The fact is we do not find such a discussion or a proposal about adopting an alternative practice to tithing. On the contrary, we see the instructions about tithing were reinforced by Jesus Christ and the apostles. Notice what it says in Matthew 23 verse 23. Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees about their overemphasis in tithing, even the smallest of leaves, yet de-emphasizing the importance of the ethical and spiritual elements of God's law. So, let's read Matthew 23 real quickly. I'm going to read it literally so we get the whole gist of it. It says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, these are tiny little leaves of herbs, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, in other words, you should tithe without leaving the others undone. So, he wasn't abolishing tithing, he's just saying, remember the inner part of God's law, the importance of that. Luke has a parallel account where he says that you're leaving out righteousness and the love of God. These are all spiritual principles. But they were very meticulous about tithing the mint, and yet they crucified Christ. That's how hard their hearts were. So, he certainly did back the tithing law. Notice Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 9, 11-14, about supporting Christ's ordained ministry and the work of preaching the true gospel to the world. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 9, verse 11. So, he asked the Corinthians, if we have sown spiritual things for you, we've been the teachers of God's laws, the spiritual things, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers of this right, so they were being given, and it's called a right, not something voluntary over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. So, Paul didn't want offering tithes to be given to him, because the Corinthians were so sensitive about, well, he's doing it for money. Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. But I have used none of these things. So, Paul is explaining this principle here. And we see in the New Testament that the only discussion on tithing had to do with an administrative change regarding to whom it should go once the Melchizedek priesthood of Jesus Christ was set up. And so, this isn't something that God left out. He explains here, well, just as the Levites in the Old Testament and part of the New, until the ministry was established, tithing was given to the Levites. But now it's a different thing because Christ was going to establish His church, and it wasn't just about Levites or Israelites. Now it was going to be a worldwide church. And so, it has to be explained how could this change in the administration of tithes and offerings take place. And there we have in Hebrews 6-10, which of course I don't have time to go fully over. But let's go to Hebrews 6-19 to see here is the legal basis for tithing to the church.

Hebrews 6, verse 19. It says, about this hope, we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, of Jesus Christ resurrecting, and which enters the presence behind the veil. Talk about Him. Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Again, it's a superior order to the Aaronic order going back all the way to Abraham. And then it continues in chapter 7, verse 1. It says, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy. So we're not talking about a human being. Every human being has a genealogy. In other words, you came from your ancestor, your father and mother. Here, he didn't have father or mother or genealogy. Having neither beginning of days—we all have beginning of days—only God doesn't have beginning of days. Even angels have beginning of days when they were created. But God is uncreated. Nor end of life—so he's eternal—but made like the Son of God remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils, and indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who received a priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law. So you see, it's a law. It's not a suggestion from God. That is, from their brethren—talking about the Levitical brethren—though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he, talking about Christ, whose genealogy is not derived from them, received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he received them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. He's an eternal being. This is a manifestation of Christ, what we call here a Christophany, which is an appearance of the pre-existent Christ, being the word, appearing here. Even Levi, who receives tithes—paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak. So he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

And so I want to conclude here. It says, verse 15, And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of the fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. So this isn't something that was given to humans. This was something established by God the Father and with Jesus Christ.

And then it says in verse 12, So Christ set up his ministry. He's our high priest. He sets up his physical ministry to carry out his work. And that's the way we don't have to ask people for money. It just comes from the brethren who commit to God in faith and do it for their own commitment, not because of some human being telling you what to do.

The conclusion is that we see those presiding over the congregation, and the pastors and ministers of the church are the ones to provide for and give the tithe so they can carry out their ministry based on Jesus Christ's instruction as high priests of the new Melchizedek order and to help God's work send the true gospel to the world. Notice in Hebrews chapter 13, who were the people addressed to here looking to? Were they looking to the Levites, to the high priest in Jerusalem for instruction? No. Notice in Leviticus 13.7, he says, It says, Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Look at the fruits. Verse 17, It says, It's not the Levites, not physical, unconverted Levites and high priests, as those who must give account, talking about to God, Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. So yes, in a sense, a minister is a coach to you, to serve you, to help you, to live a better life, but he's not living that life for you. Just like a coach is outside, you are the one that's participating. You're the one that's operating. You're the one that has to accomplish things, but the coach is there to encourage and to guide you and to help you in this way of life.

Now, this whole section of Hebrews, it would have been very easy to have said, Well, now the tithe is abolished, and now we just have volunteer offerings. That would have been ideal to put it there. But no, it says the tithing system is transferred now. It wasn't abolished. It wasn't changed by another system.

And so that's another lie that is being taught by the traditional Christianity. This was written at a time when the temple system was going to be destroyed in 70 AD. When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, we see he gave a similar teaching specifically that the practice of tithing was now in support of the ministry of the church.

Once the Jerusalem temple was no more, the church of God continued to grow. And even as late as the book of Revelation, it never states any change in the doctrine of tithing, but instead emphasizes that God's people are those who, quote, keep the commandments of God, it means all of them, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, Revelation 1217. The final point about tithing regards what will be done when Christ returns to the earth.

What about the people that survive the nations? Are they going to just have their own way of doing things, or is Christ going to establish His laws? You know that's the truth. And Ezekiel 44 is a description of the temple that Christ is going to set up when He returns. Ezekiel 44. And of course we have Isaiah 2 as well, which talks about the first four verses, that the law will come from Jerusalem. Ezekiel 44 verse 3. It says, As for the prince, because he is the prince, he may sit in it, talking about the temple, with Christ there, to eat bread before the Lord.

He shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the gateway and go out the same way. By the way, that prince is described in Ezekiel 34, 23, as being King David, resurrected. Also, 37, 24. Then it goes on to say, in verse 15, about the priests that will be the sons of Zadok that will serve Jesus Christ at that time, but the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near me to minister to me, and they shall stand before to offer me the fat and the blood, says the Lord God.

Then it says, verse 23, And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the unholy. The tithe is called holy. God has not abolished it and caused them to discern between the unclean and the clean. Now, let's talk about the foods. In controversy, they shall stand as judges and judge it according to the judgment. Remember, that first resurrection takes place.

They will be over the earth, but there will be human beings. There will be an earthly temple. Christ is going to show the world there wasn't anything wrong with those sacrifices that pointed to Him. And, of course, now they point back to what He did. But it's a good way of telling the nations this is the way that was planned from the original plan at all.

So, as we finish here, tithing is the 18th fundamental Biblical belief of the Church. In this booklet, we have fundamental beliefs. Number 18 says, We believe in tithing as a way of honoring God with our substance, and as a means of serving Him in the preaching of the Gospel, the care of the Church, attending the festivals, and helping the needy. Concerning the administration of this law, it is the duty of the Church to teach people to tithe, but it is the responsibility of the individual to obey. Tithing is a personal matter of faith between the individual and His Creator.

We teach that anyone devoted to following God should obey Him in this fundamental way. But it is not appointed to the Church to enforce and regulate tithe pay. So, I don't know who tithes here, and who doesn't. That's something that depends on the people. We have a financial team in this local congregation that takes up the Secretary, the Treasurer, they take up the tithes. They put it in the Church's bank account. They send receipts because they are tax deductible. But it is something that is between the person and God. So, to end, the main point is that the Bible emphasizes, if you put God to the test and tithe, you will be greatly blessed by Him.

We, as tithe-paying members, can attest to that divine promise being very true.