As we have seen, Mal. 3:8 says that failure to tithe is actually robbing God. So we should consider the biblical obligation of the tithe and how it affects us. The Mosaic Law mentions tithes in several places, and there is some dispute about how many tithes there were and what percentage of one’s income was finally required. Rushdoony presents one possible interpretation of the data:Also, Ra McLaughlin was kind enough to respond to this Reformed perspective arguing against tithing.
The regular tithe, ten percent of one’s income (Deut. 14:22) was then tithed to the priests, who received ten percent of the tithe (Num. 18:21-28 ). Thus, the church tithe was a fraction of the total tithe. The poor tithe, paid every other year (Deut. 14:28; Amos 4:4), alternated with the rejoicing tithe (Deut. 14:22-26) on each six-year cycle out of seven. Thus, the combined poor tithe and religious tithe, averaged out to about 15 percent per year; some say 18 percent. Some of the regular tithe went for levitical services to worship, and to music; much of it went to general social financing, i.e. to godly education and a number of other related services.
Of course, the priests had income from other sources as well. Portions of grain (Lev. 2:3, 10, 7:14) and meat (Lev. 7:31-36) from the sacrifices were eaten by the priests, and they also ate the showbread after it was removed from its stand in the tabernacle or temple (Lev. 24:9). The census head tax (Ex. 30:11-16) also went “for the service of the tent of meeting.”
The tithe was not a tithe on wealth, or even on income generally, but on agricultural produce. So, the tithes are not deposited in a bank, but in a storehouse (Mal. 3:10). The tithe is holy, and its holiness seems to be connected with the holiness of the Promised Land:
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. (Lev. 27:30)
It might be argued, therefore, that the tithe is not appropriate in the new covenant, in which the promise of Canaan fades away into the greater promise of the new heavens and new earth. We note however that Abraham, who owned no land in Canaan, paid a tithe to Melchizedek, the mysterious priest-king who in Hebrews foreshadows Christ (Gen. 14:20, Heb. 7:4-10). Can we give anything less to the Christ who fulfills the priesthood of Melchizedek?
The New Testament does not explicitly require the tithe, though it says much about giving. Its emphasis, in passages like 2 Corithians 8-9, is that giving should be voluntary and cheerful (2 Cor. 9:7-8 ), but also generous. In Acts 4:34-37, we read of Christians selling property to meet the needs of their poor. We shall look at their view of poverty in the next chapter. But radical giving seemed to be a rule for them, and a joy.
Newcomers sometimes ask church members how much money they should give to the church. The question seems crass, and church people often find various ways to avoid answering it. But for someone new to the Christian community it is a reasonable question. How much is expected, in general, a ball-park figure? 100%, (like the poor widow in Mark 12:42-43)? 80%,? 50%?, 10%? Well, in a way God demands all that we have, and sometimes he demands that in literal ways, as when he calls someone to martyrdom or to the poor widow’s moral heroism. But our inquirer is interested in what would be considered a normal amount, a base from which one may proceed to more extreme gifts. When I talk to such inquirers, I cannot get out of my head that again and again in the Old Testament the figure 10% recurs. That is the Lord’s portion. It may be that in the New Testament that amount is not strictly required. But surely the “cheerful” giving of 2 Cor. 9:7 cannot be much less than that. So I unashamedly recommend to inquirers the tithe, as a beginning of financial discipleship.
Update: Ra McLaughlin also responded to my question on whether all of his tithes must be given to his local church:
In my opinion, Malachi 3:10 does not teach that all of one's tithe ought to be given directly to the church.
The problem in Malachi was not that the people were giving some of their tithe to the Temple (where the storehouse was) and other portions of their tithe to other Levites. That is to say, God was not complaining about the misallocation of tithes. Rather, he was complaining about the fact that the people were not paying their tithes to anyone at all, but were keeping the tithes for themselves. So, he was instructing them to pay their tithes in full.
"Storehouse" is used here in a somewhat metaphorical sense. There really were storage rooms in the temple, and some of the tithes certainly could have been put there. But these storerooms certainly were not big enough to hold the full tithe. Moreover, the tithe was given to support all the Levites, not just those in the Temple, and the Levites were not required to travel to Jerusalem to obtain their sustenance. Rather, the Law seems to provide that they can receive tithes wherever they are. So, we should understand "storehouse" as referring more broadly to the Levites in general.
The church is not really the modern parallel to the ancient Levites. Rather, individuals who work in ministry are the closest parallel to the Levites. The church is a good place to give money in order to get it to the modern Levites, but this is not the only way to get money to these people.
7 comments:
Something that I have found to be controversial with tithing is that we are supposed to tithe our first fruits.
God doesn't just call us to give 10%, but to give 10% of our first. In ancient times, that would mean giving 10% of the season's produces.
The question, though, is what now qualifies as our "first fruits".
what do you think?
Perhaps there were more than 2 harvests in a season, the first one being the best. I think there's a passage in Proverbs which speaks of "all thine increase"..but I couldn't find it, because I remember it in KJ but I have an NIV concordance...anyway, seems kind of inline with the "firstborn" thing as well. jmo
yes, there were multiple harvests.
When I was growing up I lived on a farm. In one season we could have 2 or 3 harvests. Depends on how the year had been.
I am wondering, though, what the modern expression of this would be.
Should we give 10% of every pay check? Should we give 10% of our monthly income?
There's a difference with how the exhortation to tithe is expressed in our society, because we are not dependent on agriculture in the way that the Israelites were.
p.s. I believe the verse you were refering to was proverbs 3:9.
david,
I see your point. I think in our age, since we've moved from an agrarian society and economy, to an industrial/service economy, that our increase would be whatever we earn from our labors, investments, etc., and thus what our tithe is based on. As for firstfruits, I may be wrong on this, but I tend to think of that in terms other than money...on income itself, I would think of firstfruits in terms of before tax income...the gross. In terms of other things which we have stewardship over..time, talent, energy...i tend to think of it as my mentor once expressed to me...for most of us the first thing we think about in the morning (the beginning of a new day of life) is our bellies, the newspaper, etc. But in terms of giving God the firstfruits, since each day of life is in a sense, part of our increase, we should give our attention to the things of God first thing, rather than the things I mentioned above. Don't know if that's right or even makes sense, but it's how I kind of think of it.
John Frame is not a Dr., not that it matters. He's a great man and thinker.
Ron
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