Tithing and giving under the Law
Although as a Christian, we are not bound under the Law because of the completed work of Jesus Christ [Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil (Matthew 5:17)], it does not mean that we should not study the Law. The whole purpose of the Law is to show that we do need God’s grace and salvation. For under the Law, we see the sinfulness of our own hearts and minds. Tithes actually predate the Law and the first mention of tithing comes from Abraham: And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all (Genesis 14:17-20). The “tithe” was simply 10% or one-tenth of the annual increase regardless of where it came from. It didn’t matter if it were a gift, a spoils of war, or simply wages of work that caused the increase. One-tenth belonged to God.
Under the Law, the tithe became commanded as a way to support the Levites involved with the ministries of the Lord. The tribe of Levi was not given a portion of the promised land of their own because their primary responsibility was to serve the Lord: When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul (Deuteronomy 26:12-16).
God was placing before humanity a condition of obedience to gain God’s blessings. The children of Israel were to bring their tithes into the Lord, and not just anywhere they felt like taking it. The prophet Malachi wrote, Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10), again not only placing the conditioning of receiving blessings from the Lord, but also instructions on where the tithe belonged.
Malachi also wrote identifying two types of giving that the children of Israel were supposed to do: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8). Again, the tithe is defined as one-tenth or 10% of an increase. Offerings were not the same as tithes and were not to be considered as being a part of tithing. It is above and beyond the tithe. The first mention of any offering to the Lord is mentioned in Genesis: And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD (Genesis 4:3). A number of commentaries (John Wesley’s Commentary, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and Adam Clarke’s Commentary) provides some interesting insight into the story of the offerings of Cain and Abel, but that is for a later time. One of the relevant things that all three mention is that the “process of time” was a set time, probably the Sabbath, where Adam had taught his children to honor God by presenting an offering. Some of the things that made the largest difference in why Cain’s was rejected was his attitude of ungratefulness, of his self-pride and self-righteousness, and willful disobedience. Where the tithe is commanded, and the offerings desired by the Lord, the offerings were to be made out of love and reverence for God.
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