Tithing in Old Testament
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The Tithe
State: So what does the word tithe mean and where did the practice come from?
Is a prescribed amount to give God?
State: Tithe means: ten (Nothing new here)
(Patriarchal Religion, p. 175): (Abraham’s home culture knew about giving to their God)
"This offering of tithes was no new thing. In his Babylonian home Abram must have been familiar with the practice. The cuneiform inscriptions of Babylonia contain frequent references to it.
It went back to the pre-Semitic age of Chaldea, and the great temples of Babylonia were largely supported by the esra or tithe.
That the gods should receive a tenth of the good things which, it was believed, he had bestowed upon mankind was not considered to be asking too much.
There are many tablets in the British Museum which are receipts for the payment of the tithe to the great temple of the sun-god at Sippara, in the time of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors.
From one of them we learn that Belshazzar, even at the very moment when the Babylonian empire was falling from his father's hands, nevertheless found an opportunity for paying the tithe due from his sister."
State: Obviously the idea of 10% was already well accepted in the culture of that time and handed down from some authority through the previous generations.
I believe the concept came from God through Adam’s children
Genesis 4:2-4 (New Living Translation)
3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock.
Giving something back to God was done by the very first inhabitants of the earth.
State:
By the time we move up many centuries, we find Abraham also held this custom
Abraham voluntarily practiced the same honouring of God in....
Genesis 14:18-21
18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High,
who has defeated your enemies for you.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
State:
Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, years later, also instinctively discovered the act of giving as a form of worshiping God:
Genesis 28:20
And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me
State:
So even Jacob instinctively responded to the sovereignty of God by giving back to him…..
It was again a voluntary act of worship!
IMPORTANT- THIS WAS ALL BEFORE MOSES AND THE LAW
State: Moses formalized the tithe...
It appears that there were 3 tithes mentioned in the Torah.
(Leviticus 27:30;Numbers 18:26; Deuteronomy 14:24; 2 Chronicles 31:5).
In fact, the Old Testament Law required multiple tithes
one for the Levites, (sacred - for the payment of the priests and the upkeep of the worship structure)
one for the use of the temple and the feasts,
and one for the poor of the land—
which would have pushed the total to around 23.3 percent.
The first, called the Lord’s tithe,
consisted of the 10% of the harvest that went to support the priests and Levites since they were given no inheritance of land.
(Numbers 18:21)
21 As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives, I will compensate them for their service in the Tabernacle. Instead of an allotment of land, I will give them the tithes from the entire land of Israel.
State:
The first tithe, the one we trace back to Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20), is the sacred tithe, given to the Levites and priests for their service to the temple and the congregation in the Old Testament. This is the tithe we continue to give in the New Testament. It is the tithe consecrated to God and the furtherance of the gospel and has, therefore, validity for all believers in Christ.
State: How serious is God about giving your finances to keep the building and priests going.
1 On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’ ” 3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! 6 You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! 7 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! 8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. 9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. 10 It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. 11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.” 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!” 14 So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, 15 on September 21 of the second year of King Darius’s reign.
State:
Does God really care about a house for his name....
27 “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!
State:
This is not about God having a place to dwell on the earth.
This was about his people honoring him by spending time, and effort and money to worship him.
Then there was a 2nd tithe / Festival Tithe
The second tithe had an entirely different aspect, the tithing system reveals that several thousand years back, Israel had something that resembles the Christmas Club savings system,
A Christmas club, also called a holiday club account, is a type of savings account in which people make routine deposits throughout the year. The accumulated savings are then withdrawn before the holiday season to provide funds for holiday shopping and other expenses, like travel
The Levitical law required that a Jew had to go up to Jerusalem on certain occasions for periods of vacation for the family. And how should the head of the household provide for the vacation expense? By setting aside a second tithe, the one described in Deuteronomy 14:22-27, the tithe for the feasts.
(Deut. 14:22-27)
2 “You must set aside a tithe of your crops—one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. ..Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.
Goes on to say..
Then feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and celebrate with your household. 27 And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.
Thus the second tithe was dedicated to the good of man himself, for a vacation and specifically, a vacation with a religious purpose, such as going to camp meeting.
that the people consumed themselves each year at the Feast of Tabernacles in a nationwide celebration of God’s provision.
State:
The Lord has no problem with you having money and enjoying yourself with it
Just remember others who don’t have what you have and be generous
The 3rd tithe was the tithe for the poor.
The third tithe was the tithe for the poor. According to our text in Deuteronomy 14:28, 29,
New Living Translation Chapter 14
28 “At the end of every third year, bring the entire tithe of that year’s harvest and store it in the nearest town. 29 Give it to the Levites, who will receive no allotment of land among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.
this tithe was given only every third year. As the text states, the produce had to be laid up in "your towns" for the Levite, sojourner, fatherless, and the widow. It suggests that the distribution was not left to the individual but was a community project to which everybody had to contribute. This tithe, therefore, was for the neighbor.
State:
Summarizing the three types of tithe in the Old Testament period we find a much broader concept of giving than we generally assume, giving that included first, God; second, man's own physical and spiritual welfare; and third, their neighbor's need. God, you, and your neighbor is a good trinity in planning one's giving.
State: So if you want to adhere to the old testament “tithe”..you will need to give a lot more than you are now…
But there is an interesting fact about tithing which is VERY important
the verb 'to tithe' is used in only five passages in the OT
Gen 28:22,
Deut 14:22,
Deut 26:12,
1 Sam 8:15, 17,
Neh 10:37-38'.
'In four of these passages, tithing is described as an act of worship to God.”