Tithing & Giving
Opening Story:
Problem:
Scripture Reference X:XX (Translation)
4 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. b She said, “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man.” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
The Rich and the Kingdom of God
19:16–29pp—Mk 10:17–30; Lk 18:18–30
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18 “Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ h and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes
6 “I the LORD do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.
11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.
13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And praise be to God Most High,
who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Genesis 28:12–22 records that after dreaming of a ladder reaching to heaven at Luz, Jacob vows to give God a tenth of his possessions in gratitude of how God will bless him. Jacob renames the location Bethel, raising the possibility that Amos 4:4 refers to a tithing feast at Bethel (Tate, “Tithing,” 154).
Leviticus 27:30–33 elaborates on the tithing portion of Moses’ commandments, stating that every tenth of the produce of the land—whether vegetables, grain, or fruit—belongs to the Lord. It also records that a tenth of every herdsman’s flock and herd belongs to the Lord. The passage instructs the Levites to rely on these tithes for their sustenance since they have no lands of their own. However, they are not excluded from tithing; rather, the Levites are to set aside for the Lord a tenth of the tithe they receive.
Tithing is successfully reinstated as part of Hezekiah’s worship reforms and priestly reorganization in 2 Chr 31:2–12.
In Nehemiah 10:32–39 and 12:44–45 the people vow to reinstate the tithe after the exile. However, rather than instructing people to bring their tithes to the temple, the text specifies that the Levites will collect the tithes and bring them there (Neh 10:38; compare Köstenberger, “Will,” 66–68).
The prophet Malachi laments the priests’ and Levites’ abuse of tithing, depicting them as taking more than their share (Mal 3:8–12; compare Köstenberger, “Will,” 68–70).