Before I reply to the previous response by Notafraid, I would first like to address the group as a whole with some general comments.
First, there is a distinction to be made between three terms we often interchange when discussing the principles of Biblical giving. Those terms are giving, tithing, and firstfruits. Let me say upfront, these three terms ARE NOT THE SAME !. They are distinct terms and should not carelessly be used incorrectly, lest we have misunderstandings, which I find very prevalent today.
Giving is just what the name implies - it includes what we give to God. It is a very broad term and includes to some degree each of the other two and more. There are freewill offerings, mandatory offerings, tithes, firstfruit offerings; there is giving of things other than finances, like time; there is sacrificial giving, where there is a personal cost attached to the giving of the gift. It's a very broad category.
Firstfruits is a subset of giving; a very specific kind. Examples in scripture include agriculture and farming, such as giving the first of a crop to God in faith of what the entire crop will bring forth. Other examples include the required giving of the firstborn, a type of firstfruits of that which opened the womb. These were required giving in the OT economy. It never declares, for instance, in the case of your upcoming crop, how much or how big the firstfruits offering was, but it was the first. Many today use this as a guideline on giving to God, by giving the "first" of their income, etc.
Tithing is another animal altogether. As NotAfraid rightly said, all that "tithe" means is a "tenth". I will go into more detail on this shortly.
One of the terminology abuses I hear a lot, which irritates me to no end, is when someone says, "Well I tithe 20% to the church." I want to tell them that this is impossible. 10% never equals 20%. You can only "tithe" 10%, by definition. You can "give" any amount, but you can only "tithe" 10%. The term "tithe" has taken on a new meaning with many today.
Since many times when I come down hard against tithing I am critized for attacking giving. I want to say at the outset that this is not so. I am a firm believer in Biblical giving. There are numerous OT examples of freewill giving. This was how the temple was maintained when it fell in disrepair - giving. This is how the tabernacle in Moses' time was adorned - giving. Paul commanded us to be givers. We are never told in the NT how much to give but to give generously, bountifully, not grudgingly, as he purposes in his heart. We are to excel in giving. It all belongs to God anyway. This is what we are to do. This is NOT tithing, but giving, and should be called what it is.
Okay, what about tithing? What is it? Is it ceremonial or judicial in its being and hence, not for Christians, or is it valid for today? Here is what many people tell me that tithing is: They say tithing is giving 10% of your income to God. Some say 10% of the gross income; others say 10% of their net income. But, it seems, they ALL say 10% of their income. I am told that the tithe is not mandatory, but recommended; it is very highly encouraged and God tells us we should do it. If we tithe, we will receive God's blessings, moreso than if we don't. The tithe is to go to the "storehouse", which is the house of worship today. This is to support the day-to-day activities of the church and pay the preacher, much like the OT tithe supported the priests. This is what I am told and I am convinced is the main view of the Christian today.
My problem with this is simple. It's not what the Bible teaches. So........what does the Bible teach?
The majority of the occurrences of "tithe" or "tithing" in the Bible is found in the OT. In the OT law, tithing was the mechanism in the economy of God's people to support the tribe of Levi by imposing what is the equivalent of a "tax" on the other tribes. It really is more complicated than that because of how it is interwoven in the theocracy of Israel. God did not give the sons of Levi the same inheritance of land that He gave the others. He also put the tribe of Levi in charge of the tasks surrounding the corporate worship of God as He instructed in His law. All the priests were from the sons of Levi. The tithe was collected from all the rest of the tribes and given to the sons of Levi, both for worship and for their sustenance. No tithe meant the Levites had to go to work away from their temple/tabernacle duties to support their families, which caused neglect and downfall in the corporate worship.
Okay, the Israelites were commanded in their law to tithe. What were they to tithe? Interestingly enough, the ONLY things they are told to tithe are things from the land - their crops (including trees) and their livestock. Never were they commanded to tithe money. Or fish. Only stuff from the land. (I'll give my explanation for this later). Tithes could be turned into money for travel, but they had to be converted back upon arrival. (Yes, they HAD MONEY THEN). Tithes could be eaten. Sometimes they were to be eaten by the person giving the tithe. You just don't find anywhere a requirement for the carpenter to give 10% of his income to the Levites. It's not there! You DO find those people giving offerings.
What about those tithing verses like Malachi 3? I have to ask that you look at the context and see to whom they were addressed. In Malachi, the priests were being addressed for their violations as priests. One of those was in what they accepted as offerings and tithes. They were not following God's instructions and were being chastised for it. Not only that, their indiscretions and failure to do as God commanded caused God to withhold his blessings on the people until His laws of tithing were properly followed. Is this a verse addressed to us today? Absolutely NOT. In its context it fits strictly with the OT practice of tithing.
Is tithing for today or did it end? Some would have you believe that because Jesus endorsed the current practice of tithing in Matt 23 that Jesus was endorsing tithing today. After all, Matt is NT, isn't it? Yes, and No. While Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are part of our NT, we mistakenly think that they occurred in what we call NT times. They took place before the cross, so all the events during those books were during a time the Jews lived under OT law. Jesus was merely endorsing the fact that AT THAT TIME they had to follow the law. After he performed a healing, Jesus told the man to go to the priest. This was in following with the law. Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly; He kept the law in all points. Okay, when did the tithe end? When the entire sacrificial system of worship ended, tithing ended. It was an essential part of that system. When Jesus died on the cross, He put to an end the need for those sacrifices, because He was The Sacrifice. The role of the priest was changed as we ushered in the priesthood of the believer. The tithe went away with the system. Now, did the system end at that time? No, because the unbelieving Jews continued their sacrificial worship until it came to a halt in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem. In reality though, Jesus ended it on the cross.
Did anyone in the NT teach tithing? No, we don't see any evidence of that. In fact, the silence of scripture in this area makes a deafening point. If Peter, Paul and the apostles taught tithing, they would have a big problem. If they taught tithing according to the Law as I mention above, they would be teaching the opposite of what Hebrews and Galations teach about the law. If they taught tithing as a required giving for the new church, the Jews would be up in arms about this.........something we just don't see at all in the NT. Instead, the NT leaders taught GIVING. Tithing was a part of the law in the past that was no more.
What about those verses on tithing that pre-date the law? The ones in Genesis with Abraham, Melchizedek, and Jacob? How do they tie in with tithing and the law? Let's take a brief look at them. In Gen 14, you have the story of Abraham on a mission to rescue his nephew Lot, who has been captured in a war between kings of the region. Abraham gathers up a small force, attacks, and recovers his nephew and all the goods taken in battle. He brings back the spoils, gives a tenth to Melchizedek, and returns the rest. Notafraid is right in that it was a widespread practice of giving a tenth to a king or a god at that time. that is what Abraham did - he gave a tenth of the spoil in battle, as was the custom of the day. Was this the basis for the Biblical tithe? I don't believe it is. Lets look closer. What we have here is this: Abraham made a one time gift that was a custom of the day. He gave away of that which was not his. There is no evidence he gave a tenth of all his increase on a regular basis; scripture is silent on this. Yet this is considered the basis for the tithe used in the law. If this is the foundation, why, then, when Israel takes spoil in battle, as in Numbers 31, are the spoils not tithed on? If Gen 14 sets the foundation, Num 31 should follow. What I see in Gen 14 is a single event occurrence of giving of a tenth according to ancient custom. There is no evidence to support it otherwise.
And Jacob in Gen 28? I have heard from some that his grandfather Abraham taught Jacob about tithing, so Jacob made a vow to tithe in Gen 28. I do not believe this has any Biblical merit or support. Instead let me put out a different perspective, which, if true, forms a logical basis for where the tithe of the law came from. In Gen 28, Jacob was running from Esau. He was going from his home with Isaac and Rebekah that he had known all his life to relatives from his grandfather Abraham's house in Haran. God visited him at Bethel in a vision (what is known as Jacob's Ladder). At this point, Jacob makes a vow. Remember how seriously God takes vows. Jacob promises a tenth of all if God would do the things God promised him in his vision. Jacob said (v20) "If God will be with me and keep me (promised in v15).....and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace (also promised in v15 - to bring him back to this land), ......and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You". God showed him the land that would one day belong to his descendants (similar to what he did with Abraham) and promised that He would be with Jacob wherever he went. Jacob vowed giving a tenth to God if He did. What ever came of that vow? We know God takes them very seriously. That is addressed in Scripture over and over. What about this one? On the surface it seems that we have a promise to tithe. We also have a conditional situation. If God.......then Jacob. Where in scripture do we have resolution on this one? Most will say we don't. We never see Jacob tithe. In fact, during Jacob's lifetime, he does return but he never possesses the land promised by God. He lives in it like Abraham, but it's still a future promise. Here is where I think a lot of folks overlook a point. Jacob made a VOW. It will be repaid. I believe that when the children of Israel took over the land, and possessed the land, the promise from God was completed and Jacob's vow kicked in. Now, his descendents will pay a tithe on the land. Notice, Jacob vowed a tenth. Notice, the tithe described in the law is on the land -- fruit of the land and livestock. Interesting parallel. I think this is the correct source of where the tithe came from. If so, it reinforces that it is something that is obligatory only on the descendents of Jacob and then in response to fulfilling a vow.
In summary, please notice that there is little resemblance between what is called tithing today and what the Bible defines as tithing. We should be givers in the Biblical sense and not call what we do as "tithing"; it's not. It's giving. And we should give with all we have!
[This message has been edited by Coram Deo (edited 11/19/2004 7:37a).]
