- In further studying the Mosaic Law, we see that in the seventh year (as well as every 50th year, the year of Jubilee), there was to be no planting, no reaping, and no tithing (Lev. 25:1-7). Jewish historians explain that they were allowed a break from tithing every 7th and 50th year. (When do tithe teaching churches allow their congregation a yearlong break from tithing? Never, because the entire concept of requiring Christians to tithe their monetary income to a church is entirely unbiblical).
- The tithe didn’t go directly to priests, and as recorded in Numbers 18:21-24 and Nehemiah 10:37, it went to the servants of the priests, the Levites. We see in Numbers 18:25-28 and Nehemiah 10:38, that the Levites and priests then gave the best “tenth of this tithe” (1%), to the priests who ministered and served inside the holy places. In the Mosaic Old Covenant, priests didn’t tithe (this is an important point which will be discussed at the end of this lesson).
- It is also important to know that, in exchange for receiving these tithes, both Levites and priests forfeited all rights to permanent land inheritance inside Israel (Numb. 18:20-26; Deut. 12:12; 14:27, 29; 18:1, 2; Josh. 13:14, 33; 14:3; 18:7; Ezek. 44:28).
- Because of this, offering a tithe was a necessary way to provide food for the priests and Levites so that there would be equality. God had given land to all of the other tribes while not giving any land to the tribe of Levi, therefore to make things equal, landowners simply gave a portion of food to the tribe of Levi.
- In the Hebrew economy, tithes were also used as political taxes for their Theocratic government. The Levites who received the tithe were only part time servants to the priests and were also public officials of the state, and tithes were included as state taxation to support them. Numbers chapter 3 describes the Levites as being carpenters, metal workers, leather-craftsmen, and according to First Chronicles chapters 23-26, during the time of King David and King Solomon the Levites were craftsmen who inspected and approved all work in the Temple: 24,000 worked in the Temple as builders and supervisors; 6,000 were officials and judges; 4,000 were guards and 4,000 were musicians. King David used these tithe receiving Levites as the core of his government. As political representatives of the king, Levites used their tithe of food as payment to serve as officials, judges, tax collectors, treasurers, temple guards, musicians, bakers, singers and professional soldiers (1 Chron. 12:23, 26; 23:2-5; 26:29-32; 27:5). They held these full time jobs while also working in the Temple part time (information from Russell Earl Kelly PhD).
- Jesus was born as the son of a carpenter and since He didn’t produce food, He didn’t tithe. Laborers didn’t tithe food, only land owners who were farmers or herdsmen tithed food, and any reliable Jewish historian can explain this. The only record of His giving is the paying of the annual Temple tax (approximately 2 days wages), although Jesus explained that He didn’t have to pay it (He taught that children of a king don’t pay taxes) and that He only paid the tax so that no one would be offended (Matt. 17:24-27).
- But doesn’t it seem unfair that in the Old Covenant, only the landowners who produced food were required to tithe? What about those who worked in the other trades that didn’t ever have to tithe; what was required of them, other than freewill offerings? We see in Deuteronomy 15:1 the answer of how they contributed and who the beneficiary would’ve been, “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.” Wow! Not that we now keep the Mosaic Law, but we can clearly see who would’ve been the major recipient of actual money: that would’ve clearly been those who were struggling financially and unable to pay off their debts. This is how people in the Old Covenant primarily gave money to God, and helping people in need is clearly explained throughout the Old Testament. Scripture promotes justice and EQUALITY, (with the exception of those who are willfully lazy, see 2 Thessalonians 3:10). Why is this message never preached of how people with money in the Old Covenant gave to God, when the modern “church” tells us that we are commanded to tithe to it, regardless of how much debt we owe to others?
- Here’s more from Deuteronomy 15 regarding giving before that seventh year release of all debts, “you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him… For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy.’” This, again, was how people gave to God, it did not all go to a religious organization.
- What’s amazing to see in Scripture is that it appears that the majority of the giving of money, even in the Old Testament times, went to people in need rather than to a religious organization. Real people have real needs, and God is more concerned with real people than “religion.”
- What did Jesus say in his very first sermon? “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Unfortunately in our modern assemblies, there are some believers who are struggling to make ends meet and to put food on the table, yet they’re being oppressed by being falsely told that God commands tithing to a religious organization.
- Jesus’s message to the Pharisees who tithed (which was still during the time period of the Old Covenant) was, “Woe to you… for you tithe [down to the smallest amount of food]… but you ignore the more important aspects of the law- justice, mercy, and faith” (Matt. 23:23). Scripture teaches that the more important eternal moral principles are love, justice, mercy and faith. Again, when Jesus spoke those words to the Pharisees it was while the Old Covenant was still in existence, and the New Covenant hadn’t yet begun, therefore it isn’t a command for New Covenant Christians. If anyone doubts that Jesus lived during the time of the Old Covenant, Galatians 4:4-5 explains, “God sent forth His Son… born under the law [i.e., Mosaic Law], to redeem those who were under the law.” Jesus confirmed that during this Old Covenant time period that they were to tithe food, yet He didn’t say we are to perpetually tithe food after the New Covenant had arrived, (the New Covenant began when He gave His life for us at Calvary and when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost).
- Immediately before that passage, in contrasting the Pharisees’ meticulous tithing, in Luke 11:41 Jesus said, “clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.” Furthermore, in Luke 18:9-14, Jesus mentions tithing one last time, yet He teaches that the man in the story who was justified was the man who didn’t tithe, and this proves that tithing is not a requirement; what is more important is the attitude of the person’s heart. Jesus later explained that the Temple was going to be destroyed, which it was in 70 A.D., and the destruction of the Temple was the official, final end of tithing food. The physical destruction of this building was part of God’s plan. The veil has been torn, and we now have direct access to the Father.
- In all of Scripture, there are only a mere 18 passages that discuss tithing.
- In Numbers 18 verses 8,11,19 and 23, in Deuteronomy 12:1 and in Malachi 3:7, tithing was specifically referred to as just a statute or ordinance of the Mosaic Law, and therefore it was never stated as being an eternal principle. Tithing food was directly tied to the Mosaic Law and Ephesians 2:15 specifically shows that these ordinances have been abolished, while Colossians 2:14 also shows that the ordinances have been blotted out and nailed to the cross. Wherever tithing is mentioned throughout the Bible, it is usually surrounded by other religious ordinances that are universally understood as being nailed to the cross and not applicable to the New Covenant (information from Russell Earl Kelly). Matthew Narramore has written, “The most important things in God’s kingdom are clearly revealed. Anything as important as an eternal, universal law of tithing would have been clearly communicated. It would not have been left to speculation and presumption.”
- Micah 6 states, “Should we offer [food to God]? No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to : to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
- Hosea 6:6 states, “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
- Jesus declared in Matthew 9:13, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- The New Scofield Reference Bible shows that, “until the Law was given, the head of each family was the family priest (Genesis 8:20; 26:25; 31:54)” and that “when the Law was proposed, the promise to perfect obedience was that Israel should be to God a ‘kingdom of priests’ (Exodus 19:6), but Israel violated the law (by worshiping the golden calf), and God shut up the priestly office to the Aaronic family” and instead appointed the tribe of Levi to minister to Israel (Exodus 28:1). It is clear in Exodus (even before the Ten Commandments and the ordinances of the Mosaic Law) that God’s original plan was that Israel should transition from the head of each family being the priest as mentioned in Genesis, to then each and every single one of God’s chosen people all together becoming a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6). Before the Israelites sinned by worshiping the golden calf, all that was required from the people was simply an offering from, “every man that gives it willingly with his heart” (Exodus 25:2), or in other words, all that was needed was freewill offerings. But rather than becoming a kingdom of priests, their sin of worshiping the golden calf in Exodus 32 caused a temporary Levitical priesthood to be established which was to be supported by tithes of food (because priests and Levites weren’t given a land inheritance) until Jesus would establish the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9).
- Because of Jesus’s payment on the cross and His resurrection, we are now in the New Covenant and there is a new priesthood. We who trust, follow and obey Christ are now all priests; a royal and holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5-9). Saying that we must give a tithe to a church would be the same as Catholics who are told that they have to confess to a priest and pray to Mary. They aren’t taught that they can confess and pray directly to God without needing an intercessor. In the same way, as far as tithes, we are now all part of the same priesthood and we who are filled with the Spirit are all called to do the Father’s will. If tithing were enforced, we would tithe to each other, which wouldn’t make any sense. It’s interesting to note that Old Covenant priests didn’t tithe, and in the New Covenant WE are now all called priests. That passage didn’t use a metaphor to say that we are “like” priests. Instead, we are now all called priests (1 Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; Isaiah 61:6), therefore, this is yet another reason why we are not obligated to tithe. Furthermore, in the New Covenant we are the temple (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:19-21). We are to give as we are able, but we aren’t commanded to tithe, because the Levitical priesthood has been abolished.
“Helping People See Jesus and Exploring All That He Has Fulfilled” 