Practical Issues
Give Me Your Heart
Before the Law
The Law
New Testament
Giving
by Graham Jones - The Church at Gun HillNow ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
Philippians 4 vv 15
Tithing and the Law
A Burdensome Rule
Having considered Abraham's story, let us now look at what the law required. The law made tithing a duty. Every Israelite had to give a tenth. In Deuteronomy 14 v 22 and in Leviticus 27 vv 30 - 34 you can read about the laws of tithing. Tithing was done on the increase of the field, seed that was sown, tithing of animals and such like. A tenth was taken out and given to the Lord. It was commanded. It had to be done. When the harvest came in, there would be so much grain and a tenth would be for the Lord. And when they counted the cattle in, every tenth one was for the Lord. It was the Lord's. It was holy to Him. There was no other option. If they wanted to be part of Israel, it had to be done. But we who are born again of God's Spirit, we who are saved are not in that situation. The Word of God shows to us that we are now moved by His Spirit within, we are guided by Him and taught by Him. We are no longer children or babes who need the schoolmaster of the law to constrain or restrain us. We are free from that. We are free to do His will and to walk in His Spirit. Yet churches will get into this business of making rules, particularly rules on tithing, of giving a tenth. In fact, I know of one fellowship, which requires its members to sign a tithing agreement. As far as leadership is concerned, that is 'lording it over God's people' and should not happen. From the fellowship's point of view, it is bondage. Leaders even get into Pharisaical arguments about whether the 10% should be before or after tax and before you have paid your pension or superannuation contribution or after. I do not want to get into that sort of discussion. It is the sort of thing the Pharisees did.Should I value every gift I am given so that I can give a tenth? Do I have to go through all my Christmas presents and work out their value so that I can give a tenth? I feel that it is bondage to a law that loses sight of the true blessedness of giving, but if that is what you feel the Lord wants you to do, then, by all means, do it! A brother I respected very much used to do that. He was a very godly man and he felt that that was what the Lord wanted him to do. That is fine and I would not seek to dissuade any such people. However, I believe it would be wrong to start making rules about it to make everyone do it. Where would we stop? Would we tithe on store discounts, 'two for the price of one' items, invitations to dinner at someone else's house and so on? What does making such rules do? It riddles people's consciences with guilt if they do not do it. They are always anxious in case they have left some item out. It brings people under a burden. Jesus said of the Pharisees of his day, "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers." (Matt.23 v 4)
This 'rule' system also creates the wrong idea that once I have given my 10% then the rest is mine. Every believer should come to the realisation that 'what I have is not my own' - it is the Lord's, 100%.
The Third Year Rule
Now, there is a part of the rule that they tend not to quote in evangelical teaching on the subject: in Deuteronomy 26 v 12 and in other Old Testament scriptures, it tells us that the 10% was given, a tithe, in the year of tithing, every third year. Do you hear that rule being taught in evangelical circles? Have you heard a rule that the tenth has to be paid once every three years. No way! The tithe was given every three years. That bit dropped by the wayside in making up the rules based on Old Testament law. Churches may be interested, for financial reasons, in the 10%, but not in the 'every third year' rule. (See also Deuteronomy 14 v 28). Rules like this run the risk of being an outward observance only. That is what is wrong with rules and regulations. It is mere outward observance. Anybody could do it. You can get unsaved people into churches and make them conform to the church rules. You could require them to give 10% if they are to remain members. They are not saved, but you can make them give a tenth. It is hollow and meaningless.The Proverb said, "Give me your heart!" Give in love.
Tithing for Effect
Centuries before Christ, the Lord spoke through Amos the prophet. There is a certain sarcasm (not in the nasty human sense, you understand) that comes through the message of Amos. In Amos 4 v 4, God says: "Come to Bethel, and transgress;" He is telling the people: 'This is what you are doing now. Go on! This is what you want to do, is it not? Go to Bethel!' (What is Bethel? It means 'The House of God.) - 'Go to Bethel and transgress.' Why? Because there was sin there. There was idolatry. "...at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:..." (there is the three year rule again) "...and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free offerings:" God is pointing out to them in this manner of speaking that, even as they outwardly keep the law's requirements on giving and sacrifices, they are blatantly living sinful and idolatrous lives. The Lord continues: "For this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God. And I have also given you cleanness of teeth (because they have nothing to eat) ..in all your cities, and want of bread in all your places: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord."God was saying to them, "You can carry on doing all that you are doing according to the law, the sacrifices and the tithe every three years, but you have not returned unto me."
These are the things we have to avoid. Yet it seems to me that, time and again in evangelical circles in particular, leaders and people fall into the traps about which the Scriptures warn. Remember that Jesus said to the Pharisees, in Matthew 23 v 23, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, (herbs)" - Well, there is nothing wrong with that particularly - although it is getting to the point of being ridiculous, pulling off little bits of plant to tithe - but He added, "...(you) have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment (or justice), mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not leave the other undone." And if you read the passage in Luke's gospel (Luke 11 v 42), the Lord refers to their omitting the weightier matters of the law and judgment but He also speaks about the love of God. "You have the duty of tithing down to a fine art, but you have passed over the love of God."
When it comes to rules, people do like to get things down to fine detail. 'Observing the law? We make sure we keep it in every respect. We are going to give a tithe or a tenth of our income. We are going to give a tithe of every gift that anybody gives us. We are going to give a tithe of every little herb that grows in the garden. We are going to give a tithe of everything.' But this is boasting in our own works. If we pass over the love of God, then it is all meaningless in the light of what is missed. No, Jesus did not say that you should not be giving. He said, "This you should have done, but if you had done it in the right way, you would have given me all."
You see, tithing was also done for another reason. It was done for show, to be seen to be religious or pious. In Luke 18 v 12, the Pharisee said, "I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." There is a danger of its becoming a human boast, a pride in how much and how regularly one tithes. And yet Jesus, when He was speaking in Matthew 6 vv 1 - 4, said, "Make sure, when you give alms, that you do not do it before men to be seen of men." From Matthew 6 vv 3,4 we get that expression in the English language, which people now use in a variety of contexts: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which sees in secret Himself shall reward thee openly." In other words, let it be between you and the Lord, not boastfully or for show. Mere outward observance of the law is no good. The function of the law was to act as a tutor (or schoolmaster) to bring us to Christ. Israel missed Christ and carries on with the outward observance only. Evangelicals, if they are not careful, will also get the outward observance only. Even though they are Christians, they will miss Christ in their giving.
Who Gets the Tithe?
I believe that if we look at the law we will find the right principle there, a principle which goes right through scripture and finds its fulness in the New Testament. There is a principle of giving; there is a principle of tithing.
In Numbers 18 v 21 it tells us that the tithes were for the Levites, the priests. The 10% of grain and of the flocks and so on, that was for the Levites. The priests had no inheritance. They had no provision from work, because their work was to minister in the things of the Lord, in spiritual things. Here was their provision. It came from the tithe of the people. Now who is the tithe for in the New Testament? Peter said, "You are a holy priesthood." The priesthood of all believers is a truth held by Bible-believing Christians... and the tithes were for the priests.
However, even in the Old Testament, the tithes were not exclusively for the Levites. The tithes were also for the givers and for the poor and needy, that there might be blessing amongst the people of God. Look at Deuteronomy 12 vv 17, 18:
"Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: but thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy god shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto."
Who is going to eat of the tithes? The giver... you shall eat of them.
Deuteronomy 14 vv 22 to 25:
"Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which He shall choose to place His Name there, the tithe of Thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set His Name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: then thou shalt turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose."
So, if you had a sheep which was the tithe, and you could not carry it all the way to Jerusalem, you sold it. You then took the money to Jerusalem and when you arrived there (vv 26 to 29):
"...thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: (you do not hear this in evangelical teaching) and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, and the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part not inheritance with thee.
At the end of three years (there is the three year rule again) thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: and the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest."
And so the principle that I find here is a principle of the blessing of God. And it is in the law. If you take that away and just have a law of giving a tenth, putting it in the money-box and then going away, duty done, then there is no blessing. But, here in the law, is the blessing of the Lord brought forth and all are satisfied - the poor, the needy, the priest that ministers, all are provided for. There is a wonderful provision because the people of God are a giving people. There is a blessing in it. There is a principle of blessing. Hallelujah!
The Principle of Blessing
I want you to see these principles, these blessings in the Old Testament laws, so that when we come to the New Testament, you can see the fulness of blessing in Christ Jesus. Please look at the first two verses of Deuteronomy 26: "And it shall be that when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shalt choose to place His Name there."It then proceeds to instruct them what they had to say, how to testify of the Lord's bringing them out - how He brought Abraham out and how he brought them out of Egypt and so on. Then from verse 9: "And He hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which Thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God: and thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, (there it is again!) 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."
It is blessing, blessing, blessing, not burden, burden, burden. They themselves are rejoicing in what they are giving. It is truly marvellous - and this is the Old Testament. This is the law and yet, as we see what it is pointing to in Christ Jesus, we can also witness the principle working behind the law. There is blessing, God's blessing, in giving.
They re-discovered this principle in the time of King Hezekiah. Do you remember what happened? When the people were repairing the temple, they found the book of the law. It had been lost and its contents neglected. People had become ignorant of what it said. When they found it, Hezekiah caused it to be read before him. Amongst other things, they read all about tithing and decided that it was time to start tithing according to the commandment of the law. But they did not do it in a spirit of burden, groaning heavily at another imposition on their resources. No, they found that as they entered into the spirit of the law, that there was great blessing upon them. It was an act of free-will which brought them into great blessing. Hallelujah!
Look at 2 Chronicles 21 vv 5 - 10:
"And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the fields; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. (Tons of the stuff!)
In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month (four months collecting it all together - what a feast!)
And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord, and His people Israel. Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah, the chief priest of the house of Zadok, answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store."
There was blessing - a restored blessing. What the people gave when they tithed, they gave of their own free will and they were abundantly blessed. That was the law.
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