Tithing: Difference between revisions

Ten percent of the gross income of God’s people funded the Levites (Num. 18:20–32).  The Levites were scattered all over the country and were not just in Jerusalem at the temple.  The Levites also included everyone in the tribe of Levi that worked in the temple - the priest, the song leaders and musicians, even the doormen and the janitors. In Nu 13:21–32 it is laid down that the tithe must be paid to the Levites, not just to the priests.

'''Another ten percent''' paid for the festivals that built community and celebration (Deut. 12:5-7, 17 & 14:22–27).  Yes, that is right, it was spent on parties and it was mandatory.  Can you even imagine if we all kicked ten percent of our gross aggregate income for parties?

'''Ten percent every third year''' went to help the poor (Deut. 14:28, 26:12-15). That’s 3.33 percent. In addition, there were gleanings for the poor and the alien. In addition, there were occasional tithes and offerings as a specific need would come up, i.e., the rebuilding of the wall in Ezra, Nehemiah, or with the creation of the tabernacle in Exodus. If you add that up, the total mandatory tithe was about twenty-five percent of your gross income.

On top of that, there were specific sacrifices and gifts that you were expected to give just out of joy, as particular needs arose. What that means is, no matter how you look at it, the tithe was well above twenty percent, depending upon the year, of your gross income going to your tithe.  And then, your taxes, and then you live on whatever is left.<ref>Mark Driscoll, Mark Driscoll Sermon Archive 2000-2004 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2000).</ref>

What is also clear is that the priests only got a small portion of the total tithe (ten percent of ten percent = one percent of income).

According to Lev 27:30–33, '''a tithe had to be given of the seed of the land''', i.e. of the crops, of the fruit of the tree, e.g. oil and wine, and of the herd or the flock (cf Dt 14:22, 23; 2 Ch 31:5, 6). As the herds and flocks passed out to pasture they were counted (cf Jer 33:13; Ezk 20:37), and every 10th animal that came out was reckoned holy to the Lord. The owner was not allowed to search among them to find whether they were bad or good, nor could he change any of them; if he did, both the one chosen and the one for which it was changed were holy. Tithes of the herds and flocks could not be redeemed for money, but tithes of the seed of the land and of fruit could be, but a 5th part of the value of the tithe had to be added.<ref>Paul Levertoff, “Tithe,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Volumes 1–5 (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 2987.</ref>

There is '''no indication in the Old Testament that any tithing was required on wages or profits'''.

:''What would a man take tithings for, if he had any... If he never was born, and never will die, and was from beginning to end, and--and never had no father or mother or descent, and owned the whole Heavens and earth and all in it, why would he take tithe? Why would he ask Abraham to pay tithes? You see what a strict thing it is to pay tithes? Tithing is right. Every Christian is duty bound to pay tithe. That's right. Never has been changed.</ref>HEBREWS.CHAPTER.SEVEN.1  JEFF.IN  57-0915E</ref>

:''He can do nothing till first you confess that He's did it, and accept it as your own personal property. You can't get saved by beating on the altar, or can't get saved by paying your tithe, or keeping some days, or abs--abstain from meats. You don't get saved by that. It's by faith are you saved, and that through the grace of God. You have to accept it first, and believe it as your own personal property, then you are saved. Same way by healing.<ref>THE.QUEEN.OF.SHEBA HARTFORD.CT 58-0503</ref>

:''God will provide the works. If you'll just walk in grace, you'll be more at work than you are right now with the Ladies Aid Society and all this other nonsense that's been added into the church. Soup suppers to pay the preacher, where'd you ever get such a thing as that Scripture? Tithes pays the preacher. He's to live by the tithes of the people. But we had to get something else to do. We have to have our part into it. And then if the--they can't make it up, there's another society will do it, another society. God's way is right. '''Tithes and offerings goes to Levi, which was the minister. I'''f everybody would pay their tithes you wouldn't have to have any soup suppers. See, you adopted something else and leave the tithings off. Say it's an Old Testament ar--argument. I'd like for you to prove it to me. That's right. You can't do it by God's Word; it's a New Testament order too. God makes one order, it can never be changed. It has to remain that way.THE.CHURCH.CHOOSING.<ref>LAW.FOR.GRACE  MIDDLETOWN.OH  61-0316</ref>

:''Now, but now: Does a Christian not get to heaven because they do not pay tithe?

:''That's a challenge to any individual. And if I only had the time, and would not get to this little Scripture that I wish to get to in about the next ten minutes, I would like to give you a personal testimony of how that I was even hungry, and my mother and them hungry, and my daddy sick, but I took my tithes out first and give it to God, and you ought to see what happened. I have never seen in my life, that any man or a woman, that if you only make one dollar a week, will bring the ten cents of that money and put it into your storehouse, your church where you come, if God don't bless that, call me a hypocrite. Yes, sir. That's a challenge to anybody. And every Christian... That goes to this other question. Every Christian should pay tithes. That's right. It should be done.<ref>GOD.BEING.MISUNDERSTOOD_  JEFF.IN  61-0723E </ref>

:''Well now, here--here's a touchy little thing for the church now. No, correctly, tithes is to go to the minister. That's right. In the Bible they had a box they'd set at the door in the Old Testament when the--building. This box was a fund where the people put in there for the repairing... You've read it many times in the Old Testament. They kept up the buildings and things like that... All the repairs on the buildings was taken care out of that fund. But a tenth of that went--a tenth of the tithings--'''all the tithings went to their priests, their pastors. Yes, tithings are to go for nothing else.'''

:''The '''tithings goes into the church for the pastor''' and so forth like that to live on. And then the--the--the building funds and things like that is a separate fund altogether. Now, that--that is Scriptural.

:''One time when we get started, I want to take a night... I've went here some time ago before I left the tabernacle and taken about two or three weeks and just on subjects like that and went plumb through it and showed what tithings was in the church.<ref>QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS_  JEFF.IN  61-1015M</ref>

:''Yes, sir. I believe in paying tithes. It's one of God's blessings that's proven to be a blessing. You say, "That's of the Old Testament." It is of the New Testament too. Yes, sir.<ref>QUESTIONS.AND.ANSWERS.2  JEFF.IN  64-0823E</ref>