When you have set aside in full the tenth part of your yield –in the third year, the year of the tithe – and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, Deuteronomy 26:12

Tenth Part – Every year it seems like we hear the same questions:  “Do I really have to tithe?” “Who should receive my tithe?” “Do those Old Testament rules really apply to me?” Maybe you don’t frame the questions with the same self-serving tone.  After all, it’s pretty clear that the one who asks like this really doesn’t think that all his resources are God’s to begin with.  His questions are about how little he can get by with (like Cain), rather than what little God actually requests.  Nevertheless, tithing seems to be one of those topics that is generally misunderstood and certainly misapplied.   It is particularly curious that Christians who claim that the Old Testament rules no longer apply because we are under grace still seem to think tithing is mandatory.

There are some crucial background assumptions behind this commandment to tithe.  First, this is a commandment for those inside the community.  It does not apply to people who are not followers.  In contemporary terms, that means it does not apply to church attendees.  It only applies to people who have died to self and volunteered to be ruled by the Lord according to His constitution.  A lot of people who attend churches are not subject to this commandment because they really aren’t slaves of the King.  There is no sense at all in pressing them to give.  Why should they?  They are ruled by themselves.  If they have not adopted voluntarily the government of Torah obedience, then there is no point in pressing them to tithe.  They are not really in the community.

Second, notice who receives the tenth.  The first group is the Levitical priests who are called to serve God.  This is determined exclusively by bloodline.  I’m sorry, but most pastors today are not Levites.  They don’t qualify.  The Levites receive some of the tithe because they are prohibited from owning any part of the land.  The community takes responsibility for their sustenance because God excluded them from ownership. 

Notice the other groups.  The rest of the receipents are the disadvantaged – the orphans, the strangers and the widows.  Under God’s commandment, the community is responsible for the welfare of those who cannot care for themselves.  Orphans and widows are obvious.  In an agrarian society, they had no means of livelihood.  Someone had to step in.  But the stranger?  Why would God command His people to care for someone outside their group?  The answer is also obvious.  A stranger in the land is someone who has no means of support.  He can’t make a living from his own crops.  So, the community is required to care for him.  We see care for both the widow and the stranger in the story of Ruth.  This stranger is part of the community but not an owner in the community.  Whenever the community encounters someone that God brings into its circle, care is part of the obligation.

Now the shocker!  It looks like this verse says that this tithe happens only in the third year.  Does that mean that the other years I am not required to tithe.  No!  The tithe is given every year, but in the third year the tithe is not consumed by the priests or the giver.  It is exclusively set aside for the poor, the priests and the stranger.  No tithes are given in the sabbatical year (the seventh year).  Therefore, there is a four year gap between tithes set aside exclusively for these groups.  So, nothing is given in the seventh year and everything given every four years (including the sabbatical year) is exclusively for the poor, the strangers and the Levites.

Now set aside the exact timing and ask yourself these questions:  1) If the third year tithe is exclusively for the Levites and the disadvantaged, how can we justify today’s collection for buildings, staff and programs?  Aren’t we who are followers of the King asked to set aside our third-year tithe exclusively for the poor?  2) If there is no tithe at all in the seventh year, aren’t we violating God’s explicit orders when we ask (or demand) that every year’s offerings go to supporting the “church?”  3) What would happen if we actually tithed according to God’s design?  Wouldn’t we have to change a lot of things that we do under the banner of “church” because we would no longer be pressing the congregation to support it all?  Gee, maybe the “church” would cease operating like a corporation. J

Topical Index:  tithe, poor, Levite, sabbatical year, Deuteronomy 26:12