The manner of tithing, as described by Moses Maimonides, was this:
“He [the owner] gathers all the lambs and all the calves into a field, and makes a little door to it, so that two cannot go out at once; and he places their dams without, and they bleat, so that the lambs hear their voice, and go out of the fold to meet them, as it is said, whatsoever passeth under the rod: for it must pass of itself, and not be brought out by his hand; and when they go out of the fold, one after another, he begins and counts them with the rod: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and the tenth that goes out, whether male or female, whether perfect or blemished, he marks it with a red mark, and says, ‘This is the tithe.'” (Hilchot Becorot, c. 6, sect. I; from Gill’s Exposition on Lev. 27:32.)
INTRODUCTION
“Tis ridiculous to say, the tithes are God’s part, and therefore the clergy must have them; why? so they are (God’s) if the laity has them.” (John Selden).
Defining the modern Church’s tithe is very elusive. However, as a believer, writer and former practitioner I have made the following observation: The majority of organizations practice a mandatory tithe, few practice voluntary tithing.
According to this view, tithing is to pay 10 % of your money income to the church you attend and are “spiritually fed.” Opinions vary as to whether the income is gross or after tax. It is a grave sin to withhold the tithe, that of robbing God. The scripture used to validate this is Malachi 3:8-12.
Merriam-Webster Online dictionary gives us the modern meaning of tithe: a tenth part of something paid as a voluntary contribution or as a tax, especially for the support of the clergy. This meaning has been the same since 1994.
THE PRESENT TEACHING
The modern Church system divides the congregation into “clergy” and “laity” for tithing.
The clergy is the church hierarchy of leaders who receive tithes while the laity pays.
It is the duty of the clergy to instruct the laity how to cheerfully pay the tithes.
The doctrine of monetary tithing to maintain the clergy is unquestionable.
The laity must be taught to recognize that buildings, programs and educating instructors, ‘cost money.’
There is little objection by the laity as making a contribution from their income towards the financing of the organizations spiritually feeding them is seen as good, right and proper.
However, it is not always presented this way, rather the introduction to tithing of new believers is gradual and very subtle.
They are taught that God has ordained a system of priesthood or leadership in the Church to which their submission is expected.
In addition, it is the divine right of this priesthood to be financed by tithes, first fruits, offerings and any other regular demands. The tithe, therefore, is not just a suggested amount, rather it is said to be the command of God given to Adam in Eden to pass on to all generations. Therefore, Christians are to pay tithes according to this universal law implicit in the Bible.
Many leaders in the clergy soften the legalistic form of this requirement by presenting various passages of Scripture as if the verses agreed with this teaching. They say people should be gracious in giving of their tithes.
Many Pastors use the verses from Malachi to announce that not bringing the “tithes and offerings” to the house of God, is an unpardonable sin which separates people from their “blessings”. The problem of using the above passage and other similar Old Testament passages, to support the application of tithing is these passages and the Law behind it belong to the Israelite. The Law is a part of the Holy Scriptures inspired of God, but not for that purpose.
LIMITATIONS OF THE PRESENT TEACHING
Today’s Church tithing is not the same as the Biblical.
You cannot give something you owe; you can only pay it. The supporters of tithing claim it is a condition to entering into the Kingdom. It is not enough to be born again, but you must also pay your way.
Biblical tithing was of the “land, the flocks and the herds.” Money income was never tithed.
Tithing is not Good Works or Righteousness.
If all redemption, protection and blessing depend on the tithing of money income, then what good to us is the righteousness we have been given as a gift?
The righteousness which tithing bring to us isn’t good for anything.
If failure to tithe makes me a robber of God then all of my righteousness depends on tithing; it matters not what kind of righteousness is imputed to me by Jesus, I am still an unrighteous man and I cannot be saved.
The Blood of Jesus will do me no good, even though it washes all my other sins away. I still need to tithe so that all of my righteousness and consequently all of my salvation depends on my paying tithes.
This doctrine is nowhere to be found in the Bible; yet it is taught all over the world in churches.
Tithing causes a type of mental bias when studying the Bible.
The modern tithe payer tends to search the Word of God for “financial principles” to practice in order to gain His favor. These principles set aside the plain meaning of the Scriptures and substitute personal assumptions about money and riches.
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TITHE
And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD… And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth (animal) shall be holy unto the LORD. Leviticus 27:30-32 KJV
In all of God’s Word, Leviticus 27 is the Chapter where the Biblical Tithe is defined. The Levites were the only persons who were permitted to “take a tithe” of the rest of Israel. It was their inheritance in the land.
The persons who they took the tithe from were:
1. Farmers who planted grain and certain fruits.
2. Shepherds who owned flocks and herds; animals whose blood could be sprinkled on the altar and burnt. It is notable that money wages (income) was not tithed for this did not represent an increase in goods.
It has been observed, there is no Hebrew word in the Old Testament which can be translated tithe. Yet, the Hebrew word ma’aser or ma’asar is translated tithe, an archaic English word for tenth even in modern English versions of the Bible. Note: (To avoid confusing my readers, I will continue to use the word tithe. The reader, however, should remember it means “the tenth” and not 10%.)
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when this word was translated tithe, the assumption was made that such a thing as tithing existed in Bible times. This is evident since the same Hebrew word, ma’aser is translated as “tenth” elsewhere in the Scripture (Num.18:21, 26; Eze.45:11, 14) where the context has nothing to do with tithes.
To add to the confusion, there is also another Hebrew word translated tithe, aw-sar (Deut.14:22; Neh.10:37, 38). Aw-sar too is translated “tenth” and “tenth part.”
The actual English equivalent of ma’aser is the tenth. It is translated as tithe in some places in the Old Testament and as tenth or tenth part. I wish to emphasize, the ma’aser is not the equivalent of ten percent, but the tenth.
Ma’aser as used in the Bible indicated an ordinal number not a mathematical percentage. It does not equate with ten percent. It means the tenth bushel, or the tenth animal and is different from the sixth or eighth bushel or lamb. In Lev. 27:33 it was forbidden to exchange any other for the tenth indicating their difference.
For example, if a sheep farmer had fifty lambs born in the year, how many animals did he give the Levite? Five is incorrect! One is correct! He gave the tenth lamb passing under the rod. He could not exchange it for the 11th or 12th.
The manner of tithing, as described by Moses Maimonides, was this:
“He [the owner] gathers all the lambs and all the calves into a field, and makes a little door to it, so that two cannot go out at once; and he places their dams without, and they bleat, so that the lambs hear their voice, and go out of the fold to meet them, as it is said, whatsoever passeth under the rod: for it must pass of itself, and not be brought out by his hand; and when they go out of the fold, one after another, he begins and counts them with the rod: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and the tenth that goes out, whether male or female, whether perfect or blemished, he marks it with a red mark, and says, ‘This is the tithe.'” (Hilchot Becorot, c. 6, sect. I; from Gill’s Exposition on Lev. 27:32.)
The origins of the modern tithe
The modern concept of tithing originated not with Abraham or Moses or the Bible, but is of England as the word itself. It was imposed on the Bible in the translation of the Scriptures into English during the 16th and 17th centuries. The English word tithe was assigned a special spiritual meaning, however this is not so in the Hebrew Old Testament.
Where Lev.27:30 said, “the tithe of the land”, should have been rendered “the tenth of the land”. This means the tithe was in relation to a specific country, the Promised Land.
The Israelites were not required to tithe in the land of Goshen or while wandering in the wilderness of Sinai because these places were not specified in the Law. Although, they had animal and grain produce, as well as money in Goshen and Sinai, they did not pay tithe.
The tithe was not imposed on persons.
It was imposed on the increase of animal, grain and fruit produce of the land; the things God gave to them. We may plant and water but it is God who gives the increase.
The Apostles’ instructions are contrary to the tithe.
1Tim.5:8 tell us to provide for our immediate family and our relatives before providing for others. If everyone followed this there would be no want in the world. You should provide for your family and relatives first before giving to the Church. Many preachers teach that you should first give to God and the way to give to God is to give to the Church.
Compare this with Matt. 25:42-45, we give to Jesus by feeding the hungry, giving to the poor, etc. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that giving to the Church is giving to Him.
This practice of extracting a percentage of someone’s income is considered unprofessional and unethical in the world of business.
It involves charging an open ended fee for a definite service. For example, if your income amounts to $100 US per week, you pay a $10 tithe. If someone else, in your church, income is $200 he will pay double the amount for the same “spiritual food”.
This is considered unethical by the unsaved businessmen but is considered a blessing by Pastors.
The modern Church tithe is debt or tax.
It is incurred by being saved; so that Jesus is saving people so they can support the clergy by paying this tax.
Tithing is LAW.
It has nothing to do with the Grace of God!
It sets aside the teachings of Jesus and institute the teachings of men using their cleverness as a way of rejecting God’s teachings to uphold the “traditions of men.” The universal law of tithing, untold to and unknown by Adam in the Garden of Eden is nothing but the traditions of men.
CONCLUSION
Money income was not tithed as in our Church today.
It is a curiosity, but God gave no currency to Israel, possibly because they were not to trade with the surrounding Canaanites. Many hundreds of years before Israel was given the Law, the concept of money was known in Canaan; money was used by Abraham to purchase a cave to bury Sarah. I believe it is an error to exalt tithing of money as the most important thing in the New Covenant.
While it is made of paramount importance in the preaching of some ministers, it was only a small part of the Mosaic Law. It is not a part of the Abrahamic Covenant nor is it a part of the New Covenant as established by Jesus Christ. It was only a part of the Mosaic financial system to provide an inheritance for the Levites. There were many other gifts, sacrifices, freewill offerings and ordinances that were included in the Mosaic system. To simply pluck tithing, and a mangled form of it, out of the system is wrong and inaccurate.