• Is it compulsory for Christians to tithe?
• How about the popular saying that ‘If you don’t tithe, things will be tight?’
•Is it true that Christians who don’t tithe will be poor?
•To start, let’s look at the concept of tithing: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
A tithe is a tenth of anything. In churches today, giving tithes is defined as giving 10 percent of one’s income.
Before Moses received The Law, we see that Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils of war to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). Also, in Genesis 28:22, God met Jacob at Bethel and there, Jacob promised to give the Lord a tenth of everything he would bless him with. In the book of Hebrews, this event was used to show the superiority of Melchizedek’s priesthood over the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews. 7:4-10). This implies that it is, amongst other things, a way of honouring a superior.
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God’s Commands About Tithes
From scripture, we will see that the Lord gave the following commands about tithes:
#1.
A tenth of the seeds, the animals, and the produce of the land belongs to the Lord. Under the law of Moses, a tenth of Israel’s seed, fruit, and flocks were to be given to the Lord:
‘Now all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. If, therefore, someone should ever want to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it a fifth of it. For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. Leviticus 27:30-32
#2.
The Levites, who were set apart to serve in God’s temple, were to receive the tithes.
“For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, “They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'” Numbers 18:24
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#3.
From the tithes they received, they were also to pay a tithe of it to the Lord (which the High Priest received on the Lord’s behalf).
“Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.
Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it, you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest. Numbers 26-28
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#4.
There was a part of the tithe that was to be eaten by the giver, in the place where God had designated.
“You shall certainly tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes from the field every year. You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and thefirstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.
But if the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.
And you may spend the money on whatever your heart desires: on oxen, sheep, wine, other strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. Also, you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. “At the end of every third year, you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and you shall deposit it in your town. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. Deuteronomy 14:22-29
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#5.
In addition to the Levites, the tithe was a levy collected that served as a welfare system to cater for the strangers, orphans, and the widows in the land.
“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 26:12
Having seen the picture from the law of Moses, do you think that believers today are practising the law of tithing as they ought to?