A CLOSER LOOK AT TITHING
EXPOSING THE ERRORS
By: Victor T. Stephens
"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."
~ George R.R. Martin
OLD TESTAMENT TITHING DURING THE MOSAIC LAW
The first commandment for the practice of tithing occurs in Leviticus 27. Although tithing officially became law in chapter 27:30-34, the tithing system was not put into practice until 40 years later after the Israelites left their life of slavery in Egypt and settled in the land of Canaan, later Israel (Exodus 16:35; Deut. 12:1-7, 10-14; 14:22-28; 26:1-19). That is because of the incorporated association between God’s promises to Jacob and Jacob’s tithing vow (see previous two sections).
Did the Law of Tithing Include Money?
Some pastors allege that tithe paying is not a form of giving since ten percent of our income already belongs to the Lord. Their allegations would be correct if God specifically commanded Christians to tithe money under the new covenant. As we progress to the section, "The New Testament: Was Tithing Commanded?" we will learn that God never instructed believers to tithe from their monetary incomes. Even during the old covenant, monetary tithing did not apply to the nation of Israel.
If you're a reader who's unsure of how to define tithing, the word "tithe" means one-tenth of something. In this case, we must ask,
"a tenth of what?"
"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 to the LORD. If a man wants at all to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai." (Lev. 27:30-34)
During the law, Leviticus 27:30-34 is specific. It indicates that the tithe consisted of fruit, grain, herd, and flock; nothing more, nothing less. There are no indications from Scripture that suggest any deviations of the tithe to include money.
Many church leaders hastily object to my position and contend that the ancient Israelites lived in a bartering or agrarian society rather than a monetary society as we do today. Thus, it became necessary to redefine the constituents of the biblical tithe as money earned from an occupation in our industrial age.
But that is a delusional hypothesis. There is overwhelming biblical evidence that does not support such a consensus. Although agricultural products and livestock were valuable assets for commerce, bartering was not the only form of commodity exchange. Apart from farming, those who made a living by other avenues such as tent-making, carpentry, stonecutting, fishing, etc., were paid monetary wages. Four-Hundred years before the Mosaic Law, Abraham bought land for four hundred shekels of silver.
"And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants."
(Gen. 23:16)
A few other examples of the use of money include:
1) Priests and prophets taking pay:
Her heads judge for a bribe, Her priests teach for pay, And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us."
(Micah 3:11)
2) The half-shekel temple tax:
"This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the LORD."
(Exodus 30:13)
3) The selling of Joseph by his brothers:
"Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt."
(Gen. 37:28)
4) The value of a chariot and horse:
"Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king's merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price. Now a chariot that was imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse one hundred and fifty; and thus, through their agents, they exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria."
(1 Kings 10:29-29)
5) The parable of the vineyard workers:
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard." (Matt. 20:1-2)
6) Jesus and the tax collectors:
Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for you." Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, "And what shall we do?" So he said to them, "Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages."
(Luke 3:12-14)
There are many other passages of scripture throughout the Bible that illustrate the use of money as a means of financial transactions (See Gen. 13:3; 23:15; 33:19; 44:8, Num. 3:46-50; Psalm 119:72; Job 42:11; Matt. 17:24-27; 26:14-15; 28:12-13). Let us consider one more example. We can locate it right in the chapter where a tithing commandment first appears.
"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When a man consecrates by a vow certain persons to the LORD, according to your valuation, if your valuation is of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. If it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels; and if from five years old up to twenty years old, then your valuation for a male shall be twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels; and if from a month old up to five years old, then your valuation for a male shall be five shekels of silver, and for a female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver; and if from sixty years old and above, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. (Lev. 27:2-7)
In this passage, we see persons dedicated to the Lord were redeemable for money (shekels of silver). If we move forward to verses 30 to 32, it is interesting to note that there is no classification of money included to be tithable. Only agricultural products are mandatory tithing requirements. The only correlation between monetary funds and agricultural tithing was related to redemptive and provisional purposes (Lev. 27:31, Deut. 14:24-26).
In Leviticus 27:31, if an Israelite opted to redeem any of his tithe (consisting of crops only), he was required to pay its value in money, plus an additional twenty percent. If an Israelite had a large harvest, God made a special provision to alleviate travel hardship by permitting a person to exchange the tithe for money. There was no penalty for the convenience of exchanging it since the funds were associated with conditional purposes. Once there was an exchange, the money was required to be used to purchase food products during the annual feasts (Deut. 14:24-26) --- the original materials defined by the law of tithing. If God wanted to include money as a tithable resource, He would have mentioned it as one of the designated items in Leviticus 27:30-32.
No matter how we look at it, to necessitate that we give money as a tithe just doesn’t fit with the biblical account. It is a violation to modify the Word of God so that it conforms to our traditions, preferences, or theological biases. When man alters God’s sacred Word, it ceases to be the Word of God and becomes the word of man.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that monetary tithing is valid today. We should therefore ask, "then for what can money be redeemed?" Some pastors teach that ten percent of our time and talents are monetary substitutes. As with monetary tithes, we will not find one passage of scripture regarding the sanctioning of time and talents as "tithable" substitutes. Such claims are nothing more than extra-biblical theorizations designed by misguided leaders and false teachers in the church.
Next: The Number of Tithes in Israel
