Tithing or Giving?

Thus 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. (NASB) Lev. 27:30

God started with a simple statement. All of the tithes belonged to Him. Now there was probably someone who said to himself or herself, "I am giving my money to human priests and I do not trust them." It is hard to trust church leaders because sometimes they do make bad choices. But God reminded them that He considered the money to be His.

Levitical Tithe. The first tithe or ten percent mentioned in Leviticus is a tithe that belonged to the Levites.

Thus 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. For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. (NASB) Lev. 27:30, 32

To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting . . . Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’” (NASB) Num. 18:21-24

God had made it clear. The tithe belonged to the Lord and He had given it to the Levites because of their spiritual ministry. Here is the first example of paying full-time pastors for their ministry. It is biblical to support your pastor.

Later in 2 Chronicles, we find that Israelites understood that the tithe was required.

Also he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the law of the LORD. (NASB) 2 Chronicles 31:4

The Levites at the time of Moses had responsibility for the ministry in the tabernacle and later for the temple (Ex. 29; Lev. 8; Num. 3:5-9; 16:9). The priests had the responsibility for blessing people (Num. 6:22-26), determining God’s will (Ex. 28:30), and teaching scripture (Jer. 2:8; Ezek. 22:26). This is the responsibility of all pastors (elders) in the church today.

Festival Tithe. When we come to Deuteronomy, we discover there is another tithe or ten percent that was required of the people. It is called the Festival Tithe. This tithe was for food for a festival and it was to be eaten by the community.

You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of 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 the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. (NASB) Deut. 14:22-23, 27