Tithing or Giving?

According to Jewish tradition, this tithe was called the Second Tithe. The First Tithe is what we have called the Levitical tithe. This means that the Jewish people did not give just ten percent. They gave at least twenty percent of their income to the Lord.

Community/Welfare Tithe. But that is not all. There is still another tithe. It was given every third year.

At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, 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. (NASB) Deut. 14:28-29

This tithe was to be given to the Levites, the strangers, the orphans and the widows. This was a three percent tithe to be spread over three years.

Government Tax. There was another tithe that came later. Today we would think of it as a government tax. The passage we are about to read records the time the Israelites were asking for a king and God warned them what the king would do.

He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. (NASB) 1 Sam. 8:15-17

This tithe was instituted by the king. God did not command it, but He allowed it.

Do You Believe In Tithing? All these tithes were required of the nation of Israel. That is why God said in Malachi,

Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! (NASB) Malachi 3:8-9

The tithe was required. God demanded that it be given and the amount each Israelite had to give was thirty-three percent on the average each year. Twenty-three percent of a person’s income was to go to the Lord and ten percent to the government. If you believe in tithing, then you should be offering at least twenty-three percent to the Lord - not ten percent. Ten percent is not biblical.

New Testament Giving. The tithe does not apply to Christians in the New Testament. The tithe was part of the Old Covenant and when the Old Covenant was replaced by the New Covenant, God removed it. It is better to say that God wants us to give. He does not require it. God wants a giving-heart like Abraham’s.

In the New Testament, God has given us some principles for biblical giving. God wants us to give without telling others.

. . . that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (NIV) Matt. 6:4