BLOG

The filet mignon of the word, part 16, The law of the tithe

The law of the tithe is based upon God’s ownership of the earth, which He created in 6 days. Genesis 1:1 says,

¹ In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

Because God created all things, He therefore OWNS everything that He created. When God set up His kingdom under Moses and Joshua, giving Canaan to the tribes of Israel, He said in Leviticus 25:23,

²³ The land, moreover, shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are but aliens and sojourners with Me.

God does not really give anyone land. God merely gives men the privilege of inhabiting His land and working the land to produce food or other things. Their privilege is conditional upon their obedience to His laws. If they violate those conditions, God has every right to disenfranchise them and to bring others in as laborers in His land. For this reason, God disenfranchised Israel (745-721 B.C.) and later Judah (604-586 B.C.). Judah was allowed to return after 70 years, but again it was under God’s terms and conditions.

God says in Jeremiah 27:5,

⁵ I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant. . .

The captivity of Judah meant that God had transferred the dominion mandate from Judah to Babylon, because Judah had misused it and had violated the terms of its mandate. No one expected Babylon to do any better, of course, but the effect of this was to make Babylon responsible and accountable when they violated God’s law. In fact, the entire succession of beast empires in Daniel 2 and 7 disregarded God’s laws, and for this reason they were judged by God.

One law they consistently violated was the law of the tithe. The Babylonian tax system takes from us far more than the 10 percent tithe that is authorized by God. Since God has sold us into the hands of Babylon for the past 2,600 years, legally speaking, God has required the ruling empires to adopt the law of the tithe as their tax system. They all failed to do this.

What Income is to be Tithed?

As we stated earlier, the tithe is based upon the fact that God created and owns the universe. In essence, God provides us with land, sun, rain, etc. by which we may grow crops and produce things directly from His labor. He wants a 10 percent return for His labor, while we get 90 percent as payment for our labor.

The tithe is a tax on all production directly derived from God’s labor (creation). The tithe is on the increase of the fields and of the flocks and herds. Leviticus 27:30-32 says,

³⁰ 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. ³¹ If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. ³² And for every tenth part of the herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.

We see, then, that 10 percent of the crops, the fruit of the trees, and the flocks and herds is to be tithed. The principle behind this is the fact that God wants a return on His labor. In addition, 10 percent ought also to be paid when people harvest trees for lumber, fishing, and electricity.

Everything else that government may tax is done without divine authorization. Governments tax other things, because they desire power. Money is power, and so they want more money in order to control more people. That is the Babylonian way. But it is not God’s way.

Leviticus 27:31 specifies that if a man wants to pay his tithe (tax) in money rather than giving lumber, wheat, or fish to the government, he is to add one-fifth of its value to the 10 percent. One-fifth of 10 percent is an additional 2 percent. In such a case he would actually owe the government 12 percent of the value of his crop.

But those who work for a company making shoes do not owe any tithe from their paycheck, because they are not deriving any income directly from God’s labor. The leather for the shoes came from the cow, which came from the herd, which was already tithed (taxed) at the grassroots level. It is unjust to tax a man twice for the same increase.

The Babylonian governments do this all the time. It is called “value added tax.” This happens when the lumberman is taxed for the trees he has harvested and sold. Then the furniture makers are taxed for the same lumber after they had added value to it with their own labor. Then the wholesalers are taxed for their labor. Then the retailers are taxed for their labor. In each case, the government taxes the labor of the people, rather than basing the tithe upon God’s right to receive a return for HIS labor.

By the time the customer buys the furniture, most of the cost is to pay the taxes, because each one along the way has to increase his price in order to cover the cost of the taxes. Price inflation is primarily caused by many hidden taxes on every item that we purchase. That is the Babylonian way of doing things. It is NOT the way of God’s Kingdom.

Feast Day Expenses

Deuteronomy 12:18 tells us that when the people brought their tithes, they were also to “eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God will choose.” In other words, the tithe was not merely given to the Levites, who were the government officials in Israel. The tithes were first to be used to support the family’s trip to the place where God had placed His name—primarily in keeping the feast days.

That which remained after that expense was to be given to the Levites. Hence, Deuteronomy 12:19 continues, saying,

¹⁹ Be careful that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

We also see from Deuteronomy 26:13 that the tithes were to be used to pay the trip expenses of strangers, widows, and orphans as they went to the designated place to keep the feasts. The only restriction was that the tithes of fruit and grain were not to be consumed until they actually left town on their way to the place where God had chosen to place His name (Deuteronomy 12:17). While they were at home, they were expected to eat from the 90% that their fields had produced.

Tithing to Ministries

Most ministries do not understand the tithing law, so, like the government, they try to make everyone tithe to them, whether the people owe tithe or not. Many also lay claim to the tithe that is owed to the government. The confusion is mainly due to the fact that modern governments are not in compliance with God’s Kingdom. The tithe, when implemented properly, was to support Kingdom government, but this ended when God gave Judah’s dominion mandate to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and we have yet to see this world order overturned.

Originally, the tithe was to go to Melchizedek, the king of Salem (Jerusalem). This was Shem, the builder of Jerusalem, who ruled as a king-priest in the time of Abraham (Genesis 14:20). Later, in the days of Moses, God called the tribe of Levi to receive the tithes. The Levites functioned as local magistrates and judges and governed all the tribes of Israel.

Most of the tithe in ancient Israel went toward the support of the local government, the town clerks, magistrates, or judges. The Levites assisted the priests (family of Aaron) in the outer court of the tabernacle or temple. The Levites received the tithes, but the priests were given a “tithe of the tithe.” It was sent to the national government, which (ideally) was to support the government of the king-priest of the Melchizedek Order. Numbers 18:26-28 says,

²⁶ 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. ²⁷ And your offering shall be reckoned to you as the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat. ²⁸ So you shall also present an offering to the Lord from your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the Lord’s offering to Aaron the priest.

God’s government has two distinct branches that are subject to the divine law—priestly and political. Aaron was the high priest, Moses was the civil leader. During the time of the judges, the priestly government functioned continuously, while the judges themselves were raised up temporarily as national political leaders when they were needed to deliver the nation from captivity.

In other words, in time of peace, local government was sufficient. National government under the Judges (military commanders) was an innovation in time of emergency, because it was primarily a military establishment to provide national defense.

In the full development of Israel’s government, they were given a king. Although they demanded a king too soon and received Saul, it was always part of the divine plan that they would have a king (Deuteronomy 17:15).

The ultimate government, of course, merged the office of high priest with the king. This was known as the Melchizedek Order, of which was David (Psalm 110:4), though he did not actually replace the high priest in his time. Both orders of priests functioned side by side. Ultimately, Christ was to come of the Melchizedek order. He was to take the reins of government from the high priest of the Levitical Order and merge them with the throne of David.

This is the government to which all men owe the biblical tithe. While we do not yet see this government established in the political realm on earth, we can now only fulfill the law of the tithe in a partial manner. Yet we study the word so that when Babylon falls, we will understand the law and know how to rebuild the Kingdom of God that is prophesied in Scripture.

Freewill (Voluntary) Offerings

So how is a ministry to survive today? If one removes the guilt factor, how can the Church get enough money to do what it wants to do? First of all, there are some very wealthy ministries that spend most of their time begging for money. They use highly refined methods of extracting money out of people, using a combination of guilt, fear, and greed to get people to send them more money. I myself do not have a very high opinion of such ministries. But there are also many smaller worthy ministries that struggle to pay the bills. How are these to survive without demanding tithes from the people?

Over and above the tithe is the provision for voluntary OFFERINGS. For example, Exodus 36:3 says,

³ And they received from Moses all the contributions which the sons of Israel had bought to perform the work in the construction of the sanctuary. And they still continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning.

Unlike tithes, no one “owes” an offering out of obligation. Offerings come out of a heart of love for God and a concern to see His kingdom established and the Word taught.

We suggest that offerings support the teaching of the Word, because the people will get the type of teaching that they are willing to support—for better or for worse. Beyond this, I have little to say, because I have always made it a policy not to tell anyone what they should do with their money. Their money represents their labor, and no ministry has the right to tell them what to do with it or to make any demands whatsoever.

We carry on our ministry according to the level of support that people give us, and we trust that God will meet our needs. Those who help us financially are participating in our ministry. Money represents labor. Any money sent to a ministry is the same as laboring in that ministry. Anyone who puts labor into a ministry will receive from God whatever reward is due that ministry—for better or for worse. It is the “cup of cold water” principle found in Mark 9:41.