Tithe why 10

Here we see Moses giving the tithe as a law. In other words, Israelites could give 10 percent in produce, or 12 percent in cash. When it came to livestock, a shepherd had to set aside every tenth for God. It was decided by simply counting the animals and consecrating every tenth. The shepherd was not to be deciding based on the quality of the animal. To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting.

The Lord was their portion and inheritance v. From the income that the Levites received from the tithe, they were still responsible for giving 10 percent off the top to God. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.

The tithe was not a volitional offering. The 10 percent off the top belonged to God and the Israelites simply repaid it. They also tithed to support a special jubilee festival Deut. These mandatory offerings averaged out to about 23 percent a year. On top of these compulsory tithes, there were regular opportunities for freewill offerings. At a bare minimum, they gave 23 percent a year, but there was no ceiling on their generosity.

They could—and frequently would—give exorbitantly out of their excess. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

Part of their tithe went to preparing for festivals and celebrations! At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

The first tithe taken annually was used to support the Levites. Every third year a special tithe was taken for the distinct purpose of supporting orphans, widows, and strangers. Interestingly enough, this included caring for people from outside of their community. Rather, it was a payment they owed to the Creator of all things. Whatever they had, 10 percent went to God right off the top. On top of that, Israelites were encouraged to give voluntary offerings.

These were an expression of thankfulness and gratitude. So, we can think of the tithe as a tax that Israel paid to God, and they were also encouraged to give above and beyond that out of their own willingness. And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the Lord.

As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

How do you tithe when tithing means setting aside 10 percent of your grain, wine, oil, honey, and produce? Bringing in your tithe is quite an affair when you realize that it entails exacting division of actual goods and livestock, and then the responsibility of bringing them to the storehouse. We obligate ourselves to bring the firstfruits of our ground and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, year by year, to the house of the Lord; also to bring to the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God, the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks; and to bring the first of our dough, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our towns where we labor.

At this point, many Israelites had lived their entire lives in captivity. And while the stories and traditions were kept alive verbally, they no longer knew what it was like to live under the law. Here we have the reestablishment of the Law in regards to offerings and tithes. Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

The challenge is that one must have the faith to give sacrificially to see if the Lord keeps his word. In a passage that is thematically echoed by Jesus in Matt.

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Throughout the Old Testament, an offering was something you gave, but the tithe was something you owed. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. In his mercy, God desperately wants to use the carrot rather than the stick. In verse 10, the Lord reiterates the problem; the storehouses are empty. If they would only be compliant, there would not only be a full larder, but they would experience an overabundance of provision and freedom from want.

Their abundance would also be proof that God was in Israel, making them the envy of nations. Jesus set Himself at odds with the religious establishment. A lot of this tension revolved around the tendency to follow the law but to ignore its spirit. They ignored justice and mercy, and their idea of faithfulness revolved around an extreme focus on the minutiae of the law.

So when Jesus specifically talks about the tithe, He focuses on being rigid in following the tithe while ignoring the weightier matters of what it means to follow God. It teaches us to always put God first in our lives. Many Christians struggle with the issue of tithing.

In some churches giving is over-emphasized. At the same time, many Christians refuse to submit to the biblical exhortations about making offerings to the Lord. Sadly, that is sometimes not the case in the church today. Tithing is an Old Testament concept. Click here to subscribe to the magazine. About the author. Melissa Nevadomski Melissa Nevadomski lives in West Philadelphia with her husband and young son, where they attend St.

Francis de Sales Parish. She currently works in higher education development. You may also like. What does blessed mean to you? Julia McStravog. Add comment. Share This! Religion Who is Sophia in the Bible? Maybe someday I'll get around to that. Getting out of debt leads to giving, the financial expert said, "Because if you're out of debt and on a budget and you love Jesus, I think tithing is a natural thing that occurs. In an op-ed for The Christian Post, Chuck Bentley, CEO of Crown Financial Ministries , encouraged believers to tithe regardless of their financial situation: "Remember that giving is not a tax or a legal requirement to please God, but a voluntary act of worship.

It is a tangible way to express our love to God," he explained. As you give, ask God to multiply it for His Kingdom. By working on these goals simultaneously, you will begin to make important changes in the way you manage your income. It's between you and God!