A million dollars to answer a tithe question!

Q: Sir, I read with interest Larry Burkett’s article on tithing. I am not a member of any church and have been told that I have but a short time left. Before I leave I would like to leave my wealth to several churches or ministries.I would like to donate $1,000,000.00 to your ministry if you will help me solve a personal search. For years I have searched the bible for the name of One New Testament Saint that paid a 10% tithe from the resurrection of Jesus. Please send me the verse and name where this happened. And my heart will be full. I have also searched early church History and cannot find where this was a practice. Do you know of any books where this was recorded as a Practice by the Early Church? Up to 70 AD.

R.J.

A: Dear R.J.,

You can keep the million — not interested. But I do hope that you will allow me to make some comments about your challenge.

First of all, I know of no books where the tithe was recorded as a practice up to A.D. 70, because I know of no early church documents that exist before A.D. 70. Tricky, tricky! The earliest church documents (other than the New Testament books) that I know of are Clement’s letters (A.D. 90). Possibly the Didache is earlier (but that is debated). So your challenge is a nice ploy, but not possible.

Secondly, I know of no references to the tithe AFTER Jesus’ resurrection. But then I don’t really think that believers limited themselves to a measly tithe. They seem to have given much more than the tithe. Examples would be Acts 2:44-45; 4:32,34-37; 2 Corinthians 8:3.

Of course, before the resurrection there is a New Testament command to tithe from Jesus’ own lips:

People who don’t agree with tithing, usually respond to Matthew 23:23 by saying Jesus was speaking “under the law.” But to state that Jesus was “under the law” doesn’t really answer the question as to whether the tithe is binding on Christians or not. There are many commandments that were part of the Old Testament law (like “don’t murder”) and repeated by Jesus that are carried over to the New Testament church. People who don’t agree with tithing need to demonstrate that tithing is not one of the carryovers into the New Testament. It’s not enough to simply state that Jesus said this because He or the Pharisees were still “under the law.” See “How To Apply The Old Testament To Today.”
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy and faithfulness. YOU SHOULD HAVE PRACTICED THE LATTER, without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42).

The Pharisees gave a tithe (tenth) of even their spices! Jesus says this is something THEY SHOULD PRACTICE.

There are two things that I think create problems for Christians when it comes to the tithe:

The first problem is that Christians think that the tithe is a purely Jewish and religious concept. The truth is that God simply used a concept that was familiar to all of the people in the Middle East. “Tithe” means “tenth” and referred to a 10% tax that was levied upon every subject who was under the protection of a king. The king says, “I will allow you to farm my land and I will protect you from invaders, robbers, and unrighteous neighbors. In return I require 10% of everything you produce.”

The tithe was a secular practice in both Egypt and Babylon. It’s not just a Jewish practice. You might have read about the Egyptian tablets that were discovered in Cairo that appear to be the oldest writing found to date. The Associated Press report says:

“Clay tablets uncovered in southern Egypt from the tomb of a king named Scorpion may represent the earliest known writing by humankind…
“But the subject they mostly deal with may be of no surprise at all. It’s taxes.
“Gunter Dreyer, head of the German Archaeological Institute, said the tablets record linen and oil deliveries made about 5,300 years ago as TITHE to King Scorpion I.”

You can see this tithe and king connection in Scripture too in 1 Samuel 8:15-17. In this passage the prophet Samuel is telling the Israelites not to ask for a king. He warns them that if they get a king “he will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants…. He will take a tenth of your flocks and herds…” The word “tenth” is “tithe” — same Hebrew word.

So when God takes a secular tax concept and commands the Israelites to give him a tithe of everything they produce, what is He telling them?

He is saying that (1) He is their king, (2) that He owns the land, and (3) that He will protect them.

This is why God gets so upset over people in the Old Testament not paying their tithe. It’s not because God needs the money. Failure to tithe is a rejection of His kingship (Proverbs 3:9-10). Paying tithes recognizes the Lord as their King (see also the covenant renewals under Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 31:4-11 and Nehemiah in Nehemiah 10:37-39).

Giving of the tithe is also recognition that God owns everything and the Israelites are merely stewards (Psalm 50:12; Deuteronomy 26:1-11). When they failed to give to God, He accuses them of robbery (Malachi 3:7-9). They are keeping what is not theirs to keep.

Tithing also meant that the King would watch over his people and bless them (Deuteronomy 14:29; Malachi 3:10-12). Failure to tithe meant that God was not obligated to uphold His part of the bargain to protect them (Haggai 1:2-11; 2:15-19).

What the tithe principle teaches:
God is our sovereign king.
Everything we have belongs to God. We are the renters or stewards (see Mark 12:1-12). He is the owner.
As God receives His share of increase, He will provide protection against our enemies.

God is still our king. He still owns everything. We still need Him to watch over and protect us. I don’t see where this principle ceases in the New Covenant.

The second thing that creates problems for Christians related to the tithe is that most Christians have a misunderstanding of the validity of the Old Testament for today. I think that it’s clear that the Old Testament has some continuing legitimacy for Christians today. It’s hard to ignore passages like 2 Timothy 3:14-17 where Paul says the Old Testament is profitable for “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training.” Or a passage like Matthew 23:1-3 where Jesus clearly upholds keeping even the minutiae of the Law. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)

These are very strong words from our Lord’s mouth. Those who encourage Christians to completely ignore the Old Testament commands disregard the teaching of Jesus.

Now obviously Christians keep some laws from the Old Testament, but they ignore others, so what does this mean?

The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament have been fulfilled in Christ. There is no need to continue to practice these according to the book of Hebrews. These would be laws such as sacrificing an animal for sin or washing with water to make yourself ceremonially clean. Jesus is our once-for-all sacrifice and we have been cleansed by His blood. These laws are “accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).

There were also national laws that related particularly to Israel as a nation. These were laws such as utterly destroying the people of Canaan, stoning people for practicing idolatry, or leaving the corners of your field unharvested for the poor. These commandments may not have much authority to Gentile Christians who are called not to form one earthly nation, but to live in all nations of the world.

But I see nothing in the New Testament that indicates that the rest of the Old Testament commandments cease to have some continuing validity. The commandments left over after removing ceremonial and national laws are usually called the personal moral laws of the Old Testament. The verses I’ve already mentioned (2 Timothy 3:14-17; Matthew 5:17-20; Matthew 23:1-3) make it clear that the moral law has some usefulness and is to be obeyed — at the very LEAST, by way of principle, if not specific detail.

For more on this you might want to see our web page entitled “How to Apply the Old Testament to Today”.

What this means is that every Old Testament command does not need to be repeated in the New Testament and we miss much of God’s word if we expect it to be. For example, there is nothing in the New Testament regarding the sin of bestiality, but, I dare say, there are few Christians that would say that therefore, it is permissible to have sex with animals. The Old Testament moral law is still binding upon us.

Requiring the Lord to repeat everything in the Old Testament that is still binding in the New Covenant reminds me of my children who say, “But Dad, you didn’t tell me to go to bed tonight. You only told me last night.” If the principle of tithing held during the times of the patriarchs, and Moses, and the nation, and Babylonian captivity, and during the return, and was restated by Jesus Himself, why does God have to repeat it again?

I’m convinced that the tithe principle is not just a ceremonial law or a national law. This is why the tithe was practiced before Moses or Israel even existed. The tithe was a practice and principle before the tabernacle was ever created (Genesis 14:20; 28:22). The tithe is a moral principle for all time for all people everywhere who: (1) claim God as their King, (2) believe that He owns everything, and (3) desire His protection. Because Christians are so Old Testament illiterate and unfamiliar with their Jewish heritage they miss the entire significance of the tithe and end up arguing over percentages.

So let me wrap this up. R.J., in once sense you are right. Christians shouldn’t believe in tithing just because it is in the Old Testament or even because Jesus commanded the Pharisees to do it. We should check the rest of the New Testament to see what it says. When we do that I come to the conclusion that we should believe in BEYOND tithing. The tithe is something that has changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament, but the change is actually one of greater degree of giving, not less like people would like it to be. I base this belief on two Scriptures: Matthew 5:20 and 2 Corinthians 8:7.

In the first Scripture, Jesus said our obedience to the law must “exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees” (Matthew 5:20). Hear the challenge?

So what is the goal we should strive to exceed. The Jewish people actually gave more than one tithe. The priests and Levites were excluded from owning hereditary land, so the Levites were to be given a tithe (10%) of all produce (see Leviticus 27:30-33, Numbers 18:21; 2 Chronicles 31:4-11; Nehemiah 10:37). This tithe provided funds for them to minister in the temple and teach God’s Word to the people.

But there was also a second tithe commanded in the Old Testament. The second tithe was to be consumed by the worshipper in his pilgrimages to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 14:22-27; 12:17). The Old Testament worshipper was required to go to the temple three times a year and so this tithe provided funds for travel, sacrifices, and lost wages.

And in addition to the first and second tithe, there was another tithe. This tithe (called the third tithe by the Jews) was a tithe for the poor. It replaced the second tithe in the third and sixth year of the seven-year cycle, in which the land was allowed to lie fallow (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 26:12).

If you think I’m making this up, you can read about the law of tithes in the Jewish Talmud. There are copies of the Talmud on the net. Look up tractates Ma’aserot and Ma’aser Sheni. You will find as you read the Talmud that the Jews practiced these these three tithes even after kings began to rule and tax the nation and even when the Jews were under captivity by foreign powers.

When you add up all of the tithes, the first-fruit giving, temple taxes, and redemptions you find that the Jewish people gave an average of 25% of their income to their King, i.e. God.

Jesus said our “righteousness is to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees”! So should we tithe? NO. A mere tithe wouldn’t even approach what the scribes and the Pharisees did!

[Here's where I get preachy:] I get tired of greedy, self indulgent Christians who whine about giving even 10% of their income to God. They have completely failed to understand either God’s kingship over them or their Savior’s generous sacrifice in becoming poor so we could be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

I agree with those who say there’s nothing in the New Testament that mandates giving exactly ten percent of your income for kingdom purposes. But my interpretation is that the Old Testament gives me a sense of what God is seeking, and the New Testament gives me the encouragement to exceed the standard.

I give because I have been loved first and I’ve been created by God to love Him back, and I’ve been given exciting opportunities to prove my love by investing in His kingdom. I’m only giving away what belongs to God anyway! I’m just a steward.

One final comment: I do not teach “beyond the tithe” because I believe in the “prosperity doctrine.” I realize there have been many people who have been abused and burned by televangelists and preachers who have twisted the Bible to finance their lavish lifestyles. If you’d like to read more on this see Alan Marshall’s excellent essay on his web site entitled “Are You a Jabez Junkie?”

I believe that Christians are the sons of God sacrificing for an eternal kingdom – investing all we have and all we are to baptize, teach, and disciple all nations! The Bible says that the “righteous requirements of the law continue to be fully met in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to God’s Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Are the requirements of the law related to giving being met in Christians today?

One final thought. In a passage about collecting offerings Paul commands us to “excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corinthians 8:7). I just have never been able to convince myself that giving 10% of my income is “excelling.” Can you?

Righteous, joy, and peace to you in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17),

Dennis Rupert