BIBLICAL TITHING
This study will deal with all the
passages in the scriptures which deal with tithing. Each
passage will be looked at not only for what it says but
also for what it doesn't say. The concluding
paragraph will attempt to outline what the biblical
principals are and what a christians obligations
are under those principals. It will be up to the reader to
also weight the scriptures for themselves
and see wether the author has been able to give a proper
scriptural treatment of the texts. It is my
prayer that the Lord will richly bless you in this study.
GENESIS 14:18-20 NKJV
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out
bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most
High.
19 And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be
Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and
earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has
delivered your enemies into your hand." And he
gave him a tithe of all.
I see two main points here. First
that Melchizedek was recognized as a priest of the Most
High, and second that there is no mention of any further
tithes, it was a one time offering (to
Melchizedek).
GENESIS 28:22 NKJV
"And this stone which I have set
as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give
me I
will surely give a tenth to You."
A very clear covenant between
Jacob and God (made by Jacob, not God). Some might argue
that it shows that you only have to tithe off of what God
actually gives you, this is true, but one
must realize that there is nothing that you have that God
did not allow you to have, and there is
nothing which he cannot take away. This passage would seem
to support the standard principal of
tithing with the one exception that it was a personal
covenant between Jacob and God, instituted
by Jacob, so it will require more information from God's
perspective (law) to see what He
'requires'.
LEVITICUS 27:30-33 NKJV
30 'And all the tithe of the land, whether 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 a man wants at all to redeem any of his
tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.
32 'And concerning the tithe of the herd or
the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth
one shall be holy to the Lord.
33 'He shall not inquire whether it is good or
bad, nor shall he exchange it; and if he exchanges it
at all, then both it and the one exchanged for it shall be
holy; it shall not be redeemed.'"
It seems that it was possible
borrow against (redeem) his tithe, with the interest rate
being
20%. Also this tithe of the herd or flock, was obviously
not the first fruits but was "every tenth
one" "of whatever passes under the rod". The final
interesting point is that he could not substitute
a bad animal (or visa versa) for a good one. If he did
then they both were the Lords.
DEUTERONOMY 12:6-7 NKJV
6 "There you shall take your burnt
offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave
offerings of
your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings,
and the firstlings of your herds and
flocks.
7 "And there you shall eat before the
Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you
have put your hand, you and your households, in which the
Lord your God has blessed you.
DEUTERONOMY 12:11-12 NKJV
11 "then there will be the place where the
Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
There you shall bring all that I command you: Your burnt
offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes,
the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice
offerings which you vow to the Lord.
12 "And you shall rejoice before the Lord your
God, you and your sons and your daughters,
your menservants and your maidservants, and the Levite who
is within your gates, since he has no
portion nor inheritance with you.
DEUTERONOMY 12:17-18 NKJV
17 "You may not eat within your gates the
tithe of your grain or your now wine or your oil, of
the firstlings of your herd or your flock, of any of your
offerings which you vow, of your freewill
offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand.
18 "But you must eat them before the Lord your
God in the place which the Lord your God
chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your
manservant and your maidservant, and the
Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice
before the Lord your God in all to which
you put your hands.
DEUTERONOMY 12:21 NKJV
"If the place where the Lord your
God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you
may slaughter from your herd and from your flock which the
Lord has given you, just as I have
commanded you, and you may eat within your gates as much
as your heart desires.
DEUTERONOMY 14:22-29 NKJV
22 "You shall truly tithe all the increase of
your grain that the field produces year by year.
23 "And you shall eat before the Lord your
God, in the place where He chooses to make His
name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and
your oil, of the firstlings of your herds
and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your
God always.
24 "But if the journey is too long for you, so
that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the
place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is
too far from you, when the Lord your
God has blessed you,
25 "then you shall exchange it for money, take
the money in your hand, and go to the place
which the Lord your God chooses.
26 "And you shall spend that money for
whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine
or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you
shall eat there before the Lord your God,
and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
27 "You shall not forsake the Levite who is
within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance
with you.
28 "At the end of every third year you shall
bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and
store it up within your gates.
29 "And the Levite, because he has no portion
nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the
fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may
come and eat and be satisfied, that the
Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand
which you do.
NEHEMIAH 13:5,10-13 NKJV
5 And he had prepared for him a large
room, where previously they had stored the grain
offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of
grain, the new wine and oil, which were
commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and
gatekeepers, and the offerings for the
priests.
10 I also realized that the portions for the
Levites had not been given them; for each of the
Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to
his field.
11 So I contended with the rulers, and said,
"Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I
gathered them together and set them in their place.
12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the
grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse.
13 And I appointed as treasurers over the
storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe,
and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan
the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah;
for they were considered faithful, and their task was to
distribute to their brethren.
MALACHI 3:8-10 NKJV
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have
robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed
You?' In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, For you
have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house, And prove Me
now in this," Says the Lord of Hosts, "If I will not open
for you the windows of heaven And pour
out for you such blessing That there will not be room
enough to receive it.
MATTHEW 23:23 NKJV
"Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and
anise and
cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the
law: justice and mercy and faith. These
you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
LUKE 11:42 NKJV
"But woe to you Pharisees! For
you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass
by
justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done,
without leaving the others undone.
MATTHEW 6:1-4 NKJV
1 "Take heed that you do not do your
charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.
Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "Therefore, when you do a charitable
deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that
they may have glory from men. Assuredly,
I say to you, they have their reward.
3 "But when you do a charitable deed, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing,
4 "that your charitable deed may be in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself
reward you openly.
1 CORINTHIANS 16:1-2 NKJV
1 Now concerning the collection for the
saints, as I have given orders to the churches of
Galatia, so you must do also:
2 On the first day of the week let each
one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may
prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
1 CHRONICLES 29:9 NKJV
Then the people rejoiced, for
they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart
they had
offered willingly to the Lord; and King David also
rejoiced greatly.
2 CORINTHIANS 9:5-15 NKJV
5 Therefore I thought it necessary to
exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and
prepare your bountiful gift beforehand, which you had
previously promised, that it may be ready
as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging
obligation.
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in
his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves
a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace
abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency
in all things, have an abundance for every good work.
9 As it is written: "He has dispersed
abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness
remains forever."
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower,
and bread for food, supply and multiply the
seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your
righteousness,
11 while you are enriched in everything for
all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us
to God.
12 For the administration of this service not
only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is
abounding through many thanksgivings to God,
13 while, through the proof of this ministry,
they glorify God for the obedience of your
confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal
sharing with them and all men,
14 and by their prayer for you, who long for
you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.
15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable
gift!
EXODUS 35:21-29; 36:1-7 NKJV
21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred,
and everyone whose spirit was willing, and
they brought the Lord's offering for the work of the
tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and
for the holy garments.
22 They came, both men and women, as many as
had a willing heart, and brought earings and
nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that
is, every man who offered an offering of
gold to the Lord.
23-28 ...blue and purple and scarlet, fine linen, goats
hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins,
...an offering of silver or bronze... acacia wood... spun
yarn... of blue and purple and scarlet, and
fine linen... spun yarn of goats hair... onyx stones...
spices and oil for the light, for the anointing
oil, and for the sweet incense.
29 The children of Israel brought a freewill
offering to the Lord, all the men and women whose
hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of
work which the Lord, by the hand of Moses,
had commanded to be done.
3 And they received from Moses all the
offering which the children of Israel had brought for the
work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they
continued bringing to him freewill offerings
every morning.
4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing
all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the
work he was doing,
5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, "The
people bring much more than enough for the service of
the work which the Lord commanded us to do."
6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they
caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp,
saying, "Let neither man nor woman do any more work for
the offering of the sanctuary." And the
people were restrained from bringing,
7 for the material they had was
sufficient for all the work to be done- indeed too much.
NUMBERS 7:2-28 NKJV
LUKE 21:1-4 NKJV
1 Then He looked up and saw the rich
putting their gifts into the treasury,
2 and He saw also a certain poor widow
putting in two mites.
3 So He said, "Truly I say to you that
this poor widow has put in more than all;
4 "for all these out of their abundance
have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty
has put in all the livelihood that she had."
MARK 12:41-44 NKJV
2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-5 NKJV
1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to
you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of
Macedonia:
2 that in a great trial of affliction
the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded
in
the riches of their liberality.
3 For I bear witness that according to
their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were
freely
willing,
4 imploring us with much urgency that we
would receive the gift and the fellowship of the
ministering to the saints.
5 And this they did, not as we hoped,
but first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by
the will of God.