“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1, NKJV)
In the previous teaching we promised to spend the next few Mannas looking at the Old Testament tithe, the role the Levites played in receiving it, and what the implications are for believers of the new covenant, and especially for the priesthood of Melchizedek.
In the Old Testament the term tithe was never understood as a religious concept, but as a financial or mathematical one. In Hebrew (maaser) and in Greek (dekate) the word merely means “a tenth of the whole”.
Interestingly enough there were, strictly speaking, not only one tithe required from the Israelites! Three sorts of tithes are distinguished in the Old Testament:
- According to Lev. 27:30-33 and Num. 18:21-31 a tenth of the bounty of your land had to be given to the Levites, as they did not have a physical inheritance in the promised land.
- According to Deut. 14:22-27 a tenth of the harvest of your land also had to be taken to Jerusalem for the feasts. There the Levite and the stranger, and the widows and orphans could enjoy it with you.
- And then, according to Deut 14:28-29 and 26:12-13, there was also a tithe that had to be paid out every three years, to the local Levites, widows, orphans and strangers in your midst.
Thus every law-abiding Israelite would not only give ten percent of his income, but a total of 23,3% thereof, every year! According to Neh. 12:44, Mal. 3:8-12 and Heb. 7:5 God strictly required all three these tithes. It was the bounty of the land, which in cases where it could not physically be transported to Jerusalem, be converted into cash, but was first and foremost not a monetary gift. One could comfortably equate it with our modern tax system.
It is thus very interesting that the concept of the tithe is is NO WAY linked to supporting the clergy or Christian professionals. In fact, the opposite is true. One of the specific tithes was solely meant for the throwing of parties! This is detailed in Deut. 14:22-29. It might shock you: “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. 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 firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 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, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 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. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.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. 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.”
Deut. 14:26 in the Message makes it very clear: “Use the money to buy anything you want: cattle, sheep, wine, or beer–anything that looks good to you. You and your family can then feast in the Presence of GOD, your God, and have a good time.” Strangely enough this Old Testament guideline concerning the tithe sounds a lot like Jesus’ heart: “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you …” (Luke 14:13-14a).
How far removed is this not from the tithes that contemporary New Testament preachers manipulate from believers! They sound like these who say in Luke 5:39: “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’” The old wine of the tithe is alas no guarantee of something better, but instead keeps us under the curse of the law: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” (Gal. 5:4). Selah.
Despite the bad writing and publication quality of the writer R Johnston’s shotgun-style book Lie of the Tithe, he does point out in quite an entertaining manner how ridiculous contemporary preachers are in claiming the tithe as a law to be upheld by believers. We do not need to go into this, but it is clear that the concept of the tithe is grabbed onto in a un-Scriptural manner to ensure ministers a fixed salary.
To conclude: the new Testament is way more radical about our having an uncompromisingly open hand under the guidance of the Holy Spirit than what the Old Testament could ever be. If everything we do is guided by the Holy Spirit, why not that which we sow, too?
The most frightening story of how finances and the giving/not giving thereof can have far-reaching consequences for believers, is in Acts 5, the story of Ananias and Sapphira: “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’ Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?’ She said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ Then Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things … Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. ” (Acts 5:1-11; 13).
Again read the Scripture in Deut 14 about the tithe we quoted earlier, especially verse 23, which presents the reason God required tithes from the Old Testament: “that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always”. From Rom. 15:4 (NIV) we know that “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us …” and within these new covenant principles the story of Ananias and Sapphira teaches us a lot:
- Ananias and Sapphira VOLUNTARILY decided to sow a part of their income into the Kingdom of God. Rightly Peter says to them: “While you still owned the land, wasn’t it yours to keep, and after you had sold it wasn’t the money yours to do with as you liked?” (verse 4, NJB). They were never required to give anything.
- He then states: “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit”. From this we can deduce that the Holy Spirit had explicitly told Ananias and Sapphira what to give.
- Their disobedience literally means that they were disobedient to the Holy Spirit, who witnessed of what God had required of them. Paul explains it as follows in Rom. 9:1 – “I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit”. Here Paul calls as witness the full testimony of the Christ, to testify on his behalf as the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1). Considering this, dishonesty in the spirit thus becomes a compromising of Jesus, the head, and the entirety of his anointed Body, the Bride of Christ. The entire Body is thus tainted and polluted (Heb. 12:15; 1 Cor. 12:26a).
- There is a good chance that Ananias and Sapphira, even though it is not explicitly stated, made their large gift to God a very public endeavour. They most probably wanted the believers around them to know that they gladly give to support the work of the Lord. In Matt. 6:1-4 Jesus voices his thoughts on this in quite a strong manner: “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. 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. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.”
- The crux of giving to God does not lie with people, but with “truth in the inward parts”, that which God desires (Ps 51:6). We are thus not lying to people, or to ourselves, but to God.
- It is very interesting that when Sapphira had to tell her side of the story, Peter said: “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord?” To test the Spirit of the Lord has many implications, which needs a whole study in itself (we will look at it in the next teaching).
- The most scary thing is that Ananias and Sapphira physically died because of this matter. Do you perhaps now understand why tithes in the Old Testament were supposed to teach us to fear the Lord?
Ironically enough Ananias’s name means: “whom Jehovah has graciously given”. The crux of giving lies in Rom. 8:32: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
- Selah: Examine the weight of the implications of the last paragraph.
- Read: 2 Sam. 8-10; 1 Chr. 18-19; Ps. 50, 53, 60, 75 & 20.
- Memorise: 50:5 (and note the synchronisation!).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Read R Johnston’s book Lie of the Tithe.
