Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 4/17/2004

Question
the old testament specks 10% the new says we should give according to our hearts. this is what has been tought to me lately. do you have scripture back-up and explain

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.  

Tithing was given in the old testament as a way of supporting the priests and the tribe of levi.  Today, we tithe our 10% and it goes to the church, not the pastor/priest as God intended.

Some say that the tithe was part of the Old Testament Law.  Because of Christ, we are not bound to that law.  However the tithe went over and above the law.  The bible repeated tells us that we should not test God.  But God himself said to test him in one area, the tithe.
MAL 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
   "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
   "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse--the whole nation of you--because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

Jesus pointed out that giving was part of the heart not the head.  We are to give not only our tithe but to any of those in need.  In the early church, they abandoned the tithe altogether.  Instead, they gave EVERYTHING to the church to be held in common.     ACTS 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

A friend of mine, Lee Howard, wrote this short history on the tithe.  While I don't agree with all of it, it is a good history.

THE PRINCIPLE OF STEWARDSHIP

Two important principles are established in the first few chapters
of Genesis:

1. Divine ownership:  God owns everything.

2. Human stewardship:  God has called us to be
   His stewards.


 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our
     likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea
     and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over
     all the earth, and over all the creatures that move
     along the ground."
  27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of
     God he created him; male and female he created them.
  28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and
     increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
     Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the
     air and over every living creature that moves on the
     ground."
  29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant
     on the face of the whole earth and every tree that
     has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for
     food."
  GENESIS 1:26-29 NIV:

The first couple was to have dominion over all that God had
created.  They were to steward His creation and be accountable to
Him for it.

God did not make Adam the "god" of this world as Word of Faith and
others teach.  Adam was merely a STEWARD with authority delegated
from God to promote God's interests.  

Of the many things that the Bible teaches, one of the most
important is the concept of man's stewardship -- and failed
stewardship on the part of man.  This will be important to our
understanding of the tithe later.

Jesus told a number of parables about stewards and stewardship.

In Luke 12:35-48, He points out the importance of doing the
Master's work while He is away, and the punishment of those who
fail in their responsibilities and who forget that they are the
stewards and He is the Master.

In Matthew 25, the Master entrusted three stewards with different
amounts of money.  He commended those who used their authority to
make a profit for Him, but berated the one who failed to take his
charge seriously.

In these parables we see three responses to stewardship:

1. Abusing one's delegated authority and forgetting who
   the Master is and that He will require an accounting
   (Lk 12).

2. Using delegated authority to turn a profit as if the
   money were your own -- yet not forgetting whose steward
   you are and that the Master will return for an
   accounting (Mt 25, the commendable stewards).

3. Neglecting and forsaking the Master's delegated
   authority and responsibility -- basically, renouncing
   one's stewardship (Mt 25, the wicked steward).

In Matthew 21:33-44, Jesus shares an important parable about a
vineyard that indicted the Jewish religious leaders for their
crimes.

God had charged Israel with a stewardship, but they had failed to
flourish it for Him.  Like the Luke 12 steward, they treated what
they had been entrusted as their own but forgot who the Master
was, going so far as to kill the Owner's Son.  Jesus
said, "'Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be TAKEN
AWAY from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit'"
(NIV).

The crucial principle here is that God created a man (Adam), chose
a people (Israel), to steward His creation and His Kingdom.  
Although He delegated authority to them, they were to keep in mind
that He was Lord and Master, and that their work and profit were
to benefit Him, not themselves.

When they failed in their stewardship, God revoked their
authority, their blessings, and their inheritance.

In other words, God was saying, "If you take dominion, flourish my
garden, turn a profit for Me as if you were diligently looking
after your own precious interests, I will bless and prosper you.  
I will allow you to enjoy the fruit of that increase as if it
really belonged to you.

"But if you disown the responsibility I have delegated to you --
or rebel against Me by usurping My place as Master, assuming that
your stewardship belongs to you and not to Me -- I will take it
from you, strip you of your blessings, and kick you out of My
vineyard, My garden, My land."

SHORT FORM:  "Be good stewards, enjoy my land.  Be bad stewards,
I'll kick you out on your can."

This principle is a sound basis to further study stewardship, the
foundation of the Old Testament Tithe.


  For the law of Moses says [Dt 25:4], "Do not keep an
  ox from eating as it treads out the grain."  Do you
  suppose God was thinking only about oxen when he said
  this?
  1 CORINTHIANS 9:9 NLT


STEWARDS MAY EAT OF THEIR STEWARDSHIP

God appointed Adam and Eve to be His stewards over the new earth,
His perfect land.  As such, He blessed them by giving them every
seed-bearing plant and every fruit-bearing tree for food.  At that
point in earth's history, this food was only:
1. Grain
2. Fruit

  4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when
    they were created.  When the Lord God made the earth
    and the heavens --
  5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the
    earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for
    the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there
    was no man to work the ground,
  6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the
    whole surface of the ground --
  7 the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the
    ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
    life, and the man became a living being.
  8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in
    Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
  9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of
    the ground -- trees that were pleasing to the eye and
    good for food. In the middle of the garden were the
    tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and
    evil.
  GENESIS 2:4-9 NIV

Notice that God created man to "work the ground," but GOD was
responsible for watering it.  Here is a vital principle for our
study:

               MAN DOES THE MANUAL LABOR;
             GOD DOES THE MIRACLE-WORKING.


ACTS OF CREATION

This is the step-by-step account of creation from the above
passage:

1. God formed man from the ground (v. 7).

2. God planted a garden in the land of Eden and PUT the
   man there.  God created the man OUTSIDE the garden,
   and then MOVED HIM INTO IT (v. 8).

3. God created the fruit trees, including the Tree of the
   Knowledge of Good and Evil (v. 9).


  15 The Lord God TOOK the man and PUT him in the Garden
     of Eden to work it and take care of it.
  16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to
     eat from any tree in the garden;
  17 but you must NOT eat from the tree of the knowledge
     of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will
     surely die."
  18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be
     alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
  GENESIS 2:15-18 NIV

Note these two important things:

1. God PUT the man in the garden to work the ground, tend
   it, keep it -- to be His STEWARD (v. 15).  

   God immigrates His stewards to the place of their
   stewardship.

2. God reserved one tree from which man must not eat, lest
   he die (vv. 16-17).  In other words, "That's MY tree.  
   Good stewards don't eat from My tree!"

   Remember our first principle:  "Be good stewards, enjoy
   My land.  Be bad stewards, I'll kick you out on your
   can."


OUR PARENTS DISOBEYED GOD

  Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you
  have done?"  The woman said, "The serpent deceived me,  
  and I ate."
  GENESIS 3:13 NIV

Eve was deceived and acted on her beliefs.  Even though she was
deceived, God did not overlook her actions.  There were terrible
consequences...

  17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife
     and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
     'You must not eat of it,' CURSED IS THE GROUND
     because of you; through painful toil you will eat
     of it all the days of your life.
  18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you
     will EAT the plants of the field.
  19 By the sweat of your brow you will EAT your food
     until you return to the ground, since from it you
     were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will
     return."
  GENESIS 3:17-19 NIV

Because Adam listened to his wife and disobeyed God, the GROUND --
the LAND -- was cursed, and Adam's work became difficult.  It also
affected his mealtime experience.

In the Old Testament, the LAND AND ITS PRODUCE was important to
God.  He reserved some of it for Himself, and His stewards were
not to partake of it apart from His orders.

Everything belongs to God.  When stewards fail in their
stewardship, the attendant blessings, or "fringe benefits," of
that stewardship are adversely affected.


A NEW COVENANT AFTER NOAH'S FLOOD

After the Fall, all earthlings became corrupt.  God sent a flood
to cleanse the Earth, saving only Noah's family.  When they
finally came out of the ark, God made a new covenant with them.

  1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them,
    "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the
    earth.
  2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the
    beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon
    every creature that moves along the ground, and upon
    all the fish of the sea; they are given into your
    hands.
  3 EVERYTHING that lives and moves will be FOOD for you.
    Just as I gave you the green PLANTS, I now give you
    EVERYTHING."
  GENESIS 9:1-3 NIV

When Noah's family emerged from the ark, God blessed them, renewed
their call to stewardship, and gave them animals to eat (clean
animals).  From the bounty of nature, humankind could now eat:

  1. Grain

  2. Fruit

  3. Herd animals

  4. Flock animals

Recognizing these "four basic food groups" is critical to
understanding the purpose of the Old Testament tithe.


THE TITHE IN ISRAEL

As we will see more fully in later issues of this series, tithing
had NOTHING to do with money or wages.

        THE TITHE WAS THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCE
              OF THE LAND-OWNING FARMER IN ISRAEL.

  30 "'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain
     from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the
     Lord; it is holy to the Lord. ...
  32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock -- every tenth
     animal that passes under the shepherd's rod -- will
     be holy to the Lord.'"
  LEVITICUS 27:30,32 NIV

What was the tithe?  The tithe was ten percent of the four basic
food groups:  grain crops, fruit of the vine and tree, and every
tenth animal of herd and flock.

         It was NOT money or income of any other kind.
                     It was FOOD PRODUCE.

By this time, the "land" of God's stewardship was Canaan, and His
chosen stewards were the tribes of Israel.

God reserved a portion of His stewards' stewardship for His own
purposes, and His stewards were to use it only according to His
direction.


By the time the book of Leviticus was written, the "land" of God's
stewardship was Canaan, and His chosen stewards were the tribes of
Israel.

What was the tithe?  Leviticus 27:30-32 tells us that the tithe
was ten percent of the four basic food groups:  grain crops, fruit
of the vine and tree, and every tenth animal of herd and flock.

It was NOT money or income of any other kind.  

God's purpose for a tithe of grain, fruit, herd, and flock from
land-owning farmers was to ensure that no one in Israel went
hungry.


A REVIVAL OF THE TITHE

Years after the book of Leviticus was written, Israel had fallen
away from following God's Law.  When King Hezekiah came into
power, he brought Israel back to God by restoring obedience to the
Law.

That included REINSTITUTING the Leviticus 27 directive of land-
owning farmers tithing of their grain, fruit, herd, and flock.

For some time, Israel had been disobedient and failed to bring in
the tithe of the four basic good groups.  Here's what happened
when they started to obey God's Word again.

  2 CHRONICLES 31:4-7,9-11 NKJ:
  4 Moreover [King Hezekiah] commanded the people who
    dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support [tithes] for
    the priests and the Levites, that they might devote
    themselves to the Law of the Lord.
  5 As soon as the commandment was circulated, the
    children of Israel brought in abundance the
    firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of
    all the produce of the field; and they brought in
    abundantly the TITHE of everything.  [Note the mention
    of the four basic food groups.]
  6 And the children of Israel and Judah, who dwelt in the
    cities of Judah, brought the tithe of oxen and sheep;
    also the tithe of holy things which were consecrated
    to the Lord their God they laid in heaps.
  7 In the third month they began laying them in heaps,
    and they finished in the seventh month. ...

Notice that because the land-owning farmers had NOT been tithing
regularly, there was an EXCESS of grain, wine, oil, honey, oxen,
and sheep.  For four months, they piled everything in heaps.

Had they been regularly following the Law, what they brought in at
the appointed times would not have been too much for the temple to
process.  But in this situation, they had a BIG SURPLUS.

   9 Then Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites
     concerning the heaps.  ["Hey, fellas, what's this big
     pile of sheep doing here?!"]
  10 And Azariah the chief priest, from the house of  
     Zadok, answered him and said, "Since the people began
     to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, WE
     have had enough to EAT and have plenty left, for the
     Lord has blessed His people; and what is LEFT is this
     great abundance."
  11 Now Hezekiah commanded them to PREPARE ROOMS in the
     house of the Lord, and they prepared them.

These "rooms" are the STOREHOUSE mentioned in Malachi
3:10:  "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may
be food in my house" (NIV).

These storerooms were never part of the original design of the
tabernacle or temple; they were built during this time of revival
under Hezekiah to hold the tithes that should have been coming in
every year.

Note also that the tithes were FOOD PRODUCTS of farmers -- NOT
MONEY.  "Bring the whole tithe..., that there may be FOOD in my
house."  In verse 10 above, Azariah the Chief Priest told King
Hezekiah, "We now have enough to EAT."

The purpose of this tithe/support was to feed two classes of
people:  priests and Levites (v. 4 above).  Realize that not all
Levites were priests!


THE LEVITICAL CLANS

There were three family clans in the tribe of Levi:


Levitical                           Theocratic
Clan             Duties             Division
--------------   ----------------   -------------

Gershonites      Cared for the      Civil
                tabernacle tent    government
                coverings               

Merarites        Cared for the      Civil
                frame of the       government
                tabernacle,
                pegs and posts

Kohathites       Cared for the      Religious
                sanctuary and ark  government
                and ministered
                as priests


The tithe of food products from landowners of the remaining eleven
tribes of Israel was the share for the Levites.  Why?  Because
their tribe was allotted no land in Israel on which to grow crops
or raise herds.

A tithe of vegetable and animal produce went to the entire tribe
of Levi and was stored in the storerooms.  This was
Israel's "taxes," since the Gershonites and the Merarites served
as their civil government.

Out of this total, the Levites (Gershonites and Merarites) were
then to take ten percent and give it to those Kohathites who were
currently serving as priests in the temple.  (Not all Kohathites
served at the same time.)

So the religious leaders (Kohathites currently serving) only ever
received ONE PERCENT of Israel's tithe.  And the only people who
tithed were landowners who grew crops and raised animals.  They
did not receive money!


The only things "tithed" on were the four basic food groups:  
grain of the field, fruit of the vine, animals from the herd, and
animals from the flock.

The only Israelites who tithed were land-owning farmers of the
eleven tribes (the tribe of Levi was exempt).  Neither money nor
other income was tithed by anyone in Israel.


GOD'S COVENANT OF PROMISE TO ABRAM

The tithe is first mentioned in the book of Genesis in connection
with Abram.

Many who promote tithing today use the account of Abram and
Melchizedek to show that tithing was instituted before the Mosaic
Law.  We will see, however, that this passage does NOT teach what
they say it teaches.

Before we can study that account, we need a little background on
Abram and how he got to Canaan.

After the Tower of Babel incident (Gen. 11), humankind was
scattered across the face of the earth.  Although Adam had failed
and Noah had died, God was still searching for a faithful
steward.  He found one in the line of Shem.

  GENESIS 11:26-32 NIV:
  26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father
     of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
  27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah fathered three sons:  Abram, Nahor, and Haran.  Haran was
Lot's father.

  28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in
     Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth.
  29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's
     wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was
     Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of
     both Milcah and Iscah.
  30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no children.
  31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of
     Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his
     son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the
     Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to
     Haran, they settled there.
  32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Terah left Nahor's family in Ur and took Abram, Sarai, and Lot on
a journey to Canaan.

For some reason (Terah's failing health?) they stopped in a place
called Haran, where Terah died.  Abram, Sarai, and Lot settled
there for a while.

  The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your
  people and your father's household and GO TO THE LAND I
  will show you."
  GENESIS 12:1 NIV

The Lord HAD said -- past tense.  God first spoke to Abram in Ur,
before they left for Haran.  God told him to leave and go to a NEW
LAND.

Remember that with Adam, God prepared a garden in Eden and then
PUT him there (Ge 2:8).  As with Adam, so with Abram.  God moved
his man into the land of his stewardship.

  4 So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went
    with him.  Abram was seventy-five years old when he
    set out from Haran.
  5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the
    possessions they had accumulated and the people they
    had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land
    of Canaan, and they arrived there.
  6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of
    the great tree of Moreh at Shechem.  At that time the
    Canaanites were in the land.
  7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your
    offspring I will give this LAND."  So he built an
    altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
  GENESIS 12:4-7 NIV

God's great promise to Abram is found in verse 7:  "To your
offspring I will give this LAND."

What was the purpose of the land?  To grow grain and fruit, herd
and flock; to raise up a people for God's own glory.  Canaan was
the land of God's stewardship where the offspring of Abraham would
dwell as His chosen stewards.

Abram was God's chosen steward, and God moved him into the land of
his stewardship.  What was Abram's stewardship?  Today we'll learn
that it was not the tithe.

In fact, much of what is popularly taught about Abram and the
tithe is actually a misunderstanding of what the Bible says.

Let's begin with the events leading up to Abram's meeting with
Melchizedek.


ABRAM AND MELCHIZEDEK

Four kings (Amraphel, Arioch, Kedorlaomer, and Tidal) joined
together to war against five other kings (Bera, Birsha, Shinab,
Shemeber, and the king of Bela).  Where did they meet for battle?

  GENESIS 14:8-9,11-12,15-24 NIV:
  8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king
    of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela
    (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle
    lines in the Valley of Siddim
  9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim,
    Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar --
    four kings against five. ...

They fought a battle, and the armies of the four kings defeated
the armies of the five.  What happened to the booty, the "spoils
of war"?

  11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and
     Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.
  12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his
     possessions, since he was living in Sodom. ...

Lot, his family, and belongings were part of the spoils.  What did
Abram do about it?

  15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them
     and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah,
     north of Damascus.
  16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his
     relative Lot and his possessions, together with the
     women and the other people.

Whew, close call!  When the king of Sodom found out that his
people and possessions were now with Abram, what did he do?

  17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and
     the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out
     to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the
     King's Valley).

After Abram and his little army of servants defeated the kings and
rescued the people that had been taken captive from Sodom and
Gomorrah, two men approached him in the Valley of Shaveh:  Bera,
the king of Sodom, and Melchizedek, the king and priest of Salem,
one who had not taken part in the war.

  18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and
     wine. He was priest of God Most High,
  19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
       "Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
       Creator of heaven and earth.
  20   And blessed be God Most High,
       who delivered your enemies into your hand."
     Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Melchizedek, who is a type of Christ, gave to Abram first.  He
served Abram bread and wine, and blessed him.

Abram followed a common custom of the ancient Near East and gave a
tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek as a token of respect and honor
in response to the blessing, and in thanks to God for helping him
rescue Lot and other innocent people.  Then King Bera approached.

  21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people
     and keep the goods for yourself."
  22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised
     my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven
     and earth, and have taken an oath
  23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even
     a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will
     never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
  24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and
     the share that belongs to the men who went with me --
     to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre.  Let them have their
     share."

Bera wanted at least his people back from the spoils of war that
Abram had won.  He offered Abram the material goods, but Abram
said, "No, I won't take ANY of it," and gave it back, except for
Milchizedek's ten percent and the share for three of his men (v.
24).

Note these things:

- Abram did NOT tithe from his OWN possessions, nor from
  the increase of his fields or vineyards, herds or
  flocks.  He gave a tenth of all from the SPOILS OF
  MILITARY VICTORY -- goods that never belonged to him!

- He DID NOT KEEP the remaining ninety percent; he gave it
  back to the king of Sodom.

- Nowhere is it mentioned that God commanded Abram to
  tithe.  Under the Mosaic law, tithing was MANDATORY, but
  only for land-owners, on their animal and vegetable
  produce.  Abram did not tithe from this.

- This was a once-only event.  The Bible doesn't say that
  Abraham ever tithed again.

This passage does not teach that Abram's tithe to Melchizedek was
his stewardship.  So how do we explain what Abram did with the
spoils of war?

Paul Winslow, pastor of Valley Bible Church, Veradale, WA, in his
Internet article on tithing, explains the ancient Near Eastern
practice of giving ten percent of military spoils:

  Keil and Delitzsch in their commentaries both on
  Genesis and Deuteronomy refer to the fact that in
  the ancient world... it was generally accepted that
  if one king... assisted another king in battle and
  made possible the winning of the battle, then he
  was entitled to the spoil -- that is, he became
  owner of the spoil.
  ( http://www.ldolphin.org/tithing.html )

Paul A. Sue comments that:

  Abram's act of giving a tenth was a very common
  practice in the ancient Near East as a token of
  respect and honour, or in response to a blessing.
  Archaeological discoveries (e.g., the Ugaritic
  texts) show that the practice of "tithing" was a
  widespread custom of the times.
  (http://homepage.mac.com/bereanbunch/tithingStudy.html )

Although the word "tithe" is used in the account between Abram and
Melchizedek, as well as the concept of ten percent, this passage
does not reflect a Christian -- or even a Jewish -- understanding
of giving to God.  It was an ancient Near Eastern custom commonly
in use at the time.

Although the word "tithe" is used in the account between Abram and
Melchizedek, the Genesis 14 passage does not reflect a Christian --
or Jewish -- understanding of giving to God.

Abram did NOT give a tenth from his own possessions, nor from the
increase of his fields or vineyards, herds or flocks.  God did not
command Abram to tithe.  Abram's once-only act of giving a tenth
to Melchizedek was a common practice, a widespread custom of the
ancient Near East.

The Sodomite spoils were never Abram's stewardship.  What was?  
The son of promise.


ISAAC

To Abraham and Sarah in their old age, the long-awaited Isaac was
a miraculous tree of life that would bear them twelve tribes, like
the heavenly tree of life bears twelve crops of fruit (Rev 22:2).

  Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire
  fulfilled is a tree of life.
  PROVERBS 13:12 RSV

This offspring, this fruit, belonged to God to do with as He
wished.  Abraham was called to steward Isaac by fathering and
raising the child.  But Abraham was only a steward, as was Joseph,
Jesus' earthly father.

Isaac Belonged to God

Because Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead (Ro 4:19), Isaac's
conception came about only because of God's promise and divine
intervention.  Isaac belonged uniquely to God to do with as God
pleased.  If God called his steward Abraham to sacrifice his
stewardship, that was God's business and absolutely within His
sovereignty.

Yet, just as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the
test of our first parents' stewardship, the sacrifice of Isaac was
Abraham's.  Thank God, Abraham passed the test!

We see that, just as with Adam in the Garden of Eden, God reserved
a portion of His steward Abraham's stewardship (Isaac) for His own
purposes.  God's stewards are to use their stewardship -- by
preserving it or sacrificing it -- only according to His direction.

God told Adam not to eat from one tree, but Adam failed and ate
the fruit.  God told King Saul to attack the Amalekites and
completely destroy them and all that belonged to them, but Saul
failed and preserved the sheep and cattle (1Sa 15).  God told
Abraham to sacrifice his son, the one he loved, Isaac, and Abraham
OBEYED.

Abraham's Stewardship

The exchange between Abram and Melchizedek does mention a tithe,
but the passage is NOT an example of God-appointed stewardship.

God did not command Abram to tithe.  God did not even ask Abram to
return the remaining ninety percent of the spoils of war.  Abram
decided of his own free will -- as a personal vow to the Lord --
that he would keep nothing belonging to the king of Sodom (Ge
14:22-23).

Did that free-will choice show integrity?  Certainly!

Yet, even with such a spiritual success as the rescue of Lot and
the tribute to Melchizedek, had Abraham failed to raise the knife
over Isaac's bound body, he would have failed in his God-appointed
stewardship.


ISAAC

God confirmed His promise of land to Isaac.

  2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down
    to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
  3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you
    and will bless you. FOR TO YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS I
    WILL GIVE ALL THESE LANDS and will confirm the oath I
    swore to your father Abraham.
  4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars
    in the sky and will give them all these lands, and
    through your offspring all nations on earth will be
    blessed,
  5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my
    commands, my decrees and my laws."
  GENESIS 26:2-5 NIV


JACOB

God reiterated His promise to Isaac's son, Jacob, when he left
home after tricking his brother Esau and his father to get Esau's
blessing.  One night Jacob lay down to sleep and had a significant
dream.

  GENESIS 28:10-15,18,19-22 NIV:
  10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.
  11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the
     night because the sun had set. Taking one of the
     stones there, he put it under his head and lay down
     to sleep.
  12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on
     the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the
     angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
  13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: "I am the
     Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of
     Isaac. I WILL GIVE YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS THE LAND
     ON WHICH YOU ARE LYING.
  14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,
     and you will spread out to the west and to the east,
     to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth
     will be blessed through you and your offspring.
  15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you
     go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will
     not leave you until I have done what I have promised
     you."

God restated the promise that He had made to Abraham and Isaac
concerning the land of Canaan.  God promised to be with Jacob,
watch over him, and bring him back safely to the Promised Land.

  18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had
     placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and
     poured oil on top of it. ...
  20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "IF God will be with
     me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking
     and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear
  21 so that I return safely to my father's house, THEN
     the Lord will be my God
  22 and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be
     God's house, and of all that you give me I will give
     you a TENTH."

Note three things from verses 20-22:

1.   Before this, Jacob was NOT in the habit of tithing.

2.   Jacob does NOT tithe here, he only makes a promise -- a
CONDITIONAL promise: "IF You do this, IF You do that... THEN I'll
give you a tenth of what I come back with."

3.   Jacob did NOT promise to give a tenth of everything he
earned for the rest of his life to the Lord!

Remember our understanding of the Near Eastern custom of tithing:

  ...[G]iving a tenth was a very common practice in
  the ancient Near East as a token of respect and honour,
  or in response to a blessing. (Paul A. Sue)

In promising a tenth, Jacob was pledging a token of blessing to
the Lord if the Lord would indeed watch over him.  This passage,
though, does not teach what some claim it teaches, namely, that
Jacob tithed on all his income throughout his life and that we
should follow his example.

In Haran, Jacob entered into servitude for two wives.  After a
good bit of abuse from Laban, Jacob brought his entire family --
the heads of all 12 tribes of Israel -- back to the Promised Land
twenty years later.

Now that the Lord's promise of blessing and watchcare over Jacob
was fulfilled, it was time for Jacob to make good on his vow of
the tenth.  Did he?  God appeared to him and reiterated His
blessing on Jacob's descendants and the land.

  11 And God said to him, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful
     and increase in number.  A nation and a community of
     nations will come from you, and kings will come from
     your body.
  12 The LAND I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also GIVE TO
     YOU, and I WILL GIVE THIS LAND TO YOUR DESCENDANTS
     AFTER YOU."
  13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had
     talked with him.
  14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God
     had talked with him, and he poured out a drink
     offering on it; he also poured oil on it.
  15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him
     Bethel.
  GENESIS 35:11-15 NIV

God fulfilled all of Jacob's requests, but the Bible does NOT
record whether Jacob made good on his promise of giving a tenth to
the Lord.  (Unless that's why the Angel of the Lord wrestled with
him at Peniel!)

So we see that, although "giving a tenth" is mentioned in
connection with Jacob, we do not find in the Bible the teaching
that Jacob tithed on all of his income his entire life.

Many of us have heard these Scriptures used to support the popular
teaching so often that it becomes difficult to see them in any
other way.

I hope that you are not only able to see what the Bible actually
says, but to also realize what it DOESN'T say in relation to the
tithe, so that you can draw an accurate conclusion from the
scriptural facts.


JOSEPH

Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt.  After many trials and
hardships, he is exalted to be prime Minister under Pharaoh.  
During a time of famine, God reveals to him how to save all of
Egypt.

On his deathbed, Joseph asks that when the Israelites return to
the Promised Land, they take his bones with them.  God's LAND is
still important.

  24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die.
     But God will surely come to your aid and take you up
     out of this land to the LAND he promised on oath to
     Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
  25 And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and
     said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you
     must carry my bones up from this place."
  GENESIS 50:24-25 NIV


MOSES

Four hundred thirty years later, the nation of Israel is in
bondage.  After a good bit of abuse from Pharaoh, Moses leads
Israel out of Egypt -- all twelve tribes with their families,
belongings, and livestock -- to the place where the Lord had
designated.

  4 "'I [God] also established my covenant with them to
    give them the LAND of Canaan, where they lived as
    ALIENS. ...
  8 And I will BRING you to the LAND I swore with uplifted
    hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will
    give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.'"
  EXODUS 6:4,8 NIV

Like Adam, God created Israel OUTSIDE the Promised Land, and moved
them INTO it, where they "lived as aliens."  God promised them
that they would "possess" it, meaning they would take dominion of
it -- as STEWARDS.


IMPORTANT POINTS

I want to be thorough, but instead of burdening you with a lot of
Scriptures, I will give the following highlights with references.  
You will be able to see recurring themes here in the establishment
of Israel's stewardship.

The genealogy of Levi is listed (Ex 6:16-27).  Remember that not
all Levites are priests; only one clan are priests.  The other two
are Israel's civil government.

Israel's LIVESTOCK is spared the plague (Ex 9:4).  This puts
Israel in debt to God for their HERD and FLOCK.  (Remember Noah's
four basic food groups?)

Israel's CROPS and TREES are spared the hail (Ex 9:25-27).  This
puts Israel in debt to God for their GRAIN and FRUIT.  In essence,
God gave them grain, fruit, herd and flock, making them stewards
of what was HIS to spare or destroy.

Ex 10:7-11:  All of the Israelites must go into the desert, along
with their LIVESTOCK "because we are to celebrate a FESTIVAL to
the Lord."  Note that Israel's livestock (as well as the other
three food groups) were destined for a FESTIVAL.  Keep this point
in mind; we'll visit it again later.

Israel's crops are spared the locusts (Ex 10:15).  Israel is also
spared the darkness (Ex 10:22-23).

Ex 10:24-29:  Moses reiterates that the livestock must go with
them into the desert.

THE PASSOVER

Starting in Exodus chapter 12, God reveals His Passover plan.  The
terrible plagues on Egypt culminate with the annihilation of the
firstborn.  Again, I will summarize and give Scripture references.

The firstborn of child and livestock was either struck dead or
spared by the blood of the lamb (Ex 12:12-13,29).

Israel looted the Egyptians (12:35-36).  Some of the Egyptians
left with the Israelites (12:38; see 9:20; 12:48).  These were
those whom God called "aliens" among His people.

All firstborn males were to be consecrated to the Lord (13:1-2).  
The phrase "devoted to the Lord" means:
1) for His use only if they lived, or
2) devoted to complete destruction.

Because of God's grace in sparing Israel's firstborn, from that
time on, all the firstborn belonged to the Lord perpetually (13:11-
12).  Even of their livestock, God required them to redeem any
firstborn donkey or kill it (13:13).

Why were they to redeem the firstborn?  Because they were forever
indebted to Him.

  14 "In days to come, when your son asks you, 'What does
     this mean?' say to him, 'With a mighty hand the Lord
     brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
  15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the
     Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt, both man and
     animal. This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first
     male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my
     firstborn sons.'
  16 And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol
     on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of
     Egypt with his mighty hand."
  EXODUS 13:14-16 NIV


God promised to lead the Israelites to His dwelling.  He
would "plant them on the mountain of your inheritance" (Ex 15:13-
17).


THE LEVITES CHOSEN FOR SERVICE

In chapter 25 and forward, the ark, the tabernacle, and its
furnishings are built to the Lord's specifications.  Chapter 28
specifies the priestly garments for Aaron.  In chapter 29, the
priests (Aaron and his sons) are consecrated, and they are to eat
of the sacrifices.

In chapter 32, Moses ascends the mountain.  Meanwhile, Aaron
fashions the golden calf, and the people indulge in pagan revelry.

  25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that
     Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a
     laughingstock to their enemies.
  26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said,
     "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me."  And all the
     LEVITES rallied to him.
  27 Then he said to them, "This is what the Lord, the God
     of Israel, says:  'Each man strap a sword to his
     side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end
     to the other, each killing his brother and friend and
     neighbor.'"
  28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day
     about three thousand of the people died.
  29 Then Moses said, "YOU HAVE BEEN SET APART TO THE LORD
     TODAY, for you were against your own sons and
     brothers, and he has BLESSED you this day."
  EXODUS 32:25-29 NIV

Notice that when Moses gave the word to slaughter the idolaters,
the LEVITES rallied to him (v. 26).  A police state was formed,
and THE ZEALOUS LEVITES KILLED 3,000 SINNERS (v. 28).

Because of their zeal, God blessed the Levites and set them apart
for His service (v. 29). (See also Nu 1:47-53; 3:5-9,12,41,45; 4:2-
3.)  This is how the tribe of Levi became God's choice for
religious and civil service.

THE OFFERINGS AND THE PRIESTLY MINISTRY

Exodus 34:22-26 dictates that all Israelite men were to appear
before God three times a year.  During the Feast of Weeks they
were to bring the firstfruits of the soil to the Lord's house.

In Leviticus chapters 1-7, five offerings are detailed:
- The burnt offering
- The grain offering
- The fellowship offering
- The sin offering
- The guilt offering

Leviticus 7 details the priests' share of the fellowship offering:

  31 "'The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the
     breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.
  32 You are to give the right thigh of your fellowship
     offerings to the priest as a contribution.
  33 The son of Aaron who offers the blood and the fat of
     the fellowship offering shall have the right thigh as
     his share.
  34 From the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, I
     have taken the breast that is waved and the thigh
     that is presented and have given them to Aaron the
     priest and his sons as their regular share from the
     Israelites.'"
  35 This is the portion of the offerings made to the Lord
     by fire that were allotted to Aaron and his sons on
     the day they were presented to serve the Lord as
     priests.
  36 On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded
     that the Israelites give this to them as their
     regular share for the generations to come.
  LEVITICUS 7:31-36 NIV

Why did Aaron's family and the ministering priest receive a
portion of the animal offered?  Because, being Levites, they owned
NO LAND and therefore had no herds or flocks of their own.  
Israel's tithe of foodstuffs to the three Levite clans were for
payment for civil government and religious service for the entire
nation.


LAWS TO PROTECT THE POOR

Starting in chapter 19, we find some often overlooked laws
concerning care for Israel's poor.

   9 "'When you reap the harvest of YOUR LAND, do not reap
     to the very edges of your field or gather the
     gleanings of your harvest.
  10 Do not go over YOUR VINEYARD a second time or pick up
     the grapes that have fallen.  LEAVE THEM FOR THE POOR
     AND THE ALIEN. I am the Lord your God.
  LEVITICUS 19:9-10 NIV

Recall that Egyptians and foreigners had left Egypt with Israel
(Ex 12:38,48); these people were called "aliens."  Since they were
not of the tribes of Israel, they OWNED NO LAND and had no flocks,
herds, or crops of their own.

Therefore, if they were not slaves or servants kept and fed by the
land-owning Israelites, they fended for themselves the best they
could by gleaning what was left after the land-owners' harvest.

God seriously commanded the land-owning Israelites not to begrudge
the poor and aliens because He had created Israel outside the
Promised Land and moved them into it, where they "lived as aliens"
(Ex 6:4).  For this reason, they were to "love their neighbor as
themselves."

  33 "'When an alien lives with you in your land, do not
     mistreat him.
  34 The alien living with you must be treated as one of
     your native-born.  Love him as yourself, for you were
     aliens in Egypt.  I am the Lord your God.'"
  LEVITICUS 19:33-34 NIV


Next issue, we will learn more about how the land-owners' tithe
was used to help the poor.
THE TITHE, PART 12

  
THE SABBATH YEAR AND THE YEAR OF JUBILEE

Leviticus 25 introduces the concept of the Sabbath year.

After Israel entered the Promised Land, they were to sow fields
and tend vineyards for six years.  Every seventh year, however,
they were to rest from their labor -- and give God's land a rest
by not cultivating it.  The people were to eat only what the land
produced naturally.  This rest even included the livestock (v. 7).

Starting with verse 8, the concept of the Year of Jubilee is
introduced.  At the end of every seventh Sabbath year (49 years),
on the Day of Atonement, another (second) Sabbath year was to be
observed.  Israel was to proclaim liberty throughout the land.  
Everyone was to return to his family property and to his own
tribal clan.

Family land sold to others was to be returned to the original
owners (25:14-17).  The assignment of land to the eleven tribes
was important to God.

  LEVITICUS 25:18-22 NIV:
  18 "'Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws,
     and you will live safely in the land.

Sounds like what God told Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Note that
the fruitfulness of the land depended on their obedience and
faithfulness to Him:

  19 "'Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will
     eat your fill and live there in safety.
  20 You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if
     we do not plant or harvest our crops?"

Important question!  To the natural mind, sowing no crops nor
tending the vineyards might inspire fear.  THREE WHOLE YEARS would
pass from the harvest in the sixth year (49th year) to the harvest
in the ninth.  Where would their provision come from?  From God's
providential hand:

  21 "'I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year
     that the land will yield enough for three years.
  22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat
     from the old crop and will continue to eat from it
     until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.'"

God was telling them, "If you obey Me and follow My decrees, you
will live safely in the land and I will abundantly provide for
you."

  The Sabbath year ensured dependence on His
  miraculous provision.  It promoted humility
  and required faith.

Just as He had delivered Israel from Egypt and miraculously
provided for them throughout their desert sojourn, God would
continue to perform miracles of abundance in the seventh and
fiftieth years.

But just as Adam was not to eat of one tree in the Garden, Israel
was to obey God's law because they were not owners, they were
stewards.

  "'The land must not be sold permanently, because THE
  LAND IS MINE and YOU ARE BUT ALIENS AND MY TENANTS.'"
  LEVITICUS 25:23 NIV

For this reason, God warned them not to take advantage of a
clansman who became poor.  They were to treat him as an alien,
meaning with kindness (because they were all aliens, 25:35-38).

We see God reminding His people that although He had brought them
into a land flowing with milk and honey, it was HIS land, and they
were merely His stewards and servants (25:42,55).


LEAN ON ME

  3 "'If you follow my decrees and are careful to OBEY my
    commands,
  4 I will send you RAIN in its season, and the ground
    will yield its CROPS and the trees of the field their
    FRUIT.
  5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and
    the grape harvest will continue until planting, and
    you will eat all the food you want and live in safety
    in your land.'"
  LEVITICUS 26:3-5 NIV

If Israel obeyed the Sabbath years, God would bless them --
control the weather -- and miraculously provide for them. Then
they would always have plenty and could bring the tithes and
offerings from their crops, vineyards, herds, and flocks.

But if they did not heed the years of Sabbath rest, God would
withhold rain and curse their crops.  "Your strength will be spent
in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the
trees of the land yield their fruit" (26:20).

  This would set up a destructive cycle of disobedience
  in the Sabbath rest and the tithe.

Malachi prophesied that the Levites had robbed God by not bringing
their tithes.  Yet God promised that if they would repent and
return to obedience, He would set the cycle right and give them
rain in due season and remove blight.

  10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
     there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says
     the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open
     the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much
     blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
  11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and
     the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,"
     says the Lord Almighty.
  MALACHI 3:10-11 NIV

The tithe of the four food groups was to provide for the tribe of
Levi, who owned no land and therefore raised no crops or cattle.

The Levites of the two civil government clans (Gershonites and
Merarites) were in turn to tithe what they received to the
priestly clan (Kohathites).  When they did this obediently, there
would be "food in my house."

Food for whom?

CONDITIONAL BLESSINGS

  3 "'If you follow my decrees and are careful to OBEY my
    commands,
  4 I will send you RAIN in its season, and the ground
    will yield its CROPS and the trees of the field their
    FRUIT."
  LEVITICUS 26:3-4 NIV

If Israel obeyed the Sabbath years, God would bless the weather
and miraculously provide for them.  Then they would always have
plenty and could bring the tithes and offerings from their crops,
vineyards, herds, and flocks.

But if they did not heed the years of Sabbath rest, God would
withhold rain and curse their crops.  "Your strength will be spent
in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the
trees of the land yield their fruit" (26:20).

This would set up a destructive cycle of disobedience in the
Sabbath rest and the tithe.

Lev 26:32-35:  Because of gross and continual disobedience and
rebellion, God said He would lay waste the land and scatter Israel
among the nations (deport them from His land).  Then the land
would enjoy its Sabbath rests.

Afterward, if they repented, God promised to remember His covenant
with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and would remember the land.


THE TITHE DEFINED

  LEVITICUS 27:26,30-33 NIV
  26 "'But the firstborn of the animals, which should be
     the Lord's firstborn, no man shall dedicate; whether
     it is an ox or sheep, it is the Lord's.'" ...

The firstborn of livestock could not be dedicated to the Lord
because it already belonged to Him by right of sparing the
firstborn during the first Passover in Egypt.

  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.'"

Ten percent of herd and flock, grain and fruit, was holy to the
Lord -- it already belonged to Him.

Remember that the tithe was never money or a percentage of wages
earned.  The tithe was food products and was required only from
landowning farmers of eleven of Israel's tribes.  The tribe of
Levi was exempt.  

THE LEVITES WERE A TITHE

In Numbers 1:3, God commanded that all the Israelite men be
counted for the army.  However, the Levites were NOT counted (1:47-
53).  Instead, they were appointed to be in charge of the
tabernacle and its trappings (transport and upkeep).  They were
excluded from the military only because they were set aside to
perform CIVIL and RELIGIOUS SERVICE.

Numbers 3:1-13:  The Levites were to assist Aaron and the priests
(not all Levites were priests, v. 6).  They served the priesthood
and ALL THE PEOPLE by doing tabernacle duties (v. 7), and
thus "fulfilled the obligations of [all] the Israelites" (v. 8).  

Because God spared the firstborn of Israel in the first Passover
in Egypt, all the firstborn belonged to Him.  Instead of
conscripting the firstborn males of every Israelite family for
civil and religious service, God took all the Levites instead.  
Numbers 3 details the Levite clans by family.

  40 Then the Lord said to Moses: "Number all the
     firstborn males of the children of Israel from a
     month old and above, and take the number of their
     names.
  41 And you shall take the Levites for Me -- I am the
     Lord -- instead of all the firstborn among the
     children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites
     instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of
     the children of Israel."
  NUMBERS 3:40-41 NIV

The number of firstborn males in all of Israel was 22,273 (v.
43).  The Levite men were to take the place of the rest of
Israel's firstborn.  In fact, the number of all Levite men more
than a month old was 22,000 (v. 39) -- almost the same number.  
Hmm...

God took the whole tribe of Levi in place of the firstborn males
of the rest of the Israelite tribes (8:15-19).  THEY WERE
A "TITHE" OF ALL ISRAEL TO HIMSELF.

As such, the Levites owned no land of their own and therefore grew
no crops nor raised herds.

Instead of taking one tenth of every tribe's firstborn, God took
the entire tribe of Levi.  For that trade, all the other tribes of
Israel (landowning farmers) brought ten percent of their herd and
flock, grain and vine to the Levites.

The Levites, in turn, gave ten percent of what the remaining
eleven tribes brought them (foodstuffs) to the priestly clan (Num
18:26-27).  They were to give this, the "Lord's portion," to the
high priest for all the priests (Num 18:28).

The non-priestly Levites could keep the remaining ninety percent
as their "wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting" (Num
18:31).  Payment for their religious and civil service on behalf
of the rest of Israel.

         The priests, then, actually received only
         ONE PERCENT of what the landowning Israelites
         tithed.  They received NOTHING from aliens
         and other laborers who owned no land.

Has anyone else ever taught you this?  Have you ever wondered why
not?

Instead of God taking one tenth of males from every tribe in
Israel, He did it more conveniently by taking all the Levite men,
who owned no land and could not raise their own livestock or
produce crops to feed themselves.

Since the other eleven tribes were freed from doing civil or
religious service, in exchange for the Levites taking their place
as full-time servants, the eleven tribes had to feed and clothe
them by providing their share of herd and flock, grain and fruit.

         The tithe transaction was NOT an offering, it
         was PAYING OF TAXES for civil and religious
         service, both of which were governmental
         functions in Israel.

Although I'm stating the obvious here, THIS SITUATION DOES NOT
EXIST IN THE CHURCH.



Last time we learned that the Levites took the place of all other
Israelites in performing civil and religious duties for the
nation.

In exchange, all landowning Israelites gave ten percent of grain
of the field, fruit of the vine, animals from the herd, and
animals from the flock to the Levites as payment for their
services (taxes).

Two of the Levitical clans (Gershonites and Merarites) tithed on
that income to the priestly clan (Kohathites).  (Or all three
clans tithed on that income to those Kohathites who were currently
serving as priests.)

The priests, then, actually received only ONE PERCENT of what the
landowning Israelites tithed.  They received NOTHING from aliens
and other laborers who owned no land.

This background prepares us for a proper understanding of Malachi
chapter 3.


A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF MALACHI 3 (PART 1)

Malachi is basically an oracle of judgment.  It is directed not to
all of Israel, but at the Levites and priests.

Judgment on the Priests

The Lord accuses the priests of dishonoring Him by offering
diseased animals for sacrifice and turning up their nose at the
Lord's table (see Mal 1:6-14).

  1 "And now this admonition is for you, O PRIESTS.
  2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart
    to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will
    send a curse upon you, and I will curse your
    blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because
    you have not set your heart to honor me."
  MALACHI 2:1-2 NIV

Here the Lord rebukes the PRIESTS (Kohathites).  Why?  "[S]o that
my covenant with Levi may continue" (2:4).  God is warning and
judging the Kohathites so that they might turn from their sin and
not bring judgment on the other two Levitical clans and the rest
of the tribes of Israel.

This Levitical covenant was one of "life and peace," and "called
for reverence" (2:5).  Before this time, the priests had
given "true instruction" to the people, turning many from sin
(2:6).

  7 "For the lips of a PRIEST ought to preserve knowledge,
    and from his mouth men should seek instruction --
    because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty.
  8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching
    have caused many to stumble; you have violated the
    covenant with Levi," says the LORD Almighty.
  9 "So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated
    before all the people, because you have not followed
    my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the
    law."
  MALACHI 2:7-9 NIV

God had brought judgment on the priests and caused all Israel to
despise them because of their false teaching and wrongdoing in
their religious duties for the nation.

God then points out the problem of divorce in Judah.  He rebukes
those who cry and say, "Where is the God of justice?" when it is
their own sin that has brought judgment on themselves and
prevented God from blessing them.

The Lord Will Come to "Clean House"

In chapter 3, the Lord promises to come and suddenly appear in His
temple -- not an event to look forward to, for He is coming for
judgment.

  2 But who can endure the day of his coming?  Who can
    stand when he appears?  For he will be like a
    REFINER'S FIRE or a LAUNDERER'S SOAP.
  3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
    he will PURIFY THE LEVITES and refine them like gold
    and silver.  Then the LORD will have men who will
    bring offerings in righteousness,
  4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be
    acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in
    former years.
  MALACHI 3:2-4 NIV

God Almighty promised to come as a refiner's fire and a
launderer's soap.  To purify and cleanse whom?

      THE LEVITES, AND ESPECIALLY THE PRIESTS
      WHO WERE OFFERING UNACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES.

The Lord said, "So I will come near to you for judgment."  Another
reason was because the Levites were oppressing widows, the
fatherless, and aliens (3:5).

Misappropriation of Tithes and Offerings

Remember that the storerooms in the temple were not part of its
original design; they were built during the time of revival under
Hezekiah to hold the tithes (food products, not money) that should
have been coming in every year (see 2Ch 31:9-11).  Out of this
surplus, the poor, widows, and fatherless were to be provided
for.  But the Levites were turning them away.

Then the Lord declares, "I do not change.  If you turn from your
evil ways, Levites and priests, and return to Me, I will return to
you" (v. 6).  But ignorantly, they asked, "'How are we to
return?'" (v. 7).

The Lord tells them how to repent and do right in His eyes:

   8 "Will a man rob God?  Yet you rob me.
     "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
     "In TITHES AND OFFERINGS.
   9 You are under a curse -- the whole nation of you --
     because you are robbing me.
  10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that
     there may be FOOD in my house. ...
  MALACHI 3:8-10 NIV

In the previous two chapters, the Lord through Malachi has
established precisely how the Levites and priests had been