Welcome back to the second segment in our series on the New Covenant perspective regarding Money, Tithing and Giving… probably one of our most important studies, simply due to the amount of confusion, and error that surrounds it.
Last week, we looked at the new covenant perspective on money in general, and we answered the question regarding “is money evil?” – and we also saw in that study how God actually is the source of prosperity, for our spirit, our soul, our body, and our finances; complete prosperity from our generous Father in Heaven, all based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the blessings which He has bought for us in the New Covenant.
Today we will be examining the topic of tithing – specifically the New Covenant perspective on it, and as I mentioned, there is so much confusion and misunderstanding surrounding this topic today, and we are going to spend an entire segment of our series just on this, and allow Jesus, and the scriptures to explain tithing – not a man’s opinion, but actual truth, as always through the lens of Grace and the New Covenant of Christ.
Now when it comes to tithing, very few other topics have so many differing opinions, or so much confusion, and so we are going to go into a lot of scriptural detail today in order to cut through it all. My intention today is not to give you another man’s opinion regarding tithing, but to shine a light onto the actual scripture truth of it, and in doing so, we will be able to clearly see the New Covenant perspective on it in the light of Jesus Christ.
We are going to be looking at a large number of scriptures today, and this study is going to be longer than usual because we want to do this topic justice and give it the needed time and attention; so I encourage you to pause the video, take your own notes, and follow along with me as I read these scriptures, and feel free to pause and re-read this article as needed.
Defining a tithe
The best place to begin any study on tithing, is by defining exactly what the word itself means and what tithing actually was. The word “tithe” itself simply means the tenth part – the Hebrew of which is מַעֲשֵׂר, again simply meaning tenth of a thing. The word “tithe” itself does not imply a specific type of thing or what specifically it is to have a tenth taken from it – it’s just simply a tenth of something.
So in order to know what specifically a biblical tithe is referring to, we need to let God define it for us in the scriptures, so get your Bibles ready if you can because we are about to find out exactly what a biblical tithe is.
There are a total of sixteen texts in scripture which discuss the tithe, ten of which describe what the tithe actually contained, and you may be surprised at the contents of the tithe, so let’s look at the ten descriptors of the tithe – and again I encourage you to take notes and read along with me.
(For clarity, I have bolded the specific contents of the tithe mentioned)
Starting with Leviticus 27:30-32:
“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.
And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the LORD.”
Next, we have Numbers 18:26-28:
“Thus speak to the Levites, and say to them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.
And this your heave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the corn of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the wine press.
Thus you also shall offer an heave offering to the LORD of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and you shall give thereof the LORD’s heave offering to Aaron the priest.”
Okay. And then we have Deuteronomy 12:17:
“You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your corn, or of your wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herds or of your flock; nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand.”
Next, two chapters ahead, in Deuteronomy 14:22-23:
“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.
And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”
Then skip ahead to Deuteronomy 26:12-13:
“When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your produce the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled;
Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.”
Next, we have 2nd Chronicles 31:5-6:
“And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first of the corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and of every tithe they brought in abundantly.
And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelled in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.”
Then, Nehemiah 10:37:
“And that we should bring the first of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our farming.”
Next move three chapters ahead to Nehemiah 13:5:
“And he had prepared for him a great chamber, where aforetime they laid the meat offerings, the frankincense, and the vessels, and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites, and the singers, and the porters; and the offerings of the priests.”
Then we have the famous scripture of Malachi 3:10:
“Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [food] in my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
And finally, we have the words of Jesus, in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
Now there are plenty of things to see within all of these scriptures. First regarding the contents of the tithe itself, we can plainly see that the tithes of in the Old Covenant, were the following items:
Seed, fruit, crops, oil, wine, honey, herd, flock, or various other livestock.
In other words: food.
The tithe was never money. And while some would argue that the ancient Israeli society was based on trade and barter, and that they didn’t have money at that time – that is simply not true. In-fact, gold is mentioned all the way back in Genesis chapter 2, and the word “money” occurs 32 times in the book of Genesis alone. Additionally, the word “money” is mentioned 44 times before even the first occurrence of Old Covenant tithing is found in Leviticus chapter 27. So yes, they had silver and gold (as did Abraham which we saw last week) and they knew how to use money – and the tithe was never money, it was always food as we have just seen in the scriptures.
The purpose of the tithe
Now this is where things get even more interesting. As you may have already noticed from the many scriptures which we have just read, the tithes (there are more than one, which we will address later in this study) had a very specific purpose, and went to a specific place and people. According to Numbers chapter 18 and chapter 35 the yearly tithes (and notice yearly, not weekly or even monthly) were given to the Levites, who in-turn gave one percent to the priests. This ordinance is repeated again in Joshua chapter 21.
The reason that the Israelites were bringing a tenth of of their food to the Levites, was because the Levites and priests were not permitted to own any property or have any inheritance. (Deuteronomy 12:12, 14:27-29, 18:1-2, Joshua 13:14, 14:3, 18:7, et al.)
So the only way that they could eat was through receiving the payments of the tithe of the food. And do keep in-mind that this was indeed a payment. The tithes were never a free will gift! This is a very important point, because there are a great many people who interchange the word “tithing” with “giving”, and they are not the same thing at all. The tithes were all commandments; they were ordinances under the Old Covenant Law, and anyone who did not pay their tithes were under a curse for disobedience.
Additionally, as I mentioned previously, there was more than one tithe that was assigned under the Old Covenant: There was the Tithe to the Lord which was described in Numbers 18:21. This is the regular 10% tithe from the yearly agricultural produce that many believers try to implement today with money rather than the food that was commanded.
The second tithe is the tithe of the yearly Feast of Tabernacles found in Deuteronomy 14:22. This tithe came out of the remaining 90% agricultural produce after the first tithe, and was used to make the scheduled pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem for communal worship.
The third tithe was the Tithe to the Poor done every three years and is found in Deuteronomy 14:28. It was to be stored-up and used for the poor.
So we can plainly see that adding all of this up, the total payment percentages for all of the tithes combined, is not the normal ten-percent that we think it is – but it is somewhere between 23 to 30 percent depending on how we round our math. And even then, it is still only food, from within the land of Israel.
Bringing it all into focus
Now that we have a solid understanding of what the tithe actually was, we can begin to see how the modernized version of it really has no scriptural foundation to stand on.
Now at this point, some would bring up Abraham and Jacob of examples of tithing before the Old Covenant Law… so now let’s take an honest look at these two examples in the scriptures, starting with Abraham (or rather Abram) in Genesis chapter 14.
As we read through the chapter, what we find is a lot of historical context – context that is often skipped-over by pastors who are concerned with teaching a particular doctrine of modern tithing… however if we neglect the historical context, we miss the whole point of the account. I will summarize the history here for the sake of time, but I would also encourage you to read the entire chapter during your personal study time, because it will truly set the stage of history.
In verses 1 through 4 of Genesis chapter 14, what we can see is that we have four kings of state, all united under the banner of the king of Elam, by the name of K’dorla‘omer. We see that these four kings dutifully served under K’dorla‘omer for twelve years, and then they rebelled.
Now this rebellion sets into mention a series of raids that is eventually going to involve Abram – and it’s also important to remember that he is still called Abram at this point and not Abraham, since he does not actually become circumcised until Genesis 17; he is still a Gentile at this point in time, and he still holds to some of his Babylonian traditions which we will learn in a moment.
In verses 5 through 14, we can see that these raids involved the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah – where Abram’s nephew Lot was currently living, and as these four kings led armies into those cities and plundered them, they also captured Lot. And a survivor from one of the raids managed to escape and tell Abram about it. Then in verses 15 and 16 we see that Abram took his men and slaughtered the four kings and took back all of their plunder and the prisoners; his nephew Lot among them.
All of this has importance for what follows, because what Abram does next is indeed not a tithe under the Mosaic Law, because the Old Covenant Law was not yet established; however it was also not a free will gift as modern tithe preachers claim it to be. Rather it was a king’s tax.
You see, even before the Old Covenant, kings of all sorts in ancient Mesopotamia had customary ten-percent taxes on increases of land crops and spoils of war. (Amos 4:4, 7:1, 7:13, 1st Samuel 8:15-17)
Now since Abram was born in Babylon and lived there until God called him out of the country (Genesis 11:28-12:1), he was well aware of the customary taxes due to the kings.
And this is the point of all the historical context that we find in Genesis 14, as we read about the tenth that Abram pays to Malki-Tzedek, in Genesis 14:20.
Jesus is the real focus here, not Melchizedek, or tithing
Hebrews chapter 7 makes reference to this encounter between Abram and Malki-Tzedek; however unlike what modern tithing teachers would have us believe, the purpose for the reference is not even tithing, but it is all focused on Jesus Christ, and His New Covenant. Again, I would encourage you to read the entirety of Hebrews chapters 7 and 8, but for the sake of time, and to keep this study from being four hours long, we will summarize this here. Please follow along with me as I read, and read the entire chapter during your personal study time.
Hebrews 7:1-3:
“Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like to the Son of God; stays a priest continually.”
Verse 1 makes it clear what event is being referenced: it’s the same encounter from Genesis chapter 14.
In verse 2 we can see that there is actually a clear distinction between Melchizedek and Jesus Christ. Melchizedek’s name by interpretation means “king of Righteousness” – but Jesus is the actual King of Righteousness!
Melchizedek was the king of a physical land called Salem, which by interpretation also means “peace”.
However, Jesus is the actual King of Peace!
Then verse 3 makes it more clear by mentioning the fact that Melchizedek has no genealogy, so metaphorically speaking he has no beginning or end. While on the other hand, we have a complete genealogy of Jesus; and Jesus is the beginning and the end!
Melchizedek is made like the son of God. Jesus is the Son of God.
Melchizedek is metaphorically a priest forever. Jesus is our eternal High Priest.
None of these facts take away from the historical figure named Melchizedek. He was indeed a great ruler according to verse 4, and worthy of the honor and respect that Abram gave to him. But the reason why the writer of Hebrews is making these references is not to elevate Melchizedek himself, but rather to explain to his (Hebrew) readers a picture of how Jesus Christ is a greater High priest than Abraham and Levi – and also how the New Covenant of Christ is superior to the Old Covenant of Moses.
Consider verses 11-19:
“If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
For he of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the likeness of Melchisedec there rises another priest,
Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
For he testifies, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
For there is truly a cancellation of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.
For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw near to God.”
Notice plainly, that these verses are not saying that Melchizedek is Jesus, but rather that the nature of Jesus’ priesthood is like the order of Melchizedek. Meaning there is no beginning or end to it, and greater than Abraham and the line of Levi.
In light of this, pay special attention to verse 18. There is a cancellation (dis-annulling) of the Old Commandment. And the verse goes as far as to call the commandment weak and unprofitable, for the reason mentioned in verse 19.
The commandments that are in contextual view in verse 18, are all of the commandments regarding the Levitical priesthood, the old covenant law in general, and yes tithing is definitely included there.
The Law could never make anyone or anything perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope (Jesus) did indeed perfect us for all time through His perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10).
Jesus is the True and Eternal Tithe
The reason why you can be absolutely sure that the old commandments have been canceled and we have a better hope in Christ, is quite simply, the quality of the sacrifice. Under the old covenant system, they offered bulls, goats, lambs and doves; fallen creatures under the curse of Adam.
Jesus offered Himself as the eternal spotless lamb.
Under the Old Covenant system, (and before) they brought a tenth of their crops as a tithe to their king as a tax, and they brought around 23% of their crops to the Levites year upon year; but Jesus again brought Himself – and He is indeed the eternal offering and payment for every debt.
As we are concluding this study today, let me show you once and for all that Jesus is the end of all things (including tithing) because He is the true and eternal tithe.
Hebrews 8:1-3:
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: why it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.”
As you read these verses, stop for a moment to consider the power of what they are saying. We no longer have men serving as physical priests in a physical temple, but we have Jesus as our perfect High Priest forever, administering in a Heavenly temple which the Lord Himself built, and not mankind! That’s incredible!
Verse 3 continues that every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices, and Jesus was also required to offer likewise… what do you think He offered? Do you think it was a bull or a goat like the old covenant priests? Or tithes of crops?
No, my friend. Look at Hebrews 5:1 and 9:22-26 as our final scriptures today:
“For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins”
“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Conclusion; The New Covenant Perspective
Friend. It is my greatest wish, that this study today has magnified your vision, awareness and perspective of what Jesus Christ accomplished for you, including in the area of financial provision – and how tithing was part of an old law-based system, of which Jesus Christ put to an end through the greatest payment and sacrifice of all… Himself!
Be sure to join me again next week for part three, where now that we are free from the Law, we are free to examine the New Covenant Perspective on Giving, and how we are truly free to give in Christ.
Be blessed.