Tithing: An Old Testament Command With New Testament Continuity

Tithe is a contentious issue among Christians. The tithe debate was reignited this week by a viral video of exchanges between a Pastor and a congregant in one of the established denominations in Ghana over the interpretation of Malachi 3:8-10.  The Pastor  accused members who don’t pay tithe as robbing God: they are armed robbers. That statement elicited a response from the member, who counteracted the Pastor’s statement accusing rather the leadership of the church as being thieves and robbers. The exchange, as indicated earlier,  centered around the interpretation of Malachi 3:8-10 which is at the heart of every teaching on tithe.

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

In Malachi, worship has been corrupted and God calls his people to repentance. In Malachi 3:8 God charges the people of robbery (v.8).  In the usual rhetorical disputations of the book, they ask “how”— “But you say, How have we robbed you”? God answers “In your tithes and contributions.” They are withholding their tithes and contributions in support of the house of God.

The Purpose of The Tithe In The Old Testament
Tithe is simply a “tenth” originally of one’s produce. It was first mentioned in Genesis 14 when Abraham gave a tenth to Melchidedek  which is further referenced in Hebrews 7. Also Jacob tithed (Genesis 20). The tithe will subsequently become enshrined in the law purposely to be given to the Levites. They were the tribe of Israel set aside for temple work and had no land allotted to them. The tithe then was for their upkeep (Deut 18:21-24).

In Malachi 3:10, the purpose of the tithe is clear: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse , that there may be food in my house” The storehouse was a designated place in the temple where the tithes and contributions are stored. This was mainly an agrarian society so all of these are agricultural produce. Now the tithe is to ensure there is food in God’s house. The question we should rightly ask is, where is God’s house? The answer is the temple of worship, where the priest attended to the sacrifices. The other question is, “who eats or spends the food brought to the storehouse”? Obviously not God. The tithes and contributions were for the priests and other workers in the temple.

During the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, he discovered that the Priest and other workers in the temple were not being catered for resulting in them abandoning their duties. In response to this, Nehemiah instituted Reforms to address this by ensuring the due portion of the tithes are appropriately distributed (Nehemiah 13:10-13).

The Principle Of The Tithe In The New Testament
One of the contentious points about tithes is a lack of clear teaching in the New Testament. This leads to a dismissive response: it is under the law, therefore it is not binding. But that is not how the apostles approached the Old Testament. They were not overly dismissive of the law and Old Testament practices. There is a way the Old Testament continues into the New and in the ministry of the apostles, where there is a discontinuity between law and new covenant they tell us. And example is how sinners are justified. It is by faith and not law keeping (Ephesians 2:8). Hebrews 10 also tells us animal sacrifices have been done away with.  So we should follow this pattern closely.

You will not see tithing directly required in the New Testament church. But we are not only to interpret Scripture by what is stated explicitly. We are to deduce doctrine from what is taught clearly, albeit keeping in line with proper hermeneutics

The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men²

The tithe then in principle I believe is taught in the New Testament. One of the places we hear of the tithe is from Jesus himself: “ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law; justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23). Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for being meticulous in tithing, yet neglects  important aspects of the law. You will observe here Jesus didn’t ask them to stop tithing and show justice and mercy and faithfulness: “These —that is justice and mercy and faithfulness— you ought to have done, without neglecting the others–-that is tithing.

Now I reckon there is a challenge here. Jesus’ conversation Jesus had with the Pharisees was still in line with the practice of the law. However a very strong argument for tithing can be argued from 1 Corinthians 9:13-14

Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

This is an argument Paul carries from the law making comparisons between those serving in the temple under the law and those serving in the church in the preaching of the gospel. Just as those serving in the temple live on the food in the temple, those who preach the gospel live on the giving of believers. That comparison touches on the similarity of what happens in the temple and in the church. What the Priests had was tithes and contributions. That flows into Paul’s discussion.

This then is how we support the house of God through tithes

Support Ministers of The Gospel
Under the law, there were clear arrangements to take care of the Priests and those who minister in the temple. A system was in place to cater for the distribution of tithes and contributions (Nehemiah 13:13).

And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and as their assistant Hanan the son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered reliable, and their duty was to distribute to their brothers.

This system continues into the New Testament. Gospel ministers are to live on the contributions in the church. Again, Paul made this argument clearly.

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned?  Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? (1 Corinthians 9:7-12).

Believers have a responsibility of care for gospel ministers: “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches” (Galatians 6:6).  Now it is a clear New Testament teaching, that believers are to be generous. However, there is also an obligation to take care of ministers of the gospel. Christians must therefore view it as an obligation to set aside as a matter of prudence some specific regular amounts to be given in support of a Pastor in the context of a church. Choose not to call it tithe if you want, but Christians in their local churches need to be intentional in giving towards the support of gospel ministers.  Maybe the tithe can help with that intentionality.

I view tithing as a child’s first steps—not the best she’ll ever do, but simply a good beginning, one which her parents celebrate. Tithing is like the training wheels on the bicycle of giving. The point of putting on training wheels is actually to get you up and going to learn how to ride a bike. I think for many Christians tithing can be a good thing, in that it gets them going on the path of giving in a disciplined way that has some objectivity to it that is measurable.²

Support Missions
The tithe was not only for the Priest, there was another tithe to be spent on widows, the poor and support the needy in society.

At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do (Deuteronomy 14:28).

For the New Testament church, this mirrors missions and hospitality towards the poor. The church reaches out with the gospel and also caters for the needy in society: If someone lacks food or clothing and you don’t meet their needs but wish them the peace of God, James asks is that good? (James 2:15-17).  As believers, Jesus’ sacrifice of giving himself for our sins has implications for our relationship with money. The best example for Christian generosity is the generosity of Jesus in dying for sinners. If he gave his life for us, we must be willing to be generous with our resources towards one another (1 Corinthians 8:1-9)

Your attitude towards money and supporting the church surely reveals something about our heart and trust in God. God loves a cheerful giver. God blesses our generosity and in the words of Paul, we shouldn’t be tired of doing good. There are indeed blessings in generosity so that we will continuously be able to give to support God’s house. If we are in Christ, we are blessed and stand accepted before Christ. God withholds nothing from us. And because of this, we are called to generosity–even more beyond a 10%.

Notes

1. Westminster Confession of Faith (1.6)
2. Randy Alcorn, “Why I Don’t See Tithing as the Pinnacle of Christian Virtue, OR as Something Legalistic, https://www.epm.org/resources/2019/Mar/6/tithing-christian-legalistic/