Spirit of Discernment

Bring the “whole tithe” into the storehouse December 26, 2011

For supporters of tithing, their favorite verse of scripture is Mal 3:10 in which the command is given to “bring the whole tithe” or by some translations “bring all the tithes” into the storehouse of God. Here the modern storehouse is deemed to be the local church and the “whole tithe” constitutes ten percent gross of all your income in monetary terms (some reckons that ten percent net of taxes is acceptable).

Putting aside the dispute concerning whether or not tithing is for the church today, I want to concentrate on establishing from a biblical standpoint how much the “whole tithe” was comprised of and show that the teaching that the “whole tithe” was ten percent of everything (whether gross or net) is actually a lie – an invention that entered into the church but cannot be found anywhere in the written Word. Let me say here that I do not believe that everyone who teaches tithing is a deceiver. I know that there are many genuine pastors who believe that the church should tithe but rather than having studied the subject themselves I think they are simply relying on what they learnt from seminary and inherited in the churches they pastor. Nevertheless scripture requires that a minister of God studies the Word and handles it correctly as we see here in 2 Tim 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

There are some ministers however who set out deliberately to deceive church members in order to gain wealth such are the ones that even when they are corrected they will ignore it and continue in the error in order to satisfy their gluttonous appetites for money.

Advocates of tithing therefore say that though the Law was abolished it is a “biblical principle” that the church should observe. In this regard they claim that the tithe is equivalent to ten percent gross (or net) of all you earn. But let’s use an illustration to examine if this was the principle that was established under the Mosaic Law.

Illustration (based on the ten percent gross argument)

Let’s say that a farmer in ancient Israel made the equivalent of £10,000 per year from his trade. This means that he would be liable for paying a tithe of £1,000 (10 percent of £10,000) each year.  So after the first 3 years of having entered the Promised Land he would be liable for a tithe of £3,000 (ten percent of £30,000 – total income for 3 years).

According to the ten percent gross argument therefore this is the equivalent amount of tithe that would be owed by the farmer to the storehouse. Can this be supported by scripture though? Let’s examine what the scripture actually says. We should remember here that though Malachi 3 says to “bring the whole tithe” there is no definition of what constituted “the whole tithe” in that passage. To define the “whole tithe” therefore we need to return to the Law of Moses since Malachi was simply re-iterating the requirement of the Law. The tithing instructions are therefore laid out in the books of Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Old Testament. Let’s see what Deut 14 tells us:

22Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. 24And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: 25Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: 26And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

28At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: 29And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied;

Going back to the illustration earlier what these verses of Deut 14 is telling us is that £2,000, of the total £3000 in “back tithes”, which corresponds to the tithe for the first two years, belongs to the farmer for himself and his household to enjoy before the Lord. This portion did not belong to the storehouse contrary to what pastors are teaching today that the first 10 percent of all your income belongs to God. This was clearly not the principle that was established under the Law. Only the whole tithe from the third year (£1000 as per the illustration) was to be set aside for the Levites and the fartherless etc as we can see from verses 28-29.

It would appear from Deut 14 that tithing to the Levites (or to the storehouse) was done in a three-yearly cycle but that is not the end of it. So let’s explore this a bit further. In Lev 25:1-12 all who tended land (farmers) were commanded to cease from their labor in the seventh year – a year that was to be a Sabbath to God. In this year they were not suppose to dress their vines, sow or gather anything (the harvest). The first thing we note here using the previous illustration is that in 7 years only £2000 was given to the Levites et al and the other £5000 of tithe belonged to the farmer and his household – this he was commanded to eat so that he may learn to fear God. Lev 25:6 tells us clearly who the increase of the land in the 7th year (what grew naturally) belonged to and it was not the Levites (or the storehouse). Similarly in the 50^th year, the year of Jubilee,Israel was not supposed to sow, tend vines, or gather anything. This was similar to the Sabbath year.

Although I have used a monetary illustration the point should be emphasized that the tithe was applicable only to those who tended land and therefore it was never expressed in monetary terms. How did we get from the biblical position I have laid out to a doctrine of ten percent gross on all someone’s income?