To Tithe or Not to Tithe- That is the Question- Episode 46

Gigi returns with a controversial question-  Did Jesus tithe?  Join her as she dives into exploring Scripture and Jewish customs to answer this important question.  You won’t want to miss the answer and it’s not what you might first think!

 Resources Mentioned:

 Scriptures:

Matthew 22:21

Matthew 23:23

Luke 18:12

Romans 12:1

Malachi 3:6-12

Numbers 18:20-22

Leviticus 12:6-8

Matthew 12

Matthew 25

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Transcript

Aloha ladies. Welcome back. 

 Sorry that I’ve been MIA these past few weeks.    We had to travel to Oahu for my husband to have surgery.    But I'm pleased to report that all is well, and God continues to prove faithful.   

 Upon our return from Oahu, a question about money and tithing caught me off guard. It was not what I expected to be confronted with-  

 “Did Jesus tithe?”    

 I know what I've been taught—all good Christians should give at least 10% of everything that we receive. That's the tithe, which is completely separate from additional gifts and offerings.   

 Yet, as I racked my brain, I couldn't think of a single instance in the New Testament that demonstrated  Jesus himself tithed or even instructed his disciples to tithe. 

 Hmmm… Such an interesting question.  I assumed that Jesus must have tithed because He was perfect and he knew and upheld all of the Mosaic commandments and Jewish laws.    Right?   I mean, when confronted by the Pharisees on whether it was lawful to pay taxes- Jesus responded, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)    I’ve always thought that this meant taxes should be paid to the government and tithes paid to God.   

 Well, I'm here to admit that I have been misled and have made some very wrong assumptions.  

 Here's what I've discovered…   nowhere in the New Testament do we ever see Jesus tithe or instruct others to tithe.    There are only two instances that Jesus even discusses the topic of tithing (Matthew 23:23 and Luke 18:12). In each instance, Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who were methodically tithing but they lacked humility and missed the bigger picture of justice, mercy, love, and faithfulness.    Even when Jesus responds about giving Caesar his taxes, He is not talking about tithing at all.  Instead,  he is drawing a harsh distinction between Caesar's worldly kingdom and God's heavenly kingdom.   Caesar demands money; God requires our hearts.   Romans 12:1 tells us, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

 So, if Jesus didn't demonstrate or instruct tithing, why do Christian churches encourage this practice?   The teaching seems to come from the Old Testament found in Malachi 3:6-12, which says:

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.”

The one Scripture in the entire Bible that encourages testing the Lord, and in the process, we are told that if you tithe, you are blessed, and if you rob God, you are cursed.   

 But here are some truths that we overlook in understanding this Old Testament requirement:

 1.     Tithing was actually a temple ordinance established under the Mosaic law specifically for the people of Israel.  No one else. 

2.     According to Numbers 18:20-22,  tithing was only to be given to the priests and tribes of Levi and Aaron.  Because they were not receiving an inheritance of land- all tithes and offerings were to go directly to them.  

3.     Tithing wasn’t actually money; rather, it was products from the Holy Land. Of every description of the tithing in the Old Testament, not a single one describes tithing of money. Instead, tithing consisted of animals, grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, spices, and fruits.  All things that come from the earth.   

4.     Further, tithing wasn't the first 10%—that’s the first fruit offering of the Old Testament Covenant between God and Israel was actually separate from the tithe and consisted of a small basket of produce or the firstborn of a herdsman’s flock.

5.     Many Jewish Rabbis attest that there were three types of tithes and a schedule of tithing with every 7th year being the Sabbath year wherein no tithes were given because no crops were harvested:

a.     Feast Tithe (eaten by the people at a feast as means of worship & thanksgiving- party time!)

b.     Levite/Priest Tithe 

c.     Poor Tithe (stored to feed the poor, widows, orphans, & foreigners) 

6.     Lastly, tithing wasn't required of every citizen of Israel but rather from landowners and herders. Other vocations, such as carpenters, fishermen, tax collectors, and craftsmen, were not required to tithe. The poor, widowed, orphaned, and foreigners were exempt as well.   This is why we don’t see Jesus tithing.    Not only were his family's vocation carpenters but they were also considered poor, as evidenced by his parents, when they presented Jesus at the temple, they offered "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" as a sacrifice, which was the offering prescribed for poor people in Leviticus 12:6-8.   Furthermore, Jesus and his disciples were able to benefit from the gleaning laws provided to the poor.   In Matthew 12, the Pharisees scolded Jesus not for stealing grain but rather for gleaning grain on the Sabbath.   This shows that Jesus and his disciples were eligible to glean because of their poverty status and, as such, would not be required by Mosaic law to tithe. 

 So, the surprising truth is that Jesus more likely than not never tithed (at least not in the sense that we have made tithing today.) 

 I know….   Jesus not tithing- mind blowing! 

 And when we consider that Jesus' death and resurrection established a brand-new covenant, it becomes clear that every law and requirement under the old Mosaic covenant was fulfilled and no longer needed to be followed.    No more sacrifices to include no more tithing requirements.  

 No need.    Jesus paid it all, and He fulfilled it all. (This reassures us of the completeness of His work and the freedom we have in Him.) 

 But here's the twist and the most important truth we should not dismiss.    

 Yes, as Christ's followers, we have no obligation to give—no law that says we must tithe—but we know that the greatest commandment that Jesus gave us was to love God with all our hearts, with all our understanding, and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself, which is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.    

 Love God. Love others. 

 Just like Jesus’ response about the taxes… it’s all about our hearts.  

 To be in line with Jesus, what does He care about? 

 Well, Jesus cares about the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sick, and the disenfranchised. He cares about His church; even the Apostle Paul never speaks to the obligation of tithing, instead instructing that we should support those who preach and teach the gospel—supporting the church. 

 It’s about what Jesus asks of us—to be cheerful givers to God and to others, generous with our time, talents, abilities, and money.  

 Not because we have to but because we get to -- we want to.    

 That’s what matters! 

 Ladies: At the end of the day, everything we have been blessed with originates and belongs to God. It’s always about our choices.   Choices made from a position of humility and thanksgiving. If God has blessed you with abundance, it is from a heart of gratitude that you should want to be a generous giver to the things & people that matter to God.  We must be faithful and steward our blessings well because, just like in the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25, we will one day be judged on how well we used our resources and blessings.    

 Did we benefit only ourselves or did we align our hearts with God?