2. We are never to spend our tithe on ourselves. T /
Have you ever heard your pastor say ‘Don’t eat your tithe?’ When he says this to us in church today, we know he means we shouldn’t spend our tithe on ourselves - he doesn’t mean we shouldn’t literally eat our money! But wait! In the Old Testament the Jews did at times actually ‘eat their tithe.’
22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. (Deut 14:22-26)
This is what Moses told the Israelites – he was giving them instructions in advance of them entering the promised land. ‘The place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name’ is of course referring to the Jerusalem temple (although they didn’t know that at the time).
Once the Israelites entered Israel and began tithing, tithes were actually given in a three-year cycle:
Two of every three years (and possibly every third year too), the people were to go to Jerusalem and eat their tithe, sharing it with everybody in a kind of ‘national pot-luck celebration’. But if they lived too far away, they could exchange their tithe for money and take it with them to Jerusalem, where they could then buy food to eat and celebrate together.
In the third year, they were to store their tithes for the Levites and priests as well as the poor and needy (Deut 14:28-29, 26:12-15).
Cows, sheep, wheat, grain … Why tithe on those kinds of foods specifically, and not other food or valuables? What were these things used for?
The main purpose of the tithe was to support the Jewish system of temple sacrifices in Jerusalem and the annual festivals associated with this. These needed the kinds of food that could be both sacrificed and eaten. Money could not fulfil this purpose!
This also explains why they didn’t tithe in the wilderness or in exile … and why Jews today don’t tithe either … because there was/is no temple in Jerusalem with sacrifices, and no annual enforced pilgrimages to celebrate festivals there.
It also functioned as a form of social welfare system, analogous to our taxes and benefits today. It was part of God’s way of providing for the poor and needy.
Israel had what we know today as a union of church and state. Civil and religious leadership were combined. Because of this union of government and religion in Israel’s life, the tithe was like a combination of a tax and an offering. It not only was part of their worship, but also supported the priests and Levites (who were the assistants of the priests) and the poor and needy – as well as being a kind of compulsory holiday savings for travels to regular religious festivals.
Our Western world today is quite different. As we live in a secular society, we have to split up our payments – our taxes go to the secular government, while we need to donate separately to keep our churches and ministries running. And while we don’t have any equivalent of the Israelite festivals, if we do want to travel somewhere to celebrate a special time, we have to budget that for ourselves!