Deuteronomy 26.12-15

“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’”

A tithe every third year was apparently to be set aside for the Levites and the needy. Upon satisfaction of this tithe an Israelite was to make this declaration before the Lord. It would be difficult to make this declaration if one had not fulfilled the requirements of this tithe. Further, the declaration reminded the one making this offering that the blessing of the Lord – the realization of His promises – is tied to obedience to His Law.

When God’s people are faithful in obeying Him they may feel free to call upon Him to fulfill His promises. So, again, this would be an important matter to be reminded of from time to time, and the third-year tithe provided just such an opportunity.

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Deuteronomy 14.22, 23

“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the LORD your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”

Part of the Lord’s tithe was to go to the support of the priests and the Levites. Part of it was to be consumed in this feast, so that even in our tithes to the Lord He can be seen to be caring for us.

Even today people benefit from the offerings they bring to their churches – facilities, staff, resources, and so forth all depend on the giving of the Lord’s people. We should not feel bad about the fact that we “spend the Lord’s money on ourselves,” as long as we are not neglecting the purpose of the church and her ministry.

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Exodus 23.19

“The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God.”

Proverbs 3.9, 10

Our text emphasizes that the best of our firstfruits are to go to the Lord. This required a process of selection, comparison, and “sanctification” of the firstfruits, setting apart the best for the Lord. Giving to the Lord must not be a mindless or automatic task. We should think and pray over our giving, make sure that we are investing in the best Kingdom enterprises, and consecrating our gifts to the Lord with prayer and rejoicing.

The way we practice giving to the Lord says as much, and perhaps more, about our relationship with Him as the mere fact that we give.

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God was his witness, even he didn’t have a friend in the world.

Things last that we are able to transfer to others.

Celtic Christians changed their world.

We need a faithful few like this in our day.

The love of God affects every other affection of our hearts.

Exodus 22.29

“You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.”

Numbers 3.11-13

Promptness in giving is what’s in view here. Israelites were expected to give on schedule as soon as the offerings came off the vine, tree, or stalk, or out of the flocks and herds.

Again, this passage speaks to the practices of giving of many believers, who pay all their bills and make all their purchases first, then, from whatever they have left over, they give to the Lord. God understood that His people might fall into this snare, and so He emphatically commanded them to give the offering at once, right off the top.

It’s not likely His opinion on this has changed.

God Himself substituted for the first-born of the sons of Israel. He took the Levites unto Himself in the place of the sons of Israel (Num. 3.11-13). Still, all the first-born sons were His, and each time a father or mother looked on that first-born son, he or she would be expected to look upon the Levites as their own family, an entire tribe given to the Lord and His service in lieu of the child who labored with his father in the fields.

The people of Israel doubtless knew that God had a right to the first-born. They remembered how He had dealt with the first-born of Egypt. But in the Levites they had a perpetual emblem of God’s grace and of His own ability to “substitute” offerings pleasing to Him in place of His sinful people.

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Leviticus 27.30-33

“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. ³²And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

Leviticus 22.1-3; 1 Corinthians 9.16-21

Two other ideas are present here, that of “redeeming” one’s tithe and of “substituting” for it. Evidently it was possible to redeem a portion (or all?) of one’s firstfruit, perhaps to ensure more seed for a future planting or to build one’s flocks. It was lawful to do this, but sacrifice was still required. Paying merely the market price of grain, fruit, or livestock was not sufficient; a fifth of that price must be added. Thus one could accomplish the full purpose of the tithe in making an offering and in making it sacrificial.

The notion of substituting for a tithe is rather more mysterious, at least to me. Why would a person want to substitute, say, one calf, for another? Perhaps the one to be retained was in better condition? By substituting a less robust animal a man might keep the healthy one for himself and still fulfill the obligations of the tithe.

Unless, of course, he was discovered. That seems to be the idea here, since substituting would go against the command not to differentiate between good and bad. A man who substituted a poorer offering for a better one, should he be discovered (we must assume), would be required to relinquish both the original offering and the substitute. Thus God seems to have wanted to discourage this practice, doubtless, at least in part, to keep mere self-interest from entering into the work of giving.

This is instructive for us, if only indirectly, in our day, when so many appeals for funding offer premiums or promises of divine blessing to come to the giver – blatant appeals to mere self-interest in seeking to garner funds for the “work of the Lord.”

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Leviticus 27.30-33

“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. ³²And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

Leviticus 22.1-3; 1 Corinthians 9.16-21

Tithes were also to be given from among the flocks and herds of Israel. These may have been somewhat harder to part with, since animals are the source of so much good, but God required them nonetheless. In giving up animals the people of Israel were forfeiting not only immediate good but what we might refer to as opportunity cost – the opportunity for more goods to consume or sell, as well as for more offspring.

God understands this full well. It pleases Him for us to give sacrificially to His work, without grumbling or complaining, and in the full assurance that we can never give away more than He is able to provide in meeting all our needs.

The idea that we should not “differentiate between bad and good” is interesting. The giving of the firstfruits was literally to be that. The first of the harvest and the first of the flocks to pass under the staff were to be given to the Lord. Some of that fruit, grain, or flesh may not have been quite perfect. But the tithe is not like a sacrifice, which was to be pure and without blemish. In giving a tithe for the needs of the priests and Levites Israel shared their lives with these servants. The servants, in turn, shared in their lives, both the good and bad of them.

Now no one should have thought that he could select only the worst of his crop or herds to give to as the tithe. Just set apart the first tenth of all that you gather and bring that in as is, whether good or bad. Nor must one be expected to take the time to set apart only what is good. The Lord required the firstfruits, good and bad alike, and He expected His people to give them faithfully and His servants to receive them joyfully.

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Leviticus 27.30-33

“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. ³²And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the LORD. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”

Leviticus 22.1-3; 1 Corinthians 9.16-21

God commanded Israel to bring the tithe to Him, to honor Him by their giving and to supply the needs of those who labored in the ministry of Word and sacrifice. This tithe was holy unto the Lord, even before it came to fruition on the stalks and trees. Thus to deny the Lord His tithe was tantamount to robbing Him of that which belonged to Him by right (cf. Mal. 3.8).

The discipline of tithing remains important in these days when the Kingdom of God has come (Matt. 23.23). At all times, however, we must remember that the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it (Ps. 24.1). Whenever needs arise within the household of faith, or among our suffering neighbors, we must not be bound merely by the tithe in what we offer for the needs of others (Acts 2.44, 45; 4.32-35). The tithe is the starting-point of our giving to the Lord, not the end.

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