Church Stuff: Tithes and Offerings Part II

Church stuff is a new section of "All These Things" that deals with the basics of Christianity and the common practices of the modern Christian church. I am of the Baptist Denomination. Therefore, most of what I write concerning specific practices will be based on what I was taught and what my particular church believes. I will try my best to be correct in my information. However, any input is appreciated. I will never delete a comment or question unless it is deemed disrespectful to God or lewd in wording. Tough Questions are welcomed!


In an earlier post about tithes and offerings, I spent some time talking about why tithes and offerings were used to support the church and what ministries my particular church supports with the money received. I received several comments to that post concerning the relevance of tithing and whether or not the church should still teach tithing. The comments also stated that the old Levitical tithing was "cold legalism" and not relevant for the New Testiment church. Another comment implied that all old laws died on the cross with Jesus. I went back and researched some information. I encourage you to do the same. In the meantime, here are some points that I want to make based on what I found.


I. Tithing and the Levites

The Levites were the descendants of Levi, the third born out of twelve sons of Jacob. The other sons(in order), were: Reuben, Simeon, (Levi), Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. The descendants of these twelve brothers became the twelve tribes of Isreal. Isreal was Jacob's new name that he was given after wrestling throughout the night with an angel(Genesis 32:24).

Levi had three sons. The descendents of these three sons became priests and their assistants. Levi was actually the great great grandfather of Aaron and his younger brother Moses. They were in charge of the tabernacle and other duties within the tribe. The Levites were assigned to the service of the Lord at all times; so they did not occupy a particular territory in the Promised land like the rest of the tribes. Instead they were scattered out among all the other tribes. Their sole purpose was for service. So they did not work in the fields, or hunt, or do anything outside of of that service. As a result, the other eleven tribes supported them and provided for them by bringing them a tithe of the produce of the land. I took most of this information from this site. So the tithe to the Levites was a commandment from God (Numbers 18:8-32).

II. Tithing and Abraham (Abram)

I also referenced Abram's tithe to King Melchizedek in Genesis 14. I stated that the tithe was given to the King from the spoils of war and that it was a gesture of respect to the one in authority. Matthew Henry's commentary of the Bible suggests that King Melchizedek was actually of the lineage of Moses. That would make King Melchizedek one of God's kings. See the section entitled "Abram's Interview with Melchizedek" in the Matthew Henry link. I think that it is safe to say that a tithe given to one of God's kings was a tithe to God Himself. In Malachi 3, God scolds those that refuse to give the proper tithes to Him through His priests.

III. Tithing and Jesus

I refer back to another link concerning Jesus and His views on tithing. As taken from the link: "for the Church, the point is this: Jesus implies that responsible disciples are expected to contribute to the work of God appropriately. And the standard contribution to the work of God was, and still is, ten-percent."

IV. Don't Take My Word For It!

For the sake of time, space, and my own energy; I will stop my thoughts on the subject here. And since we have established that I don't know everything, I would advise you to use this as a spingboard to launch yourself into research mode. There is a lot of information available and I would have you use some of the links that I referenced as your starting point. I hope that you learned something new from this little survey. I know that I have. And it is my prayer that we would all continue to grow with each other as we continue to grow in the Lord. More lessons to come in the future.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike





Back to Homepage