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instructions through Moses: "A
tithe of everything from the land,
whether grain from the soil or
fruit from the trees, belongs to
the Lord; it is holy to the Lord"
(Lev. 27:30). Then God added, "/
gi ve
to the Levites all the tithes in
Israe l as their inheritance in
return for the work they do whil e
serving at the Tent of Meeting"
(Num. 18:21).
Tithing was always intended for
God's usage. As we already have
seen, Abraham paid tithes to God's
priest Melchizedek. When the
nation of Israel was establ ished, the
tithe was to be paid to God, who in
turn paid the priesthood of Levi for
their service. The primary function
of the Levites was religious service
and education.
Israel Demands a Change
1
n the land of Canaan, Israel
served under a system of judges.
Of course the Levites directed
religious matters. All the sur–
rounding nations were ruled by
kings and all practiced pagan reli–
gious rituals.
After sorne 400 years the people
of Israel desired a king to be like
other nations. Samuel had for many
years served as judge and priest. He
was shocked that the people wanted
to forsake God's government and
choose their own. He had witnessed
the way the kings of surround ing
nations treated their subjects. But
the people insisted and God permit–
ted them to set up a monarchy
under King Saul.
But Samuel warned the people:
"This is what the king who will
reign over you will do: He will
take your sons and make them
serve with his c h a ri ots and
horses. . . . He will take your
daughters to be perfumers and
cooks and bakers. He will take the
best of your fields and vineyards
and olive groves and give them to
his attendan ts. He will take a
tenth of your grain and of your
vintage and give it to his officials
and attendants.... When that day
comes, you will cry out for relief
f rom the king you have cho–
sen ..." ( I Sam. 8:11, 13-15,
18).
In other wor.ds, · Samuel knew
carnal human léaders would abuse
the tithing system. There would
8
be mi litary conscnptton. Property
would be con fi scated fo r the
state.
The prophecy of Samuel carne to
pass.
Under David and Solomon the
nation of Israel prospered. But with
the prosperity carne added taxes. In
the time of Solomon, God permit–
ted the construction of a magnifi–
cent temple to be the center of reli–
gious worship.
But Solomon added a burden of
additional revenues or taxation to
construct his own palace, thrones,
stables and vineyards.
The population of Israel became
restless under the increasing bur–
den.
While you may not always
cheerfully pay taxes,
it is an obligation
you have for
living in your country.
After the death of Solomon, his
son Rehoboam became king. Solo–
mon's servant, Jeroboam, had also
become a powerful political fig–
ure-primarily among the northern
1O tribes of Israel.
As a representative of these
peoples, Jeroboam counseled Reho–
boam, "Your fat her put a heavy
yoke on us, but now lighten the
harsh labor and the heavy yoke he
put on us, and we will serve you"
(I Kings 12:4).
Even the older advisers who had
served under Solomon urged Reho–
boam to lessen the taxation and
other burdeos (verse 7).
But Rehoboam and his young
advisers wanted to su rround them–
selves with luxury even surpassing
Solomon. His decision: "My father
made your yoke heavy;
1
will make
it even heavier. My father scourged
you with whips;
1
will scourge you
with scorpions" (verse 14). So he
increased the taxes and the labor
demands.
Under J eroboam the northern 1O
tribes seceded and established their
capital at Samaria. In one sense of
the word it was a tax revolt.
The nations of Israel and Judah
remained separate ever since.
After t heir national captivities in
the 8th and 7th centuries B. C.,
only a part of the House of Judah
returned to live in their nat ive
land . The northern 1O tri bes
migrated from the Middle East
and their national identities were
lost to the world.
Jesus
o n Taxation and Tithlng
By the time Jesus of Nazareth was
born, the Middle East was under
Roman control. In fact, taxation
had something to do with the loca–
tion of the birth of Jesus. "And it
carne to pass in those days, that
there went out a decree from Cae–
sar Augustus, that all the world
shou ld be taxed " (Luk e 2: l ,
Authorized Version).
Roman law on occasion required
every resident to return to the area
of his or her family origins for the
purpose of taking a census and pay–
ing taxes. J oseph a nd Mary made
the trip from Nazareth to Bethle–
hem in order to keep the Feast of
T abernac les a nd to meet t .he
Roman census-taxation require–
ment. And so it was that in Bethle–
hem Jesus was born.
More than 30 years later J esus
was confronted with tbe question of
paying the Roman tax-a tax most
felt unjust and exorbitant.
There had been more than one
tax revolt among the Jewish popu–
lace.
lt
had even become a subject
of rel igious debate among fact ions
of the Jews.
On one occasion sorne of the reli–
gious leaders, attempting to trick
J esus, asked: "Tell us then, what is
your opinion? Is it rigbt to pay
taxes to Caesar or not?" (Matt.
22: 17).
If
Jesus spoke against paying
taxes, they could turn him over
to
Roman officials for his rebellion
agains t Roman law. And if he
favored it, he could be viewed as
holding pro-Roman feelings.
But J esus had a calm and wise
answer no one could r efute:
" 'Show me the coin used for pay–
ing the t ax,' " he requested.
" ' Whose port rait is this? And
whose inscription?' 'Caesar's,' they
replied. Then he said to them,
The PLAIN TRUTH