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nations had. In asking for a king
the nation was, in fact, asking for a
human king in place of God who
was their real, though invisible,
king. Samuel warned them that
such a ruler would conscript their
sons and daughters into various
services. He would confiscate their
bcst land, and tax them by t aking
at least
1O
percent of their produce
and livestock. But ancient Israel
refused to listen. They rebelliously
embraced an economic structu re
that has increasingly burdencd the
world ever si nce. T he whole story
is found in I Samuel 8.
T ithing No t Abolished
But did having to pay taxes to a
civil government negate the
people's financia! ob li gations
toward God? No, it did not.
After Abraham's time thc
nation of Israel was instructed to
give a tenth or tithe of their
increase to God. The nation pros–
percd. God in turn authorized the
Levites to use it as paymcnt for
their work in assisting the pricst–
hood at the Tabernacle (Numbers
18:21).
But notice that this tithe
sti/1 belonged to 'God,
not to
Aaron or Levi. All of it was holy
to God (Leviticus 27:30). Consc–
quently, this part of Israel's
increase was not to be used for
thei r secular needs in any way.
The prophet Malachi centuries
later warned that withholding the
tithe means
robbing God
(Mala–
chi 3:8), not the Levite.
Even though ancient Israel
chose
to
pay civil taxes, lsrael's
obligation to give God His prior
due never ceased.
Nowhere does
the Bible do away with this con–
tinuing duty. In the New Testa–
ment J esus stated that we are to
"rendcr therefore unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's,
and
unto God the things that are
God's"
(Matthew 22:21 ).
Sorne have argued that man no
longer needs to tithe because the
Temple was destroyed and the
Levítica! system collapsed when
the city of J erusalem was con–
quered by thc Romans in A.D. 70.
This line of reasoning is total
error! It is based on a wrong
18
assumption- that tithing was
connected only with the Levitica1
administration. But Abraham's
example shows clearly that tith–
ing was known in Old Testament
times nine centuries
before
the
building of the T emple and near–
ly five centuries
before
appoint–
ment of the Levites.
Consequently, authorization
for tithing does not depend on tbe
existence of a Temple or Levítica!
administration!
Tithing remains
in effect because the tenth has
always belonged and sti/1 does
belong to God.
All that changed
in A.D. 70 was the administrative
function of the Levítica! priest–
hood . God no longer authorized
payment to the defunct Levites,
but instead to the priesthood of
Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7: 11-17).
The Teaching of Jesus
It
may come as a surprise to sorne
to learn that Jesus taught people
to tithe. Though others readily
acknowledge this fact, sorne still
have doubts about whether Jesus'
words have application today.
They wonder if H is teaching
about tithing was only for the
Jews· of His day.
Christ's refercnce to tithing is
found in Matthew and Luke.
What most have missed is tbat
these two records are describing
what was said on two separate
occas ion s to two different
groups!
Notice the significance of this
vital fact. J esus' earliest reference
to tithing is described by Luke in
chapter 11. Verse 37 shows that
Christ accepted a dinner invita–
tion from a certain Pharisee.
lt
was during this meal that Jesus
talked privately to him (verse 39),
stating practically the same words
about tithing (verse 42) that are
also recorded by Matthew.
But notice that the setting of
Matthew's account is different!
1
n this instance Jesus' reference
to tithing was made during His
last public discourse when He
was addressing the multitude
and
His discip/es
and denouncing the
hypocrisy of Pharisaical practices
(Matthew 23:1 ).
This second, though similar,
reference to tithing is to a totally
different audience! Jesus was not
talking to j ust a single Pharisee.
While Matthew 21:45 and
22:23, 34 and 41 show that Jesus
had been add ressi ng both the
Pharisces and Sadduccees, Mat–
thew 23:1 clearly shows that
Jesus then preached to a
di.fferent
group:
" Then spake Jesus to the
multitude, and to His disciples."
The point most have over–
looked is that the
entire
23rd
chapter of Matthew contains
Jesus' instruction
to His disciples
and the multitude at the Temple
(Matthew 24: 1).
Jesus was teaching a New Tes–
tament message to this varied
group of people. He told them
how to please God and practice
true
righteousness instead of reli–
gious hypocrisy.
It
is in this con–
text that tithing is mentioned.
T o illustrate the contrast
between true righteousness and
the apparent righteousness of the
Pharisaic leaders of the Jewish
community, Jesus laid bare their
practices. Many of the Pharisees
were in hearing distance. He
broadly rebuked their conduct
and pointed out that their meticu–
lousness in títhing tbe least of the
herbs was in stark contrast to
their failure to live up to the big
spiritual principies of love, merey,
justíce, etc. But instead of
denouncing and abolishing tith–
ing, He quickly pointed out to
everyone present, whích included
worldlyminded listeners as well as
His disciples, that
tithing cannot
be neglected- "these ought
ye to
have done" (Matthew 23:23).
This instruction to His disciples is
New Testament instruction.
J esus' command concerning
tithing is nowhere later negated or
changed in the New Testament.
Paying God His 1
O
percent of
increase clearly has
not
been done
away.
It
is an ongoing responsibil i–
ty and obligation that applies to all
people during a ll ages.
Jesus also taught His dísciples,
"That except your righteousness
shall
exceed
the righteousness of
(Continued on page 45)
The
PLAIN TRUTH