The Jewish Tithe Festival
"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 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… 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." Deuteronomy 14:22-23, 26
This given text is one obvious example why tithing isn’t for Christians hence the reason why the Apostles didn’t teach or mention tithing in their teachings to believers in the whole Bible. If tithing is for Christians then why is it that all those who teach Tithing go conspicuously silent on this Tithe Festival? This is also one of the commands that regulated tithing. Besides stating the obvious, the Israelites were commanded to eat their tithes in the presence of the Lord, so that they would learn to revere the Lord always! Why do we not also celebrate this tithe festival with our families in the presence of the Lord, if tithing is for Christians?
This text essentially dismantles the whole Christian tithing doctrine and shreds it to pieces. First the text reveals that tithes were to come strictly from the produce from the fields. “Be sure to set aside". Then secondly the text itemized the designated items that could be tithed, “grain, olive oil, New wine” that is food. Third, the text then mentions that they were to carry the tithes to the nearest designated place of worship. This shows beyond doubt that Tithes were indeed strictly farm produce. Next, the text reveals that if the place of worship was too far and they had too much to carry, it was under this exceptional circumstance that they could exchange their tithe for silver/money! This one is for all those who believe that God required tithes of grain because the Israelites didn’t use money! You may exchange your tithe for silver proves that tithes were never money.
Last, but not least, to prove that silver was in fact money, the text goes on to say that “use the silver to buy whatever you like." Remember this is a direct command coming from God! It doesn’t end there, they were also allowed to buy wine and any kind of alcoholic beverage and drink away in the presence of the Lord! Notice that they did not take this money to the designated places of worship to give it to the Levites. They were to spend the money on whatever their heart desired. This option of changing tithes to money only applied to this Festival Tithe.
“You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God will choose—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns—and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you put your hand to.” Deut.12:17-18
This is another text that regulated the Tithe Festival. The obvious give away here is that the tithe is grouped among the religious sacrificial offerings. They were given strict orders not to eat these tithes and burnt offerings in their homes or towns, but they were to do so at the designated places of worship. They were required to celebrate this Tithe Festival for two consecutive years. The Israelites were given specific commands on how to carry out the Tithe Festival. Chapters 12 and 14 gave express commands pertaining to this Tithe Festival.
But according to Barnaby P. Baker in his book 'The Tithe a Kingdom principle' “If you eat your tithe, you are robbing God and you are robbing yourself”³. This is all you will ever hear from all those who teach Tithing! Isn't it that the children of Israel were also commanded to eat their tithe in the presence of the Lord for two consecutive years? So that they may learn to revere the Lord, always? This was an act of worship under the Old Testament in keeping with God's commands. It was another sacred way of honoring God's commands and his sovereignty. In this instance they indeed honored God by eating their tithe at designated places of worship!
Furthermore, verses 28-29 then mentions the third year tithe. They were not allowed to eat their tithes in that year, the Israelites were required to bring the whole tithe into the local storehouse in the towns of their abode. This is the same Tithe that's mentioned in Amos below and Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe…” Deuteronomy. 26:12-17 then gave specific instructions on how the Israelites would go about dedicating the third-year tithe to the Lord. There was a ritual that they were all obligated to perform when dedicating this tithe. The people were required to make some declarations when carrying out this ritual. Turns out the Israelites were not allowed to dedicate their tithe while in mourning, or ceremonially unclean or to offer the tithe to the dead. Fascinating!
"Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Amos 4:4
All this insight reveals why those who assert that tithing is for Christians go quiet or they will say this tithe was abolished! Here’s a thought for your pennies;
“In giving a portion of the tithe to the poor and needy, the Israelite was demonstrating his commitment to keep ALL of the law. Today, there is no valid biblical principle which allows the church to teach only one of the three types of tithes to support its ministers and then ignore the national festival tithes and the third year tithes for the poor and needy. Like the rest of the law, tithing was a complete package with three inseparable parts which cannot be divorced from the context of the entire Mosaic Law.”⁴ The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
According to the above-given quote, the festival tithe is an indivisible part of the tithing Laws that were given by God to Israel. But now, some people either completely ignore or downplay this commandment to eat the tithe. In other words, the command to give the tithe to the Levites was just as important as the commandment to eat the tithe in the presence of the Lord. This is why God commanded that they hold the festival for two consecutive years and then give the whole tithe once every three years. Israel was given specific instructions about the tithe festival and the whole tithe. There is no indication that the one was more important than the other. Morestill, there isn’t even a single scripture that says Christians must only observe the command to give the whole tithe and ignore the Tithe Festival.
As mentioned above, the text in Deuteronomy annihilates the whole doctrine on Christian tithing. There are those who concede that tithing was indeed a requirement of the Law of Moses, however, it was part of the moral Law of Moses. (I explain the whole concept of the ceremonial and moral law in my other book on the New Testament[“How To Understand The New Testament: Discovering the UnCompromised Gospel]”) Here’s one classical example
“…In the third place, we found that in the New Testament itself, we have both hints and plain teaching that God requires his people to tithe even now, for tithing is not part of the ceremonial law, it is part of the moral law. It is not something that has a dispensational limitation but is something that is binding on God's people in all ages"2. A.W Pink
According to this school of thought. People(because the Bible doesn’t say this) have classified the Law of Moses into Moral Law and Ceremonial Law. The part of the Law that regulated the Jewish festivals, sacrificial worship, ceremonial cleansing etc. they classified that as being part of the Ceremonial Law, then the other remaining portion they classified it as the Moral law. They then contend that the death of Jesus only abolished the ceremonial part of the Law of Moses. As Gentile Christians we are still bound to the Moral Law. Hence the above cited preacher then asserts that Tithing is part of the moral Law, and therefore it’s binding to God's people in all ages.
Tithing doesn’t even qualify to be classified under the moral Law according to the classification mentioned above. Not that I agree with this classification, I am just pointing out that even under such circumstances, tithing doesn’t qualify to be a Christian doctrine, because of the Tithe Festival and the ritual the Israelites were to observe while dedicating the third year tithe. Accordingly, it falls within the Ceremonial Law, therefore it is something that cannot be taught or practiced by Christians. All this is in accordance with the rules they put in place!
Contrary to popular Christian dogma, the Tithing Laws were part and parcel of the Jewish religious feasts or festivals. Only people who are ignorant of all these things would go so far as to claim that tithing is binding on the Church because it was part of the moral law. The Old Testament texts and scriptures plainly reveal that tithing was part of the Jewish feats, festivals or religious ceremonies. The Apostles were fully aware of the rituals, ceremonies and festivals of tithing under the Law of Moses. Hence the admonition from the Apostle Paul rings a bell…
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” Colossians 2:16-17
1 Catholic Encyclopedia New Edition Vol. XIV p.92
2 Arthur W. Pink: Tithing. pp.13
3 Barnaby P. Baker: The Tithe, A Kingdom Principle pp.10
4 International Bible Standard Encyclopedia