Tithes were used to finance God’s work?
If one is to ask any random person, “What is the use and purpose of the tithe?” They will most definitely tell you that Tithes are for financing God’s work, without blinking! But the most troubling part is that, even though we all profess to be Bible believing Christians, there isn’t a single instance or scripture, where tithes were ever used to finance God's work in the entire Bible! Already mentioned is the fact that the early Christian Church did not have a tithing system for over 500 years.
“It [tithing] was not practiced in the early Christian church, but gradually became common by the 6th century.” The Encyclopedia Americana
“The early Church had no tithing system. The tithes of the Old Testament were regarded as abrogated by the Law of Christ. It was not that the need to support the Church did not exist or was not recognized, but that other means seemed to suffice" Catholic Encyclopedia New Edition Vol. XIV
According to The above captioned quotes, it is a well established historical fact that Christians did not practice tithing for over half a century. It wasn’t because Christians didn’t give to God, they did so using the Apostolic teachings. So, we need to verify these claims that Tithes are the primary means for supporting God’s work. If this is the case, how come all Christians from the times of the Apostles didn’t tithe? According to those who teach tithes they claim that tithes are God's way of financing the Church. Let me not say it for them, here are a few quotes so that we may hear it from the horse’s mouth;
“The tithe is God's way of financing his church and causing the blessing to come to those who practice it" Barnaby P. Baker¹
“God's appointed method for financing of the work which he has been pleased to place in our hands is that of tithing- the strict setting aside of one's tenth of all we receive to be devoted to his cause…" A.W Pink²
“Was the tithe intended to help establish the physical church and pay wages of 'full-time' ministers? If so it took a long time for the word to get around because it was not until Moses was given the Law that the need to tithe filled this need…” Larry Burkett³
These teachers are making the presumption that tithes were instituted by God as a primary means to finance his work. Again, we have to constantly ask ourselves this question. Do we have anywhere in the scriptures, where God ever said that Tithes are the primary means of financing my work? Do we have instances in the scriptures when God wanted to collect money from the Israelites for his work where he required tithes? How come such an understanding never came from the Apostles?
This is because the teachers quoted above seemed to be conclusively asserting that, whenever God wanted to raise funds in silver(money) he used tithes. Whenever God wanted to raise money in order to finance his work, He required tithes! This is the long and short of what they are saying or teaching. They are simply inferring that when God gave the command to tithe, his intention was that tithes were to be used for financing his work.
However, on Leviticus 27:1-8, God gave an express command to the Israelites to pay redemption money of varying amounts. 60, 30, 20, 10, 5 and 3 shekels of silver. There appears to be no emphasis on the tenth when God gave instructions on money. Verse 8 is just mind blowing and a huge eye opener.
“If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, the person being dedicated is to be presented to the priest, who will set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford.” Leviticus 27:8
This is money that they were required to pay! All this is mentioned before the command to tithe on verse 30! This redemption money was for Aaron and his sons. When God wanted the Israelites to give money he simply said so!
In all instances, the Old Testament does not state in any way that God's way of financing his work was through the tithe. One just can’t find this whether expressly or through inference, it's just not there. What you will find are other means that God expressly put in place to finance his work. When God needed his work to be financed he expressly required money and not tithes. In fact, God employed so many vehicles to finance his work and tithing was never one of them! The tithe was never applied when the Israelites gave money to God in both Testaments of the Bible.
When God wanted the Israelites to build the Tabernacle he required of Moses to collect a freewill offering of everything and not tithes of everything! The circumstances under which God required this freewill offering was pretty much ideal for our current set up. We are 'not farmers' just as they were at that point! The Israelites were in the wilderness, they were nomads, wandering in the desert. The second matter was the task at hand, the construction of the Tabernacle. This was a very huge project that required extensive resources. Those were the facts. Did God instruct Moses to apply the ten percent kingdom principle in order to raise the money and materials needed for the construction of the Tabernacle?
Since the Israelites were not yet farmers, did God command them to bring a tenth of the gold, silver[money], and bronze they had for the construction of the Tabernacle? Since the tenth part is “God's appointed method for financing of the work which he has been pleased to place in our hands”? Did God instruct Moses to use the tithe for the construction of the place of worship? He commanded Moses to collect a freewill offering from those of a willing heart for the construction of the tabernacle!
“And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying: ‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze;…”Exodus 35:4-5
From this account, the response was so overwhelming that the people ended up bringing more than what was required. Moses had to send out a command restraining the people from bringing more staff for the work of the Tabernacle.
“So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.” Exodus 36:5-7
Here, God did not put a base figure in order to encourage the Israelites to give more so that there was enough material. All this serves to illustrate that “the tithe" is not at all a Kingdom principle and was never used as a way of raising money to finance big projects. This is nothing but a human construct and an unproven biblical fiction. The conception of using tithes to finance God’s work did not come from the Scriptures. When David wanted to construct the Temple of Jerusalem, he and his top officials gave a freewill offering of the material and money that was needed. Again the tenth was not used and was never used for such a purpose. They used freewill offerings.
“Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced; and the work is great because the temple is not for man but for the Lord God. Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the Lord ; and King David also rejoiced greatly”. 1 Chronicles 29:1-2, 6, 9
Tithes were never used for the service of the Temple or Tabernacle. The Law required that atonement money be used specifically for that purpose. “ Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord, making atonement for your lives.” Exodus 30:11-16. What did God say, in this command? God instructed the Priests to collect the atonement MONEY and use it for what? Does anyone see where God instructs the Priests to collect the tithe money for the service of the tent of meeting? This obligatory temple tax is also mentioned in Matthew;
“After Jesus and his disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” Matthew 17:24
It appears that everyone is so fixated on the tithe that we fail to see such plain truths from the scriptures. As is obvious to see, I am not sharing deep and hidden mysteries from the Bible, but merely revealing plain truths that have been staring back at us all along, in plain sight! Another fascinating detail about the Temple of Jerusalem or the Tabernacle was that it didn’t have a storehouse only, it also had a treasury! Where all the money and other precious stones and metals were kept. All the monies that I have referenced here, went into this treasury.
“All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury." Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD'S house.” Joshua 6:19…24
“They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.” 1Chronicles 29:7-8
“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders… So Judas threw the money into the temple and left... The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." Matthew 27:3
"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. Mark 12:41
These are texts from both the Old and New Testament writings revealing that the Tabernacle and the Temple had a treasury. Why would they need a treasury if they didn’t use money? All these texts also reveal that tithes were never used to finance God's work in the entire Bible. These scriptures make it certain that tithes are not and were never the primary means for financing God's work. When God wanted his work to be financed, he simply requested money.
As one can see from all the texts from both the Old and the New Testament writings, it was never God’s intent to finance his work using the tithe! There is simply no single text or verse to back that horse! While the bible is very clear on the purpose of the Old Testament tithe, God required other means to be used to finance his work. There is just no biblical precedence of God ever using the tenth to finance his work. Under the Law, God put in place different provisions or commandments that were aimed at raising money for his work. We have plain texts where God required money from the Israelites, yet there isn’t even a single text where God instructed the Israelites to pay tithes in money!
I have heard some claim that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever. This indicates that God doesn’t change. But well, more often than isn’t the case, most people enjoy using this verse when it best suits them! If it is clear from the scriptures that God never used the Tithe to finance his work and that when God required money he would simply instruct the Israelites to bring money. The tithe was only applied to the direct produce of the land. If God never used the tithe to finance his work in the whole Bible, it then follows his unchanging nature that he still does not use this principle to finance his work to this very day!
¹ Barnaby P. Baker: The Tithe, A Kingdom Principle pp.4
2 Arthur W. Pink: Tithing. pp.12
3 Larry Burkett: Giving and Tithing pp.34