Principle
Under the Law of Moses, God told Israel to tithe for certain specific things.
Explanation
GOD instructed Israel under the Law of Moses to tithe. However, certain details are often overlooked about tithing under the Law. For example:
- Tithing was for specific categories of blessings received, not a blanket ten percent on everything, as is commonly believed.
- The tithes had a practical purpose, such as providing for the priests and the needy.
- Tithes were collected at varying frequencies depending upon their purpose.
Here is what the Scripture says about tithing under the Law of Moses:
1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; the burnt offerings of the Lord shall be their portion; these they shall eat. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He said to them. 3 Now this shall be the judgment concerning the priests from the people, from those who offer sacrifices, whether it is a young bull or sheep: one shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the firstfruit of the sheep’s fleece you shall give to him. 5 For the Lord your God chose him out of all your tribes to stand before the Lord your God, to minister and to bless in His name, he and his sons forever among the children of Israel. 6 So if a Levite comes from one of your cities, from where he dwells among all the children of Israel, as his soul desires, to the place the Lord chooses, 7 then he may minister in the name of the Lord his God, as do all his brethren the Levites who stand before the Lord. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his paternal inheritance.
(Deuteronomy 18:1-8 OSB)
22 “You shall tithe all the increase of your grain the field produces year by year. 23 You shall eat before the Lord your God in the place He chooses to have His name called upon there; you will bring in the tithe of your grain, wine, and olive oil, of the firstborn of your oxen and sheep, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God all your days. 24 But if the journey is too long for you, so you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hands, and go to the place the Lord your God chooses. 26 Then you shall spend that money for whatever your soul desires; for oxen or sheep, for wine or strong drink, for whatever your soul desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household, 27 and the Levite who is within your cities, for he has no part or inheritance with you. 28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce. 29 Then the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the resident alien and the fatherless and the widow who are within your cities may come and eat and be satisfied, so the Lord your God may bless you in all the works you do.
(Deuteronomy 14:22-29 OSB)
