The Scriptural Law of Tithing
By John S. Hollingshead
IN this we reach, one of the most vital points in the consecration and power of the church. The tithe, or tenth, given to the Lord is one of the oldest customs found among men. In its application to the Jews as a people it was very clearly defined in the Mosaic law, but the Scriptures show that the practise of offering tithes was old before Moses was born, when there was no Aaronic priesthood and or Levitical ministry. More than four hundred years before the giving of the law Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the most high God, not because he was king, but because he was priest. Jacob’s vow at Bethel was so expressed as to indicate that it was the pledge of a neglected obligation: “Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” . . . No more did Moses establish the law of the tithe, than he did the law of the Sabbath. Both go back to the beginning, and were God-given. God’s laws do not create duties, but define them. Every moral law had a moral necessity before it became a law. The law of the Sabbath was necessary for man’s good; man needed it. So with the law of the tithe. God put it into the heart of the race to feel the force of the law of indebtedness to God, and to seek to satisfy it. Pagans, heathen, Jews, and Christians in all ages have felt it, and to a remarkable degree correspond, not only in the matter of indebtedness, but also in the amount. Much that is found in the Mosaic law concerning tithing is national and ritualistic, but there need be no confusion in the mind of any who will take the pains to note the distinction between “the tithe” and “tithes.” “The tithe,” or “tithe terumoth,” or “God’s tenth,” is not in any sense distinctly Jewish, but belongs to all men; “it is holy unto the Lord,” as much so to-day as it ever was in any age. With the Jew one tenth—the tithe—principally property, was allowed to the Levites for their support; a second tenth was devoted to the sanctuary, mainly cattle and grain; and each third year another tenth was given to the poor. Thus the Jewish law required nearly one third of all the Jew’s income. While he paid this, he prospered; but failing, he grew lean. In Hezekiah’s reformation the external evidence of return to God was the faithful return to the law of the tithe, until the offerings became “heaps.” Nehemiah in rebuilding Jerusalem found it necessary to re-establish the forgotten tithe. The prophets Amos and Malachi enforced this duty, and rebuked the nation for “robbing God” in neglecting to bring their tithes. Christ rebuked the Pharisees for the manner in which they paid their tithes, and said: “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” In the new dispensation the establishment of a distinct gospel ministry implies the necessity for its support, and many texts call for its ample maintenance: “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” “If the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.” “Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” It was needless to describe a manner of meeting such obligations to a people trained as the Jews were to tithe-paying. So the New Testament says comparatively little upon the paying of the tithe, but of proportionate and systematic giving it speaks frequently. Giving and paying are two different things. Giving can begin only where obligation requiring payment ends. The early Christian was to “lay by” for the care of the poor. The tithe, not being a charity, but purely for religious service, was not to be drawn on for the support of the poor, excepting the special triennial tithe, the third tithe of the Mosaic economy, which was purely Jewish. Under the new dispensation some new instructions were needed in this particular, but this would carry us beyond our topic. . . .11 Every branch of Christian work needs temporal as well as spiritual support. The temporal God leaves with man. The very need of temporal support shows God’s wisdom, and proves a great blessing to man. It makes a thoughtful man feel a responsibility he would not feel if God did or could work without him. It gives him a wider view of life and its work; it develops the worker, and interests him in the outcome of every work in which he shares a part. God’s blessings and covenants are conditioned upon the keeping of his laws. When God withholds a blessing, we may be sure the reason may be found in us, and not in God. In Malachi’s day, when the Jews said, “It is vain to serve God,” it was shown that they had “rebelled” against God, and “robbed” him of “tithes and offerings;” and if they would receive his favor, they must return to him, and pay to him their dues—all, and not a part; then he would bless his house and land and people. Did they doubt it? He said: “Prove me now herewith.” God is never afraid of any fair test. How?—In tithes: “Bring ye all”—not like Ananias—“bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse [treasury], that there may be meat [food] in mine house;” not to load the treasury, but to supply a need. The church treasuries are empty, and from every land comes the call: “Come over . . . and help us.” And if God’s tenth, the tithe, were not forgotten, we might bring Christ to the world in this generation. We as Christians must answer to the fact that our own lack of grace and power is due to our own neglected opportunities, and our own withholding of what God requires of us. . . . God’s blessings are as boundless as the heart’s need, and his promise is one of overfulness. In grace as in nature God has never limited his blessings to what we can take in. He whose title-deeds are as boundless as the universe he created, gives us free use of all to enjoy it,—“All things are yours,”—and he has written it plainly within the heart of every trusting disciple, that he may be conscious of its possession. Shall we withhold God’s tenth, which he asks, while he gives us all the rest for our own use? At Bethel Jacob had nothing but his life, his brother’s wrath, and his new-formed covenant with God. Twenty years later, though Laban had been covetous and dealt harshly with him, he returned very rich and greatly prospered. God said, “Prove me.” No one ever trusted him in vain. He said: “Prove me now.” Now is the time of our need. What shall the result be? He said: I will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” God’s blessings are always lavish, and never stinted. His sunshine, the fragrance of flowers, his amazing grace, his measureless love, are not limited by our capacity to receive. If we pay God’s rent, then earth’s richest joys shall be ours, and heaven’s blessedness shall be poured from the open windows of the skies.—John S. Hollingshead, D. D., in Pittsburg Christian Advocate.