Numbers 18:26, commentary and pictures

When the Levites receive the tithe given them for their inheritance, they are to set apart a tenth of that tithe as a heave offering to the Lord. That tithe is their livelihood in place of land, so their offering can only follow the people's giving, and their tenth passes to Aaron and his house for the central service at Jerusalem from the best and hallowed part, reckoned as their own threshing-floor and wine-press increase, while the remaining nine tenths sustains the workers in the forty-eight districts outside Jerusalem for the same sacred purpose. The tithe stays the Lord's and holy even in Levite hands, not to be diverted or treated as their own to give away, and to withhold the tenth is to sin by taking for self what sustains them. It provides for those serving at the sanctuary and the priesthood with special charge of God's work, distinct from voluntary offerings for other benevolent ends. The same system continues now, so ministers who live on the tithe must themselves tithe, finding it a privilege that makes fruit abound to their account and brings blessing, whether much or little is received.

The Levites' Heave Offering

When the Levites take the tithes which Israel gives them for their inheritance, they are to lift up a tenth part of that tithe as a heave offering to the LORD. This is the second step in the tithing order, for after the people pay their tithe to the Levites, the Levites pay a tenth of what is received to the priests, and that share goes to Aaron. The tithe remains the Lord's even when it is assigned for support.

Those tithes were given to the Levites as their inheritance and income in place of land. They could therefore offer their tenth only after receiving the people's tithe, since that receipt was their income. Having no inheritance in Israel and no vineyards of their own, they depended upon the tithe given them even for what was necessary for their own appointed offerings and drink-offerings before the Lord like the other tribes.

The Levites' tenth was given to Aaron and his family, the priests, for the support of the central service at Jerusalem. It was to be taken from the best and hallowed part of the tithe, and when heaved it was reckoned to them as their own produce, as corn of the threshing-floor and as the fullness of the wine-press, as the increase of the threshing-floor and the wine-press. The remaining nine tenths of the first tithe was retained for the support of the Lord's workers in the forty-eight Levitical districts outside Jerusalem where their homes were, and though used outside Jerusalem it was devoted to the same sacred purpose as the tenth used at Jerusalem.

The command stands among the chapters on the sin of rebelling against God. The covenant in Numbers 18 was a covenant of salt, properly ratified by the use of salt according to God's direction. The command for the sons of Levi to take tithes of the people belongs to the ceremonial law cited in Hebrews 7:5, not to the Ten Commandments, which do not regulate the taking of tithes.

Holiness and Distinctions

Even when Israel's tithes were assigned to the Levites as their inheritance for support, the tithe remained the Lord's and holy to Him. The Levites were to return a tenth of what they received as a heave offering to the Lord, counted as though it were their own produce, and given to Aaron's family. They were not free to treat the whole amount as their own or to donate it as though it were their own, but handled it and returned a portion to God. That portion was not to be diverted from its appointed purpose. A Levite who withheld it sinned by using for himself what had been given to support him.

The arrangement devoted the tithe to God for the support of those serving at the sanctuary in sacred work, for the ministry and the priesthood. Within it the Levites' tithe provided for the priests, including those having special charge of God's work. The tithe thus assigned to support those serving in ministry stands distinct from voluntary offerings given for other benevolent and religious purposes.

The first or regular tithe belonged to the Levites and priests, with a tenth part of that tithe belonging in turn to the priests, and it was to be brought to the Levites and brought up by them to the house of God to the priests for the house of the Lord and the support of those ministering there, and could not be appropriated as one pleases. It is besides and distinct from the three sorts of tithes paid by the people and from the second tithe taken afterward, which the owners used for religious feasts or gave to the poor. That second festival tithe was eaten by the owners before the Lord in the first, second, fourth, and fifth years, and given to the poor in the third and sixth years, with no such tithe taken in the seventh year when all things were common. It is distinct also from another tithe used for the feasting of God's people at the place where they met together with their sacrifices, offerings, and firstlings of herds and flocks, with some arguing for a third tithe in this sense.

Both Israel and the Levites were bound to give a tenth of all increase, Israel from its increase and the Levites from the tithes received as their inheritance. In the Mosaic age this tithing was sacredly observed. No less is required now, when time is emphatically short and a great work is to be accomplished with means in giving the last merciful message to the world.

Tithing Applied Today

The same tithing system continues, so ministers who receive the people's tithe are also required to pay tithe on what they have received as their inheritance for sacred service, since the tithe remains God's portion and is not to be diverted from its appointed purpose. Those who receive means consecrated to God have the privilege of returning a portion of it to Him, and this giving makes fruit abound to their account and brings blessing. Withholding that portion means losing the blessing of giving, for those who fail to give are the losers and the blessing that might have been theirs rests upon others. If much is received, the giving cannot be afforded to be lost, and if little is received, withholding sells the privilege very cheaply, cheaper than Esau sold his birthright.

The tithe belongs wholly to the Lord for the support of the gospel ministry and the house of the Lord, and is not to be appropriated as one pleases for other purposes such as school support. It is to be brought to the Levites, and to be brought up by them to the house of God to the priests, with the regular tithe belonging to the Levites and a tenth part of that tithe belonging to the priests. It is not theirs to donate as though it were their own, but they handle it and return a portion to God in support of the priests who have special charge of God's work. By this arrangement the tithe assigned to support those serving in ministry is distinguished from voluntary offerings for other benevolent and religious purposes, and from another tithe used, with some arguing for a third tithe, for the feasting of God's people together with their sacrifices, offerings, and firstlings of herds and flocks.

In Israel's tithing system the second step followed the first: after the people paid their tithe to the Levites, the Levites paid a tenth of what they received to the priests, with that share going to Aaron, which they could pay only after receiving the people's tithe as their income. In the modern church, workers parallel the Levites while special parts of the general work parallel Aaron, as an application of the tithing principle rather than a scriptural law requiring one organization to tithe to another. On this principle the union conferences pass on a tithe of the tithes to the General Conference. Thus far in the Scandinavian Union that second tithe owed upward from the tithe received by the local conferences had gone toward the support of the presidents of those local conferences, and it was resolved to use these donations, as far as possible, in the mission fields, with Finland, Greenland, and Iceland as the present mission territory, and thus make the work of the union practical.