The Truth About Tithing
Many within the church believe in tithing. They may not believe it to the extent they tithe, but they do feel guilty about not tithing. Should they?
The short answer is, no; and when setting forth explanations for that truth, many Christians will be shocked to hear these facts about tithing:
Abraham was not a tither.
Jacob was not a tither.
For the first two thousand years, the followers of God didn’t tithe.
For the last two thousand years, Christians haven’t been required to give a tithe to the church.
Tithing is neither a minimum nor a model for Christian giving today.
Old Testament tithing more than doubled ten-percent giving.
I will briefly explain each statement.
Was Abraham a Tither?
Proponents of tithing remind us of Abraham tithing, in Genesis, chapter 14, which is an account that the New Testament further expounded upon in Hebrews, chapter 7. But there are many questions about what happened that day, and what this means for the Church today.
What both of these chapters refer to is an episode in Abraham’s life when hostile armies captured Abraham’s nephew, Lot, thus resulting in Abraham’s decision to go to war to rescue Lot.
This triggered a battle that included hundreds of Abraham’s men, a battle which, in the end, Abraham and those armies allied with him eventually won.
On the way home from this victory, Abraham happened to meet the King of Salem, a man by the name of Melchisedec. It was to this man, a very mysterious figure in Scripture, that Abraham gave a tithe. This is the first time a tithe is mentioned in the Bible.
It would be misleading, however, to say that Abraham was a tither. First, because what Abraham gave that day wasn’t really his. Abraham very clearly made this point to the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:22, 23). What he gave was a part of Sodom’s spoils of victory.
The Bible tells us that Abraham was a rich man. Yet there is no record that he ever tithed on any of that—before this meeting with Melchisedec or afterwards.
What Abraham gave wasn’t even a tenth of all the spoils of war. It was a tenth of the top of the heap, as a correct translation of the Hebrews 7:4 makes clear.
Was Jacob a Tither?
The next reference to tithing occurs in Genesis, chapter 28, where we learn that Jacob tithed. Like Abraham, this was a one-time occurrence. The salient facts about Jacob’s tithe are these.
While fleeing from his brother—Jacob the cheat, Jacob the conniver—struck up another bargain—and this time with God, of all people!
Jacob told God that if God would protect him and clothe him and feed him while he is running away from this deserved wrath, a nice little tithe would be coming God’s way.
Well, merciful beyond belief, God accepted this arrangement; and indeed gave Jacob the protection and provisions he had requested.
Take note of this point. Jacob wasn’t going to give anything to God, unless God first did what Jacob was asking him to do. Is this how we want to teach tithing?
Truth is, the biblical record doesn’t report Jacob having paid this tithe, nor any other tithe after Bethel.
But can anyone see in this account a biblical basis for tithing? Truth is, the biblical record doesn’t report Jacob having paid this tithe, nor any other tithe after Bethel.
A more careful inspection of the text indicates that Jacob would tithe all that God just said he would give him. This was a trans-generational promise; it was not a tithe father Jacob would or could personally pay.
Later, we know, a tenth of the Promised land was given to the priestly tribe, the Levites, representing the tenth Jacob pledged and God now expected. In a broader sense, it was the grain and flocks of this land that fulfilled Jacob’s tithing commitment.
Simply put, those who would argue that Abraham and Jacob were tithers misrepresent the facts.
The biblical history of tithing included this fact: From Adam to Enoch, and from Noah to Abraham, there were no tithers in the Bible. None!
What Exactly is a Tithe?
It is in Leviticus, chapter 27, where we see the tithe officially instituted in Israel. The book of Leviticus, also written by Moses, closes with the tribe for whom this book is named being put in charge of the tithe God required.
Since Israel at this time was a theocratic nation, many of these Levites functioned as civil servants of the government.
There were twenty-four orders of priests, with thousands belonging to each order. Functionally, their service eventually evolved to somewhat parallel the Senate, the Congress, city officials, judges, and many other forms of administrative government (I Chronicles 23:4, 5).
The tithe was more like income tax conscripted to support a government than the way we normally think about it.
What Percentage of One's Money Constitutes Biblical Tithing?
What is particularly interesting about Old Testament tithing is the fact that there wasn’t only one tithe; there were three.
There was the Levite tithe, seen in Leviticus, chapter 27.
There was also the festival tithe, seen in Deuteronomy 14:22-27. This supported all the religious festivals in Jerusalem, all the Sabbaths, the feasts, the holy days and various religious convocations that were such an important part of Jewish life.
And there was a welfare tithe, required every third year, discussed in Deuteronomy 14:28 and 29. This tithe supported poor people.
In aggregate, these three tithes averaged 23 1/3% a year, which is about the amount the IRS conscripts from us today.
One dilemma these three tithes pose for proponents of tithing is that a replication of this practice, if this is what they say should be done today, will necessitate three tithes being required and not just one. So, do they really want to say that? And if not, on what biblical basis do they reduce this requirement to one tithe?
To refute this notion of three tithes, some will say that there was only one tithe and not three, but that this one tithe was spent in three different ways.
There are several responses to counter this point of view. First, Scripture itself never says this. Some modern-day commentators do, but not Scripture.
Second, commentators a lot closer to the time when these tithes were in place say something quite different.
The Talmud, for example, which provides a record of written and oral Jewish tradition, very specifically says that there were three tithes.
There were also writings during the inter-testamental period, the book of Tobit and Jubilees, for example, which further document this idea of three tithes instead of one.
Moreover, the rabbis during the day of Jesus said there were three tithes and not just one.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, who lived in Israel during New Testament days, is quite clear about three tithes. He writes:
Beside those two tithes which I have already said you are to pay every year, the one for the Levites, the other for the festivals, you are to bring every third year a tithe to be distributed to those that want; to women also that are widows, and to children that are orphans (Josephus, Antiquities, Book 4).
After Josephus we have the testimony of Jerome. Jerome said that one tithe was given to the Levites, out of which they gave a tenth to the priests; a second tithe was applied to festival purposes, and a third was given to the poor (Commentary on Ezekiel 45:1, 565. quoted in McClintock and Strong, 10, 434).
Chrysostom, the fourth century orator, supported this view as well. He declared: What, then, did they (the Jews) give? A tenth of all their possessions, and another tenth, and after this a third tenth (Homily 64 on Matthew 20:27).1
Were New Testament Believers Taught to Tithe to the Church?
There are only four references to tithing in the New Testament—and none of these teach tithing! These are historical statements, reporting what occurred (Jews tithing to Jewish government), but they are not didactic statements teaching tithing should be given to support the church.
One can examine all twenty-seven books in the New Testament and never find any teaching that says what tithing proponents claim.
Was there even one word from New Testament writers that said that the tithe should now go to the church and not to the religious infrastructure of Judaism? Not a word. James said that pastors were worthy of full pay, but he didn’t say anything about tithing. Paul said that believers should give in a generous way, but he, too, didn’t say a word about tithing.
The New Testament does provide instruction about giving to the church, as we might assume it would. Since one out of every six of the recorded words of Christ dealt with money, we can know that this is an important issue, about which the Bible is not going to be silent.
These tithes, during New Testament days, came either from Jews or Christian Jews still supporting the Jewish government for that brief period. So why should Gentiles be required to support the Jewish government?
What about the post-apostolic church—did they believe in tithing? They did not. A noted authority on Judaism, Alfred Edersheim, discussed tithing at length in his writings. He wrote several chapters that convincingly demonstrated that no teaching on Christians tithing existed in Scripture, or in the apostolic witness after Calvary.
This article would be longer if we quoted all the relevant sources, but Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Rome, and Tertullian did not support tithing. Cyprian (toward the middle of the third century), was the first leader to support tithing, yet his suggestions were summarily dismissed and never instituted.
In checking the Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (from Clement to Augustine and beyond), there is no indication that the early church endorsed any form of tithing to the church.
While there are many pre-Nicene (pre A.D. 325) writings that still exist—including writings by Clement of Rome, Mathetes, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin, the Pastor of Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus of Antioch, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodianus, Origen, Hippolytus, Caius, and Novatium—none of these writings support tithing.
Historians usually agree that it was not until A.D. 567, five hundred plus years after Calvary, that the church advocated tithing. The Council of Tours in 567 and the Council of Macon in 585 enacted regional decrees for tithing, as well as ex-communication provisions for those who were non-tithers. This effort failed due to a lack of authorization from the king.
This article doesn’t address what biblical giving should be. However, at the very least it should be regular, not occasional; sacrificial, not minimal; meaningful, not mechanical.
More the concern of this article, surfaced at the outset, is that by not rightly diving the Word, God’s people are being accused, falsely, and Satan, “the accuser of the brethren,” is exploiting that accusation big time.
Every day a majority of God’s people see themselves as thieves because preachers confront them with the Malachi passage (“Shall a man rob God?”). Robert Morris even taught that non-tithers are in danger of being invaded by demons, which of course is sheer nonsense.
Nevertheless, teaching tithing has devastating consequences, among these being: Once people think they have ongoing sin in their lives, exercising faith becomes impossible (I John 3:21). What a horrible burden to bear! What a terrible consequence to impose.
Without faith, Scripture says, it is impossible to please God. Talk about robbery: Teaching tithing does exactly that to the people of God. It steals from them what is far more valuable than money, a sense or right standing before God. And you can be sure that Satan the thief is delighted to seeing this happening to the people God loves and he hates.
Much more could be said—whether refuting other specious arguments for affirming tithing or offering clear biblical teaching on giving—to prove that tithing has never been God’s teaching for the church.
Tear-in-the-voice oratory and all the thundering of Sinai can’t make true what isn’t true. And this goes as well for tradition, however revered; and the declaration of men, however sincere; all must be subject to the corrections of God’s Word. And since God is a good communicator, the truth about tithing is knowable.
Footnote one —www.biblestudy.org, “The Three Tithes”
