And all the tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the
LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. [Leviticus 27:30]
These specific instructions were given to the Children of Israel after
they had been brought out of the land of Egypt. However, the law
of tithing predated the Children of Israel.
And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high
God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most
high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most
high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave
him tithes of all. [Genesis 14:18-20]
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem,
priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the
slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave
a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of
righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of
peace; [Hebrews 7:1-2]
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If
God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again
to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And
this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of
all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto
thee. [Genesis 28:20-22]
We see in these verses that both Abraham and Jacob paid tithe, which
was a tenth part of his increase. The word tithe itself translates
as "a tenth part".
In olden times, tithes were paid directly from the goods which saw
increase. If a man's herd of cattle had twenty new calves born,
then two cows were offered as tithe. If two hundred measures of
wheat were grown and gathered, then twenty measures were offered as
tithe. In our world today, most of our increase comes in the form
of money earned from our jobs and various other sources. Since our
increase is measured in money, we tithe money.
In times of hardship, people may have difficulty paying their
tithe. God set in place a system by which his people may borrow
against their tithe in order to get them through these hardships.
God allows us to delay the paying of our tithe in return for an addition
fifth, or 20%. If we borrow against our tithe, we must repay the
original 10% plus an additional 20% of the 10%.
And if a man will at all redeem
ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
[Leviticus 27:31]
The law of tithing is a commandment of God. If we do not follow
this commandment, we are stealing from God.
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings. [Malachi 3:8]
To answer this question we need to
study the
Priesthood under which we
live. When Jesus died for our sins on the cross, he did away with
the "law contained in ordinances" or the "book of the law" and was
established as a high priest after the order of
Melchisedec. The law that Jesus did away with was the added
law that was given to the children of Israel under the Levitical
priesthood because of transgression. However the laws that were
established under the Melchisedec priesthood before the Levitical laws
were given still remain in effect today. We know that the law of
tithe was established under the Melchisedec preisthood because Abraham
paid tithes hundreds of years before the Levitical laws were given.
And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high
God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most
high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most
high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave
him tithes of all. [Genesis 14:18-20]
Because the law of tithing predates the giving of the Levitical law, we
know that it is still in effect today as part of the Melchisedec
priesthood.
Tithe is the means instituted by God
for the financial support of His church. Tithes are to be paid by
all of his children, and these tithes are to be a tenth of our
increase. The law of tithing is in effect for us today and not
paying this tithe is the same as stealing from God.