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The Three Tithes of the Old

Testament
A look at the sacred tithe, the tithe of feasts, and the tithe for the
poor.

C. G. TULAND, Pastor, Illinois Conference

HOME ARCHIVES 1958 SEPTEMBER

THE THREE TITHES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

SEPTEMBER 1958 Download PDF

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number of years
ago the editor of

A
one of our church
Creative Preachin
papers sent me a
Teaching
letter in which a
troubled brother
To what extent is the tot
raised some
methods of preaching a
questions about the
the personal­ity and the
proper use of the
genuinely Christian effe
tithe. While he, and
we with him,
believe that the tithe has to be used for the promotion of the
gospel, a text like Deuteronomy 14:22-27 seemed to admit of a
use other than for the temple service, Levites, and priests. In
fact, that text says explicitly that the priest may use the tithe for
eating and drinking for himself, his family, and the Levite from
his own town. Is Hypnotism Dan
For the benefit of those who have to answer questions of this
Much confusion abound
nature I would like to present the Old Testament tithing system. nosis, one of the oldest m
It may be a consolation to those who find it hard to pay one tithe
known to man. But how
under our present system, to know that in Old Testament times
there were actually three different kinds of tithe. Each one of
these had a definite purpose, and although not all of them are
enjoined upon the New Testament Christian, the study of the
significance of each is highly recommended. Spirits Like Frogs

The three different types are as follows: An exploration of John's

worldwide spiritual con
1. The Levitical, or sacred tithe (Num. 18: 21, 24).
inspired by evil spirits.

2. The tithe of the feasts (Deut. 14:22-27).

3. The tithe for the poor (Deut. 14:28, 29).

The first tithe, the one we trace back to Abra­ham (Gen. 14:18-20),
is the sacred tithe, given to the Levites and priests for their
Ecclesiastical Bird
service to the temple and the congregation in the Old Testa­ment.
This is the tithe we continue to give under the priesthood of
The following is a summ
Melchizedek in the New Testa­ment. It is the tithe consecrated to
report of the Ornitholog
God and the furtherance of the gospel and has, therefore,
clesia.
validity for all believers in Christ.

The second tithe had an entirely different aspect, and we would

do well to contemplate its meaning and purposes. Our
enlightened gen­eration prides itself on its social laws and pro­-
Helps for Busy Pa
visions. Even a superficial study of the tithing system reveals
that several thousand years back, Israel had something that Evangelists
resembles the Christ­mas Club savings system, only with a much
Study resources for und
broader religious and social meaning. The Levitical law
scriptures better.
required that a Jew had to go up to Jerusalem on certain
occasions. In reality this religious ordinance included a definite
social provision—periods of vacation for the family. And how
should the head of the household pro­vide for the vacation The Soils of the So
expense? By setting aside a second tithe, the one described
h l lk
 Recent chapel talk at ou
in Deuteronomy 14:22-27, the tithe for the feasts. Thus the
Seminary.
second tithe was dedicated to the good of man himself, for a
vacation and specifically, a vaca­tion with a religious purpose,
such as going to camp meeting.

The third tithe was the tithe for the poor. According to our text
in Deuteronomy 14:28, 29, this tithe was given only every third
year. As the text states, the produce had to be laid up in "your Facing Our Real P
towns" for the Levite, sojourner, father­less, and the widow. It
suggests that the distribu­tion was not left to the individual but How can the work of Go

was a com­munity project to which everybody had to con­tribute. the return of Jesus haste
This tithe, therefore, was for the neigh­bor. Summarizing the
three types of tithe in the Old Testament period we find a much
broader concept of giving than we generally assume, giving that
included first, God; second, man's own physical and spiritual
welfare; and third, their neighbor's need. God, you, and your
neigh­bor is a good trinity in planning one's giving.

Some of our readers might think that this is quite a novel idea.
In reality, it was quite well known among the Jews and was
practiced among the pious. In the book of Tobit, which The Challenge of
according to R. H. Charles was written between c. 350 and c. 170
B.C. (The Apocrypha and Pseude­pigrapha of the 0.T., vol 1, p. 185), The forty-eighth session

the follow­ing statement is found: "I used to go to Jeru­salem with Conference is now histo

the firstfruits and the firstlings and the tenths of the cattle and ration of it all lingers in

the first shearings of the sheep, and give them to the priests, the indeed a great meeting.

sons of Aaron, for the altar, and the tenth of the corn and the seemed to combine to m

wine and oil and pomegranates and the rest of the fruits to the one that will long be rem

sons of Levi, who ministered at Jerusalem."—/bid., p. weather was excellent,

203, Tobit 1:6, 7. This is the first, or holy tithe. Tobit then appointments and build

continues: "And the second tenth I tithed in money for the six desired.

years, and went and spent it each year at Jerusalem . . ." (Tobit
1:7, 8).

The translation of the comment on the third tithe, which follows,

Music in Evangeli
has been rendered differ­ently by different scholars. Since
Charles men­tions the tithe given to the orphans, widows, and The power of music has
proselytes, we must assume that he refers to the third tithe, the good or evil that few of
only one dedicated to the poor, and not given annually but only
every third year. The translation by Bunsen (German) is worthy
of acceptance as correctly translating the original meaning. He
says: "And the third tithe I gave unto those to whom it belonged,"
that is, to the poor, widows, and orphans.

The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, men­tions the custom of

paying three tithes: "In ad­dition to the two tithes which I have The Evangelistic P
already directed you to pay each year, the one for the Levites Wheel Part II
and the other for the banquets, ye should devote a third every
third year to the distribu­tion of such things as are lacking to There should not be a se
widowed women and orphan children."—Antiquities iv. 240; unless a por­tion of that
Loeb ed. especially make plain th
may come to Christ and
A more penetrating study of some Old Testa­ment laws would be
quite profitable for ministry and church members alike, since it
demonstrates that if analyzed correctly, they appear to be quite VIEW ALL ISSUE CONTENTS

modern and permeated with concern for the spiritual welfare of

the individual, the fam­ily, and the community. We could give
thought to these aspects of Israel's economy and the benefits of
looking at our own tithing and sys­tematic benevolence from this
angle.
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