Giving an offering in the Old Testament

After my last series of posts on tithing I received a number of comments on facebook and emails complaining that I didn't handle the subject fairly.  "Tithing didn't go away just because of Jesus." "Jesus tithed." "You are teaching a demonic thing that will rob God of what is properly His"

So I decided to revisit the issue.  As I pointed out before, in Christ, we don't give a tithe to the church.  Now I realize that most churches call it tithing.  Most Christians call it tithing.  But even though that is what they call it, that isn't what they are doing.  I also know that many Christians who could give more, don't, because they feel that 10% is what God has prescribed.  By the same token, some Christians struggle to get by with their most basic needs because their "pastors" have yoked and shamed them into giving 10% which for some may be really difficult.

Did tithing go away with the new covenant of Christ?  I would submit yes, see previous posts for explanation.  So is there a Biblical precedent for something that would equate to the type of giving we do today when we give an offering to our church?  Yes, yes there is.

Bibles open to Exodus 25:1-9.

The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3 And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, 5 tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.

God instructs Moses to deliver a message from Him to Israel.  The word was to:  Take a contribution (an offering) up from Israel to be given to the Lord.  The guidelines:
- The contribution given should be "from every man whose heart moves him"
- It could be gold, silver, bronze, blue and purple scarlet yarns, fine twined linen, goat's hair, tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps of the Tabernacle, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, or stones for setting the ephod and breastplate.

So what each man purposed in his heart to give he could do so and it could be any of the following.  Now, let's set this passage up so that we know the context.  God is instructing Israel on how He wants the Temple constructed.  The reason that He gives such specific detail as to WHAT can be given was because God had a very intentional design and reason in all that He used to make the Tabernacle.  That's a whole other blog post.

But what was the contribution being given to?  The tabernacle, the temple, the place of worship.  What would we call such a place today?  Perhaps, the church.  That being the church in the physical building sense of course.

Where as the tithe that God did require from Israel was used for the running of a Nation that was under a theocracy, here we see God calling for a contribution to come from the heart.  Whatever anyone wants to give, however they want to give, and only if they want to give.

Sounds a lot like the principle that Paul gave for lays out for giving in 2 Corinthians 9:7 doesn't it?

God encourages, and some commentators even have said that here God commands, that the people give, but what does He not do?  He does not set a specific amount.

So what happens?  Exodus 35:1-36:7

Moses relays this message from the Lord to the people.  He tells them that God has said for everyone who is of a "generous heart" (Exodus 35:5), let them bring the Lord's contribution.  No yoke of a percentage fixed to be given.  Now, what did the people do with this information?

Scripture says, that the people "left the presence of Moses" (Exodus 35:20) and "everyone whose heart stirred him" whose "spirit moved him" brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments (Exodus 35:21).  Exodus 35:22 says that every one who came brought an "offering" of gold to the Lord (Exodus 35:22).  Verse 30 calls what they were bringing a "freewill offering" (Exodus 35:30).  Everyone who "could" bring a contribution, did so (Exodus 35:24).

Are we noticing a trend here?  We should be!  In recording this account Moses goes to great length to record that all the contributions were to be given as a free will offering.

Exodus 35:5, 21-29 - Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;  21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. 24 Everyone who couldwhose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

God called for an offering, not a tithe.  The people, in kind, responded by giving freely of their own desire.  The money and other items they gave was given, not to the running of the Nation of Israel, but to the construction of the sanctuary.  The place of worship.

They gave because they wanted to. 

Immediately you may be thinking, but what if they don't want to give at all.  Well, to that I would say there is probably a deeper heart problem at play than simply an unwillingness to give.

I was once told by a Pastor that he knows that the 10% tithe was an Old Covenant practice but he teaches it as a New Covenant one so that people will give and keep the church running and his salary coming in.  Shameful.  Shameful.  Sinful.  Pastors, please here me.  There is no reason to not trust God to provide! 

So the people gave freely, and what happened?  Well, the Bible says that they were giving so much that God had to tell Moses to ask them to STOP!  (Exodus 36:3-7)  What a great problem to have!  Can you imagine your Pastor standing before you and saying, "Folks, we appreciate your faithful giving around here as it obviously helps us accomplish our God-given mission as a church, but for the time we have far more than we need so please stop giving for a time and redirect your funds elsewhere."  I don't think I can even picture that happening!

Now, I don't want to make something where there is nothing here so let me be clear that I am not saying that teaching rightly about giving will bring about the same exact results... Nope, we should teach rightly because it honors the Lord to do so (2 Timothy 2:15).

Folks, as a member of your church you should be giving and giving faithfully.  But you should not think that the Bible says to you that you MUST give 10% or else your money is cursed.  Nor should you entertain the superstitious notion that giving makes your money "more blessed".   What you should do is trust that God knows your needs.  He knows and He cares for you (Psalm 55:22, Luke 12:4-7, 1 Peter 5:7).  He will provide.  Follow after Christ and trust Him (Luke 9:23-27).  Seek first GOD and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS and trust all else to His sure and strong Right Hand (Matthew 6:25-34)

Regardless of what He ordains for your life, wealth or poverty, etc... trust in Him.

The following are examples of how NOT to teach on giving in the church!








We are to give: 1) Generously - (2 Cor 9:6) But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. We need to walk the way Jesus walked (1 John 2:6) and that would be giving generously as He did (John 3:16). All our money belongs to God anyway and our giving shows the level of trust we have in God to supply all our needs. But what about if you don’t have much to give? The Bible teaches that we are to give according to our ability (Acts 11:29) but it also models sacrificial giving such as the widow who gave her last two mites (Mark 12:41-43; 2 Sam. 24:24; 2 Cor. 8:1-3). God gave sacrificially through Christ and true love is always displayed in it’s sacrificial nature.

2) Cheerfully - (2 Cor 9:7) So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Did you know the word for “cheerful” in this verse is from the Greek word “hilaros” from where we get our English word “hilarious”? That means when we drop that check in the plate or send that special offering to that missionary, we are to do it not grudgingly or by compulsion but with joy in the Lord!

I pray this has been helpful to you and that these principles guide you as you seek the grace of God to be good stewards of what He's provided you with (money, talents, etc) (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

Pastor's Bookshelf: It Is Well by Mark Dever & Michael Lawrence

Have you ever struggled to find the significance and beauty of the sacrifices in the Old Testament?  Most of us have at some point or another.  Mark Dever and Michael Lawrence set out to exegete crucial Old Testament texts that shadow what was accomplished by Christ on the cross.  

The truth that man MUST have a substitute for our sins in order to be spared from God's just wrath is at the very heart of the Gospel.  Dever and Lawrence bring this out in a totality from the Old Testament all the way to looking at the actual words and work of Christ in the New Testament.  From there they look at the depiction of Christ and His suffering from Isaiah 52 & 53.  Bringing it home by then looking at what God has revealed about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  They highlights the comprehensive and permanent nature of the salvation that God has provided by His grace.  Climaxing in the understanding that the beauty in the life of a Christian comes from understanding the Gospel more, so that we learn to enjoy God fully as our all-sufficient Savior and see the benefits of our having been redeemed as being far more precious than any mass of worldly treasures and pleasures.  In light of so great a salvation, how could we not trust Him more daily?  One last note, I definitely appreciated there thorough use of Scripture to make their points as well as their constant encouragement to unbelievers, who might be reading the book, to repent and for the believer to guard their heart against legalism and self-righteousness.

Five out of five stars!  Highly recommended!  Great for individual study or small group.

Pick it up from 9Marks Ministries or from Amazon.com

Tithing - Part 2

So tithing is not a biblical practice or requirement for the New Testament church, why do we give?  Should we give at all?  And what did Jesus teach about giving and how much to give?

Matthew 6:19-21;24 - “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;  21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

He clearly teaches us that our value in this world is to be set on things above… not on money or possessions.  Children of God are to be a people of single-hearted devotion to God and God alone in all things.  So that is principle one in our effort to have a Biblical doctrine of giving.

Truthfully, if we were going to talk about Biblically following the word “tithing”, Old Covenant tithing, we would need to not only give 10th of our income but also of our land, crops, possessions, etc.  Tithing was a requirement for Jews under Moses in a theocracy.  As I said, most nations still practice a form of tithing today, only now it isn’t collected to show devotion to God, it is collected to run the nation.  We call it taxes.

Now, even though tithing is not a New Covenant requirement, it doesn’t mean that we toss out giving all together.  Not at all.  Tithing, like many other things in Christ, has been replaced with a new principle that we can most accurately define as Grace Giving.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7 - Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Paul had instructed them not to be captive to covetousness but to trust God in all things and give FREELY, not under compulsion of Law, but freely.  We are not to give 1.) under obligation nor 2.) under compulsion.  Rather we are to give cheerfully as we purpose in our own hearts.  Paul says that God loves a cheerful giver.

Instead of a legal requirement to tithe, under the New Covenant we have the privilege and opportunity to give to the work of the Lord.  Now, under this covenant God has instituted the local church as being the place you give.  But it is not given to the church even though the church receives it.

When you give, you give it to God.  Truly you give it BACK to God because EVERYTHING you have money and otherwise already belongs to Him to begin with.  Your money, status, talent, time, family.  The church, then, is charged with the duty of stewarding the money received wisely and in a Godly way.  It should all be given to further the work of the church and the furtherance of the Gospel.

How much should we give if 10% is not the mandate?  Ready for this… I don’t know.  That is between you and God.  Each person can determine for themselves what they are going to give.  You are not required to give 10%.  You are, in Christ, encouraged to give freely as you purpose in your heart.  Cheerfully giving to the Lord.

Maybe 10% is what you can give.  Maybe it isn’t.  Maybe you can give 15-20% or maybe 10% is pushing you to the max.  If you are giving and worried that whatever percentage you are giving is more than you can afford, you cannot out give God, so rest knowing that God will provide for your need.  As a Pastor, it doesn’t scare me to teach this because I know that God will provide for the needs of this church regardless.  Giving is not, however, a promise of financial prosperity for you.  Just because you give doesn’t mean God will increase your money.  Sometimes giving of any kind, be it financial or otherwise, should hurt.  How much sacrifice does it take for us to give our time or money or whatever to something that takes little to no effort to do or costs us nothing?

You need to approach your money and say this is all God’s.  All of it.  You need to approach your marriage, kids, job, property, etc… the same way.  This is all God’s.  And so God, how can I use it to BEST glorify you?

All money is God’s, so as you determine what you are to give, seek His will to be sure you are stewarding your money wisely.  If you see this as a way of escape from giving at all, you are being tempted sinfully… Grace frees us from Law so that whatever we do, we do for Christ because of Christ out of our gratitude and worship for Christ.

You should approach your finances this way not only in determining how much you give to the church but also in how you steward the money in other areas.  How big a house should you buy?  Well, how big of a house do you NEED?  What car should I drive?  Well, what needs does your car need to meet for you?  Clothing?  Same question.  All of which are run through the filter first of what best glorifies my Savior in this expense or action?

There is no moral requirement for you to tithe 10% of your income, but, as born again believers, we should DESIRE to show our gratitude by cheerfully giving, as Paul says, “whatever we purpose in our hearts.”

Whatever we work out with God is right for us to give.  Paul doesn’t say that we shouldn’t give at all, in fact he says we should.  But we are under no compulsion, but encouraged to do so cheerfully.  Because we want to, not because we have to.

Now, who should we “give to?

Galatians 6:6 - The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.

It directs us to financially meet the needs of and support those who are charged with feeding us spiritually.  That in this case would be the Pastor.  That includes also, this church’s ministries because it is your local church body, your local fellowship that is responsible for feeding you.

After you’ve given whatever you give to the church, I think it is good to give to any other source of feeding for us.  There are a couple of ministries that have been invaluable to me as tools of learning and training and Meg and I try to give when we can to them because they have been so beneficial to our feeding and spiritual growth through the years.  It should not take the place of giving to your local body, but it is good to do.

Your first priority in giving is to the local church.  This refers to financial giving.  Giving to the church in this sense does not include your time and service.  I’ve heard people say that they tithe their time to their church.  I think that’s dangerously close to a copout.  On the flip side, giving financially to the church is NOT the same as serving the church either.  Give your time to your church as you can and whatever financial support you can but don’t exchange one for the other.  Anytime your mindset in service or giving is to seek out whatever the bare minimum you can get away with is, you are really only cheating yourself…

Now, thirdly there are things like charitable giving.  That would include special offerings for something (Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon, love offerings for guests)  Anything that you give over and above whatever you’ve purposes is the amount of your giving to the church but still is received by the church first is considered charitable giving.

Let’s make sure we are clear.  No where in the New Testament are we obligated to tithe.  If I told you that you were I would be not only lying to you but I would be putting a works yoke of legalism on you.  This is a dangerous thing to teach in a way, though it doesn’t scare me… because it could easily backfire on a church.  Some could say, well God directed me to no longer give the 10% that I thought I was obligated to give… God has told me to not give at all.

I can’t determine your number, but know that God knows and so I would encourage you to seek Him in the matter so that your conscience before Him is clear and you can testify before Him that what you are giving is what you can give.

Do I fear that giving will drop off as a result of saying this?  Nope.  I trust God more than that.  God will provide for the needs of this church through the giving of His Children, because true believers will not feel this an escape from giving but now hopefully prayerfully begin to see it as more of an offering of praise and cause for worship rather than a yoke.

God doesn’t bless the person that legalistically tithes.  He blesses the cheerful giver.  God blesses you for giving, not for going back to the old covenant system of tithing.  His blessings may or may not be financial, but He blesses.  And I believe that God will bless me and the ministry He has called me to, again not necessarily financial, because I am not shrinking away from my duty to preach the Word of God, the whole counsel of God, to you truthfully and clearly.

If you are a faithful giver to this church and have just been calling it a tithe because no one had taught you different, that’s ok.  God knew and knows your heart in it.  Your heart is what is important in the giving.  But I would just suggest that this may be one of those areas where our language needs to be cleaned up.

You don’t tithe, you give.  Giving is a gift.  Giving is of your own compulsion.  You don’t owe the church money.  If you owed the money, then it wouldn’t be a gift.   When I pay the bill collectors that I owe money to I never feel like I’m doing them a tremendous favor by paying them.  I feel obligated to pay because I am… I owe them.  And perhaps I even pay them a bit grudgingly, ha!

Show me a person who is thankful to God for saving them and I’ll show you a person who loves the church and desires to be involved in service and in giving what they can to the ministry of the church and the furtherance of the Gospel.

Tithing Revisited (or Tithing - Part 3)

Tithing - Part 1

Coming off of the time of year where Americans spend the most money and typically accrue the most unsecured debt, I thought I'd begin the year with a blog post about tithing... 

Thing that we need to note is that the tithe is NOT unique only to Israel or Christianity in general.  It was practiced by several ancient nations and in some forms most nations still practice it today.

Quite simply the tithe is the practice of giving 1/10th of your income or property as an offering to God.  As far as Biblical history goes, the practice of tithing predates even the Mosaic Law.  The first recorded tithe is found in Genesis 14.  Abraham had just returned from rescuing Lot and destroying the Mesopotamian Kings… when he came back he went to the “Valley of the Kings” where he met with Melchizedek, who was the King and High Priest at the time.  

Melchizedek greeted him and they began to celebrate the victory and worship God for the victory and it says that of their spoils, Abraham gave Melchizedek 1/10th. That’s the first mention we see of a tithe and it doesn’t seem to have been anything that required Abraham to give it.  He seems to have simply offered it as an act of worship.  

Later in Genesis 28:22, “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” – Here we see Jacob promising God 1/10th of all he received, money, animals, etc…  Still he was also doing this under no compulsion but simply out of gratitude to God.

Now, it isn’t until we get to Leviticus 27; that we see tithing prescribed in detail in the Law of Moses.

Under Mosaic Law, Israel was required to pay the following tithes.
- Tithe of the seed of the land – Leviticus 27:30-32
- Tithe of the fruit of the tree – Leviticus 27:30-32
- Every 10th animal of their herds and flocks to the Lord – Leviticus 27:30-32
- A tithe was to be given to the Levites because they did not receive a land inheritance like the other tribes had. The Levites, in turn, were to offer a heave offering to the Lord.  That accounted to their tithe and what was left was their payment for their work in the tabernacle.– Numbers 18:21-32
- A vegetable tithe was taken to Jerusalem – Deuteronomy 12:5-7, 11-12, 17-18
- A cattle tithe – 2 Chronicles 31:6

By the time of the Exodus, no tithe is mentioned, the closest reference to required giving we have there is found in Ezekiel 44:29-30 where a giving of the First Fruits is required.

The Prophet Malachi instructed Israel to bring their tithes into the storehouse in order to enjoy the Lord’s blessing.  Malachi 3:8-12 - “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.  9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!  10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.  11 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the Lord of hosts.  12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.

Regardless of the type of tithe being called for, they all were given for the purpose of running the Nation of Israel.  From governmental affairs to the Levites, caring for orphans and widows…

Deuteronomy 26:12-13 - “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.  13 “You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.

All tithes were an acknowledgment of God’s ownership of all things.  It was an expression of gratitude to God by His people.

Now, in the New Testament the word tithe and tithing is only a few times.  
Matthew 23:23 - “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Luke 11:42 - “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Luke 18:10-14 - “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’  13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’  14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Hebrews 7:5-6 - And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham.  6 But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.

Hebrews 7:8-9 - In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.  9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes,

Reading through them all they have one thing in common… The are all without fail referring to the Old Covenant system.  In Matthew and Luke Jesus is chastening the Jews because they are keeping the Law in letter… keeping it in a legalistic way… making it a works based system… but they are neglecting the Spirit of the Law.  Paying tithes but caring nothing for their spiritual condition or anyone else’s.  Further they completely neglected true worship of the One true God.  They worshiped their own self-righteousness.

Plus, here Christ is reinforcing the Law that was still in place at this time given that this all took place in a pre-Pentecost time.  So tithing would have still been a Law requirement even during Christ’s life.  Christ Himself paid the tithes.  It wasn’t until Pentecost that we see the implementation of the New Covenant of Grace through the blood of Christ.

Then in Hebrews it is explained that Christ fulfills the requirements for those tithes.  Not only is Christ the fulfillment of all the OT Laws but He is also the perfect Great High Priest and He lives forever, reigning forever!

Nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to tithe.  Nowhere.  A tithe is something that is required.  We aren’t under the covenant of the Law any longer… we are under a covenant of Grace in Jesus Christ.  The key word there to remember as we proceed is grace.

Matthew 5:17 - Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

I came, Jesus said, not to abolish (in other words He didn’t come to contradict the Law by doing away with it) RATHER He came to fulfill it.  The Laws had been given to show that no one could completely be perfect and reach God’s standard, but Christ could and did.

Christ initiated the New Covenant at the Last Supper and it went into effect on the Day of Pentecost.  So when we are looking at Old Covenant requirements verses New Covenant requirements, we can’t distinctively look Old Testament to New but rather pre-Pentecost and post-Pentecost..

Part 2: New Testament Principles for giving