Yesterday we learned that in the Mosaic law, the Israelites were instructed to tithe 10% of their income for the purpose of having a family celebration. But does this mean then that there is no such thing a tithe to the Levitical priests, or to ministries in our own day? No. Yesterday I only told two-thirds of the story.

What about the Priests?

What about giving to the Levitical Priests? Well, they also were invited to join the party and eat and drink as much as they wanted (Deut 14:27). But the tithe was not for them, but for the families who brought them, to celebrate and enjoy life together with God.

Now, this is what they were supposed to do for two years. For two years, the entire tithe went for these family celebrations. On the third year, however, things changed. On the third year, the people of Israel were supposed to forego the celebration, and on this year, give the total tithe of crops and animals to the Levitical priests and to the poor, the orphans, and the widows in the community (Deut 14:28-29; 26:12-14).

So it is true that a tithe was paid to the Levitical priests. But this tithe was only once every three years, and it was also to be distributed to the poor and needy in the community. Since this tithe was 10% every three years, it amounts to about only 3% annually, and even this amount was not for the priests only.

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When people teach about the law of the tithe, they usually go to a few passages in the Mosaic Law.

Popular Teaching on Tithing

One of the more popular Scripture passages on tithing is Deuteronomy 14:22. It says this: “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.” A similarly popular passage is Leviticus 27:30: “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 to the Lord.”

These passages are often used to defend the practice of reserving 10% of a person’s income for God. These passages indicate that the tithe belongs to God; it does not belong to us.

And what should be done with the tithe? If it belongs to God, how can a person give it to God? Again, the person who defends the practice of tithing will often turn to another passage in the writings of Moses, Numbers 18:24: “For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance.” And since the modern equivalent of a Levitical priest is a pastor, it is often argued that the tithes should go to support the work of the pastor, or at least the ministry of the church. So in the vast majority of churches, about one-half of the tithe goes to pay the pastor’s salary, and the other half goes to pay for the church building and programs.

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One of the most famous passages in Scripture about tithing is Genesis 14:18-20.

Genesis 14:18-20

In this passage, Abraham’s nephew Lot has been taken captive by an invading army. Abraham gathers his trained men and pursues this army to rescue Lot. Abraham is successful, and returns from the battle with Lot, Lot’s family, all the people who had also been taken captive, and all the goods and possessions which had been carried away. On their return trip, Melchizedek, the King of Salem, comes out to meet them and he blesses Abraham and blesses God. In response, Abraham gave to Melchizedek a tenth (or a tithe) of everything. And that is everything that this text says about tithing. One little line.

Hebrews 7:1-10

This passage would probably not be so prominent in the tithing debate if it were not for the comments on this passage by the author of the book of Hebrews. In Hebrews 7, the author of Hebrews makes the claim that Jesus is superior to the Levitical Priesthood. He begins this argument in 7:1-10 with a rather complex discussion about who has the right to receive tithes, and that Melchizedek is superior to the Levitical priests because through “the loins” of Abraham, the Levites paid a tithe to Melchizedek. Frankly, the whole argument sounds somewhat silly to modern ears, but was quite consistent with Hebraic ways of thinking about their ancestors and helps solve the dilemma about how Jesus could be our High Priest even though He was not of the Tribe of Levi.

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Under the Client-Patron system of church finances, the church buildings and most of the clergy were funded by the national and local governments. For the most part, this was the only way that churches and clergy received funding for the first 800 years of the church.

The Tithing Tax

But in the ninth century, as the expense of financing all these churches and clergy became enormous, some local governments began to excise additional taxes on the people, which went to help cover the costs of maintaining the church buildings and clergy.

The Mosaic Law about the tithe was used to justify this additional tax. The explanation given to the people by the church and government authorities was that God instituted a ten percent tax on the people of Israel to support the Levitical Priesthood and the construction of the tabernacle and temple. This is not exactly true (as we will see below), but it is the explanation that was given when the government added a 10% tax on people to cover the costs of local church buildings and clergy.

The Parish System

However, this practice was not widespread until the late eighth century AD, when Emperor Charlemagne developed the parish system for the church. He wanted to control what the churches were teaching, and who the bishops and priests were in a particular church. So with the help of various church leaders, he developed the parish system, and exponentially increased the number of archbishops to oversee these various parishes. They were given the task, in coordination with the local political rulers, of hiring and paying clergy to oversee all the people in a particular parish.

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