TITHE
In mainstream belief in Yahshua Ben Yosef, being the Messiah, there is often the question on whether believers should tithe. The main argument is that tithing ended with the cessation of Aaronic priesthood. Another school of thought has it that yes we should tithe, but then the tithe should go to the poor, and yet another school of thought has it that yes we should tithe but then eat the tithe during the feast of Sukkoth in the presence of Adonai.
We will endeavor to interrogate all these positions to the best of our faithfulness to the grace poured into us from heaven in the Name of our Master.
It is the desire of The Master that we understand how the heavenly system governs our kingdom of heaven. It is balanced on one key principal, “….the same measure with which you measure, it shall be measured back to you.” And so the Master declares, “….give, and it shall be given to you….” (Luke 6:38). Everything that we are aware of begun with giving; for there would be no other entities had the Master not brought forth from within himself the essence that caused all creation to be manifested. That is why he desires that we too learn to give a part of ourselves.
And what are we?
Genesis 3:19 declares, “….dust you are….” then enjoins Adam as follows in verse 18, “…in toil you are to eat of it….”. It is therefore clear that we are dust of the ground and we are enjoined to eat of the produce of that very ground in our toils. If we are to learn giving, it is when we relish giving from our toils: there is great actualization of who we truly are for in so doing we mark our territory in the Kingdom.
How so?
It is important we interrogate tithing and specifically the cessation of tithing associated with the Aaronic priesthood. To better understand this, it is good to understand that Torah has differentiated tithings for serving different causes in the kingdom of heaven.
In Deuteronomy 14:22 - 26, it is written, “…You shall tithe all the seed crops that come forth from the field, year by year…. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He will choose to establish His Name therein..... and you shall eat there before the Lord, your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household….” It is clear that this tithe is for your household’s consumption before Adonai at the place where Adonai chose to place his name.
And which is this place?
1 Kings 8: 22-29, is written, “…..And Shelomoh….said…. my God…hearken to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You this day, that Your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which You have said, ‘My Name shall be there’. It is only here that slaughterings could be done and not within the gates of their dwellings and it is here that they were commanded to eat this tithe. Without the temple, just as it is not allowed to slaughter at any other place, so is the practice of this tithe; it cannot be practised at any other place. So this year by year tithing of the land to be eaten at the place whereupon Adonai has put his Name is not practicable today since the temple is no more.
Now let us go back to the same Deuteronomy 14 verses 28 and 29. “….at the end of every third year you bring out all the tithe of your increase and store it within your GATES….and the levite…and the sojourner, and the fatherless and the widow shall come and eat…..so that your Elohim bless you in all the work of your hand which you do”.
Here note this tithe is not to be eaten at the place chosen to put Adonai’s Name; it is to be eaten within our GATES; thatiswhere we dwell. It is still applicable today and should be done. That we set aside, on every third year a ten percent of our increase, that we should eat with the needy.
In the Hebrew language, the first 10% that we have seen, given year by year, is known as Ma’aser HeSheni (The second tithe) while the tithe of every third year, is ma’aser HaAni (tithe for the needy/poor). Now, note that in Exodus 23:10,11, the Master designates every seventh year to be a shemitah or land Sabbath wherein no tilling of the land happens. This means no tithing can be done of the increase of the land in the year of shemitah. Therefore since Ma’Aser HaAni falls on every third year, it shall take third and sixth years, then on seventh year is a land Shabbat wherein there is no tilling of the land and so no tithing of the land increase. Consequently, halakhik Jewish authority has it that Ma’aser haSheni remains with years 1,2,4 and 5 since ma’aser haAni was taken by third and sixth years.
It is important to note that what we have just seen is from Deuteronomy, spoken in a span of at most 37 days by Moshe as a recap of a fourty year torah session, as a farewell to his beloved Israel. In that same vein of Deuteronomy 14, wedged in between Ma’aser Sheni (verses 22 – 26) and ma’aser HaAni (verses 28,29), in verse 27, Moshe reminds them not to forsake Levi. You cannot forsake him whom you were not enjoined.
When had Levi been enjoined with Israel?
While in the wilderness Levi had been given a portion in Numbers 18:21 as follows, “….see, I have given the children of Le'wi all the tithes in yisrael…” Note, these are not time bound as ma'aser hasheni or maaser haAni. Indeed, they do not belong to Levi; this tithe to Levi belongs to Adonai as Leviticus 27:30 categorically states, “…all the tithe of the land….belongs to Adonai….”
Why did Adonai give to Levi his tithe?
Numbers 18:21 - 24 explains, “….I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the service….of the tent of meeting….the tithes of the children of Yisrael, which they present as a contribution to Adonai, I have given to Lewi as an inheritance. That is why I said to them among the children of Israel….have no inheritance….”
Now some school of thoughts hold that this command ceased when Levi was given lands to graze as recorded in Numbers 35:1. However it is clear that the rest of Israel hold a contrary opinion for the writer to fellow Hebrews states as follows in Hebrews 7:5, “…those who are sons of Lewi….who receive priesthood, have a command to receive tithes…” Note the words: RECEIVE and not RECEIVED, and HAVE, and not HAD, as though it is a past thing. This is clear that it was common knowledge among Hebrews that the command to receive tithes was still in effect even at the writing of the letter to the Hebrews. It is wise to understand that if apportionimg grazing land to Lewi caused them forfeit tithe due Adonai, the writer to the Hebrews would surely have not used such a tense. Now, Torah is very clear that this tithe was given at any place, any time, but in return for the service at the Beit HaMiqdash or the Heiqal. Now that the temple is no longer with us, as foretold by Daniel, this tithe can no longer be given to Levi who would thereafter forward a ten percent to Aaron and his house.
So what happens to the tithe due Adonai?
It reverts to the owner, which Leviticus 27:30 states is Adonai. Indeed it is important to understand that tithe did not appear for the sake of Levi! Infact, the first direct mention of tithing was by Abraham who gave ten percent of all spoils of war to Melchitsedeq, Kohen le’El Elyon (Priest of the Most High El) as recorded in Genesis 14. It is important to note that many many years, almost over 400 years before Levi is gifted with tithe, thisgreat grandfather of his tithed to another higher order of priesthood! Meaning tithing does not start nor end with Aaronic priesthood!
The writer to the Hebrews brings out a very interesting fact. A fact first stated by David in Psalms 110: 4. And the fact is that there is actually a priestly order of Melchitsedeq that predates and supercedes Aaronic priesthood. Here in Psalms 110, David speaks of another whom he calls Master, and who lives for ever. This one belongs to another priesthood that, unlike the Aaronic one, served by mortal men, belongs to the one who lives for ever. It is by understanding this heavenly priestly order that David was inspired to draw up the Aaronic annual orders in 1 chronicles 24.
Now pay attention to Exodus 19: 1-6. The promise is that if Israel would have walked without faltering, there would actually have been no Aaronic priesthood, for the Master tells the whole nation that it would be a kingdom of priests! That means that the divine order provided for the order of Melchitsedeq, to whom tithe is due; Aaronic priesthood was just an interim to bring us to whom all rights were due.
It is to this order that the priestly tithe is due for the writer to the Hebrews states so in Hebrews 7:8 as follows, “….and here it is men who die that receives tithe, but there, it IS someone of whom it is witnessed that he lives for ever…” Did you just see that? The scripture does not say “…it WAS ….” as though it is a past affair, rather it uses a present tense, IS to drive a point home that tithe should now be given to he who belongs to the order of Melchitsedeq, even Yahshua! Infact Hebrew translations boldly insert the word receives, and state in that verse, “וּפֹה אֲנָשִׁים בְּנֵי־מוֹת מְקַבְּלִים מַעֲשֵׂרוֹת
וְשָׁם מְקַבֵּל אֶת־אֲשֶׁר מְעִידִים עָלָיו כִּי־חַי הוּא” (“ –
Here Hebrew version has the word meqabbel – receives - in present participle to note that it is a continuous thing even after the cessation of the Aaronic order. Now, many rabbis are correctly of the opinion that tithe in ancient Israel was from land increase, as much as Deuteronomy 14:28,29 speaks of your increase – tevuah, and calls on blessings in “….all your work…” We believe this is why the Melchitsedeq order receives from ALL increase and not just land increase or herd increase as it is clear that Abraham tithed not from land increase but from spoils of war!
It is therefore clear that all believers in Yahshua should give their tithe to Yahshua as Hebrews 7:8 clearly states: that he receives tithe. Just as torah states tithe was given to Levi in return for his service at the set apart place, so the Master commands as follows in 1 Corinthians 9:13, “…those serving at the set apart place eat from the set apart place….so also the Master instituted that those announcing the good news should live from the good news...."
It is therefore clear that those who believe in Yahshua should still tithe to their Master, the High Priest of the order of Melchitsedeq. And just as Torah states that such tithe was in return for the service at the set apart place, due those whose occupation was full time service on that table, so should the tithe to Yahshua be due those who serve in the furtherance of the Good News.
In addition, believers should also tithe for the poor. In fact the Master decrees that we should never forget the poor and says in Luke 12:33, “….sell your possessions and give in kindness. Make yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief does come near nor moth destroys…”. So if you find it hard to sell, then do set apart a ten percent from your increase for the poor besides the 10 percent due Yahshua, the high priest.
Adonai in Deuteronomy 14: 29 promises that if we do this, all the work of our hands shall be blessed! And faithful is he who promises this.
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