Deuteronomy 26:1-15 -- Figuring Out What God Still Expects w.r.t. Tithing

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How Then Shall We Give? -- Deuteronomy 26:1-15 -- A Guide To Our Charitable Giving Today

We now come to what may be said to be the last of the Laws from God that Moses wanted to share with his people (at least for now). It's the Law of the Tithe. May I suggest that you read the passage before continuing on with this blog. What I intend to do is cover some of the highlights and phrases which I find have something to tell us today on how we go about making our charitable donations. I do not intend to cover the issue of the "size" of the tithe. We know the word means 1/10th and we'll leave it at that. There are many others things that we should note from this passage.

Verse 1: Please note this is a Law for when God has already blessed the Israelites. God has proven Himself. He has done His part. Now His People must show their appreciation. It is the same with us today. God has indeed done His part for us in having His Only Begotten Son die in our place so that we may live.  Following God's laws are the ways we can show our appreciation and our love for God. And whether we like it or not, this law on tithing is in there.

Verse 2: Here's how the Israelites were to go about their tithing. They would take "some of the first of all the produce" that they had, keeping in mind it was given to them by God in the first place, and take it into the place where God chose to "establish His name". Robert Jamieson says, "No Israelite was at liberty to use any productions of his field until he had presented the required offerings."

Simply put for us we are to take first and foremost a portion of our 'income' to give back to God where He is at work -- the church, the mission field, the lives of individuals that are otherwise neglected. Think of the "alien, orphan, or widow" repeated so often in regard to the other laws we have been studying.

We're not talking here about what is leftover for God. We get His portion out first and then use what is leftover for us. So many today just won't trust God with that approach. They want to cover their bases just in case, then if there's something left over, well, God gets it. Sorry, that's not trusting God at all. Keep doing it your way. But don't expect the same blessings. I'm not talking about becoming rich or prosperous -- I'm talking about seeing God work so that you are never left in a condition that you can't live or survive.

Secondly, many of us have to be reminded regularly that the very pay-check we receive regularly or pension or allowance is possible because God worked things out in your life in such a way that you would have that blessing. (Trust me, I know that to be true for me personally.) In today's economically volatile environment, God could allow you and I to lose what we thought was our guaranteed income. Think again folks. We shouldn't have to be reminded that any money or tangible asset we have is from God.

Thirdly, the Israelites were to take the first-fruits (their tithe) to where the Lord God established His name. That to me at least says, make sure you are giving your tithes to those that use it for the Kingdom of God and all that it stands for -- and nothing more. Giving to a political party because it goes along with your beliefs as a Christian, or because it does not support abortion is not, in my opinion, what the text means here as places where "God has established His name".  On the other hand, as an example, supporting the work of a Christian Pregnancy Care Center where young women and couples are encouraged to keep their babies and not abort them, would be a place where God has established His name.

Verses 5-9: Anytime we give our offering we are to recognize and remind ourselves again of what God has done for us. That's an important step in the process. We cannot ever forget why we are returning a portion of what is God's, back to Him.

I pay a lot of things by automatic withdrawal these days, but I personally refuse to do so with my donations to our church. That's just me. I took that position because I always felt there was something to be said about weekly putting my donation into the plate or the box at the back of the church. It reminded me of the story in the New Testament about the widow and her donation (Mark 12:41-44 & Luke 21:1-4). I wanted to be like that widow. But now reading this passage here in Deuteronomy I am more than convinced it's the right way to go for me as it gives me an opportunity to recognize His blessings before each of my offerings.

Verses 10-11: And once we have recognized His blessings, given our offering to Him, we are then to worship our God, and to celebrate. Chuck Smith points out the a most interesting aspect of this 11th verse when he says, "Again here is a commandment where God is commanding them to rejoice. God wants a happy people. And God's people should be a happy people. We should be the happiest people on the face of the earth. And what kind of a witness is it to God if His people are always depressed and down and sour and dour. God wants you to be a rejoicing people."

It has always bothered me how pastors of churches can make time for long announcements about volleyball games but when it comes to the act of tithing, it is rushed. Let's sneak it in while we're singing or having other announcements. As I read these Scriptures, I see that God intended our tithing to be an act of worship to Him. He wants that. I regret that many of us have failed in this regard big-time.

The passage then says that we are to celebrate, not our giving, but our blessings -- what God has given us. And we are to do this with guess who -- the congregation, the pastor, and even the aliens among us. Boy, do we ever shortchange God on the act of giving, if not on the actual giving itself.

Verses 12-14: These verses take an interesting twist at least from what I have been sharing above. Moses seems to be saying that at end the of the third year, the tithe then goes to take care of your pastors, aliens, orphans, and widows. You were blessed to be a blessing to them. And there are rules about how that is to be done. And there's to be no cheating or holding anything back.

Now somebody may say, "Wait a minute, I thought you said we are to give our tithes to 'where God's name has been established' by which you meant where He is at work. And that included helping other Godly organizations working with God, not just our local church. But here it seems to imply that that kind of giving was to be separate after we already gave to the church. What goes here?" Good question.

David Guzik offers the following here to help us: "The tithe was required of Israel every year, but every third year, the tithe was given not only to the Levites for their support (as was instructed in Numbers 18:21-24), but was to by shared by the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so they may eat within your gates and be filled."

Matthew Henry's commentary may also be helpful: "Concerning the disposal of their tithe the third year we had the law before, ch. 14:28, 29. The second tithe, which in the other two years was to be spent in extraordinaries at the feasts, was to be spent the third year at home, in entertaining the poor. Now because this was done from under the eye of the priests, and a great confidence was put in the people's honesty, that they would dispose of it according to the law, to the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless (v. 12), it is therefore required that when at the next feast after they appeared before the Lord they should there testify (as it were) upon oath, in a religious manner, that they had fully administered, and been true to their trust."

It appears then that God wanted us to be directly involved not only with the needs of our "Levites" or pastors and the church, but to also be involved directly in taking care of the aliens, the orphans, and the widows.

How do we do both?  May I suggest that God and Moses did not mess up. What they are requiring in Deuteronomy is exactly what is expected. If anyone has screwed up, it is us. Possibly because our "Levites" don't always make the best use of our tithes and offerings, spending too much on themselves or on the building, etc. I don't know. I do know that God wants us somehow to take care of our pastors and the work of the church, but also to take care of aliens, orphans and widows. Given that we live in a fallen world, how we do that in detail needs to be settled between each of us and God. If we're satisfied that our church is using their funds in accordance with God's plan for them and His will for us to take care of others, then we can give it all to them. But if we don't have that assurance, then God has told us (it seems to me -- see verse 12 here) to do it ourselves. The responsibility is yours and mine alone.

Verses 15: Moses tells us that once we have done "according to all that God has commanded" us (verses 14), we can then ask God to "look down . . . and bless His people . . . and our land".  This of course, God had sworn to His People Israel. But I believe God has assured us of the same blessings on an individual basis if we have done all that He has commanded us.

Summary: Tithing then is not simply writing a check or transferring money by mobile means. It is a whole attitude and ceremony of worship and thanksgiving to our God. Many of our churches have a long way to go. But there's nothing stopping each one of us to make our tithing and charitable donating a more 'holy' experience.

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