Numbers 18:21-23(NKJV) 21“Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. 22Hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. 23But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
In our study of divine prosperity, we have looked at the tithe from the perspective of its function in keeping our hearts right toward wealth and money. Giving God the first ten percent of what we earn is an expression of our priority structure. My income represents my life. Therefore, when I give the first fruits to the Lord I give God the first and best of my life.
In our study of the tithe, we have found that, when God incorporated the tithe into the Law of Moses, he gave it a purpose. In Malachi 3:10 God says the tithe should be brought to the storehouse so there will be food in his house. Yesterday we focused on what the storehouse should mean to us. I believe the storehouse is, or should be, the local church.
If the tithe is to provide food for the house of God, who is supposed to eat this food? God certainly does not need it. In today’s scripture, we see that God gave a specific purpose for the tithe. When Israel came into the Promised Land, every tribe had a parcel of land that was designated as their inheritance. One tribe had no inheritance of land. That tribe was the tribe of Levi.
The Levites were the people to whom God gave the responsibility of minister in the things of God on a full time basis. They took care of the needs of the tabernacle and the then the temple. They were singers, workman and priests. They were all called by God to fulltime service in one capacity or another. God did not want them distracted from this service by secular work.
It is important to understand that this did not make the Levites better than any other Israelite. It simply meant that their job required a full time focus on the things of God. In reality, the Levites existed to serve the rest of God’s people. Each Israelite was responsible for his relationship with the Lord. The Levites were there to help them fulfill that responsibility.
If the Levites had no farms or flocks from which to produce a living, how were they to survive? Numbers 18 tells us. Their inheritance was the tithe of the rest of Israel. The tithe always belonged to God. God did not need the things or the money brought in the tithe. God established as part of the Mosaic Law the way those who were employed by him were to be paid. They lived by the tithe.
How did Israel pay for buildings and utensils in the Old Testament? Let us look at Exodus 25.
Exodus 25:1-2(NKJV) 1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2“Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.
As you read on in this chapter, you find that the offering God is asking for is what is needed to build the tabernacle and make the utensils of worship. The tithe was not considered optional for the Israelites. Here we see that God expressly says that this offering should come from those who give it with a willing heart. If you wanted to participate in this offering, you could. If you did not want to participate, you were not required to. It was a free will offering.
Let me make something clear. I do not believe that we are under the same legal constraints as Israel was in the Old Testament. What I do believe is that God put in place a pattern here that works. In the New Testament, we also find people called to fulltime employment by God. Ephesians 4 lists on such group.
Ephesians 4:11-13(NKJV) 11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Here we see apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers given to the church to equip the saints for the work of ministry. Their purpose is that we all come to the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Like the Levites, they exist to help the whole church grow in their relationship with God. They are not better than any other member of the body of Christ. However, the calling on their lives can be better fulfilled if they do not have to be distracted by secular employment. How could it be possible for them to live if they do not work a secular job? Could it be that we might want to consider using the tithe the way God used it in the Old Testament?
There is certainly nothing wrong if a minister of the Gospel has to work and preach. We know that Paul did so. We will look at that tomorrow. There is no New Testament law that the tithe is the inheritance of fulltime ministry. However, I believe that God revealed a better way to deal with church finances when he incorporated this idea into the law.
What I am going to share is how God revealed to me concerning the finances of our church. I would present it for consideration. If you are not in a position in your church that has financial responsibility, you should submit to the local church authority and how God instructs them in these matters. You might want to pass this along to your leaders for their consideration. Many churches struggle financially. I am not saying we never have our challenges, but I can say that for the 24 years we have handled our finances this way, God has always met our needs and we have done far more than a church of our size should be able to.
We separate tithes and offerings. The tithe goes to pay the salaries of those called to work full or part time in the things of God. It also goes to pay for ministry related equipment and supplies. We support our buildings by free will offerings. In this way the emphasis is on the ministry people not on the buildings.
We have more staff than most churches our size. This means that the people in the church have more types of ministry available to them then they would have if we just paid a senior pastor. This also enables us to have more people available to lead outreaches, take missions trips and generally lead the work of the ministry in our community. This is all possible because we designate the tithe for this purpose
To some this may not seem fair. I believe if God thought it was fair under the Old Covenant, it is still fair under the New Covenant. Again, I am not saying it is the only right way. I am just saying it is a pattern that God established in the Old Testament and one that the New Testament does not prohibit. I am also saying that it has worked to produce great blessing for us and our people.
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