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Introduction:
A couple of years ago at a Sukkot conference I gave a sermon on the tithing issue. The message took an hour and a half, and thank G-d, people were still awake and participating in it even to the end. I was asked if I would be willing to share it with you all here. First I must say that I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend, George Potkonyak, in Australia for opening my eyes to this subject.
I'm making the assumption that everyone on this forum is Messianic and not from a Christian background so I'll not spend any time on supporting the validity of Torah for today. For the sake of space, I'll also not be pasting in the actual scripture that I'm referencing. I strongly request, not just suggest, that you grab your bibles and read each and every verse that I quote. It is extremely important that your eyes read each word of the Torah that I quote rather than you taking my word for anything. In Judaism, the idea of tithes is similar to that of Christianity. It is taught that you should give ten percent of your paycheck to your shul. However, there are those poskim that do not agree with that. Those poskim felt that this mitzvah only applied to a specific people and then only if the logistics were right. I found out that my understanding was supported by certain poskim (masters of Halacha in the position of interpreting Halacha and creating it).
Tithes are broken up into three different sets of laws for three different groups, the Israelites, the Levites and the Cohenim. We're going to deal with the Israelites first.
To the Israelites:
Deut. 12:4-19, 14:22-29
HaShem first tells us that He's going to set up a place of worship when they go into the land of promise. The tithes were supposed to be taken to that place, the place where He puts His name. In these verses HaShem lays out where and how the offerings were to take place. Keep in mind that the tithe was an offering just like rams for sin. Take especial note that were dealing here with agriculture. There were those that were clothes makers or makers of Torah parchment, but the tithes deal specifically with agriculture.
The tithe was a sort of reward system. HaShem says to us, the tithe is mine. If you do not pay this tithe, youre robbing Him. Yet it says that were to go party in Jerusalem with it. That party was a sort of reward system in that He blesses us with fruits of our tithe two out of three years. He says to us, The tithe is mine and what I want you to do with it is spend it on yourself and have a good time. Youve worked hard all year tending these flocks and crops, take the Levites in your gates and have a feast. Be a family. Fellowship with one another, you only get to see some of these guys three times a year. The tithe was to be eaten in full. There was not any to be left when they were done.
In Deut. 14 He tells us that were not only to eat it at (what later became) Jerusalem, but that if we lived too far away that we were then to exchange it for money, take it to Jerusalem and spend it on what our heart desires, including wine and strong drink (perhaps Vodka?). In the third year your tithe was to go to the Levites that lived within your gates. Every Israelite had an inheritance of land but the Levite had none. Their inheritance was the tithes. HaShem used the Levites to teach Torah to the people. In a sense they were in full time ministry. Their food came from the tithes that one brought in the third year.
Redemption of the tithe is found in Lev. 27:30-33. Notice that the tithe was not the first tenth, it was on the last tenth. What do I mean? It says that every tenth lamb that crosses under the rod is to be taken out as the tithe. As one is picking their oranges from the grove he says, 9 for me, 1 for you, 9 for me, for you. Our text says that HaShem does not care whether the tithe is good or bad. If the lamb has a bum leg, its still a valid tithe. The minute that the animal or crop is determined to be the tithe, it then becomes Holy to HaShem. That tithe must be used strictly in accordance with the commandments of HaShem. It is extremely important that you notice what is to be tithed. The tithe is on the increase only!
In the Christian world today the idea of increase is misconstrued. It is seen that the increase youre to tithe off of is anything that comes into your house, after all it was more than you had before right? Wrong!!!!! The Torah specifically mentions that of the increase because its dealing with issues of overhead and profit. I mentioned earlier that there were always clothes makers and wage earners. A wage earner is someone who works as an employee somewhere. If someone makes $20 an hour and he works one hour next week at his place of employment, his employer is not going to pay him 30, 60 or 100 times that. Yet were promised that He will increase us 30, 60 or 100 fold. Tithing deals with business owners, not employees.
If one were to suggest that tithing is still applicable today, it would deal strictly with those that own businesses. In fact, it would be a select group of those people as well. An example I use is that of a writer. Lets say that a writer values his time at $50k a year. It takes one year to write a book. He then takes it to the editor and pays him another $20k to edit it. The now edited book is sent to the publisher who spends $3 a book in printing and prints up 100,000 books totally $300k. Then there are distribution costs totaling another $30k. The first year his book is out every copy sells at $10 a book. The total sales totals $1 million. Assuming that the writer is producing (financially) the book by himself he has just made a million dollars. What does he tithe on? Increase, also known as profit, is gross minus overhead. In this example our writer made $1 million. His overhead is his time writing, editor, publishing and distribution costs. His overhead is $400k and he subtracts that from his million. His tithe is based on a $600k figure coming to $60k.
I suggest to you though that tithing is strictly limited to agriculture in Israel when there is a Temple. HaShem does the increasing, not man. How does HaShem do that? Hes the one who provides the rain for water and no life can exist without his intervention. Agriculture relies on HaShems intervention. Writing a book does not. If He doesnt bring the latter rain, the crops will not grow. It is HIM providing the increase, not man. Man is merely the tender of the crops and flocks.
So why is it limited to Israeli crops? Notice that in the Torah there was no requirement to tithe. It says that when you come into the land . Some might suggest that they were nomads and thus not growing crops. This is true, but what about he flocks that were with them. They were sure doing a lot of sacrifices in the Tabernacle with them, we know they existed. Yet the Torah is explicit in where to take it and when.
To the Levites:
Numbers 18:21-32
The Levites were to receive all manner of tithes. Some have suggested that there was a tithe each year to the levites and then an additional tithe to go to Jerusalem. In fact, there are allegedly 3 tithes totaling 27%. This verse does not mean that every bit of the tithe went to them but that they were to receive, every third year, the tithes of all items to be tithed from. In every third year they were to receive a lamb tithe, a cattle tithe, and orange and lemon tithe etc.
The Levites were commanded to tithe to the Cohenim 10% of what came in to them. However, this time there is catch. The Levites had to tithe 10% of the best of their ingathering. Unlike the Israelites, where G-didnt look to see if it was good or bad, the Levites had to only give of what was good.
Only One Tithe:
Numbers 1:44-47, 3:39, 4:46-48
There are roughly 18,000 19,000 Levites to about 603,550 Israelites. In the census we see that the Israelites outnumber the Levites by about 32:1. If the tithes were each year, the Levite would have far more than any Israelite.
Lets take that 32 to 1 figure and play with some more numbers.
The Israelites give ten percent of their income to the Levites every third year only. Thirty-two Israelites with an annual increase of 100 sheep each would have 300 sheep of increase each over a three year period. Each one would give 10 sheep (a tithe of the third year) to the Levite, and be left with 290 sheep (for three years) as his increase. The Levite would receive 320 sheep, of which he would have to give his tithe of 32 sheep to the priests. Then he would be left with 288 sheep as his after-tithe income over three years - nearly an EXACT number with which each Israelite would be left. THIS does make sense - it is the principle of equality!
One may conclude that the Levite would be left with less than the above figures suggest, because he is to allow the strangers and the poor to partake of the tithes. We must remember that the other two years, while the Israelites were using their tithes for the celebration, they were to invite their local Levites to the feasts, thus the Levites could make up for the shortfall.
Now, if we review the above figures, we can draw some conclusions that were not clear from the commandments on Levites' tithes. An average family (Israelite's or Levite's) would be left with about 290 sheep as an 'increase' over a period of three years, Levites having to give 32 sheep to the priest. Now, if we say that there were about 18,000 to 19,000 Levite males twenty years or older, that is, about the same number of the Levites' families, they would be able to support about 1,800 to 1,900 (TEN PERCENT OF THEIR OWN NUMBER) other families from their tithes, rather than a handful of priests only. The commandment to the Levites in Numbers 18:28 to give their tithes to Aaron the priest, was meant that the Levites were to give their tithes to the priests for their own use and for the distribution to all those Levites who serve in the place of worship.
Be Well,
Mikha'el
A couple of years ago at a Sukkot conference I gave a sermon on the tithing issue. The message took an hour and a half, and thank G-d, people were still awake and participating in it even to the end. I was asked if I would be willing to share it with you all here. First I must say that I owe a debt of gratitude to my friend, George Potkonyak, in Australia for opening my eyes to this subject.
I'm making the assumption that everyone on this forum is Messianic and not from a Christian background so I'll not spend any time on supporting the validity of Torah for today. For the sake of space, I'll also not be pasting in the actual scripture that I'm referencing. I strongly request, not just suggest, that you grab your bibles and read each and every verse that I quote. It is extremely important that your eyes read each word of the Torah that I quote rather than you taking my word for anything. In Judaism, the idea of tithes is similar to that of Christianity. It is taught that you should give ten percent of your paycheck to your shul. However, there are those poskim that do not agree with that. Those poskim felt that this mitzvah only applied to a specific people and then only if the logistics were right. I found out that my understanding was supported by certain poskim (masters of Halacha in the position of interpreting Halacha and creating it).
Tithes are broken up into three different sets of laws for three different groups, the Israelites, the Levites and the Cohenim. We're going to deal with the Israelites first.
To the Israelites:
Deut. 12:4-19, 14:22-29
HaShem first tells us that He's going to set up a place of worship when they go into the land of promise. The tithes were supposed to be taken to that place, the place where He puts His name. In these verses HaShem lays out where and how the offerings were to take place. Keep in mind that the tithe was an offering just like rams for sin. Take especial note that were dealing here with agriculture. There were those that were clothes makers or makers of Torah parchment, but the tithes deal specifically with agriculture.
The tithe was a sort of reward system. HaShem says to us, the tithe is mine. If you do not pay this tithe, youre robbing Him. Yet it says that were to go party in Jerusalem with it. That party was a sort of reward system in that He blesses us with fruits of our tithe two out of three years. He says to us, The tithe is mine and what I want you to do with it is spend it on yourself and have a good time. Youve worked hard all year tending these flocks and crops, take the Levites in your gates and have a feast. Be a family. Fellowship with one another, you only get to see some of these guys three times a year. The tithe was to be eaten in full. There was not any to be left when they were done.
In Deut. 14 He tells us that were not only to eat it at (what later became) Jerusalem, but that if we lived too far away that we were then to exchange it for money, take it to Jerusalem and spend it on what our heart desires, including wine and strong drink (perhaps Vodka?). In the third year your tithe was to go to the Levites that lived within your gates. Every Israelite had an inheritance of land but the Levite had none. Their inheritance was the tithes. HaShem used the Levites to teach Torah to the people. In a sense they were in full time ministry. Their food came from the tithes that one brought in the third year.
Redemption of the tithe is found in Lev. 27:30-33. Notice that the tithe was not the first tenth, it was on the last tenth. What do I mean? It says that every tenth lamb that crosses under the rod is to be taken out as the tithe. As one is picking their oranges from the grove he says, 9 for me, 1 for you, 9 for me, for you. Our text says that HaShem does not care whether the tithe is good or bad. If the lamb has a bum leg, its still a valid tithe. The minute that the animal or crop is determined to be the tithe, it then becomes Holy to HaShem. That tithe must be used strictly in accordance with the commandments of HaShem. It is extremely important that you notice what is to be tithed. The tithe is on the increase only!
In the Christian world today the idea of increase is misconstrued. It is seen that the increase youre to tithe off of is anything that comes into your house, after all it was more than you had before right? Wrong!!!!! The Torah specifically mentions that of the increase because its dealing with issues of overhead and profit. I mentioned earlier that there were always clothes makers and wage earners. A wage earner is someone who works as an employee somewhere. If someone makes $20 an hour and he works one hour next week at his place of employment, his employer is not going to pay him 30, 60 or 100 times that. Yet were promised that He will increase us 30, 60 or 100 fold. Tithing deals with business owners, not employees.
If one were to suggest that tithing is still applicable today, it would deal strictly with those that own businesses. In fact, it would be a select group of those people as well. An example I use is that of a writer. Lets say that a writer values his time at $50k a year. It takes one year to write a book. He then takes it to the editor and pays him another $20k to edit it. The now edited book is sent to the publisher who spends $3 a book in printing and prints up 100,000 books totally $300k. Then there are distribution costs totaling another $30k. The first year his book is out every copy sells at $10 a book. The total sales totals $1 million. Assuming that the writer is producing (financially) the book by himself he has just made a million dollars. What does he tithe on? Increase, also known as profit, is gross minus overhead. In this example our writer made $1 million. His overhead is his time writing, editor, publishing and distribution costs. His overhead is $400k and he subtracts that from his million. His tithe is based on a $600k figure coming to $60k.
I suggest to you though that tithing is strictly limited to agriculture in Israel when there is a Temple. HaShem does the increasing, not man. How does HaShem do that? Hes the one who provides the rain for water and no life can exist without his intervention. Agriculture relies on HaShems intervention. Writing a book does not. If He doesnt bring the latter rain, the crops will not grow. It is HIM providing the increase, not man. Man is merely the tender of the crops and flocks.
So why is it limited to Israeli crops? Notice that in the Torah there was no requirement to tithe. It says that when you come into the land . Some might suggest that they were nomads and thus not growing crops. This is true, but what about he flocks that were with them. They were sure doing a lot of sacrifices in the Tabernacle with them, we know they existed. Yet the Torah is explicit in where to take it and when.
To the Levites:
Numbers 18:21-32
The Levites were to receive all manner of tithes. Some have suggested that there was a tithe each year to the levites and then an additional tithe to go to Jerusalem. In fact, there are allegedly 3 tithes totaling 27%. This verse does not mean that every bit of the tithe went to them but that they were to receive, every third year, the tithes of all items to be tithed from. In every third year they were to receive a lamb tithe, a cattle tithe, and orange and lemon tithe etc.
The Levites were commanded to tithe to the Cohenim 10% of what came in to them. However, this time there is catch. The Levites had to tithe 10% of the best of their ingathering. Unlike the Israelites, where G-didnt look to see if it was good or bad, the Levites had to only give of what was good.
Only One Tithe:
Numbers 1:44-47, 3:39, 4:46-48
There are roughly 18,000 19,000 Levites to about 603,550 Israelites. In the census we see that the Israelites outnumber the Levites by about 32:1. If the tithes were each year, the Levite would have far more than any Israelite.
Lets take that 32 to 1 figure and play with some more numbers.
The Israelites give ten percent of their income to the Levites every third year only. Thirty-two Israelites with an annual increase of 100 sheep each would have 300 sheep of increase each over a three year period. Each one would give 10 sheep (a tithe of the third year) to the Levite, and be left with 290 sheep (for three years) as his increase. The Levite would receive 320 sheep, of which he would have to give his tithe of 32 sheep to the priests. Then he would be left with 288 sheep as his after-tithe income over three years - nearly an EXACT number with which each Israelite would be left. THIS does make sense - it is the principle of equality!
One may conclude that the Levite would be left with less than the above figures suggest, because he is to allow the strangers and the poor to partake of the tithes. We must remember that the other two years, while the Israelites were using their tithes for the celebration, they were to invite their local Levites to the feasts, thus the Levites could make up for the shortfall.
Now, if we review the above figures, we can draw some conclusions that were not clear from the commandments on Levites' tithes. An average family (Israelite's or Levite's) would be left with about 290 sheep as an 'increase' over a period of three years, Levites having to give 32 sheep to the priest. Now, if we say that there were about 18,000 to 19,000 Levite males twenty years or older, that is, about the same number of the Levites' families, they would be able to support about 1,800 to 1,900 (TEN PERCENT OF THEIR OWN NUMBER) other families from their tithes, rather than a handful of priests only. The commandment to the Levites in Numbers 18:28 to give their tithes to Aaron the priest, was meant that the Levites were to give their tithes to the priests for their own use and for the distribution to all those Levites who serve in the place of worship.
Be Well,
Mikha'el
's to Mikhael!
