Tithes
There is a distinct difference between tithes and offerings. They are mentioned separately throughout the Bible, even though the Lord required both to be brought to Him.
The tithe is the tenth of all the increase that God gives to you. What does "increase" include? "Increase" is everything that increases the value of earthly possessions that God places into your trust, whether it be earned income or unearned gifts. A tenth of everything that is "increase" to you belongs to God in the form of tithes. The tithe of your increase is not yours to give to God; it is God’s for you to give to God, and it is a privilege for us to have it to give to Him.
Listen carefully to Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees, for it is very easily misunderstood:
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin [names of spices], and have omitted the weightier matters of the Law: judgment, mercy, and faith."
Those words of Jesus can be misconstrued to mean that Israel’s religious leaders were doing evil by being very careful to bring God tithes of all that entered as increase into their homes. But that is not the case, for Jesus goes on to state in the rest of that verse from Matthew 23:23, "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Those men were evil, not because they brought God tithes of everything that was increase to them, but because they neglected the love and truth of God.
If you own a business, your "increase" is what is called "profit". It is the gross amount of money you have earned, minus all business deductions. You figure the tithe on that amount, your net earnings, before taxes are paid to the government. God comes first.
Offerings
Offerings are gifts brought to God beyond the tithes. The tithe was always ten percent of one’s increase, but with certain offerings, God gave His people some discretion as to the amount or number of offerings to bring. Their financial situation in life and the depth of their zeal for God was shown by their choices concerning offerings. Here are some of the offerings that God instituted in Israel for the people to bring to His servants.
There was the offering of "firstfruits", which was a little offering taken from among the earliest of one’s ripening crops. This offering was not in the form of money but in the form of crops. It was a required offering, but the amount of "firstfuits" brought to God was never specified. The people had some discretion as to the amount.
There was the offering of the firstborn of your female animals. "All that openeth the matrix is mine" said the Lord (Ex. 34:19). If the newborn animal belonged in the category of "unclean animals", it was not offered on God’s altar, but it still was His. There was the offering of the firstborn child in every family. The firstborn belonged to God, whether animal or human. Instead of bringing to the Lord’s temple the firstborn child of every Israelite mother, however, the Lord required Israel to offer a certain amount of money instead of the firstborn child.
Every male was required to offer a small offering of money with him whenever God commanded the leaders of Israel to take a census. The poor could not offer less, and the rich could not offer more (Ex. 30:14-15). A census was rarely taken in Israel, but when one was taken, each male had to make this offering to the Lord.
Three times each year, there was another small offering required of all the males in Israel when they presented themselves before the Lord at His temple.
At times, there were offerings taken from the people for special occasions, such as the erecting of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:1-9) or the restoration of the temple during the days of Judah’s king Joash (2Kgs. 12:4-12). On these occasions, God’s people always responded with great generosity and joy; the children of God are the most generous people on earth. When Moses let the people of Israel know that God had told him to collect an offering of materials for erecting a tabernacle, the people brought so much that Moses had to tell them to stop (Ex. 36:5-7). Later, after the tabernacle was built and God required an offering for the dedication of it, God specified how much of an offering was to be brought by each tribe; otherwise, Moses may well have had another problem with too much being brought to the Lord!
For His children who were especially happy to belong to God and have a part in His covenant, God provided a way to express their gratitude by commanding His priests to receive a Thanksgiving Offering for sacrifice if anyone among His people wanted to offer it to God.
These are the offerings mentioned in the Bible that come to mind as I write this. None of these offerings were "tithes"; still, all of the required offerings rightly belonged to God, and it was robbery not to bring them to Him when it was time to do so.
From almost all of the sacrificial offerings on God’s altar, the priests and their families were given a large portion of the animal for their food. It was their portion from God. When cattle were offered, the priest who actually did the work of making the sacrifice was awarded the hide of the animal as part of his pay from God. From this we see that offerings of animals brought to be sacrificed to the Lord were part of God’s system of support for His servants. As long as God’s people were obedient, they were happy and blessed, and as long as they were happy and blessed, they freely brought their tithes and offerings to the Lord. And when they did that, God’s servants always had more than they needed to live and provide for their families.
We no longer bring animals to sacrifice to God. The physical forms that certain offerings took in the Old Testament no longer exists. But God’s servants and their families still need food, and God’s servants still use earthly money to do things they need to do for the good of the body. In this New Covenant, God has not left His people with no way to express their gratitude for His goodness, and He has not left His ministers with no means of support from the children of God. The system of tithes and offerings is still vital for the spiritual health of the body, and I have never seen anyone with a right spirit refuse to acknowledge that.
Chapter 2
Offerings
Offerings are gifts brought to God beyond the tithes. The tithe was always ten percent of one’s increase, but with certain offerings, God gave His people some discretion as to the amount or number of offerings to bring. Their financial situation in life and the depth of their zeal for God was shown by their choices concerning offerings. Here are some of the offerings that God instituted in Israel for the people to bring to His servants.
There was the offering of "firstfruits", which was a little offering taken from among the earliest of one’s ripening crops. This offering was not in the form of money but in the form of crops. It was a required offering, but the amount of "firstfuits" brought to God was never specified. The people had some discretion as to the amount.
There was the offering of the firstborn of your female animals. "All that openeth the matrix is mine" said the Lord (Ex. 34:19). If the newborn animal belonged in the category of "unclean animals", it was not offered on God’s altar, but it still was His. There was the offering of the firstborn child in every family. The firstborn belonged to God, whether animal or human. Instead of bringing to the Lord’s temple the firstborn child of every Israelite mother, however, the Lord required Israel to offer a certain amount of money instead of the firstborn child.
Every male was required to offer a small offering of money with him whenever God commanded the leaders of Israel to take a census. The poor could not offer less, and the rich could not offer more (Ex. 30:14-15). A census was rarely taken in Israel, but when one was taken, each male had to make this offering to the Lord.
Three times each year, there was another small offering required of all the males in Israel when they presented themselves before the Lord at His temple.
At times, there were offerings taken from the people for special occasions, such as the erecting of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:1-9) or the restoration of the temple during the days of Judah’s king Joash (2Kgs. 12:4-12). On these occasions, God’s people always responded with great generosity and joy; the children of God are the most generous people on earth. When Moses let the people of Israel know that God had told him to collect an offering of materials for erecting a tabernacle, the people brought so much that Moses had to tell them to stop (Ex. 36:5-7). Later, after the tabernacle was built and God required an offering for the dedication of it, God specified how much of an offering was to be brought by each tribe; otherwise, Moses may well have had another problem with too much being brought to the Lord!
For His children who were especially happy to belong to God and have a part in His covenant, God provided a way to express their gratitude by commanding His priests to receive a Thanksgiving Offering for sacrifice if anyone among His people wanted to offer it to God.
These are the offerings mentioned in the Bible that come to mind as I write this. None of these offerings were "tithes"; still, all of the required offerings rightly belonged to God, and it was robbery not to bring them to Him when it was time to do so.
From almost all of the sacrificial offerings on God’s altar, the priests and their families were given a large portion of the animal for their food. It was their portion from God. When cattle were offered, the priest who actually did the work of making the sacrifice was awarded the hide of the animal as part of his pay from God. From this we see that offerings of animals brought to be sacrificed to the Lord were part of God’s system of support for His servants. As long as God’s people were obedient, they were happy and blessed, and as long as they were happy and blessed, they freely brought their tithes and offerings to the Lord. And when they did that, God’s servants always had more than they needed to live and provide for their families.
We no longer bring animals to sacrifice to God. The physical forms that certain offerings took in the Old Testament no longer exists. But God’s servants and their families still need food, and God’s servants still use earthly money to do things they need to do for the good of the body. In this New Covenant, God has not left His people with no way to express their gratitude for His goodness, and He has not left His ministers with no means of support from the children of God. The system of tithes and offerings is still vital for the spiritual health of the body, and I have never seen anyone with a right spirit refuse to acknowledge that.
Chapter 2