Tithing - Leviticus

After the Hebrews left Egypt, God began instituting a series of conditional laws. In other words, God promised to do something, if Israel would do what God commanded. In contrast to the Unconditional Covenants in which promises were made by God regardless of what Israel did, or would do, these Conditional Covenants were entirely based upon what Israel did or did not do. One of those Conditional Covenants was the Tithe. How did the Tithe work? To Whom did it apply? What was tithed? How often did the tithe occur? Why Tithe? God answered all of these questions while establishing this Conditional Covenant.

Leviticus 27:30-24

27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.

27:31 And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

27:32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

27:33 He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

27:34 These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

In the first establishment of the tithe seen in Leviticus 27, verse 30 speaks volumes. The tithe is from the land, seed of the land, or fruit of the land. Only someone who could produce from the land is obligated exaction of this tithe.

Further laws are stated governing the tithe as the passage continues. Verse 32 tells us that the tenth of the herd to pass under the rod was holy, not the first. Why is this necessary to understand?

1. Because the farmer, and only farmers could do this, had to have 10 animals before he could tithe. He could not tithe off of 9 cows, nor did God require him to tithe upon anything less than 10 – tithe does mean tenth after all.

2. The tithe is not the first-fruits. The first-fruits is a completely separate Law/Festival issue. Many confuse the two issues, and create a doctrine stating that one
must tithe based upon the gross, and it should be the first tenth of every paycheck spent. These ideas are not Scripturally tenable. Further, verse 32 speaks against such impositions.

3. Whatever passed under the rod was holy unto the Lord. Money does not walk, therefore it could not pass under a rod. This had to be part of the herd. One may say, well animals were money back then, just wait, God answers this assertion in Deuteronomy.

4. The farmer could not choose what would be tithed. He had to let it be chosen, whether the fatted calf, or the halt cow. If he tampered with the order, God had a further penalty, that of adding the tampered animals to the tithe.
To this point in the third book of the Old Testament, Tithing has only been concerned with food, not money. God has a special reason for this, which is beautifully illustrated in Numbers and Deuteronomy.