By Pastor Dave Farmer
This article focuses on the "Universal Law of the Tithe." Understanding it will help explain why some of our greatest pastors believe in tithing today. These men are valued members of the Body of Christ who love the Lord and preach the same gospel that we do. In fact, the pastor who led me to the Lord Jesus was a tither, and I have never once questioned his loyalty to Christ or the Word of God.
Even mega-church pastor Rick Warren, the founding pastor of one of the largest churches in America and held in high esteem today, holds this view:
“Tithing proves that I really love God. Jesus said, "If you love me, do what I command." And it is clearly commanded all the way through scripture. Some people say tithing is Old Testament law. No, it's not. It's an Old Testament principle. In fact, tithing was established before the law was given. The law was established with Moses. God established tithing from the very first. Abraham gave tithes 400 years before Moses was born. It's not part of Jewish law. It was a life principle before the Jewish nation even became Israel.” 1
Through the years, I have asked, "How is it possible for these great Bible teachers in the church to come to the position that the Christian is responsible to God for the tithe?" Whether stated openly or not, everyone who believes Christians are to tithe believes in the Universal Law of the Tithe. In this theological position, we gain the answer to this question.
The Universal Law of the Tithe is the belief that the tithe is the God-given standard for every believer in every period of human history. Those who hold this view of the tithe state that this system of giving among God's people existed before the Law, was codified in the Law, and is implied in the New Testament. The ones who practice tithing do so because they believe this method of giving spans the ages.
It is clear from the teaching of the Apostle Paul that we are not under law but under grace. So, it follows that we are not responsible for giving the tithe. “Oh, but wait,” says the tither! Tithing is different. Tithing existed before the Law as a method of giving." This opens the door to the next wrong conclusion. It existed as the God-given way of giving throughout the Old Testament period, so by the time we get to the New Testament period, it was a common practice, so common that Paul doesn’t even mention it. This is the Universal Law of the Tithe.
Let me illustrate the existence of the Universal Law of the Tithe in the thinking of this pastor who never once mentions it. In a message prepared for his congregation, Pastor Troy Borst of the First Church of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, says:
"Is tithing commanded in the New Testament? In the New Testament, the words “tithe” and “tithing” appear only eight times and all of them refer to the Old Testament use and to the Jewish practices of the day. Nowhere does the New Testament express the command that Christians are to tithe”. 2
This is a correct statement, "Nowhere does the New Testament express the command that Christians are to tithe." If this is all you read of his sermon, you might conclude that his next statement is, “It is not necessary for Christians to tithe.” In fact, he tells us that he preached this message because an elder in the church told the people that "Christians do not have to tithe, and he wanted to correct that elder." His next point in the message was this:
"However, Christians ought to follow the example and command of Jesus in giving. Jesus did not come to “abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill them” (Mt. 5:17). Jesus showed us by His example and Paul by his example and writings that giving for the Christian goes past mere tithing. Tithing is the least one can do. It is true, Christians are never commanded to tithe in the New Testament, but are commanded to give (which is more than tithing)." 3
I have used this message as an example of someone who believes that there is a universal law for believers to tithe, yet he never once refers to it in the body of his message.
Why are we encouraged to tithe? Because of what the elder doesn’t know and the pastor never states up front, tithing is treated differently. Even though it is never commanded, it continues throughout the New Testament period until today. It doesn’t matter that Paul never mentions tithing. He didn’t have to. It is a given, no pun intended.
Those who teach the tithe as a universal system of giving hold the twofold view of giving that spans all the ages.
The tithe is required, and the amount is fixed.
Offerings are voluntary giving.
In the tithe system, the amount is stipulated and required, but in the offering system, giving is voluntary, and no amount is designated.
The tithe is basic giving. It comes first. The offering system kicks in after the tithe has been met.
The tithe was the norm for giving before the Law and fully instituted in the period of the Law. From this, a leap in logic is now made. If it was the norm before the Law, fully instituted during the period of the Law, then it follows the tithe as a principle of giving after the Law.
When someone raises the issue about the silence of the New Testament on tithing, the knee-jerk reaction is to state the Universal Law of the Tithe. In fact, one writer admits:
"To be sure, Paul does not spell out the tithe as an approach to giving. This groundwork was laid in Judaism." 4
Not only does the Apostle Paul "not spell out the tithe," he NEVER mentions it, not even once! Here is a true Biblical fact!
THERE IS NO DIRECT TEACHING IN THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT ON THE TITHE FOR THE CHURCH!
In other words, this writer’s reasoning for why the Apostle Paul does not mention the tithe is because this principle of giving was so familiar, so ingrained, so much the established norm that it wasn’t necessary to repeat. The underlying ideas in the Universal Law of the Tithe drive this belief. This may be redundant, but it is critical to aid our understanding of tithing. Let me state them again: Since tithing existed before the Law of Moses, tithing must exist after the Law of Moses. If it existed before the Law, it must exist after the Law. It is a method of giving for all of the ages.
For instance, even if they could show that tithing existed before the Law, their argument is ill-conceived.
Before the law, our God established the seventh day as a day of rest. This is the creation Sabbath, which occurred one time in all recorded history and serves as an example for all other future Sabbaths that God would institute.
Genesis 2:1,2
1) Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.
2) By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
God rested [He sabbathed] on the seventh day from all His labors. Not because He was tired but because everything that could be done for man had been accomplished. The planet Earth was now prepared for man's habitation. The principle of the Creation Sabbath will be the template upon which all other Sabbaths will be modeled. We are introduced to a grace concept at this point. God does all the work; man reaps the blessings. God provided everything for man's happiness, and man cannot add to it or improve it. Twenty-five hundred years later, God established the Sabbath in the Law- a day of rest for man.
Exodus 20:8
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
The seventh day of rest was a memorial of the Creation rest, a memorial of grace. What do you do on the seventh day? Nothing! Israel was to rest in what God had provided. Following this line of argument, if the Sabbath existed before the Law of Moses and codified in the Law, then it should exist after the Law of Moses. There should be a Universal Law of the Sabbath. So why does the Church meet on the first day of the week, Sunday? We know WHY! It was to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ out from the grave.
The logic used to advocate the tithe for the church is rejected by tithers when the Sabbath is considered. At least the Seventh Day Adventists are consistent; they tithe and worship on Saturday. Their view is that the Sabbath existed before the Law, and the Sabbath was given in the Law, so the Universal Law of the Sabbath is in effect. The church should tithe and worship on Saturday. This kind of forced interpretation is ridiculous! It is heartbreaking to see how Scripture is twisted and manipulated.
Let me give you another illustration using this same faulty logic. God established that we bring an animal to be sacrificed when we worship. Adam and Eve worshiped God by bringing an animal sacrifice. Abel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived before the Law, and they worshiped God by bringing animal sacrifices. If this reasoning is correct, I would conclude that since animal sacrifices occurred before and during the Law, this is the form of worship that God requires after the Law. Why isn't there a Universal Law of the Animal Sacrifice? We KNOW why? The last and final sacrifice has been made by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. He died once and for all time. The character of the age in which we live has changed. We are not under Law but under grace!
Romans 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under Law but under grace.
Galatians 2:16
Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
We do not sacrifice animals. We do not worship on Saturday. And tithing was not the system of giving for the Church Age.
Does the tithe appear in the period before the law as a norm for giving? To test this, we must know when the law began and ended. The Law was given to Israel at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:1-6:
In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. [Exodus 19:1,2]
The Jews left Egypt on the 15th of Nisan (April); ninety days later, on the 15th of June 1441 BC, they arrived at Mt. Sinai. The Law was given to Moses and, in Exodus 24:3, was ratified by the people. The part of the Bible which covers the Law begins with Exodus 19 and forward. When did the period of the Law end? It ended when the Church Age began. So, if we know when the church began, we can determine when the law ended.
According to the Scriptures, the Church began on the Day of Pentecost in 33 A.D. On the day Jesus ascended, He told the little band of believers to wait in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4,5). This group included all of the disciples, minus Judah Iscariot, who had committed suicide. It took place forty days after the death of Christ on the cross (Acts 1:1,2). On the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), ten days later, the first advent of the Holy Spirit occurred, and the Church Age began. It began with a unique and miraculous event so that no one could doubt that one age was concluding and another was beginning. Peter collaborates this by telling us that this was “the beginning.”
Acts 11:15
And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.
The part of the Bible that contains the period of the Law starts with Exodus nineteen and continues through the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the period of the Law continues in the Gospels, and I would include the first chapter of Acts. Now, we can test the idea that the tithe was the norm of giving before the Law. Where would we look? We would investigate the Scriptures between Genesis 1:1 and Exodus 19. We are looking for required giving. We are looking for the tithe. Did God in the period before the Law require the tithe to be given to Him? We now know where to look (Genesis through Exodus 19).
From the standpoint of vocabulary, the Hebrew noun MA-ASER [ מַעֲשֵׂר- #4643] appears 32 times in the Old Testament. It means a tenth, a tithe. How many times do we find this word in the period before the Law? Once! This answer may startle you. Only once in Genesis 14:20, which we will explain. Yet we are told that there is a universal law, and I would think we would find it repeated over and over again. To be fair, we have the verb AW-SORE [עשׂר], which means to give a tenth or a tithe. Does this word appear multiple times? No, ten times in all and one time in the period before the law [Genesis 28:22].
It is dishonest to infer that a Universal Law of the Tithe existed among the people of God in the period before the Law when you can cite only two possible examples. In 4000 years of history, you cannot find one example of anyone practicing Biblical tithing. You cannot find one verse of Scripture where God is directing His people to give Him a tithe. The word tithe is defined as giving a tenth of goods or money as an offering to God. There is no Universal Law of the Tithe!
A good question would be, “Where did Abraham and Jacob get the idea of the tenth if it didn’t come from God? It came from several sources. It was the simplest and most basic number used in accounting in the ancient world. People counted large quantities by tens. This was easy because man has ten fingers, so quite naturally, ten was used, let's say, rather than four or seven or twelve.
But archaeology has discovered that all ancient peoples gave a tenth or tithe to their deities. The unsaved people of the world brought to their priests a tenth. Abraham was raised in Ur of the Chaldeans, which was his day's custom. He derived this figure not from the Lord but from the customary practice of his time. For instance, the New Bible Dictionary's topic on the tithe begins with this statement:
The custom of tithing did not originate with the Mosaic law (Gn. 14:17–20), nor was it peculiar to the Hebrews. It was practiced among other ancient peoples. 5
A Universal Law existed, but it was among the unsaved religious populations of the ancient world. So, if the tithe was not the method of giving before the Law, what was the pattern among God's people?
In God’s Way of Giving, Dr. John MacArthur provides a convincing argument that there is no instance of tithing in the Book of Genesis [excellent book on an apologetic for grace-giving]. For instance,
Genesis 4:4-6
Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
This is the first time in the Bible that we have anyone giving to God. If we take this text as it stands, adding nothing to it, this offering was given freely. The very first offering was a free-will offering. The Scripture says, “In the process of time” [Genesis 4:1], that is, as God blessed them and they prospered, they recognized God’s goodness and freely and voluntarily brought an offering to the Lord. This was not a tithe or a tenth. There is no mention of how often: weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. There is nothing specified at this time except that all offerings to the Lord will be an animal sacrifice. 6
Genesis 8:20
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
After Noah left the ark, the first thing he did was to build an altar and offer a sacrifice to God. Once again, God has no command for him to give this offering. On his own initiative, Noah, thankful for God’s protection, provision, and deliverance, voluntarily offered a sacrifice to God. There is no command from God. There is no revelation of how much or how many times. It is a free act on Noah’s part. There is no record that Noah ever built another altar or made another offering. Noah lived after the flood for 350 years, and there is no record of him or his sons ever making another offering to God. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but there is no Biblical record. For the first 2000 years of human history, we have two passages on giving, and not one person is found giving a tenth part to the Lord. 7
Scripture does not support the Universal Law of the Tithe. It is not Biblical. For if it truly was a universal law, we should have some mention that Adam and Eve offered tithes to God. The first family did not tithe. Did they rob God? Cain, Abel, and the generations leading up to Noah did not tithe. There is no evidence from Scripture that Noah tithed. What do we have? We have God’s people giving thanks to Him and, as an act of true worship, bringing an offering to God. What was the prescribed offering? It was to be an innocent animal. Apart from that, it was freely given.
He offered a sacrifice in Genesis 12, when he entered the Promised Land, and again in chapter 13 when he offered a sacrifice to God upon his return from Egypt:
Genesis 12:7,8
The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
There is no record of a command from God for him to do so. No amount is stipulated. There is no revelation regarding how often he should give or how much. The Bible tells us that Abraham out of gratitude for God’s blessing, freely on his own initiative, responding to God’s love for him, worshiped God by making a sacrifice. 8
When you find anyone in the Book of Genesis building an altar to worship God or offering a sacrifice, this act of giving is never called a tithe. In fact, the word for tithe can only be found in two passages in the entire Book of Genesis, and that is what we will look at now.
Genesis 14:20
And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. He gave him a tenth of all.
In Genesis 14:20, the Hebrew word MAASER is translated as “tithe.” We ask, “Is this
an example of tithing before the Law?”
Because of trouble between the herders of Abraham and the herders of Lot, the two men separated. Lot chose the Jordan Plain for his herds, and Abraham chose an area south of Jerusalem (Genesis 13:10-13).
After they separated, certain kings from Mesopotamia formed an alliance and invaded Southern Palestine. They defeated the kings of the Jordan plain and carried away the people and all of their possessions.
One man escapes from the captured prisoners and comes to Abraham to tell him about what had happened and to tell him that Lot (his nephew) had been taken captive.
Abraham went into action. He took his armed men whom he had personally trained, and after a night attack, he routed the enemy.
Abraham recovered all of the lost possessions and people. At this time, he was the richest and most popular man in the world.
This is a great story with many wonderful applications, but we are looking for the evidence of tithing in the period before the Law. Can you visualize the camp of Abraham? In his camp, all the people taken captive by the Mesopotamian Confederacy are now redeemed. In this camp, we have piles and piles of recaptured booty and plunder- these are the spoils of war. Every city in this area has lost people and possessions. What will Abraham do? All of this now belongs to him. One of the Kings recognizes this:
Genesis 14:21
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.
Abraham refuses this suggestion. He will not take any of it except to give a portion to those who served in the military expedition and put their lives at risk. Secondly, we have this statement “Abraham gave him [Melchizedek] a tithe of all.” Those who say that tithing existed before the Law all cite this passage as an illustration of tithing before the Law. Even though they recognize the giving of this tithe is very different from what is stated in the Law, he gave one-tenth of that pile, which is, in their minds, tithing. So, they have their proof text to provide a basis for the Universal Law of the Tithe.
My first objection is that this tenth is different from the concept of Biblical tithe. It is totally different from the tithe of the Law. How different? Tithing is required giving. Did God tell Abraham to give this? There are no Biblical instructions anywhere telling Abraham to give this gift. It was spontaneous on Abraham's part, prompted by his own free will. Secondly, It is an example of voluntary giving, as all the other offerings were in this period. Thirdly, this was a one-time offering. There is no record that Abraham gave to anyone after this a tenth. God did not command him to give it, and nothing was stipulated.
This passage contains the verb ASSER, to give a tenth.
Genesis 28:20-22
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, 'If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father's house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house; and of all that Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to Thee.
Jacob is making a vow in response to a visitation from God. God came to him in a dream. He saw a ladder reaching to heaven with the angels of God ascending and descending on it. In the dream, God stood above the ladder and said to Jacob:
I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (vs.13-15).
Is this another evidence of tithing? Jacob will give God a tenth. We must observe what the text does and does not say. Nowhere are we told that God commanded Jacob to give Him a tithe.
The giving of this tithe was a voluntary act on Jacob's part. Jacob said let’s make a deal, “If you bless me I will give you the tithe.” There is no way you can interpret this as an instance of tithing. This is not tithing it is bribing God.
Finally, during this early period, we find many people giving to God, but it was always voluntary on their part, and God stipulated no amount. Those who believe in the tithe as a system of giving would be forced to say that the tithe was voluntary during the period before the Law and then during the Law became required giving. This is never stated in Scripture, and I believe it is forcing one’s own interpretation of Scripture, violating 2 Peter 1:19-21.
We narrowed down this so-called Universal Law on two occasions when a believer gave a tithe and, in both instances, pointed out that none of the features of tithing can be found in either example. To call this an early form of tithing is a real stretch. Jacob’s promise was a bribe, not spiritual giving. Abraham’s gift of a tenth to Melchizedek was a fee for service. He received valuable spiritual counsel from Melchizedek.
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ENDNOTES
1 Rich Warren, Discovering Spiritual Maturity (Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California:
Teaching Transcript Class 201, Electronic Ed, Print Friendly Version) pp. 45,46.
2 Pastor Troy Borst, Is Tithing Commanded in the New Testament?" First Church of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania: Sermoncentral.com, electronic Ed, May 1998.
3 Ibid.
4 Samuel Young, Giving and Living, pg. 39
5 Thomson, J. G. S. S. (1996). Tithes. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed., p. 1193). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
See also The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Merrill C. Tenny, Editor Vol.5 “Tithing” 756-758 written by C.L.Feinberg [Feinberg earned his ThD at Dallas Theological Seminary and taught there as well.] Published by Zondervan Corporation, 1975, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“Tithing was a practice before the Law in many cultures: "Tithing was an ancient and general practice among other religious cultures besides the Semites. Giving a portion of one’s labor or of the spoils of war was known among a number of nations in antiquity. In Egypt the people gave two tenths of their harvest to the Pharoah [Genesis 47:24]; cf. among other nations: Syrians [1 Macc 10:31;11:35]; Lydians [Herod 1:89]; and Babylonians, M. Jastrow, The Religion of the Babylonians and Assyrian [1898], 668. Tithing was not strictly a Jewish practice. They were both political [tribute and taxation] and religious [connected with offerings]. Ancient extra-biblical use appears to be as a tax in kind imposed by a ruler on a subject people or his own countrymen. Before the Law, unbelieving people practiced tithing. It was usually a tax imposed upon them by their government. “
6 John F. Macarthur, Giving: God’s Way, pg 56.
7 Ibid. pg 52.
8 Ibid. pg 52.
See Also These Works
J. A. MacCulloch and W.H.D. Rouse, “Tithe” Hastings: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol 12, pp. 347-351.
H. Lansdell, “The Sacred Tenth or Studies in Tithe-Giving Ancient and Modern” pp. 45-109, 119-180.
J. D. Douglas, The New Bible Dictionary, “Tithe” pg. 1284.