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The Tithe is Holy

Leviticus 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 to the Lord.”

   The tithe is holy to the Lord.  This is the portion of our income God requires us to return to Him.  Some would argue the tithe was only under the law of Moses.  In Genesis 14:20 Abraham tithes to Melchizedek some six-hundred years before God gave the law to Moses.  We must be careful not to mishandle holy things.

            In Genesis 28:10-22 Jacob stops in Luz and sleeps on his journey.  He dreams of a ladder with its top reaching into heaven.  There are angels ascending and descending the latter.  At the top of this ladder was the Lord. He identifies Himself as the God of Abraham, and Isaac. He identifies Himself as the Covenant God of Jacob’s fathers. He is revealed as the God of the past, present, and future.  In Genesis 28:22 Jacob made a vow to give back a tenth of everything God would give to Him.

            We learn in Malachi 3:7 the children of Israel had failed to obey the Lord’s decrees.  There is a dialogue.  Verse 7 says, “’Return to Me, and I will return to you,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’” Verse 8 continues, “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.”

            We do not pay a tithe. We return the tithe to the Lord.  The first tenth of our income is holy to the Lord. Obedience results in blessings, while disobedience has consequences.  Saul lost his kingdom because of his failure to completely obey God (I Samuel 15:1-35).  Partial disobedience is disobedience. In John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”  

            The tithe is holy to the Lord.  We return the first tenth of our income to the Lord as an act of worship.  Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Ron Kelley writes in Our Giving is an Act of Worship, “Our giving should be viewed as a part of our worship to the Lord.”[1]


[1] Kelley, Ron, Our Giving is an Act of Worship, https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/mature-living-our-giving-is-an-act-of-worship. May 26, 2018.

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