What Does the Bible Teach About -- Tithing?

Tithing in biblical history

Before the Israelites entered the land God promised to give them, He told them: “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30, emphasis added throughout).

What gave God the right to claim 10 percent of everything they produced from the land? His claim was and still is based on a simple and an often-overlooked truth: He owns everything!

This fundamental premise is repeated in the Bible. “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1; compare Exodus 19:5; Job 41:11). The tithe is simply the divinely ordained degree to which He expects us to honor Him and to acknowledge that He gives everything to us by giving a 10th back to Him.

The first account in the Bible of this ancient practice is found in Genesis 14:18-22. Abraham, after his defeat of four kings, tithed on the spoils of the war to Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High. Abraham obviously understood that tithing was an appropriate way of honoring God with one’s physical possessions.

This example shows several important principles we can apply today. Abraham, whose exemplary life of service and obedience to God caused God to describe him as the father of the faithful (Romans 4:11), tithed willingly as an act of great humility. He showed respect and reverence for God, and to Melchizedek, who was both “king of Salem” and “priest of the Most High God” (Hebrews 7:1).

This was actually an appearance of Jesus Christ before His human conception and birth (see our free booklets Who Is God? and Jesus Christ: The Real Story). He still serves in this royal and priestly office today (Hebrews 6:20), and to tithe is to show Him appropriate honor.

This example also demonstrates Abraham’s enormous personal integrity and character. He chose to keep his promise to God rather than give in to the temptation to use the spoils of his victory for himself (Genesis 14:22-23). Abraham understood the premise for giving a tithe to God: He is Possessor of heaven and earth (verse 19). Abraham recognized that he was blessed by God Most High, who made his victory and all his blessings possible.

Tithing in the New Testament

When we come to the New Testament and the experience of the early Church, we should consider several important points. First, the emergence of the Church did not herald a radical departure from the practices of the nation of Israel. Not until several decades after the founding of the New Testament Church does the book of Hebrews record a clarification of the impact the new spiritual administration of Christ had for the Church and the exist- ing priesthood. Even here it is apparent that most laws relating to Israel were not annulled, but were sometimes different in their application.

For decades the Church was regarded by the gentiles as merely another sect of the Jews, but one that believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ. The Church is the spiritual equivalent of physical Israel and is even called “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16). Because of physical Israel’s lack of obedience, the opportunity for salvation for that time was extended beyond this people and offered to others—those who would be called into the Church from all nations (Matthew 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9-10). This new spiritual nation would provide the obedience God desired, through a converted heart.

No sharp break in application of laws and principles from the Old Testament came about when the Church began. Indeed, the New Testament had not yet been written, and it is acknowledged that the Church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20).

The teachings and specific examples from the Old Testament, we are told, were written for the benefit of the New Testament Church (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11)—so we should pay close attention to them. In a prophecy of the time setting of Christ’s second coming, we are admonished to “remember the law of Moses, My servant” (Malachi 4:4). It was proper application of its principles have continuing relevance for members of God’s Church.