hello and welcome to another teaching from 119 ministries our ministry believes that the whole bible is true and directly applicable to our lives today if you would like to know more about what we believe and teach please visit us at testeverything.net if you enjoy this video don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel by hitting the button down below we hope you enjoy studying and testing the following teaching [Music] there are many controversies that exist when it comes to discussing scripture and how it is to be applied in the lives of modern day believers one such topic is biblical tithing how are we in modern times supposed to apply the biblical mandate of the tithe are we supposed to give our tithes to our local church are we supposed to donate to a ministry is it even possible to tithe today these are important questions and like many others we have our own understandings and thoughts on how to answer them for what it's worth this teaching will outline our position on the topic ultimately it's up to each individual to test everything seeking the father's truths not any man's we want to be very clear at the start we believe that we are all part of the body of messiah we all have different roles to play in the creator's plan to bring the gospel to the nations not only do we need to pray for one another but also we need to support each other as the father leads with that said let's dive into the important topic of modern day biblical tithing what is tithing to begin we need to define what a tithe is and then we will get into what it's used for the word tithe means tenth when we see the word tithe used in scripture we know that whatever is being discussed refers to a tenth of it for example ancient israel was largely an agricultural society so in the bible their tithes consisted of one-tenth of whatever they produced such as grain wine oil herds flocks etc that's why in the bible you'll see tithing connected to those things because the bible was written within that historical and cultural context there are several different types of tithes commanded in the torah perhaps the most well-known of the tithes is the one given to the levites who assisted the sons of aaron in the duties of the tabernacle leviticus 27 30. every tithe of the land whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees is yahweh's it is holy to yahweh as we just read israel was commanded to tithe that is give a tenth of what they produced to yahweh in numbers 18 21-24 we learned that giving a tithe to yahweh was accomplished through giving a tenth of one's agricultural produce to the levites numbers 18 21 to the levites i have given every tithe in israel for an inheritance in return for their service that they do their service in the tent of meeting this tithe supported the levites who worked in the tent of meeting we'll unpack why the levites were given the tithe a little later for now let's discuss another type of tithe in addition to the tithes that israel gave to yahweh via the levites israel was to set aside an additional tithe every year for themselves deuteronomy 14 22-27 you shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year and before yahweh your god in the place that he will choose to make his name dwell there you shall eat the tithe of your grain of your wine and of your oil and the firstborn of your herd and flock that you may learn to fear yahweh your god always and if the way is too long for you so that you are not able to carry the tithe when yahweh your god blesses you because the place is too far from you which yahweh your god chooses to set his name there then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that yahweh your god chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink whatever your appetite craves and you shall eat there before yahweh your god and rejoice you and your household and you shall not neglect the levite who is within your towns for he has no portion or inheritance with you did you catch that israel was basically commanded to have a celebration savings account to guarantee that they and their friends would be able to throw a big party when they traveled to jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals they could even convert their tithes to money to make it easier to transport if necessary then they could use the money to buy all the food and beer they wanted when they arrived yes the word for strong drink sakar can refer to alcoholic drinks made from grain such as beer yahweh is the host of this party and he wants israel to rejoice before him by enjoying the set aside tithe how awesome is that our god wants to party with his people that's what the feast days are for so far we've covered two types of tithes one given to provide for the levites who serve in the tent of meeting and one that is to be used to rejoice together during the pilgrimage festivals here's another tithe the torah mentions deuteronomy 14 28-29 at the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns and the levite because he has no portion or inheritance with you and the sojourner the fatherless and the widow who are within your towns shall come and eat and be filled that yahweh your god may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do unlike the tithes for the levites and the festivals which were brought to jerusalem this tithe was to be deposited in one's own town every third year this tithe served to provide for the economically disadvantaged the levites the sojourner the widow and the orphan all those who didn't have property of their own in israel these groups were dependent on the community for their needs how incredibly loving is our god to command a special tithe to be set apart for them so that they too could enjoy the blessings of the land to summarize the three tithes we covered so far here's a quote from the scholar roy gaine the fact is that if the israelites gave 10 percent to the levites every year ate another 10 percent or its equivalent at the sanctuary every year and gave another 10 every third year to the levites and other economically disadvantaged persons the average per year would amount to only 23.33 percent of their agricultural output furthermore they were to eat the second tithe themselves along with their levite guests the third tithe every third year went to charity there is one last tithe worth mentioning and that is the tithe that the levites gave to the priests the levites would tithe from the tithe given to them so that is a summary of the torah's tithing commandments levites and the tithe so far we've learned what a tithe is seen what different types were commanded in scripture and saw how they served a practical function for the ancient israelites now let's unpack this a bit more by focusing on the tithe to the levites once we better understand who they were and why they received the tithes we can better understand the role the tithing laws play in modern times let's start by looking at why the levites were given the tithe to begin with numbers 18 21-24 to the levites i have given every tithe in israel for an inheritance in return for their service that they do their service in the tent of meeting so that the people of israel do not come near the tent of meeting lest they bear sin and die but the levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting and they shall bear their iniquity it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations and among the people of israel they shall have no inheritance for the tithe of the people of israel which they present as a contribution to yahweh i have given to the levites for an inheritance therefore i have said of them that they shall have no inheritance among the people of israel here we learn that the tithe was to go to the levites who were the levites they were israelites from the tribe of levi they assisted the priests and some of them the sons of aaron were the priests they were not given an inheritance of private land to grow crops raise cattle and so forth like the rest of the tribes of israel the reason is that god called them into a specific service the service of the tent of meeting they were commissioned to serve within the tabernacle and later the temple in other words the levites had a job to do and yahweh wanted them to focus on doing their job rather than spending all of their time farming to support themselves therefore since the levites had to focus on their job the other tribes of israel had a responsibility to support the levites through their tithes as long as the people of israel obeyed the levites were enabled to do their job so what exactly did the levites do they ran the tabernacle temple services they taught the scriptures to the people they served as musicians and overseers they served in various other ministry capacities everything from helping to make repairs to the temple to ministering to those who had leprosy the priests among the levites served in the court resolving disputes among the people in essence the levites ran the church services of ancient israel if you will they functioned as ministers alongside the priests enabling the people of israel to draw near to god through the tabernacle temple service and equipping them to fulfill their calling to be a light to the nations this law for the people to give a tithe to the ministries in israel forms the basis for the common belief that we ought to tithe to ministers today so let's think about that can we tithe today the first objection to the relevance of the biblical tithe might go something like this but jesus did away with all those old laws therefore we don't have to worry about tithing anymore well not so fast first yeshua jesus affirmed the ongoing authority of the torah in matthew 5 17-20 he said that he did not come to abolish the torah but to fulfill it he further states that nothing from the torah would pass away until heaven and earth pass away and that his followers would do and teach even the least of the commandments from the torah so the laws in the torah are still valid instruction that includes tithing another passage where yeshua speaks to the topic directly is found in matthew 23 matthew 23 23. woe to you scribes and pharisees hypocrites for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law justice and mercy and faithfulness these you ought to have done without neglecting the others right here we see that tithing is not among the most important things that we should be focused on as believers it's not among the weightier matters of the torah however we are still not to neglect it so the tithing laws are commanded in the torah and yeshua didn't do away with them they are still valid today and not to be neglected having said that there is still a question regarding whether or not it's even possible to follow the tithing laws today many laws in the torah while they aren't abolished are still impossible to keep due to differences in cultural and historical circumstances so can we tithe today the short answer to that question is technically no why well there are a few reasons first god gave the tithe to the levites so unless you are a levite the tithe technically isn't yours and even if you know some actual levites the entire framework within which the tithe applies doesn't exist most of us aren't living in the land of israel and the tithe technically is to come from the land there is also no functioning sanctuary and priesthood in jerusalem so we literally cannot tithe according to the bible now many people are perfectly fine to stop right there and call it a day we can't technically give a tithe so don't ask me to but as believers who love the word of god and desire to apply it to our lives as best we can there are some considerations here that should at least give us pause no we can't technically tithe the way the bible says to do it but guess what else we can't technically do our beloved feast days which we cherish as gifts from the lord it's true we literally cannot keep the feast days the way the bible says to keep them most of us cannot pilgrimage to jerusalem for passover shavuot and sukkot for example and even if we could we still wouldn't be fulfilling the commandments the way the bible says to do them since they involve the priesthood and sanctuary in several ways the main parts of yom kippur for example are the sacrificial rituals which cannot be performed nevertheless as believers who love the torah we still believe in keeping the feasts even though we cannot technically keep them right more on this in a moment but first let's think about this what was the purpose of the tithe to the levites it was to enable the ministers in israel to do their job so that they could in turn enable israel to worship yahweh and be a light to the nations so when it comes to the topic of tithing the real question we need to ask is this does god still desire for his people to worship him and to be a light to the nations of course so then here is another question does god still establish ministers pastors teachers evangelists worship leaders etc to equip the saints for such purposes of course finally does the bible still expect ministers to be supported by the people yes and the new testament is clear on this which we'll discuss in a moment well the way god arranged for ministers to be supported in the torah was through the tithe some might object but you just said we can't literally tithe and they'd be right technically but there's more to consider we can't literally tithe to literal levites at a literal sanctuary in jerusalem however we can keep the principle or intent behind the tithing laws today by supporting pastors teachers evangelists and other ministers through our monetary income in other words we can observe the spirit of the law the modern day tithe again a simple way to think about this would be to consider our modern observance of the feast days the torah commands us to travel to jerusalem which is impossible for most of us and it wouldn't really fulfill the command anyway since there's no functioning priesthood so today many believers will keep the command in principle by making a pilgrimage to some camping site to be in community with other believers celebrating the feasts that's not literally keeping the commandment to the letter of the law but it's an honest attempt to apply the spirit behind the commandment which is to rejoice before the lord with other believers at his appointed times we find a biblical example of applying the spirit or intent of a law beyond what is literally stated in paul's first letter to the corinthians first corinthians 9 8-9 do i say these things on human authority does not the law say the same for it is written in the law of moses you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain paul says that this extended interpretation of the torah was not from him but from yahweh himself thus paul is stating that yahweh intends for us to understand each commandment beyond just the literal in his first letter to timothy paul again appeals to the law regarding not muzzling an ox when it treads out the grain first timothy 5 17-18 let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor especially those who labor in preaching and teaching for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain and the laborer deserves his wages this law is found in deuteronomy 25 4. the literal meaning obviously concerns the humane treatment of a working animal while muzzling an ox might save a little bit of grain it's cruel to prevent the animal from eating while it works for you furthermore the animal would be able to work more effectively if it was able to eat while working again paul takes this commandment beyond its literal meaning and applies it to elders who labor in preaching and teaching the idea is that ministers ought to be supported by the community enabling them to devote their full time and energy to serve the community just like we benefit from the work of the ox the community benefits from the work of ministers therefore it's in the community's best interest to support their ministers with this approach in mind how might the spirit of the tithing laws be applied today one way we might apply it would be to monetarily support ministers such as pastors teachers or local ministry that spreads the truth of the word and helps the widows and orphans why give to them well because they are essentially fulfilling the duties that the levites fulfilled if god calls someone into ministry he is giving them an important job to do thus it makes sense that god would desire such a person to be able to focus on their job so they could effectively minister to the people again what did the levites do well they ran the tabernacle temple services so that the people could draw near to the lord and worship ministers do the same today in the capacity of congregational worship gatherings the priests among the levites served in the court resolving disputes among the people ministers today spend much of their time in pastoral counseling resolving issues among the people within the community the levites taught the scriptures ministers today teach the scriptures the levites served as musicians and overseers ministers today serve in those same types of roles and on and on we can go so we can apply one aspect of the tithing laws the tithe given to the levites by giving to modern day ministries and did you know that there is biblical precedent for this idea of applying the principle of tithing to ministers consider this passage from first corinthians first corinthians 9 13-14 do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings in the same way the lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel here paul appeals to the levitical priesthood to make his point that those who preach the gospel should get their living by the gospel levites and priests were supported by their work in the temple service which was funded by the tithe in the same way financial support is warranted for those in service to the lord for the sake of the gospel in fact according to paul the lord commanded that gospel ministers be supported by their ministry which he concludes by analogy on the basis of the levitical priesthood being supported by their ministry this is one of several analogies paul uses to support the idea that those in ministry have a right to financial support he also makes analogies to the army supporting soldiers workers of vineyards receiving some of the fruit and those who tend to flocks receiving some of the milk remember the verses we quoted earlier where paul appeals to the command not to muzzle and ox as it treads out the grain on the basis of that law paul argues that a working animal has a right to eat some of the grain how much more than do human ministers have the right to be supported through their work we also learn from this section of scripture that paul chose not to avail himself of this right in first corinthians 9 15-18 he explains that he is going to preach the gospel no matter what whether people support his ministry or not evidently in paul's day there were some complexities when it came to receiving support from certain groups and paul didn't want anything to prevent people from hearing his message as new testament scholar dr craig keener writes for paul to depend on the corinthians was to risk being seen as their client or as the client of one faction over another no one could suspect that another's purse controlled his tongue in light of his goal to be all things to all people paul didn't want to potentially create a stumbling block by receiving support from any particular group keep in mind that this chapter is part of paul's overall teaching concerning food offered to idols paul has been encouraging believers to give up some of their rights for the sake of not causing others to stumble in chapter 9 paul points to himself as an example of surrendering his own rights for the sake of others based on this passage the principle for us today is that true ministers are willing to minister to everyone regardless of whether or not they receive support they may be able to serve more effectively when people are faithful to support them but true ministers serve for the glory of god and for the sake of the body no matter what not for personal or financial gain those who answer the call into ministry can't not minister and while the circumstances today are much different than in paul's day another principle we learn from this passage is that ministers ought to avoid any potential stumbling blocks when it comes to money today this might mean that a minister considers giving up certain luxuries to live a modest lifestyle thus giving no one the opportunity to accuse him of being in it for the money nevertheless paul's overall teaching in first corinthians 9 fully affirms the idea that ministers are to be supported by the people again paul even argues for this right by analogy to the levitical priesthood being supported by the tithe he said that the lord commanded ministers to be supported in the same way he applied the principle of the tithing laws to ministers of the gospel the support for ministers enables them to devote their full time and energy to serve the community just like the levites and priests were provided for from the tithes those called by the father into ministry should be supported by those who benefit from their work some final thoughts now that we've covered our understanding of what tithing is who the levites are and how tithing could be applied in modern times here are some common questions about our position isn't this a form of replacement theology the tithe goes to the levite how can you argue in favor of tithing to pastors teachers etc those are great questions let's first start with the statement the tithe goes to the levite that's not really an accurate statement the tithe is given to yahweh it's his tithe remember leviticus 27 30 every tithe of the land whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees is yahweh's it is holy to yahweh numbers 18 24 for the tithe of the people of israel which they present as a contribution to yahweh i have given to the levites as an inheritance israel's tithe that is ten percent of what they produced from the land or livestock was given to yahweh yahweh in turn gave those tithes to the levites because they had no other inheritance so the levites did receive the tithe but it came from yahweh it was their inheritance in exchange for their service to him that's the literal application of the commandment and the literal commandment can't be kept today but as we've learned there is often more to scripture than just the literal meaning there are deeper spiritual principles to be applied too often we approach scripture with a minimum necessary mentality so we can disregard what we think doesn't apply and do as little as possible a better approach is to seek the father to find out what deeper principles he wants to teach us through his word so we can apply them in our lives the spiritual principle behind the tithing to the levites is for the provision of those called by the father to do his work today we still have ministers who are called to carry out the work of the lord teaching the people pastoring them leading them in worship etc these individuals and ministries ought to be supported according to scripture when we give to their ministry we are giving to yahweh it's part of how yahweh provides for them but is this a form of replacement theology not at all we are not replacing the levitical tithe by supporting modern ministries we're applying the spiritual principle behind the tithes it's a way we honor the lord with our wealth where we are in our current circumstances in the same way if we decide to camp somewhere in south carolina or wherever for sukkot it doesn't replace jerusalem it's simply honoring the lord the best we can with what we have and where we are here's another question how exactly might the tithing principle be applied today we would agree with paul that this principle is applied by giving toward ministry since ministers are fulfilling many of the same roles that the levites fulfilled in service to the body of messiah it seems fitting that we ought to give to them in appealing to the levitical priesthood paul said that the lord commanded ministers to be supported in the same way thus ten percent of one's income would perhaps be analogous to the tenth of agricultural produce tithes to the levites however since tithing would apply today as a biblically based principle again because we can't do it in accordance with the torah's levitical specificities there is some liberty in how we apply it do we give to a ministry our local church a missionary can the tithe be divided among multiple ministries does it have to be exactly 10 of your income and does it have to be money if we do give ten percent is that gross or net income these are all great questions we should prayerfully bring before the father and ask him for wisdom and guidance here's another question you've talked a lot about the tithe to the levites and how that is analogous to giving to ministers such as pastors teachers etc but what about the other types of tithes you talked about how might those be applied today again since those tithes can be applied only in principle and not according to the specificities outlined in the torah there is some liberty here nevertheless here are some suggestions for prayerful consideration the festival tithe can be observed by simply setting aside some savings for the purpose of rejoicing before yahweh during the feast days one could generously share from this ties with their friends and family at these times that would be a very easy and logical way to apply this ties today the tithe for the economically disadvantaged could be applied by setting aside a portion of one's income to give specifically to local charities such as soup kitchens homeless shelters friends in need and so forth since this tithe was to be deposited in one's own town a focus on supporting one's local community seems like a logical application of the command what about the tithe that the levites gave to the priests one way the principle of this command might be applied today is by ministries and churches creating a designated fund from the support that they receive which would be their tithe to whom would they direct this fund since there is no priesthood well yeshua is our heavenly high priest and since levites tithe from their tithe to the priests ministries and churches today could tithe to our high priest yeshua how do they do that well yeshua said this matthew 25 40 as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me so ministries and churches could give unto the lord by perhaps giving toward an area of their ministry or a different ministry focused on serving the least of these the hungry the thirsty the stranger the naked the sick and the imprisoned here's another question that comes up in light of this topic how does abram's tithe to melchizedek in genesis 14 and jacob's commitment to tithe to yahweh in genesis 28 22 relate to this topic since not much detail is given in these passages there's not a lot that can be said in terms of practical application for today but at the very least these passages do show us especially in jacob's case that tithing to yahweh was apparently able to be applied outside of the framework of the torah's levitical specificities presumably then one could tithe to yahweh in some way today despite the lack of a levitical priesthood what exactly does that look like these passages don't give us enough information but if we supplement this with the information that the holy spirit inspired paul to give us in the new testament then giving toward ministry today could be one way we apply the tithing principle one last question that might come up 119 ministries is dependent on the generosity of others and you've talked a lot about how we ought to give toward ministry is this teaching just a self-serving attempt to get our money to be honest we completely understand the suspicion that many people have toward ministers teaching on the topic of giving the suspicion is not unwarranted with how many false teachers and scammers there are who often exploit the biblical principles of giving for their own selfish gain we get it so first speaking for ourselves we've taken the position that we are going to minister to god's people through teaching no matter what we can't not minister we can't not teach it's who we are that's why we offer our teachings for free to all whether they support us or not having said that while we do certainly need and appreciate your support we would encourage you to make giving toward your local congregations and those in need a priority above giving toward teaching ministries like ours that's not to say you should neglect evangelistic and apologetics ministries they serve a vital role in the kingdom but local pastors and elders who labor in the word in your community should be priority first timothy 5 17 let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor especially those who labor in preaching and teaching in conclusion when it comes to the topic of tithing to the levites the ministers to israel a principle that can be derived from these laws as paul recognized is that we ought to support those who've devoted their lives to ministering to us we do this ultimately because we recognize that god has established pastors teachers evangelists worship leaders and so forth to enable his people to worship and be a light to the nations we give because we want to see god's will and purposes accomplished in this earth are we tithing when we give toward ministry as discussed modern day giving is not a literal tithe according to the specificities of the torah nevertheless if one wishes to call it tithing despite the fact that it's not technically accurate that's perfectly fine as an example just as observing sukkot today is not a literal observation of sukkot according to the specificities of the torah we will still say we're celebrating sukkot and consequently still call us sukkot likewise giving toward ministry today could still be called a tithe however if one prefers one can simply call it giving offerings or support if calling it tithing is a concern whatever you want to call it we are commanded to give toward ministry today paul was inspired by the holy spirit to interpret the torah in this way and he said the lord commanded first corinthians 9 13-14 do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings in the same way the lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel paul did not create a new commandment just like his reference to the torah command not to muzzle an ox as it treads out the grain he interpreted the torah to apply it to a different situation in accordance with the spirit of the commandment paul draws out a deeper spiritual principle of the commandment in alignment with god's heart that principle is that the people should support those whom god calls into ministry so they can more effectively minister which ultimately benefits the body of messiah having said that as we hope to have made clear in this teaching there is some liberty in how this commandment is applied today like paul we are not specific regarding how much a person should give and all the details of what that looks like paul does argue by analogy to the levitical priesthood being supported by the ties that gospel ministers should be supported he said that the lord commanded ministers to be supported in the same way ten percent of one's income would perhaps be analogous to the tenth of agricultural produce tithed to the levites however this is just a suggestion like paul we stop short of saying exactly how much to give at the end of the day we hope this teaching inspires you to simply go to the father and ask how you might best serve him in accordance with his word in your current situation may god be glorified in what we do and how we give we pray that you've been blessed by this teaching and remember continue to test everything shalom [Music] it is because of you our generous supporters who make it possible to offer these high quality teachings completely free of charge if you feel led to support 119 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