New Testament Giving Verses Old Testament Tithing

16Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty. 17Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.[Deut. 16:16-17]

The pilgrimage feasts were designated as, (1) The Feast of Unleavened Bread or Passover; (2) The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost; and, (3) The Feast of Tabernacles.

3. The Third Year Tithe:

12When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; 13Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: 14I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any unclean use, nor given aught thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. 15Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

[Deut. 26:12-15]

This was a tithe designated for the priest, i.e., the Levite; for the widow; for the orphan; and for the stranger within the area. And about now, you may be thinking, "Wow! That’s a lot!" Well, there’s more still.

4. Additional Tithes:

The Jews also gave: (1) The male firstborn of all the flocks; (2) The firstborn child that had to be redeemed for five shekels of silver; (3) The feast as described in the book of Esther; and, (4) The Feast of Rededication or Chanukah.

These tithes were not forced upon the Jew. While it was a command of God, it was not enforced by man. No one checked up on the Jew to make sure he had fulfilled all his tithes. No one arrested him or penalized him if he failed to tithe. The pious Jew did it out of conscience. The problem is that most Jews obeyed God in tithing just about like they did in everything else ... which was not so good.

QUESTION: If there was no legal penalty for failing to tithe, what was their incentive to tithe?

1). God required it, and that should be enough.

2). God didn’t bless those who failed to tithe like He blessed those who did. Many passages reveal this to be so: Haggai 1:5-6, 9 says

5Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 8Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.... 9Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house. [Haggai 1:5-7, 9]