Week Six Giving Series

TITHES AND OFFERINGS

I. INTRODUCTION

The previous lesson covered service and spiritual gifts. And though it is often difficult to persuade people to put their gift into effect through service, convincing them of their obligation to tithe and give offerings is even more difficult. One of the spiritual gifts we have is studied is giving. A person with this gift gives more than the tithe and normal offerings, but we all have a responsibility to tithe and an exhortation to give offerings. Most people who have been around church life for awhile have a basic understanding of what a tithe and offerings are. For these people this lesson is intended to provide a deeper understanding and new perspective. Those who are less familiar with tithing and offerings have an opportunity to gain a solid, scriptural understanding of these two concepts.

II. SCRIPTURE AND THE TITHE

4643 ma` aser (mah-as-ayr'); or ma` asar (mah-as-ar'); and (in plural) feminine ma` asrah (mah-as-raw'); from 6240; a tenth; especially a tithe: KJV-- tenth (part), tithe (-ing).

God requires us to give a tenth of our income back to Him. Why? It is how He has chosen to maintain the church building and the ministers. As explained in the following verses, it was how the temple was funded and the priests were supported.

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 unto the LORD.

Leviticus 27:32

And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.

Because people were shepherds or farmers, these verses speak to them. The question exists today as to whether we should tithe off the net or gross of our income. It is easy to see that it was every tenth potato or pomegranate. As you counted off your sheep when you put them in the fold, you pulled out every tenth one. As you count your dollars, pull out every tenth one and you will have it down pat.

Numbers 18:26

Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.

The priests salary or maintenance was a tenth of the tenth the people offered. They lived on the temple grounds and received parts of the flesh offerings, what we might call room and board. This tenth of the tenth was a type of salary.

This works a little differently than in our churches. Very few pastors could live off a tenth of the tenth of their church's tithes. Then again, many churches do not provide houses and rarely food. So, we have modified the practice a bit, but the principle is the same.

Deuteronomy 12:11

Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

Obviously they had a national temple and one place to give their tithes. The tithe of a nation could support a good size temple and staff. Could you imagine what just one church in our city could do with that kind of income? Better yet, can you imagine what our church could do if everyone tithed? I do not know the ratio of tithers to non-tithers in our church. I do know that statistically twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work and tithing. I trust that our tithing and service are better than the statistics.

I remember speaking with a pulpit committee of a church that once had 350 members, but a spilt had them down to 175. On a positive note, one man told me that though they were down that much in membership their giving had not changed. I remarked that actually they had a church of 175 with 175 visitors. It is hard to conceive a church losing fifty percent of its membership and not having financial issues. I may have offended him, but the truth remains. There is seldom a lack of work to be done, only a lack of workers and funds.

Deuteronomy 12:17-19

17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: