THE REGULATIONS OF The Book of Leviticus seem convoluted and long to us, difficult to understand in the light of the Christian teachings of the N.T. And, as part of the six hundred thirteen regulations of Torah, they complicate and stretch the boundaries of what we think of as tithing and freewill offerings, and also intertwine our thoughts of tithing with our understanding of repentance of sin.
Moses finally completes the regulations about purification and cleansing that take up the first twenty-one chapters of the Book of Leviticus and concludes with the topic of offerings. He first explained the cleansing for sin for both the individual and the altar, and for the priests who serve at the altar. Then, he deals with all the sacrifices necessary to prevent infectious diseases and to regulate cleanliness of the camp. Now he moves to the burnt offering made for vows and those made as a freewill offering, which we might call a love offering. “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: If any of you presents a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, you must present a male without defect.” (Lev. 22:17)
The Lord seems to take vow regulations seriously. “When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, ‘My vow was a mistake.’ Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?” (Ecc. 5:4) A thousand years after Solomon, Jesus said, “you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, ‘Do not swear at all. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No;’ anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matt. 5:33-37)
Looking at vows from a negative perspective—that is, people who make them but don’t fulfill them—we might relate this ordinance to thoughts of a failed or delayed building campaign due to pledges that didn’t materialize. From a Christ-follower’s perspective, for someone seeking to grow spiritually, this might instead lead us to carefully examine the patterns of our own speech—both statements and responses—and to set relationship-appropriate boundaries around when we give our ‘yes’ or our ‘no.’ “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.” (Pro. 21:23)
Freewill offerings are closely related to what we today we call “love offerings.” Commonly in our churches we will take up a love offering for a guest speaker, or a missionary, or a musician. It is always an offering according to the heart of the person who feels benefitted by what has been presented, without any mention made of minimum amounts, which would infringe upon free will. Similarly, in the time of Moses, this kind of offering was seen as something pleasing to God because it is a true indicator of the condition of the giver’s heart—one gives back out of love, respect and gratitude because of what the Lord has done for them. O.T. or N.T., this practice has remained the same. Here in Leviticus, the issues surrounding personal offerings for sin offerings, fellowship offerings, burnt offerings of numerous kinds, and these two offerings now mentioned end. The narrative gives way to the ordinances for feasts and a variety of other ordinances. But note that twenty-two full chapters have been spent delineating the offerings.
Many evangelical church pastors and leaders are hesitant to speak about tithing or giving, and when they do, most refer to giving, rather than tithing, and will cite Paul. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor. 9:7) Some will tentatively mention that the giver will be blessed personally and also fruitfully, perhaps referring to the next verse. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8)
In the O.T., the freewill offering comes after the first tithe, not instead of it. And, listen to what God says about the quality of the tithe offerings he expects. “Do not bring anything with a defect. Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed. Do not place any of these on the altar as an offering made to the Lord by fire.” (Lev. 22:20, 22) It is not just the quantity of the offering that is important to God, but especially the quality. And when it comes from a heart of love, it is a perfect offering.
Our world now lives in a time of accelerating depreciation of monetary value—inflation—where people’s money is worth less every day even as the cost of goods increases. Should this legitimately impact a person’s giving, and lessen it, so that “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give?” (2 Cor. 9:7) That’s certainly very understandable. But the Lord says, “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’” (Mal. 3:10) This is a familiar verse to most. What if God means it, and we believe it?
There is another thought worth considering. Most Christians currently consider the world to be in a terrible state, with nations in very poor governance, masses of people in poverty, ecological disasters rampant, persecution against many ethnic groups as well as persecutions against Christians on the rise, and no answers in sight. Currently, the Church of Jesus Christ is the longest lasting (33A.D. – 2020A.D.) and largest global institution, consisting of approximately two and one-half billion people. It is the oldest and largest ‘business’ on earth—a global corporation of immense size, and scope, and power. If the people of God actually brought in the whole tithe, “without any blind or lame or diseased animals” (Mal. 1:8), and added to that their freewill offerings so that Jesus’ church was full of the resources to tend to “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9), what do you think this world would look like?
Just a thought…
Q. Can I honestly expect that God will protect my assets based on what I give back to him?
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