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Deuteronomy 14 (ESV)

22 “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23 And before the Lord 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 the Lord your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26 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 the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

28 “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. 29 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 the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

 

REFLECTION:

As already described, Deuteronomy is a covenant renewal, reaffirming the relationship between the Great King, Yahweh, and his servant people, Israel.  Here we see that the people are to bring tribute to their King.  This tithe, or a tenth of the yield (or its monetary equivalent), was to be used in the worship of God, and every third year the tithe was to be used for the support of those who were not able to work the fields themselves (Levites, whom God set apart for special service to him, widows, orphans, and resident aliens).  Although the NT might not have specific instructions on tithing, we ought to remember that Jesus did not simply “tithe” his life for us, but rather gave it all.  As Tim Keller says, “tithing is a minimum standard for Christian believers.  We certainly wouldn’t want to be in a position of giving away less of our income than those who had so much less of an understanding of what God did to save them” (Counterfeit Gods, 62).

 

PRAYER:

Read the testimony next page.  Note what the Holy Spirit is stirring in my heart.  Use this verse as the subject of my conversation with God: Malachi 3:10 “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.”