Understanding Tithing and the Theocracy of Israel

Num 18:20  And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
Num 18:21  And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:22  Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die.
Num 18:23  But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
Num 18:24  But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
Num 18:25  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 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.
Num 18:27  And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress.
Num 18:28  Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD’S heave offering to Aaron the priest.

Mat 23:23  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Mat 23:24  Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Transforming Power Statements:

1) Last LORD’s day we learned the first mention of “required giving” mentioned in the Bible from the life of Joseph and his brethren during Joseph’s exile in the land of Egypt, which brought about the institution of taxation of 20% for all people and how it became a fantastic means of salvation for the Patriarchs during a famine that struck in all the middle east, which turned out to be the means of salvation for Jacob and his family to whom the very promises of God had been made.

2) In like manner, the system utilized by God for the government of Israel, was what is taught in Scripture as the tithe, and was also to be considered as “required giving” and was the means God prescribed for the support of their political system, which was known as “tithing” which is the required payment of a “tenth” of their increase from all the other eleven tribes.

3) Even in the time of Jesus, this practice which was ordained by God was in effect although it was often done with twisted motivation and thus was not done in the Spirit in which God could be glorified by it, and therefore it was a cause of rebuke from the LORD rather than being the system that God desired for the support of His Temple.