“But you may not eat your offerings in your hometown—neither the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, nor the firstborn of your flocks and herds, nor any offering to fulfill a vow, nor your voluntary offerings, nor your sacred offerings. You must eat these in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose. Eat them there with your children, your servants, and the Levites who live in your towns, celebrating in the presence of the LORD your God in all you do. And be very careful never to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land. [Deuteronomy 12.17-19]
Here is an interesting mention of the tithe. In this context, it is discussed synonymously with offerings. Unlike modern perception that the tithe is freely given with no further control of or attachment to it, this passage indicates that the tithe is part of a ceremony that involves partaking of the very offering being made. The only exception was that the Levites were included in the ceremonious consumption of it.
Modern church practices involving tithing look nothing like what the subject passage above implies. So how does this affect our understanding of the popular verse in Malachi?
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! [Malachi 3.10]
Rather than diving into how to reconcile Deuteronomy 12.17-19 with Malachi 3.10, we first should understand the broader context of Deuteronomy 12.17-19. Note what is said in verses 8-11 of Deuteronomy 12:
“Your pattern of worship will change. Today all of you are doing as you please, because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession. But you will soon cross the Jordan River and live in the land the LORD your God is giving you. When he gives you rest from all your enemies and you’re living safely in the land, you must bring everything I command you—your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your sacred offerings, and your offerings to fulfill a vow—to the designated place of worship, the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored. [Deuteronomy 12.8-11]
It seems the "designated place of worship" is key to understanding tithes and offerings. The mobile Tabernacle would apparently give way to a fixed Temple. It would be to this permanent Temple that the people would bring their tithes and offerings to consume them while sharing them with the Levites. Of course this did not apply to certain offerings that were to be burned entirely.
However, the "designated place of worship" suffered a catastrophic change as Jesus hung upon the Cross and the veil in that Temple was torn from top to bottom. The whole premise of the Temple was, at that time, shifted (for lack of a better word).
As this "shift" took place when the veil in the Temple was torn, what was to be done with the tithes and offerings that would have been brought to the otherwise functional Temple? It must be noted here that the purpose of bringing these offerings to the Temple (the designated place of worship) was the "presence of the LORD." So, if the "presence" was real connection and purpose for the "place," where then did that go when the Temple was rendered obsolete by the veil being torn?
Now, we are getting somewhere.
Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. [John 14.22-3]
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? [1 Corinthians 3.16]
The new reality is that the designated place God chose to dwell became humans individually and corporately. But what did that do with the tithes and offerings (and the "Levites" (ministers) for that matter)?
From the book of Acts, the new "Church" that formed after Jesus' resurrection from the dead and impartation of the Holy Spirit, understood what had transpired and responded in this way:
And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. [Acts 2.44]
And, here is where it gets real uncomfortable! The implications of what Acts 2.44 says in conjunction with Jesus' repeated, "take up your cross and follow Me" demands leaves little room for individualism and segregation. Yes, God dwells in individuals, but the manifest fullness of that indwelling is realized in the congregate whole of multiple believers. The power of the Church is not found in an individual.
Rather than try to establish a definitive conclusion to the questions established by this article, I am challenging myself and anyone who reads this to consider what these passages really mean to us: what should the New Testament Church really look like as it pertains to tithes and offerings and, for that matter, everything a believer owns?
Father, Your Word is indisputable. Help us get past the "life" in us that refuses to "take up our cross..." May Your Church represent Your power in the earth today. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! May we understand that Your will does not conform to our established ways, but that our established ways must give way and conform to Your will! So be it!
No comments:
Post a Comment