Many justify tithing on the basis of Abraham giving a tenth before the law, but it was not ongoing. I am glad Christ set us free, just give cheerfully as the Holy Spirit and NT leads. To others in need, to those that teach the word, and those that evangelize. 5% of church members tithe, more than 50% live under some sort of condemnation for a lack of giving. I once counseled someone that was under such duress on tithing from her church that she was contemplating suicide. Overcharging contemporary ministers are like Eli's sons in I Samuel 2. There is a point of excess.
Abraham "tithed" according to the secular law of the land, which was later codified in the Code of Hammurabi: When a man earned a profit on another man's land, he owned the landowner 10% of whatever he had gained on that land. Abraham tithed according to that law.
There is an important point to note about man's tithing law: Money flowed upward, from the man working the land to the landowner, from the poorer to the richer. Any time "tithing" has poorer people giving money to richer people, that is man's tithe law.
God redefined "tithe." God actually
reversed the flow in His definition of the tithe. God's tithe was a giant national pot luck dinner. Those who had more were required to share with those who had less. The man who had 100 animals brought ten to the pot luck. The man who had ten animals brought one to the pot luck. The man who had fewer than ten animals brought
nothing...he just came and ate. The Levites received tithes because they had no land of their own from which to make a gain...they were set to be "poorer" as an entire tribe.
When the Apostles were teaching and writing, remember that Jews were still tithing at the temple in Jerusalem according to the Law. If the Apostles had meant for Christians to tithe, they would have directed them to tithe in Jerusalem like the Jews were doing.
God has never redefined the tithe. The tithe is today exactly as God specified it in the Mosaic Law. He has never redefined it. Jews today understand that, which is why
modern Jews do not tithe. They don't do anything called "tithing" because they know they can't do it according to the Law.
That concept simply doesn't apply to Christians. Paul identifies the giving concept that applies to Christians:
For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. It is not our intention that others may be relieved while you are burdened, but that there may be equality. At the present time, your surplus will meet their need, so that in turn their surplus will meet your need. Then there will be equality. As it is written:
“He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.” -- 2 Corinthians 8
Notice a couple of things: First, the guiding principle is
equality. Paul even says it twice. Then, second, Paul maps the economy of the Church to the economy of Israel
in the wilderness.
Not Israel in the Promised Land, which is when the Mosaic tithe law was applied. Israel did not tithe until they were in the Promised Land. While they were in the wilderness, they were on the "manna economy." God provided them overall with a day's amount of food (the "daily bread" referenced by Jesus). God had stipulated that each would get a specific equal amount...God had commanded equality. They all gathered the manna, some individuals gathering more than that amount, some individuals gathering less than that amount, but then they measured it out so that each got the equal amount God had stipulated, despite the differing amounts individuals had gathered.
