Many scriptures attest to how God’s laws are blessings to those who know and strive to keep them. For example, Deuteronomy 10:12–13 explains that God gave His laws for our good. Loving parents give many “laws” to toddlers for their safety and well-being, such as “don’t touch the stove,” “don’t run into the road,” “eat your vegetables,” and “brush your teeth”—and God does the same for His children.
It should come as no surprise that one area of God’s law that is very good for us involves tithing. Most of you reading this article have recently returned home after keeping the Feast of Tabernacles, an annual Festival that God not only commands, but also makes possible through His tithing laws. If you have tithed faithfully, you have experienced firsthand that “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul… the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7–8).
This article will explain some of the fundamentals of tithing and remind us of how God’s tithes are wonderful blessings.
Overview of Tithing
When discussing tithing, it’s good to start with a common and important question, “Do Christians need to tithe under the New Covenant?”
The clearest answer to this question comes from Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:23. Let’s read that in the New Living Translation, which renders Jesus’ words in an easy-to-understand way: “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.”
Jesus stated that tithing should be carefully practiced. He also explained that some of the important pillars of God’s law are justice, mercy, faith, and love of God (Luke 11:42). As do all of God’s laws, His tithing laws—when obeyed properly and with a godly mindset—reveal His character. Tithing can be done without justice, mercy, faith, and love, as Jesus corrected the Pharisees, but godly tithing rests upon those “weightier matters of the law.” Notably, when Jesus told the Pharisees that they were correct to tithe carefully, they were tithing based on the tithing laws in what we call the Old Testament.
Other scriptures showing that Christians should obey God’s tithing laws include Genesis 14:18–20, which reveals that Abram tithed hundreds of years before Moses was born and before the Old Covenant began at Mount Sinai. The Hebrew word in verse 20 translated “tithe” is maaser and means tenth part or the payment of a tenth part. Jesus also explained that Christians should take heed to even the “least” of the commandments (Matthew 5:19).
So, if tithing is required of Christians, then Christians should take seriously God’s following warning and promise:
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8–10).
This important passage explains that those who do not faithfully tithe and give offerings are stealing from God and are subject to a curse. On the other hand, God promises blessings for tithing faithfully.
Before we move to the specifics of the three distinct tithes, let’s touch on two practical questions.
On What Do We Tithe?
We read, “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year” (Deuteronomy 14:22). Few in the Church today can give a tithe of grain or other products of the field, but notice that our tithes are the firstfruits of all our increase, not just our increase from farming: “Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase” (Proverbs 3:9).
As the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course explains, regarding Deuteronomy 14:22, “We tithe on our increase. Increase is the result of our productive efforts, and can include both wages and investment income. For a businessman or a farmer, one’s increase is one’s profit—the total receipts minus the expenses incurred to produce those receipts” (BSC Lesson 17, Section 2).
Note that because we tithe only from increase from our productive efforts, the Church has recognized that income from Social Security, unemployment compensation, disability assistance, and gifts do not fall under the tithing requirement. Any donations made from those categories are offerings, not tithes.
To Whom Do We Give Our Tithes?
The Apostle Paul explained, “Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:13–14).
Tithes are now given to Jesus Christ, through His Church and its ministry. Hebrews 7 explains the relationship between the ongoing spiritual priesthood of Melchizedek—the One who became Christ—and tithing. You can read more about this in Dr. Roderick C. Meredith’s booklet God’s People Tithe.
Now, let’s consider how the three distinct tithes are a blessing to both those on the receiving side and those on the giving side.
The First Tithe
This “first tithe” is given to God to support His ministry and to do His Work. “Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the Law of the Lord. As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything” (2 Chronicles 31:4–5).
God also describes the first tithe this way: “Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform” (Numbers 18:21). We pay this tithe each year to support God’s Church and its mission. It supports our preaching the Gospel (e.g. the telecast, magazines, booklets, and other public outreach), as well as ministers who serve the brethren in the congregations, at youth camps, and more.
Not only does this tithe touch the lives of so many who receive the message we proclaim—it touches our lives and the lives of our families who are able to have a pastor available, a shepherd whose duty is to encourage, counsel, teach, and help the brethren spiritually, as well as to “watch out for your souls” (Hebrews 13:17). This tithe helps the Church provide so many sermons, articles, videos, Living Education classes, and other tools to help brethren learn and grow spiritually.
With that in mind, those on the “giving” end can appreciate what a blessing it is to give to “God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth,” just like Abraham did (Genesis 14:19), to support His Work and His Church—changing real people’s lives for the better.
The Second, or “Festival,” Tithe
The most fundamental passage of Scripture regarding the Festival tithe tells us:
You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household (Deuteronomy 14:22–26).
In the September–October 2022 Living Church News, Mr. Wallace Smith wrote a very helpful article on the proper use of this Festival tithe, “How Do I Use My Second Tithe?” Though this tithe isn’t directly mentioned in the New Testament, we see throughout Christ’s ministry how He, His parents, the Apostles, and other disciples kept God’s festivals and surely obeyed God’s command to save a tithe to be able to travel to His Feasts (e.g. Matthew 26:17–19; Luke 2:41–42; John 2:13, 23; 7:2–10, 37; Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 16:8). Keeping the Feast and rejoicing during that time cost a significant amount of money during Jesus Christ’s time on earth, just as it does today.
We, as His disciples today, follow His example of traveling to the Feast of Tabernacles, so we faithfully save our Festival tithe to help us keep this and the other annual Festivals. In doing so, we “learn to fear the Lord your God always” and to “rejoice” before God with family and brethren (Deuteronomy 14:23, 26). It is easy to see how this tithe is a blessing for those who pay it—we are essentially paying ourselves with a tenth of our yearly income to use primarily in eight very special days of abundance.
Many can give generously to other brethren during the Feast of Tabernacles, and it is important to note that many of our brethren do not have a lot of second tithe. Some neglect their duty to save, and they should experience the consequence of that neglect‚ but many other brethren simply do not have much, if any, second tithe to save. So, again, let us remember what a great blessing our second tithe is. Those who have an income can be generous in giving to their brethren. Others will be on the receiving side, and they will be blessed by their brethren’s generosity. God’s tithing system works because it is a tangible and inspiring blessing to both those who give and those who receive.
The Third-Year Tithe
One of the Bible’s major themes is that we should help others, especially those with great needs. For instance, we understand that “we should remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10). We learn that part of pure and undefiled religion is to help widows and orphans (James 1:27), and we are told to “open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).
One of God’s tithes serves this specific purpose of helping those with significant needs. Scripture describes the third-year tithe: “At the end of every third year [the third and sixth years in each seven-year cycle], you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite… and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do” (Deuteronomy 14:28–29).
Scripture also describes a special prayer that a person should pray after giving this third tithe: “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year… then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house…. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God…. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us’” (Deuteronomy 26:12–15).
Like the other two tithes, this tithe is also a blessing from God—through it, the Church is able to offer assistance to brethren who have significant needs. This is a great blessing to help them “make ends meet.” It is important to note that this third-year tithe is for those with significant needs, so it naturally would not be given by those with such needs. Those who give the third-year tithe can learn from it the godly character traits of generosity and caring for others in love.
God’s Three Tithes are Holy
God’s three tithes are holy, meaning that He has set each apart for a special purpose (Leviticus 27:30; Deuteronomy 26:13). Christians must keep those tithes holy, just as they keep God’s name and His Sabbath holy. (See “God’s Tithes are Holy” in the November–December 2017 Living Church News.)
Regarding three separate tithes, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains in a note on Deuteronomy 14:22–29, “Josephus [a Jewish historian in the first century] (Antiq. IV, 205, 240–43 [viii.8, 22]) distinguishes three tithes: one for the Levites (Num 18:20–32); the second for the Israelites to eat and enjoy in the chosen place [at the annual Festivals] (Deut 14:22–27); and the third granted every third year to the poor, the widows, and the orphans (Deut 14:28–29).” Josephus’ writings are not Scripture, but this quote shows that people in the first century understood that Scripture describes three distinct tithes with distinct purposes.
In conclusion, let’s review quickly what the Tomorrow’s World Bible Study Course says in summarizing the three tithes:
Clearly, the first tithe—the firstfruits of our increase—was set aside by God for Himself and was payable to His direct representatives. Secondly, God wanted the people to worship and rejoice before Him as families on His annual occasions. He instructed them to make financial preparation to do so. Finally, God also wanted the people to share a portion of their increase with those in need. This reflects worship toward God and service toward others, a right and balanced set of priorities for all times (Lesson 17, Section 1).
God is the perfect parent, and He gives great blessings to His children. His law is one of His greatest gifts, and it includes His instructions on tithing. Each of the three holy tithes serves a special, God-ordained purpose that brings about good in the lives of those who tithe faithfully—truly, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).