The Honor Due to God

THE TITHE.

The above propositions hold good in regard to the tithe. HDTG 7.1

1. It also is based on the right of property. God created all things; they are his. The psalmist says: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1. Again the Lord speaks for his servant: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills, I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” Psalm 50:10-12. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mined, saith the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:8. We may gain some of this world’s goods for ourselves, but it is God who gives us power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18; it is he that “giveth us all things richly to enjoy.” 1 Timothy 6:17. Without God, we could not exist a single moment; we are utterly dependent on him for “life, and breath, and all things.” HDTG 7.2

But, as with time, so with property, God has reserved a portion for himself. That which he claims is one-tenth; the other nine-tenths he places entirely at our disposal. We may and should devote a portion of this to the Lord, and hold it all subject to his call; but we have nothing to do with any part of the tithe, except to pass it over to the Lord. In Leviticus 27:30 we read: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord.” Compare this verse with the fourth commandment: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” The same words are used concerning the tithe that are used in regard to the Sabbath, and it must, therefore, the equally sacred with the Sabbath. “It is the Lord’s.” HDTG 7.3

Since the tithe belongs wholly to God, it needs no argument to prove that if we use it, or any part of it, ourselves, we are guilty of robbery. This is a self-evident fact; but lest any should doubt it, we will quote the Lord’s own words: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and in offerings.” Malachi 3:8. These are solemn words. Reader, do they apply to you? We shall come back to this point again. HDTG 8.1

2. The tithe is not peculiar to the Jewish dispensation. By reading God’s instruction to the Jews, on this subject, we learn some things that we would not otherwise know; but the tithe did not originate with the Jews. God said to the Jews: “The tithe of is the Lord’s,” not “shall be the Lord’s.” The tithe was the Lord’s before the Jews had an existence; the Lord simply refreshed the memory in regard to the fact. Turn to Genesis 14, and you will there find recorded a transaction that took place in the patriarchal age. The facts are these: Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lived in Sodom. Several kings made war against the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and, having conquered them, took all their goods. Among the prisoners was Lot. When Abraham heard this, he pursued and attacked the victorious army, and recovered all the booty and captives that they had taken. As he was returning from the slaughter of the kings, he was met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, who brought forth bread and wine. Melchizedek was “the priest of the most high God,” and he blessed Abraham. To him Abraham gave tithes of all that he had gained. See Genesis 14:17-20; Hebrews 7:4. This was four hundred years before the covenant was made with the Jews, and nearly two hundred years before Judah, from whom the Jews received their name, was born. It is true that this is the first instance on record of the payment of tithe, but we are not told that the system of tithing was instituted here; and since the same conditions existed before this time that did afterwards, we must conclude that tithes were paid from the beginning. HDTG 8.2

3. Since the tithing system, like the Sabbath, existed before the Jewish dispensation, it also must exist still, unaffected by any changes that have been made. And here also we have the most positive testimony. In Matthew 23:23 we find the following language of Christ: “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.” He did not rebuke them for paying tithes, for he plainly says that they ought to do so; but he rebuked them for their hypocrisy. They were scrupulous about paying tithes, because that was something that could be seen; they could take care that everybody should know that they performed this duty, and thus they would gain a reputation for piety and devotion to God. But when it came to heart-service,—judgment, mercy, and faith,—they could not make so much of an outside show, and therefore they omitted it. It was for this hypocrisy that the woe was pronounced upon them. They could not atone for the neglect of one duty by the strict performance of another; for both were essential. HDTG 9.1