The Honor Due to God

REDEEMING THE TITHE,

As brought to view in Leviticus 27:31-33” “And if a man will at all redeem aught of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it; and if he change it at all, then both it and the change therefore shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” HDTG 17.3

It will be seen that this applies to the tithe when it is paid in kind, and not when it is money, since between two equal sums of money there can be no choice. It is true that verse 31 may apply to money; but it is evident that the object of this instruction is to show that the Lord did not intend that anybody should use the tithe at all, for no one would choose to pay twenty per cent. For the use of tithe money, when he could get other at a far less rate of interest. The Lord did not stipulate that anybody who used the tithe should add to it a fifth part when it was paid in, because he wished to extort usury, but in order that men might not be tempted to use that which is not their own. HDTG 18.1

The fact that God does not design that persons should use the tithe at all in their own business, appears still more clearly when we consider verses 32, 33 as quoted above. From Maimonides, a Jewish writer, we learn the method taken to avoid partiality in tithing the increase of the flocks: All the lambs were gathered into a fold in which was a door so small that but one lamb could pass out at a time. The dams were placed without, so that the young, hearing their bleating, would go out of the fold of their own accord to meet them, for no one was allowed to lead or drive them out. The owner stood outside with a rod dipped in red coloring matter, and with this he touched every tenth lamb that passed out. This was called causing them to pass under the rod (Leviticus 27:32). HDTG 18.2

By the above means the tendency to select the poorest animals for the tithe was avoided. If, however, the owner took any measures to prevent an animal that he prized from being marked, by the tithing rod, or, after it had been marked, sought to keep it and put another and perhaps a poorer one in its stead, both the one that had been marked, and the one which he had thought to give in its stead, were to be given to the Lord. If this would not prevent any one from tampering with the Lord’s tithe, it is difficult to see what would have done so; and it is certain that this was the sole design of such a regulation. HDTG 19.1

This seems to be a complete answer to the question whether when we have tithe that is not yet paid into the treasury, and have no ready money of our own, we may use the tithe in an emergency, and afterward pay it back. Most assuredly we may not. If a man has money placed in his hands in trust for another, and he uses it in his own business, he is called an embezzler, if his act is discovered. It may be that he designed to pay it back, but this makes no difference in the eyes of the law. He may have done the same deed many times before he was found out, and each time succeeded in replacing the money, but his guilt was as great the first time as the last. The crime consists in the deed itself, and not in being found out. HDTG 19.2