Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, the produce of the field, year by year.
Moses is preparing Israel for life in a land they do not yet own. A tenth of every harvest there belonged to God, and the chapter explains why a tenth, where it went, and why God ties it to joy.
The tenth was not a tax on Israel's property. It was a yearly admission that the property was never theirs to begin with.
Israel's worship rested on one grand foundation: they themselves and their land belonged to Jehovah. The land was His, and they held it as tenants under Him. At set times they had to bear witness to this precious truth by tithing their land faithfully... They were to own no other landlord but the Lord their God. All they were and all they had belonged to Him.
One writer passes on the saying of an old Jewish teacher:
The law of tithes also taught Israel that they held their land from the Lord. The tithe was like rent paid by a tenant. So Rabbi Bechai says on Deuteronomy 14:23, "If you pay the tithe, then it is your grain; if not, it is mine" (that is, the Lord's).
Elsewhere the tenth goes to the Levites, the tribe that served at the sanctuary and owned no land. Here the farmer eats it himself. Commentators account for the difference.
The tithe spoken of here is one of the extra laws of Deuteronomy. It is a second tithe, not the first, which belonged to God alone. The man whose land was tithed ate this one at the sanctuary, with his household and the Levite, who was never to be forgotten. So he comes up to own God's mercies before Him and enjoy them with God.
Notice where the tenth had to go, and the mood God attached to the meal.
In the direction in Deuteronomy, they take it up to where God's name is, to eat it there. The object is to centre their faith on Jehovah, and to tie that to joy and grace... they carried a tithe of their own part of the produce, and ate it, inviting others — the Levite among them... They paid their rent to Jehovah for their land, but in joy and gladness, in grace from Him, and with the poor, while still feeding their families with it.
The alternative to eating before God was eating alone, and God ruled that out:
The Lord desired them to rejoice before Him rather than to consume their produce with selfish greed, apart from God's presence.
The tenth came round every harvest, and it had to travel to the place God chose for His name.
To those who did not know the God of Israel, and cared nothing about Him, it might all seem strange and puzzling. They saw the people travelling — many of them a long way from their homes — carrying their tithes to one particular spot... "Why not eat at home?" they might say. But the simple fact is, such persons knew nothing whatever about the matter... Suppose an Israelite had deliberately decided to stay at home, or to go to some place of his own choosing. He would have met neither Jehovah there, nor his brothers, and so he would have eaten alone.
Every third year the tenth stayed home and fed those with no land of their own. Giving and sharing are not the same thing.
Not simply given to them, but shared with them — a deeper thing. Christ does not give merely, that we may carry it away from Him; He shares. This is fellowship.
A tenth is a token, and a token points past itself to the whole.
Tithes mean that the person they are paid to has the right to the whole. In the same way God has the right to all that we have, and yet in grace He accepts what we give Him. King David, thankful in heart, exclaimed, "For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you" (1 Chronicles 29:14). One hundred per cent comes from Him, even if we render to Him a tenth.
Which is why the arithmetic changes for the Christian:
When our souls get entangled in these things, we forget we are but stewards. The Jew, in giving one-tenth of his property to the Lord, counted the remaining nine-tenths his own. Not so the Christian. We are not our own, and all we have belongs to Him... It is a positive luxury to put all into His disposing hands.
- Owner — The tenth was rent, not charity: the land was the Lord's, and Israel farmed it as tenants under Him.
- Gift — This tithe is a second tenth, not the Levites' portion. The giver ate it himself, owning God's mercies and enjoying them with Him.
- Place — Israel had to carry it to the one spot God chose. Staying home meant eating alone, apart from both God and His people.
- Reach — The joy could not stay private. Every third year it fed the landless, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. Israel shared it with them, and did not just hand it over.
- Result — A tenth confesses that God has a claim on all ten tenths. For the Christian the confession goes further: we are not our own, and everything we hold is His.
And thou shalt eat before Jehovah thy God, in the place which he will choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear Jehovah thy God continually.
This verse ties three things together: a tenth of the harvest, one place of God's choosing, and a lesson the worshipper must learn. The striking part is what happens to the tithe. The man who brings it eats it himself, in God's presence.
The command to tithe rests on a claim of ownership. Israel farmed ground that was never theirs outright, and the yearly tenth was how they said so.
Israel's worship rested on one great foundation: they themselves and their land belonged to Jehovah. The land was His, and they held it as tenants under Him. Again and again they were called to bear witness to this precious truth by faithfully tithing their land... They were to own no other landlord but the Lord their God.
One Jewish teacher put the same truth in blunt terms.
The rule of tithes also taught Israel that they held their land from the Lord. The tithe was like rent paid by a tenant. Rabbi Bechai says on Deuteronomy 14:23, "If you pay the tithe, then it is your grain; if not, it is mine" (that is, the Lord's).
Elsewhere the tithe supports the Levites, the tribe set apart for God's service. Here the picture changes.
The law in Israel required everyone to tithe all the increase of whatever kind — grain, wine or oil, or the firstborn of their flocks and herds. In Numbers 18:21 we read that Israel gave all the tithes to the Levites for their support, and that the Levites had to give a tenth of the tithes to the Lord. Yet it seems here in Deuteronomy 14 that the people were allowed to eat of their tithes "before the LORD your God," sharing those tithes with the Levites.
The giver does not send his gift in by someone else. He sits at God's table.
Here it was not the priests opening a way for the people to draw near to God. The offering honoured God. God enjoyed the piety of the people, and the people themselves offered with joy. The people themselves enjoyed the privilege. They sat before God Himself at the same table, in the joy of communion with Him.
The meal has an address. God's people gather where He records His name.
They were to gather to the place where Jehovah recorded His Name. Precious privilege for all who truly loved that glorious Name! We see here, as in many other parts of God's word, how much importance He gave to these regular gatherings of His people around Himself. Blessed be His Name! He delighted to see His beloved people gathered in His presence, happy in Him and in one another. They rejoiced together in what they shared, and fed in sweet and loving fellowship on the fruit of Jehovah's land.
Refusing every other place could look small-minded. Mackintosh answers that charge:
Was this narrowness and bigotry? No, it was the fear and love of God. If Jehovah had appointed a place where He would meet His people, surely His people should meet Him there.
The verse gives the aim of the whole arrangement: to learn the fear of God. That fear grows as we live aware of His presence.
Let us seek to live in the consciousness that we are in the immediate presence of God. Then we will be kept from a thousand forms of evil that we meet day by day... In a word, the holy fear of the Lord, which Scripture speaks of so often, would hold back evil thoughts, evil words, evil ways — evil in every shape and form.
Why must the produce be eaten in that one place? So the gift is never separated from the Giver. Canaan was the land God promised Israel.
In the earlier books, worship was a matter of how near you came to God in His sanctuary. Here it is the thankful enjoyment of blessings received according to promise. They are enjoyed only before Jehovah, so that they are never detached from Him, and enjoyed in the spirit of grace... For us there is no such difference. The most holy place is our Canaan, and in Spirit we are there. What we enjoy is what is there as the fruits of promise.
- Owner. The land was God's and Israel farmed it as tenants; the yearly tenth was the rent that admitted it.
- Place. They paid that rent where God set His name — one centre of His choosing, not one of theirs.
- Table. There the giver ate his own tithe, seated before God in communion, with no priest needed to carry it in for him.
- Fear. We learn the fear of the Lord by living in His presence, and that fear holds back evil thought, word and way.
- Grace. Enjoy His blessings in front of the Giver, never away from Him — and for us that place is the most holy place, where in Spirit we already are.