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.
And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it, because the place is too far from thee, which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there, when Jehovah thy God blesseth thee;
Israel had to bring a tenth of every harvest to one place God chose. This verse meets the family living too far away to carry it — so why only one place, and what does God do when obedience is out of reach?
The rule rests on a claim of ownership. Israel farmed land that was not theirs to begin with, and the yearly tenth was how they said so out loud.
Israel's worship rested on one foundation: both they themselves and their land belonged to the Lord. The land was His, and they held it as tenants under Him. At set times God called them to bear witness to this precious truth by faithfully tithing their land... They were to own no other landlord but the Lord their God.
The payment was real, but the manner of it was unlike any rent day.
They carried a tithe of their own portion of the fruit, and ate it, inviting others — the Levite among them. It was a way of using part of their produce in rejoicing, and showing grace before the Lord. This was how they paid their rent to the Lord for their land. But they paid it in joy and gladness, in grace from Him, and with the poor, while feeding their families with it.
This tithe is easy to confuse with the tithe given to the Levites. Commentators keep the two apart.
There were three sets of tithes. The first is in Numbers 18. It did not go to the priests directly. The people gave the increase of their fields to the Levites, and the Levites gave a tenth of these tithes to the priests... But in Deuteronomy 12 and 14 you get nothing of that. The people take the tithes, their peace offerings, and so on, and they go up to one place. All their social enjoyment was to be religiously connected with the place where God had put His name. They were to go up to Jerusalem, a leading principle in Deuteronomy to keep them from idolatry.
The journey was long because God fixed one meeting place. Some might call that narrow.
All the faithful in Israel were sure to be found at the one divine centre, and nowhere else. You would not find such people making excuses for staying at home. Nor would you find them running here and there to places of their own or other people's choosing. No, you would find them gathered where the Lord is, and there alone. Was this narrowness and bigotry? No, it was the fear and love of God. If the Lord had appointed a place where He would meet His people, surely His people should meet Him there.
God does not cancel the journey for the distant farmer. The verse ties the problem to His blessing: a big harvest and a long road. He removes what made the trip impossible.
If they lived a long way from Jerusalem, they could sell the tenth of their produce for money. They brought that money to Jerusalem and spent it there on whatever food they wanted to eat "before the Lord." The Lord wanted them to rejoice before Him, not to eat up their produce with selfish greed, away from God's presence.
The arrangement shows God's own heart.
This is perfectly beautiful. The Lord, in His tender care and thoughtful love, took account of everything. He would not leave a single difficulty in the way of His beloved people as they gathered around Himself. He had His own special joy in seeing His redeemed people happy in His presence.
Good arrangements can be abused, and this one was.
The trading and money-changing in the temple had no doubt grown out of the kindly arrangements of the law recorded in Deuteronomy 14:24-26. Ungodly men had taken advantage of this provision to turn the temple courts into a den of thieves. God intended His temple to be the house where men drew near to Him with their requests. Its keepers had turned it into a place where men were swindled, and so the name of God was slandered.
- Ownership. The tenth confessed that the land and the farmer both belonged to the Lord; Israel had no other landlord.
- Enjoyment. This tithe was not handed over and lost. The offerer ate it with his household, the Levite and the poor, in joy and grace before God.
- Centre. The produce travelled because God chose the meeting place, not the worshipper. A loving heart did not want to stay home.
- Provision. For some, distance made obedience impossible. So God let them turn the harvest into money, and nothing stood between His people and His presence.
- Warning. Men later turned this same gift into a trade in the temple courts. God's kindness can be abused.
then shalt thou give it for money, and bind the money together in thy hand, and go to the place which Jehovah thy God will choose,
Deuteronomy 14 ends with rules for the yearly tithe. It had to be eaten in the one place God chose for His name. Verse 25 speaks to the family living too far away to carry a wagon-load of grain, wine and oil there. God's answer is simple: sell the produce, carry the money, and make the journey anyway.
The tenth was never a tax on private property. It was an admission that the property was not theirs to begin with.
Israel's worship rested on one great foundation: both they themselves and their land belonged to the Lord. The land was His, and they held it as tenants under Him. At set times they had to testify to this precious truth by faithfully tithing their land. "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year." They were to acknowledge, in this practical way, that the Lord owned it all, and never lose sight of it. They were to own no landlord but the Lord their God.
The obvious solution to a long journey would be to hold the feast at home. The commentary answers that objection head-on.
Some people did not know the God of Israel and cared nothing about Him. To them it might seem strange to see the people travelling — many of them — a long way from home, carrying their tithes to one particular spot. They might feel inclined to question the need for such a custom. "Why not eat at home?" they might say. But such people simply knew nothing about the matter... To the Israel of God there was one great moral reason for going to the appointed place. That reason lay in the glorious motto — "the Lord is there." Suppose an Israelite had deliberately decided to stay home, or to go to some place of his own choosing. He would have met neither the Lord there nor his brothers, and so he would have eaten alone.
What could not be carried could be converted. The tenth was sold at home and re-bought at the sanctuary.
If they lived a long way from Jerusalem, they were allowed to sell the tenth of their produce for money and bring that money to Jerusalem. There they would spend it on whatever food they wanted to eat "before the Lord" (vv. 24-26). The Lord wanted them to rejoice before Him, not to eat up their produce in selfish greed away from God's presence.
The provision is written from God's side. He is the one who did not want the distance to keep anyone away.
This is perfectly beautiful. The Lord, in His tender care and considerate love, took account of everything. He would not leave a single difficulty in the way of His beloved people as they gathered round Himself. He had His own special joy in seeing His redeemed people happy in His presence. All who loved His name would delight to meet the loving desire of His heart by coming to the centre He had appointed.
Commentators distinguish this tithe from the one given to the Levites in Numbers 18. Here the giver eats his own tenth in God's presence.
In the instruction in Deuteronomy, they take it up to where God's name is, to eat it there. The object is to centre their faith in the Lord, and that in connection with joy and grace... They paid their rent to the Lord for their land in this way, but in joy and gladness, in grace from Him, and with the poor, while also feeding their families with it. They feasted in grace around the Lord.
Carrying money instead of goods created a market at the sanctuary. People later corrupted it to serve their own greed.
This shows how people could corrupt the kind provisions of the law — and did corrupt them — to serve their own greedy ends. There was instruction on this point in Deuteronomy 14:22-26, and they might argue that they were only doing what the law allowed. The law told them to bring their money and buy what they needed. But it gave no approval to the greedy practices they had brought in, which turned the house of God into a money-making centre.
The principle is applied directly to Christians who find reasons not to gather.
If any Israelite was found neglecting the blessed occasion of assembling with his brothers, at the divinely chosen place and time, it would simply have proved that he had no heart for God or for His people — or, worse, that he was deliberately absent. He might reason as he pleased about being happy at home, happy elsewhere; it was a false happiness, because it was happiness found in the path of disobedience, the path of wilful neglect of what God had appointed.
- Landlord. The tithe was rent, not charity. Israel held the land as tenants, and the tenth admitted that the Lord owned it.
- Centre. The rent had to travel to the place where God put His name. A nearer, self-chosen place would have left the worshipper eating alone.
- Provision. Where the load could not travel, God let the value travel instead, so distance would not keep a family from His presence.
- Joy. The point was not duty but glad enjoyment — feasting in grace around the Lord, and sharing with the poor.
- Warning. People later abused the same money-and-market rule for gain. A kind rule can be kept in the letter and broken in the heart.
and thou shalt give the money for whatever thy soul desireth, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever thy soul asketh of thee; and thou shalt eat there before Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thy house.
This traveller has already sold his tithe for silver, because the sanctuary was too far away to carry grain and cattle there. Now he arrives, buys food and drink of his own choosing, and eats it in God's presence. How does a tenth given to God end up on the giver's own plate?
Israel had more than one tithe. Commentators identify the one in this verse as a separate arrangement set out in Deuteronomy.
The tithe spoken of here is one of the extra laws in Deuteronomy. It is a second tithe, not the first one, which belonged to God alone. This second tithe was eaten at the sanctuary by the man whose land was tithed, along with his household and the Levite, who was never to be forgotten. So he comes up to acknowledge God's mercies before Him and to enjoy them with God.
Verse 24 allowed them to sell the produce first. One writer sees in that permission God clearing away every obstacle to their gathering.
The Lord, in His tender care and thoughtful love, took account of everything. He would not leave a single difficulty in the way of His beloved people when they gathered around Himself. He had His own special joy in seeing His redeemed people happy in His presence. And all who loved His Name would be glad to meet the loving desire of His heart by gathering at the centre He Himself had appointed.
The money buys whatever the man wants. What the law fixes is not the menu but the place and the company.
If they lived a long way from Jerusalem, they could sell the tenth of their produce for money and bring that money to Jerusalem. There they would spend it on whatever food they wanted to eat "before the Lord" (vs.24:26). For the Lord wanted them to rejoice before Him, not to eat up their produce in selfish greed, away from God's presence.
One writer contrasts worship here with worship in the earlier books of Moses:
In the previous books, worship was a matter of how near you came to God in His sanctuary. Here it is thankful enjoyment of the blessings He promised and gave. They enjoyed them only before Jehovah, so that the blessings were never cut off from Him, and they enjoyed them in the spirit of grace… So it is not priestly drawing near to God, but enjoyment of the fruit of His promises, in grace with Him. This characterises the whole book.
The list includes "strong drink" — the Hebrew word shekar. One writer gathered up how the word has been understood down the years:
The ancient translations, the Greek and Latin church writers, and the dictionary makers of both early and recent times all agree in describing it as a drink that makes people drunk… Elsewhere, it was a man-made wine produced from barley, wheat, honey, or any fruit except grapes.
So the money could buy a drink strong enough to make a man drunk — for a meal eaten in God's presence.
The man hands his offering over to God, and then eats it himself. That double movement makes the meal a picture of fellowship.
Here everything was sanctified, because they had presented it to Jehovah. So they owned two things at once: that the people were His, and that all they had came from Him. But in giving Him back what He had given them, they enjoyed these things in fellowship with Him and with their families. They were things common to God and to the people — given by Him, offered to Him, and enjoyed in His presence in communion with one another, God Himself sharing in them, for they had offered the whole to Him.
Centuries later, traders were doing business in the house of God. They could point to this very passage as their defence.
This shows how kind provisions of the law could be twisted, and were twisted, to serve man's greed. Deuteronomy 14:22-26 gave instruction on this point, and they might argue that they were only doing what the law allowed. The law told them to bring their money and buy what they needed. But it gave no approval to the greedy practices they had brought in, which turned the house of God into a money-making centre.
- Owner. The tithe confessed that the land and its crops belonged to God. The man then ate this second tenth himself, coming up to acknowledge God's mercies and enjoy them with Him.
- Obstacle. Distance excused no one. The produce became money, so nothing stood between a worshipper and the centre God had appointed.
- Appetite. The list is wide: oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. God held nothing back from their enjoyment. He only refused to let them enjoy it away from Him.
- Household. What they gave to God came back to them to eat in His company, so the family's meal and God's portion were one and the same.
- Danger. Later, people twisted this same generous rule into a temple market — a kindness of God turned into a trade.