9. Single or Multiple tithes?
The question of what the number of tithes in the bible are, can be irrefutably demonstrated by the numerical outcomes each position produces....
One is fair, reasonable, equitable and just.... and the other 'obscenely unreasonable'
Firstly however it is necessary to determine the number of Levites and the proportion they represented of the population of Israel
They were one tribe BUT only a very small one. Many assume that they were 1 /12 of the population of Israel and that receiving a 10% tithe every year would be fair.....this is demonstrably WRONG! (The bible gives us the 'numbers' but very few bother to investigate)
Ie There were 22,000 Levite males over the age of 1 month (Num 3:39)
There were 603,550 Israelite males over 20 and able to serve (Num 2:32) and this total also excluded the Levites (vs 33)
Doing the maths can only be approximate but is still reasonably accurate
ie we will assume that a 30% loading should apply to adjust for kids between 1 month and 20 year of age (they often had large families!)
ie we will assume a further 25% loading for males who were too old to serve or unfit (ie say over 60 years of age...they lived long lives)
= 22,000 Levites / (603,550 x 1.3 (30% loading for kids) x 1.25 (25% loading for the elderly and unfit) plus 22,000 Levites)
= 22,000 / 1,002,768
LEVITES = 2.20% (best guess) of Total population of Israel
(Numbers 31:30 shows the Levites share of tribute was to be 1/50th + 1/500th....ie 2.2% of the spoils.
Numbers 26 gives a later census...and the proportions remain very similar. God put the details in 3 places in the bible so that HIS people could check and KNOW for sure that the Levites were only a small tribe......and that they were NOT to be beneficiaries of "multiple tithes"
This confirms that the proportion of 2.2% of Levites to the total population of Isreael is as accurate as we can get)
The Single Tithe
The Single Tithe NUMBERS would be as follows:-
The purpose of the tithe was to fairly compensate the Levites for not getting an inheritance in the Land and so that they could serve at the temple (Num 18:22-24) for 1 week in a 24 week rooster…..and not to make them far more wealthy than anyone else!
3.33% of the tithe in the third year (ie the Year of the Tithe ..10% over 3years)
(Deut 14:28 and Deut 26:12) (this was brought to stores in Levitical cities)
(0.33% of which was given to priests (Num 18:26) who were also of tribe of Levi)
Less 1.33% (a rounded off allowance for orphans, widows, etc who were also included in 3rdyear)
Plus 0.2% (ie provision of food for Levites also made in years 1 and 2 in Deut 14:22-27) (say 0.3% pa x 2 years/out of 3)
LEVITES = 2.2% (best guess) of Total annual food for Whole of Israel
ie 2.2% Levites get 1.0 times the food (best guess/average) that everyone else had
(Run your own Numbers if you disagree but as you will see this is an equitable trade off for the land inheritance they had forfeited and the one week every 24 weeks for temple service they were to do..... far more so than the 'multiple tithes' alternate which follows. This is also a position which would not have been controversial....and aligns with the fact that the Levites were often named among the POOR)
Multiple Tithes
Proponents of the multiple tithe position generally have no reasonable answer to justify the grossly inequitable consequences of their interpretation/position.
The purpose of the tithe was to fairly compensate the Levites for not getting an inheritance in the Land and so that they could serve at the temple (Num 18:22-24) for 1 week only out of each 24 week cycle…..and not to make them far more wealthy than other Israelites.
The multiple tithe position requires that the Levites were to get the following as their share of the inheritance:-
10% "Levites" tithe (Num 18:21-23)
(1% of which was given to priests (Num 18:26) who were also of tribe of Levi)
Plus 3.33% “poor” tithe in the third year (ie the Year of the Tithe (10% /3years) ...this is wrongly and misleadingly named as the bible states that the LEVITES are the primary recipients (Deut 14:28 and Deut 26:12) (this was brought to stores in the cities)
Less 1.33% (as rounded off allowance for orphans, widows, etc also covered in 3rdyear)
Plus 0.2% (ie provision of food for Levites also made in years 1 and 2 in Deut 14:22-27) (say 0.6% pa x 2/3)
LEVITES = 12.2% (best guess) of Total annual food for Whole of Israel
ie 2.2% Levites get 5.5 times the food (best guess/average) that everyone else had
(Feel free to run your own numbers if you disagree with my calculations but you will find that whatever way you run them the conclusion is always that the multiple tithe position results in an absurd and grossly inequitable outcome....which was clearly NOT God's intention ....2Cor 8:14)
The Tithe giving Cycle (Deut 14:22-29 and Deut 26:12-13)
Brethren the tithe was 10% each year....not 23.3% as some false teachers have in the past and continue to claim in an attempt to justify demanding a higher level of giving from church members.
2) The bible never uses any other description of the tithe than ‘the tenth’ or ‘the tithe’
The bible warns us NOT to add or subtract from the Law as given by Moses in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:1-2...Mat 5:18-19)
Lev 27:30 ‘the tithe of the land’ and ‘the entire tithe’ or Numbers 18:21 ‘all the tithes’ to the Levites, Deut 14 and 26 ‘a tithe’ and Mat 23:23 ‘a tenth’ Heb 7:4,5,6 ‘a tenth’. There is NO reference to ‘the Lords or Holy Tithe’, ‘Levitical Tithe’ ‘the Poor Tithe’ or the ‘Festival Tithe’ in the bible. (These are terms invented by the proponents of the Multiple Tithe position to justify their confusing interpretations....the scriptures certainly are not the author of this confusion)
Words like 'Levites' tithe...'festival' tithe ...and 'poor' tithe are ADDED to misrepresent (supporters claim to 'clarify') what God requires under the Law. If these ADDITIONS were not illegitimately inserted into the text or in discussions, no logical person would conclude that 'THE TITHE' of Deut 12, 14 and 26 was actually intended to be 'ANOTHER' tithe!
The scriptures indicate different uses for the tithe but emphatically teach that these are cyclical. They never even hint that 'multiple tithes' were required.
(There is NO SCRIPTURAL reference which even implies that the different uses for the tithes were to be carried out simultaneously rather than over the 7 year cycle as instructed in Deuteronomy 14 and 26 and Lev 25:20-22)
3) The very name Deuteronomy (in Greek) means ‘Second Law’...and (from Hebrew) 'Words' of the covenant
In Leviticus 27 God specifies WHAT items would be required to be tithed (they were still in the desert)....ie produce of the land and increase of animals
In Numbers 18 God tells Aaron WHY the Levites were to receive the tithe ... ie they would have to forfeit their share of the inheritance in the land and serve in the temple 1 week out of 24. The Levites temple service commenced in the wilderness....the bible is silent about whether the tithe of livestock would have commenced at the same time. (but as this was to be their 'wages' it would be a reasonable assumption)
Deuteronomy however is the only place where the people of Israel are commanded to HOW to tithe...and WHEN to tithe! This book IS the covenant as it would apply in the promised land.
This is the Book in which the 'words' of the 'contract' are recorded which the Israelite people agreed to observe in the promised land regarding tithing. The terms they agreed to are a single cyclical 10% tithe .... not multiple tithes.
Deut 1:3 Israel had spent almost 40 years since the Law was first given, wandering in the desert with the whole previous generation passing away and the new generation about to enter the promised land
There is no biblical restriction which says that tithing did not commence in the desert ie in the books of Leviticus and Numbers . While they had no farms and GOD fed them manna and quails....they did however have animals such as sheep and camels which would have increased! Tithing on the produce of the land probably only became relevant after they entered the promised land....AFTER Deuteronomy when Joshua took them into it!
Deut 1:6 ‘Moses began to expound the Law’…ie He REPEATED / RETOLD IT from the beginning for the new generation…and repeated historic events, victories, details of land subdivision, cities of refuge, the ten commandments, loving God, clean and unclean foods, etc. Nearly 40 times in Deuteronomy Moses specifies 'THIS law' as told 'TODAY', 'THIS DAY', etc, to emphasise that what was being agreed to was NOT inclusive of other things that might have been said or done in the past! READ THE BOOK...this is not even open to debate.
On what basis then could one justifiably assume that references to the detailed administration of the Tithe (chapters 14 & 26) is suggesting ‘another tithe’? Multiple tithe proponents glibly claim that this is 'an additional "Festival" tithe without any scriptural support or appropriate justification for it to be such in the text! God does not say it.....greedy Rabbis chose to read this into the Law!
(The previous references in Leviticus 27:30-32 and Numbers 18:21-25 do not offer sufficient details for the practical administration and/or management of the tithe ...this is ONLY addressed in Deuteronomy)
Deuteronomy’s tithing references explain the full details of ALL of Israels tithing obligations under the Law as applicable from the time they entered the promised land rather than describing or instituting an additional tithe to ‘the Tithe’ referred to in Leviticus and Numbers ....which it most certainly NEVER claims to do.
4) Logic
It would be unfounded conjecture on our part that ‘the tithe of the land ’ and ‘the entire tithe of the heard and flock’ referred to in Lev 27:30 and 32 as being ‘holy to the LORD’ is not the same as the ‘Levitical’ tithe of Numbers 18:21 ‘I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance’. So why would we then assume that the references in Deuteronomy would be to 'another' tithe?
(ie Leviticus and Numbers state that tithes, offerings and sacrifices which are..‘Holy to the LORD’..are to become the property of the priests and Levites! Clearly the ‘holy tithe’ or ‘sacred portion’… referred to in Deut 26:13 & 14 links to the ‘Holy to the Lord’ reference in Lev 27:30. This would mean that the only Holy or Sacred tithe is that of the third year which was to be given to the Levites because the tithe for years 1 & 2 as shown in Deut 14:22-28 was not ‘holy’ because it was commanded to be eaten by the giver)
In light of the inequality exposed in the NUMBERS (ie the Levites as a proportion of Israels population....and the outcome of 'multiple' tithes) .... and Deuteronomy meaning ‘The Second Law’ or 'The Words of the Law' (and NOT 'additional Laws") ..it is quite clear that both of the above previous tithe references (Leviticus 27 and Numbers 18) are also included in the supposedly additional ‘festival’ and 'poor' tithes of Deut 14: 22-29 and Deut 26:12-14. They would syncronise and be part of the tithing cycle described above.
(ALL the tithes which were given to the Levites in Num 18:21 means ALL the types of tithes (ie seed and fruit and animals) from ALL of the people in the ‘THIRD YEAR – THE YEAR OF THE TITHE’ ... as confirmed in Deut 14:28-29, Deut 26:12-14 and Lev 27:30) (Note also that in year 7 there were no crops grown... so there could not have been a tithe of them given to the Levites in that year!).
It is widely known that the word ALL in scriptures is required to be interpreted in regard to its scope according to its context AND in harmony with other scriptures....the following examples are
Gen 14:20 And he gave him a tithe of all. NKJV (all here does not include Abrams own possessions....and it was NOT every year...it was a 'one-off' event....and it is spoils only Heb 7:4...Gen 14:16).....so why should we then say that 'all' in Numbers 18:21 must mean all tithes and every year?
Lev 27:30 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 to the LORD.
NKJV (all here does NOT include money earned in the land....even though it is not specifically excluded!...It is only when we look at other scriptures this is confirmed)
(The clincher is that all the tithe under the multiple tithe assumption regarding the word 'all' in Numbers 18:21 CANNOT include the tithe referred to in Deut 14:22-29 or Deut 26....so it CANNOT be ALL as this would contradict those scriptures)
Mal 3:10
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, NKJV (all here is agreed by most to be only 'all' the Levites tithe to the priests....and is still FOOD only as per other scriptures...ie that there may be FOOD in my house)
Rom 11:26
26 And so all Israel will be saved, NKJV (all here does not mean ALL Israel over the ages....it refers to the REMNANT ...in the Last days only)
Those who claim that there MUST be a separate full 10% Levites tithe are guilty of applying an inconsistent hermeueutic to the word 'all'...ie all means ALL where it suits my arguments!
The fact is that the scope of 'all' in Numbers 18:21 clearly (even under the 'multiple tithes proponents' definitions of tithing) does not include the tithe referred to Deut 14:22-27 which the giver is COMMANDED to eat himself with his family (which the 'mtp' arbitrarily call 'the festival tithe' without any scriptural back-up). Neither does it include the portion which is COMMANDED to be given to the widows and fatherless and strangers...(which they arbitrarily call ‘the poor tithe’).
The supposed 'poor' tithe is specified twice (in Deut 14:28-29 and Deut 26:12-13) that it is primarily to be given to the Levites ....and for the SAME reason as the Levites are to receive it as specified in Numbers 18:21...proving that naming it the "poor tithe' is a deliberately misleading name...This is the LEVITES tithe!
The third year is emphatically defined as the YEAR OF THE TITHE! (not of the year of 'multiple tithes') (Deut 26:12)
There is NO logical explanation for the Levites to be named amongst the poor IF they would always receive a FULL 10% 'Levites' tithe every year.....or over 4 times the food that other people had! What justification could there then be for the so-called ‘festival’ tithe in year 3 to be given to the Levites in addition to the 'Levites' tithe? And then (if this is not silly enough) for additional food to be given to the Levites in years 1 and 2 at the festivals? .....this brethren is what the multiple tithe proponents (mtp) claim that the Law teaches.......it is nothing short of a greedy absurdity!
5) History
Josephus was a historian….not a theologian. There are mentions that his references to the multiple tithes were contrary to the opinions of the historic Rabbin of his day...and the Law. (While multiple tithes are also mentioned in the book of Tobit... an 'apocryphal book' which is NOT part of the bible or the Law, it should be noted that these books are the source of many heresies!)
There certainly would have been Rabbin of the day who would, out of greed, have supported the multiple tithe position. Jesus rebuked them for 'binding up heavy loads and putting them on mens shoulders'. Most Churches today still teach a confusing morass of doctrine worldwide to justify demanding money from Gods people!
The only conclusive position is that which is based on Gods Word. The scriptures do not say that there are various ‘tithes’ which are in addition to each other....this is totally unfounded speculation. God is the consummate communicator and would have communicated this very clearly and specifically to avoid the disputes that would arise due to the ‘inequality’ and ‘inequity’ in favour of the Levites. NONE IS EVER MENTIONED. The tithe was compensation for not getting an ‘inheritance in the land’ (This would not justify getting 5.5 times the food share of others which is most certainly not equitable compensation. This would have been clearly confirmed many times in the bible if this was what was intended by God)
6) Three Witnesses (‘In the mouth of 2 witnesses or 3 let every word be confirmed’)
Deut 14:28-29
28 "At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow
Deut 26:12
12 "When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year — the year of tithing — and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,
Amos 4:4
4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
Answers to supposed problems
- ‘The Levites would have starved in intermediate years’
The food in Egypt was stored in the storehouses for 7 years and more during the Famine (Gen 41..400 years prior) proving that the Levites would have had the storage skills to manage 3 years supply
It included fruit and that would not have lasted - preservation techniques have existed for many millenium…. ie pickle it, make jam of it, dry it, etc
They also got ‘top-ups’ from the year 1 and year 2 tithes (Deut 14:22-27) and shared the first-fruits and offerings of all the crops (Deut 26:1-11)
They had heaps of time to work during their ‘off duty’ periods (they were on roster for only 1 week in 24) and there was NO restriction on them to work or have businesses or supplementary incomes. They would have bought fresh food out of their INCOMES.
The food supplied to them which was stored (ie grain and animals) could be traded for fresh fruit through the subsequent years as well
(Please note that in the sixth year God provided a bumper crop for all Israel which ensured that crops sufficed for the sabbatical year festivals when no food was grown….so it was clear that storage of food was common practice by everyone)
2 ‘What food would have been eaten at the festivals by people during the third year…the Year of the Tithe’?
The people would know in advance that they had to provide additionally in that year and budget for it….. ie lay aside extra for that purpose (and as they were under the Old Covenant and were tithing ...Mal 3:10 would apply and God said … 'I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing!’)
Lev 25:20-22
20 'And if you say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?" 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. 22 And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest. NKJV
(this was clearly stored for up to 3 years)
NOTE There would have been no tithe of the harvest in year 7 as they did not plant crops …..but they possibly still tithed on the increase in flocks and herds which would have continued to produce. The bible is silent here.
The Principle is Equality……not one group favoured over another
2 Cor 8:13-15
13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack — that there may be equality . 15 As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack." NKJV