When Five Is Worth Ten
There was a young man from the Dominican Republic who loved the Lord and faithfully went to church using public transportation. One evening he went to church and when the offering was collected he realized he did not have any extra money to put into the plate. The only money he had was the five pesos he needed for the bus to get back home. His home was pretty far from the church and there was no way he could walk home. After thinking for a couple of seconds, he decided to put the five pesos in the offering plate.
What motivated that young man to give his last five pesos? We are commanded to honor God, and Solomon in his God-given wisdom has shown us one way in which we can do this. He wrote, “honour the Lord with thy substance” (Proverbs 3:9). Our substance is our material possessions, goods, or wealth. This was the motivation of this young man’s heart. He gave from what he had. There is an example in the New Testament about the widow with the two mites. Did she have wealth? No, she did not, but it was said of her that she gave more than everybody else who also put money in the treasury. Why? Because all the others did “cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:44). The Lord is honored even with the small amount given when it is given in the right spirit.
The Lord’s messenger writes: “I was shown that the recording angel makes a faithful record of every offering dedicated to God and put into the treasury, and also of the final result of the means thus bestowed. The eye of God takes cognizance of every farthing devoted to His cause, and of the willingness or reluctance of the giver. The motive in giving is also chronicled. Those self-sacrificing, consecrated ones who render back to God the things that are His, as He requires of them, will be rewarded according to their works.”1
The most wonderful example that we have of giving was Heaven’s own example. God from the beginning planned on giving His own Son to the world. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The Lord also requires us to give back to Him that which is His. The part that belongs to Him is the tithe. In Genesis 14:20 is recorded that Abraham paid tithes. What does tithe mean? In Hebrews 7:2 is stated that Abraham gave a tenth part of all. The tithe is the tenth part of your increase. Let us consider why the Lord requires a tenth of our increase. The Lord says that the earth, the world, the silver, and the gold are His (Psalm 24:1; Haggai 2:8). He is the one who gives us the power to get wealth on this earth (Deuteronomy 8:18). He therefore has made us His stewards so that we can manage His goods or finances. “The system of tithes and offerings was intended to impress the minds of men with a great truth - that God is the source of every blessing to His creatures, and that to Him man’s gratitude is due for the good gifts of His providence.”2
God’s plan of the tithing system is a fair one. Just because you are rich you are not expected to pay more and, likewise, if you are poor you are not expected to pay less. Everybody pays the same: a tenth! “The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less” (Exodus 30:15).
The Israelites returned their tithe before the Lord reiterated the law at Sinai. But the tithing system did not originate with the Hebrews. The Lord had always claimed a tithe as His. The first recorded instance of tithing was when Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek. “Men were required to offer to God gifts for religious purposes before the definite system was given to Moses, even as far back as the days of Adam. In complying with God’s requirements, they were to manifest in offerings their appreciation of His mercies and blessings to them. This was continued through successive generations.”3
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had access to everything except one thing. By not eating from the tree of good and evil they were acknowledging that God was the owner of all things, and at the same time they were showing their gratitude for all gifts and blessings.
“The tithe was to be exclusively devoted to the use of the Levites, the tribe that had been set apart for the service of the sanctuary.”4
In the Old Testament, eleven out of the twelve tribes received an inheritance of land in the Promised Land. The Israelites were to work and cultivate the land for their own use (Nehemiah 10:37). But there was one tribe that did not get an inheritance. That was the tribe of Levi, known as the Levites. “The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel” (Deuteronomy 18:1). The Israelites were to give the Levites “of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts” (Numbers 35:2, 3). They received cities to live in, but not as an inheritance. They did receive a different kind of inheritance. God had a special purpose for them.
The Lord wanted them to take “the charge of the whole congregation . . . to do the service of the tabernacle” (Numbers 3:7). That service of the tabernacle was called the “office of the priesthood” (Hebrews 7:5) and for this service the Lord was going to give them “all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance” (Numbers 18:21).
Did God expect the Jews to continue tithing in the New Testament? Jesus made it very clear to the Pharisees when He told them: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). The tribute money belonged to Caesar, but God says we should give Him what belongs to Him. “The tithe . . . is the Lord’s, it is holy” (Leviticus 27:30).
The Jewish nation was still tithing in the New Testament. “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” (Matthew 23:23). This shows that tithing was regarded by Jesus as important as justice and mercy.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:13, 14: “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? . . . Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” “The apostle [Paul] here referred to the Lord’s plan for the maintenance of the priests who ministered in the temple. Those who were set apart to this holy office were supported by their brethren, to whom they ministered spiritual blessings.”5
Let us compare our modern system of tithing by looking at what was done in the Old Testament. After the Jews were restored to their native land, Nehemiah, who was a reformer, was raised up to do a great work. One of the first things he did was to restore the tithing system because the priests had forsaken the house of God.
The Israelites were to bring their tithes to the house of God, so that the “Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage” (Nehemiah 10:37). They were to bring their tithes to the appointed place in the cities where they lived. Today we also are supposed to pay our tithes to the local church where we attend.
Nehemiah also organized “treasurers over the treasuries . . . for they were counted faithful, and their office was to distribute unto their brethren” (Nehemiah 13:13).
Treasurers were appointed over treasuries in order for them to distribute among the other Levites. Today we also follow the same biblical principle of not paying the workers from the tithe. All local churches send the tithe to the fields and they in turn pay the workers and ministers.
What responsibility to the General Conference do the fields have in regard to the tithe? In Nehemiah 10:38 it says: “And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, to the chambers, into the treasure house.” When the Levites received tithes, they returned a tithe of the tithes and sent it to Jerusalem. Following this example, the fields, according to their status, send their dues either to the unions or to the General Conference.
How does God regard our neglect of returning our tithes and offerings? Malachi 3:8 says, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” The eighth commandment says “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). If we are unfaithful by neglecting to return the tithes, we are considered thieves because we are robbing God and there will be charges brought against us. “Will you withhold from God His own? Will you divert from the treasury the portion of means which the Lord claims as His? If so, you are robbing God, and every dollar is charged against you in the books of heaven.”6
Have you ever thought that when you do not return the tithe and offerings you are embezzling funds? To embezzle means to take (money, for example) for one’s own use in violation of a trust. At what exact moment are you embezzling the funds? Is it at the moment when you stop returning your tithes and offerings? It is at “the moment a man loses sight of the fact that his capabilities and possessions are the Lord’s, that moment he is embezzling his Lord’s goods.”7 It is not when you withhold the tithe that you are embezzling His funds, but it’s at the moment you forget that everything you have belongs to the Lord. Let’s never forget that all our possessions belong to the Lord!
When you give, the Bible says that your blessings will be running over. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The Lord does not force anyone to give. When you do give, you should give cheerfully, for you will receive proportionate to how you give. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6, 7). “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38).
The way the sower multiplies his seed is by “casting it away.” It is the same way with those who are faithful in giving God’s gifts. “By imparting they increase their blessings.”8 In Malachi 3:10 it says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” What a beautiful promise the Lord has for us if we are faithful in returning our tithes and offerings - that we will not have enough room to receive all of His blessings!
“The tithing system was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. It will be a blessing to those who will carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not originate the system to enrich Himself, but to be a great blessing to man.
“The simplicity of the plan shows the wisdom of God in its arrangement. Everything bearing the divine stamp unites simplicity with utility. Those who return to the Lord the tenth, will find it true that the nine-tenths are worth more to them than the ten-tenths.”9
Instead of saying, I am weary of giving, what question should you ask? The question is found in Psalm 116:12, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?”
Remember the young man who gave away his bus money? The conclusion of his story is this: After church finished he started walking toward the bus stop, not knowing how he was going to get home. When he got to the corner, he looked down before stepping from the sidewalk, and there he saw on the street a coin of 5 pesos. What a beautiful example of God fulfilling His promise found in 1 Samuel 2:30 for all those who are faithful to Him: “Them that honour me I will honour!” When we return to the Lord He doubles His portion to us. For the young man, the 5 pesos was worth ten.