Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd's rod will be holy to the LORD. Sermons
I. DEVOTED THINGS DIFFER FROM THINGS SANCTIFIED. 1. In that they may not be redeemed. (1) Things sanctified might be redeemed. The laws of estimation proceeded upon the recognition of this principle. (2) But it is otherwise with things devoted (see verses 6, 21, 28). They are in the category of things "most holy," which only may be touched by the priests. (3) Hence firstlings must not be sanctified (verse 26). The reason is that they are already the property of God. They can neither be given to him nor redeemed from him. They were types of Christ, who is therefore called the "Firstfruits of every creature" - the Antitype of all the firstfruits. 2. Persons when devoted were doomed to die. (1) Such was the fate of the enemies of the Lord. The Canaanites as unfit to live were so devoted (see Exodus 22:19; Deuteronomy 25:19; Joshua 6:17; 1 Samuel 15:3; 1 Kings 20:42). (2) Here is no reference to human sacrifices, as some have imagined. It is a question of justice and judgment upon the wicked. (3) But by a rash vow the innocent may suffer. Thus through the adjuration of Saul Jonathan's life was imperiled (1 Samuel 14). Jephthah's vow compromised the life of his daughter (Judges 11:30, 31, 39). The reading in the margin (verse 31) is preferable. Jephthah could not make a burnt offering of anything unsuited to that purpose, and whatever else came forth he vowed not to sanctify but to devote. (4) The severity of God upon those devoted for their wickedness should admonish sinners of the formidableness of his anger in the great day of his wrath. II. THE LAW CONCERNING TITHES. 1. These are now formally required. (1) They were originally vowed to God (see Genesis 14:19; Genesis 28:22). (2) The acts of the patriarchs bound their posterity. Hence Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek, being yet ix the loins of Abraham (Hebrews 7:9, 10). (3) Therefore God now claims them (verses 30, 32). (4) The spirit of this law is still binding upon the spiritual seed of Abraham (see 1 Corinthians 9:11; Galatians 6:6). 2. Things marked as tithes must not be exchanged. (1) The expression, "passeth under the rod," is thus explained by the rabbins: "When a man was to give the tithe of his sheep or calves to God, he was to shut up the whole flock in one fold, in which there was one narrow door capable of letting out one at a time. The owner stood by the door with a rod in his hand, the end of which was dipped in vermilion or red ochre. The mothers of those lambs or calves stood without, and as the young ones passed out, when the tenth came he touched it with the colour, and this was received as the legitimate tithe." (2) Here note the vicarious principle. When the tenth was taken, nine went free. Christ is our Tenth (see Isaiah 6:13). (3) The tenth must not be exchanged for better or worse. Providence is presumed to have guided the rod. While Christ becomes the Substitute for mankind, no one can take his place. - J.A.M.
All the tithes of the land... is the Lord's. I. THE SCRIPTURE RECORDS CONCERNING THE LAW OF TITHES.1. Antecedent to the Mosaic legislation. The principle of dedicating a tenth to God was recognised in the act of Abraham, who paid tithes of his spoils to Melchizedek in his sacerdotal rather than his sovereign capacity (Genesis 14:20; Hebrews 7:6). Later, in Jacob's vow (Genesis 28:22), the dedication of a "tenth" presupposes a sacred enactment, or' a custom in existence which fixed that proportion rather than any other proportion, such as a seventh or twelfth. 2. The Mosaic statutes. These given in this section lay claim in God's name to the tenth of produce and cattle. An after enactment fixed that these tithes were to be paid to the Levites for their services (Numbers 18:21-24), who were to give a tithe of what they received to the priests (vers. 26-28). The sacred festivals were later made occasion for a further tithe (Deuteronomy 12:5, 6, 11, 17; Deuteronomy 14:22, 23); which was allowed to come in money value rather than in kind (Deuteronomy 14:24-26). 3. Hezekiah's reformation. This was signalised by the eagerness with which the people came with their tithes (2 Chronicles 31:5, 6). 4. After the Captivity. Nehemiah made marked and emphatic arrangements concerning the tithing (Nehemiah 10:37; Nehemiah 12:44). 5. Prophet's teachings. Both Amos (Amos 4:4) and Malachi (Malachi 3:10) enforce this as a duty, by severely rebuking the nation for its neglect-as robbing God. 6. In Christ's day. Our Lord exposed and denounced the ostentatious punctiliousness of the Pharisees over their tithing (Matthew 23. 23). 7. Teaching of the New Testament. The fact of the existence of ministers as a distinct Mass, assumes provision made for their maintenance. The necessity for such provision, and the right on which it is founded, are recognised in such texts as Matthew 10:10; Luke 10:7; Romans 15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:7-14. II. THE ECCLESIASTICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEMAND FOR TITHES. 1. The Fathers urged the obligation of tithing on the earliest Christians. The "Apostolical Canons," the "Apostolical Constitutions," St. Cyprian on "The Unity of the Church," and the writings of , , , and other Fathers of both divisions of the early Church, abound with allusions to this as a duty; and the response was made, not in enforced tithing, but by voluntary offerings. 2. The legislation of the first Christian emperors recognised the obligation of maintaining the ministers of Christ. But while they assigned lands and other property to their support, they enacted no general payment of the tenth of the produce of the lands. 3. Ancient Church councils favoured tithings of land and produce, e.g., the Councils of Tours, A.D. 567; the second Council of Macon, A.D. 585; the Council of Rouen, A.D. 650; of Nantes, A.D. 660; of Metz, . 4. Its first imperial enactment. (king of the Franks, A.D. 768-814, and Roman Emperor, A.D. 800-814) originated the enactment of tithes as a public law, and by his capitularies formally established the practice over the Roman Empire which his rule swayed. From this start it extended itself over Western Christendom; and it became general for a tenth to be paid to the Church. 5. Introduction of tithes into England. , king of Mercia, is credited with its assertion here, at the close of the eighth century. It spread over other divisions of Saxon England, until Ethelwulf made it a law for the whole English realm. It remained optional with those who were compelled to pay tithes to determine to what Church they should be devoted, until Innocent III. addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 1200, a decretal requiring tithes to be paid to the clergy of the parish to which payees belonged. About this time also, tithes, which had originally been confined to those called praedial, or the fruits of the earth, was extended to every species of profit and to the wages of every kind of labour. 6. The great and small tithe. The great tithe was made upon the main products of. the soil, corn, hay, wood, &c.; the small on the less important growths. To the rector the great tithes of a parish are assigned, and to the vicar the small. 7. Tithes paid "in kind." These claim the tenth portion of the product itself (vers. 30-33). This is varied by a payment of an annual valuation; or an average taken over seven years; or by a composition, which, in a bulk sum, redeems the land from all future impost, rendering it henceforth "tithe flee." (W. H. Jellie.) (Joseph Parker, D. D.) (A. A. Bonar.) ? — In attempting to settle for ourselves this question, it is to be observed, in order to clear thinking on this subject, that in the law of tithe as here declared there are two elements — the one moral, the other legal — which should be carefully distinguished. First and fundamental is the principle that it is our duty to set apart to God a certain fixed proportion of our income. The other and — technically speaking — positive element in the law is that which declares that the proportion to be given to the Lord is precisely one-tenth. Now, of these two, the first principle is distinctly recognised and reaffirmed in the New Testament, as of continued validity in this dispensation; while, on the other hand, as to the precise proportion of our income to be thus set apart for the Lord, the New Testament writers are everywhere silent. As regards the first principle, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, orders that "on the first day of the week" — the day of the primitive Christian worship — "every one" shall "lay by him in store as God hath prospered him." He adds that he had given the same command also to the churches of Galatia (1 Corinthians 16:1, 2). This most clearly gives apostolic sanction to the fundamental principle of the tithe, namely, that a definite portion of our income should be set apart for God. While, on the other hand, neither in this connection, where a mention of the law of the tithe might naturally have been expected, if it had been still binding as to the letter, nor in any other place does either St. Paul or any other New Testament writer intimate that the Levitical law, requiring the precise proportion of a tenth, was still in force — a fact which is the more noteworthy that so much is said of the duty of Christian benevolence. To this general statement with regard to the testimony of the New Testament on this subject, the words of our Lord to the Pharisees (Matthew 23:23), regarding their tithing of "mint and anise and cummin" — "these ye ought to have done" — cannot be taken as an exception, or as proving that the law is binding for this dispensation; for the simple reason that the present dispensation had not at that time yet begun, and those to whom He spoke were still under the Levitical law, the authority of which He there reaffirms. From these facts we conclude that the law of these verses, in so far as it requires the setting apart to God of a certain definite proportion of our income, is doubtless of continued and lasting obligation; but that, in so far as it requires from all alike the exact proportion of one-tenth, it is binding on the conscience no longer. Nor is it difficult to see why the New Testament should not lay down this or any other precise proportion of giving to income as a universal law. It is only according to the characteristic usage of the New Testament law to leave to the individual conscience very much regarding the details of worship and conduct, which under the Levitical law was regulated by specific rules: which St. Paul explains (Galatians 4:1-5) by reference to the fact that the earlier method was intended for and adapted to a lower and more immature stage of religious development; even as a child, during his minority, is kept under guardians and stewards, from whose authority, when he becomes of age, he is free. But, still further, it seems to be forgotten by those who argue for the present and permanent obligation of this law, that it was here for the first time formally appointed by God as a binding law, in connection with a certain Divinely instituted system of theocratic government, which, if carried out, would effectively prevent excessive accumulations of wealth in the hands of individuals, and thus secure for the Israelites, in a degree the world has never seen, an equal distribution of property. In such a system it is evident that it would be possible to exact a certain fixed and definite proportion of income for sacred purposes, with the certainty that the requirement would work with perfect justice and fairness to all. But with us social and economic conditions are so very different, wealth is so very unequally distributed, that no such law as that of the tithe could be made to work otherwise than unequally and unfairly. To the very poor it must often be a heavy burden; to the very rich, a proportion so small as to be a practical exemption. While, for the former, the law, if insisted on, would sometimes require a poor man to take bread out of the mouth of wife and children, it would still leave the millionaire with thousands to spend on needless luxuries. The latter might often more easily give nine-tenths of his income than the former could give one-twentieth. It is thus no surprising thing that the inspired men who laid the foundations of the New Testament Church did not reaffirm the law of the tithe as to the latter. And yet, on the other hand, let us not forget that the law of the tithe, as regards the moral element of the law, is still in force. It forbids the Christian to leave, as so often, the amount he will give for the Lord's work, to impulse and caprice. Statedly and conscientiously he is to "lay by him in store as the Lord hath prospered him." If any ask how much should the proportion be, one might say that by fair inference the tenth might safely be taken as an average minimum of giving, counting rich and poor together (see 2 Corinthians 8:7-9).(S. H. Kellogg, D. D.) People Israelites, MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Animal, Flock, Flocks, Goes, Herd, Herds, Herdsman's, Holy, Pass, Passes, Passeth, Rod, Shepherd's, Staff, Tenth, Tithe, Valuer, Whatever, WhatsoeverOutline 1. He who makes a singular vow must be the Lord's3. The estimation of the person 9. of a beast given by vow 14. of a house 16. of a field, and the redemption thereof 28. No devoted thing may be redeemed 30. The tithe may not be changed Dictionary of Bible Themes Leviticus 27:1-33 5577 taxation Library List of Abbreviations Used in Reference to Rabbinic Writings Quoted in this Work. THE Mishnah is always quoted according to Tractate, Chapter (Pereq) and Paragraph (Mishnah), the Chapter being marked in Roman, the paragraph in ordinary Numerals. Thus Ber. ii. 4 means the Mishnic Tractate Berakhoth, second Chapter, fourth Paragraph. The Jerusalem Talmud is distinguished by the abbreviation Jer. before the name of the Tractate. Thus, Jer. Ber. is the Jer. Gemara, or Talmud, of the Tractate Berakhoth. The edition, from which quotations are made, is that commonly used, Krotoschin, … Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Tithing Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus. Leviticus Links Leviticus 27:32 NIVLeviticus 27:32 NLT Leviticus 27:32 ESV Leviticus 27:32 NASB Leviticus 27:32 KJV Leviticus 27:32 Bible Apps Leviticus 27:32 Parallel Leviticus 27:32 Biblia Paralela Leviticus 27:32 Chinese Bible Leviticus 27:32 French Bible Leviticus 27:32 German Bible Leviticus 27:32 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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