Tithing: A Way to Grow Our Trust in God

It’s a new year, so what better time is there to evaluate last year and set new goals? As we saw in last week’s sermon, if we are not growing closer to God, we are actually growing further away from Him, for stagnant faith is a dying faith. To aid us in setting goals so we can grow our faith and trust in God, I want us to look at two verses from last week’s passage in Proverbs, which was about trusting in the Lord with all your heart.

Last week, we read these verses, and I briefly mentioned the importance of tithing, but let’s look even closer at this directive to honor the Lord with our possessions. As we do, I think you’ll discover that tithing to the Lord is a great way to grow trust in the Lord.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (CSB) says:

9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;

10 then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Even though not many of us are farmers today, we can apply this verse to our lives. The Israelites (the people who God made this promise to) were not usually paid in wages. Most of them were farmers and herdsmen. They raised crops and animals. If they had been merchants, then I think this passage would say something like: ‘Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first wages you receive. Then your bank accounts will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.’

All of us are to “honor the Lord” with all our possessions, and we are to give a percentage of whatever salary or income we make to God. This is called tithing, and generally it has been understood that we are to give a minimum of 10% back to God.

Maybe you’ve wondered why it is 10%, and maybe you’ve even wondered if it’s just an outdated Old Testament law that we don’t need to follow anymore. Let’s answer those questions.

First, let’s look at why tithing is set at 10%. The first time the Bible mentions this amount is in Genesis 14:18-20. It says, “Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him…And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Then, in Genesis 28:20-22, we see the next instance. After the Lord appeared to him in a dream and promised to bless him, it says, “Then Jacob made a vow: ‘If God will be with me and watch over me during this journey I’m making, if he provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safely to my father’s family, then the Lord will be my God. This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to you a tenth of all that you give me.’”

After that, as we read through the beginning of the Bible, we see many verses that show that a “tenth” was to be given to the Lord. For example, in Deuteronomy 14:22, when Moses was giving the people the laws, it says, “Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields.” So, the idea of “a tenth” being given to the Lord is consistent throughout Scripture.

But we also see that the people didn’t like this system. Even though God blessed them when they followed Him, the people started complaining. They didn’t like giving to Him and worshiping Him. They didn’t want to follow God. They said they wanted a king to rule over them, just like all the people who lived around them had. The prophet Samuel warned the people that a king would bring suffering to them. He told them in 1 Samuel 8:15 that a king “can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants.” Then he also told them all the other worse things a king would do to them as well. Apparently, governments have never changed!

As you may well know, the people got their king, and they suffered for it. The rest of their history is a series of wars, then they are conquered, the temple is destroyed, they are captured and exiled, and then finally they are brought back to their land, and they rebuild the temple. Surely after all that, they have learned their lesson and follow the Lord’s commands, right? Sadly, they don’t. Right before the Old Testament concludes, Malachi 3:8-10 says, “’Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me!’ ‘How do we rob you?’ you ask. ‘By not making the payments of the tenth and the contributions. You are suffering under a curse, yet you—the whole nation—are still robbing me. Bring the full tenth into the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Test me in this way,’ says the Lord of Armies. ‘See if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure.’”

If the people had simply followed God’s instructions, they would have been blessed. This is the constant refrain we see being sung all throughout the Bible: just do what God says, and you will be blessed.

But why did God even want them to tithe to Him? First of all, God wanted His people to remember that everything they owned had come from Him. He wanted them to honor Him with what He had given them. And He wanted them to look to Him for help and provision. He is the Good Father who loves providing for His children. If they had tithed their possessions to Him, He would have blessed them, and their trust in His ability to care for them would have grown.

Also, from a practical standpoint, God’s sacrificial system required a tithe to be given. They were to give their tithe to the temple so the priests and Levites could eat, and so there would be ample supplies for the daily offerings that were made to the Lord. The storehouse that Malachi speaks of is the storehouse of the temple. And this system of providing for God’s workers is why people still tithe to churches today.

But to answer the second question, is it a command that we have to follow today? This might surprise you, but no, I don’t think it’s something we have to do. Interestingly enough, there is no directive in the New Testament telling us to tithe. That means you can be a Christian and not “tithe.” But I hope by the end of this sermon, you will want to. Because while we don’t see a specific mandate in the New Testament telling us to give 10% of our possessions to God, we are still to follow the directive to honor God with all that He’s given us. And when we do, our trust in Him will grow.

But we won’t do that if we don’t realize that everything that we have has come from God.

MacLaren, in his commentary on Malachi, says, “It is still possible to ‘rob God.’ We do so when we keep anything as our own, and use it at our own will, for our own purposes. Only when we recognize His ownership of ourselves, and consequently of all that we call ‘ours,’ do we give Him His due. All the slave’s [possessions] belong to the owner to whom he belongs…The true way to enjoy worldly goods is to give them to God.”

If we understand that all that we have has been given to us by God, then we will want to give back to Him.

So, while I don’t think tithing 10% is mandatory, I also don’t think Jesus abolished the tithe. If anything, I think He inflated it to make it not just 10%, but to include all our finances. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

If we are followers of Christ, then all that we have is not ours. It is the Lord’s, and as such, He is free to do what He wants with it. If we understand that nothing that we have belongs to us anyway, then it’s a lot easier to give it away. The early church modeled this for us. Acts 2:44-46 tells us, “Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts.”

This was not socialism run by the government. It was a relatively small group of like-minded believers who understood that everything they owned had come from the Lord, so they gladly shared with one another as they established a close-knit family of believers. And as they did, God blessed them, and their trust in Him grew as He provided for all their needs.

Those early Christians gave far more than 10%. They gave all their money and possessions to the Lord’s use. And their trust in the Lord was profound.

Then, as the number of believers grew, their system of helping each other changed. Even though they didn’t call it a tithe, we see them taking collections. 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 says, “Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.”

Also, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 says, “Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.”

The collections they took up were used to help those within the Christian community who had needs and to allow some people to spend all their time teaching and preaching. But there seemed to be no specific amount that was required. Each person gave in relation to how much they had. That tells me that 10% is not a mandatory rule that we have to follow, but it’s a great place to start from.  

The same principles we find at the beginning of the Bible applied to the early church, and they still apply to us today. God wants us to remember that everything we have has come from Him, and we are to honor Him with all that He has given us. And the more we trust Him, the more He will bless us.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 explains this concept in greater detail and says, “The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

That last statement is from Psalm 112:9. Paul is emphasizing that all believers should give generously to God’s work. If we hold back and are stingy, then it limits what God is able to do in us and through us. To make that point, he uses the concept of sowing and reaping.  

Picking back up the text in 2 Corinthians 9, verses 10-13 say, “Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.”

It’s very clear that we are to give as the Lord leads us to, and to do so with joy. And as we do, not only does our trust in Him grow, but so does our witness. Because through our giving, God is glorified.

Unfortunately, many Christians, instead of giving just 10%, seem to be more interested in debate about tithing than giving. They will quote verses like Matthew 23:23, which speaks of the Pharisees tithing, as proof that tithing is legalistic. But decide for yourself. Here is the whole verse: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible points out: “These ought ye to have done - Attention to even the smallest points of the law of God is proper, but it should not interfere with the ‘higher’ and more important parts of that law.”

In other words, it is proper to follow God’s instructions to honor God with our finances, but we shouldn’t think that if we tithe we don’t have to obey His other, more important instructions. For certainly we’d all agree that justice, mercy, and faithfulness are even more important to our walk with God than tithing. But if we are truly pursuing justice, mercy, and faithfulness, then we will want to follow all of God’s instructions—including His directive to give back to Him with our finances.

But unlike the Pharisees, when we give, we should do so without any fanfare. In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus also says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

We should give in secret, because that also keeps us trusting in the Lord. Then we aren’t giving as an effort to gain favor or recognition from other people. We are placing our faith in God, trusting that as we give back to Him, He will continue to provide for us. When we do that, we will find out that He is faithful.

I’ve quoted him before, but I really like what my dad has always said: “People say, ‘I can’t afford to tithe,’ but I say, ‘I can’t afford not to tithe!’” He’s correct. Not tithing is taking our finances into our hands. It’s attempting to be wise in our own eyes. Whereas tithing is placing our trust in Jesus’ hands. It’s a way for us to show the Lord that we trust Him to provide for us. And when we let go of our finances and give them back to God, He rewards us, just as Jesus said.

In MacLaren’s Commentary, he writes, “The keyword of the Christian life is ‘sacrifice’-surrender, and that to God. That is to be stamped on the inmost selves, and by the act of the will, on the body as well. ‘Yield yourselves to God, and your members as instruments of righteousness to Him.’ It is to be written on possessions. Malachi necessarily keeps within the limits of the sacrificial system, but his impetuous eloquence hits us no less.”

MacLaren also adds this important point: “This is the universal law, not always fulfilled in increase of outward goods, but in the better riches of communion and of larger possession in God Himself.” I like that MacLaren clarifies that oftentimes the increase God gives us is not material, but rather, it is more of Himself.

Even though the storehouse Malachi references is the literal storehouse at the temple, the overflow of blessings isn’t just for the temple or our present-day churches. As we give to the Lord’s work, we will see blessings in our personal lives.

For sure, our “blessings without measure” will be given to us in eternity, as well. In Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, he says, “His superabundance, ‘above all which we can ask or think,’ is a first principle in the conception of God, as the Infinite Source of all being. But to say of God that He would pour out His blessing until man could not contain it, is one bliss of eternity, that God’s gifts will overflow the capacity of His creatures to receive them. The pot of oil poured forth the oil until, on the prophets saying 2 Kings 4:6, ‘Bring me yet a vessel,’ the widow’s son said, ‘There is not a vessel more.’ And the oil stayed. God’s gifts are limited only by our capacity to receive them.”

But I don’t think His blessings are reserved just for eternity. Malachi was speaking of the present, and so was Proverbs 3:10: “Your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.” These blessings are for today.

So why would we question whether we are “required” to tithe? Why wouldn’t we want to? It all belongs to God. And if we give to Him, He gives back to us in so many ways we can’t even measure it. As Matthew Henry says in his commentary on this passage, “God has blessings ready for us, but through the weakness of our faith and the narrowness of our desires, we have not room to receive them.”

More than merely providing for workers, tithing our finances to God teaches us to trust Him. It reminds us that everything we have has come from Him and belongs to Him. It keeps us focused on the Lord. And then, when we have needs, we will go to Him first and seek His help and provision. We won’t look to ourselves or to others to provide for us, but to Him. And as He responds to our prayers and helps us, it will grow our faith and trust in Him because He will prove Himself faithful.

As we begin this new year, let us hold everything God has given us loosely. Let us offer back to Him all that He has given us. For He loves us so much that He did not withhold His only Son. He gave us Jesus, who purchased our salvation by dying on the cross for our sins. How can we withhold anything from Him?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You would give us faith to trust in You. Help us to trust You in all areas of our lives, including our finances. Everything that we have has come from You and belongs to You. Please use it to Your glory. We trust You because You are a good Father and You have proven Your love for us by sending us Jesus, who gave Himself for us. Help us to hold all that You’ve given us loosely so it can be used by You. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.