I grew up in the mid “1900’s”!  Yes, seems ancient when we say it, right?  I was in upper elementary school when our church dedicated themselves to a building project that would be beyond their means as a congregation.  But they felt God’s leading and timing to move our growing congregation from their current rented space to building their own space. This congregation tithed faithfully on purpose for God’s purpose and plan.

Our church people didn’t know all the details, as it was obvious by all the discussions that they did know God was leading and trusted in His plan to move forward.  But the tithes and offerings beyond their tithes just wouldn’t be enough to buy the land and begin to build—at least “on paper”.  Other forms of revenue were sought and miraculous plans of finance began to happen as they trusted in God.  As a fifth grader, I was impressed by their faith—all the kids were!  I saw my faith and resolve to be a part of this grow within me as a young believer!

One Sunday, our passionate pastor gave ALL ages in the congregation a new challenge.  “I’m going to give each of you one dollar to invest in your own project and ask that you trust God with the results.  Bring what you make as an offering to the Lord to help build His new sanctuary where He will be praised and the lost will find salvation.”  I was ALL in!  Most were all in!  We lined up to receive our dollar then we prayed at the altar asking God to lead each one.  Later mom and dad talked about what they would do.  As I stared at the dollar bill in my hand; my mom suggested that she could teach me how to make fudge to sell.  Perfect!  We went to the store, bought all the ingredients needed, to make our first batch.  (In the 1900’s a dollar went a long way!) 

I remember this as if it were yesterday.  When the first batch of fudge cooled, I individually wrap the cut squares and put them in my lunch box.  I took the pieces to school and opened my “fudge store” before school began for the day.  I sold out in just minutes.  Two days later, I invested in more ingredients, made, and wrapped the fudge and sold it all the next day.  Who can resist fresh fudge? Apparently, nobody!  My dollar turned into one hundred dollars for the building fund offering.  That might not sound like much today; but back then is was significant and  began a journey of building my rock solid faith in God who provides and loves a cheerful giver who is grateful for all He has provided.

In our passage today, Aaron’s job description is made clear by our God!  God spoke expressly to Aaron making it clear that it was the responsibility of the priests to minister in the tabernacle and protect it from defilement, and it was the responsibility of the Levites to assist the priests in their tabernacle ministry.  God described Aaron’s work as a gift from Him!  Camp on that idea for a moment.  

The Body of Christ who had the faith of mustard seeds; praised God a few years later in a new building dedicated to God and His holy work of reconciling people to Him. Tithing on purpose for God’s purpose was embedded in the DNA of this growing congregation.  The care and management of the building was taken care of by our tithing and offerings.  The pastor’s salary was enough for him to be full time in service. Needs of the people within and those from the streets were helped along with offerings for others in the service of the Lord.  Our pastor also tithed from his salary as an example to the people in his care.  Our church was not perfect, no church of imperfect people is, but they were faith-filled witnesses to what God can do when we trust and obey His leading and affected all other areas of our lives!

God’s people would tithe the “first fruits” of their possessions. The Levites would tithe from what was given to them an offering to God for the work of the tabernacle. This is God’s plan of tithing on purpose for purpose. 

Numbers 18 

Duties of Priests and Levites

The Lord said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your family are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses connected with the priesthood. ² Bring your fellow Levites from your ancestral tribe to join you and assist you when you and your sons minister before the tent of the covenant law. ³ They are to be responsible to you and are to perform all the duties of the tent, but they must not go near the furnishings of the sanctuary or the altar. Otherwise both they and you will die. ⁴ They are to join you and be responsible for the care of the tent of meeting—all the work at the tent—and no one else may come near where you are.

⁵ “You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that my wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. ⁶ I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the tent of meeting. ⁷ But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death.”

Offerings for Priests and Levites

⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, “I myself have put you in charge of the offerings presented to me; all the holy offerings the Israelites give me I give to you and your sons as your portion, your perpetual share. ⁹ You are to have the part of the most holy offerings that is kept from the fire. From all the gifts they bring me as most holy offerings, whether grain or sin or guilt offerings, that part belongs to you and your sons. ¹⁰ Eat it as something most holy; every male shall eat it. You must regard it as holy.

¹¹ “This also is yours: whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the wave offerings of the Israelites. I give this to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

¹² “I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their harvest. ¹³ All the land’s firstfruits that they bring to the Lord will be yours. Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.

¹⁴ “Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord is yours. ¹⁵ The first offspring of every womb, both human and animal, that is offered to the Lord is yours. But you must redeem every firstborn son and every firstborn male of unclean animals. ¹⁶ When they are a month old, you must redeem them at the redemption price set at five shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs.

¹⁷ “But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow, a sheep or a goat; they are holy. Splash their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁸ Their meat is to be yours, just as the breast of the wave offering and the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹ Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and your sons and daughters as your perpetual share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.”

²⁰ The Lord said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites.

²¹ “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. ²² From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. ²³ It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. ²⁴ Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. ²⁸ In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’

³⁰ “Say to the Levites: ‘When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. ³¹ You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the tent of meeting. ³² By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.’”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Where we worship God must be consider holy and acceptable to God and must be cared for with respect to God.  Jesus, His Son, is now the Head of the Body of Christ called church.  We tithe and give offerings beyond our tithes on purpose for God’s purpose so others will know, believe and be saved for eternity.  “Who we really are, what is most important to us, with who we believe in faith are most often revealed in our check ledgers.”  (Said a pastor once who got my attention!) 

God’s plan of tithing takes care of the all needs of His people who He has appointed, anointed, dedicated, and consecrated for His work of rescue of those lost in the darkness of sin.  God held Aaron and his sons responsible for offenses committed against the sanctuary and the priesthood.  God’s “gift” to Aaron was to be the leader of priests and came with great responsibilities.   Everything rises or falls with leadership, and Aaron was the leader of the priestly family. He was accountable to God for what happened at the sanctuary.  Food offerings fed the priests family.  However, whoever in the priestly family ate of the sacrifices given to God had to be ceremonially clean and treat the food with reverence, because it had been sanctified by being presented to God.

The Levites were given the tithes which the people brought to God’s sanctuary, for 10 percent of the produce belonged to the Lord. The Levites in turn were to take a tithe of what they received, offer it to the Lord, and give it to the high priest.  The principle of tithing on purpose for God’s purpose here is clear and is emphasized often in Scripture: Those who serve the Lord and His people should be supported from the material blessings God gives His people. “The laborer is worthy of his wages,” said Jesus. See Luke 10:7; Matthew 10:10). Paul taught the new churches; “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel”, 1 Cor. 9:14. Paul further explained this principle in Galatians 6:6–10; Philippians 4:10–19; and 1 Timothy 5:17-18.  God expected the Levites to tithe what they received and share it with the high priest.  Some paid workers today feel that this is not necessary that they tithe; “for all I have belongs to the Lord and all I do is for Him.” But their thinking doesn’t make sense. The Levites were serving God fulltime, yet they tithed what they received. Malachi, the prophet of God, will later tell God’s people of the consequences of “robbing God” in their lack of obedience to give!  (Malachi 3)

“Tithing isn’t necessarily a legalistic practice, for Abraham and Jacob tithed centuries before the law was given (Gen. 14:20; 28:22). If the Israelites under the old covenant could give 10 percent of their income (produce) to the Lord, can Christians under the new covenant do less? For us, tithing is just the beginning! If we grasp the meaning of 2 Corinthians 8–9, we’ll practice “grace giving” and go far beyond the tithe.”—Warren Wiersbe, Wiersbe Study Bible

Making fudge, and later Christmas wreathes to sell in the neighborhood, taught me valuable life lessons about “giving unto the Lord.”  ALL the profits of this Dollar Bill project were given and laid on the altar by each participant.  There were so many God’s blessings poured out over His church; that there is not enough time to tell of them all!  But know this:  God loves to give and loves a cheerful giver by His example!

Lord,

Thank you for my parents, grandparents, mentors, and other leaders who loved and followed you in front of me!  I am blessed to have see your glory at work then and even more blessed to see your glory at work in your church now!  To you be the glory! 

In Jesus Name, Amen

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
All your money, talents, time, and love;
Consecrate them all upon the altar,
While your Savior from above speaks sweetly,

Trust Me, try Me, prove Me, saith the Lord of hosts, and see
If a blessing, unmeasured blessing,
I will not pour out on thee.