A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 28-30 (Part 2)

Well, I jumped the gun and published Numbers 32 before I finished with Numbers 28 & 30 😕. So here is part 2 of those chapters 

A wife was protected from making a rash vow by the headship of her husband. “But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took…and the LORD will release her.” In those days, women were beholden to their husbands. This is not to say that these women were always innocent, given that these commands were given while the people were still encamped in Moab, and were still threatened with deception by the Moabites (which may have also been taught them by the Moabites), and were learning all kinds of ways of deception. So they could have made a vow, the husbands could conceal this vow, then when the time came for the woman to make good on her vow, her husband could say “This is the first I’ve heard of it. I override her vow”. This would not be acceptable to God. John Calvin writes:

 

For many deceptions might have thus arisen; since it is usual with many when they wish to gratify their wives, to conceal their opinion for the time, but, when the period of actual performance arrives, to elude what may have been promised. But unless they use their privilege in proper time, God would have them bear the punishment of their servile indulgence and dissimulation; but because women are often urged to deceive by their levity and inconstancy, this danger is also anticipated. 

This is not to say that all women are deceitful, or that they make vows that they do not intend to perform. But this is to say that this type of deception was anticipated by God, and He would not hold guiltless those who tried to thus deceive. Not to say that husbands could not attempt to deceive. “13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.” Some husbands could hold their peace when their wives made a vow, but if he does not overrule her on the day she made a vow, but lingers along for a time, the vow stands. And what would happen if she did not complete what she had vowed? Then the husband, being her head, would bear the punishment that she should have received. “But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.” This caveat not only protected the woman, but laid the onus of fulfilling that vow onto the husband. 

The regulations became a little more tricky when the woman was a widow. 9 “Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10 If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her.” If any woman made a vow, that vow still stood even after the death of her husband, if that husband held his peace when she made the oath, she was still bound by that oath. She could not, should she remarry, cast off the vow she vowed simply because she now had a new husband. If she made a vow while still married to her first husband, and that husband did not overrule her, then she was still bound by that vow. 

So what happened if someone did not fulfill their vow? Was there a penalty that could be paid or a sacrifice given? Yes. Leviticus 5:1, 4-7, 13—1 “If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath, and is a witness, whether he has seen or known of the matter—if he does not tell it, he bears guilt…4 Or if a person swears, speaking thoughtlessly with his lips to do evil or to do good, whatever it is that a man may pronounce by an oath, and he is unaware of it—when he realizes it, then he shall be guilty in any of these matters. 5 And it shall be, when he is guilty in any of these matters, that he shall confess that he has sinned in that thing; 6 and he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin. 7 If he is not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring to the LORD, for his trespass which he has committed, two turtledoves or two young pigeons: one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering…13 The priest shall make atonement for him, for his sin that he has committed in any of these matters; and it shall be forgiven him.” 

Today, when someone commits a crime, and a person with that group consents to the commission of that crime (either verbally or silently), they are as guilty as the one committing that crime. Depending on their role they can be charged as either an accessory or as an accomplice. I won’t go into all the details of what each of these entail. Suffice it to say that even if they do not participate in the crime, but do not tell of the crime to the proper authorities, they can be charged, convicted and sentenced just as if they themselves had committed the crime. Likewise, if a person heard an oath being made, and the person making the vow reneged on that vow, and they say nothing, they are as guilty as the person making the oath, and they would bear the same guilt as the oath-breaker. King Zedekiah of Judah is a good example of this concept. We read of him in 2^nd Chronicles 36, and he was the last king in Judah before King Nebuchadnezzar took him and the people captive to Babylon. What did he do that was so horrendous that would God allow the people to be taken captive, the city spoiled and the temple burned? 2nd Chronicles 36:12-13—12 He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. Zedekiah was installed as king by Nebuchadnezzar, after many battles between Babylon and Egypt, with Babylon finally prevailing. He was not a rightful king for Judah. Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to make a vow to God, and what did Zedekiah do? He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD God of Israel. He reneged on that vow. Does the fact that Zedekiah made the vow under duress change the fact that he vowed to YHVH? No. So he should have completed that vow. But he didn’t. In addition, he allowed the house of God to be defiled, ignored and humiliated those sent by God to turn his heart to God, and filled up the measure of his sin against God, until God had no choice but to allow the nation of Judah to fall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar for 70 years. 

Today, we would do well to avoid making vows we don’t intend to fulfill. Ecclesiastes 5:4-6—4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed—5 Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. 6 Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? Ever hear someone says “I swear to God, if you…”? They have just taken a vow to God. This is another example of the Third Commandment, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). Be careful when you invoke the name of YHVH in swearing or making an oath. The apostle Paul was not rash with the name of God, but he invoked it while making a case that was true. Romans 1:9—For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. 1st Thessalonians 2:5—For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. The other writers of Scripture also noted that God is a faithful witness. 1st John 5:8-10—8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. The examples give credence to another of the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:16—“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Jesus gave us some good advice about making oaths in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:33-37—33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” When you make a vow, do not go beyond what you can fulfill, lest you become a liar in the eyes of God. If you take an oath to perform more than you can bear—or if your oath is dependent upon someone else fulfilling it—you can become guilty before God (Proverbs 6:1-2). There is One who will swear and will always fulfill. There is One who will always and forever be a true and faithful witness. There is One who will always come through when He makes a promise.

 

Standing on the promises that cannot fail/When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,

By the living Word of God I shall prevail/Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ, the Lord/Bound to him eternally by love's strong cord,

Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword/Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall/List'ning ev'ry moment to the Spirit's call,

Resting in my Savior as my all in all/Standing on the promises of God.

(“Standing on the Promises” by Russell Kelso Carter)

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Finishing Leviticus (Leviticus 27)

Finally, chapter 27. This chapter is rather anticlimactic. It deals mostly with how to affix a valuation to people, or property or animals, and how much it would cost to redeem these things. When we think about sports, and how much money some of the players make, it boggles the mind. Read about some of the contracts these guys are making, how many millions they get—even if they're a second-string bench warmer. And yet those whose careers make more of a difference in our lives every day—these people, many times, struggle just to make what they're worth. But under the Law, every person, in various age ranges, was valued the same. You didn’t look at one 30-year-old man and say, “He’s worth about 30 shekels” and then look at another and say, “Eh, I’ll give you a couple shekels for him.” The price of redeeming one man was the same as another—that valuation did, however, vary by age. We will be using the NASB for our text.

Leviticus 27:1-8 (NASB)—1 Again, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “2 Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man makes a difficult vow, he shall be valued according to your valuation of persons belonging to the LORD. 3 If your valuation is of the male from twenty years even to sixty years old, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 4 Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If it be from five years even to twenty years old then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels and for the female ten shekels. 6 But if they are from a month even up to five years old, then your valuation shall be five shekels of silver for the male, and for the female your valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 If they are from sixty years old and upward, if it is a male, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 8 But if he is poorer than your valuation, then he shall be placed before the priest and the priest shall value him; according to the means of the one who vowed, the priest shall value him.’”

Those who were between the ages of twenty and sixty were assigned a higher valuation for one simple reason—they could work, either in the field, or tending herds or flocks, or weaving. From five years old to twenty, they were valued slightly less because they only had potential. They could be trained. From one month old to five years old—children in this range don’t really do a whole lot, other than eat and drool and poop and pull their sisters hair, so they’re valued even less. And anybody from sixty years and older, their days of working in the field (or the mill, or the loom) were pretty much behind them—but they could still teach the younger folks. This is a principle that we find even in the New Testament, in the letter Paul wrote to Timothy, telling him how to instruct the older widows. 1st Timothy 5:1-10 (NASB)—1 Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, 2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.3 Honor widows who are widows indeed…5 Now she who is a widow indeed and who has been left alone, has fixed her hope on God and continues in entreaties and prayers night and day…9 A widow is to be put on the list only if she is not less than sixty years old, having been the wife of one man, 10 having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work. We should not need Social Security or other government programs—at least not for the elderly in the church. They should be taken care of by their family and/or the church. And even the Law stated that the elderly still had some value.

Now what is the reason for this list of valuations? In verse 2, God talks about a man who has made a “difficult vow”. This is probably referring to one of the Peace Offerings found in chapters 3 and 6. Leviticus 7:16—“‘16 But if the sacrifice of his [peace] offering is a vow…’” Just to kind of refresh our memory, there were two different types of “vows” one could make—there was a vow of devotion (the vow of abstinence [the [קָרְבָּן, qorban]), and the vow of destruction [the [חֵרֶם, cherem, or Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). The “vow of devotion” was basically a promise the person makes to God. “If God delivers me through this, I will offer Him the best of my herd.” We used the example of Jacob in Genesis 28:20-21—20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God." If someone made a “vow of devotion” קָרְבָּן (qorban), it simply meant that the person had set some possession and had dedicated it to the use of the temple. They may have held the object in their physical possession—but it belonged to God. The Nazirite vow was a type of קָרְבָּן (qorban). The “vow of destruction” (Hebrew [חֵרֶם, cherem], Greek [ἀνάθεμα, anathema]). We read about things being declared חֵרֶם (cherem) in Joshua 6. The things dedicated to חֵרֶם (cherem) were, of course, those things in the city of Jericho that the LORD commanded them to destroy. We’ll talk more about that when we get to the end of this chapter.

So what would happen was this: the person would make the vow; they would find it difficult to fulfill that vow; they would need to be released from that vow. Which makes it pretty clear that we should be really careful about making vows (see Joshua chapter 9). Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (NASB)—4 When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. But if you do make that vow you can't pay, you can be redeemed. You can either pay the valuation based on your age, or, if you can't afford that, the priest will judge and put a price on you, so that you may thus fulfill that vow.

Leviticus 27:9-10 (NASB)—“‘9 Now if it is an animal of the kind which men can present as an offering to the LORD, any such that one gives to the LORD shall be holy. 10 He shall not replace it or exchange it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good; or if he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.’” Once you offer your animal for sacrifice, it belonged to the priest. Period, end of story. If you vowed the next ox to be born to YHVH, and it is born with some kind of defect or blemish—perhaps it has a short leg or some scaly patch of skin—you do not go to the priest and say, “Look, I know I vowed this ox to the LORD, but as you can see it’s not fit for God’s use. Here, let me give you this better one from my herd.” You don’t do that. If that one is not fit, and you want to offer a better specimen, then guess what—both the good one and the bad one belonged to God. The good one was used for sacrifice; the bad one went to the family of the priest. “If he does exchange animal for animal, then both it and its substitute shall become holy.” John Gill—“Whatsoever was devoted to sacred use was never to be put to any profane one; and this was also to teach men not to be hasty and fickle in such things, but to consider well what they did, and abide by it.” Or, as Paul warned Timothy, Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin (1st Timothy 5:22 (NASB)).

Leviticus 27:11-13 (NASB)—“‘11 If, however, it is any unclean animal of the kind which men do not present as an offering to the LORD, then he shall place the animal before the priest. 12 The priest shall value it as either good or bad; as you, the priest, value it, so it shall be. 13 But if he should ever wish to redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth of it to your valuation.’” That is, if you wanted to give the priest a donkey for him to use—perhaps to use for travel, or some other use outside of the sanctuary—if you wanted to buy it back, the priest had to put a value on it, add 20%, and then you could buy it back. “The priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad, should rather be rendered, the priest shall estimate it between good and bad, that is, at a moderate price, as though it were neither very good nor very bad. And so in the next verse” (Spence and Exell, The Pulpit Commentary).

Leviticus 27:14-25 (NASB)—“‘14 Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 Yet if the one who consecrates it should wish to redeem his house, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may be his. 16 Again, if a man consecrates to the LORD part of the fields of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it: a homer of barley seed at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he consecrates his field as of the year of jubilee, according to your valuation it shall stand. 18 If he consecrates his field after the jubilee, however, then the priest shall calculate the price for him proportionate to the years that are left until the year of jubilee; and it shall be deducted from your valuation. 19 If the one who consecrates it should ever wish to redeem the field, then he shall add one-fifth of your valuation price to it, so that it may pass to him. 20 Yet if he will not redeem the field, but has sold the field to another man, it may no longer be redeemed; 21 and when it reverts in the jubilee, the field shall be holy to the LORD, like a field set apart; it shall be for the priest as his property. 22 Or if he consecrates to the LORD a field which he has bought, which is not a part of the field of his own property, 23 then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of your valuation up to the year of jubilee; and he shall on that day give your valuation as holy to the LORD. 24 In the year of jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom he bought it, to whom the possession of the land belongs. 25 Every valuation of yours, moreover, shall be after the shekel of the sanctuary. The shekel shall be twenty gerahs.”

This section doesn't really need much commentary; we have already discussed either all that is covered here, or at least the principle behind these words. Basically, if you wanted to buy back what you had dedicated to YHVH, you had to add 20% to the price. The valuations were prorated based on the number of years until Jubilee. If you don’t redeem it by the Year of Jubilee, or you sell it to another man, you don’t get it back. And the shekel that was to be used, the shekel of the sanctuary, was twenty gerahs. “What’s a gerah”? A gerah was equivalent in weight to about 16 coffee beans. If you want to do a home study on your own and weigh them yourself, feel free.

Leviticus 27:26-27 (NASB)—“‘26 However, a firstborn among animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the LORD, no man may consecrate it; whether ox or sheep, it is the LORD's. 27 But if it is among the unclean animals, then he shall redeem it according to your valuation and add to it one-fifth of it; and if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation.’” Again, simple. The firstborn among any animal that could be sacrificed to YHVH could not be redeemed. On the night of the first Passover, Exodus 13:1-2 (NASB)—1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me." Now, if you did not want to redeem that firstborn of unclean animals, and you couldn’t find a buyer for it, God gave instructions for just such a situation in Exodus 13:11-13 (NASB)—“11 Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. 13 But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.” The firstborn belonged to God, period, paragraph, end of story. This concept of the firstborn belonging to God is echoed in Christ. Colossians 1:15 (NASB)—He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 1st Corinthians 3:23 (NASB)—You belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. Now, it’s true that Christ belonged to God long before He became flesh and made His tabernacle among men. And He has been given the preeminence as the Firstborn of God because God has made us brothers and sisters of Christ. Romans 8:29 (NASB)—For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.

Leviticus 27:28-29 (NASB)—“‘28 Nevertheless, anything which a man sets apart to the LORD out of all that he has, of man or animal or of the fields of his own property, shall not be sold or redeemed. Anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the LORD. 29 No one who may have been set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.’” This would be talking about the sacrifice of a Peace Offering—specifically, a Peace Offering of a vow, and even more specifically, the Peace Offering of a vow of destruction, or חֵרֶם (cherem) (Greek ἀνάθεμα, anathema). Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and ask, “But, does this mean that Yitzhak could offer his servant as a חֵרֶם (cherem) and that servant would be put to death?” No, that is NOT what this means. The חֵרֶם (cherem) was not to be used in that manner. (Jephthah learned that lesson the hard way in Judges 11). Only God could set someone aside for destruction. And He did. Joshua 6:17-18 (KJV)—“17 And the city shall be accursed (חֵרֶם [cherem]), even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD…18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing (חֵרֶם [cherem]), lest ye make yourselves accursed (חָרַם [cherem]), when ye take of the accursed thing (חֵרֶם [cherem]), and make the camp of Israel a curse (חֵרֶם [cherem]), and trouble it.” Nothing that God had put under the ban (חֵרֶם [cherem]) could be redeemed. It had to be destroyed. Anything devoted to destruction for the glory of God was to be destroyed. We have already studied this in detail when we looked at chapter 3 and the Peace Offering, so if you want to read more about it, you can do so there.

And finally, Leviticus 27:30-34 (NASB)—“‘30 Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. 32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. 33 He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34 These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai. What is one of the most controversial subjects in the church? The tithe. I'm gonna say it from the outset; get it out of the way so you know where I'm coming from. Here goes: the church, under the new covenant (Hebrews 8:6-13) is not—not—bound by any 10% tithe. But what do we always hear from pulpits of those churches that teach that the church, even though not under the Law is under the tithe? “You're robbing God!” And to whom do they run for their refuge? Malachi. Specifically Malachi 3:8—“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.” And they read that verse and they declare, “SEE!!”—and they speak in all capital letters—“SEE!! MALACHI SAYS YOU'RE ROBBING GOD IF YOU DON’T TITHE!!” And they have taken that verse out of context in order to prop up their flawed doctrine. If they were to read that verse in its proper context, they would (if they were so convicted) cease to teach the “give your 10% or God will curse you” tithe.

In fact, next time someone asks you, “Do you believe in the tithe?” you should ask them this simple question—“Which tithe?” And they will look at you like you’ve got three eyeballs. “Well, what do you mean ‘which tithe’? The 10% tithe!” And when you ask them to show you, from the Scripture, where it says that the church, under the new covenant, is bound neck and heel to give 10% of their income to the preacher, they may drag you to Hebrews 7, where the writer talks about Abram tithing to Melchizedek. And then you ask them, “What did Abram tithe from?” And they will once again look at you like you have three eyeballs. Then you elaborate and ask, “Did he tithe, one time, from the spoils of war—or did he tithe from everything he made for the rest of his life?” Of course he did not give Melchizedek 10% of everything he ever made for the rest of his life. It was a one-time deal. But then, they will pull out (what they think is) their trump card, and say, “Aha! But we must tithe because the tithe was in force before the Law!” Really. So Abram was under compulsion to give Melchizedek 10% of the spoils of war? Let’s think about this a second. If the Law was not in place, how could Abram be under compulsion to give Melchizedek the tithe? And, one more way to answer this last objection—ask them another question: was the Sabbath in place before the Law? If they say “Yes,” then ask them if they keep the Sabbath. If they don’t, then ask them “Well, the Sabbath was in place before the Law, but you don’t keep the Sabbath. And yet the tithe, which existed before the Law, you place around people’s necks like a millstone?”

I hate to say “We’ll talk more about the tithe when we get to it”—but I have to. Because under the Law there were actually three tithes (the Malachi Tithe® was actually that which was set aside for the widows and orphans, and you actually ate one of the other tithes), and they are all in the book of Deuteronomy, so you'll have to wait on that. But before we leave this topic, let me say this—should we, the church, be giving? Absolutely. Do we do it because we are under compulsion to do so? Absolutely—NOT. 2nd Corinthians 9:6-7 (NKJV)—6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Was the tithe of necessity to the Israelite? Yes. So we are to give, not of necessity, then are we bound, by Law, to the tithe? No. If you want to read an excellent treatment of the subject of tithing, read Jim McClarty’s book “A Guide to New Covenant Giving” (You can read the free PDF at http://www.salvationbygrace.org/uc/sub/docs/grace_giving.pdf )

One more thing: We are taught to tithe off the top. And to make sure it’s the very best. But what was it that belonged to God? Leviticus 27:32-33—“32 For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD. 33 He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad.” You simply hold out a rod, have your animals file underneath it one at a time, and count as they pass under the rod. And every tenth animal that passed under that rod belonged to God, and therefore went to the priests and Levites. And you don’t check it to see if it had a blemish. You simply count it, and hand it over. This was God’s way of saying “Everything belongs to Me. The good, the bad—it’s all mine. And I will do with it as I please.” The fact that God commanded they not be concerned whether it was good or bad served a purpose, however. Whenever the priests and Levites were in a sinful state, God could very easily blight the herds and flocks, and give the blighted animals the priests’ and Levites’ portions.

So that concludes our study of the book of Leviticus. We will now, naturally, move directly on to the book of Numbers, which is more of a narrative, although there are many theological implications and applications which we will glean from the texts. I hope you have enjoyed this study, and that you will enjoy Numbers.