YHWH gave the Torah in such a way that it could be applied in all situations and times. One of the ways He did that was to tell us that some of the commands apply ‘in all our generations’ (i.e., no matter where we live), while other commands only apply when we live in of the Land of Israel. For example, Deuteronomy 12 gives us commands that only apply when we live “in the land which YHWH Elohim of your fathers is giving you to possess.”

 

 

While we should always want to give to YHWH, He wants us to do this differently when we live in the Land. In verse seven, YHWH tells us that when we live in the Land we should seek the place He has chosen (which we show elsewhere is Jerusalem), and there take all of our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, our tithes, our heave offerings, our freewill offerings, and our first-born offerings; and there we should rejoice in Him.

 

 

There are many things to notice about this passage. First, the reference to ‘tithes’ here is plural (מַעְשְׂרֹתֵיכֶם). As this study progresses we will see that in most years there are two tithes. The first is to support the priests while the second pays for the three annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem. However, two years in seven there is also a third tithe, which goes to support the poor, the widow and the orphan in Israel. I will talk about the second and third tithes in the next two chapters, but in this chapter we will try to focus on the First Levitical Tithe. This will require some sorting on our parts, as YHWH gives the commands all together (in a chunk).

 

The reason YHWH specifies one single place for all of the tithes and offerings is so that the priesthood will have just one single set-apart financial system. Having one purse forces YHWH’s servants to work together. Such cooperation is impossible under the profit-driven ‘book sales’ model of support presently employed by most preachers in Ephraim.

 

We need to understand the difference between the three tithes and the rest of the things YHWH wants us to joyfully give Him (i.e., gifts, offerings, and sacrifices). The three tithes come off the top of any increase He gives us in a year, before any sacrifices, offerings or gifts are taken out. Further, since YHWH commanded the tithe long before the ten-percent flat tax of First Samuel Eight was given, when we live in the land the tithes are reckoned ahead of the tax (i.e., on the gross).

 

The tithes are also qualitatively different than sacrifices, gifts, offerings and vows. With the exception of the freewill offering, sacrifices, gifts and offerings had to be perfect, and without blemish. The only offering that was allowed to have an imperfection of any kind was the freewill offering.

 

In contrast to this, the three tithes are just simple tenth-parts of whatever increase YHWH gives us in a year, selected at random, no matter whether it is male or female, healthy or not, and blemished or not.

 

 

A tithe is not a tenth of all we own, but a tenth of all that YHWH gives us each year. For example, verse 32 says that which “passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be set-apart to YHWH.” Maimonides (Rambam) says this was done by shutting up all of the newborn animals in a pen with a narrow gate, and then placing the mother outside of it. The owner then stood over the gate with a rod dipped in red ochre or in vermilion (as an ink), and then he marked the tenth animal as it came out. This explanation is problematic in that most years he would have to touch two animals in ten, and in the Third Tithe years he would have to touch three animals in ten. However, this anecdote serves to illustrate the point. The tithe was just a simple tenth of all the increase YHWH gave one in a year, irrespective of whether the animals were male or female, blemished or not, and healthy or not.

 

For fruits and vegetables, the tithe is just every tenth piece of fruit or produce selected in a similarly random fashion. However this random selection is made, that which is selected is then set apart unto YHWH (verse 30). Verse 31 tells us that if we want to redeem any part of these tithes of our produce that we must “add one-fifth to it.” Scholars differ as to whether this means we must add a fifth to that we want to exchange, or whether it means we must add a fifth to the whole tithe. However, verse 33 tells us that we may not redeem any part of an animal tithe; and that if we try to redeem an animal we lose both the animal we wanted to keep, as well as the one we want to give in its place.

 

It is important to approach these things with the right heart attitude. YHWH wants us to be eager and happy to do all we can to expand His Son’s kingdom. YHWH is a Spirit, and the Spirit has no need of our tithes, or even of us. He does not need anything at all; but what He wants is to give us an opportunity to develop a heart that is eager to do all it can to help other people come to the truth in His Son. Many people say that they have this right heart attitude, but then they do not want to give of their time, or their money, or their life’s energies. How does YHWH look at this?

 

Verse 30 (above) tells us that the tithe is set apart to YHWH. In other words, It belongs to Him. If we are not happy to give back to Him these tenths of all that He gives us, then this indicates a heart condition that is not eager to please Him. YHWH knows.

 

The tithe also has prophetic implications. YHWH tells us that when the Ingathering takes place we too shall pass under His rod; and that no one whose heart is against Him will be allowed to come back to His land.

 

 

If we realize that YHWH sits outside of time, and that prophecy is typically given in the past tense (and is only put in the future tense for ease of understanding in English), then we should be able to see that most of YHWH’s people are rebelling against Him, and will continue to rebel against Him. This will cause Him to bring about events so cataclysmic that they will forever alter His people’s attitudes; and if they refuse to submit to His covenant even then, they will perish. Wouldn’t it be wiser to avoid all of the pain, by joyfully obeying His covenant now?

 

In Leviticus 27:30 (above) we saw that the tithe is set apart unto YHWH. It is His. This is why YHWH tells us that all those who do not pay their tithes are not just robbing the priests and the poor: they are robbing Him.

 

 

In Deuteronomy 12:19, YHWH tells us to “take heed” not to forsake the Levite as long as we live in the land.

 

 

The reason for this is simply that the priests need some means of supporting their families while they work for YHWH Elohim full time; and the tithe is the means that YHWH established.  It is part of His covenant.

 

Josephus’s writings are not Scripture, but Josephus was a highly educated High Priest who lived just after Yeshua’s ministry ended. He confessed Yeshua as the Messiah. His writings occasionally use non-Scriptural language due to the fact that they were written for a Roman patron, but he does give us some superb summations of the Torah as he understood it in his time. Josephus tells us that the first of the three tithes was to be given to the Levites for their support, “so they should not want and seek after the necessities of life, and so neglect the Temple.”

 

 

In Hebrew, the word ‘tithe’ is the word “ma’aser” (מַעְשַׂר), and it means simply, ‘a tenth.’

 

 

 

Because Israel was an agricultural society back when the Torah was given, the tithe laws speak of crops. Because of this, some say that the tithe laws only apply to farmers. They then suggest that since they are not farmers, they do not owe tithes. However, this would mean that the farmers would have to support the entire priesthood by themselves, while no one else has to pay anything. This, however, would not be just, and YHWH is not an Elohim of unjustness.

 

Others suggest that when YHWH says we are to tithe of our increase, this refers only to the difference between what we have this year, as compared to what we had last year. However, by this reasoning, if we earn a million dollars this year but we spent a million dollars last year, then we owe no tithes at all. By this reasoning the Levites would not receive anything, and they would essentially be forsaken, which is precisely what Deuteronomy 12:19 (above) prohibits.

 

When we count Ephraim and Manasseh as separate tribes, there were thirteen tribes in Israel. The Levites were therefore roughly one-thirteenth (or some 7.7%) of the overall population. As Josephus mentions, the Levites have to have enough income to support their families, or else they have to abandon the Temple service in order to find some other means of income.

 

In the Torah Government study I show that in addition to serving in the renewed Temple, the Levites also need to be in charge of all public schooling, media, and the courts. This is because Ezekiel tells us that in the Millennium the priesthood will be responsible for teaching YHWH’s people the difference between the set-apart and the profane, and also for rendering decisions in matters of judgment. The only way really to do this is if the Renewed Priesthood is in charge of all public media, the courts, and public education from the time the children are small.

 

 

YHWH tells us to remember what Amaleq did to us when our forefathers were coming out of Egypt: how he met us on the way and attacked our rear ranks, all the stragglers and those who were tired and weary; and he did not fear Elohim.

 

 

YHWH tells us that when we are safe in His land, that we should blot out even the memory of Amaleq from under the heavens. In other words, we must be active in destroying him. Let us realize, then, that Amaleq is not just a people but also a spirit; and this passage gives us a perfect operational definition of the liberal and progressive spirit that has progressively destroyed America. The liberals and progressives do not fear Elohim, and they persistently attack those who are not on their guard. By continually seeking compromise in the schools, in the media and in the courts, Amaleq has slowly but surely overcome the Christian America.

 

The only way to stop Amaleq from wreaking havoc in the land is to place the Levitical Order in charge of all education, all public media, and all courts, so that all teaching and justice shall be in keeping with YHWH’s Instructions. This will effectively ‘head Amaleq off at the pass.’ It will be a huge job to run the media, the courts and all public education, and to do this job right (in addition to running the Temple) will require more than a simple tenth of the gross domestic product. This may be why YHWH told us not just to offer our tithes, but also to offer our gifts, offerings, vows, firstfruits and a Temple Tax. If all of these things are managed carefully and prayerfully they should be enough to fund the Renewed Priesthood in all that is has to do.

 

 

Government and the priesthood should never be called on to do things that the private sector can do for itself. Because the private sector operates under the profit motive it is far more efficient than government can ever be. However, some things cannot be run by profit and loss, but must be handled by those who have nothing to gain (so they can be completely impartial).  This is one of the many things YHWH provides for when He says that the Levites are not to have an ‘inheritance’ in the land. Only by having no vested (i.e., monetary) interest in the decisions their decisions be truly fair and impartial, and for the betterment of all parties; and any violation of that is a violation of their duty unto Elohim (and deserves death). Continuing on in Numbers 18:

 

 

In the last chapter we saw that the Levites were given the priesthood as a reward for opposing all those who were unrestrained, even when it was their own sons and relations. That is, YHWH gave the priesthood to the Levites because they placed loyalty to Him over their loyalties to their own flesh and blood, just as Avraham had done before them. Yet in verse 23 we see that one of the duties of their office is that they must “bear their iniquity.” What does this mean?

 

 

What does it mean that the Levites must “bear their iniquity”? And why does Leviticus 10:17 tell us that the priesthood was supposed to eat sin offerings in a set apart place, “to bear the guilt of the congregation”?

 

 

The Levitical Priesthood was given as a prophetic foreshadowing of the priesthood in heaven, in which Yeshua is our High Priest forever, according to the Order of Melchizedek. Bearing that in mind, can we understand what it meant for Yeshua to “bear the guilt of the congregation”?

 

 

Shaul was not a Levitical priest but a Melchizedekian one: yet can we imagine how he ‘bore the guilt of the congregation’ daily in his efforts to turn the hearts of YHWH’s people back to Him?

 

 

Being a priest is so much more than just leading the Torah reading, or preparing a message for Shabbat: it is doing whatever it takes to stand in the gap for YHWH’s people Israel, opposing the unrestrained, and leading them back into paths of righteousness however it has to be done, and no matter the personal cost. It means laying down one’s own life for the sheep, no matter if they ever really understand the sacrifice that is being made on their behalf.

 

YHWH our Elohim is a consuming fire, and it is difficult to serve Him. It may be that He allows His service to be difficult just to see who is willing to do it right.

 

 

Just as the lifestyles Yeshua, Moshe, Shemuel and Shaul lived were hard on the health, service in the Temple is also hard on the health. The Levites went barefoot, even in winter snow. Damage from cold was surely not uncommon. Further, the temple diet itself is unhealthy. While some animal protein is good for the body, the amount of meat the Levitical Priesthood had to eat during a typical tour of service went far beyond what is healthy. That, coupled with the low-fiber bread (made of fine flour) leads to a medical condition known as ‘meat toxicity.’ Imagine eating nothing but meat and low-fiber bread fried in oil (with very few greens) for a month or more at a time.

 

Eating the animal sacrifices in a set-apart place was not the ‘barbecue happy meal’ or ‘set apart picnic’ that some people might think. Levitical life in the temple was regimented, and the loss of life was symbolic of the sins that the people had committed. Eating the meat was symbolic of atoning for the sins of the people, and helping them bear their guilt. Perhaps few took the calling with as much seriousness as Yeshua, Moshe, Shemuel and Shaul, but that is nonetheless the calling of any servant of the Most High.

 

To be complete we should note that the Levites also tithed to the Aharonic Priesthood.

 

 

Again, just like the people gave their tithes not to the Levites but to YHWH (through the Levites), verse 28 tells us that it was not really that the Levites tithed to the Aharonic priesthood, but that they tithed to YHWH (through the Aharonic priesthood).

 

The Melchizedekian Tithe is very similar to the First Levitical Tithe, except that the temple or tabernacle is not required. Above all, the principle is that YHWH is looking to see not who performs the specifics of His covenant as a ‘checklist to salvation’, but who are the few who joyfully do all they can, with their time, their money and with their life’s energies, to help bring more of fallen Adam’s children to the truth in His Son.

 

May we number among them.