In the Hebrew economy one tenth of the income of the people was set apart to support the public worship of God. Thus Moses declared to Israel: “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.”“And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, ... the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.”Leviticus 27:30, 32.
(PP 525.1)
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But the tithing system did not originate with the Hebrews. From the earliest times the Lord claimed a tithe as His, and this claim was recognized and honored. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God. Genesis 14:20. Jacob, when at Bethel, an exile and a wanderer, promised the Lord, “Of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto Thee.”Genesis 28:22. As the Israelites were about to be established as a nation, the law of tithing was reaffirmed as one of the divinely ordained statutes upon obedience to which their prosperity depended.
(PP 525.2)
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The system of tithes and offerings was intended to impress the minds of men with a great truth—that God is the source of every blessing to His creatures, and that to Him man’s gratitude is due for the good gifts of His providence.
(PP 525.3)
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“He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”Acts 17:25. The Lord declares, “Every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.”Psalm 50:10. “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.”Haggai 2:8. And it is God who gives men power to get wealth. Deuteronomy 8:18. As an acknowledgment that all things came from Him, the Lord directed that a portion of His bounty should be returned to Him in gifts and offerings to sustain His worship.
(PP 525.4)
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“The tithe ... is the Lord’s.”(Leviticus 27:30) Here the same form of expression is employed as in the law of the Sabbath. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”Exodus 20:10. God reserved to Himself a specified portion of man’s time and of his means, and no man could, without guilt, appropriate either for his own interests.
(PP 525.5)
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