Who Collects The Tithe And What Are Their Reponsibilities?
This is a very interesting question. Again God is very specific and answers this question in Numbers chapter 18. The short answer to this question is the Levites are the only ones who any authority at all to collect a tithe. In Numbers 18 the tithes going to the Levites and only the Levites is a reccuring command directly from God.
The question becomes very interesting when we look into Numbers 18 to see what God told the Levites they were to do in exchange for collecting the tithes and offerrings. If you have not read Numbers 18 yet please take a moment to read it or listen to it now and compare this to what your church teaches.
Are The Responcibilities For Collecting The Tithe Being Carried Out?
Even though many pastors will tell you that tithing is a matter of obedience, they seem to have forgotten that Numbers Chapter 18 is even in the bible at all. I can only speculate as to why this is, but it seems clear to me that since pastors are no more God than people who are not pastors then they too are subject to being obedient to God.
The New Testament church does have the right to take a collection of offerrings. This is seen in multiple places in the New Testament. I have however not yet found one instance of a command to tithe in the new testament. In order for pastors in the New Testament church to collect a tithe, they need to re-define the terms Levite and Israelite. Doing this may actually be legitimate as the Israelites are the children of God and anyone who accepts Christ as their savior is also a child of God. The Levites are any of these children who take on the responsibilities of "the care of the sanctuary and the altar". The problems start when we dig a little deeper (very little) into Numbers 18.
We could start with how God says that His tithe is to be distributed. Who can do what with this and that is all through the chapter. Remember we are dealing with the modern day pastor's re-defined Israelites and Levites we could focus for a second on who gets paid and how. You can find this starting in verse 25 but I will skip right over the fact that anyone who has been "re-defined" as a Levite is entitled to the share of God's tithe which He has given to them and go to what I believe is the meat of the bigger picture. For now letr's not focus on how they are to get paid but instead focus on why God commanded the Israelites to tithe to the Levites.
Starting at verse 7 God commands that only those He has selected may be priest.
Numbers 18:1-7 (NIV - but use any translation you prefer)
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. 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. 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. 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.
“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. 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. 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.”
You may be asking yourself, "What exactly does that meen?" Well, back in those days the priest's #1 main job was to be a conduit or a liason between the Israelites and God. Some would say that this was their only job. I tend to agree since everything they were commissioned by God to do fell under that description. Relaying God's word, enforcing God's command for pentance, etc., it all falls under the job of liason.
This is where I believe the meat of the issue is for the modern day definition of the tithe. The Levitical priest have been replaced by Jesus. We no longer need a conduit to God. The curtain that no one except the priest were alowed near was split in half, opened and torn down when Christ was crucified and this new access to God for His children was justified when Christ was resserected. There are no Levites in church today. Christ is our Conduit. We have direct access to all 3 parts of the trinity.
Numbers 18:1-7 (NIV - but use any translation you prefer)
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. 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. 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. 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.
“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. 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. 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.”
You may be asking yourself, "What exactly does that meen?" Well, back in those days the priest's #1 main job was to be a conduit or a liason between the Israelites and God. Some would say that this was their only job. I tend to agree since everything they were commissioned by God to do fell under that description. Relaying God's word, enforcing God's command for pentance, etc., it all falls under the job of liason.
This is where I believe the meat of the issue is for the modern day definition of the tithe. The Levitical priest have been replaced by Jesus. We no longer need a conduit to God. The curtain that no one except the priest were alowed near was split in half, opened and torn down when Christ was crucified and this new access to God for His children was justified when Christ was resserected. There are no Levites in church today. Christ is our Conduit. We have direct access to all 3 parts of the trinity.
Let's jump down to verses 21 through 24 and dive into this a little further.
Numbers 18:21-24 (NIV - but use any translation that you prefer)
“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. 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. 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. 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.’”
Once again we see that the tithe was given to the Levites in return for their work as a liason between God and the Israelites. I believe that the underlined portion above about the Levites bearing the responsibility for offences committed against the tent of meeting is were the priest used to transfer the sins of a sinner onto an animal and then sacrifice that animal to God and thus the animal would be paying the debt for the sins. This procedure could only be performed by a Levite priest as he was the liason to the only one who could forgive sin, God. Pastors do not perform this role. Even pastors who will tell you that you are commanded in Levitcus 27 to tithe a tenth of your increases to them will also tell you that you have direct access to God and don't need a liason. Therefore these pastors (who can't show any proof that they are decendants of the tribe of Levi) are not doing what God told them to do in order to collect this tithe. They have no authority or rightfull claim to it. The tithe in Leviticus is payment from God to the Levites for a specific task that pastors themselve will tell you that they do not perform.
Numbers 18:21-24 (NIV - but use any translation that you prefer)
“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. 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. 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. 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.’”
Once again we see that the tithe was given to the Levites in return for their work as a liason between God and the Israelites. I believe that the underlined portion above about the Levites bearing the responsibility for offences committed against the tent of meeting is were the priest used to transfer the sins of a sinner onto an animal and then sacrifice that animal to God and thus the animal would be paying the debt for the sins. This procedure could only be performed by a Levite priest as he was the liason to the only one who could forgive sin, God. Pastors do not perform this role. Even pastors who will tell you that you are commanded in Levitcus 27 to tithe a tenth of your increases to them will also tell you that you have direct access to God and don't need a liason. Therefore these pastors (who can't show any proof that they are decendants of the tribe of Levi) are not doing what God told them to do in order to collect this tithe. They have no authority or rightfull claim to it. The tithe in Leviticus is payment from God to the Levites for a specific task that pastors themselve will tell you that they do not perform.
The Conundrum
Any pastor worth his salt understand that Jesus died for our sins. A pastor should also understand and teach that the only way for a person to be saved to to go before God themselves and accept the gift of salvation through Christ who has paid the penalty of sin for us. If we do this we inherit the right to be children of God. No pastor or any man can go before God for us to get and give us our salvation. Any Pastor who does believe and teach this is not a christian. We can not be saved by using a liason.
The problem is that if a Pastor teaches that we are commanded to tithe a tenth to the church, then he is in fact saying that he is our liason to God, and Jesus was not the Messiah. Even if a pastor does not realize that this is what he is saying, he is still saying it.
The problem is that if a Pastor teaches that we are commanded to tithe a tenth to the church, then he is in fact saying that he is our liason to God, and Jesus was not the Messiah. Even if a pastor does not realize that this is what he is saying, he is still saying it.
Coclusion
I don't know about the church you go to but where I go the pastor absolutely will not transfer my sin to an animal and then sacrifice the animal. Therefore my pastor is not performing the task that God commanded by performed for the authority to collect a tithe.
Since a command to tithe a tenth is pointed out to me in the new testament (it has not been yet) then I will have to conclude that we are not commanded give a Levitical tithe of a tenth since no one has the authority to collect it.
We are however commanded to give to the church regularly and generously. It does cost money to run a church and ministries. What you give is between you and God and you don't need a liason to tell you what that amount is. If you feel that God wants you to give 10% or even 20% then that is between you and God. Just remeber, God provides for you and it is true that you can't outgive God, but God also says that a man who does not use what God gives him to provide for his family is about as low as they come.
Since a command to tithe a tenth is pointed out to me in the new testament (it has not been yet) then I will have to conclude that we are not commanded give a Levitical tithe of a tenth since no one has the authority to collect it.
We are however commanded to give to the church regularly and generously. It does cost money to run a church and ministries. What you give is between you and God and you don't need a liason to tell you what that amount is. If you feel that God wants you to give 10% or even 20% then that is between you and God. Just remeber, God provides for you and it is true that you can't outgive God, but God also says that a man who does not use what God gives him to provide for his family is about as low as they come.
Key Points to Remember
1) The Levites inherited the priesthood instead of land.
2) God defines a tithe as fruits of the land and not money.
3) God instituted a 20% penalty for tithing money.
4) God gave the Levites the all the tithes as payment for being a liason between God and the Israelites.
5) God gave all His children, Jews and Gentiles alike direct access to Him when Christ bore the consequences of our sins for us.
6) Pastors today do not perform the task of liason that God commanded to be done in order to have the authority to collect a tithe.
2) God defines a tithe as fruits of the land and not money.
3) God instituted a 20% penalty for tithing money.
4) God gave the Levites the all the tithes as payment for being a liason between God and the Israelites.
5) God gave all His children, Jews and Gentiles alike direct access to Him when Christ bore the consequences of our sins for us.
6) Pastors today do not perform the task of liason that God commanded to be done in order to have the authority to collect a tithe.