Did the Levites Work for Peanuts?

I've dedicated a lot of time and effort to the subject of tithing, so some of what I say here might require some legwork on the part of the reader. I've conveniently compiled my series on tithing as a reference. It explains about a particularly outspoken group of people who teach that tithing is not valid for Christians today. They challenge the premise of tithing from every angle, and so I've worked diligently to defend it from every angle. One of their claims is that the command to tithe was limited to agricultural products - the offspring of the herds and the yield of the crops - and that it was never paid by wage-earners such as Jesus, who was a carpenter. I've answered this argument before (you can read about it on the tithing page), and this post is just some more thoughts on the matter.

The tithes of Israel were allocated to the Levites as an inheritance and in exchange for their service in the temple:

Numbers 18:21
Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the Tabernacle of Meeting.

The reasons for which the Levites received tithes play a role in the discussion of whether tithe was limited to agricultural products only. As the above scripture shows, they received tithe for two purposes: as an inheritance and in return for the work of the Tabernacle. If tithe was only required on food items as some claim, then this would mean that the Levites were both given an inheritance and paid for their work in food.

Does Leviticus 27 Prove Tithe isn't on Income?

One of the foundations of the anti-tithing argument is that the bible gives very specific lists of those things which are to be tithed on and that these lists do not include (among many things) money earned for one's labor. While they are correct in asserting that the lists do not include monetary income, they are incorrect in assuming that these lists were ever intended to be an exhaustive guideline. In the interest of not having an excruciatingly long article on the subject, I've decided to do a series of posts dealing with each relevant passage. If you're just stumbling upon this tithing discussion, an overview and summary of the articles I've written on tithing can be found on the tithing page.

Arguments Against Tithing Debunked - Part 7 - God's Increase, or Man's Labor?

In the previous post, I began a discussion of whether biblical tithing is restricted to agricultural products.  I acknowledged and discussed the fact that there is no scripture that plainly states to tithe on monetary income, but I also pointed out that the logic involved in executing some of the commands suggests that monetary income should be tithed on. In particular, I examined the implications of 2nd tithe to this effect. My central points were: (1) that God said that we are to rejoice at the feasts "in everything that we put our hands to that God has blessed us in" (Deuteronomy 12:7), (2) that God's blessing on our work is clearly not limited to agriculture, and (3) that because God's blessing on our work is not limited to agricultural products, neither is tithing. With that in mind, I'd now like to discuss the concept of work as it relates to tithing.

The Product of Man's Work
One criticism built into the anti-tithing argument, as I noted last time, is that tithe is limited to agricultural products because these are the product of God's miracle rather than man's work.

Arguments Against Tithing Debunked - Part 3 - Was Tithe Given to the Levites Forever?

In the previous article in this series, I demonstrated that tithing was not abolished in Hebrews 7. Furthermore, I showed that none of God’s law could possibly be done away because of the words of Christ in Matthew 5:17-18. As a result, this means that God's law, and tithing in particular, is required for Christians today, and on this foundation I will continue to discuss precisely how tithing applies to Christians.

With this firmly established, the next relevant discussion to undertake is determining whether the ministry of the Church of God is qualified under God’s law to receive tithes. On the path to doing this, I will in this article debunk the following anti-tithing argument:

God never gave any pastor or church permission to receive his tithe because God commanded His tithe be taken to the Levites FOREVER in Numbers 18.

The case that is trying to be made here is that the Levites are the only qualified recipients of tithes because God gave the first tithe to them in Numbers 18 by a “perpetual ordinance,” and we will examine this in detail.