Scripture Daily

Context No. 1181 of 4322 · Leviticus

Context · Reflection

Leviticus 27:28-34: in context

28“‘Notwithstanding, no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD of all that he has, whether of man or animal, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed. Everything that is permanently devoted is most holy to the LORD. 29“‘No one devoted to destruction, who shall be devoted from among men, shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death. 30“‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD. 31If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. 32All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to the LORD. 33He shall not examine whether it is good or bad, neither shall he exchange it. If he exchanges it at all, then both it and that for which it is exchanged shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.’” 34These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

The book of Leviticus closes with laws about things devoted to God. Something irrevocably devoted to the LORD cannot be sold or bought back; it is most holy to him. Then the tithe: all the tithe of the land, seed or fruit, is the LORD's, holy to him; a tenth of the herds and flocks, whatever passes under the shepherd's rod as it is counted, belongs to God, and it is not to be inspected for quality or swapped for a worse animal.

A single phrase reframes the whole idea of the tithe: the tithe is the LORD's. It is not that we give God a tenth as a gift out of what is ours; the tenth already belongs to him, and to keep it back is to withhold what was never ours to begin with. That changes the posture of giving from generosity we might congratulate ourselves for to simple honesty, returning to God what is already his. And notice the detail about the animals passing under the rod: as the shepherd counts the flock, every tenth one is the LORD's, and he is not to pick and choose, holding back the good ones and giving God the runt. The tithe is taken as it comes, not curated to give God the leftovers. There is a quiet integrity being taught, that God's portion is his by right, taken off the top and not from the dregs, returned honestly rather than given grudgingly. To tithe, in this light, is not chiefly an act of generosity but an act of truth-telling, acknowledging that a portion of everything was always his, and refusing to treat God's share as ours to keep or to shortchange.

Do I treat God's portion as already his, returned honestly and off the top, or as mine to give grudgingly and shortchange with the leftovers?

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