“The… whole tribe of Levi … shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. This is the share due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the internal organs and the meat from the head. You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep, for the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always.” (v1-5 abr)
The entire tribe of Levi was to solely survive from the tithes of Israel. They will/did not receive a portion of land, nor a large division of the spoils from Canaan. They are God’s chosen people within God’s chosen people, whose inheritance is God alone.
Today we still have the spiritual descendants of the Levites – priests, pastors, fathers, shepherds, whatever we call the spiritual leaders of our church gatherings. They serve a similar function of the Levites – teach the word of God to the people, and be intercessors in prayer for them. They offer counsel, interpret the word of God, do visitations, perform ceremonies (eg. weddings, funerals), etc.
There’s another similar aspect as well – they survive off of the tithes of the people. The majority of those in pastoral ministry will do it full-time, and have no other source of income. This means “the church” (meaning the people, not the building) “pays them” (contributes to their salary). How does this work? Well, just as God instituted nearly four thousand years ago, those who visit the tabernacle / temple / synagogue / church building would provide a tithe (literally translated means 10%) which would take care of the needs of the priest(s) / pastor(s).
Now, my intention is not to guilt trip anyone by talking about tithing – my intention is to encourage us. When we give joyfully unto the Lord, as we are commanded to do (2 Cor 9:6-7), we not only obey our Lord’s command, we help care for our spiritual leaders and God’s ministry. It’s critical that we contribute that which the Lord prompts us to give financially (whatever percentage you decide is between you and God), plus we are to give of our time and energy.
Why give of our time, if we’re already giving money? Well, in our modern church gatherings we have far more work and far more ministry opportunities than the paid staff can handle on their own (we don’t have a whole tribe running the ministry, usually only a handful of people). My challenge for today is to give all of the firstfruits the Spirit prompts us to – time, money, and energy – to help build God’s kingdom. If the Spirit moves you to to begin a new ministry, or He points out an existing ministry that needs more resources, then please contribute to it as the Spirit leads. Let’s be open to the promptings of the Spirit and obey Him. Don’t worry about where the resources will come from – if we’re obeying God’s leading, and keeping His commands (such as respecting our Sabbaths / rest) He will give us all we need to accomplish His will. God is not cruel, and He will not ask for more resources than He will give us (ie. the Spirit doesn’t prompt us into financial or time debt to serve the kingdom, that’s more likely the enemy trying to burden us and burn us out). Pray for discernment in all matters of tithing, and God will answer.
Father God, our Lord, Savior and King, holy is Your name. Thank you for the bountiful blessings You provide. Thank you for those who You have placed in spiritual leadership, and the critical roles they fulfill. Thank you as well for those You have blessed with resources such as time, money and energy, so that they may contribute to Your kingdom. A kingdom cannot be built without resources, so Father please direct each of us to be good stewards of that with which You have entrusted us. Please help us to invest wisely, be generous in accordance with Your will, and trust that You will continue to provide that which we need for our families as well. Father thank you for building Your church, and leading Your church to build Your church. In the name of Jesus, the one who made all of this possible, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training