The Purpose of the Tithe

INTRODUCTION: The Calibration of the Heart

Every car has something called “WHELL ALIGNMENT.” When the WHEELS are ALIGNED, the car drives SMOOTHLY, SAFELY, and STRAIGHT. But when the ALIGNMENT DRIFTS, even SLIGHTLY, the car begins to PULL OFF COURSE. You can STEER it for a while, but eventually the DRIFT becomes DANGEROUS.

In the same way, our HEARTS need SPIRITUAL ALIGNMENT. God gave the TITHE not merely to FUND a MINISTRY or SUPPORT a BUILDING, but to KEEP His PEOPLE ALIGNED with HIM, to KEEP the HEART from DRIFTING toward GREED, SELF-DEPENDENCE, and MISPLACED PRIORITIES.

The TITHE is God’s way of RECALLIBRATING the HEART so we KEEP Him FIRST.

SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 14:22–23 “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed… that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.”

THE 3-FOLD PURPOSE OF THE TITHE

I. TO SUPPORT GOD’S HOUSE: THE MINISTRY SUSTAINED

a. The FIRST PURPOSE of the TITHE was to SUSTAIN THE MINISTRY of GOD.

i. Numbers 18:21 “And behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance…”

b.  In the Old Testament, the Levites were appointed to the full-time MINISTRY.

i.    They had no LAND, no INHERITANCE, no FARMS to SUSTAIN them.

ii.    Their LIVELIHOOD came from the TITHES of God’s PEOPLE.

c. The PRINCIPLE is TIMELESS: God’s WORK is SUSTAINED by God’s PEOPLE.

II. TO SUSTAIN GOD’S WORK: THE MINISTRY SUPPLIED

a. The next PURPOSE of the TITHE was to SUPPLY the MINISTRY of GOD.

i. Nehemiah 10:37 “…that the tithes… might be brought into the chambers of the house of our God…”

b.  When Nehemiah was REBUILDING Jerusalem, one of the major reforms was to RESTORE the TITHE to the

“STOREHOUSE.” Why?

c. Because God’s WORK was being hindered by empty STOREROOMS.

III. TO SHAPE GOD’S PEOPLE: THE MIND STRENGTHENED

a. Lastly, the PURPOSE of the TITHE is to SHAPE the PEOPLE of GOD by changing the way WE THINK.

i. Deuteronomy 14:23 “…that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.”

b. More than anything else, the TITHE is a TEACHING TOOL.

c. God didn’t COMMAND the TITHE because He needed MONEY, He COMMANDED it because we need

SPIRITUAL TRAINING.