God's Tenth: The Grammar of Gratitude Text: Leviticus 27:30-33
Introduction: The World Belongs to God
We come now to the end of Leviticus, a book that many modern Christians treat like an old, dusty attic, full of strange furniture they don't know what to do with. But this attic contains the very blueprints of holiness, the foundational grammar of how a redeemed people are to live in the world. And it ends, appropriately enough, with the tithe. This is not some arbitrary tax code tacked on at the end. It is the capstone of a book dedicated to one central reality: God is holy, He has made a people holy, and this holiness must permeate every square inch of their lives, including their wallets and their barns.
Our secular age is built on a lie, the lie of autonomy. The modern man believes he is his own, that what he earns is his, and that he is the ultimate arbiter of how his resources are to be used. He may choose to be charitable, to give to a cause, but this is seen as an act of magnanimous generosity, a gift from his own sovereign goodness. The Bible confronts this lie with a thunderous declaration: you own nothing. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. You are a steward, a manager, a tenant on God's land, breathing God's air, using God's strength to generate wealth from God's resources. The tithe, therefore, is not a gift you give to God. It is the portion He has reserved for Himself, which you are commanded to return to Him. To withhold it is not a failure of generosity; it is theft.
Leviticus has taught us about holy space (the tabernacle), holy times (the feasts), and holy people (the priests and the nation). Now, at the conclusion, it grounds all this holiness in the dirt and dust of everyday economics. It is a reminder that our worship is not confined to one day a week. Our worship is expressed in how we plow our fields, how we manage our flocks, and how we handle our money. The principles laid down here are not quaint relics of an agrarian society. They establish the fundamental economic relationship between the Creator and His creatures, a relationship that is not abolished but fulfilled and transformed in the new covenant.
The Text
‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh; it is holy to Yahweh. If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it. For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to Yahweh. He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’
(Leviticus 27:30-33 LSB)
The Lord's Portion (v. 30)
The principle is laid down with stark simplicity:
"‘Thus all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, belongs to Yahweh; it is holy to Yahweh." (Leviticus 27:30)
The first thing to notice is the language of ownership. The tithe "belongs to Yahweh." It is not that it becomes His when you give it. It is already His before you ever touch it. The tithe, the first tenth, is the Lord's property. This is a fundamental principle of biblical economics. God claims the firstfruits, the firstborn, and the first tenth as His own special portion. By returning the first tenth, we acknowledge His ownership of the other nine-tenths and, indeed, of everything else we have. It is a weekly, tangible confession that we are not our own, but have been bought with a price.
This principle predates the Mosaic Law. Abraham tithed to Melchizedek hundreds of years before Sinai (Genesis 14:20). Jacob vowed a tithe to the Lord at Bethel (Genesis 28:22). The tithe is not a Levitical invention; it is a creation ordinance, a fundamental aspect of how man relates to God as his provider. The Law of Moses simply codifies and regulates this pre-existing duty.
Furthermore, the tithe is "holy to Yahweh." The word holy, qodesh, means set apart, consecrated, dedicated for a special purpose. This tenth is not common. It is not to be treated like the other nine-tenths. It is to be handled with reverence because it belongs to God in a unique way. To use the tithe for your own purposes, to pay your mortgage or buy groceries with it, is sacrilege. It is to take what is consecrated and treat it as common. This is precisely the sin that Malachi condemns when he accuses the people of robbing God (Malachi 3:8). You can only rob someone of what belongs to them.
The Redemption Penalty (v. 31)
Next, the text provides a strange provision for "redeeming" the tithe.
"If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it." (Leviticus 27:31)
This might seem odd. If the tithe is holy and belongs to God, why would anyone be allowed to "buy it back?" This was a practical provision. An Israelite farmer might have a need for the specific grain or fruit that constituted his tithe. Perhaps it was the best seed for planting next year's crop. God, in His mercy, makes a way for the farmer to keep the produce, but He ensures that the holiness of the tithe is respected and that no one profits from the transaction. If you want to keep God's tenth for your own use, you must pay its value plus a twenty percent penalty.
This "one-fifth" penalty serves two purposes. First, it strongly discourages anyone from casually redeeming their tithe. It makes it an expensive and unattractive option. The default, the easy path, is simply to return to God what is His. Second, it establishes the principle that meddling with God's holy things is a serious business. You cannot treat what is consecrated to God as just another commodity to be bought and sold for personal convenience without cost. There is a penalty for converting holy property to common use. This is a lesson we would do well to remember in an age that treats worship, the Lord's Day, and the church with casual disregard.
The Random Sanctity of the Tenth (v. 32)
The principle is then extended from the produce of the land to the increase of the flocks.
"For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to Yahweh." (Leviticus 27:32)
The imagery here is vivid. The shepherd would stand at the gate of the pen with his rod, and as the animals passed out one by one, he would count them. Every tenth animal would be touched by the rod and marked as holy to the Lord. This method introduces a crucial element: randomness. The owner had no say in which animal became the tithe. He could not pre-select his best animals to impress God, nor could he sneak the sickly ones into the Lord's portion to cut his losses.
This practice of "passing under the rod" was a powerful theological statement. It demonstrated that God's claim is not based on the quality of the thing, but on its position as the tenth. The tenth lamb was holy not because it was spotless and strong, but simply because it was the tenth. Its holiness was imputed to it by divine declaration. This strikes at the heart of all works-righteousness. We are not accepted by God because we offer Him our best performances. We are accepted because He has chosen us and set His mark upon us in Christ. Our holiness is a declared, positional reality before it is ever a practical one.
No Exchanges, No Refunds (v. 33)
The chapter concludes by reinforcing the seriousness of this divine selection process.
"He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.’" (Leviticus 27:33)
God explicitly forbids any second-guessing of the process. The farmer is not to inspect the tenth animal that comes under the rod. If it's a prize ram, he can't say, "Oh, that's too good for the Lord," and swap it for a lesser one. If it's a scrawny, blemished lamb, he can't say, "This is embarrassing," and substitute a better one to look good. Whatever is the tenth, is the tenth. The command is to trust God's sovereign, random selection.
And the penalty for trying to game the system is severe and, frankly, a bit humorous in a divine sort of way. If you do try to make an exchange, you don't get away with it. Instead, God says, "Fine. I'll take them both." Both the original tenth animal and the one you tried to substitute for it become holy. You just doubled your tithe on that transaction. And notice the final clause: "It shall not be redeemed." Unlike the tithe of the land, this animal tithe, once consecrated (either by the rod or by a foolish attempt at substitution), could not be bought back at any price. This was a final, irrevocable consecration.
This teaches us that we are not to come to God as negotiators. We do not get to set the terms of our worship or our obedience. We are not to approach giving with a calculator and a cost-benefit analysis. We are to give what God requires, as He requires it, without attempting to manipulate the outcome for our own benefit. True worship is an act of unconditional surrender to His lordship, not a business transaction.
The Tithe in the New Covenant
Now, the question always arises: does this still apply to us? Are we not under grace, and not under law? To ask this question is to misunderstand the nature of both law and grace. Grace does not abolish our duty; it empowers us to fulfill it joyfully. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The New Testament standard of giving is not the abolition of the tithe, but its escalation.
The tithe was the floor, not the ceiling. It was the training wheels for a people who were not yet indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Now, in the new covenant, we are not called to give a mere ten percent out of duty, but to offer our entire lives, everything we are and everything we have, as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). The Macedonian Christians are our example; in their deep poverty, they gave not just a tenth, but beyond their ability, begging for the privilege of giving (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
The tithe remains an excellent starting point, a benchmark of faithful stewardship. It is the basic, fundamental acknowledgment that God is God and we are not. But the gospel propels us beyond it. We do not give to get; we give because we have already gotten everything in Christ. Our giving is not a transaction to secure blessings; it is a joyful, grateful response to the blessing of salvation we have already received.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our great tithe. He is the perfect, unblemished one who "passed under the rod" of God's judgment for us. He was holy to the Lord, set apart for sacrifice. And on the cross, a great exchange took place, but not one of our making. He who was good became sin for us, so that we who were bad might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). And this transaction is final. It shall not be redeemed. Because He gave everything, we now joyfully return to Him His holy portion, recognizing that it was all His to begin with.