Special Tithing In The Third Year (Deuteronomy 26:12-15).
Here they solemnly declare ‘before Yahweh their God' that they have fulfilled their obligations with regard to the third year tithe.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
· When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the resident alien, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled (Deuteronomy 26:12).
· And you shall say before Yahweh your God, “I have put away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the resident alien, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me (Deuteronomy 26:13 a).
· “I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor have I put away of them, being unclean, nor given of them for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me” (Deuteronomy 26:13-14).
· “Look down from your holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:15).
Note that in ‘a' they give their third year tithe so that all who are dependent on God's provision may receive it within their cities and be filled and in the parallel they therefore ask that Yahweh will be equally generous to them. In ‘b' they declare their positive obedience, to His commandments, and in the parallel declare that they have not disobeyed His commandments or done what is forbidden.
Every third year was to be the year of the third year tithe.
‘ When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the resident alien, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled.'
The setting aside of the tithe (the tenth) was a task to be carried out assiduously, and as, once it was set aside, it belonged to Yahweh and was ‘holy', it would have to be stored carefully. Indeed if it was left with the tither it would cause the smaller farmer a real problem, both on how to store it and how to distribute it (not all had large barns and plenty of space). And while the larger homesteads might not find providing ‘clean' storage such a problem, they might have equal problems of distribution. Seen all together the tithe would be considerable. It is quite clear that in fact there was no way in which all the tithes could have been distributed individually to the categories mentioned prior to the family heads going before Yahweh at the feast to make their declaration, unless it was handed over to the Levites. For those who were finally to receive it would not have the means of storing it, and could hardly eat it all at once. And the very task of distribution would be a considerable one.
This was especially so in view of the fact that it was ‘holy' and would have to be kept in a clean place and only distributed by someone who was ritually clean. It is true that it might have been kept in special store under careful protection so that the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless and the widow could come knocking on the door when they wanted food. But no woman would want that to happen while her man was away, and not all houses had servants. Indeed a few moments thought demonstrates that in such circumstances the tithe would become a great headache to many.
It is therefore very probable that we are to see ‘give it to the Levite' as to be taken literally. And this would tie in with what had been done previously when the Levites did receive all the tithes. For the fact is that it is very probable that the Levite would supervise the setting aside and giving of the tithe. In Deuteronomy 12:12; Deuteronomy 12:18 the Levite is closely connected with the families with whom he feasts before Yahweh, and the emphasis on the fact that they were ‘not to forsake' the Levite (Deuteronomy 12:19; Deuteronomy 14:27) might not have been lest they genuinely overlook him, but may be seen as a reminder of the responsibility they still had towards the Levites as a whole with regard to tithes. They were not to forsake him as the one who supervised the tithes, (as well as partaking of them), by simple refusing to give tithes. In Deuteronomy 14:27 the Levite ‘within their gates' is not shown as included in the family party, yet he is still to be provided for from the tithes.
Indeed we have here a problem. Here we have the ‘holy' tithes. But who is going to look after them? Not surely the struggling small farmer, himself finding it difficult to make a living for his family, with a tiny home. And the very fact that this is a three yearly tithe-giving must surely suggest that it was to be stored for use over most of that period, and yet we find the tither solemnly declaring that he no longer has it a few weeks later. A huge bonanza once every three years, followed by a long period of need was hardly the best way to cater for the needy, and hardly fits in with the idea of something that belongs to Yahweh. So who is going to oversee the distribution?
Nor can we doubt that tithing would have to be supervised. Many questions might arise as to what should be tithed, which required an expert answer, and it is doubtful if even Moses and the priests were so trusting that the giving of tithes went totally unsupervised, while God, who finally oversaw matters, knew too well the hearts of men. (Imagine a country where everyone paid 10% tax and everyone had to decide for themselves what the level of their income was that they should apply it to, without any supervision. We can imagine the result. Hidden actual gross national product 200 billion. Declared gross national product 100,000, therefore 10% tax would be ten thousand instead of twenty billion?). The clear answer to all these problems is the Levites. So in our view ‘shall give it to the Levite', which we always find comes first in the list after the household, means, ‘as the trustee who will ensure that they are also passed on to the resident alien, the fatherless and the widow'. This was almost certainly their main holy occupation that paralleled and finally replaced their duties of bearing the Ark and the tabernacle.
‘ And you shall say before Yahweh your God, “I have put away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the resident alien, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.”
For the tither was to go ‘before Yahweh', that is, was to go up to the Sanctuary ‘to the door of the tent of meeting', and there he had to declare that he had put away ‘the hallowed thing' out of his house, and that none of it was any longer there. Where then had it all gone? ‘To the Levite' and the others. It is doubtful whether in that time the resident aliens, fatherless and widows were around in such quantities that in a few weeks they could eat ten per cent of the country's production. Thus it is clear that the vast majority of it went to the Levites, who would then not only partake of it themselves, but would store it in specially arranged clean places from where they would distribute it as needed over the next two or three years.
“ I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor have I put away of them, being unclean, nor given of them for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.”
Having solemnly declared that he had dealt rightly with the holy tithe, he then declared what he had not done. Clearly these latter suggestions were seen as dangers which were sufficiently common that they had to be guarded against.
We have to remember in this respect that many of ‘the Israelites' who were listening to Moses were foreigners from the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38), who having been adopted by a tribe, were brought into the covenant at Sinai, and who would be circumcised with all the others at Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-9). If they had wished, and after the deliverance and Sinai most would surely desire to do so, they had been able to partake of the Passover in the wilderness and once in the land they could also do so if they were among the circumcised (Exodus 12:48-49; Numbers 9:14). But in spite of this, and there is no reason to doubt their genuineness, some of them had strange ideas. Note Leviticus 17:7 where some had been secretly sacrificing to he-goats in the wilderness. And we know that all had been willing to bow down to the molten calf (Exodus 32:1-6).
What then was being warned against? Eating the holy tithes in mourning, putting them away while unclean, and giving of them ‘for the dead'. The first, eating the holy tithes in mourning, may well refer to wakes (mourning feasts). A house in mourning, along with its inhabitants, was regarded as unclean because of its contact with death. It may well have been felt by some that holy tithes were very suitable for such a purpose, where many guests would gather, among whom might be Levites, the fatherless, widows and resident aliens. What better use than to give them to these latter at the wake? But this was forbidden because mourning was connected with death and some of those present would be unclean through contact with those who had touched the dead. It was not the kind of environment into which to introduce the holy tithes.
“Putting them away while unclean” was a declaration that great care had been taken, both in setting aside the tithes, and once the tithes were set aside for Yahweh, to ensure that they were only handled by people when they were ritually clean. It was a warning of the care that must be taken not to touch them while unclean, something much more difficult for the small farmer than for his larger neighbour who had a wider number of people to call on and better facilities.
“Giving of them for the dead.” This may refer to any number of superstitions connected with the dead. Perhaps some had set the holy tithes on the coffin or body robes that the dead might partake of their holiness. Perhaps some had left them out for the dead or for spirits whom they saw as also ‘holy'. But this would be to defile holy things. There were so many superstitions connected with the dead among so many peoples, no doubt genuinely held, that to identify the source of this one would be totally impossible. Indeed it may be intended to cover a number of superstitions. It would appear that such superstitions might have been fairly common among some Israelites, especially the women who were more prone to such things (it was they who seven hundred years later wept for Tammuz - Ezekiel 8:14). So the householder had to be able to swear that the holy tithes had never been used for any purpose connected with the dead while they were in his care.
“ Look down from your holy habitation, from the heavens, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
The declaration then ends in a prayer. At His command they have given liberally to those who were especially dependent on Yahweh, now they come in their dependence seeking His liberality. This prayer makes clear that while Yahweh was seen as dwelling among them in His tabernacle at the place which He had chosen, the Israelites were quite well aware that He also dwelt in ‘the heavens'. This was not to see Him as simply above the clouds, for the sky was also His creation. It was to see Him as beyond the sky, outside the worldly creation, in a place unknown to men where He dwelt with those to whom He had spoken in Genesis 1:26. Solomon would later call it the heaven of heavens (1 Kings 8:27).
And each one called on Him in His Heaven, to look down (compare Psalms 80:14; Psalms 85:11; Isaiah 63:15) on them and bless His people, and the ground (adamah) which He had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as He had sworn to their fathers. They were crying for the opposite of the curse that had been put on the ground (adamah) in Genesis 3:17, because this was His land. Rather they wanted Him to bless it (blessing and cursing will shortly contrast with each other. See especially Deuteronomy 28:8 and also the whole of Deuteronomy 27:15 to Deuteronomy 28:8), causing it to flourish and bring forth its increase.
The cry for Him to ‘look down' would have brought to mind Genesis 11:5 where what men were doing was so insignificant that Yahweh had to ‘come down' to see it. Here Yahweh does not need to come down. It is big enough for Him to see all, for they are His people and His land, and He dispenses His blessings from Heaven.
So in response to their tribute and their obedience to His covenant they looked to their divine Overlord to look on them with favour.