From the Old Testament Scriptures we learn that the "tithe" was a tenth of the first fruits of the ground, as also of flock and herd, which belonged to God (2 Chron. 31:5-12). Not that He was in need, but to ever keep in mind their stewardship-their utter dependence upon HIM.
In 1 Cor. 3:9 we have this significant statement:"Ye are God's husbandry," or, "tillage." Here, then is the setting for the spiritual significance of the tithes. And God looks to us, we to whom He has entrusted these "fields" of our Christian lives, for the "first fruits" thereof. Thus He claims what is HIS OWN; not the "gleanings," but the very first of our lives' harvest.
And these first fruits are expressed, for instance, in the "walk in newness of life," outlined more fully in "the fruit of the Spirit;" and may we not include that sweet "fellowship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ"? The very first of those first fruits is love to Christ ABOVE ALL ELSE; a love begotten of God in the soul, the "first love" which is precious to Him, but which, alas, may be "left" for some other object.
But if Christ is the one absorbing Object before the soul, there will be the desire to learn about Him-the persistent study of God's Word to that end; a love for perishing souls; the fervent prayer; a zealous care for one another in Christ; a conservation of one's time for God that it be not wasted-all these are the "tithes" that God looks for, and demands from His "husbandry."
On the other hand, if we must seek the trivial pleasures of the world to satisfy the heart's desires, we are robbing God of His tithes! When we spend precious moments poring over senseless fiction, or indulging in "foolish talking or jesting," we neglect to "bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there be meat in My house" (Mal. 3:8-12).
Then from the negative side:when we do not eat and drink, or "do all to the glory of God," we still rob Him of His tithes! When we neglect to "pray without ceasing," forget to thank Him for all the blessings received; or neglect the admonition, "Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ," we verily rob God of His tithes!
As to Christian giving, we have a lovely type of it in Exodus, chaps. 35,36. God did not demand a tenth of what the Israelites had received from the Egyptians- their wages for the four hundred years of service there! He left their offerings to "a willing heart," in His call for materials with which to build Him a dwelling-place. In the tithe we see the principle of law; in those free gifts, the principle of love. In the one there is, "Thou shalt;" in the other, "Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it an offering of the Lord." And how they responded! "They spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough!"
If Israel had brought their gifts on the principle of the tithe, would they have been acceptable to God? Would Moses have received them as tithes? If he had, it would have distorted the beautiful figure for Christianity. All through the New Testament we see in Christian giving the same principle of the heart's response in love to God. How this service of love shines out, for example, in chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians! But to make the "tithe" a rule for love's spontaneous outflow, is like adding law to grace-the beauty of love is gone.
Yet if love alone is to be the incentive for giving, if we are to lay by upon the first of the week as the Lord hath prospered us, what is to be the measure for those gifts? How much are we to "lay by"? This question may be answered by asking another:how much do we love the Lord Jesus Christ? To what extent are we interested in the things nearest His heart? Surely we have here a reliable standard of measure. Herbert Cowell