Nehemiah 13:10-14 – Don’t neglect to pay tithe

The priests and Levites came from the tribe of Levi. They were assigned to provide spiritual leadership to Israel and to take care of the Tabernacle of God. Unlike all the other tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was not allotted any land. Since God did not assign them any land, He instituted tithing for their support. The other tribes were instructed to bring in a tenth of their produce to provide and support the priests and Levites and the works of the temple. Nehemiah 13:10-14 describe the neglect of the post-exilic Israel in honoring God with their tithe. We know that God in Malachi 3:8 chided them for failing to bring in their tithe. In failing to honor their tithe, they were robbing God.

When Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem from Persia, he discovered that during his absence the people failed to bring tithe in support of the Levites and singers. This resulted in many temple servants having to leave their assignments to work in the field. In a real sense, they had left the house of God forsaken. The commitment to God before Nehemiah chapter 10 became hogwash. The temple servants could not survive without the tithe from the people.  they left to seek other means of support. So on his return, Nehemiah reprimanded the people and went about restoring the means of support for the Levites and temple workers. He not only restored the Levites to their position, but he also restored the tithing system. Nehemiah even appointed four priests and Levites to a committee to supervise the distribution of the tithe and offering among them. As he restored the system, Nehemiah prayed asking God to remember his work.

Tithing is an act of worship. The main reason we tithe is not so much to receive the blessing of God as it is to honor Him as the source and provider of all that we have. We are to bring our tithe, the first substance of our earnings to the church where we gather in worship. In so doing, we are essentially acknowledging that God owns all that we have. We are also indicating that He is the source of all our resources. When we tithe, we set aright the course in handling our God-given resources. In Proverbs 3:9, God exhorts us to honor Him with our wealth and the first fruit of all our produce. In today's non-agricultural context it will be our earnings. Malachi 3;10 tells us that God is no man’s debtor. When we tithe, God will give us many more folds in return, and in many more ways than we can expect. To tithe is to set our course for an overflowing life. This is God’s promise, don’t neglect it!