Joel M Bradshaw

28“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.–Deuteronomy 14

I like that God intentionally looks after the vulnerable and the dependent. God gave Levi no large land portion like the other tribes. The Levites were specifically dedicated to God for his ministry and service. They specifically handled God’s business and God provided for them. This would include the priests, as all priests were Levites (but not all Levites were priests!). The other tribes had land that stayed with them and became an inheritance. It had a spiritual quality to it as it became a means to trust God and to serve God. To see God’s blessing upon them year after year with each harvest. It was a way for generations to receive the goodness and faithfulness of God from the ones passing that land to them.

The Levites had God as their inheritance. That means they were to trust God to provide for them and their families. They devoted their time to God and God provided for them. The tithes that God commanded provided for that. But occasionally towns would have sojourners passing through or would be the home of widows or the fatherless. These people by definition are vulnerable in that they either don’t have the land or lack the normal means to work the land (husband, father). God takes care of them. In fact, God used the people to care for them. Each tithe could be an exercise of grumbling and complaining or an opportunity not only to trust God, but rejoice that the vulnerable would also get to eat.

I have a man in my life who has special needs. He is my buddy. I am always on his radar and he is always on mine. He lives with his mother. Not too long ago her husband died from cancer. I remember being called to their house to pray over him and with them during his final season. I did his funeral. She is now a widow and my buddy is now fatherless. As a church, they stay on our radar and we always want to do right by them. And personally, I take joy in being a blessing to them. They are also a blessing to me and my family.

A few years ago my Dad died. This left my mother a widow. I like that her church cares for her and keeps her on their radar. She is a blessing to her church and they are a blessing to her. The tithes of the people in her church go towards making sure that people like my mom whenever in a dire situation can be cared for. She has told me stories about her church stepping in to help or to provide after Dad’s death. We her adult children make sure Mom’s needs are met, but her church is there as well. That is really nice.

God keeps the vulnerable on his radar, too. And he used the tithe of ordinary people to provide. As you tithe to God as part of your local church, you trust that your pastors and their families are being provided for. They have dedicated their lives to service rather than another career. Also, tithes collected by many churches also go towards missionaries and various ministries that care for people. God cares for such people. They have an advocate in God. And God uses you to provide. What a blessing and responsibility.–JMB