Sermonette: When is the Third Tithe Year?

Food For Thought
#1689s
David C. Grabbe
Given 14-Jan-23; 19 minutes

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If you are taking notes, I’d like you to take a moment and write (or type) across the top of the page, in great big letters, three words—the words, “Food for thought.” Now, that isn’t the title of this message, but it is a fitting heading and summary for it.

Today, I will be speaking on a nugget that emerged while looking into the year of release—the Shemitah. I found this to be intriguing because of the potential it has for creating a common experience for the church, which could foster greater unity. However, I asked you to label this as “food for thought” because its application for us today is not crystal clear. Even so, Richard agreed it would be good to bring it up, since there have been some questions about it. So, that is my purpose for today: to make us all aware of this matter and to give a possible application. But what you do with this is between you and God.

I mentioned that this stemmed from studying into the year of release, so we will touch base with that institution first to refresh our minds:

Leviticus 25:1-4 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD.

Just as the 7^th day of each week is a Sabbath, so also the 7^th year is a Sabbath for the land, and it is a Sabbath to the LORD, as it says. Exodus 23:11 teaches that a primary purpose of this year is to provide for the poor of the nation. In addition, the Shemitah mandates the release of debts, it is actually called, “the LORD’s release,” because God claims it (Deuteronomy 15:2). He is quite serious about this special year. He sent Israel into captivity, not just for defiling the weekly and annual Sabbaths, but for overlooking the Sabbath year as well.

God intended the cycle of seven years to govern economic life. The fact that it is ignored by most today does not mean it is not still in effect in various ways, and we have seen evidence of that. This is no minor statute, but rather it is part of the heartbeat that God designed for His people. Just like in the human body, God put natural rhythms in place, and significant problems develop if those rhythms are disrupted.

When one looks at all that is said about the sabbatical cycle, it is apparent that it is foundational to that stability and abundance. Mankind wants those things, but doesn’t believe that God’s way works, and so he tries to achieve those things in his own way, and fails. Human nature believes it will have less for itself if it follows God’s instructions because human nature leaves God out of its calculations, yet God is more faithful to His Word and more generous to His people than any mere man.

Now we will look at another statute that might seem to be unconnected at first:

Deuteronomy 14:28-29 At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

This is talking about what we today call “the third tithe,” and which commentators sometimes call “the poor tithe” because its purpose is to provide for those who are not well-off financially.

Third tithe years are times when our budgets are tighter, and many times our budgets look impossible. But anyone who has kept a third tithe year in faith has also experienced God’s providence and abundance in working things out in ways that could not be anticipated. We have learned that we cannot out-give God, and in time, we grow to trust in God’s providence more than in our own calculations.

If you have a NKJV, you will notice that the word “every” in verse 28 is in italics, showing that it is not in the original text. The translation that is the most faithful to the Hebrew is, “At the end of three years,” which is how Young’s Literal Translation and a few others render the first part. “At the end of three years” is the most precise translation.

You might recall from the sermon on the year of release that the phrase, “at the end of seven years” is synonymous with the phrase, “in the seventh year.” In the same way, we can understand that the phrase, “at the end of three years” here means, “in the third year.” The third year is the end of the span of time in question, and so it indicates the entire year.

Now, there is some ambiguity here in terms of when the three years begin. Well, we find a clue within the context, because if kept reading, we would see that what immediately follows this are instructions for the sabbatical year. Just keep that in mind, and we will turn to the other place God gives instructions for this tithe:

Deuteronomy 26:12 When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled,

The wording is slightly different, but it is talking about the same tithe. This time, God calls the designated time, “the third year—the year of tithing.” And if you look in an interlinear, you will see that it contains the definite article, which means it is talking about a specific third year. Actually, it has two definite articles. It literally says, “the the third year.” It is the same way the sabbatical year is referred to in the Hebrew—it says, “the the seventh year.” Now, that is awkward to us, but it is a way of really adding emphasis.

This wording of “the third year,” gives us some things to work with. First, it demands a starting point. “The third year” cannot stand on its own—it must be anchored to something. The word, “third,” is an ordinal number, meaning it refers to a thing’s order: as in, first, second, third, and so on. When it is used with time, such as a day or a year, an ordinal number refers to a defined starting point. And this is important: When ordinal years are used within the law and another context is not given, the only possible framework for understanding “the third year” is the sabbatical cycle. There had to be a first year, and the only possible first year was the first year of God’s seven-year cycle. In other words, in Israel, the third tithe fit within and depended on the sabbatical cycle, that regular heartbeat of the nation’s agricultural and economic activities.

So, God gave the Israelites a common third tithe schedule. Just like with the weekly and annual Sabbaths, the third tithe was practiced as a community. God did not want them doing what was right in their own eyes for this statute. His intent was for the whole nation to share in this experience of sacrificing to provide for the poor, just like He wanted the whole nation to have the experience of worshipping God together on the days He had set apart. He wanted the nation to do these things at the same time as part of being in alignment with Him. A shared experience within a community tends to draw the people closer together, provided that everyone has the right focus and attitude.

Now, we stopped reading with verse 12, but we will keep reading now and see that God gave the third tithe law for the benefit of the whole nation and not just individuals:

Deuteronomy 26:13-15 then you shall say before the LORD your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them. I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

This was a declaration that God wanted them to make, similar to the declaration made at the firstfruits offering in the verses above. But notice especially the focus in verse 15. Again, those individuals who have kept a third tithe year in faith have experienced God’s blessing in some form, but verse 15 shows that the real object isn’t an individual blessing but one on the whole nation. There was an individual aspect to the third tithe in terms of personal responsibility, even to the point that they had to testify to God that they had been faithful. Yet both the timing and the blessing were for the nation.

Now, if you are thinking this through, you can probably see where this is headed. God had Israel on a common third tithe schedule that was part of His 7-year cycle, and it is possible for the church to do the same thing. God has provided a historical record of the year of release being continuously practiced, going back some 2,200 years. And because of that record, it is possible for us to align our third tithing with the sabbatical cycle.

This might be a good time to glance at what it says at the top of your page. This is food for thought. It is neither my intent nor my place to tell you to make a change to what you are currently doing. I am only stating how it was done, and what is possible today. In addition, I believe it is a very reasonable speculation that this is how it will be done in the Millennium, given that there will still be widows and fatherless and others who are poor, and this is the institution that God gave to ensure they are taken care of.

Even though all the instructions and examples in the Old Testament were written for our admonition (I Corinthians 10:11), not everything written carries through with exactly the same application. And though Jesus Himself upheld tithing during His ministry, and the New Testament clearly teaches our responsibility to the widows and fatherless and poor, particularly in the household of God, it is silent on the administration of third tithe specifically. We don’t have a direct command or example on this. All we have to go on is what we have already read, along with principles found elsewhere.

Like Israel, the church is also a nation—it is a spiritual nation. The hierarchy of the Worldwide Church of God chose to make the timing of the third tithe individual since each person enters the holy nation at a different time. They retained the 7-year cycle within their policy, because it is evident that the third tithe is based on a 7-year cycle, yet they decoupled it from the existing sabbatical cycle. Instead, their policy was to set one’s third tithe schedule based on the individual's baptism date, or the nearest Passover, or nearest Day of Trumpets—in one sense, it was a bit arbitrary. However, they acknowledged that it made sense for a husband and wife to have the same schedule, and they allowed for an adjustment to be made for marriage, but beyond that, each schedule was individual.

In addition, this policy had some ramifications for young people. At worst, it excluded them from learning to set aside for those in need since they were not baptized. The message that tended to come through was that somebody else would care for the poor. It is something to think about. Many did not learn this habit when they were young and there wasn’t financial pressure, and yet the Proverb says to train a child in the way he should go. At best, perhaps the parents did teach about third tithe, and they put the young person on the parents’ schedule when he or she started earning money. The young person would then have to change schedules when he or she was baptized, and then change schedules again if the young person was a woman who later married. So, even in the best scenario, the schedule was subject to change, unlike what God had Israel do, where it was consistent.

Now, please do not take this as calling those church leaders into account. They made the judgments that made the most sense to them, based on their understanding and the information available. They were responsible for a worldwide flock, and they had to make judgments to account for circumstances that may not apply to all of us.

But while we are slowly and calmly chewing on these thoughts, let’s add one more small bite. The WCG also judged that the year of release was only a principle and not binding. And it is true that our circumstances are different enough from ancient Israel’s that not all applications carry through. Yet such language encourages ignoring even the principles, rather than seeking how to apply them. One effect we know of is that almost nobody paid any heed to reading Deuteronomy at the Feast in the year of release until John was convicted that we needed to do what we could to be in alignment with that instruction.

We know it is possible to be on the same schedule for reading Deuteronomy in the seventh year. We did this just a few months ago, even though our timing was not quite right. Even so, those who were present know that it was a unifying experience for the group to have that common focus for the Feast and to see God’s inspiration of common themes. We saw God’s blessing on our efforts toward a common focus and doing this as a group.

So, this is something about which to think, and to pray, and to seek God’s will. Now, nobody will be checking on when you third tithe. That is between you and God. My point today has been that this is what God did with Israel, and that it is possible for us to do it today, for the sake of having another shared experience and to be more aligned with God’s rhythm.

In chatting with Richard, he brought up that those who have been baptized relatively recently could align their third tithe years with the existing 7-year cycle, and they wouldn’t have to change anything since they have not had a third tithe yet. So, for those interested in doing that, I will give you that information: Right now is the first year in the sabbatical cycle—it started last fall on the Day of Atonement. The third year, then, begins on the Day of Atonement in 2024, and lasts until the Day of Atonement in 2025. So, Atonement of 2024 would be the beginning. And with that, I will leave you to your chewing.

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