In Deuteronomy 14, Moses repeats the instructions on remaining clean in what the people eat and tells them how to deal with their tithes when they enter the land.
Bible Passage:
14:1 You are the children of YAHWEH your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make baldness on the front of your head for the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to YAHWEH your God, and YAHWEH has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
3 You shall not eat any abominable thing. 4 These are the beasts which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5 the deer, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the mountain goat. 6 Every beast that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the beasts, that you may eat. 7 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but do not have a parted hoof, they are unclean to you. 8 And the swine, because he has a parted hoof, but does not chew the cud, he is unclean to you. You shall not eat their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses.
9 These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales you may eat; 10 and whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean to you.
11 Of all clean birds you may eat. 12 But these are those of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the osprey, 13 and the red kite, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, 14 and every raven after its kind, 15 and the ostrich, and the owl, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind, 16 the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl, 17 and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the cormorant, 18 and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. 19 And all winged creeping things are unclean to you, they shall not be eaten. 20 Of all clean birds you may eat.
21 You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the sojourner that is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people to YAHWEH your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
22 You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year. 23 And you shall eat before YAHWEH your God, in the place which he shall choose to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YAHWEH your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which YAHWEH your God shall choose to set his name there, when YAHWEH your God shall bless you, 25 then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which YAHWEH your God shall choose. 26 You shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before YAHWEH your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27 And the Levite that is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion, nor inheritance with you.
28 At the end of every three years, you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates, 29 and the Levite, because he has no portion, nor inheritance with you, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that YAHWEH your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
Reflection:
The tithe is an interesting, but highly misunderstood reality. Many people act as if a tithe is still required for New Testament believers, but the New Testament never gives a specific command to tithe. At the same time, for those who know this, they also act like therefore, there is no giving requirement for Christians. But what isn’t always recognized is that, as in all things, the new covenant requirements are much higher than the old covenant. In the Old Testament, all that was required was a tenth. But we are now told to offer everything to God, like Romans 12 says. All that we have is God’s to use as he sees fit. Our money, our giftings, our possessions, our bodies, our very lives are all completely his. The Christian is meant to sacrifice everything they are for YAHWEH’s purposes.
Questions and Answers:
Verse 5: What is an ibex? [Gwendolyn, 9]
Ibexes are any of several species of wild goats. They have long curved horns and mostly live in mountainous regions. I actually saw a Nubian ibex when I was in Israel. We went to visit Makhtesh Ramon, which is known as Israel’s “Grand Canyon.” It is deep into the Negev, south past Beersheba. The word “makhtesh” in Hebrew is used for mortars, as in a “mortar and pestle.” A mortar is the hard bowl you use for grinding; the pestle is the heavy tool that grinds up whatever is in the mortar. Craters are named “makhtesh” in Hebrew based on their bowl-like shape.
Anyway, when we were looking out over the Ramon crater, there was a small hill behind us. On the hill was a female Nubian ibex, just walking along the rocks on the hill. I actually got pretty close, maybe 30 or 40 feet from it before it just kind of sauntered off around the edge of the cliff walking on a pretty steep surface. Their ability to balance on the steep rocks and jump from one rocky outcrop to another is incredible. If you want to see something amazing, look up “ibex scaling a dam” on youtube.
Verse 13: What is a Red kite? [Elisha, 8]
I have said this before, but most animals in these sections are hard to pinpoint with much accuracy. Whatever the case, this animal that is referred to here in the Hebrew is some sort of raptor, a bird of prey. It’s translated as “Red kite” here, which is a specific species of kite. Kites are birds of prey that look similar to hawks, but are within different subfamilies taxonomically. One of the most defining features of Red kites specifically is that they have a forked tail. They are really beautiful birds with ruddy brown bodies, gray heads and the iconic yellow beak.
Verse 26: Is this verse supposed to be a kind of freewill for them? [Elisha, 8]
Yeah, you mean like a freewill offering. That is the essence of what Moses is telling them. It really is meant to be the tithe, but if someone lives too far from the place where YAHWEH causes “his name to dwell there,” then they are meant to sell all of the tithe animals and produce that they have and get money instead. Then when they travel to Jerusalem, they can use the money to buy whatever they want. They should partake of it in Jerusalem basically as a freewill offering. It makes specific mention though, since the tithe belongs to the Levites and since the Levites have no inheritance, that the people must remember to provide for the Levites that live among them in their own towns and cities with their offerings.
Recording of the Passage:
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