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2 Chronicles 31 · a question people ask

Does this chapter mean Christians should tithe?

In the text

The chapter tells what Judah did under the Law: "they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly" (31:5), and the tithe of cattle and sheep (31:6). It gives no command beyond Hezekiah's to the people of Jerusalem (31:4), and says nothing about later believers. How the Old Testament tithe bears on Christians is something Christians answer in more than one way. Leviticus 27's honest question sets out the two main views, each resting on its verses, and chooses neither. This question points back to it rather than repeat it.

The verses

“Moreover he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the LORD’s law. As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly. The children of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to the LORD their God, and laid them in heaps.”
2 Chronicles 31:4-6 · World English Bible
““‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD.”
Leviticus 27:30 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Chronicles 31

2 Chronicles 31: Plenty left over

The heaps grew from the third month to the seventh, and the chief priest's report was, "we have eaten and had enough, and have plenty left over, for the LORD has blessed his people" (31:10). And the verse that calls Hezekiah "faithful" (31:20) is followed by "After these things and this faithfulness, Sennacherib king of Assyria came" (32:1).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions