Where shall I send my tithe? I no longer have confidence in church leadership. May I give it to anyone who claims to preach ‘the straight testimony' of the Adventist faith? May I assist self-supporting units with it?” In other words, am I free, as a church member, to direct my tithe into any channel I see fit? Can I expect the Lord's approval of such a course of action?

These are practical questions—and sincere. Unfortunately, they reflect an uncertainty among some of our members over the role and function of the organized world church of Seventh-day Adventists. Since we are a Bible-based church, we believe that Israel's experience with organization and tithing can provide sound insights to assist modern Adventists in resolving such questions.

Old Testament Experience

We begin our survey with Israel's experience in the time of the Judges (1400-1050 B.C.), an epoch of anarchy. “In those days,” observed the chronicler, “there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).¹ There was little pulling together for the common good.

By contrast, the establishment of a monarchy brought a sense of unity, national consciousness, and purpose. It brought identity and coherence to Israel's religious faith and civil institutions. When Israel's kings governed under God, following the organizational pattern laid down by Moses, the national interests were best served, and the people prospered both spiritually and materially. This financial plan probably did not This prosperity provided an appealing showcase, attracting the surrounding nations to the true God (see Deut.4:5-8). Order is the law of heaven; it is seen in all God’s works.

Israel’s Support System

Israel's monarchal government as a theocracy meant that religious faith was intimately linked with civil life. Undergirding the priestly Temple ministration and the national religion lay the divinely appointed financial plan of tithing.

The practice of rendering to God a tithe (or tenth) of one's increase in material goods appears as a definite part of the patriarchal religion from time immemorial (see Gen. 14:20; 28:22). The patriarchs probably used the tithes in special sacrifices and feasts to the Lord, although on one occasion Abraham gave a tithe of the spoils of war to Meichizedek, a priest of the true God in Canaan.

At the establishment of the Israelite nation, sanctuary, and priesthood, God reaffirmed His right to the tithe: “All the tithe of the land, whether of seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord. . . . And all the tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord” (Lev. 27:30-32). Now, however, the Lord directed that the tithe should form the major basis for the financial support of the tribe of Levi, which, receiving no home territory in Canaan, was appointed to care for the religious needs of the nation (Num. 18:21-24).

The Levites (living in the 48 cities allotted to them throughout the tribal territories—Num. 35:7) periodically gathered the tithes from the people. They in turn tithed what they received and brought this “tithe of the tithe” to the sanctuary storehouse chamber, where it was redistributed to the priests (and in later years to other Levitical personnel) who served in the sanctuary service and worship (see Num. 18:26-28).

This financial plan probably did not function at all in the period of the judges; we know that it lapsed at times during the monarchal era. But in periods of spiritual revival we catch glimpses of its operation. One of these occurred under King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Chron. 31:2-19).

In response to the king's command to “give the portion due to the priests and Levites” (verse 4), “the tithe of everything” (verse 5) began to flow into the Temple storehouse. Azariah the high priest exclaimed to the inquiring king, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord we have eaten and had enough and plenty left” (verse 10). This heartening news prompted Hezekiah to enlarge the storage areas and appoint officers to oversee the regular distribution of this support “to their brethren [Levites], old and young alike, by divisions” (verse 15; see also verses 11-19).

When Nehemiah—appointed governor over the reestablished nation of Judah (fifth century B.C.)—led the Jews into a renewal of their covenant with God (see Neh. 9:38), he also led them to a commitment to revive the tithing system: “To bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse. . . . We will not neglect the house of our God” (Neh. 10:37-39; cf. 12:44).

During Nehemiah’s temporary absence from Judah (Neh. 13:6), however, the national purpose lapsed; the people backslid. On his return he remonstrated with the leadership: “Why is the house of God forsaken?” (verse 11). Once more the tithing system was restored, officers were reappointed to oversee distribution, and “Judah brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil in to the storehouse, that there may be food in my house” (verse12).

In Nehemiah’s second period of governorship God challenged His people through the prophet Malachi: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How are we robbing thee?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you” (Mal. 3:8,9). Following this severe criticism, God once more appeals to His people: “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house” (verse 10).

From this overview of the biblical data, we find it evident that the Levitical worship was amply underwritten by a tithing system that operated on a storehouse principle. No one chose to give his tithe to a particular priest or group of priests. On the contrary, all the tithes of Israel were gathered by the Levites, who in turn brought a tithe of these goods and moneys to the storehouse areas of the Temple. At this location, appointed officers distributed sustenance in a regular manner and in proper amounts to the priests and other Levitical attendants who ministered directly in the service of the Temple. This national pulling together provided a coordinated support for the Temple personnel who gave full time to their respective spiritual ministries.

Adventists, Organization, and Tithing

Early Sabbathkeepers were reluctant at first to move in the direction of organization. But as the Sabbath message spread, it became clear that no real advance could be made if “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Ellen White summarized the reason our pioneers organized the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1860s:

“As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization there would be great confusion, and the work would not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable” (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 26).

Pressed to keep ministers in the field full-time, our pioneers sought to develop an adequate financial system for the organizing church. As early as 1858 a Bible class in Battle Creek under the direction of J. N. Andrews began to search for Bible principles of gospel support. The class eventually recommended a plan known as Systematic Benevolence, the predecessor of the present system of tithes and offerings.

Not until 1876-1879, however, did Adventists institute a full-fledged tithing system (adapted from the Levitical model) as the basis for denominational finance. Leaders encouraged members to adopt the tithing plan as God’s ordained arrangement for the support of the ministry and the work of the church. Tithes gathered in the churches were remitted to the conferences for the support of the ministers in their respective territories. The conference was designated as the storehouse for the tithes. The conference passed on a tithe of these tithes to the General Conference. Over the years this storehouse principle has been refined so that tithe now flows from local churches to the conference, with certain percentages moving on to the union conference and finally to the General Conference, with its oversight of the world field.

The steady growth and extension of the Seventh-day Adventist Church—from 3,500 members in the United States in 1863 to more than 5 million worldwide today, and from a small U.S. area to a presence in more than 180 countries—has demonstrated under God's blessing the soundness of the storehouse principle of the Levitical system. The church succeeds when it pulls together toward a common goal.

Self-supporting Units and the Organized Work

Approximately 40 years after the organization of the Adventist Church there appeared a new form of lay endeavor: the self-supporting unit. Begun in 1904, the Nashville Agricultural and Normal Institute Corporation (the parent organization for Madison College and Madison Hospital) became the forerunner of scores of similar units that assisted in developing the work in the southern area of the United States. Today approximately 700 self-supporting units and independent businesses, with similar objectives as Madison, function under the General Conference umbrella organization known as ASI (Adventist-Laymen's Services and Industries International).

Usually self-supporting groups view themselves as adjuncts to the organized church. Actually, the Adventist Church itself provides the reason for their existence. Composed of dedicated, self-sacrificing men and women, self-supporting units have enlarged and furthered the cause of truth through the years by a variety of means such as schools and medical missionary endeavors.

Self-supporting units were never intended to spend their energies turning inward on the church to challenge publicly its doctrines, to critique its endeavors, or to prey on its tithes. On the contrary, such units were intended to uphold the church and to extend its influence, like Aaron and Hur, who held up the hands of Moses in the battle of Israel against the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16).

Unfortunately, some independent ministries (not under the ASI umbrella) openly accept tithe funds from church members and argue that the storehouse principle is invalid. Like disaffected persons who have given up the Adventist faith, leaders of these ministries point to the flaws and failures in the church as reasons why members should divert their tithe to them—although they themselves are accountable to no one. Such independent groups sometimes appeal to the example of Ellen White as their defense for accepting the Lord's tithe.

Ellen White and the Tithe

As one of the pioneers, Ellen White encouraged organizing the Adventist Church and fully endorsed through teaching and practice the system of tithing on the storehouse plan. In the early years, before medical and sustentation plans existed, she (by the Lord's direction) occasionally assisted ministers (both Black and White), who were in dire straits, from her personal tithe. In another situation she cautioned a conference president against making an issue of a gift of tithe from some members of his conference to the Southern Missionary Society, which supervised the struggling work in the southern United States. Eventually it became a regular practice for strong conferences to share a percentage of their tithe with weaker conferences. (For a detailed account of Ellen White's use of the tithe, see Arthur L. White, Ellen White: The Early Elmshaven Years, pp. 389-397.)

None of these exceptions provide a basis for members to divert the Lord's tithe from its intended use to independent ministries or self-supporting units. Ellen White addressed the questions posed at the beginning of this article, for they were raised in her day also.

“Let none feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord's work. . . . .

“Some have been dissatisfied and have said: ‘I will not longer pay my tithe, for I have no confidence in the way things are managed at the heart of the work.' But will you rob God because you think the management of the work is not right? Make your complaint, plainly and openly, in the right spirit, to the proper ones. Send in your petitions for things to be adjusted and set in order; but do not withdraw from the work of God, and prove unfaithful, because others are not doing right” (Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 247-249).

“Read the book of Malachi. . . . Cannot you see that it is not best under any circumstances to withhold your tithes and offerings because you are not in harmony with everything your brethren do? . . . Unworthy ministers may receive some of the means thus raised, but dare anyone, because of this, withhold from the treasury, and brave the curse of God? I dare not. I pay my tithes gladly and freely, saying, as did David, ‘Of thine own have we given thee' (KJV). . . .

“Do not commit sin yourselves by withholding from God His own property. . . . Do not, by your neglect of duty, increase our financial difficulties” (Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 1, pp. 52, 53.

Our Global Challenge

Seventh-day Adventists recognize the good work other Christians are doing. However, we are committed to the divine leading that brought about the birth and organization of the Advent movement to carry out the mission symbolized by the angels of Revelation 14:6-14 and 18:1-4.

While the truth is perfect in Jesus, neither the leadership nor the laity of this movement will ever be perfect. The wheat always will be mingled with tares (see Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43); the church will always have its Judases. But the prophecies foreshadow no new organizations to come, no more “angels” to fly. This is “the time of the end.” The present Advent movement has been appointed to accomplish this Revelation mission. Our urgent commission allows no room for disorganized approaches and haphazard moves, with every man doing what is right in his own eyes. There is only one place for the Lord's tithes to be deposited: the storehouse of the church. For Adventists, no other use of the tithe is admissible.

God expects His people to press together spiritually and pull together financially to accomplish His objectives. The global task of the church is many times greater than ancient Israel's in underwriting the Temple. With so large a challenge before us, let every minister and member enter wholeheartedly into the spirit of Nehemiah: “We will not neglect the house of our God” (Neh. 10:39).