Nehemiah 12:44-47: The Joy of Giving

Nehemiah 12:44-47: The Joy of Giving

Please turn with me in your Bible to Nehemiah 12. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 328. We’ve been going through the book of Nehemiah passage by passage, and this morning we come to Nehemiah 12:44-47. Nehemiah 12:44-47: 44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. 

I remember one time when I was a young boy, my grandmother gave me this tin of money that she had saved up for me over the past year. Basically, throughout the year, whenever she had an extra dollar or two, she would put it in the tin so that the amount of money in the tin gradually grew larger and larger. I think the tin had actually accumulated a couple hundred dollars by the time she gave it to me. So of course, I was just about as excited as any young boy can be. After all, I imagine that’s the kind of present anyone would love to receive, right? A tin full of money. So of course, I excitedly dumped out the tin and counted the money and was very happy—especially since my immediate family was relatively poor. But I have this random memory of my grandmother telling me, after I had finished counting the money, to wash my hands because, she said, the money was dirty. Lots of people had touched it with their germy hands and had gotten their germs on it. So she said I needed to wash my hands. And I’m not even sure why I remember her telling me that—it’s definitely one of those totally random memories we sometimes have from childhood—but I believe that’s precisely the attitude a lot of Christians have toward money in a figurative sense. Just like my grandmother warned me that money was dirty in a literal sense, a lot of Christians view money as also dirty in a figurative sense. They associate money with greed and worldliness and believe it’s tainted in a fundamental way. So naturally, they view money-related issues as inherently less important than other, supposedly more “spiritual,” issues that the Bible addresses. 

However, this passage of Scripture in Nehemiah 12 shows us that the opposite is actually true and that giving of our finances is very much an act of worship. That’s the main idea of this passage. Giving is an act of worship. It’s just as much an act of worship as anything else and, in some ways, is even one of the highest acts of worship. Because remember the context of these verses I read, verses 44-47. The Israelites are having a huge worship service to celebrate the completion of the wall around Jerusalem. And verses 44-47 show us that a central part of their worship was giving a portion of their wealth to God as he had commanded them to do. And there are two observations about Israel’s giving here I’d like to draw out of this passage that should guide the way we give. Number one, the motive for their giving. And number two, the requirements for their giving. 

The Motive for Their Giving

So first, the motive for their giving. Look with me at the last verse of the previous passage so we can remind ourselves of the context in which their giving took place. Verse 43: 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. So the Israelites were having a celebratory gathering that was truly something spectacular. This verse says that “God had made them rejoice with great joy” and that “the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.” So you get the picture that this was a remarkably joyful celebration. That’s what verse 43 tells us. But then look at the very next verse, verse 44: On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. So right after Nehemiah describes their joy, he goes right into describing their giving. And on top of that, as he’s describing their giving, Nehemiah even makes a special note in the middle of verse 44 that God’s people “rejoiced” over what their money was being used for—“the priests and the Levites who ministered.” So the first thing that sticks out to me about their giving is the motive for their giving. Their giving was the overflow of the joy they had in God. Again, their giving was the overflow of the joy they had in God. And likewise, that should be the motive for our giving. We should give not merely because we feel obligated but above all because we want to express the joy we have in God. 

Just think about how gracious God’s been to us. The Bible teaches that even when we were in a state of rebellion against God, he loved us. It’s one thing to love those who treat you well and who are relatively easy to love. We do that a lot in our relationships with one another. But God loved us when we were in a much different condition. Listen to these words from Job 15:14-16: 14 What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? 15 If God puts no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his sight; 16 how much less man who is abominable and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water! Understand that that’s talking about us in our natural pre-Christian condition. That’s who even the best of us were in the eyes of an infinitely holy God: we were abominable and corrupt, drinking up evil as if it were water. But that’s what makes God’s grace so amazing. Even while we were in that wretched condition, God sent his own Son Jesus to come to this earth and rescue us. Jesus did that by living a perfect life without sinning even one time and then dying on the cross to pay for our sins. Somebody had to suffer the punishment our sins deserved, and typically that “somebody” would be us. But Jesus stepped in and suffered that punishment in our place on the cross. And then he resurrected from the dead in order to conquer sin once and for all so that, now, we can enjoy forgiveness and rescue and eternal life as we put our trust in him. Those are gifts none of us deserve but that God graciously offers us through Jesus. 

And as we internalize the wonders of this gospel message, it should fill us with the most profound joy. And that joy should spill over into our lives in a number of noticeable ways such as giving. It should make us want to use our money for the glory of God. That’s the order of events we repeatedly see in the Bible, including our main passage of Nehemiah 12: first the joy in God, then the giving as a tangible expression and an overflow of that joy. I remember in middle school, my friends and I had this game we played on a few occasions where we would try to make each other laugh. Basically, if you laughed, you lost. So we would say and do the craziest things in an effort to make someone from the group laugh. And of course, if you were that person, your goal was to do whatever you could to keep yourself from laughing. And that might not sound like a terribly difficult thing if you’re an adult, but remember, we were middle schoolers. So if you’re a middle schooler in a silly, giddy mood, not laughing is actually pretty hard. We typically were not successful, and our silliness and giddiness frequently overflowed into laughter. It’s like it had to come out. And that’s similar to the way it should work with our giving. Our giving should be an almost unstoppable overflow of the joy we have in God. God never wants us to give merely out of a sense of guilt or obligation. And honestly, I don’t want people giving out of those kinds of motives either. I don’t want anybody to ever give to Redeeming Grace because they feel like their arm is being twisted. Rather, we should give because of the joy we have in Jesus. 

The Requirements for Their Giving

However, that’s not to say God hasn’t given instructions related to the amount of our giving. We see in Nehemiah 12 that the Israelites gave a specified amount of their wealth to God. And that leads us to point number two: the requirements for their giving. So first we had the motive for their giving, and now we have the requirements for their giving. Look at verse 44 again: 44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. So it says that men were appointed to oversee the storerooms of the temple as well as the process of collecting the various goods that would be stored in those storerooms—the contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. Those were the three kinds of gifts the Israelites were required to give to God. And the passage goes on to say that these gifts were used to support the priests and the Levites. Now beginning with the second of those two groups, the Levites were one of the twelve tribes of Israel and were the ones God had chosen to serve in the temple. They were singers, gatekeepers, supervisors, custodians. Basically, they did whatever needed to be done at the temple to keep things running smoothly. So when you see our main text talking about singers and gatekeepers, those were Levites. 

Then some of the Levites—namely, the descendants of a Levite named Aaron—were designated by God as priests. And the priests were the ones who actually offered sacrifices at the temple. That was their responsibility. And as they offered the sacrifices, they were allowed to go into a portion of temple nobody else was allowed to go into. So whereas the regular Levites were simple temple servants, the priests were a subset of the Levites who were uniquely responsible for offering sacrifices. But both of these groups were supported by the various kinds of contributions required from the nation of Israel mentioned in verse 44. These contributions allowed the priests and Levites to do what God had called them to do in the temple rather than have to earn a living by working out in the fields. 

And the kind of contribution mentioned in verse 44 that I’d like to focus on—since we don’t have time to cover all of them—is the tithe. That’s probably the most well known kind of contribution and the one that I believe has the most significance for us. Now, the word “tithe” literally means a tenth or 10%. So basically, God required the Israelites to give the Levites a tithe of both their animals and their crops, and then the Levites in turn would give a tithe of that tithe to the priests. And we see that happening in verse 47 of our main text. 

So here’s the question we run into as we think about all of this: “Do we as Christians still need to tithe today?” After all, what we read in Nehemiah was happening during Old Testament times before Jesus came. So does the same rule for tithing still apply in the New Testament? And that’s certainly an interesting question—because we’re not under the Old Testament Law. God gave that Law not to us but to Moses and the nation of Israel. It was meant for them during that particular period of time. And that period of time ended when Jesus came. So we’re not under that Law of Moses, nor are we under the Law’s requirement of tithing. However, here’s what makes it interesting. The book of Genesis records that both Abraham and Jacob believed in tithing. Genesis 14:20 tells us that Abraham gave a priest named Melchizedek a tithe of his wealth. Also, Genesis 28:22 records Jacob committing himself to the regular practice of tithing. Now, why is that so significant? Well, even though both of those verses are in the Old Testament, they happened before the Law of Moses. Both Abraham and Jacob lived hundreds of years before Moses came on the scene and received the Law. So neither Abraham nor Jacob were tithing because of the Law’s requirements but rather because they simply believed that that was the appropriate thing to do. 

So here’s what we’re able conclude from that. It seems that tithing is not an absolute law for us. Again, we’re not under the law. But tithing is the standard for financial giving consistently commended in the Bible. So I’m not going to say that you’re in sin if you’re not tithing on your income. I’m not saying that. But I do think if you’re not tithing that you should give extensive thought to your giving, because tithing is the model we see over and over again in the Bible. So with that in mind, let me challenge you as your pastor to give a tithe. And before I go any farther with that challenge let me just say this. This is not an easy subject for me to address. I’m very aware of the fact that a lot of non-Christians believe churches just want people’s money. That’s something I’ve heard a lot. So it’s really tempting for me to not talk about money at all. Honestly, I find it easier to talk about hell than money. But I have a sacred responsibility before God to teach you what the Bible says. So let me do that by challenging you to tithe. And of course, I’m not speaking to our guests but to our members and regular attenders. Start tithing your income if you don’t already. 

Now maybe, you’re hesitant to tithe because you don’t think you can afford it. But listen to what God says in Malachi 3:10-11: 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. So in an almost unprecedented fashion, God invites us to test him. I can’t think of anywhere else in the Bible where he does that, but he does it here. He says, “put me to the test…if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” And in case there are any astute Bible interpreters in here who are thinking that promise should only be applied to Israel, let me give you a verse from the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 9:6: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So God promises his people in both testaments that if they’ll give with generosity, he’ll provide for their needs. And not just provide enough but even provide abundantly. 

I think I’ve shared with you before that, several years ago, I had a job as a door-to-door salesperson selling an Internet service from a new startup company called “Open Range.” And as you might imagine, this job going door-to-door was pretty tough most days and barely paid enough to get by. But even though money was tight, Becky and I were faithful to tithe our income and actually give not just 10% but 15%, which has been our practice throughout our marriage. And it’s interesting how things played out with Open Range. The company ended up going out of business, but about a month before that happened, I got a phone call from our church’s youth pastor saying that he had recommended me for a job. Another member of the church who I didn’t know since it was a larger church was the director of a hospice, and he was looking for a chaplain who would minister to people in a biblically faithful way. So I ended up getting the job, and it was perfect. I was able to do something that was more in line with what I felt called to do, and it certainly didn’t hurt that the new chaplaincy position compensated me very generously, virtually doubling my income. So God came through for us in an amazing way. You have to understand that I had no clue Open Range was about to go out of business, nor was I looking for another job, but God was watching out for us and provided for us abundantly. And there’s not a doubt in my mind that the reason he provided with such abundance was because we put him first in our finances and tithed and went beyond the tithe even during a time when we barely had enough to get by. 

So let me challenge you to take God up on his invitation. As we saw in Malachi 3:10, God invites you to test him. So do that: test him and see if he doesn’t do what he promises and “open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” And here’s the kind of test I’d like to suggest specifically: a Three Month Tithing Challenge. A Three Month Tithing Challenge. It’s really simple. Commit to tithing your income for three months and see if you don’t experience more of God’s blessing in your life by the end of that three-month period. Now I’m not guaranteeing any specific kind of blessing like a promotion or something like that, but I do believe from the Bible that you can expect God to bless you in some noticeable way. Again, 2 Corinthians 9:6: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So tithe your income for three months, and if you don’t see God’s blessing in some form by the end of it, just let me know and I’ll arrange for the money you’ve given to be returned to you. But take a step of faith here. Now to sign up for this Three Month Tithing Challenge, here’s what you do: just fill out a Connection Card, write “Tithing Challenge” at the bottom, and then put that card in the wooden box on the back table. You can do that this Sunday or, if you’d like some more time to think about it, you can also do that next Sunday as well. And the reason it’s good to sign up officially in that way is (1) so we can be praying for you, (2) so that you can have extra encouragement to follow through, and (3) because I would like to send you a book. And I’m going to use my own money, not the church’s money, to give you this book. That’s how eager I am for you to be blessed by it. The book is called The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn, and it explains biblical principles for generosity, including a heavy emphasis on the heart behind our generosity. 

Conclusion

And that’s really the reason I want to give you this book. I want you to understand that God doesn’t want your money. He wants your heart. I mean, if God wanted your money, I’m pretty sure he could just take it, right? He is God, after all. And what does he need your money for, anyway? He’s the one who spoke this universe into existence. He doesn’t need money to do what he wants to do. So God’s not interested in your money but rather in your heart. Kind of like when you choose to marry someone. Hopefully you don’t choose your spouse based on how much money they have, right? That kind of thing is frowned upon even by secular society. Hopefully, you choose your spouse because you love them and you love knowing them and you love being with them. So understand that God’s not primarily interested in your money. He’s after your heart. But he understands that there’s this invisible cord running from your heart all the way down here to your wallet. That’s why he instructs us to give. Let’s pray.