Leviticus 27: Ancient Economics

"Every tenth of the land's produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.  If a man decides to redeem any part of this tenth, he must add one-fifth to its value."

Leviticus 27:30-31

Tithe... Our culture completely misunderstands the meaning of this word.  It translates to tenth.  According to the final chapter of Leviticus, this does not mean giving one-tenth of all your earned money to the church.  This law literally requires that every tenth grain from the field, every tenth fruit from the orchard, every tenth animal in the flock belongs to the Lord and His priests.  Here's a narrative to show what this means:

A farmer owns a field.  When the harvest comes, he begins to collect the grain.  He collects the first nine for himself, then sets the tenth aside for the sanctuary.  Again, he collects nine for himself and the tenth goes to the sanctuary.  He does not discriminate between good and bad grain, but simply counts from one to ten as he walks down the row harvesting.

A shepherd keeps a new generation of his sheep in a special pen, where they can be kept safe until they are ready to join the rest of the flock.  When they leave this pen, he allows the first nine to join the others, but the tenth is pulled out to be given to the sanctuary.  The next nine are allowed to pass through, and again the tenth is separated, whether healthy or unhealthy.

A man who wishes to redeem any of the harvest or flock that are given to the sanctuary may buy them back for an additional 1/5 of the value.  In other words, let's pretend that I pluck 20 apples from a tree and give 2 of them (the tenth and the twentieth plucked) to the church.  If I want to keep those two apples instead of giving them to the church, I need to calculate the price of the two apples and add 20% (or one fifth) of the value.  If the going rate for apples is a dollar each, I'd pay the church $2.40 (that's $1.20 per apple).

The tithe system for church funding is entirely based on agricultural society.  What happens if a man owns no land nor flocks?  Under this law, he is not required to give anything.  The same is true for a man whose flock only produces nine offspring - since there is no tenth, he is required to give nothing.

So if people are only giving their grain, fruit, and animals, how does the sanctuary get any money?  There are many ways, including offerings and payment for certain services...  However, the only way mentioned in Levitical Law is through the redemption of tithed goods - people paying the value plus a fifth instead of giving their goods to the priests.

Question of the Day:
How should this law affect a non-agricultural society?  How should this law affect a society in which the church and government are separate?  How should any of the Levitical Laws (which create a religiously-based government) affect a citizen of the United States of America, in which the church and state are separate entities?

Prayer of the Day:
Show me Your will for my finances, and teach me how to honor and respect You with my earnings.  Help me understand how the laws You gave to the Israelites should (or shouldn't) play out in my own life.  Amen.