In my last post about God’s Original Economic System, we looked at the way God designed the economy with Adam and Eve living in the Garden of Eden. In this system, God provided for all their needs (Genesis 1:29; 2:10-14). They needed to work, which gave them a sense of purpose, but the work was easy (Genesis 2:15). They developed loving relationships with God and one another (Genesis 2:25). In this system, there was plenty for their children, too, so they could be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis 1:27-28). When they sinned, they were kicked out of the Garden (Genesis 3:23-24). Childbirth became painful and work much harder (Genesis 3:16-19). But the same economic system would be in play for many, many years. God provided. They worked the way God said and they had everything that they needed.
As time went on, more and more people filled the earth. Some of them gathered into cities (Genesis 11:1-4), even though God told them to spread out (Genesis 9:7). New economic systems developed. More rules and laws were put into place so people could live closer to one another, get along, and have everything they needed. With these changes taking place, God selected a group of people who would be set apart as an example (Exodus 6:7). If people were going to gather together into cities and nations, then God would show them how it should be done (Genesis 4:7-8). This was what brought about the covenant with Abraham, Isaac (son), and Jacob (grandson) who was renamed Israel. Israel had twelve boys who became the twelve tribes of Israel. God made a covenant with them to bring them into a land that would provide for all their needs (Exodus 3:8). In this land, they would live as a nation who walked together with God (Leviticus 20:26).
A part of this covenant, then included a system for understanding God’s design for their lives. This system had prophets to whom God spoke (Genesis 20:7). These prophets would relay God’s teachings and laws to the rest of Israel (Exodus 5:1). They functioned as the voice of God (Deuteronomy 18:18-20).
People didn’t want to speak with God face to face. They were too afraid (Deuteronomy 5:24-27). That is why God spoke to them through prophets. God did provide them, though, a place where they could come near to God. Mt. Sinai was the first place (Exodus 3:12), but when they left that place God provided another place where they could meet with Him. This special tent was called a tabernacle (Exodus 26:33-34). It was built (Exodus 35) using the plunder from the Egyptians who had held them in slavery (Exodus 3:22; 12:36). The tabernacle used to travel with them and be set up in the center of their camp (Numbers 1:50). Later on, when they took over the promised land, they built a building called the Temple (1 Kings 6:1ff). The temple was in the center of the promised land (1 Kings 9:15) and built using materials from many neighboring nations (1 Kings 10+).
When people learned what it meant to walk together with God, though, they immediately realized that they did not do this perfectly. A part of the covenant, then was a system that allowed people to turn away from their failures and rebellion. They could seek forgiveness for their sins, reconciliation with God, and start walking with God again. This system included animal sacrifices as a reminder that our sin deserves the punishment of death (Exodus 29:14). They system, however, taught us that somehow God would be willing to pay that penalty another way if we honestly repent and return to God. The animal sacrifices took place at the tabernacle and then, when it was finally built, at the temple.
Since this system included a building, workers who maintained the building (Levites), and intermediaries who would perform the animal sacrifices on your behalf (Priests), the economic system was adjusted to pay for workers who performed this all-important work. Eleven of the tribes of Israel would bring in a tenth of all their livestock and harvest (Leviticus 27:30-32). This tenth of their income had a special name: a tithe. The tithe, then, made sure that the tribe of Levi, who worked at the tabernacle and then at the temple, were provided for in the land they inherited from God (Numbers 18:21-24). The tithe, however, had another special significance. It wasn’t just the way to economically provide for God’s workers. It was also an act of worship and trust in God. We see this because the eleven tribes were told to bring in the first and best tithe from their fields (1 Chronicles 31:4-5). This was an act of trust, because the fields could get destroyed after they brought it in. We also see it in the commands to the Levites. They were told to take a tenth of these tithes, the first and the best of all, and bring them to the priests (Numbers 18:25-32). The tithe was an economic system, but it was also an act of worship before God.
This Israelites were also reminded that the promised land had enough for everyone and that everyone was important to God. They were told not to harvest the edges of the fields, so the poor and the foreigner would always have something to eat (Leviticus 19:9-10). They were told not to charge one another interest, so someone who had fallen on difficult times would be helped by their Israelite brother (Leviticus 25:35-38). Even if they sold their land or placed themselves into slavery to survive, God’s economic system periodically reset everything back to its original state. They would get their land back and, once again, be set free (Leviticus 25:39-43). This was a reminder to Israel that God want’s to provide for everyone, wants everyone to work, and wants all of us to be free to choose to walk together with God.
This first covenant with Israel was intended to create a nation that was Holy: set apart as different from all other nations (Exodus 19:5-6). God wanted people to see what it looks like when we walk together with God (Deuteronomy 26:16-19). The entire system taught us to rely on God’s provision, to work using our God-given gifts, to follow God’s design for our lives, and to return to God when we have walked away. While the Israelites were not told to go and reach people in other nations, they were told to be a living reminder of God’s Kingdom here on earth while we look forward to heaven.
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