COVENANT ECONOMICS – Part 3
Defining Increase
Wages, Work, Provision, and What Is Actually Tithed
Greg Witter | Ephraim’s Cry
Hebraic Mindset Study Series
Study • Learn • Apply • Grow • Share • Repeat
INTRODUCTION: WHY “INCREASE” MUST BE DEFINED
Once ownership has been restored and the tithe is understood to belong to Yahuah, the next unavoidable question arises:
What actually qualifies as increase?
This is where confusion, guilt, and abuse most often enter the discussion. Many people have been taught that all money received is increase. Scripture never makes that claim. Torah is far more precise, far more just, and far more humane.
If increase is not defined correctly, tithing quickly becomes oppressive rather than covenantal. Yahuah does not demand obedience that destroys households or ignores real-life realities. His instructions are designed to preserve life, not burden it.
Defining increase correctly is therefore essential.
THE TORAH DEFINITION OF INCREASE
Scripture does not treat income, provision, restoration, and surplus as the same thing. Torah consistently distinguishes between what sustains life and what exceeds it.
Increase in Scripture is tied to gain beyond provision, not mere survival.
“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed that the field brings forth year by year.”
(Deuteronomy 14:22)
The increase came after the seed was planted, the labor performed, and the harvest produced more than what was required to continue living and working. This principle applies consistently across Scripture.
Yahuah never commands a tithe on what is required to survive.
WAGES AND THE LABORER
A laborer who earns wages does so in exchange for time, skill, and effort. Those wages are immediately consumed by the necessities of life.
Scripture is clear that a worker is worthy of his wages and that provision for one’s household is a covenant responsibility.
“The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
(Deuteronomy 24:14–15; Luke 10:7)
“If anyone does not provide for his own, especially those of his household, he has denied the faith.”
(1 Timothy 5:8)
This establishes a clear order:
wages are first for provision
provision precedes surplus
surplus defines increase
A wage used to pay rent, utilities, food, transportation, clothing, and basic needs is not increase. It is provision.
FARMERS, HOMESTEADERS, AND PRODUCERS
Scripture most often illustrates tithing through agriculture because it clearly demonstrates the principle of increase.
A farmer must:
purchase seed
prepare the land
plant and tend the crop
protect it
harvest it
Only after these costs are met and the harvest exceeds what is required for continued operation does increase exist.
Scripture never commands a tithe on:
seed
tools
land
labor
losses
The tithe was taken from what remained after provision was secured.
This same principle applies to homesteaders, ranchers, and anyone producing goods from the land.
BUSINESS OWNERS AND OPERATORS
A business is not income; it is an operating system.
Before increase can exist, a business must cover:
operating expenses
materials and supplies
wages paid to others
taxes and fees
rent, utilities, and tools
maintenance and reinvestment
What remains after these obligations are met is profit. Profit, not gross revenue, is the biblical parallel to increase.
If a business does not produce surplus, there is no increase to tithe from.
Yahuah does not require a tithe on money that never truly belonged to the owner.
TAXES, FEES, AND WITHHELD FUNDS
Money withheld for taxes, fees, or legally required payments is not increase. Scripture recognizes governing obligations and distinguishes them from covenant giving.
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”
(Matthew 22:21)
Only what remains after lawful obligations are met can be evaluated as potential increase.
LOSS, DEBT, AND SEASONS OF LACK
Scripture repeatedly acknowledges seasons of hardship, famine, and loss. Torah makes provision for these realities and never commands giving that compounds suffering.
When there is:
debt
loss
restoration in progress
survival-level provision
There is no increase.
In these seasons, Scripture calls for mercy, community support, and patience—not financial extraction.
COVENANTAL TITHING VS RELIGIOUS DISTORTION
Covenantal understanding of increase:
surplus after provision
protection of households
recognition of real costs
wisdom applied seasonally
Religious distortion of increase:
gross income regardless of need
disregard for survival
pressure without discernment
obligation without context
One reflects Torah.
The other reflects control.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Many people have been crushed under false teaching because increase was never defined. Others have rejected tithing entirely because what they were told contradicted reality and Scripture.
Yahuah is not unjust. He does not reap where He has not sown. He does not demand fruit where no surplus exists.
Correctly defining increase restores trust, clarity, and freedom.
CLOSING ORIENTATION
Before discussing percentages or application, one truth must be firmly established:
Increase is surplus, not survival.
Only when this truth is honored can covenantal tithing function as a blessing rather than a burden.
The next installment will address a closely related and often misunderstood issue:
What is restoration, and why restoration is not increase.
That will be examined in COVENANT ECONOMICS – Part 4
Restoration vs Surplus: What Is Not Tithed.
HASHTAGS
#EphraimsCry#GregWitter#HebraicMindset#CovenantEconomics#CovenantalTithing
#DefiningIncrease#BiblicalStewardship#TorahTruth#ScriptureOverTradition#KingdomOrder
#Discipleship#ProvisionBeforeSurplus#BlessingNotBurden
See less
