In Second Chronicles, chapter thirty-one, verse four, Hezekiah commanded the people to give the first fruits and the tithe of all their produce to the priests and Levites, as in Exodus twenty-three, verse nineteen, Leviticus twenty-seven, verses thirty through thirty-three, Numbers eighteen, verse twelve, verses twenty to twenty-four, and Deuteronomy twenty-six, respectively, enabling the priests to devote themselves more to God and the ministry of His Word.
Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests. The king now turned his attention to providing for the orderly performance of the temple of worship, arranging the priests and Levites in their development, assigning to everyone his proper place and functions, and issuing edicts for the regular payment of those dues from which the revenues of the sanctuary derives from. Hezekiah also sets an example to his subjects, and proportions announced in the first instance, for the king it belonged, out of his privy purse, to defray the expenses of the altar, both stated and occasional as in Numbers twenty-eight, verses three, four, nine, eleven, and nineteen, accordingly. Making this contribution from his means, Hezekiah followed the course that David and Solomon had taken before him, as in Second Chronicles eight, verse fourteen, and First Kings nine, verse twenty-five. Afterward, he reappointed the people’s dues to the temple, and it being necessary to issue a royal mandate about this matter, it appears that the sacred tribute had been either neglected or (as the idolatrous princes were known to appropriate it to their purposes) the people had in many cases refused or evaded the duty. But with the improved state of public feeling, Hezekiah’s commandment followed in obedience, and contributions of first fruits and tithes poured in with great liberality from all parts of Judah and Israel.
Under the new covenant, spiritual leaders called by God must be paid from the tithes and offerings of God’s people so they might stay continually to prayer and the ministry of the word, as in Acts six, verse four, and Galatians six, verses six through ten.