Not being a Mormon, I have always wondered if that tithe bit was Smith’s idea ? ? ? ?
Well, Smith referencing tithing in a so-called "revelation" in 1831 -- just a year after publishing the Book of Mormon...but the context wasn't so much property as the person themself being tithed...which many Mormon leaders now treat as "is this person tithed up" kind of thing.
But Smith had no underlying collateral or any financial basis for either starting a bank or producing $ -- which he did in Kirtland Ohio. He literally have to leave town in o-dark-thirty (I think it was either latter 1837 or early 1838) because his creditors were after (including questionable real estate deals) & his bank was failing.
So leave it to Summer 1838 when he has had many of his apostles leave him because of his obvious financial shenanigans to begin (again) addressing tithing -- as he did on July 8 1838 in Missouri in what is now D&C 119.
While verse 4 defines tithing as "one-tenth" as "a standing law unto them forever," he goes beyond that in verse 1: "Verily, thus saith the Lord, I REQUIRE ALL their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion." (119:1)
So...for all you Mormons out there who own "surplus property" and have yet to put it into the hands of your local bishop, shame on you for directly disobeying the Mormon god's requirement.
I can tell you whose idea it WASN'T!!!
2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.