ianridpath said:
Ive had a shufty at your explanation, now you have a lil gander at this one....
http://www.believers.org/believe/bel122.htm
Thank you for bringing something to discourse.
Let's look at this in-depth.
Leviticus 27:30 is the first verse in the document, but let's look at it in context.
Leviticus 27:
29 'No one who may have been set apart among men shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
30 'Thus (10) all the tithe of the land, of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S; it is holy to the LORD.
31 'If, therefore, a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.
32
'For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever (11) passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.
33 '(12) He is not to be concerned whether it is good or bad, nor shall he exchange it; or if he does exchange it, then both it and its substitute shall become holy. It shall not be redeemed.'"
34 (13) These are the commandments which the LORD commanded Moses for the sons of Israel at Mount Sinai.
As one might notice, I highlighted the part about what exactly the tithe is in this passage. It was in regards to the flock. Many people try to allegorize the tithe into money, but there is actually only one section where that happens. I'll show it to you now, just for kicks:
Deuteronomy 14:
22 "You (11) shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.
23 "You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, (12) at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may (13) learn to fear the LORD your God always.
24 "If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses (14) to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,
25
then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.
26 "
You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and (15) there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.
In this instance, the tithe is used as a party celebration to honor the L-rd. If one must travel a distance, then exchange your tithe (produce and livestock) for money so that it can be transported easier. Once you get to the town to celebrate, YOU may spend it on yourself and loved ones. Sounds much different than the tithe today.
Let's continue with your paper.
Nowhere in the paper does it show that tithing is worship (through Scripture), but it purports it as truth for a number of paragraphs.
1 Corinthians 9
9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, "(15) YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING." God is not concerned about (16) oxen, is He?
10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, (17) for our sake it was written, because (18) the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops.
11 (19)
If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we (20) did not use this right, but we endure all things (21) so that we will cause no hindrance to the (22) gospel of Christ.
13 (23) Do you not know that those who (24) perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?
14
So also (25) the Lord directed those who proclaim the (26) gospel to (27) get their living from the gospel.
15
But I have (28) used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make (29) my boast an empty one.
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for (30) I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach (31) the gospel.
17 For if I do this voluntarily, I have a (32) reward; but if against my will, I have a (33) stewardship entrusted to me.
18 What then is my (34) reward? That, when I preach the gospel,
I may offer the gospel (35) without charge, so as (36) not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Once again, the passage so that a pastor can validate taking his wages from the tithe. The tithe was for the Levite. The Levite was a priest before G-d because of bloodline and geneology. It had nothing to do with calling. The Levitical priesthood no longer exists. And pastors will try to spiritualize this situation by saying they in fact are operating in the same capacity. This is not true. They do not offer up sacrifices on the behalf of the assembly. Moreover, we are all called to be ministers of the gospel. Therefore, both you and I supposedly have a stake in the money making matters of the church. If you want to enact the tithe, which once again is produce and livestock (not money), then I suggest you take a Levite a cow and some ears of corn.
Numbers 18
21 "
To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (1) tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.
Once again, these are actual people. Not pastors or ministers.
Blessings and curses.
2 Corinthians 1
20 For (1) as many as are the
promises of God, (2) in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is (3) our Amen to the glory of God through us.
Promises do not equal OT blessings. This is something that the author is clutching for. Moreover, if he really wants to be accountable for all the blessings of the OT, he better be ready for all the curses as well. But then again, we have to ask, is the author a Jew? Since I don't know, it's really a moot point as to a lot of the OT promises and blessings.
Malachi 3
10 "(1) Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not (2) open for you the windows of heaven and (3) pour out for you a blessing until [1] (4) it overflows.
We need to look at this literally. The statement is made to Israel and the storehouse is a storehouse. Let's not try to make this a matter of allegory.
The author has the audacity to state that "anyone who claims Jesus as their L-rd and does not give Him at least ten percent of their money should face the truth: money is their ruler, not Jesus." So who does the tithe go to? Does this author want it to go to the L-rd or to his wallet? There is a big distinction. As stated already before, we are all ministers.
Reasons not to tithe (as stated by the author):
1) Unbelief. In the Savior or in man-made teaching? For me, I chose G-d.
2) Fear. Not really. Maybe some. I'm not seeing where we can draw that conclusion tho.
3) Greed, selfishness. Not the case again. I give to the poor when the L-rd leads.
4) Lack of right teaching. Once again, this is a little bit of the pot calling the kettle black.
My income does not depend on others giving to me. The author does. Who has the fear now?
Listen, brother, and I mean this gently. Please read all that I have written in my other posts. Go to the referenced thread that has documentation on it. Or just go to Messianic Judaism and look at the tithe threads there. This document does hold up to my short criticism here or on what else has been written.
Let me give you peace in the fact that if you still feel led to tithe, then by all means do not betray your conscience. Just know, not all is what it seems.
m.d.
