Tithing Did not Predate the Law
July 18th, 2009 at 04:11pm Under Elder Law
What Abraham gave of the spoils of war has no parallel whatsoever with the tithe in the Law, or with what is going on today.
Many rely on the argument that the spoils were Abraham’s property to do with as he pleased. This assumes that Abraham was a man with a character very much like any renegade, vagabond of his day. I tend to think of him as being a far cut above the average man, given that the Lord chose him above all other men of that day for his great faith. Additionally, a true believer would NEVER consider property they recovered, property they knew was never theirs to begin with, and that therefore belongs to someone else, to be their own. Who among you would do that, except that you live in sin? And yet, many attribute Abraham as having an evil disposition by trying to force upon him a character that assumes other people’s property was his to keep.
The OT tithe in the Law had nothing to do with the upkeep of the temple. As a matter of fact, the OT tithe had nothing to do with anyone’s wages. Today, however, tradition has planted a very twisted belief about the Bible, and thus forcing the uncritical mind into conformity to a mindset that has nothing to do with the Truth. Fishermen, carpenters, clothiers, craftsmen, etc., were not required to tithe to the Levites. Jesus didn’t tithe, and neither did His disciples. Today, however, we are surrounded by a paradigm found nowhere in the word of God.
The scriptures show us an example of supporting people and their needs first and foremost.
Modern buildings, owned by the various religious organizations, overseen by the hirelings and the staffing within, with their numerous operations, consume the lion’s share of professing believer’s primary giving. This is basically a practice of the people lavishing their own so-called giving upon themselves, which isn’t giving at all.
This grates against the sensibilities of the purely religious…which describes people who take carnal things and spiritualize them. They spiritualize the building by calling it ‘God’s House’. They spiritualze the man-made position of the so-called ‘pastor’ (CEO) within religious institutions, and they spiritualize the activities within the four walls of their building by assuming that it all has the Divine stamp of approval upon them. Token outreaches are also seen as legitimizing activities for all the other sins of institutional church organizations, such as the robbery of God by using the people’s primary giving for their own expenditures.
The acid test of any ministry is to pull the money out from under it. If it collapses into a heap, then it clearly wasn’t of God. Jesus sent His disciples without any money purse, extra shoes or extra tunics. Their every need was met where they traveled and ministered.
Where is that level of faith today…?
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