What is that?Is anyone going to help with the monetary tithe thing? Where is that taken from?
What is that?Is anyone going to help with the monetary tithe thing? Where is that taken from?
What is that?
Okay.. I really understand that question.. Are you asking how tithing of things like grain, etc became money?Tithing money.
Okay.. I really understand that question.. Are you asking how tithing of things like grain, etc became money?
I am not opposed to Paying 10% of what comes into my home to feed a brother and sister. In fact James says instead of just saying a faith statement by speaking to a persons poverty, "Be filled, Be full and be blessed" Faith will actually take action and feed that person and not just do some prayer.
Ya, I think you are rite.. I think it was meant to be first fruits.. So people used to bring in crops from their harvest.. now our first fruits is simply a pay check!Yeah. I mean I would assume that the only way it could have made the swap is since most people don't have crops anymore. But even then, it seems like bringing food to the church would be more like old time tithe.
Is anyone going to help with the monetary tithe thing? Where is that taken from?
Here's an interesting reference to money in tithing. If they wanted, apparently the Hebrews could "redeem" their tithe of crops by paying for its value plus one fifth extra, but they could not redeem their tithe of cattle.
Leviticus 27
30“ ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. 33No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’ ”
There are definitely some interesting things going on in Lev 27.
You'll notice that tithes here do not seem to come from "income" per se (i.e., not from just the newly born cattle), but from all of the farmer's assets. The tithe here is not the first of everything, but the tenth of everything (v.32). It seems to work like this: count your cows. For each tenth cow you count, that one goes toward your tithe, whether it's good or bad. So they seemed to tithe the last of their assets, not the first of their income.
The "firsts" seem to belong to God, and this seems to be in addition to the tithes:
26“ ‘No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the Lord; whether an oxjor a sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27If it is one of the unclean animals, it may be bought back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If it is not redeemed, it is to be sold at its set value.
So what Leviticus seems to be describing here, if I've read it correctly (and please, double check!) is that
- All your firstborn animals belong to God, and if it's an unclean animal, it must either be redeemed or sold. This is not a tithe, but is in addition to the tithes.
- You tithe from your total assets, not your income. Your tithe is every tenth thing that you count.
Regarding first fruits, these are again distinct from tithes and from the firstborn of cattle described in Lev 26. It is an agricultural offering only. You can read about the distinction between the first fruit offering and tithes (specifically, the third tithe) in Deut 26.
So, if we are truly supposed to be tithing then we need to buy cattle? If we are required to give are firstborn animals, and a tenth of our cattle, and we don't have any animals anymore what should we do? That would mean we are required to give 15% of our income? Even then we wouldn't be satisfying the commands there.
Just for interest's sake, here is a list of what I've read so far about what a Hebrew landowner would be required to give:
- The firstborn of all your cattle
- The first fruits of your crops, apparently eaten by the Levites and foreigners
- The Temple tax
- An annual tenth of your crops and cattle, given to the Levites for their food (hard to say if this is a tenth of your total assets, or a tenth of your increase)
- An additional annual tenth of the increase of your crops and firstborn of your cattle, eaten as a feast, shared by Levites
- Every three years, an additional tenth of the increase of your crops and cattle, given to the Levites, poor and foreigners for food
There are not only stipulations about what is to be tithed and offered, but who receives them, and how they are to by used by the recipients. As you can see, it's very difficult to tell exactly how to "satisfy the commands." It's very difficult to say that all this can be adequately summarized by "give your church 10% of your income."
Is anyone going to help with the monetary tithe thing? Where is that taken from?
So, if we are truly supposed to be tithing then we need to buy cattle? If we are required to give are firstborn animals, and a tenth of our cattle, and we don't have any animals anymore what should we do? That would mean we are required to give 15% of our income? Even then we wouldn't be satisfying the commands there.
If this thread isn't about discussing whether or not Law says we have to tithe then it shouldn't be here. Should we give to our church and the poor and needy? Yes. Should we give 10% of our money to a single church and assume they do all the things they should with it? No.
Never assume. If they aren't doing what the Bible says they should do, find another church.
If this thread isn't about discussing whether or not Law says we have to tithe then it shouldn't be here. Should we give to our church and the poor and needy? Yes. Should we give 10% of our money to a single church and assume they do all the things they should with it? No.
Michael H
I completely agree with you.
no one said don't give more than 10% - just give to God whats His FIRST.
After that its your money and you can do whatever you wish.
To go below 10% is tantamount to telling God what to do.
Which you still haven't proven with Scripture...
(and if you wanna justify yourself out of tithe. that's also fine. its your choice)