Tithing: Difference between revisions

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==The party tithe (or the second tithe)==

~~'''Another ten percent''' paid for the festivals that built community and celebration (Deut.~~ 12:5-7~~, 17~~ & 14:~~22–27~~). Yes, that is right, it was spent on parties and it was mandatory. Can you even imagine if we all kicked in ten percent of our gross aggregate income for parties?

A distinct second tithe is found in Deuteronomy 12:5-7 & 14:22-27, and happened every first, second, fourth and fifth year of a seven-year cycle. This tithe is different because the person tithing gets to eat it, and not just the Levites or the Priests. The point was to bring the resources to the temple for a party (the festivals). Just in case you couldn't make it to the temple with your harvest, you were supposed to redeem the tithes for money and then go.

Yes, that is right, it was spent on parties and it was mandatory. Can you even imagine if we all kicked in ten percent of our gross aggregate income for parties?

:''"And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household," (Deuteronomy 14:26)

So why do Christian ministers teach about the first tithe only, and forget about the party tithe? You could say it is because Jesus cast out the money-changers, and those that sold animals in the temple. But what Jesus was doing was cleansing the temple from those who were in it for the money.

The party tithe was shared with the following classes of people:

1) Levites,

2) Strangers,

3) Orphans, and

4) Widows.

If your pastor preaches that tithing is mandatory for New Testament Christians, does this include tithing to strangers, or only to preachers?

James 1:27 says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

What James experienced in the New Testament is believers who gave everything, and shared it with those in need. It was a religion of love for others from the heart. The law, after all, was just a schoolmaster leading to true faith.

==The poor tithe (or third tithe)==