Instead of properly managing the temple service, administering sacrifice and teaching the people from God’s word… the priests were out plowing in the field to earn a living. Nehemiah 13:10-13 the priests were not doing their job… the people were not funding the work of the priesthood with their tithes. Toward the end of the book named after him, Nehemiah puts his finger on why the program was falling apart. Things were going badly… the people seemed to be slipping back into the same old habits of neglect that had caused their national defeat and exile. A lot the responsibility for making this restoration happen would depend upon the priesthood. Neglecting God’s commands had become a way of living and thinking for these people and it would take some hard work to get the people set back on the right path. Once the 70 years were up a small group headed by Ezra and Nehemiah were sent back to re-establish the nation. ![]() When Judah was expelled from the land for violating the terms of the national covenant they were condemned by God to 70 years of exile in Babylon and Persia. Numbers 18:26-28 they in turn tithed to the High Priesthood Tithing Badly Neglected in Israel ![]() Numbers 18:21-24 the priests would not work the land to make a living, they would do the work of God… temple service… sacrifices… teaching the word of God to the people. Instead of the order of Melchizadek, the tribe of Levi were set apart to do the priestly work of God on earth. With this new method of revealing Himself to humanity, there was also a change in the administration of the priesthood. To act as a living demonstration of His way of living among the nations which they could admire and imitate. God established Israel in the land of Canaan to perform His great work in the world. Tithing is part of the covenant of faith that began with Abraham and which remains today for the people of God. Genesis 28: 20-22 when God reaffirms the covenant He made with Abraham through Jacob … Jacob responds with a declaration of loyalty and a dedication to tithing… I will worship you through tithing. Abraham honored God with his material goods and gave thanks for the blessing from God. He gave it to the high priest of God… which at that time was Melchizedek. Abraham tithed hundreds of years before the covenant was put in place with Israel. Tithing is a form of worship that exists outside the bounds of the covenant God made with Israel. When you are gone it passes to another.ĭeuteronomy 8:17-18 we are wrong when we think it belongs to usĭeuteronomy 28:47 we are to serve Him willingly, which includes showing honor towards Him with our material goods by giving 10% back to Him. The reality of life on earth is that everything belongs to the Creator. A Tithe is a 10th of Your Increase or Net Gainĭeuteronomy 14:22 on the increase, gain, or profit When you tithe you not only honor God with your possessions, you partner with Him is accomplishing His spiritual goals for this world. God provides for this very spiritual work in this very material world through tithing. A spiritual entity operating in a very material world. At present He works through a spiritual entity… the church of God. At one time He worked through a physical entity… a nation, Israel. It is God’s will and purpose to work through humans as partners. A body of people commissioned as servants of Jesus Christ to take the message of the kingdom an of Christ to the world. Not a nation, not an organization… a spiritual organism drawing from all humanity. That beacon of light in a darkened world is the church. God has provided a beacon of right teaching, true doctrine, and spiritual understanding to cut through the fog. Understanding of what that document is actually there to teach us is darkened, confused, seemingly contradictory, seemingly discredited. ![]() ![]() The creator makes that knowledge available in a written document. Those answers are available within the message of the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. The real answers to humanity’s quest for meaningful and joyful living are spiritual, not material. Humanity seek to solve them through better technology, better distribution of material goods… and lots of wishful thinking.
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