Details
Tithing is clearly spoken of in scripture. Yet some today think that tithing is no longer possible, that we should not tithe, or even look upon those who speak of tithing with suspicion. But what does scripture say about tithing, even in today’s day and age. Join us in this teaching as we learn the truth about tithing: the God Honest Truth. https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/2023/07/21/tithing-god-honest-truth-live-stream-07-21-2023/
Comment
Tithing is clearly spoken of in scripture. Yet some today think that tithing is no longer possible, that we should not tithe, or even look upon those who speak of tithing with suspicion. But what does scripture say about tithing, even in today’s day and age. Join us in this teaching as we learn the truth about tithing: the God Honest Truth. https://godhonesttruth.com/wp/2023/07/21/tithing-god-honest-truth-live-stream-07-21-2023/
Listen to Tithing - God Honest Truth Live Stream 07/21/2023 by God Honest Truth MP3 song. Tithing - God Honest Truth Live Stream 07/21/2023 song from God Honest Truth is available on Audio.com. The duration of song is 50:06. This high-quality MP3 track has 320 kbps bitrate and was uploaded on 22 Jul 2023. Stream and download Tithing - God Honest Truth Live Stream 07/21/2023 by God Honest Truth for free on Audio.com – your ultimate destination for MP3 music.
Comment
Loading comments...
The speaker discusses the topic of tithing and its relevance today. They mention that tithing is mentioned in scripture and has been practiced since ancient times. They explain that there are three types of tithes mentioned in the Bible: one for the Levites, one for the observance of feast days, and one for the widows, orphans, and foreigners. The speaker emphasizes that tithing is still applicable today and should be done along with other important aspects of the Torah. They encourage the listener to make their own informed decision about tithing based on the information provided. Like I said, tonight's draw is going to be all about tithing. Now if you happen to miss anything during tonight's draw, you can always go back and check it out in the on-demand version starting tomorrow morning on our website at GodHonestTruth.com or check one of our video platforms, whether that be YouTube, Rumble, BitChute, Odyssey, and you can catch it in the on-demand version there as well. Now if you'd like to get all the notes and the draw slides, you can find that, of course, on our website, GodHonestTruth.com. Click on the post for tithing. But the easiest way, if you're watching this through one of the on-demand platforms or through an audio podcast like iHeart, Amazon Music, stuff like that, you can find a link directly for this post down in the description below. Just go down there, click on it, it will take you directly to the post on our website. It makes it really easy for you. There you can get the video. You can get the draw slides and you can get the notes that we took during the research on this subject. Go check it out now and have all the information right there for you. Like I said, hopefully you've got your notebook ready and ready to take notes. So tonight we're going to start out with some scripture about tithing. Well, of course, anything that we believe, any doctrines that we hold to should be based on scripture, not the word of man or tradition or anything else. That's not to say that every word of man is bad or that every tradition is bad. However, we should base what we believe and our doctrines on scripture and start from there. Now, according to the words of our Messiah, he states in Matthew 23, 23, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe the men and the ennies and the cumen and have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah, the right ruling and the compassion and the belief. These need to have been done without neglecting the others. So we can see that even in Yeshua's time, there was still tithing going on, but Yeshua makes it a point to let the Pharisees here know and also us and everyone that it's not just tithing, but it's also the weightier matters of the Torah. Torah and tithing go together and he tells the Pharisees and also us now that we're reading all this, that these both need to have been done without neglecting any of the other ones. So even in Yeshua's time, tithing was still going on, but how does that answer, is tithing relevant to us today? We'll get to that later on and you can make up your own mind, but for now, let's go ahead and go back to Scripture and the first instance we see of tithing in Scripture comes from Abraham, Genesis 14, 18 through 20. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. Okay, a couple of points to unravel here real quick. First and foremost, tithes, okay? Tithes means a tenth, okay, 10%. But it also is the word for what we give, well, pretty much to Yahweh. Yahweh doesn't need our money, he has everything, or he could create anything he needs or wants, right? But it really is a gift to him. We'll see that later on in Scripture here. But also another thing to notice here, too, is that Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, who was a priest of the Most High God. Who's the Most High God? Yahweh. Now, keep in mind, if you remember from reading through your Bible, that this is way, way before Sinai, way, way before Aaron was even born, much less the Aaronic priesthood and the whole Levitical system was set up. Way before that, okay? So tithing predates Mount Sinai. Just keep that in mind, too, okay? It's not something that came in with the whole Sinai covenant, right? This was way before Mount Sinai. Now, like I said, tithes means a tenth or 10%. Here's your nerd information for those of you out there like me who like to nerd out on this kind of thing. Like I said, it means a tenth, a tithe, and that's how it's used throughout Scripture. If you look at these various verses that are submitted here, this is your Strong's entry, Browndriver Briggs entry, and Jesenius' Hebrew lexicon entry. And here is the Browndriver Briggs entry. Now, of course, all these are in the research notes on GodHonestTruth.com or this drawsh. Now, some translations don't translate it as tithes. Now, we just saw and now we know that tithe means tenth or 10%, and some translations actually translate it just like that. For instance, the translation that we use here at God Honest Truth is the Scriptures 2009 edition. And there in that last part of Genesis 14, 18 to 20, it reads, And blessed be the most high El who hath delivered your enemies into your hand, and he gave him a tenth of all. Okay? It still means the same thing as what King James said that we read earlier. He gave him a tenth of all. He gave him tithes of all, tithes, tenths, one and the same thing. And we even see this very same, we say, interaction between Abraham and Melchizedek reiterated and talked about in the Brit Hadashah, Hebrews 7, 1 through 6. For this Melchizedek, sovereign of Shalem, priest of the most high Elohim, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the sovereigns and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, his name being translated, indeed, first sovereign of righteousness and then also sovereign of Shalem, that is, sovereign of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but having been made like the son of Elohim, remains a priest for all time. Now see how great this one was, to whom even the ancestor Abraham gave a tenth of the choicest booty. And truly, those who are of the sons of Lehi, who received the priesthood, had a command to receive tithes from the people according to the Torah, that is, from their brothers, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. However, the one whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed the one who held the promises. So here, even after the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua, they're still talking about tithes, and it goes on and on. We'll get into some more of the Brit Hadashah scriptures here in just a little bit. But another interesting and intriguing point to note comes from Genesis 28, verses 20-22. And Jacob made a vow, saying, Seeing Elohim is with me, and has kept me in this way that I am going, and has given me bread to eat, and a garment to put on, when I have returned to my father's house in peace, and Yahweh has been my Elohim, then this stone, which I have set as a standing column, shall be Elohim's house, and of all that you give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to you. So even Jacob was giving a tenth, Jacob was giving a tithe, way before Mount Sinai. So tithing was most definitely established long before Sinai, long before the Levitical priesthood. Okay? We'll go on to Numbers 18, 20-24. And Yahweh said to Aaron, You are not to have an inheritance in their land, nor have any portion in their midst. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. And you can see, I have given the children of Lehi all the tithes in Israel, as an inheritance in return for the service which they are serving, the service of the tent of appointment. And let the children of Israel no more come near the tent of appointment, lest they bear sin and die. Because the Lehites shall do the service of the tent of appointment, so they themselves bear their crookedness. A law forever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they are to have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they present as a contribution to Yahweh, I have given to the Lehites as an inheritance. That is why I have said to them, among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. So after they got out of Egypt and they went through the wilderness, and this Levitical priesthood was set up, and then they went into the Promised Land. The Promised Land was divided up amongst the various tribes, with the exception of Levi. The Levites did not get any land to inherit. So without land, they had nowhere and no way to raise livestock for food, to raise crops for food, to do any kind of metalworking, woodworking, et cetera, et cetera, right? They did not have the land to do it. So how are they supposed to provide for themselves if they did not have the resources in which to produce what they needed? We can see here that it was established that the Levites were to be about the service of the Tent of Appointment, and then eventually the Temple, and that they would be provided for by these tithes. Now if you remember here in this passage we just read, it says the people of Israel were not to come near to the Tent of Appointment. That was for the Levites to do, okay? That was all in service of Yahweh. That's what the Levites were doing. So in order to continue that service to Yahweh and for all the people, the people gave a tithe, a tithe to the Levites. So keep that in mind as we go forward in this drash. Now this is the tithe that most people know about, the tithe that goes to the Levites, right? There are actually other tithes as well. Let's look at that real quick. Deuteronomy 14, 22-27. You shall tithe without fail all the yield of your grain that the field brings forth year by year. And you shall eat before Yahweh your Elohim in the place where He chooses to make His name dwell, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil and of the purslings of your herds and your sheep, so that you learn to fear Yahweh your Elohim always. But when the way is too long for you so that you are not able to bring the tithe, or when the place where Yahweh your Elohim chooses to put His name is too far from you, when Yahweh your Elohim is blessing you, then you shall give it in silver and take the silver in your hand and go to the place which Yahweh your Elohim chooses. And you shall use the silver for whatever your being desires, for cattle or sheep, for wine or strong drink, for whatever your being desires. And you shall eat there before Yahweh your Elohim, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. And do not forsake the Lewite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. Now this is a second kind of tithe. The first one, as we just read, went to the Lewites for the service at the Tent of Appointment and also the Tabernacle, sorry, both the Tabernacle and then eventually the Temple. The second tithe that I was talking about here, this is a tithe, a tent that we ourselves are to keep for ourselves for the purpose of observing the Feast Days and the Moedim. Now if you remember, in Scripture, especially the males, are commanded three times a year to go to the Temple and present themselves before Yahweh, okay? That is Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot, okay? Now if you remember, this is stating right here, well, let me back up a little bit. This is what the second tithe is for, so you can make that journey, do everything you need for that pilgrimage. This tithe also, if it was too far or in some way you could not make it, then you could convert your tithe, whatever it was, into a monetary amount and then use that to buy whatever your being desires, it says here. It says that you could buy cattle or sheep, wine or strong drink, whatever it is, and then feast before Yahweh and rejoice, you and your household, and don't forget the leeway, right? So the second tithe was for the observance of the Feast Days and especially the pilgrimages back when the Temple stood. Now there is no Temple nowadays, at least not yet as far as I know, so we as males of Yahweh cannot make that pilgrimage right now because there's no Temple. So we can take this second tithe and still use it in celebration of the Muad'Dib and the Feast Days. But that's what this second tithe is for. Now would it strike you to know that there's actually a third kind of tithe in Scripture? Yep. 14, I'm sorry, Deuteronomy 14, 28 to 29. At the end of every third year, you bring out all the tithes of your increase of that year and store it up within your gates. And the leewight, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the sojourner and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates shall come and eat and be satisfied so that Yahweh your Elohim does bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. So this third tithe was taken every three years. As you see here, this third tithe was to be set aside or stored up within your gates, it says here. And this was given to the leewight, it was given to the sojourner, those who are foreigners among you, temporarily I'm thinking, otherwise they would have converted and joined, the fatherless, the widow, and I would assume also the orphans, which the Berhadeshah talks about that we'll get to here in just a moment. But this is what the third tithe that scripture talks about is all for. So the first tithe goes to the leewight for the service at the temple, or like we would say today, the church or the synagogue. The second tithe was for us to hold back for celebration of the Moedim and the feast days. And this third tithe, this is collected every third year, and this goes to the leewight, the sojourner, the fatherless, the widows, and the orphans. Okay? So there's three different tithes that scripture talks about. Now you add all that up, and that means that is 23 and one-third percent of your increase every year that is for tithes, okay? That is a lot less than the 35 percent sometimes that our Uncle Sam gets, but that's a discussion for another time. Moving on. Deuteronomy 26, 12 through 15, when you have completed tithing, all the tithes of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the leewight, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, and they have eaten within your gates and have been satisfied, then you shall say before Yahweh your Elohim, I have put away the set-apart portion from my house, and also have given it to the leewight, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your command which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed your commands, nor have I forgotten. I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh my Elohim. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look from your set-apart dwelling place, from the heavens, and bless your people Yisrael, and the land which you have given us as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey." So again, talking about the third kind of tithe here, it says that when you do that, and here the viewer is writing this, says they put away and they've not eaten it, not even when they are in distress, that they were blessed because of this, and that the promises that they were given would come to pass, all because they took care of this third kind of tithe. So remember, three different kinds of tithes mentioned in scripture. Now speaking of the widows, and the sojourners, the strangers, however you want to put it, the orphans, stuff like that, like I said, this gets reiterated on into the Brit Hadashah as well, maybe even a reference to tithing, maybe not explicitly, but somewhat implicitly. James 1.27, Clean and undefiled religion before the Elohim and Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Now when we talk about widows and orphans and the fatherless, that is still relevant in today's day and age. Number one, there's still orphans out there, a lot of kids in foster care and adoption centers, stuff like that, who could really use a good home, but they could also use good role models, people to visit them and spend time with them. Okay? So we still have that orphan need even in our time today. The fatherless, those children who are living in single parent households, usually single mother households, they need a good, strong male role model to be in their lives as well. Now, widows, a lot of times, even in today's day and age, even here in America, the main breadwinner of a household is the husband, and once the husband goes and the lady of the house has been widowed, she needs some taking care of, she needs some looking after, she needs some people to spend some time with her, even. So we need to take care of widows in today's day and age also. So widows, fathers, I'm sorry, widows, fatherless, and orphans, this is the same thing that was talked about in the Torah when we were talking about tithing. And here in the Brit Hadashah scriptures, I told you I was going to screw up tonight or miss that, but anyways, here in the Brit Hadashah, it is also talking about the widows, fatherless, and the orphans, and we should be visiting them, and that this is true and undefiled religion. So it all kind of comes back. It all connects. Then we take a look at Malachi chapter 3, verses 8 through 10. So here the people are being chastised for not tithing, not giving their tithes and their offerings. And Yahweh says, yes, this is robbery to me when you are not tithing, you're not giving your offerings. But if you were to do this, you would see that I would open the windows of heaven for you and boundless blessings would come out. If we would just do what it is that he tells us to do. And if we look back in scripture, especially the ones we've already read and others, we see we are commanded to tithe. Why is that? We've already went over a couple times. The first tithe is for the ministry of Yahweh here on earth, whether that was back in the day with the tabernacle, back in the day with the temple, or in today's day and age with the church or synagogue, things like that. We'll get into more of that in just a moment, but that does kind of bring us up into a good transition into our next section about tithing for today. So is tithing still for today? Now the purpose of this drash is to present you with information, especially from scripture, so that you can make your own informed decision about tithing. We don't want to tell you one way or the other. This is something for you to decide. If you disagree with us, that's fine. If you agree with us, that's fine. Okay? We just want to give you the information so that you can make your own informed decision about how you're going to believe about this particular subject. But is tithing for today? Now keep in mind the words of our Messiah, Yeshua, when he stated in Matthew 5, 17-18, Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to complete. For truly I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one yod or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. So again, Yeshua, our Messiah, did not come to do away with the Torah. And he did not do away with the Torah. What's something that's contained in the Torah? It's a tithe. All three different kinds of tithing. So just keep that in mind as we think about, is tithing for today? Now remember that verse we read back at the very, very beginning, Matthew 23-23, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you tithe the mint and the anise and the cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah, the right ruling and the compassion and the belief. These need to have been done without neglecting the others. So just to reiterate again, Yeshua here is rebuking the Pharisees for tithing, I mean, they are tithing, okay, but they're forgetting the other matters of Torah. But he tells them that you should be doing both of these, both the tithing and the weightier matters of Torah, without neglecting to do either one, okay? Both of them need to be done according to the words here of Yeshua. So they were doing the tithing part, but they weren't doing the other Torah part. And that's something for us to keep in mind, is that we need not get haughty or raise ourselves up thinking that we're doing good because we're tithing, okay? There's lots of other things that we also need to be doing in addition to that, okay? Keeping Shabbat, observing the feast days, eating clean, et cetera, et cetera, right? So it's not just one thing, it's all the things. And then we go on to Mark 12, 41 through 44. And sitting opposite the treasury, he saw how the people put copper into the treasury, and many rich ones put in much. And a poor widow came and threw in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. And calling near his taught ones, he said to them, truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those putting into the treasury, for they all put in out of their excess, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had, her entire livelihood. And this is a story of how Yeshua saw someone tithing and what he thought about it, okay? All those with lots of money, they were probably doing what they were supposed to do. They were doing their 10%. They were meeting the status quo, but this poor woman came in and she gave not 10%, but all that she had. Now monetarily speaking, she gave less than everyone else, right? She gave, it says, amounted to a cent, which is more than likely a lot less than everyone else was giving. While percentage wise, she gave 100% in her tithes and offerings, whereas everyone else didn't. They were still in the status quo. And Yeshua saw this, I guarantee that woman got a blessing because of what she did and because of the condition of her heart. Now this gets into a question a lot of times about ministers and preachers and evangelists, people like that, and whether or not they should get a paycheck from what they do. Well, according to scripture, what we read here and the words of Paul, it seems like, yeah, it's okay for them to get a paycheck. Excuse me. I mean, the question then comes up, well, how much is okay? How much is too much? That's a fair question and a fair discussion to have. That I think should be taken on an individual basis. I can't really say here just, you know, generically, but we do see from scripture that it is okay for a pastor, for a preacher, for a reverend evangelist, whatever, to get a paycheck because it says that those announcing the good news should live from the good news, among other verses as well, such as 1 Timothy 5, 17 through 18. Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double respect, especially those who labor in the word and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain, and the laborer is worthy of his wages. So again, all here is writing in his letter to Timothy that is okay for a person that is teaching, doing the work of Yahweh to get a paycheck. Okay? It even says that the laborer is worthy of his wages and that you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. This actually goes back to a verse from the Torah, Deuteronomy 25, 4, and it states, do not muzzle an ox while it is threshing. So again, someone who is doing the work of Yahweh, just like the Lewites did during the time of the tabernacle and the time of the temple, someone who is doing the work of Yahweh, it's okay for them to get a paycheck. Now a lot of people, yours truly included, and even the Apostle Paul did not take a paycheck or anything. Now, Paul, when he went around, I'm sure he was given a place to stay so he didn't have to rent a room and he was given food and water, et cetera, et cetera, but he did not receive a paycheck. He did not receive monetary compensation, and that's okay too. But the point is that if a preacher or pastor or someone like that is receiving a paycheck, that's okay according to scripture. Galatians 6, 7-9, do not be led astray. Elohim is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. Because he who sows to his own flesh shall reap corruption from the flesh, but he who sows to the Spirit shall reap everlasting life from the Spirit. And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not grow weary. Now here's something we need to clarify real quick. This passage here and us as well are not teaching a prosperity gospel doctrine, okay? That is absolute nonsense that does not come from scripture, okay? You don't write a big check to a televangelist and then wake up the next morning with a Ferrari in your driveway, okay? That's not what scripture teaches. Here we see that what you sow, you shall also reap, okay? Now if you sow good deeds, then you shall reap good blessings, but it's not always a one-for-one thing. If you do something like tithing, you may get that blessing back in something different, like a cured illness, like an answer to prayer. Maybe monetary, maybe something that you have earned, like an unexpected promotion at work. Maybe you hit that $500 ticket on the lottery ticket, I don't know. But you get what I'm saying. It could be something that, it's not a one-for-one thing, it could be something different. Blessings come in many different forms and types. It's not just monetary, okay? So keep that in mind. But the thing to take away from this is that what you sow, that you shall also reap. 2 Corinthians 9, 5-8. So I thought it necessary to appeal to the brothers to come to you in advance and arrange your promised blessing beforehand, this to be ready as a blessing and not as greediness. He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows on blessing shall also reap on blessing. Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not of grief or of necessity, for Elohim loves a joyous giver, and Elohim is able to make all favor overflow toward you, that you, always having all you need in every way, have plenty for every good work. So again, this is not prosperity gospel doctrine here. That prosperity gospel stuff is nonsense, it does not come from scripture. But again, it still remains true that what you sow you shall reap, and like we said before, blessings come in many different forms. So don't expect a one-to-one kind of payback, okay? Blessings come in many different forms. 2 Corinthians 9, 10-11, and he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food shall supply and increase the seed you have sown, and increase the fruit of your righteousness, being enriched in every way for all simplicity, which works out thanksgiving through us. So again, going back to the whole concept of reaping, I'm sorry, sowing and reaping, which I feel at this point we've hit the point of being a dead horse, but this is another good passage to bring up on that very same subject. So we've covered the Tanakh, we've covered a lot in the Brit Hadashah, both the words of our Master Yeshua, the words of the apostles that came after the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua. So now you should have a lot of points to consider from scripture in order to make your own informed decision on it. But what about some more miscellaneous points that maybe we didn't cover, maybe we couldn't cover because it simply was not in scripture? You'll get what I'm saying in just a minute. For instance, if we do decide to tithe, should we tithe on the gross amount or the net amount that we earn, okay? Quick refresher for anyone out there who doesn't know. If you work a job and you get a paycheck, especially a W-2 or something like that, most likely you're going to get your gross amount is what you earn and your net amount is what goes into your bank account. And the difference between the net and the gross is what goes to your Uncle Sam, it goes to your 401k or your retirement if it comes out automatically, stuff like that. So the net amount is what you actually get into your bank account. So should you tithe on the gross amount that you earned or the net amount that you received? That's up to you, to be honest, okay? Like we read before, Elohim loves a joyous giver, gives a tenth, right? A tenth of the gross is going to be more, obviously, than a tenth of the net. And as Dave Ramsey once said, he'd rather get a gross amount of blessing than a net amount of blessing, okay? And he also said that he tends to tithe on his gross amount so that when he gets to heaven and it happens to be the other way around, he's still good. That's kind of funny, but tithing is not a salvation issue, okay? So gross or net, the way Yahweh leads you to do it, that's the way you should go. Prey on it, study it out even farther than the information we're giving you here and make your own informed decision on that particular nuanced point. So what also about stocks and housing and things like that? So stocks, for those of you who aren't familiar, you put money into a stock and then that grows, but you don't get the increase until you sell that stock a lot of times, okay? And then once you get that increase, that's the amount that I would say you should tithe on if you so choose to tithe. Housing is the same way. You might buy a house to flip it or sell the house you've been living in or whatnot, but the amount that you increase, that's the amount that you should tithe on. If you buy a house for $200,000 and you sell it for $250,000, then your increase would be $50,000 and you tithe on that $50,000. But again, that's something that you're going to have to pray about and study about and come to your own decision on. This is just things I would do if I was ever in that situation. You may be different. And of course, like we said before, the whole prosperity gospel thing, okay? Once again, you're not going to turn on the TV, give a big check to a televangelist, and then wake up the next morning with a Ferrari in your driveway. That's not how it works. That's sometimes how they sell it. But that is not scripture. Prosperity gospel really boils all down to greed, okay? And a lot of times, it's the greed of those putting on the show and duping others into giving to them. Usually, the only ones getting rich and having a good lifestyle is the people you see on TV that's giving the message. It's not the people in the audience who are still living in the same houses and driving the same cars they were five years ago, okay? The whole prosperity message is not really working for them. They're not big and rich millionaires. That's not what scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that the tithe, as we saw, the tenth, was for, number one, the work of Yahweh here on earth. The second tithe was for us to celebrate the feast days and the mulladim, and the third tithe was for the widows, the fatherless, the orphans, and the sojourners. It's nothing about increasing our wealth and our, you know, oh, I forgot the word now. But anyways, our, that's going to drive me mad until I figure it out. Our net worth. That's it. It doesn't really drive our net worth. That's not what tithing is for, okay? Tithing is for those three things we've already covered, not for your personal gain. Now, you will get blessings for it, but again, it's not a one-for-one thing. If you give money, it doesn't necessarily come back as money. That's not the blessing. It could be something different like health, a mended relationship, a cured illness, et cetera, et cetera. Those blessings come in different forms and types. Ezekiel 13, three through four, thus said the master Yahweh, woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit without having had a vision. Oh, Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins. And this really ties into the whole prosperity gospel thing, that these prosperity gospel teachers, they're like foxes among ruins. They go through and they eat well, but the people who are following them, that's the ruins because they still haven't been built up because they've been sold a false bill of goods. Matthew 6, 24, no one is able to serve two masters. Rather, he shall hate the one and love the other, or else he shall plead to the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve Elohim and mammon or worldly goods and possessions like money. So either you're going to serve Yahweh or you're going to serve mammon. It's up to you. And for those of you who are out there like me tithing, you know that life is a lot richer – well, I don't want to say richer, but enriched, it's more enriched. When you're tithing, it seems like it opens the door for blessings to come in, much like when you do other parts of the Torah, which we're commanded to do, like we're in Tzitzit eating kosher, observing Shabbat, etc., etc. All these things open the door for blessings to come in and your life is so much more enriched when you follow the commands of Yahweh. So before we wrap things up, just real quick, I don't want to end things without this being said. If you do decide to tithe, you may be wondering who should we tithe to or who should I tithe to? Well, personally, I think that if you have somewhere local that you're going, that you can meet people with in fellowship, that that should be your primary place to tithe to if you believe that they are doing the work of Yahweh and furthering the work of Yahweh here on earth. Okay? That should be your number one place to tithe to, your local congregation. After that, then you can tithe to certain online ministries, and yes, I'm going to say God Honest Truth Ministry. You can donate to other online ministries like 119 Ministries, Unlearn the Lies, Yahweh's Restoration Ministry, etc., etc., but I think your first priority should be your local congregation that reaches out to the neighborhood and does the work of Yahweh. Also, don't forget to tithe to those organizations who are doing what scripture talks about like looking to the fatherless, to the widows, to the orphans who are going out to other countries and spreading the word of Yahweh and bringing people into the fold. Those are also important, too, so don't forget them if you're able to tithe to them as well because that furthers the work of Yahweh as well. A lot of times that can be extremely dangerous, especially certain countries that they might go into and try to preach the word of Yahweh. So first of all, your local congregation, if you feel led to tithe or donate to them and they're doing the work of Yahweh, number two, maybe like an online ministry, and also don't forget those who are looking after the widows, the orphans, the fatherless, women's shelters, missionary work, things like that. That's just some ideas to give to you right there. So in summary, tithes are used to further the ministry of Yahweh on earth. We saw that with the scriptures that we read, right? Abraham gave a tent or a tithe to Melchizedek, who was a priest already before Sinai, of Yahweh. And then the tithes, when the Levitical priesthood was set up, the tithes were meant to go to the Levites for the doing of the service to Yahweh here on earth. Okay? That's what it's still for here today. Like we said, Abraham paid a tithe or a tent to Melchizedek. Hmm, excuse me, Jacob also gave a tent or a tithe. And the Israelites, like we said, paid tithes after the Levitical priesthood was set up and they got into the land and all that. Yeshua, we read there when he was going up against the Pharisees, stated that we should pay tithes and do the weightier matters of the Torah, that they should both be done. And then Paul stated that Yahweh loves a joyous giver, not someone who gives out of a feeling of necessity, right, or that they have to do this. Okay? Yahweh loves a joyous giver. And Paul also states that it's okay for teachers, for preachers, for pastors, for evangelists, et cetera, to receive a paycheck. Okay? Again, you can have a discussion about how much is too much or how much should they get paid, but the mere fact that they get paid, that's okay for them to receive a paycheck according to Scripture. And that's just the God-honest truth. Thank you.
There are no comments yet.
Be the first! Share your thoughts.
