 Today, in line with what we've been doing during the Sunday school hour, we want to cover another subject, and it's a subject again that we cover in bits and pieces on Sunday mornings during our worship, but we just don't have many opportunities outside of a venue like this to talk about it in any detail, and that's the issue of tithing. So we've had questions in the past that have come up about tithing. I think one of the reasons that questions come up often about tithing is because there are a few different views out there about tithing, and I think that by and large and quite often, those views are misrepresented or misunderstood, and so what I thought we would do is spend a few weeks, and as the brothers we've been going through this subject, sort of pinning down exactly what we feel the scripture teaches on it so that we could teach you also, and we can come to the same page and understanding on this issue of tithing. So what we'll do, we'll take the next few weeks, we'll go through sort of the basics behind it, why it is to some folks an issue, and then we'll go through texts of scripture to... So we can understand exactly what the scripture teaches on it, we can be assured of that, and I think there is, although there is some confusion, you can be assured on what the scripture teaches about tithing. It's clear from the Bible, and so we'll talk about that too. So we're going to begin today the issue of tithing, and we'll carry that through probably the next, I would say probably the next three weeks, and this is one of those things, like many other theological issues that you'll come to, gives you an opportunity to sort of from start to finish, really plumb the depths of what the scripture teaches on an issue, and come to a firm understanding of that yourself so that you own your theology, and you don't come to a conclusion based on what so and so said, or I listened to one sermon for 20 minutes and now I'm a, you know, I believe in tithing, or I listened to one sermon for 20 minutes and I don't believe tithing is for today. You know what I mean? You're able to, okay, what does the Bible clearly teach? What does the Bible clearly say? And that we can then obey the Lord with confidence in the word of God, and in faithfulness of the word of God. So we're going to tackle the issue of tithing. Now, at the outset, let me say this, that there are godly leaders in the Lord's church today that hold different views on tithing, hold various views on tithing. Some of those differences are related to hermeneutics, how they look at scripture. Somebody give me a good definition of hermeneutics. What is hermeneutics? Yes, Nolan, thank you, brother. Yeah, the art and science of interpreting the scriptures, all right, and there are several presuppositions that people bring to their hermeneutical method or their hermeneutics, the way that they study or the way that they view scripture and that's gonna affect, in fact, it's gonna affect their view on tithing, what they think about tithing. And other issues, too, what people believe about the Sabbath or what people believe about the law and the way that the law relates to the Christian, and so that's gonna affect the way that they think about tithing. So some of the various views come out of a position they hold on hermeneutics. Like, here's one example of that. One example of that would be to say, your philosophy that you come to hermeneutics with would be that, well, if the New Testament doesn't repeat what is in the Old Testament, then the Bible has done away with it and has removed that requirement or removed that commandment, repealed it, so to speak, and so it's not for today. And so they would say that because tithing is mentioned in the Old Testament, but then tithing is not taught in the New Testament, well, then because it's not taught in the New Testament, anything that was taught in the Old Testament now, not taught in the New Testament, then tithing, the principle of tithing, the command of tithe has been repealed no longer applies to the Christian today, all right? So that's their hermeneutical principle. Now you can also hold the very opposite hermeneutic and say, well, if it was clearly taught that the people of God should obey it in the Old Testament and it's never been repealed, clearly repealed in the New Testament, then it's still for today we should obey it. We have laws that are in the Old Testament that have been clearly repealed in the New Testament. We don't obey those laws any longer. Those have been fulfilled in Christ, but there are things that the Old Testament teaches that like tithing, for example, that some would say isn't clearly taught in the New Testament. So their various views come as a result of whatever hermeneutical principle they're coming to the text with. Does that make sense? Any questions about that? Okay, sometimes their view on tithing comes as a result of the theological system that they hold to. Some would say that they are dispensational and we don't need to get into all this yet. We will hear very soon after tithing we're going to be covering systems. So dispensational theology, covenant theology, those kinds of things, which I hope you'll find very interesting. It's a very interesting subject. But some would say, okay, because I'm a dispensationalist, that dispensation is gone and over and so tithing no longer applies in the New Dispensation or some that would say, okay, I'm a covenant theologian so I see more continuity between what the Old Testament teaches and what the New Testament teaches. These things are more continuous and so we hold that tithing is still for today so their system might impact their view on tithing. And I think that most people, whether it's their hermeneutical principle or whether they're trying to hold to a system of theology, most people that teach one view over another are trying to be intellectually honest with the text. So they're trying to be faithful to their understanding of scripture but it results in some confusion. So is tithing then supported by the New Testament? And that's ultimately gonna be the question. Is tithing taught, commanded by the New Testament? Is it taught, commanded by the Bible? And some people just give overly simplistic answers to that question and just say, no, it's not. And I'll believe it's for today. Some people will say yes, it's for today and with no understanding or no background in the Bible, okay. And we want to be convinced and persuaded by scripture. So bottom line now, never mind the tithe, giving, one of the basis for this, giving among those that profess to be Christians, giving among evangelical Christians is now on average dropped to below 3%. So what does the tithe mean? What's the definition of the tithe? The 10th, the 10th. Or to give a 10th, the tithe says to give a 10th. Giving, never mind the tithe, the 10th, just giving, that includes the tithe, among people that profess to be Christians has dropped below 3% in the church today. Now that represents sin. To drop below 3%, that is a result of covetousness, it's a result of greed, it's a result of idolatry. That's a failure to be good stewards of all that God has provided us to say that, you know, a professing Christian on average would give less than 3%. It just reveals sin, it reveals sin. The New Testament clearly doesn't support that. We live in an age, we live in a culture that cultivates those sins. Mentioned this morning in the sermon, you know, just such a comfortable age in which we live. And we've grown to love our comforts, we've grown to love what money can buy, the possessions that we have, the comforts that it affords us, the leisure that it affords us, and oftentimes, as it says in the Old Testament, when you become comfortable in the land in which you go to dwell, you forget the Lord your God. And that's what has happened among professing evangelical Christians, is that in all their comforts, in all their leisure, in all their desire for pleasure, or their desire for money, they've forgotten the Lord and the giving of so-called Christians has dropped below 3%. It just represents sin. Give me some reasons for that. You say professing Christians, professing evangelicals, now give, on average, less than 3%. Why is that? Yes, no one, thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amen, that's a huge problem. We see covetous pastors all over the place, right? Covetous ministries, covetous churches, they're just hoarding wealth to themselves. What's that, that terrible TV, I couldn't believe it, that the LA preachers, the other thing you know what I'm talking about? Wow, I mean, just the cars and the houses and the jets, those kinds of things. So now, that has an impact, right? That kind of mindset, that kind of like public covetousness. What does God say in Jeremiah about worthless shepherds or wicked false teachers? From the least of them to the greatest of them, they're all given to covetousness. I was thinking of these covetous false teachers. Well, that has an impact on teaching in the church. It's often not comfortable for churches to teach openly on tithe, on giving or on the tithe, because people have this preconceived notion that, well, they're just trying to get it my money. Trying to get it what is mine kind of a thing. It's not yours, who's is it? It's the Lord's, so. But our church is not like that, praise the Lord. We can talk about giving we do openly every week, even during the worship service. But in many churches now, because of this stereotypical sort of approach that are because of the way that it's perceived by most people, they don't talk about tithing anymore. They relegate it to, you can press a button online and give when you wanna give, or they put a box in the back and just, you know, allow for people to put an envelope in the box that they want to or not on the way out the door. And so the tithe or giving has no place in the worship of God. And tithing, giving has a place in the worship of God. And we wanna worship God rightly. And so, yeah, that's a big issue is that kind of perception. Somebody give me another reason why giving would drop like that. Yeah, no concern. So those that profess to be Christians are not Christians, yes, so that's another good reason. Yeah, some people that profess to be Christians, those that are in evangelicalism that aren't giving, not giving, failing to give and failing to give faithfully and failing to give cheerfully, failing to give sacrificially, or all potential evidences that you're not a Christian, not converted at all. Daniel? Yeah, yeah, so Daniel says because I earned it, it's my money that some people think that way. I can think that goes hand in hand with what Jeff he was saying, they're not Christian. I earned it, it's mine. That's not the attitude of a Christian. So somebody else, Brenna? Yeah, I believe, complete lack of faith. Yeah, and how many of you can say amen to the fact that Lord has grown your faith, tested your faith or matured your faith through giving, through tithing and being faithful to your finances? Let me get Barbie and then I'll come back. Oh, gotcha, beat you to do it, okay. Yes, no one. Okay, yeah, amen. And the Lord is faithful. Mark was saying this morning during that time of worship, the Lord clothes the lilies of the field, you're a far more value than the lilies or cares for the sparrows and we're a far more value than many sparrows, yes. Oh, very good, yeah. So it's another issue. What we'll have to answer as part of this study is that if let's say that tithing is a commanded in Scripture for every Christian, then is that tithing mean that it comes to the church or would it be right for a Christian to split that up among various organizations and give their tithe to whoever they want to? How is that to be done in Scripture? So very good question, yes. Yeah, God doesn't need the money. There's not concern about giving because God doesn't need the money. It's a true statement, but it's not for God. God does that, so yeah, very good point. Yes, ma'am, yeah, wrong view of God. Yeah, I think it goes hand in hand too with what Brenda was saying. It's not trusting, not believing. God isn't concerned with us personally or intimately such that he's going to care for us and our needs, and God is somehow far off a wrong view of God, yeah, yeah. We can all be guilty of that, can't we at times? Just doesn't occupy a high enough priority that we're going to be consistently faithful and then we need to be convicted of that, don't you? Yeah, here's, on you, nice segue, thank you, sister. Reason next point is that, yeah, there's confusion. And so the people of God, in some cases, and you've heard it said before that people can be undiscipled disciples, right? You can have a genuine disciple of Christ, someone who's been genuinely born again and they go to a lousy church that's not preaching and teaching well, and so there's just confusion over what the right thing to do is, they hear one view and they sort of accept that view and they act accordingly. Spurgeon made a comment, he said that mist in the pulpit ends up as a fog in the pew. So somebody tell me what that means. Mist in the pulpit ends up as a fog in the pew. So that's even worse. Yeah, yeah, amen. So, did you hear what Shay said? Yes. M-I-S-D, yeah. Or you could say M-I-S-S-E-D. If it's mist in the pulpit, it's either one applies, I think it's good. Yeah, if it's not stated with clarity from God's word, authoritatively from God's word, clearly from God's word, when there's teaching going on, then there's gonna be confusion among the people. And so that's one of the reasons that we would like to take some time and go through this is that we wanna be very, very clear about what the Bible teaches. I think the issue is very clear. And I would like you to be able to come to that same confidence in the Bible that we have about this topic so that we can just faithfully obey the Lord confidently and cut out the confusion. It'll also enable you, as you study this with us, to have a solid view on it so that when someone raises an objection or when someone raises another view, you can defend from scripture the view that we hold. So, Sergio. Yes, yes, yeah, yeah. That's another one of these, the hermeneutical principles, you know, that art and science of Bible interpretation is that the law no longer applies to the Christian today. The law has been fulfilled in Christ and so the law of God doesn't apply to the Christian. And if you hold that, that's called discontinuity. You know, there are people that believe that in, as I don't have a whiteboard up here, but on one end of a spectrum, there's complete discontinuity. Everything that was taught to Jews, everything that was taught in the Old Testament, none of that applies to the Christian today. There's a lot of discontinuity between what is taught in the Old Testament and what is taught in the New Testament. On the other end of that spectrum, that line, is continuity. Everything that was taught in the Old Testament is supposed to be for the Christian today. We're to continue everything that was instituted in the Mosaic law. We're to continue all of that today. Great continuity. So somewhere in that spectrum, there's truth and that issue of law and gospel is an issue that affects tithing, but that bears on what hermeneutical principle you follow with scripture. We'll talk about that as we go through the subject, okay? So you have some other reasons. Some people just twist scripture, but the implications of that are what Anya's talking about is that if it's not clear, if it's not taught from the Bible, then it just results in disobedience among God's people, results in confusion among God's people. And so we wanna fix any confusion that's out there on this issue. We wanna be very clear about what the Bible teaches. We wanna be very careful about the way in which we approach the text. We wanna be intellectually honest with the text. Some people can approach this with an agenda, can't they? The agenda may be to support a theological system that they hold to. The agenda may be, I don't wanna give. It's all mine. And so I wanna twist scripture to justify why I don't give faithfully. There's all kinds of reasons that people can come to this and presuppositions that they carry into this. We wanna allow the Bible first to dictate what we believe. And then we wanna obey what the Bible clearly says. And so we have to go to the text of scripture first. We don't want to allow presuppositions to govern our positions. We don't wanna allow a theological system to take precedence over scripture, which wanna be clear. So let me give you some basics for why tithing is an issue and why it's something we need to spend some time on. One basic would be this, is that it's been a point of some confusion among some people in our church. And so we wanna alleviate that confusion. This gives us opportunity to do that, okay? But secondly, fundamentally, like I said, it has to do with the level of continuity or discontinuity that you see between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The level of continuity or discontinuity that you see between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Sergio brought that issue up between the law and the gospel. That's an important issue that relates to this. The law and gospel. How does the law apply to the Christian today? Give me some examples of laws that apply to the Christian today. Give me an example of some of those, yes. 10 Commandments. They apply to the Christian today? Someone would say not all of them. Which one are we talking about? The Sabbath, yeah. So yeah, does the moral law apply to the Christian today? We would say yes, right? Some other laws that you see in scripture that apply to the Christian today. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Okay. Thank you, brother, we're gonna get there. Yes, we're sending the Lord from the heart. All your hearts, whole mind and strength. Love your neighbors yourself. The summary of the 10 Commandments, very good. Yeah, the law's mentioned in the New Testament. A command's given in the New Testament. They're all fleshed out from the 10 Commandments but loving one another, bearing one another's burdens, praying for one another. All the one another's in scripture. There are a lot of laws, commands. Much of what the scripture teaches us comes to us in the form of some kind of command that we're to understand and obey because we love the Lord and are gonna follow the Lord. Give me some examples of laws that are taught in scriptures that we do not obey today. We should not obey today. Yes. Yeah, sacrifice of animals. So not requiring you to bring a goat up here this morning. We don't follow that law. That law's been fulfilled, right? Yeah, no one? Dietary laws. Dietary laws. Praise the Lord for that. Yes. Oliver? Okay, yeah, we do have capital punishment but yes, we're big capital punishment. Oliver's talking about for the rebellious child, you can take your kid out in the backyard and deal with his sin. Yes, Brian? Yes. Yeah. Anybody in here is wearing some garment with mixed fabric. Like any polyester was specifically spoken against in Leviticus. Boiling a young goat in its mother's milk. Those kinds of laws in the Old Testament, they don't apply to the Christian today. We'll actually talk about that a little bit. But they wouldn't apply. So many laws from the Old Testament that the Bible clearly teaches clearly apply to the Christian in the New Testament. Some would argue that point, but we'll talk about it. And there are many laws taught in the Old Testament that would not apply to the Christian today because they've been fulfilled in Christ or they were set up as a foreshadow and you don't follow feast laws or sacrifices or those kinds of things. And so there are laws that apply and laws that do not apply. And we'll look at how the tithe fits into that system or that understanding, okay? Number two, so one, fundamentally it has to do with that level of continuity or discontinuity, the issue of law and gospel, what applies to the Christian today. Number two, this isn't primarily an issue of giving. Everyone that has any sense believes that the Bible teaches giving, okay? So it's not an issue of giving. It's an issue of the tithe specifically. People would say that the Bible teaches clearly that all Christians give, that Christians are to give cheerfully from the heart. There'd be good stewards of the finances that the Lord has given them. So people agree that the New Testament clearly teaches giving. The specific issue is the tithe itself, the 10th, okay? So the issue really is the 10th. They don't like the idea that the New Testament teaches that you're to give sacrificially, but they do believe that you're to give. All right, and then third, the primary concern isn't a pragmatic one. The primary concern isn't a pragmatic one. It's just not that we are motivated by needing to pay the light bill. Is it important that we pay our light bill? Yes, it's important that we pay our light bill, but that's not our primary concern. Our primary concern is what does the Bible teach and then being faithful to the Lord in obeying what the Bible teaches? That's the primary concern. So fourth, we wanna be faithful to the Lord in the stewardship of our finances, faithful in all that He's given us. We wanna honor Him with our possessions. And five, we acknowledge that it all belongs to Him in the first place. You're not an owner, you are a manager. All right, so we've said now, got those sort of fundamental ideas and we'll walk through all of those over the next few weeks, but we began with the definition of a tithe. The tithe means the 10th. So when you see the word tithe in Scripture, some try to say that the word tithe, word for tithe in the Old Testament, in Hebrew, the word for tithe in New Testament Greek, simply means giving. That it's a word that literally means a 10th, but it's simply translated. It should be translated giving. That's not the case. When you see the Old Testament word, the Hebrew word or the New Testament word, it's referring to a 10th, specifically a 10th. And the issues that we're gonna look at with respect to this are these questions, and these are questions that we need to answer. One, is that giving of a 10th required or not? For us as Christians today in the church age, is the giving of a 10th required or isn't it? Is the giving of a 10th just a guide, a guide for faithful giving? Or is it commanded? Is it mandated? These are all questions that have to be answered. If the tithe is required, is that all that is required? Or is the tithe simply a starting point? If the tithe is required, then is that in the New Testament from what the Bible teaches, is that all that is required? Or is it just a starting point? Next question would be, does the total tithe go to the local church? Or can you split it up? Do you tithe on net? Or do you tithe on gross? Another question, is the teaching on tithing descriptive or is it prescriptive? Somebody tell me what that means, is it descriptive or is it prescriptive? Yeah, Christian. Are there situations where examples given in narrative are commands for the Christian? Yes, that's a good answer, Christian. Thank you, you had a 50-50 shot, brother, that's good. Yes, there are examples. We say sometimes, you've heard us say before, that the example of Christ is a command of Christ. There are circumstances in scripture where there are examples given in the scripture that are to be obeyed, we're to follow that example. But yeah, I think Christian gets at the point that sometimes in scripture, what we see are circumstances that are descriptive that are not prescriptive. And when you see Peter lay his hands, Simon Magus and Acts A is watching the disciples lay hands in order that people might receive the Holy Spirit. That is descriptive of what they were doing at that particular time in that particular context. But that doesn't mean that we lay hands today on people for them to receive the Holy Spirit. It's not prescriptive for us. That many that believe that tithing is descriptive of acts of worship throughout scripture, but that it's not prescriptive that every Christian should tithe, okay? So you have to answer that question, is it simply descriptive or is it prescriptive? Is it mandated, is it required for every Christian? So is the giving of the 10th required? Is it just a guide or is it commanded? If it's required, is that all that's required or is it just a starting point? Does it all go to the local church or not? Can you split it up? Do you tithe on net or do you tithe on gross? Is teaching on tithing descriptive or prescriptive? There are other questions and if you have those, just let us know as we go through, we wanna make sure to answer them. Okay, so we wanna begin by answering a first obvious question and an obvious point. We wanna settle that before we ask any further questions or go any further. And the first question is this. Is it clear that the Mosaic law found in the Old Testament taught tithing? So is tithing a part of the Mosaic law? And we just wanna settle that and make it very clear that tithing is a part of the Mosaic law. And let's turn to several passages of scripture that deal with that. And you, as you return to these passages, you can mark these down and just start building your note page, so to speak, on this issue of tithing. This would be something good to do with this issue, but with any issue, like with the brothers going through the doctrines of grace or going through tithing the next few weeks, we'll be going through covenant theology, dispensational theology after that. And so start building a notebook for yourself. Various subjects and subject headings and just start putting together a file, if you will, on each of these subjects. And as you learn more and as you take more notes, just add them to your file. This would be a good one to start on tithing. So is tithing taught in the Mosaic law? Let's go first to Leviticus chapter 27. This is the first place that it's mentioned. Leviticus chapter 27. I say the first place it's mentioned. First place in the Mosaic law that it is taught. And there's a reason for doing this. Again, we've got the implications that come from law and gospel, how much of the law and what part of the law applies to the Christian today if it applies at all. You got that issue, but then beyond that, you've got implications that, okay, if it's taught in the Mosaic law, then how does that apply to the Christian? But if it's taught outside the Mosaic law, how does that apply to the Christian? We'll have to look at all of those. We'll start with the law, and then we'll work to other passages of scripture that are outside the law. So Leviticus chapter 27, and somebody read for me, beginning in verse 30, nice and loud. Read 30 through the end of the chapter. Leviticus 27 verse 30. Yeah, thanks brother, go ahead. Nice and loud. Yes, sir? Angelica was just glowing while you were reading. She was just, you see her face, she's really, that's my future husband. Yes, okay, so does the Mosaic law teach tithing? Yes, it commands it, commands tithing. What's something interesting that you find in those few verses there, additionally, about what the Mosaic law says though about tithing? Not just that we pay a tenth, but what else do you see there? Interesting. Yeah, you add one fifth. If for some reason you don't meet your obligation, you retain a portion, then it's charging you interest on your unpaid tithes, okay? But yes, that's teaching the tithe, okay? So the tithe is taught in the Mosaic law. Look at Numbers chapter 18. Numbers chapter 18. We'll just read these, just write them down, start your file. Numbers chapter 18. And somebody read nice and loud for me, beginning in verse 20. 20 through 24. Thank you, brother. Thank you, brother. Okay, so now you've got, this is the Levitical tithe. In the Old Testament, you've got the, in one, we just looked at that passage of scripture that Leviticus 27 that clearly teaches, the Mosaic law teaches a tithe. But now we start getting into specific tithes in scripture that were required of Old Testament children of Israel, okay? This first one is the Levitical tithe. You know, it's interesting. One of the things that didn't mention in the sermon, just didn't quite make it in, was when the Jews from Jerusalem sent out priests and Levites, there's actually animosity. Obviously the Jews, those that were opposed to Christ, but these priests and Levites, there were actually some animosity between priests and Levites because the Levites had lost the tithe. The Pharisees had basically taken it away. The Levites, it says, they got to wear the clothes, so they're happy about that, but they no longer received the tithes. The Pharisees were receiving the tithes. So just a little side note there for the sermon that there was animosity even between those two groups because of what the Levites were sort of relegated to have. But here, the Bible teaches that the children of Israel are to pay a Levitical tithe. They bring a 10th and they give the 10th to the Levites, and so it takes care of the work, the service that the Levites do. They weren't able to earn an income themselves or farm and do those kinds of things. The people gave them a 10th of their possessions and that took care of the Levites. But now look at beginning of verse 25, there's same place, numbers 18, and somebody read nice and loud verses 25 through 29. 25 through 29, somebody, yes, thank you brother. Okay, so now what you have, you've got the children of Israel giving a 10th to the Levites, and now the Levites then give the 10th of the 10th to the priests, and this is how the priests were taken care of. So in the tithing, the Old Testament clearly teaches tithing, Leviticus 27. Now it starts getting specific about how you're to tithe, what you're to give, the children of Israel were to give a 10th to the Levites. The Levites were to take that for themselves and give a 10th to the priests, and all of that as commanded by God as part of the law given to Israel. So now it's given to them as law, they're to obey it, but it has a couple of different functions. One is you're obeying the Lord, so it's an act of worship when they would come up to the Tabernacle of Meeting or later to the temple to worship the Lord, they came bringing their tithes and they were instructed to bring their tithes as part of worship. So it's a part of worship, but it also has a pragmatic reason for it also, that it's to care for those that were doing the work in the Tabernacle of Meeting or the work in the temple to care for the Levites who had no inheritance of their own to care for the priests who had no inheritance of their own. So the people in that way cared for those that worked in the temple or the Tabernacle of Meeting, all right? So you have the Levitical tithe, then you've got the priestly tithe from the Levites to the priests. Priests, look at Deuteronomy chapter 14. Deuteronomy chapter 14. Just keep your list going. So far, we have a couple of different tithes. We have one tithe that the people were to give the Levites, right? So one tithe so far for the people. We've got one tithe now that the Levites were to give to the priests. So let's look at and see what it says here in Deuteronomy chapter 14 and somebody read nice and loud verse 22 through 27. Beginning in 22, we're gonna read nice and loud for us. Deuteronomy 14 verses, thank you, thank you, yeah. Beginning in verse 22 down through 27. Oh, down through 27, thank you, sister. All right, so Deuteronomy chapter 14 and what they call this is the festival tithe. This is a different tithe, another tithe, it's an additional tithe, all right? And there are a couple of interesting things that are taught as a part of this section of scripture with respect to the festival tithe. One of the things that it says, if you look up at verse 23, is to be the firstborn of your herds and of your flocks. So they were to give of a firstborn new wine and oil. But what is the reason there in verse 23 that they are to give the festival tithe? Yeah, that they may fear the Lord, okay? So now expand it even more. We have a practical reason for tithing and caring for the Levites, caring for the priests. Even here it goes back again and it says that you shall not forsake the Levite. Now to forsake the tithe is to forsake the Levite, right? To forsake the work that goes on in the Tabernacle of Meeting or in the temple here at the Tabernacle of Meeting. You shall not forsake the Levite. Also it's an act of worship that will bring their tithes as part of worship. And then here in verse 23, the Lord says himself that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. So there's a practical application of the people of Israel there to tithe so that they may learn to fear the Lord. Learn to depend on the Lord. Learn to inquire of the Lord when they need help. Learn to look to the Lord for his provision because it's the Lord who provides all that's encompassed there and learning to fear the Lord, okay? So let's do the run of me chapter 14. Somebody continue and read in that same chapter verses 28 now through 29. Nice and loud, 28 and 29. Thank you, brother. All right, so now we've got something a little different, don't we? We've got a third year tithe. There's a lot of people that call this a charity tithe or poverty tithe, the tithe for the poor. Every third year, you're gonna bring a 10th then, a tithe of your produce of that year and stored up within your gates. So that charity tithe or that poverty tithe is now to be stored up. And that's a tithe every third year. So that's a third tithe now, taught inscription for the children of, taught in scripture for the children of Israel. You've got, yes ma'am, every year. Yes, various festivals, so festival tithe every year. You have the Levitical Tithe of everything that you possess all the time. You have the Festival Tithe when the festivals came around and then you had this charity tithe that was every third year. And so that's where, if you've read and you're reading on the tithe, that's where you get the average, if you will, that tithes for Old Testament believers, although tithe meant a 10th, it was various 10ths that were to be given that the children of Israel gave anywhere from 20 to 30%. That was a typical commanded, mandated Mosaic law giving from 20 to 30%. Some it averaged because of that third year tithe. Some say averaged about 23% that a person gave as part of their income, 23% each year. So that's giving under the Mosaic law. All said, more than 20%. Now you've got examples in Scripture, so it's commanded, it's mandated in the Mosaic law. The next part is we wanna get a couple of examples of Israelites obeying this. And so look at Second Chronicles. Second Chronicles. So obviously all that we're looking at right now is the tithe under the law. Tithe under the Mosaic law. I've seen several examples that it's clearly taught, although it says 10%, we see them commanded to give far more. We see that tithe is not only commanded to be given, but it has a practical benefit of caring for the Levites. The charity tithe cared for the poor, cared for the fatherless, the widow, the orphan, the stranger, the foreigner in their land. So it has a practical effect. We see the tithe associated with worship. They were to bring it into the, or up to the Tabernacle of Meeting, up to the Tabernacle or the Temple later, and that it was a part of worship. And then we see also, and I hope you're thinking through all these principles now, these principles are gonna come back, they're gonna be very important for us later, that the Lord gave it in order to teach the people of Israel to fear the Lord. Everything that we have comes from God. That we're to fear the Lord and trust God with our possessions, okay? So all of these impacts now already from tithing that we've looked at. So let's take a look at Second Chronicles. Look at chapter 31. And somebody read for us there, nice and loud, verses five and six. Second Chronicles, chapter 31, verses five and six. Good, okay. So now we've got, this is an example of the children of Israel now obeying the commandment of the Mosaic Law to tithe. And here they gave tithes of everything. And there's a couple of interesting points to make about this. First in verse five, again, it's the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. Now some will say, the objection is, we need to understand this, the objection is that in the Mosaic Law that the tithe specifically was to be given of produce. So you take a harvest, you give a 10th of your harvest. You have grain that comes in, you give a 10th of your grain. You have the flocks that you're tending. So you gave a 10th of your flocks, the firstborn of your flocks that you're to tithe on those kinds of things. Well now, and this is the objection that is raised, we don't have produce any longer, and these were produce tithes. We don't have crops and cattle, and so we don't give the crops and cattle tithe. Today we have money, and because we have money and money is exchanged for everything that we buy and own and sell, we're not to tithe because we have money now. We don't have crops and grain. See the difficulty there? The issue comes is whether or not, and we'll answer this question, whether this is descriptive or prescriptive for the Christian. If it's strictly descriptive, well okay the first time then that I get a goat, or a couple of goats, or specifically 10 goats, I'll give one of the 10 goats to the Lord, but I'm not gonna have 10 goats, and so I won't ever come across a situation where I'll need to tithe. Or I'm not a farmer, and so when the grain doesn't come in, I don't have a storehouse of grain in my little house on Waverly Woods, I know it's Lynn Street, so I don't tithe of grain or produce because I have no produce or, in other words, is it, is this just strictly descriptive for Israel because they were an agrarian society that raised cattle and grew crops? Or is it prescriptive, saying that they tithe on what they had, we're to tithe on what we have? I think the scripture clearly teaches that it's, you tithe on what you have. And in this case, these are the things they had. Additionally to that, in the festival tithe, you have them exchanging those goods for money. What would they have done with their money? They would have given their money, a tent of their money in exchange for the goods, right? So principle that it applies beyond merely produce. And also here, there was a tithe of everything. So although it says in verse five there that they gave first fruits of grain and the gift specifics here, right? Grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. So not just, the list is representative. The list is not all inclusive. So you could say like today, a lawyer might say, limited to but not excluding the following, right? Limited to but in this case, it was wine, grain, oil, honey, first fruits of their crops, first fruits of their animals, but they were to bring in abundantly the tithe, the tent of everything, everything that they possessed, okay? And they gave that tithe and consecrated them to the Lord, their God, they laid in heaps. Those things were consecrated as an act of worship. So again, as an act of worship, the children of Israel gave this. Let's look at one more example of this. Look at Nehemiah chapter 10. Just a little bit to the right, Nehemiah chapter 10. And look down at verse, let's do 35 through 38. Somebody read Nicenal verses, Nehemiah chapter 10 verses 35 through 38. Yes, thank you brother. Good deal. Okay, so now in this, we've got another issue. You see obviously the several references to the tithe. You see again in verse 35, a reference to first fruits of all the fruit of the trees, the firstborn of our sons and our cattle is a written firstborn of our herds and our flocks. So this issue again of first fruits or firstborn. So you've got the issue of the 10th and there's multiple 10ths, right? And you've got the issue of first fruits, the firstborn of all those things, another principle there. But then you've also got in verse 38, a reference to the storehouse. The priest, the descendant of Aaron shall be with a Levites when the Levites receive tithes. The Levites shall bring up a 10th of the tithes to the house of our God and to the rooms of the storehouse. And so there was a place designated in Tabernacle of Meeting later here in the temple, specifically for tithes to be stored and that tithes were brought to the storehouse. And so all these principles are gonna become more important as we look at this later on. But they were brought specifically to the storehouse. It wasn't that a citizen of Israel, a Jewish child of Israel, an Israelite would say, okay, well there's an orphan. So I'm gonna go up and give a portion of my grain or my oil or my honey or my flock to that orphan. And then I'm gonna go over here and there's a widow and I'm gonna give part of my tithe to the widow. All the tithes were brought to the Levites at the temple of Tabernacle of Meeting. All the tithes were brought into the storehouse and then it was the responsibility of the Levites, the responsibility of the priests then to distribute the tithes as there was need. The same thing even with the charity tithe. The charity tithe every third year was also brought into the storehouse. And later, we'll look at this in a second, the people of Israel are rebuked for not bringing their tithes into the storehouse. So that's a principle we'll need to look at here shortly. Let's look at one more example, Nehemiah. Look at chapter 13, chapter 13. And again, examples of the children of Israel obeying this command from the Mosaic law. Look at verse, this is chapter 13, verse four. And we'll go through this quickly. We just have a few minutes left here. Nehemiah chapter 13, verse four. Now, before this, Eliash of the priests, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God was allied with Tobiah. They had prepared for him a large room where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and the oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers. So now, right, these are the Levites. We talked about it in sermon. There were different positions within the Levites. They had responsibility for different things. There were 24 classes of singers. There were 24 classes of police officers in the Levitical responsibilities. There were doorkeepers. There were Levites to read the law during worship. And so all these various people listed here. And as a result of the Levitical tie, there were offerings for the priests, verse six. But during all this, I was not in Jerusalem for in the 32nd year of Arta Xerxes, king of Babylon. I had returned to the king. And after certain days, I obtained leave from the king and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliash of had done for Tobiah in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me bitterly. Therefore, I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room. In other words, Tobiah basically had moved into the storehouse. And where they used to store up tithes, now you have this guy squatting in the storehouse living there when he wasn't supposed to. He's grieved Nehemiah. Verse nine, then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms. And I brought back into them the articles of the house of God with the grain offering in the frankincense. I also realized, verse 10, that the portions for the Levites had not been given them for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field. And so again, faithlessness to the tithe. Again, the Israelites are gonna be rebuked for this. Has led to now the Levites going back into the field to work. Got the room, the storehouse where all the tithes were held, now being lived in by an enemy of God. Verse 11, so I contended with the rulers and said, why is the house of God forsaken? And that's that question. Why is the house of God forsaken? And that is synonymous with saying, why is the work of the Lord forsaken? Why is the ministry of God? Why is the kingdom of God, so to speak? Why is it forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. Verse 12, and all Judah brought the tithe of grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse, Shalamai the priest, Zadok the scribe of the Levites, Padaya, and next to them was Hannan, the son of Zachar, the son of Mataniah, for they were considered faithful and their task was to distribute to their brethren. So again, here we got this issue. He cleanses out the room, kicks Tabaya out, and now commands the people of Israel, listen, be faithful to God, and the people of Israel come and bring the tithe. The tithe then is brought into this storehouse, into this room that was set aside for the tithe, and it's given, and Nehemiah appoints a scribe, a Levite, to distribute to their brethren. So again, that's another principle. Tithe comes into the storehouse, and then those in the temple, or those in the tabernacle, in the desert wanderings there, were given responsibility then to distribute the tithe as it was needed, and so the charity tithe, they were to distribute that to orphans and widows and foreigners in their midst and to the Levite. The Levites still had the responsibility to tithe to the priests, the 10th of their 10th. Verse 14, he says, remember me, oh my God, concerning this, do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for its services. All right, and one last place, and we're all, we're still talking about the tithe under the Mosaic Law. Look at Malachi chapter three. Malachi chapter three, the end of your Old Testament. And this is a well-known passage related to the tithe. Malachi chapter three, very end of your Old Testament, and look at verse eight. And again, we're establishing here first. This week, establishing that tithing was under the Mosaic Law. Tithing was commanded for the people of God by Moses, by the law, and they had specific responsibilities with respect to the tithe. There were pragmatic concerns for the tithe. There were worship concerns for the tithe. There were concerns for the people. They would learn how to fear the Lord. All of these things and all of these matters were a reason for the tithe, were settled, if you will, were taken care of as a result of the tithe, such that if the people didn't obey this issue of the tithe, bringing a tenth, and then all the principles related to that, it was to be firstborn, right, firstborn, and abundantly of everything that they possessed, not just the more restricted lists that are given. They were to bring in an abundant tithe, the tenth of everything that they possessed. Then you come to Malachi chapter three, verse eight, or what if they didn't? In verse eight, Israel basically is accused here of being a thief. If they don't tithe, then they're stealing, they're robbing from God. In verse eight, it says, will a man rob God? And yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings, you know, that's how they're separated there, tithe meaning a tenth, offering being free will gifts from the heart to the Lord, all right? Tithes and offerings, verse nine. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse. And here it's dealing with quantity. They were given specific things under the Mosaic law that they were to tithe. They had three different tithe. They had the Levitical Tithe, they had the Festival Tithe, they had this Charity Tithe. So bring all those tithes and not just anywhere or to whomever they wanted, they were to bring them into the storehouse, okay? So they were to bring the whole tithe, the quantity there, into the storehouse. And that with a purpose, that there may be food in my house. The Lord says, try me now on this as a Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the window of heaven and pour out for you such blessing, there will not be room enough to receive it. And again, this pertains to the tenth that were given to the Levites as an act of worship. Verse 11, I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts. In other words, if they will be faithful and bring the tithe, then the Lord is gonna bless their fields, gonna rebuke the devourer. But what about the opposite? If they failed to bring their tithes, the opposite is also true. He's not going to rebuke the devourer. He's not going to bless their fields. Verse 12, and all nations will call you blessed for you will be the lightful land, says the Lord of hosts. So all that to say points to why this is important. This was required under the Levitical law, under the law of Moses. Okay, so that's your first point. Give me some real quickly, so we gotta move here, real quickly, give me some principles from everything that we've looked at under the law of Moses with respect to the tithe. Give me some things that you've learned. Nolan. Bring your tithe to the storehouse, it's an important principle, somebody else, yes. Yeah, so you have the tithes, different tithes, and then you've got an offering, free will offering from the heart, but you also have the charitable tithe that goes to the poor, so they're giving multiple tithes, Jack. Yeah, so you tithe from your first fruits, that's another important principle that we saw repeatedly under the Mosaic law, Christian. Yeah, tithe is an act of worship, very good. Yeah, that we may learn to fear the Lord our God always, very, very important, yes ma'am, very good. So to support the Levites, to support the priests so that we don't neglect the Levite or neglect the house of our God, very good, TJ. Yeah, so there were some practical concerns. Obviously we don't wanna forsake the Levite, but also we don't wanna forsake the widow or the orphan, so Keith. Okay, good, all right. So hope you have those written down, so that's the point today, wanna establish that that was the tithe and the principles associated with that under the Mosaic law, and that's gonna become important as we take a look at whether now that is for the Christian to obey or not, how that applies, what particular parts of that apply, what principles carry forward, if any of them. So we'll talk about all that beginning next week. We'll look at two texts primarily next week if you wanna get a head start on that. And that is Genesis 14, Genesis 14, 18 through 20. And then we'll look at, probably next week, we'll just look at Genesis 28. So Genesis 14, Genesis 28, and Genesis 28 is verses 12 through 22. And then we'll look at some New Testament texts right after that. All right, so without further ado then, we'll be ready for worship, so let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this time together and thank you for the opportunity to be able to study this issue together. Thank you, Lord, for your word, how clear it is, Lord, how what a sure guide for how we are to live, what we're to believe, how we're to obey the Lord. So thank you, Lord, for this. And I pray that you would soften our hearts, prepare us to, Lord, hear a word from you on this very important issue. God, and find us, God, repentant, where we have sinned against you. And Lord, find us humble to simply obey what your scripture clearly teaches with respect to this. We love you, Lord, just wanna live for you, wanna honor you, wanna obey you. That's our desire from the heart to see you exalted. And thank you for all that you've given us, Lord, and help us to fear you, teach us, Lord, through this to fear you and to trust you in your gracious provision to us. We love you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.