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<h1><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 1.3em; color: #008080;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Do Gentile Christians Have To Tithe?</span></strong></span></h1>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">1. <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong>The Famous Guilt Passage Is Aimed at Self-Seeking Preachers, not Gentiles</strong></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Many a leader in a church today tries to exhort payments to his church by means of Malachi. We have all heard it:</span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><strong style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">"<span style="font-family: tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."</span></span></em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> </span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">- Mal. 3:9,10. </span></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Is this ethical? Or is this self-serving guilt thrown on a congregant?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">The way it is used today, it is largely unethical self-serving preaching, and it contradicts Malachi in context.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Here's why.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">First, let's begin with </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Malachi. The prophet encourages us to actually remember </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">what the Law given Moses says:</span></span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">4 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">“<em><strong>Remember </strong></em></span><em><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span></strong></em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><em><strong>the law</strong></em> of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+4&version=ESV#fen-ESV-23143b" style="color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; vertical-align: top; background: transparent;" title="See footnote b">b</a>]</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Malachi 4:4 ESV.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Most leaders in church today ignore every other doctrine than tithing, saying the Law has faded away, was nailed to a tree, fulfilled in Christ, etc. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">What they ignore is that the tithe under the Law is to benefit the Gentile (which the Law identified as sojourners), the orphan, the fatherless, the poor oppressed, and not only the Levites. <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">See Deuteronomy 26:11-13, quoted below.</span></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">However, in Malachi, the Levites were taking all the tithe, and not properly sharing it with the sojourners, the orphan, the fatherless, and the poor oppressed. This is what immediately precedes Malachi 3:9-10, and <em><strong>explains who is robbing whom</strong></em>. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">First, the Levites -- temple leaders -- are lambasted in verse 3 and says "<em><strong>the sons of Levi must be purified</strong></em>." So the evil <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><em>you</em> to whom Malachi is speaking is the Levites. This becomes clear when the following list of those who are being denied God's righteous protection are listed but it omits the Levites:</span></span></span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">5 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">who oppress the hired worker in his wages, </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">the widow and the fatherless, against those who <strong><em>thrust aside the sojourner</em></strong>, and do not fear me, says the </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> of hosts. (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Malachi+3&version=ESV">Malachi 3:5</a>.)</span></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">So the ones robbing God were robbing the tithe's beneficiaries other than the Levites -- the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, and the poor (spoken about as being oppressed of his wages). All these categories appear in the Law given Moses as the AIM of the triennial tithe, as we shall show below. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">These are the ones who were denied the tithe in Malachi 3:9-10, and THEREBY God was robbed of his tithe. The only one not being robbed were the Levites, and are not mentioned in Malachi 3:5 as victims of unrighteousness. It is obvious in context that the Levites were the robbers who in verse 3 must be "purified" for their evil robbing of the tithe from the intended beneficiaries other than themselves listed in verse 5.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">2. <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Limited Scope of Tithe</span></strong></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">The tithe was 10% of one's agricultural produce, the herd and flock.</span></span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">30 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>“Every tithe of the land, whether of the <strong><em>seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees</em></strong>, is the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span>'s; it is holy to the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span>.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">31 </span>If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">32 </span>And every<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong> tithe of herds and flocks</strong></span>, every tenth animal of all that <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span>. (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=leviticus+27%3A30-32&version=ESV">Leviticus 27:30-32 ESV</a>.)</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"> It was not a tithe on income, but only on one's produce from the land - whether from seed in the ground, fruits from trees or animals born on the land See also <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2026&version=ESV">Deut 26</a> below.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"> In fact, it was illegal to sell the produce, and bring money instead (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=leviticus+27%3A28&version=ESV">Lev. 27:28</a>) unless it was a long journey to Jerusalem, and then you could sell it, and bring money instead. (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut+14%3A22-26&version=ESV">Deut 14:24-26</a>.) Hence, the second reason to know the tithe was never on money earned was because it was illegal generally to convert it into money. Hence, it was solely on agricultural produce or farm animals.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">As a result, the tithe never fell upon anyone who had no land or farm animals, whether Israelite or Gentile. It was in a sense a tax on the farm produce of better off citizens...like our modern progressive income tax.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">3.<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> <strong>Was The Command On Israelites Only? Or Upon Gentiles Too?</strong></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Did it fall on the Gentile who had land or a farm animal? No, the duty was exclusively upon Israelites.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">It begins in Deuteronomy 26, and as it progresses it is decisively only upon Israelites:</span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">“When you come into the land that the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it,</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">2 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>go to the place that the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there. (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2026&version=ESV">Deut 26:1-2 ESV.</a>)</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Verses 5-11 make it quite clear that we are only talking about Israelites who were "brought out of Egypt" who are subject to this command:</span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">5 </span>“And <strong><em>you shall make response before the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God</em></strong>, ‘A <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>wandering Aramean was my father. And <strong style="font-style: italic;">he went down into </strong><em><strong>Egyp</strong><strong>t</strong></em> and sojourned there, <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>few in number, and there <strong><em>he became a nation</em></strong>, great, mighty, and populous.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">6 </span>And <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">7 </span>Then <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>we cried to the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span>, the God of our fathers, and the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">8 </span>And <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the<em><strong> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord </span>brought us out of Egypt</strong></em> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror,<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">[<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2026&version=ESV#fen-ESV-5575a" style="color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; vertical-align: top; background: transparent;" title="See footnote a">a</a>]</span> with signs and wonders.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">9 </span>And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>a land flowing with milk and honey.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">10 </span>And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span>, have given me.’</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Furthermore, one of the objects of the tithe were Gentiles, whether poor or not. Hence, this makes it nonsensical to put the tithe as an obligation upon Gentiles. This was known as the triennial tithe.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">This is the tithe that was spoken about in Malachi -- the preachers (Levites) were robbing God of His tithe that went to the fatherless, the widow, the <em><strong>sojourner</strong></em> (Gentile), and the poor. See Malachi 3:5 quoted above.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Every third year, the tithe went to widows / orphans / the poor / <em><strong>gentiles (called 'sojourners')</strong></em> and Levites (who as a tribe no longer exist today). Scholars sometimes call it the poor tithe, but that is not its Biblical name.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">This aspect of the tithe rule is in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut+26%3A11-13&version=ESV">Deuteronomy 26:11-13</a>:</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 30px; color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">11 </span>And <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>you shall rejoice in all the good that the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.</span></span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 30px; color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">12 </span>“When you have finished paying <em><strong>all <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the tithe of your produce in the third yea</strong></em>r, which is <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, <em><strong>the sojourner</strong></em>, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,</span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">13 </span>then you shall say before the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, <strong><em>I have given it to the</em></strong> Levite, <strong><em>the sojourne</em></strong>r, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>nor have I forgotten them.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"> 4. <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong>As Levites Are Gone, Does A Preacher to Israelite-Christians Have A Right to the Tithe?</strong></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">So what if a preacher teaches an Israelite Christian -- who is the only one subject to a tithe -- to pay a tithe? What is the scope of the tithe today to whom it properly applies? </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">First, the tithe was never for the temple building upkeep, or the financing a building purchase, etc. Every third year, it went to not only the poor and Gentiles, as listed above, but also in part to the tribe of Levi.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">It was not payable at the Temple, but had to be collected within the "gates" of each city, and distributed there. This is why the third-year tithe continues as an obligation upon Jewish Christians:</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"></span></p>
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<div class="version-WEB result-text-style-normal text-html " style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 60px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span id="en-WEB-5319" class="text Deut-14-28"><span class="versenum" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;">28 </span>At the end of <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">every three years</span></strong> you shall bring all the<strong><span style="color: #ff0000;"> tithe</span></strong> of your increase in the <em><strong>same year</strong></em>, and shall <strong><em>store it within your gates</em></strong>. </span><span id="en-WEB-5320" class="text Deut-14-29"><span class="versenum" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 22px; position: relative; vertical-align: top; top: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;">29 </span>The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the <span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>foreigner living among you</strong></span>, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, <strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied</span></strong>; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.</span></p>
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</div>
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<p style="margin-left: 60px;"> </p>
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<div class="publisher-info-bottom with-single" style="border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #deddd9; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; position: relative; color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-left: 60px;"><strong><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+14%3A28-29&version=WEB">Deut 14:28-29</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/World-English-Bible-WEB/" style="color: #b34b2c; cursor: pointer; background: transparent;">World English Bible</a> (WEB)</strong></div>
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<p> </p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1"> Why were the Levites included as co-beneficiaries of the 3d year tithe? Verse 29 explains that it is because the "Levite has no portion nor inheritance with you." What does this mean? The Law provided the Levites were to never own any land, and thus had no inheritance in Israel. The compensation? It was their participation in the tithe as a beneficiary every third year. It was their compensation for their temple service year round, year after year. We read in Numbers 18:20-21: </span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1">“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1">20 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1">And the </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1">Lord</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1"> said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;" data-mce-mark="1">I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel."</span></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">(This third-year tithe rule did not mean the Levites could take the entire tithe that year which the law authorized them to collect. Likewise, the first and second year tithes </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">they collected, but the tither was only encouraged not to "forget" the Levite when the tithe in years one and two of the triennial tithe were enjoyed in a party at Jerusalem by the tither.)</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Thus, we cannot confuse temple service of the Levites with money for the temple upkeep itself. The tithe was not supposed to go to what we today call the 'church.' It went to individuals in certain groups -- orphans, widows, Gentiles (called sojourners), the poor, and the Levites.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Second, in whether to give a preacher money as a tithe, I must be cautious because in Malachi's day, the Levites took it all, and robbed God of the tithe owed the widows, fatherless, sojourner (Gentile) and the poor. This is what Malachi 3:9-10 is truly about. I must be sure the money that represents the tithe goes exclusively to the latter, and not the preacher.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">So as an Israelite-Christian, if I were one, I would have to seriously wonder whether to pay a non-Levite preacher who asks for money to support himself. What should I do? Should I analogize him to a Levite and pay him for his preacher service as a tithe? </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">No.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Let's listen to Jesus for Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:7-11 that a preacher can only be supported by the Law of Hospitality (from Leviticus 25:6, discussed at this </span><a href="/topicindex/670-matthew-10-10-and-the-law-of-hospitality.html" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 1.3em;">link</a><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">). The preacher must seek out a house of a worthy person to live in, and do the chores of cleaning, farm work, etc., to earn his keep while under another's roof. Lev. 25:6. This is the passage in the Law to which Jesus clearly alludes. Otherwise, as a preacher, I must take no wage for preaching:</span></span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">(7) And as you go, preach, saying, ‘</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Turn, Turn</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">, the kingdom of the heaven</span><em class="HebMatt-nccg" style="color: #0033cc; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 17.6000003814697px; line-height: normal;">s </em><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">is at hand!’ (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">and</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> cast out demons. </span><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Do not take wages</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">. Freely you received. <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Freely give.</span></strong> For </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">you received for nothing.</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">And </span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">for nothing you shall giv</span></strong>e</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> . (9) </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Possess neither gold nor silver nor money in your</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">money </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">belts</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">. (10) </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Neither pack for your journey</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">a change of clothes</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> nor shoes </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">nor staff in your hand</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">. For <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">the </span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">workman is worthy to receive enough for his food</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">. (11) And <strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">into whatever city or </span></strong></span><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">region</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> you shall enter,</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">ask who is good </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">and</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">honorable</span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">among them</span></span></strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">, and there live until you leave</span></strong>. <a href="/images/stories/JWOBook/ogm2014.htm"> OGM</a></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Preachers today should seek to support themselves other than by taking pay from their congregants. If someone wishes to pay them for their sermons as a publishing project, that is ok. Or they can get a normal job. That is also obviously ok. But they should never ask or take money from their congregants for themselves. Jesus forbids it. Their pay is only for a "workman worthy of his wage" from one whose household the preacher supports by actual service.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">If I were a Jewish Christian, I would continue the third-year tithe, and not regard the 'preacher' as a Levite. I would also doubt I must hold festivals in Jerusalem in years 1 and 2 that depended, in their commands, on the existance of the Temple. The wording of the third year tithe command in Deut 14:28-29 did not depend upon the Temple at all, as the tithe was collected and distributed within the "gates" of each city in which everyone lived. Hence, it alone clearly continues despite the destruction of the Temple. And it only applies to Sons of Israel.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">5. <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong>When A Tithe Applies Other Than the Triennial Tithe, No One Has A Share Anyway Other Than the Tither</strong></span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Furthermore, the other 2 years of the 3 year cycle of tithing was offerings that the tither then enjoyed in a festival party at the temple -- in other words, it was returned to the tither in a festival he enjoyed. In addition, in that era, only the Levites should not be "neglected" from sharing in years 1 and 2. But since there are no more Levites, that provision is moot today. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Here is what <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut+14%3A22-29&version=ESV">Deut 14:26-29</a> says about the first two years of the three year cycle of tithes and then the triennial tithe: </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"></span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 30px; color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">And <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><em><strong>you shall eat there before the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God and rejoice</strong></em>, you and your household.</span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">27 </span>And <em><strong>you shall not neglect <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the Levite</strong> </em>who is within your towns, for <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>he has no portion or inheritance with you.</span></span></p>
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<p style="margin-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"></span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 30px; color: #000000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">28 </span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>“At the end of<em><strong> every three years</strong></em> you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.</span> <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">29 </span>And the Levite, because <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span>the <span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Lord</span> your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">So again, the preacher must preach that in years 1 and 2 the tithe is solely for a party of the tithers, and they should not 'neglect' sharing only with a Levite. Since there are no Levites any more (who the Law denied land-ownership, thus justifying receipt of the tithe), that aspect of the tithe command is no longer an issue. Hence, <em><strong>the modern-day preacher has no right to any of the 1st and 2d year tithes, nor the 3d.</strong></em> Only the Law of Hospitality can be invoked by a preacher as a right to sustain himself -- by a wage for the value of the work he performs in someone's house in which he boards, or to whom he otherwise provides home-upkeep services. The preacher has no greater position than than any of his congregants -- just as Jesus intended in Matthew 10.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 1.3em;"></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">Conclusion</span></strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"></span><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">The way Malachi is quoted to congregants by many modern day preachers is unethical. It is typically self-serving. It seeks money given to a church which the preacher runs. It funds a fixed wage. This contradicts Jesus' words. It contradicts the Law of tithing. </span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">The preacher also typically does not explain that the tithe is nothing more than a tithe on produce / animals on the land. Nor does the preacher teach that the tithe only applies to Israelites, and not upon Gentiles. The truth would gut the entire aim of the preacher -- to gain money for his self-support. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Nor is it explained by preachers that the food / proceeds of the tithe would go today exclusively back to the tither in years 1 and 2. Nor is it explained that it must be shared only in year 3 among Gentiles, orphans and widows -- and no one else as Levites are no more. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">The Tithe law barely has only a single application today except to an Israelite Christian who has land with crops and / or animals, and the beneficiaries are himself in years 1 and 2, and then in year 3 the orphans, widows, and Gentiles.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">As a result, the use of Malachi with Gentiles is an unethical use of the Law to make one of the Law's true intended recipients of the tithe to feel guilty that instead he or she must comply with the tithe. And then this wrong is aggravated by not telling such a Gentile that the tithe is supposed to return to the tither in a festival under the Law for year 1 and 2 of the three-year tithe cycle.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">Typically, the one delivering this message has a self-interested agenda that the money end up in his pocket. This is exactly what was happening in Malach 3:9-10 -- the leaders at the temple - the Levites -- were robbing gentiles, orphans and widows of what belonged to them under the law of the Tithe, and in doing so the religious leaders who collected the tithe only for their own benefit robbed God who had commanded how to distribute such a tithe.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;"> NOTES</span></strong></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; line-height: 1.3em;">For more information, see our article at </span><a href="/images/stories/Lessons/es%20app%20on%20tithing.pdf" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 1.3em;"></a><a href="/images/stories/Lessons/es%20app%20on%20tithing.pdf" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 1.3em;">http://www.jesuswordsonly.com/images/stories/Lessons/es%20app%20on%20tithing.pdf</a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 1.3em;">For general law applicable to gentiles, and also as another beneficiary of the tithes, see Law Applicable to Gentiles at <a href="/topicindex/98-law-applicable-today.html">http://www.jesuswordsonly.com/JWO/law-applicable-today.html</a></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; font-size: large; line-height: 1.3em;"></span></p>
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