Tithing, Part 2

Good afternoon to everyone. Just as a reminder, I made this announcement, I think, before the feast, but if we're men and we have cases sitting out in the aisle, we should try to keep those inside so no one can trip over them. Unless we want someone to trip over but otherwise we should try to do that.

Rather than last week, we demonstrated that tithing is the system that God has used always to support His work on earth. We also found out that the tithe belongs to God. It's given when you give it to God, but God then turns around and designates and gives it to the priesthood that He's working through at that particular time. What has changed over the years is not tithing, but the priesthood to which the tithe is paid.

To begin with, it was paid directly to Melchizedek himself. And then you find that that was changed under the Old Covenant and was given to the Levites to be able to do the work of the tabernacle. And then finally in the New Testament, it reverted back to the Melchizedek priesthood. And Christ is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. And the tithes are given to the New Testament ministry to carry on the work. Tithing is consistently taught in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

And I think we can very strongly demonstrate that. Tithing has not been replaced by what I would call voluntary giving. There are those who say that you don't have to tithe, just give an offering, whatever you want to. Well, it doesn't generally work that way. God doesn't need our money, as we discussed. God could create tons of gold, tons of silver. He could create mounds of diamonds and precious stones if He wanted them. But He doesn't need that. He owns the whole universe anyway. What He is more interested in, again, is our attitude and our approach.

Are we willing to put Him first? Are we willing to show Him that we will obey Him and keep His commandments, that He comes first in our life? Now the same reason exists today that existed in the Old Testament for multiple tithes. It is a method that God has used to support His work throughout all the ages. You'll find that there are three reasons why there were multiple tithes in the Old Testament. One was to support the work of God. And that today is used to proclaim the Gospel to the world.

It's used to support the ministry, pays our salary, and also to take care of the local congregations, the needs. Secondarily, there is a need to finance our ways to the Feast of Tabernacles and God's festivals. There are expenses connected with that—gas, your car expense, motel, food, and so on. And thirdly, there still exists a need to help the needy, to help the poor, and to cover emergency type situations.

So all of the reasons why God had multiple tithes in the Old Testament still are valid today. God provided a tithe to cover each one of these needs. And I think we're all familiar with that. Last week we had time only to discuss the first tithe for financing the work of God. Today we want to take a look at the other two categories—what we would call festival tithes and tithes for the needy or for the poor.

We find an interesting scripture back in the book of Deuteronomy. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 12 and verse 17 to begin with. Deuteronomy 12 and verse 17. Notice what it says here. You may not eat within your gates.

Now what does it mean within your gates? Well, that's where you lived. Most of the cities or towns back at that time had a wall around them. And so you're not to eat within the gates. In other words, within the boundary of the city, the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil of the firstlings of your herd or of your flock or any of your offerings which you vow or your free will offerings or the heave offerings of your hands.

But you must eat them. Actually in the Hebrew the word should be it. You must eat it before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses. So you'll find that there is a place that God would choose for them to go to, to eat this. You, your son, your daughters, your manservant, your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates. And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you put your hands to.

Now I want you to notice how different this tithe that's mentioned here is from what we were discussing last week, the first tithe. First of all, this is a tithe that is consumed by the tithe-payer and his family. Now that was strictly forbidden for the first tithe. It was given to the Levite. All of it was given to the Levites.

So this has to be talking about a separate tithe, a different type of tithe. If you want to call it a second tithe, the first tithe was holy to God, was set aside and given in its entirety to the Levites. The tithe-payer could not eat of the first tithe. But here is a tithe that the tithe-payer could eat of. Now notice in chapter 14 and verse 22. Chapter 14, and we'll begin to read in verse 22, and we find the same thing mentioned. You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the fields produce year by year.

And again, they were basically an agrarian society. The majority of tithe that most people would have would be from agriculture. And verse 23, and you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses. So again, notice here's a tithe that you eat. But you can't just eat it anywhere. You can't decide, well, I'm going to eat it here, or I'll go over someplace else and eat it. But you have to eat it where God chooses to make his name abide. Now, I'll just tell you ahead of time that was Jerusalem. That's where God ultimately decided. That's where the tabernacle was set up, and then eventually the temple was built. And it goes on to say, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, the firstlings of your herd, of your flock, and you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

So part of saving this tithe is learning to fear God. Now, we know we go to the feast to learn to fear God, to learn about him, his ways. But if you ever stop to think about the fact that you saved this tithe shows that you fear God, don't fear God, you just go do your own thing. Well, who cares? I'll just set aside a few bucks and I hope I can make it. But if you fear God, then you're going to obey God, and you're going to do what God says. Now, if the journey's too long for you so you're not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money.

So what if you had a bushel of potatoes, a couple of cows, and you had some beans, and you had some other produce, and you decided, well, I'm going to haul all this up to Jerusalem.

How are you going to get it there? Well, it would be a problem. So he's saying that if it's too far away, you take it, you sell it, you take the money, and when you go there, then you can spend the money for food that you buy there locally. And verse 26, and you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires.

Now, could this be said about the first tithe? Whatever you want to spend your first tithe on, you can spend it if your heart desires it. No, this could not possibly be talking about the first tithe. It goes on to talk for oxen, sheep, for wine, or a similar drink, or whatever your heart desires. You shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

And then you're not to forsake the Levite also. So when was this tithe to be consumed by the tithe's pair and his family? Well, chapter 16 specifically tells us. Let's notice Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 13. It says, You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your feast.

So you're told here that you're to go up, keep the feast, and you're to rejoice. You, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widows, were within your gates. So those that you're acquainted with in your own locality, we would say today in your own local church area, seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God chooses. Now notice here we begin to get a definition of the place where God chooses.

God chose the specific place where he wanted his festivals observed. And at that time it was in Jerusalem. And even when they had gone into captivity and came back out of captivity, and many of them were not living in Palestine anymore but were part of the diaspora, the scattering of the Jews, they still would come up to Jerusalem during the three major festivals.

And they would come to the place where God had chosen. Now notice, you shall come to the place which the Lord chooses because the Lord your God will bless you and all your produce and all the work of your hand so that you shall surely rejoice. Now you go back and you read again Chapter 14, and you find that they were to come up and to rejoice before God, and God told them to spend that money for whatever it took for them to keep the feast.

Three times, verse 16, a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses. In the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, at the feast of tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty with a reference to an offering. So, brethren, the festival, our second tithe, was used to keep the feast, to observe the festivals and to pay the expenses. Now, quite frankly, if God commands us to travel, commands us to stay away from our homes for an extended period of time to worship him, to go someplace that he chooses to worship him, then he must have established a method for financing it.

And that method was to set aside a second 10 percent. You don't send this into the church. Back there, they didn't send it into the Levites. They kept it. That 10 percent is to be set aside for you to pay for your observance of the feast. Now, again, you can't just use it any old way you want to, for any old reason you want to. Now, you find in the New Testament that we read that Jesus Christ regularly traveled to attend the festivals, just like it was commanded in the Old Testament.

And he kept the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, we don't have time to go through each one of those scriptures today, because I could show you where he kept every one of the Feast of Tabernacles during his ministry.

But let's go back to Luke chapter 2 and verse 41, where we have a couple of clear examples here.

Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 41.

And we read that his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

Now, why do you suppose they did that? Because this was a place that God had chosen.

And they were God-fearing, and they obeyed the commandments. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the Feast. So here we find Jesus Christ as a child, going up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast. Now, how do you suppose they paid for that?

How did they finance it? Well, God clearly laid out in the Old Testament his system, his method for financing it, and that was to save a tithe. Now, in John 2 and verse 23, we find another example here of Jesus Christ. John chapter 2 and verse 23. We read now, when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. So here you find that Jesus Christ was again at the Passover, and he was keeping it and observing it in Jerusalem. Now, how do we apply that principle today? Well, today we don't all show up in Jerusalem to keep the Feast.

And you can find, and it's not the purpose of this sermon today to go through a thorough explanation of where the Feast was kept, but I can show you in the book of Acts and the writings of Paul, that the festival was kept outside of Jerusalem during the New Testament times. There were times when the Apostle Paul stayed in places like Ephesus or other areas, and he kept the Feast there. But there were many times when he tried to be at Jerusalem to observe the Feast. So we apply the principle today that especially for the Feast of Tabernacles, since it tends to be the one gathering in the year where we have larger meetings, that there are designated Feast sites. And we believe that these are places where God chooses to place His name. And so you can't just keep the Feast of Tabernacles in any old place you want to.

You go to where the Feast is being observed with God's people and keep it. Now it just happens that the other festivals, the local, let's say the other festivals are kept in the local areas.

And this is where then we have set aside for it to be kept. I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul himself, in Acts 18, wanted to make sure that he could go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast.

As I mentioned, not every time did he keep the Feast there, but there were many times in his ministry when he made an effort to be there. Verse 18, chapter 18, verse 18. So Paul still remained a good while, and then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. And he had his hair cut off in Sensoria, for he had taken a vow. And he came to Ephesus and left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

When they asked him to stay a little time with them, he did not consent, but took leave of them, saying, I must by all means keep this Feast in Jerusalem. So he wanted to be in Jerusalem. But I will return again to you, God willing, and he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Sensoria and gone up, the expression gone up here refers he actually went up to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is on a hill, and so when it says, and you'll see this expression several times in the Bible, that they went up to Jerusalem, he greeted the church, and then afterwards he went down to Antioch. That's after the Feast. So here is one example of the apostle Paul putting a great deal of effort into getting back to Jerusalem in chapter 20 and verse 16. Same thing mentioned here.

Chapter 20 verse 16, where Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hurrying, big hurrying, to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And so you find that there were Josephus. The Jewish historian of the first century said there was as many as a million people who would gather in Jerusalem, and you'll come back to keep the festivals during these periods of time.

Now, since the early New Testament church continued to keep these days, and I think we can very clearly show that Christ kept them, the disciples taught them, Paul kept them, he even instructed the church about keeping them. This meant that for many of them there was extensive travel and expense. There's no indication in the Scripture that anything had changed.

There's no doctrinal discussion that you can find that's ever mentioned in the New Testament about changing the law of tithing to a method of voluntary giving. You don't find that mentioned in any way. It's just not discussed. So for one to think that it changed, when did it change, how did it change, and who changed it, you don't find that verified anywhere in the writings of the New Testament. So very clearly the Bible brings out that there was more than one tithe, that there were multiple tithes. The first tithe, again, went to the Levite for the work of the ministry.

The second tithe, or festival tithe, was eaten and used by the tithe pair himself and his family, and then it was used to help his manservants, maidservants, and poor Levites, and any others who might have a need to be able to attend the feast. Now what about, though, the poor and the needy? Did God have a way, a system, to be able to help them? And the answer is yes, he did.

Let's go back to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse 28. Deuteronomy chapter 14 and verse 28. At the end, we read here, of every third year, you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up, I want you to notice something here, within your gates. Now, the festival tithe that we just read about said they could not store it up within their gates, but that they had to go to where God chose to place his name. But here is a tithe that says, every third year, so every third year you have to ask yourself, is that 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, or something else? We'll take a look at that. But you shall put it up within your gates, and the Levi, because he is no proportion or inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied. So here was a tithe that was not saved every year, but every third year, to be able to give to the orphans, to the widows, to the poor Levites, and so that God would bless them in all the work of your hands, which you do. So this was a tithe that was set aside and kept in the local area, within your gates, it says. Completely different wording than what we had about the festival tithe. Now, in chapter 26 of the book of Deuteronomy, let's notice Deuteronomy 26, and we'll begin to read here in verse 12.

When you have finished laying aside all the tithes of your increase in the third year.

So again here, we find the third year, which is the year of tithing. So the third year was called the year of tithing. Why? Because there were three tithes that year, as we will see.

When you have finished laying aside all the tithes of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and the widows, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled. Now, I want you to notice beginning in verse 13, then, what an individual in ancient Israel could claim from God when he had been faithful in doing this. Then you shall say before the Lord your God, I have removed the holy tithe from my house, and also have given them to the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, to the widow, according to all your commandments, which you have commanded me. I have not transgressed your commandment, nor have I forgotten them. So he's saying, I've been obedient to you, I've been faithful to what you have said, I've not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have I removed any of it for an unclean use, in other words, for a use that it was not intended for, that would be an unclean use, using it for any purpose that it was not set aside for. When a tithe or anything is set aside for a holy purpose, to use it in any other way is unclean. It is not holy. Nor have I given it for the dead. I've obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded us. Now notice verse 15, look down from your holy habitation from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, just as you have sworn to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. So here you find he claimed a blessing for being obedient to God, that God would bless him and bless the nation for their obedience.

Well, brethren, I think that you and I can do the same thing, that when we faithfully do what God has commanded us to do, then we can go to God and we can say, God, you have promised, you know, you've said, try me, put me to the test. Now I've done it, and you can ask God for a blessing.

Now Jesus Christ, when he was on this earth, and the apostles taught that we as Christians today still have an obligation to truly help those who are in need. That we cannot forget the need, just as they were not to forget the needing in the Old Testament. Let's go over to Galatians 2 and verse 10. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 10. And notice the admonition here.

Might back up to verse 9 just to get the context. Galatians 2 verse 9. And when James and Cephas, that's Peter and John, who seem to be pillars, precede the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. So we're commanded not to forget the poor.

James 1, 27, you might remember, I won't read that, but it talks about not neglecting the widow and her need, and that we are to help the widow. Matthew chapter 25 and verse 34.

You'll find that Jesus Christ likewise mentioned the fact that His true servants would take care of those who had need. Chapter 25 verse 34.

Says, Then the king, this is Matthew 25, 34, then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, you came to me. Then the righteous will answer and say, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger take you in or naked?

And they go on and on. Verse 40, and the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. So we find that we have an obligation to take care of the brethren in need.

That is not something that has just disappeared because, you know, we're a New Testament church.

In verse 41, the ones who do not make it into God's kingdom are told that they did not do this. They did not have that attitude of helping those in need. So we find that there was an additional tie that was collected every third year that was to be used to help the needy, to help the poor, and specifically the orphans and the widows.

Now, with that in mind, I think it's important to note that in ancient Israel, there was a seven-year cycle in place.

Seven-year cycle in every seventh year was what was called the sabbatical year.

Just as you and I rest on the Sabbath day, every seven years, the land was to rest.

Leviticus 25 describes this.

Leviticus chapter 25 verse 1.

Chapter 25 here, verse 1, The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep the Sabbath to the Lord.

Six years you shall sow your field, six years you shall prune your vineyards and gather in its fruit. But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord, you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyards.

Now just as you and I need a rest, so the land needs a rest.

And one of the things that people don't realize is that you can overwork the land to where it becomes depleted. And today in our society we keep pushing the land. Instead of allowing it to rest, we try to grow more crops. We try to, instead of having one growing season, we'll have maybe two or three or four, and try to push it and fertilize it and abuse the land. Well, God said here, the land should rest. What grows of its own according of its own accord of your harvest, you should not reap nor gather the grapes of your unintended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. In other words, they were not to take that and to store it up for the next year. But they could eat of the produce, as we see here, and the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you. So what they could eat for daily food, they could go out and eat for you and your servants, for your maidservant, for your hired servant, and for the stranger who sojourns with you for your livestock. And the animals that are in your land, all of its produce, shall be for food.

Now, another thing you'll find is after seven of these sabbatical years, seven times seven is 49, then they had a 50th year. The 50th year was the Jubilee. And on the 50th year, they proclaimed liberty throughout the land. Anyone who was a slave and so on could go free, and people's possessions returned to the family, so that every generation in one sense got a new start. Their possessions had been sold, they would get it back, and they could start all over again.

Now, let's read verse 18. So shall you observe my statutes, keep my judgments, and perform them, and you will dwell in the land safely. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell there safely. And if you say, what shall we eat in the seventh year? Because they were not producing a crop in the seventh year, remember. That's the sabbatical year.

Since we shall not sown or gather in our produce, then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, God says, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. And you shall sow in the eighth year and eat old produce until the ninth year, until its produce comes in, and you shall eat of the old harvest. So God was going to bless them enough with the sixth year that they would have enough for the seventh year and the eighth year until a new crop would come in.

Remember, there was no increase as far as producing a crop during the seventh year.

Now, this leads to a conclusion, and let me tell you what the conclusion is.

You may have come up with your own conclusion. This leads to a conclusion that every third year tithe was every third year of a seven-year cycle. That was the third and the sixth year out of that seven-year cycle. The third and the sixth year of the seven-year cycle was the third tithe year, or the year of tithing. There was no increase from the land during the seventh year. Any other conclusion creates a problem. Now, what do I mean a problem? What if you say, well, the third tithe was just saved every three years without a sabbatical year? That would be three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen, twenty-one. Now we've got a problem. Every 21st year, two things happen. Third tithe year in the 21st year, sabbatical year in the 21st year.

Sabbatical year, there's no produce. You're not earning anything off of the land. Therefore, how can you save the third tithe during that period? The two would conflict with one another. The two laws would be in conflict, and every third year tithe of the increase and every seventh year rest with no increase. And so there would be a conflict. The sabbatical year and the third tithe year would fall in the same year. So therefore, I think the Jews understood, and we have always understood that it's the third year and the sixth year out of a seven-year cycle, and then you start counting another seven-year cycle, the third year, and then you start counting the third year and the sixth year of that seven-year cycle. So, any other way of doing it, you come up with not being able to apply God's law in the way that it should be. Now, in modern times, that's our day, some national governments have instituted mandatory taxes.

Maybe I should say all governments have instituted mandatory taxes, many of them for social welfare and care for the poor, that leads to a dilemma.

Do those who are obedient to God and pay a third tithe have to do it twice?

Now, what do I mean by twice? Once to the government and once to God.

Are we obligated to have to pay this special tithe in addition to the taxes used for welfare and for the care and maintenance of the poor in our society? Now, I want you to notice a statement that was approved by the Council of Elders back in September 1966. I remember this very well because I was on the Council and helped to draft this back in 1966.

I'm going to read this in its entirety, and I think all of you have seen this at one time or another, but I'll quote the letter.

The Bible teaches that Christianity involves the care and the concern for those less fortunate.

In James 1, 27, the Old Testament gives instructions regarding contributions, commonly called the third tithe, for those in the community who are typically in need of financial assistance. Many nations in our modern world have various social programs, the effect and intent of which is to fulfill the purpose of the biblical third tithe. These programs are financed by an involuntary system of taxation.

You don't volunteer your taxes. They just take them. In most cases, the annual rate at which social taxes are extracted is the same. The annual rate at which social taxes are extracted is substantially greater than the Bible third tithe. Now, you can say, well, I don't give 10% of my income every year to the government. No, it doesn't work that way. If you figure a third tithe every third and sixth year of a seven-year cycle, that's 2.7% or 2.8% of your income in a given year. Most of us contribute through taxes, at least 2.8%, towards a number of these social programs. In 1982, Mr. Herbert Armstrong was presented with the facts regarding this form of taxation in Britain, in Scandinavia, and the impact it had on the individual's wages in those nations. In many of these nations, they pay 40 to 50% in taxes. Now, they take care of them from the cradle to the grave, but they pay for it. That's why many people in those countries move to the U.S. or other countries, because they get to hold on to their money a little longer. Mr. Armstrong recognized that these modern states in Europe had to a large extent assume the Church's responsibility in caring for the needy. Therefore, Mr. Armstrong made an administrative decision that members in Britain and Scandinavia do not have to pay in effect what would have been an additional third tithe. Now, stop and think. If the government takes 50% of your wages up front, that leaves you 50% to live on. Third tithe year, you pay third tithe, second tithe, first tithe. What does that leave you? That leaves you 20% of your income to live on. It was virtually impossible for the members there to do so.

As Mr. Armstrong put it, the state, to a large extent, takes care of the widows, the elderly, the unemployed, the orphans, and the destitute. We, however, pay this through contributions deducted by the government at source. That's the source of your earnings. He also reminded the Church that despite what national governments may do to help the disadvantaged, there will still be needs within the Church that national social programs do not address. Therefore, we should from time to time make offerings to the Church's assistance fund. Later, because the same principle applied, the same administrative decision was made for other countries in Europe and eventually for all nations in which the Church had congregations except the United States.

Mr. Armstrong did not address the issue of third tithe for members in the United States. Nevertheless, if we carefully examine the United States' social security system, other welfare programs funded by taxation in the United States, we can readily see that the principle regarding the administration of third tithe that applied internationally applies the United States as well. In this country, it's estimated that the average person pays 30% or more taxes. Now, that's not just your straight income tax, although some people do pay that much, but when you count how much you pay for social security, taxation on everything that you buy, 9% here in this state, you find that it begins to add up very quickly. It says, at no time did Mr. Armstrong deny the biblical teaching of third tithe, nor the church's responsibility to take care of the needy. On the contrary, he stressed that the need for members to continue to support the church assistance fund. However, he did recognize that the amount members would have to pay him third tithe and more was in fact taken from them to fund these national social programs. Therefore, he ruled that members did not need to pay what in effect is an additional third tithe to the church when governments were taxing them and using that tax in the same intent and purpose as the biblical third tithe. Therefore, the Council of Elders has resolved that where governments provide programs, that the intent and purpose of which is to provide for the needs of those that the biblical third tithe was designated to assist, and that where such programs are funded by an annual rate of taxation greater than the biblical third tithe, members are not obligated to pay what amounts to an additional third tithe to the church. The Council of Elders further resolved that since there will always be members of the church in need, whose needs will not be adequately provided by the national government's social programs, and since the clear example in the scriptures that the church cares for its members in need, that the members of the church who are able or encouraged to contribute to the church assistance fund so that the biblical injunction to care for the needy within the church can be fulfilled. Now, many of you will remember that even prior to this in the United States, there was a principle that we applied when it came to third tithe.

That was that the third tithe was for the needy, not from the needy. What we meant by that, if we had to give you third tithe to live, and then you turn around and paid third tithe, why were we giving you third tithe? You know, that and you turn around and give it back to us. You know, it was it was not a logical thing. So the principle we had always said was that the third tithe was for the needy, not from the needy.

But this principle has been applied to all nations today. Now, I know that there are some people who still, and there's nothing in this write-up that says that you cannot do so, still pay third tithe every third and sixth year of a seven-year cycle. And for some, it's a conscience problem. For others, they have sufficient finances that they feel that they can adequately do this and pay both, and so they go ahead and they do.

I think we're all responsible, as it says here, if we have we've been blessed by God to contribute to the church's assistance fund, because that is something that is constantly being used. Now, also, because of the heavy tax burden, the question naturally arose concerning tithing. Do you tithe on the net or the gross income? Gross is tithing before taxes are taken out. Net would be tithing after taxes are taken out.

Well, it just so happens in May 1996 that the Council of Elders issued a statement on net versus gross. And I'd like to read that to you at this point. Statement on the Administration of Tithing. As a result of questions about the Administration of Tithing, the Council of Elders has approved the following statement.

This statement deals with an administrative area of tithing on net income, but not the doctrinal aspects of tithing. The United Church of God and International Association is committed to the belief that tithing is commanded for Christians today. You know, that's something we believe and we teach. The Church of God has needed to make decisions from time to time regarding the Administration of Tithing. There are many factors that demand that such decisions be made. Our modern world creates situations and circumstances that require that we'd address how to administer the doctrine of tithing today. In 1982, Mr. Herbert Armstrong came to the conclusion that since brethren in various European countries had no control over the deduction of taxes from their income and derived only minimal economic benefit from payment of such taxes, the taxes withheld should not be considered increase for the purpose of tithing.

Mr. Armstrong subsequently applied this principle to other nations. Our modern system of economics is quite different from that of biblical times. Now, let me explain the difference. In ancient Israel, when they conquered the land of Canaan, Palestine, and inhabited it, each tribe was given a certain part of the land. Each family and household within that tribe was given property. I don't know how much it was, 50 acres, 100 acres, perhaps depending on the size of the family, but they were given property. It was given to them. They didn't make payments.

It was theirs. They had it. They didn't have to make a land payment. If you're a farmer today and you own a thousand acres and you're buying those thousand acres, what type of land payment would you have? You might be paying. I'll just use an example. I know a rancher we had in Texas when I was in the San Antonio church. He paid $50,000 a year for the land to be able to run cattle and sheep on it.

He only had about 5,000 head of sheep and maybe 300 head of cattle. So you've got to sell a lot of sheep and a lot of cattle to be able to cover 50,000 and then make an income. Well, in ancient Israel, they had the land. There was no payment. There were no taxes on the land, as we know them today. They paid ties. And so you find they did not have the overbearing taxes like we do today. The average person today pays income tax.

He's paying anywhere between 15-30 percent out as income tax. You have Social Security. You're paying seven plus on Social Security. Your employer is matching that. You have nine percent sales tax. Then everything else is taxed as it is manufactured. So the real taxes, there are many hidden taxes. Real taxes on a product may even double the price of it when you actually look at taxation today. That's the type of society we live in. Now, in the millennium, people aren't going to have the same type of problems that we have today. Look at, you just buy a house today and you have an annual tax bill, don't you?

It's not a matter that you pay the loan off and there are no more taxes that you own that piece of property. You still have to pay taxes. There are people who will pay their property off, but the taxes are so high they can't afford to live in the property. That's a shame. So our modern system of economics is quite different from the biblical time. So we have to determine how do we obey God, apply the principles of tithing in the world that we live in. Since furthermore, our system of taxation has a greater impact on wages and salary than it has had in previous ages. We take into account the various forms of taxation, such as income tax, sales tax, value added tax, property tax, social security tax. The burden is often oppressive. I remember at a ministerial conference, this was the first ministerial conference I ever attended. I was a senior at Ambassador College in January 1963. A question came up. A man in Australia made a hundred thousand dollars a year and he paid ninety thousand dollars in taxes. They took ninety percent of his income. Now his question was if he had to pay tithes on the full hundred thousand, he was in debt. Because in the third tithe year, that would be ten thousand to the church. Ten thousand he had set aside for himself to go to the feast and ten thousand would be given to take care of the needy. He only had ten thousand. So the decision was made that the man only had the tithe on the ten thousand. The government took the rest. Now that's a shame anyway. I mean here's a man making a hundred thousand dollars back in 1962 and three. That'd be like making a million or more today and he didn't get to keep very much of it. So we have had to address these questions over the years and decisions have had to be made. This isn't just something that just popped up here recently. The problem is as we go along decade after decade, the problem becomes worse. The taxation burden becomes greater. So it says the church recognizes the the confiscating nature of such taxations. Therefore, the Council of Elders has adopted the following proposal. This is about what do you tithe on. While the church acknowledges the validity of God's law of tithing, it also recognizes the excessive level of taxation and their impact on individual incomes. The church believes that the appropriate definition of increase is net income after income tax. Therefore, the church teaches that the tithe may be calculated on net income after income tax has been deducted. I want you to notice how that was expressed and we deliberately expressed it that way. May doesn't say you are required, but may. Of course, members are free to tithe on gross income before income taxes are deductible if they so choose and they are free to make contributions above their tithes as an expression of God's way of give. So what we find is that we live in a totally different society today and we are still required to tithe, but how to go about it? The church has had to, over the years, make various rulings.

Now there are those who question whether there were actually three separate tithes. And many of you may have heard these arguments over the years that no, there wasn't three separate tithes in the third tithe year. Instead of saving the second tithe, the second tithe became the third tithe and, you know, that they never paid more than two tithes in any given year.

I'd like to quote to you from some extra-biblical sources. Those are sources that are not in the Bible that indicate that there was more than one tithe. There are several sources in ancient literature that agree that the Bible describes multiple tithes, not just a single tithe, with various use in different years, as some people like to say. The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived around the time of Jesus Christ, documented the understanding of his time regarding the festival tithe. The following passage, I'm going to quote to you, is taken from the Antiquities of the Jews, book four, chapter eight, section eight, and it describes the second tithe.

Let there be taken out of your fruits a tenth beside that which you have allotted to give to the priests and the Levites. So here's another tenth beside what they are giving to the Levites. This you may indeed sell in the country, but it is to be used in those feasts and sacrifices that are be celebrated in the holy city, for it is fit that you should enjoy those fruits of the earth which God gives you to possess.

Now, Josephus also commented on the third tithe, the Antiquities of the Jews, book four, chapter eight, section 22. Quote, beside these two tithes, which I've already said to you, you are to pay every year. So notice there were two tithes that were to be paid every year, but one for the Levites and the other for the festivals.

You are to bring every third year a third to be distributed to those in want, to women also that are widows and the children that are orphans. So Josephus very clearly documents that there were three tithes. Now, in the Apocryphal book of Tobit, which many scholars date to around 200 BC, now I say Apocryphal, that just simply means it was a book that was written but was not included in the scriptures, the writer gives the following description of the giving of the third tithe, or the three tithes, I should say.

This is taken from Tobit, chapter one, verses six through eight, in the New American Bible. Quote, I for my part often made the pilgrimage alone to Jerusalem for the festivals as they are prescribed for Israel by perpetual decree, bringing with me the firstfruits of the field and the firstlings of the flock, together with a tenth of my income and the first shearings of the sheep.

I would hasten to, excuse me, the firstling of my flock with a tenth of my income and the first shearings of my sheep. I would hasten to Jerusalem and present them to the priest, Aaron's son, at the altar, to the Levites who were doing service in Jerusalem. I would give the tithe of the grain, the wine, the oil, the pomegranates, the figs, and other fruits. And except for the sabbatical year, see the sabbatical year was an exception, I used to give a second tithe in money. He called it here a second tithe, which each year I would go and distribute in Jerusalem.

The third tithe, I gave to orphans and widows and to converts who were living with the Israelites. Every third year I would bring them this offering, and we ate it in keeping with the decrees of the Mosaic and the commandments of Deborah, the mother of my father, Tobiah, for whom, for when my father died, he left me an orphan. So here you find another extra-biblical reference. We also have the testimony of Jerome, who, like Josephus and Tobit, lived in Palestine.

Quoting from McClintock and Strongs, quote, he says one tithe was given to the Levites, out of which they gave it tenths to the priests. We read that last week. A second tithe was applied to festival purposes, and a third was given to the poor. I don't know how much plainer you can get than that. Chrysostom also understood this because he preached. This is taken from a homily or a sermon that he gave. What then did the Jews give? A tenth of their possessions, another tenth, and after that, a third tenth. So he acknowledged that the Jews were giving three tenths.

For a more modern opinion, Dr. Pulsi, P-U-S-E-Y, the late Regis Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, gave a sermon on Ash Wednesday at St. Paul's Night Bridge, and this is what he said, quote, The Pharisees paid tithe the ball which he possessed. A double tithe you will recollect, one for God's priests, the other for the sacrifices, and yet another every third year for the poor.

So even in our modern times you find that there are writers. I could list a whole list of commentaries that show and teach that, you know, their interpretation of these scriptures is that there were three separate tithes. Now the reason why I mention this, brethren, and I quote all of this, is not to bore you and put you to sleep, but some today teach that the third tithe in the third and sixth year replaced the second tithe.

Consequently, they say that there were only two tithes that were ever paid according to this reasoning.

Now Dr. Henry Lansdale wrote a two-volume work titled The Sacred Tenth around the turn of the 20th century. He later republished part of it in a smaller book or track titled The Tithe in Scripture. He was in Blackheath, Australia. He was a chaplain of the modern college there on the subject of tithes in Israel. I want you to notice what he had to say. He says, in fact, I can find no authority in favor of this supposed triennial substitution of the third tithe for the second until the 12th century. Prior to the 12th century, you don't find anything in Jewish writings. You don't find anything historically written on this. When Manadis said that the third and sixth year second tithe was shared between the poor and the Levites, that there was no third tithe. Again, you can find this quote in McClintock and Strong's. But even then, we have a contemporary rabbi of the same century. His name was Aben Ezra, who said, this was a third tithe and did not excuse the second tithe. So what you find is that those who come up with this idea are just simply trying to get out of doing what God said. So, brethren, what you find is that God very clearly in the Bible teaches multiple tithes, a first tithe to do the work of God, a second tithe which you keep for festival expenses. You can't use that for anything else but the festival expenses. And a third tithe to take care of the needy. And I've read to you how that that can be applied today.

God doesn't need our money. We all understand that to do His work. He can raise up stones to do His work. He can create mountains of wealth. Of all He's interested in is wealth.

But God is testing our hearts. God is testing our minds and our hearts, no obedience, to see if we truly will be obedient to Him. Tithing shows our willingness to put God first above all. Because if there's anything that we as human beings like to hold on to, it's our money. And people don't like to share it with others.

But God says He has a prior claim. It also demonstrates our willingness to keep God's commandments and to not steal. So the Bible very clearly teaches three tithes. Each has a different function. So brethren, in conclusion, tithing is still in force today.