This is going to be a message that will definitely rattle some cages! "There is nothing in the New Testament that says we should tithe!" says a 'Christian' who wants to abate their guilty feelings. I agree. Nothing had to be said--- because the first converts were Jewish, that was already a given. To repeat the message about tithing is about as useful as reminding a hungry guy to open his mouth before he puts the food in. But I am not writing this message for you (all). I'm writing it for me. You see, I may lose my job of 22 years soon, and it's a good paying one. So for many years, I could give more to the Lord. But I want an excuse to keep giving, and I need some reassurance that I will be able to keep giving and not shamefully lose that ability. I'd make a lousy beggar.

What is the tithe? A tithe means a tenth of one's increase. Or again, if one has not tithed, a tenth of what he possesses. The patriarchs promised God and gave him a tenth (Genesis 14:20, Genesis 28:22). There is a lot of controversy regarding the tithe, what it consists of and even how many there were. Before we groan about one tithe, however, let me say this. The Israelites were commanded to give three tithes, albeit for different purposes. Uggggg three!!! Yes, three. But let's take a closer look at what they were used for. Some ministries (or maybe cults) teach multiple tithing, only to use the Law to command the parishioners that their multiple tithes MUST go to the same place--- notably to somebody warning one of hell if they do not give. What does the Bible teach, however?

The first tithe went to the Levites. They were God's ministers equivalent to our church today. Leviticus 27:30 established the fact that the first TITHE was the Lord's. Every tenth thing was holy to the Lord. It was separated out for the Lord. This tithe in turn, was given to the Levites as stated in Numbers 18 because the Levites had no land inheritance of their own. This was their living as if they harvested themselves. In turn, the Levites gave a tenth to the High Priest. Let's break this down by a chart. Remember there were twelve tribes (Joseph became two)--- let's say each one had an average increase of "one unit", whatever that was. The chart would break down thus:

Total from Israel:		12.00
Tithe given to Levites:		1.20
Tithe of Levites:		-.12
Levite's net result:		1.08

We see here that after the tithe, the Levites have a little more than one unit, about the same amount each tribe had earned before tithing. So this had a very practical way to support the ministers of God, and beings their tribe was not as populated as some of the others, realistically they were well paid (or theoretically so) as a minister of God should be! However, their "pay" was not way above and beyond to the point of being ridiculous. So we see here mathematically that the tithe was a reasonable proportion in which one tribe was well supported by the others--- no more, no less. (In theory, if one would want one tribe to get equal amount as the other tribes, then the formula would break down to 12r-12r²=1-r where " r " represents the ratio of one unit to be given. The term "12r" is what is given to the Levites, and this term multiplied by r again (12r²) is the amount they give to the High Priest. This is equal to the amount each tribe is left with after they give which is one unit minus the ratio or 1-r). I'll be kindly enough to spare the quadratic equation to solve for " r ". However, when we do, we find this ratio or proportion to equal 8.33% or 1/12. Makes sense. But God wanted it one tenth instead of one twelfth for whatever reason (and that goes into the spiritual significance of numbers which I will not get into here). Both percentages and fractions are roughly the same nevertheless.

OK. That is for the first tithe. Now for the second one. Recently on a forum a person commented on DEUTERONOMY 14 which said, " Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. "

Needless to say, the person commenting about tithing claimed this sounded much different than what is taught today about the tithe. In other words, the implication was that this was "a more fun way to tithe". BIG PARTY! And what do the stern-faced preachers teach? Have you ever heard of such a way to tithe? Consequently, this person challenged the "literalists" out there to explain such a tithe. (I bet this person was hoping that we'd all break down and admit he could use his tithe for fun instead of taking it to church). I replied that the text stated EXACTLY what it said. He was right--- This was the party, or what is called the "festival" tithe. But this was the second tithe. The first was the Lord's. Actually this second one is for the Lord too. But the purpose was different. Most of us ALREADY GIVE this tithe without realizing it, but it takes the form of Disney World vacations, resorts or expensive sporting hobbies for our families. The Lord said to use it for the same reason, but with one catch--- there was supposed to be an element of WORSHIP where the offerer learned to appreciate what God gave. Plus the offerer was to share some of it with the less fortunate or the Levite. I am in a quandary as to what the equivalent is today because Christianity is so fragmented that there is no central place of worship. Multiple tithe teachers claim their place of worship is equivalent to the temple and therefore should joyously be given there. I have no problem with that as long as one does not teach it is to be used for the same reason as the first tithe. The reason is that the first tithe was for the Levites, but this one was for a feast (not an additional amount to all go to the Levite). If God mandated that the Levite (or a church) was entitled to a second tithe or one fifth, He would have clearly said so. As I said in another message, I suppose the equivalent today would be to take your family to a Christian resort or retreat somewhere where the focus of the festival is on God alone (and learning more of Him). Some may cringe when I say resort because that conjures up the image of pina coladas and basking in the sun. No, I did not say that. Don't put words in my mouth. That's your fleshy desires interpreting that for me. So what else can this represent? How about a grand humongous thanksgiving feast? Maybe, but let's not get too fat. For sure, I see in this tithe the focus is on worshipping God for his provisions and feasting with one's family, i.e., using the family wealth for all their spiritual growth. One can tell how good an employer is to his people by the little "extras" they can afford. If they can boast once in a while that they took a nice vacation, or drive a reasonably nice car, then that says a lot for the employer. I'd be abysmally embarrassed as an employer if my employees could only afford clunkers to drive and too little vacation time to take except for snow days. Of course some employers are so steeped in pride that they would not feel the slightest bit of shame if their employees went around looking like bums and may even get an irrational high or head-trip by seeing them that way (like a form of S & M and feeling of power). But for the most part, I believe most employers are mentally balanced enough to want to show off their employees a little. Likewise, God wanted His people to see how blessed they were and how He provided for them. So this "mandated feast" was supposed to be an outward form of a heart expression of how one should thankfully feel inside for all that God gave. Nevertheless, the Bible clearly states that the offerer and his family (and perhaps some less fortunate) were the recipients of this tithe. So this was a tithe to oneself but for spiritual (not fleshy) refreshment. Maybe we can rejoicingly buy a ton of Bibles. I often bought books and materials for my classes (above and beyond the first tithe). I think an example as this is the same spirit of it.

Now for the third tithe. If we continue reading the last verses of the 14th chapter of DEUTERONOMY, we see that God wanted a third tithe to go to the poor. However, this was once every three years:

At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

There was a sacred cycle of seven years. The seventh year the land was to lay dormant for it to grow of itself (the sabbatical year) and the 3rd and sixth year of this cycle were the years for tithing as stated in these verses. Some teach that this was an additional tithe every third and sixth year. Some claim the festival tithe was used for the poor instead of to oneself and his family. I tend to believe the former, as I find it difficult to believe that the Israelites would skip going to Jerusalem for festivities two years. A further indication that this is true comes from the book of Tobit. Tobit 1:6-8 is where he clearly identified three separate tithes. He claimed he gave the first one to the Levites (along with the firstfruits, but the firstfruits is another topic), the second he spent, and the third he gave to the needy "to whom it was his duty". As a matter of fact, the 26th chapter of Deuteronomy stated the importance of this third tithe when the offerer was to sware to God that he did not use any of it for himself, but to that which it was intended. This is how important God saw that the poor were taken care of. This third tithe was 10%, but once every three years or an average of about 3% yearly of one's income. By the way, as one took off tithes, the ten percent for the next tithe was the percentage of the leftover. Therefore the table breaks down as such:

Total income		100.0
First tithe		-10.0
Net after 1st tithe		90.0
2nd tithe		-9.0
Net after 2nd tithe		81.0
Third tithe (8.1 /3 years)		2.7
Final net		78.3

So we see here that the Israelites averaged 78 to 100 of their earnings. They gave an average of 22% yearly in tithes. Of course they gave mostly 19%, but in the third year they gave 27%. So there we have it--- the breakdown of the three tithes. The first was the LORD'S. The second was for oneself and family (A Godly party if you must call it something), and the last for the poor. Therefore the focus was on God, one's family, and one's fellow man. Makes sense to me: Love God with all your heart, etc., then love your neighbor AS YOURSELF. So we all take care of our families don't we? I won't comment on what you think you should do with your second tithe. So what must we give? Well, if we focus on God and to the needy other than our families, I'd say a tenth to God and another tenth to the poor. Uggggg! Well I'll make it simple for you. You want to give a tenth only once every three years or break it down? (This is me speaking, not the Lord). Then how about at least 13%? Net or gross income? You're probably slipping up spiritually if you're asking me already. No, I'll answer that one. I cannot say with a good conscience that one must tithe on anything more than his portion, i.e., the net income. Here comes the stern-faced evangelist. "Liaf almost had my respect, but now he is cheating God out of the tithe!" Not really. Not if we all tithe as we are supposed to. Actually, this is a touchy subject. Most teach that it should be your gross income, but some of us have reasons as to why we think it's on the net (in the same manner the Israelites kept extracting from their net). Let everyone be convinced in his or her own minds, but we have our reasons for believing this.

I have two primary reasons I only require one's net income to be tithed (and you can smile a little easier knowing I am going easier on everyone). First of all, if one had an oppressive government that took 95% from one's income, how could one give ten or more percent when only five is left? Does that make one's tithe fall short before God due to a circumstance beyond his control? And if the principle applies for 95%, in all fairness it applies for 5%, 10%, 20% or whatever rate of taxation. Secondly, where do the taxes go? The vast majority goes into the "taxman's" paycheck. Now if he tithed, even on the net, the church would get 10%. Let me illustrate what happens when we tithe on the gross by the table below assuming an average tax rate of 25% on 100 "unit" dollars:

Your gross income		100.0		Your tithe		10.0
Taxman's gross		25.0		Taxman's tithe		2.5
Total money involved		100.0		Money to church		12.5

You can clearly see that the money was tithed (in part) twice. The church received 12.5% and you actually gave about 13.3% of what you actually brought in. Now we must consider that even the taxman gets taxed, so what do those extras go for? Well, we all collectively use these taxes for better roads, police cars, buildings, bombs for the military and the like. So we all collectively own them. But that may bump up the giving by a percent or two. Mathematically, if we are taxed at this rate, we may give a little more than 10% of our take-home (as should the taxman) and the church will get 10% of the money circulating. The same principle applies to added health benefits which mostly go for salaries and insurances (more salaries). I bet nobody thought about tithing on that. Even the (unconstitutional) income tax system gives you that much of a break. The idea of paying only on your portion is the same as if you paid laborers their due of the crops in a privatized system. If you harvested a field, and the laborers got 30% of the crops, it was their responsibility to tithe on their share and you on the remaining that is yours. Indeed, that is what happens in a private business. You may bring in (gross) a million dollars, but the profit for you to live off of that year would only be $50,000 because the rest went to reinvest in your business, to salaries, taxes and the like. Certainly you cannot give $100,000 when you do not own all of it!

Can we deduct sales tax and property tax? I say not. What's the difference? The difference is that I can choose that tax by the standard of living I desire. That is a form of personal upkeep, not for the taxman or next guy. If I do not want to pay property taxes, I can choose to live in a cardboard box (theoretically, there once was such a time). I could grow my own food. Notice that necessities are not usually taxed. However, if I made the same income, box or no box my income taxes would be the same and I never had possession of them. This is why the founding fathers did not want income taxes. They'd turn in their graves knowing we brought this horror onto ourselves. Some may argue that property taxes go into paychecks the same way. Yes, it does. My payment for private services does too. And you and I in turn serve another and get it back again in wages. You see, these costs are analogous to the laborers and tax men exchanging money (crops) back and forth amongst themselves after payment in crops were made. However, the income tax is different because that is the initial source of the income (the starting point). Whether one wants to admit it or not, income taxing is really wage splitting. When you and I are employed, the employer pays three people: you, the taxman and the medical establishment (sometimes). But they call it all your income. I'm getting sick and tired of the little guy always getting dumped on and having to answer for somebody else. You must tithe on what you have and what goes into your estate. You cannot answer for others.

OK, So I teach 11% (maybe 12%) or your net income for the first tithe. This addition is for the collective property that taxes go into. Then there is the 3% to the poor. Until all is said and done, this makes about 14% of your net, or about 1/7. With today's typical tax rate, this still amounts to about 10% of your gross income albeit about a quarter of that should go to help the needy while the bulk amount goes to your church. This ought to be a minimum that the Christian gives to God and his fellow man. In addition, one's finances (analogous to the second tithe) ought to be reinvested in the family's spiritual life (as opposed to spending it on pleasures of the world). Once these tithes are made and bills are paid, then live it up on the rest, it is the gift of God. And that gift hopefully will manifest itself in the desire to give even more to God and the needy as the Lord blesses us.

After all of this analyzing of the "data", I basically said what most preachers said all along: 10% of your gross income. But we knew that already, didn't we?

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