John Chang 9:52

So if the law of tithing was not established from the beginning where does it originate?

The first mention of tithing is made at the time of Abram.

Gen 14:17-20: “at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.”

Is the tithe of all in reference truly a tithe of all Abram possessed? Not if taken in context; consider the previous verse.

Gen 14:16:  ”And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”

The “tithe of all” is really the spoils of war they received after rescuing Lot and defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him as further demonstrated in Hebrews 7:4:  ”Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”.

 In fact this is the only recorded instance of Abram paying tithing and it was not at the admonition of god but rather as thanks for the safe return of those taken captive.

If the law of tithing was not instantiated at the time of Abram was it created at the time of Jacob?

Genesis 28: 20:  ”And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

Again the act of tithing was not one initiated by god but rather a conditional personal vow to tithe if god would keep him safe.

So if tithing as a law wasn’t put into place at the time of Abram or Jacob when was it created?

Leviticus 27:30: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.  Verse 34: “These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.” Chronicles 31:4-5: “Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the Law of the LORD. As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.” Deut. 14:27-28:  ”You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.  ”At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates.”

Tithing was setup at the time of Moses when the tribe of Levi was established to be the priestly tribe that performed ceremonies on behalf of the rest of the tribes of Israel. In fact the 11 others tribes of Israel were taxed 22% on behalf of the tribe of Levi to support them in their role.

 Numbers 18:21-26: “Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.”

The tribe of Levi was then to pay 10% of the amount they received as tithing.

What is the 10% set aside by the Levites for?

Deuteronomy 26:12: “When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled.”

Essentially the 10% was set aside for those in need.

If a family member is in need and we give the money to the church instead are we justified?

Mark 7:9-13: He was also saying to them, “You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death’; but you say, ‘If a man says to his father, anything of mine you might have been helped by is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother; thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many such things as that”

If you have money your family needs, but you withhold it from them in order to pay it to the church as ‘tithes’, you are doing exactly what the Pharisees did. You are saying your money is “Corban” and Jesus taught that by doing so you were invalidating the Word of God.

Does paying tithing make you a better person than those that do not pay tithing?

Luke 18:10-14:“Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all I get.’
  But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted”

Tithing does not make one acceptable in the eyes of god but rather the intention and where the heart is.

In conclusion it would appear tithing does not have to be in the form of money and was intended as willingly giving of ones gain to benefit those in need. In other words helping others even outside the confines of a church is acceptable as tithing by god.

Fear because people are under the impression that if they interact with others outside of their creed there is the potential for the non believers actions and beliefs to impact that of the believers. Whether it be parents worried about their children’s friends or whether it be the parents concern with their own friends the idea that others can affect their own beliefs and behavior and consequently lead to eternal damnation is motivation enough for most people. After all eternity is a long time and risking consequences of that magnitude are motivation enough for most people to not risk interaction with non believers. Terms such as Bad Influence, Bad Apple and quotes such as One bad apple spoils the whole bunch, You become who you hang out with, and He isn’t a bad kid; he just fell in with the wrong crowd are examples of this fear influenced mindset.

Pride because in the believers mind they are in possession of ultimate knowledge and truth which gives the believer salvation, heaven, exaltation or any of many similar terms while on the flip side those that don’t posses the truth are to be damned to a fiery hell. All of those in possession of this professed knowledge are grateful that god has chosen to expose them to the saving truth and further god has testified to them of the truth of their belief. Many times when believers will gather they will give thanks for being part of gods chosen people. In the mind of some of the believers this possession of truth elevates them above the eternal standing of the non believers after all they are worthy of heaven while the non believers are not. In addition to promises of heaven for those that adhere to the tenets of the belief the believers feel they are more favored of god in this life that is they are more likely to be taken care of by god and blessed. If something bad happens its because god is punishing the less worthy non believers for their damning behavior.

 Is it such a leap of faith to believe telepathy could be a reality? For those of you christians out there check out examples of christ percieving thought: Luke 9:47, Luke 5:22, Mark 2:8, Mark 12:28. Also how does the devil tempt you? Is it not by placing thoughts in your head? Thoughts that you can choose to act or not act on? Is not the root of all action thought? If the root of action is thought how can we be tempted to act if not by introduction of thought?

“Sow a thought and reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and reap a character; sow a character and reap a destiny”-Emerson, Ralph Waldo

  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529539,00.html?test=latestnews

http://www.gizmag.com/go/2867/

http://www.physorg.com/news150781868.html

I am a Gnostic theist which is to say I believe a god exists and claim to know that this belief is true. I’ve come to this conclusion from experiences Ive had throughout my life but knowing my limited mental capacity and imperfections I do not however claim to be able to define all the attributes held by god.  Perhaps it is true as some claim that one cannot fully comprehend god but on the other hand isnt such a statement limiting god. Would I be unable to comprehend god if god willed I comprehend? To answer one way or another is to claim knowledge of god which I do not feel comfortable claiming. All I can do is hope that I will be enabled by god to do what I was created to do. The question then becomes what was I created to do? Were each of us created for the same purpose? All I can do is what I have been enabled to do and hope that with the abilities I have been given I can fulfill my purpose. If each of us have a purpose would we not be enabled to fulfill it? If not there is no purpose in our existance for we were destined to fail. I choose to believe we have been enabled to do what we were destined to do. So what abilities have we been given? The ability to think and consquently question. The ability to receive and consequently choose/act. Following that these are our abilities how do we find our purpose other than by thinking and asking? If we were not meant to ask wouldnt we know?

Through out history countless people have asked and nearly as many have claimed to recieve but with 11,000+ religions on the earth at present and many of those claiming to be THE way to god I feel compelled to investigate any religion I come across and think about the perspective presented. In the pursuit of truth one must disect the information presented and question its relationship to your perspective and if appropriate asymilate the perspective presented into your own and lastly act according to your present perspective. I believe there are many ways to question the information presented one of which is using logic(one of our gifts of thought) or past experiences. In instances where this is not possible I believe one must rely on god for the answer. If each of us have the same purpose and can get an answer as to what that purpose is then why are religions splitting historically instead of converging as more and more people find truth? This divergence to me is indicative of either the existance of relative truth or people finding answers in others rather than from within themselves. From this I conclude that truth can only be found with in ones self and through god. This blog will document my search for truth.