Tithing

Q. Is "Tithing" applicable today?
A. To save the suspense, no it is not applicable today and here's why. When one reads the scriptures, you do not read it like you would a novel. You are to read it like a contract. Words mean things and to get the proper definition you must find the Hebrew meanings. Don't trust your English translations to give the right meaning, look them up the way G-d communicated them. In the details lies the message, so you need to go into the Word like a lawyer. Tithing in Hebrew is the word "ma'aser" . There are volumes written on this subject but it is nearly unknown within Christianity because they have "redefined" the words to fit what they want. An attempt will be made here to get to the heart of the matter, but it will not be an exhaustive explanation.Tithing was agricultural. You did not tithe money.

There are no scriptures to support what is done today. Secondly, you only tithed if you were involved in agriculture within the land of Israel. If you were a farmer outside the land, you did not tithe. Third, you tithed to the priests and the Levites, at certain times and places. There are three main types. There is the "Ma'aser Rishon" which is the first tithe, usually given around the feast of Shavuot. You went to the Levitical city near you and deposited the tithe there, at the storehouses and corrals that were prepared there. The years were divided into a "Shemitah" which is a seven year cycle. At the completion of seven cycles, or 49 years, the 50th year was a "Yovel" year, or mistranslated as "jubilee" year in most Bibles. Now, during each year it was divided into the spring and the fall. You brought the ma'aser rishon in the spring as things ripened in years 1-6 of the shemitah cycle. You did not tithe the 7th year.

The second type of tithing in Israel was the "Ma'aser Sheni" or the second tithe. This was brought in the fall around the feast of Sukkot to the Temple in the 1,2,4,5 year of the shemitah and a massive banquet was prepared and you ate it with the Priests and Levites at the Temple eventually. In the 3 and 5th year, it was taken to the Levitical city near you and given to the poor, widow, orphan and the Ger(Gentile who lived in the land and followed G-d). This was called the "Ma'aser Ani" or the poor man's tithe. You did not tithe the 7th year. There are two other types of ma'aser, or tithing. The first one is called the "Terumah Gedolah" or the great heave offering. This was 1/50th of your crop and given directly to the Kohanim, or priests.

This was done all six years of the shemitah. The second is called the "Terumah Ma'aser" or the Levitical tithe where 1/10 of the Ma'aser Rishon is given to the priests by the Levites. This is done all six years of the shemitah as well. As you can see, this does not resemble what is done today because what is done today isn't scriptural or accurate. It is a way to raise money for their respective churches and organizations, but it is not Tithing. Therefore, the verses like Malachi 3.8 and others that are used to promote these teachings so people will give are taken out of their intended meaning by G-d for personal gain. Now, that is not to say we should not give. If you give 10%, or 20% or whatever that is "Biblical Giving", but don't call it tithing and don't make people feel guilty if they don't.

You who think you are tithing aren't really tithing biblically anyway. Tithing was agricultural, done if you lived in the land of Israel, given to the priests, Levites, widows, poor, orphans and strangers, done at certain times of the year , to a certain place and not done at all every 7th year. The priests and Levites had no inheritance in the land and it was a way to take care of them. If you made your living off the land, you tithed to give back to G-d. If the people obeyed, He sent rain and kept the insects away. But, if you didn't, He would stop the rain and not rebuke the devouring insects until you did. This cannot be done in Texas, obviously. I hope this helps, Forward any questions you may have to OTMIN@SBCGLOBAL.NET. Now, go and study