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The Three Tithes
Dec 29, 2008

Up to now, I have written only about a single tithe given to the Levites, and the tithe of the tithe given to Aaron and his sons, the priests.
But actually, there were three tithes, each having distinct purposes. These are:

1. The Social Tithe--the regular tithe that is calculated upon production, or increase, and given to the Levites for their work as record
keepers, teachers, judges, musicians, health practitioners, food inspectors, etc. It was for the maintenance of the social order.

2. The Festival Tithe--the tithe set aside for the purpose of observing feast days. This was more than just a family vacation, because its
underlying purpose was not only to "rejoice before the Lord," but also to learn His ways and to honor God.

3. The Poor Tithe--the tithe paid twice in a 7-year Sabbath cycle, in order to provide for the general welfare of the poor, the widows,
orphans, and strangers in the land. This was paid in the third and the sixth year.

These tithes indicated that the first tenth was paid to the government (Lev. 27:30-33), the second tenth was to be set aside for food
and travel expenses when celebrating the feasts (Deut. 14:22-27; 16:3, 13; 16), and the third was the primary storehouse for helping the
poor and indigent (Deut. 14:28, 29).

The Book of Tobit, which is part of the Apocrypha, is a beautiful story about an Israelite in the Assyrian dispersion. Tobit was of the tribe
of Naphtali, and it gives us a glimpse of life in the Assyrian captivity. In Tobit 1:5-8 he speaks of the three tithes, which he had kept in
Israel before going into captivity:

" (5) Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my father Naphthali, sacrificed unto the
heifer Baal [i.e., the golden calf in Bethel and Dan]. (6) But I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it
was ordained unto all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree, having the first­fruits and tenths of
increase, with that which was first shorn; and them gave I at the altar to the priests the children of
Aaron. (7) The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at
Jerusalem; another tenth part I sold away and went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem; (8) and the
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third I gave unto them to whom it was meet, as Debora my father's mother had commanded me, because
I was left an orphan by my father."

Here is an ancient example of how the Israelites observed these three tithes. Of course, anything over and above those three tithes was
called a "freewill offering" or a "voluntary offering."
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The Three Tithes­­Part 2
Dec 30, 2008

Biblical taxes (tithes) are rooted in the concept that God created all things and therefore owns all that He created. He lays claim to
ownership of the land (Lev. 25:23) and, indeed, the entire earth. Psalm 24 says,

" (1) The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. (2) For He has
founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers."

This runs contrary to the modern Babylonian doctrine of the state, where the state lays claim to eminent domain over the land. This has
led to the property tax, which is then applied, not on its production, but upon the land itself, whether one makes it productive or not.
Further, the land is taxed according to its speculative value, which has little to do with its practical value.

The tithes of Scripture are based upon production. Biblical taxes are thus owed six years out of seven, since there is no production in
the Sabbath land-rest year. If God taxed the land itself, as does modern governments, it would have forced many of the people to sow
and reap in the Sabbath year. The land would get no rest, and the people would get no year-long vacation. Rushdooney says on page 2
of his book, Tithing and Christian Reconstruction,

"In the first session of the Continental Congress in 1774, Congress denied that Parliament could tax real property. Gottfried
Dietze has summarized the American opinion then: 'As to property, the delegates felt it should be free from seizure and
taxation'. The property tax came in very slowly, and it appeared first in New England, coinciding with the spread of Deism
and Unitarianism, as well as atheism. Such anti­Christian men saw the state as man's savior, and as a result they favored
placing more and more power in the hands of the state."

By the way, the tithe does not belong to the Church, nor does it belong to state. It belongs to God. This distinction has been overlooked
by many in the Church, where ministers often hold out their hand while telling you to "give to God." But if you look at the story of King
Saul, who represents the political side of the Church under Pentecost, you will see that Samuel prophesied that the Saul-Church would
STEAL God's tithes. 1 Samuel 8:15, 17 says,
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" (15) And he will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his
servants. . . (17) He will take a tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his servants."

God never intended for His people to become servants of either Church or state. God's laws are based on the fact that Israelites were
God's servants. Lev. 25:42 says,

"For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave
sale."

King Saul's life prophesied of the Church and how it would lay claim to men, the land, and the tithe. The Church would then give the tithe
to "his officers and to his servants." The fact is, the tithe was to be used for the maintenance of His lawful order in His Kingdom. Though
Saul was legitimately crowned, he became a usurper of God's authority. The tithe ought to have gone to the Levites to maintain godly
institutions in society, but Saul took it to pay the expenses of His own cabinet.

Saul was made king because the people wanted a king "like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:4). They got their request. Since the nations had a
statist mentality, that is what Israel got as well. So the tithes were taken by the state to be used as it saw fit. The educational, social, and
medical institutions run by the Levites were soon under-funded, and the people suffered. In such situations, the people then look to the
government to support these things, and power is thus transferred to the federal government which has most of the money.

God's money ought to go to God's causes--worship, education, outreach, and health care. These are the primary duties of the Levites.
Take special note that entertainment is not included. The cost of entertainment should be met by one's own money, not the tithe. Many
churches today have become entertainment centers, rather than teaching centers.

Evidence of usurpation is also seen when ministers use tithe money to live lavish life styles that manifest greed rather than need. It is not
necessary for ministers (i.e., "Levites") to live in poverty, but neither should their life style be so far above the average tither supporting
him. The Levites received one-tenth of the production from the land. With twelve tribes paying tithes, it is plain that God intended the
Levites to have an income about 20% higher than the average worker. Perhaps a bit more, since there were also first-fruits offerings and
other more minor sources of income for them. Yet only a portion of this money was to be used for salaries. Keep in mind that the tithe was
to be used for education, not merely to pay the teachers, but perhaps buildings and books as well. The Levites had their own personal
sources of income, since they owned houses in towns as well as flocks and herds. So they would not have needed to rely upon the tithe
as their primary source of income.

Leviticus 25:42 (above) shows that God not only owns the land, but He also owns mankind. Of course, mankind was "sold" for Adam's
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sin, but God then redeemed a portion of mankind when He brought Israel out of Egypt. These were then called "My people." In other
words, God owned them. They were God's servants, or slaves. As such, He treated the people in much the same manner as the land
itself.

This brings us to the law of first-fruits and the law of the first-born, which we will cover next time.
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The Law of First­Fruits
Dec 31, 2008

In Kingdom agriculture, the first-fruits of the harvest were to be given to God. This was separate from the tithe itself. When a tree was first
planted, fruit could not be gathered from it during the first three years (Lev. 19:23). If the young tree attempted to bear fruit, the fruit was to
be removed so that the tree could devote its time to growth, rather than to bearing fruit. In the fourth year, ALL of its fruit was to be given to
God (Lev. 19:24). Only in the fifth year was the fruit harvest to be eaten by the one growing it.

Each year, the fruit grower was to give God the best first-fruits of the trees. Normally, he would mark the best tree early in the year and
when the first of the fruits began to ripen, he gathered them in a basket and brought them as an offering to God (Deut. 26:2).

His declaration is given in verses 3-10. It indicates that he remembers the story of how God kept His promise in delivering them from
Egypt and in bringing him into the Promised Land. It ends with an acknowledgement in verse 10, "I have brought the first of the produce
of the ground which Thou, O Lord, hast given me."

In other words, the man recognized that it was God who had given the increase, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 3:6 and 7,

" (6) I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. (7) So then neither the one who plants
nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth."

Because the man could not eat the fruit of his labor until he had first given God the first-fruits, it was another recognition of God's
ownership and labor in causing the growth. Even so, the laborer was allowed to keep most of the fruit for himself, because, as Paul says
in 1 Tim. 5:18,

"For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,' and 'The laborer is worthy of
his wages'."

In other words, even an ox is allowed to partake of the grain that he is threshing. God gives us 90% of what we produce (minus the first-
fruits) as the reward for our labor. Paul applies this principle to the elders who are called to minister the word of the Kingdom (1 Tim.
5:17). In 2 Tim. 2:6 he applies it more generally,
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"The hard­working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops."

The first-fruits manifest the condition of one's heart, especially when we see this act prophetically. In Jeremiah 24 the prophet saw two
baskets of figs that people had brought to the temple as a first-fruits offering. One was very good; one was very bad. This became an
occasion of prophecy that showed the conditon of the hearts of the people.

The first-fruits offering was a recognition of the Covenantal relationship between God and man. The first-fruits confession recognized the
sovereignty of God and the limits of man's authority. God's ownership always trumps man's authority to use that which God owns. The
law makes it clear that God owns all that He created, and man's ownership is limited to his own labor.

Since man is made from the dust of the ground--which God created--no man owns himself any more than he owns the land that he farms
(Lev. 25:23). For this reason Lev. 25:24 says,

"Thus for every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of the land."

These laws of redemption are applicable not only to "property" but also to all men and all that God has created. Because all men are
subject to the laws of God, and because God has the means of enforcing His laws, it is evident that all men are to be redeemed. Those
redemption laws are written in Leviticus 25, and when one studies them, one discovers that man lacks the right to sell himself perpetually
as a slave to sin.

In other words, the limitation of man's authority is to sell himself until the trumpet of the Jubilee is blown. At that point, the debtor (sinner)
is set free, regardless of the amount of any remaining debt that he may owe. This is the law of grace that is built into the law.

Redemption and Jubilee are two separate things. The time of redemption ends with the Jubilee. A debtor who has sold himself and his
property has opportunity to redeem himself or to be redeemed by a near-kinsman only until the Jubilee. At the Jubilee, the time of
redemption ends and is superseded by the higher law of Jubilee.

So it is with us. Christians are those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, their Kinsman-Redeemer. These redeemed ones now
serve Him as Christ's bondservants (Lev. 25:53; Rom. 1:1). But Lev. 25:54, 55 says,

" (54) Even if he is not redeemed by these means, he shall still go out in the year of Jubilee, he and his
sons with him. (55) For the sons of Israel are My servants; they are My servants whom I brought out from
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the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

In the year of Jubilee, God exercises His right of eminent domain. It matters not who the slavemaster is who is holding the debtor as his
slave. Ultimately, all are God's servants, and so man's ownership is limited by God's right as Creator.

In Exodus 23:14, 15 we read,

" (14) Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. (15) . . . And none shall appear before Me empty­
handed."

The three feast days each had its own first-fruits offering. The first was barley, the second was wheat, and the third was grapes.

The three feast days themselves represent the progressive relationship that we have with God: Justification, Sanctification, and
Glorification.

But the first-fruits offerings associated with each of these three feasts represent the groups of people who enjoy those various levels of
relationship with God. There are some who are justified by the blood of the Passover Lamb; some who are filled with and sanctified by
the Spirit through Pentecost; and there is the mature group that have the hope of a glorified body (Rom. 8:23) through the feast of
Tabernacles.

The feasts, then, represent various stages of growth in one's Christian life. Not all who have been justified through Passover have been
filled with the Spirit. Not all who have been filled with the Spirit have really fulfilled the purpose of Pentecost--which is to learn obedience.
But some throughout history have qualified to move beyond Pentecost into the feast of Tabernacles, and these are the overcomers.
These are the first to come to maturity.

Only mature first-fruits are qualified to be presented to God. But not all believers come to maturity during their life time, and certainly, not
all believers go beyond the grace of Justification into the obedience of Sanctification. But those who do are the overcomers, and
collectively, they become the first of the first-fruits raised from the dead at the first resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6).

The second first-fruit offering (the Church) is presented to God at the second resurrection, which is the general resurrection including both
believers and unbelievers (John 5:28, 29). Jesus says that the unbelievers will be judged, while the believers at that time will receive
"life." Obviously, the unbelievers will not be part of the second first-fruit offering that is given to God, for they are not wheat but grapes
(prophetically speaking).
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These three groups: barley, wheat, and grapes, together represent all of creation--that is, the overcomers, the church or believers, and
finally the unbelievers. Each is treated differently in Scripture. Barley is winnowed; wheat is threshed, and grapes are trodden under foot
to extract the wine. The result is bread and wine for God's Communion Table.