MONEY AND THE BELIEVER

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

There is not one example of anyone tithing MONEY to anyone in the entirety of the Bible! The only reference to "money" with regards to tithing has absolutely nothing to do with paying tithes ON money. It is found in Deut. 14:24-26, which we shall now read in it’s entirety:

"And if the way be too long for thee [to the place where God placed His name to be worshipped, especially during the fall feast harvest of tabernacles] so that you are not able to carry it [the tithe of their farm produce] or if the place be too far from you, which the Lord your God shall choose to set His name there, when the Lord your God has blessed you: Then shall you turn it [the tithe of their farm produce] into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose: And you shall bestow that money [to the preachers? to the church? NO…] …for whatsoever thy soul lusts after [Heb: ‘for whatsoever your heart desires’], for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household."

Farm products could be sold and turned into money when long travel was necessary. But at the destination where God placed His name, the money was spent on food for the Levite, stranger, fatherless, poor, etc. It was not presented to the Levites as a monetary gift.

Here is an easy to understand Scripture explaining what the purpose of the tithe was:

"And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you), and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall EAT [food from the land] and be satisfied; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do" (Deut. 14:29).

The Church would prefer you not know the following:

The tradesmen who made the baskets for harvesting, did not tithe.

The cobblers, who made the shoes for the servants of the field, did not tithe.

The carpenters, who made the wagons used for harvesting the fields, did not tithe.

The potters, who made the jugs for carrying water to the servants in the fields, did not tithe.

The women, who made the garments for the field-workers, did not tithe.

And certainly, the servants who worked in the fields for wages, did not tithe.

Here are the simple facts regarding the Biblical teaching of tithing:

ONLY LANDOWNERS TITHED

ONLY PRODUCTS OF THE LAND WERE TITHED

ONLY LEVITES COULD RECEIVE THE TITHES

TITHING WAS A LAW OF MOSES

CHRISTIANS ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES!

Does anyone have a Scripture that contradicts what I have just said?

By the way, Jesus Christ was a carpenter by trade, and as such, JESUS DID NOT TITHE!

JESUS CAME TO FULFILL THE LAW, NOT TO RELIVE THE LAW

Christians believe that Jesus came to FULFILL the Law of Moses by RELIVING the law of Moses in His own personal life. He assuredly did not. This is an entire study of itself, however, I want to prove to you from the Scriptures that Jesus did not concern Himself with Tithes and Taxes, and restrictions of the Law of Moses.

THE TEMPLE TAX

Not only did Jesus not tithe, because He was a carpenter and carpenters were not obligated to tithe, but neither did He pay the Temple tax, which was commanded by the Law of Moses for all men in Israel to pay annually. Of the 613 laws of Moses, this is Law # 404:

"This they shall give, every one that passes among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs): an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.

Every one that passes among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls.

And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle [in Jesus’ time, to the Temple] of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your souls" (Exodus 30:13-16).

Jesus Christ did not pay this yearly tax to the Temple, for the same reason that Jesus did not keep the Sabbath day commandment. Jesus Christ is Lord of the Sabbath, (Matt. 12:8). And likewise, Jesus is not only Lord of the Temple, Jesus is the Temple,

(John 2:19). And, furthermore, Jesus was the Lord to Whom Israel gave the half shekel as an offering. Jesus does not need an atonement for His soul; Jesus Christ is the Atonement, (Rom. 5:9-11).

Notice this remarkable story of the only time the temple tax came up in the ministry of Jesus. Most Christians will never hear an explanation of these verses as long as they live! These verses are highly incriminating to those who teach the tithing of money to the Church:

"And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Does not your master pay tribute [Greek: ‘pay the double drachma’ which was the exact amount of the annual Temple tax]?

He says, Yes [Peter was embarrassed and apparently not honest with his answer]. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him [Greek: ‘prophthano,’—‘to get an earlier start of,’ ‘forestalls’ or ‘anticipated him’], saying, What do you think, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute [taxes]? Of their own children [sons] or of strangers?

Peter said unto Him, of strangers. Jesus said unto him, THEN ARE THE CHILDREN FREE.

Notwithstanding, LEST WE SHOULD OFFEND THEM, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first comes up; and when you have opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money [Gk: ‘statar’ –the exact temple tax for two]: that take and give unto them for Me and thee" (Matt. 17:24-27).

What an amazing story! What a telling teaching truth from Scriptures we have here! No wonder most Christians have never heard this Scripture explained in Church.

The reason Peter said "yes" to the tribute collector is because it was embarrassing to Him to say, "NO, my master does NOT pay temple tax." It was such a small amount of money (less than a dollar). But now Peter has to go into the house give Jesus an appraisal of what just happened. Jesus being merciful to Peter does not reprimand him for not being honest with the tribute collector, but rather, cuts him off [forestalls him] before he can speak and saves Peter the embarrassment.

The point is this: Jesus did not pay temple tax because Jesus is the King of the kingdom. And if the children are free, certainly the King Himself is free.

Might I add that, neither did Jesus stone or condone others to stone, the woman caught in the very act of adultery even thought the Law of Moses demanded it:

"And the man that commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he that commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer AND THE ADULTERESS SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH" (Lev. 20:10).

Now then, did Jesus come to "fulfill" this Law of Moses by living, teaching and carrying out that law? He surely did not. He rather said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7). If we are to believe that "fulfilling the law" of Moses can only be accomplished by living, teaching and enforcing the law of Moses, then something is wrong with that theory because Jesus obviously did NOT carry out many commands of the law of Moses in His own life!

The theologians have debased the New Covenant as being nothing more than the Old Covenant, with a few added twists. Jesus "fulfilled the law" not by adding a few spiritual twists to it, but by keeping a MUCH HIGHER SPIRITUAL LAW that actually contradicted much of the letter of Moses’ Law.

One doesn’t need a physical law of the letter chiseled in stone, to "keep the sabbath" when he has entered into "God’s SPIRITUAL REST" in his heart.

One doesn’t need a physical law of the letter to "swear by His name" when in his heart his desire is to "swear NOT at all."

One doesn’t need a physical law chiseled in stone telling him "thou shalt not commit adultery" when in his heart he no longer "even looks on a woman to lust after her."

One doesn’t need a physical law telling him to "HATE his enemies" when now in his very heart, he "LOVES his enemies."

For you newcomers to the world of theology, LOVE is lot different than just putting a spiritual twist on HATE. Not swearing at all is more than putting a spiritual twist on the commandment TO SWEAR. Am I going too fast for anyone?

And neither did Jesus take the commandment to "bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse" and spiritually twist it into "bring ye all the money into the pastor’s bank account."

And so what is it that Jesus is teaching us with regards to money? Simple, neither the king nor his children pay tax—any tax (including even Temple tax)! "…then are the children FREE." Need I remind anyone that we are the children of God’s kingdom? And neither our King, nor we, pay taxes or tithes to our own kingdom.

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He [Jesus] IS, SO ARE WE in this world" (I John 1:17).

And so the reason… the only reason, that Jesus paid this tax was, "…lest we should offend them." Not because it was a LAW OF MOSES and Jesus had to keep the law of Moses, but only because, "…lest we should offend them."

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

If Torah obedience is--as some are now suggesting--the "next spiritual step", then why was the opportunity so forcefully repudiated in the Spirit-infused inception of the Church?

Acts 15:10-30 (NIV) [Simon Peter:] "Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we [Jews] nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they [Gentiles] are." The whole assembly became silent as they listened... [James:] "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them..." Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church... [now termed "the Jerusalem council"] sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you... It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things...
We, with the Jerusalem council, can say a forceful "No!" as well. We can live in the simplicity of a new and better covenant; which by Christ-in-us makes it possible to exceed the moral law (such as abstaining from sexual immorality), and to which the Jerusalem council thought it only useful to conscript shadow activities that would be considered wrong (a stumbling block, see 1 Cor 8:4-13,10:19-32) even by Pagans. To all else besides what we would "do well to avoid", we should forcefully resist just as the Jerusalem council did, saying: "No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved..." For if we know Jesus, we know better and should not be entertaining "hanker after the Law" temptations or passions. The Apostle Peter considered such a "yoke" of bondage, and so ought we if we perceive spiritual reality clearly.

A Jewish friend of ours once said: "With all this Messianic stuff, the Gentiles are now discovering just how dead 'things Jewish' really are." (After the spell wears off, of course. ) If such shadows have led us to Christ when our necks were paralyzed in a downward position, then praise God for casting them. But after we have found Christ, shall we curse ourselves by deliberately groveling in the shadows of the old covenant religious law?


Gal 4:21 (NIV) Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?
Gal 3:13 (NIV) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us...


The issue, then, is not whether we are "under the law"; of course we are not. But neither are we "above the law". I like to say we have "graduated" from the school of the law. Yet if we are truly of grace, then we will do good works, to be sure. Not by aiming at them, but by receiving the life of Christ.
But let us come to the heart of the issue; which is the "way" we are saved, are walking, of which covenant we are, etc.

Why does the Bible draw such stark lines about not hankering to be "under the Law"? Why all the strident verses and warnings concerning the Law? Is focusing on the Law a rite of passage in spiritual maturity, or a renunciation of grace? Is shadow Torah observance growing in Messiah, or rather spitting in His face? For all our modern state of ambivalence about this, why the stern Biblical admonitions and Scriptural diatribes concerning just this subject?

What temptations are here being addressed by all these words of scripture? Do we consider ourselves immune to these temptations?

Imagine that you were in the first century, and an imposing "Christian rabbi" came along and suggested that any follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ought be properly circumcised. Remember now, you do not have Paul's writing yet. The Torah man tells you that all followers of God should have God's ETERNAL sign on them. Some in the fellowship get uncomfortable with this, pointing out that we have received a new, better covenant. But these people have little Biblical leg to stand on, and the Judaizers have commentaries galore and rabbi after rabbi on their side. Those who resist this "spiritual next step" offer something they call the gospel; which to detractors seems a bit vague and hard to pin down exactly. Against this, the rabbis point to how much God has emphasized obedience to circumcision in the Torah. Why, it would be scandalous to assert that God has changed his mind just because Jesus died and rose again. In the controversy, the Judaizers claim not to be in disagreement with the gospel, they are just saying that if you are truly saved then you will follow God in fulfilling this aspect of His old covenant shadow law. "We should not forget our Jewish roots in the faith", these Judaizers explain. But still, for all this persuasion, people with discernment in the group are uncomfortable. There is a tension in the air and the battle lines are being drawn. Now if you had been there, whose side would you have found more persuasive? The circumcisers have all this scripture on their side versus the opposition, which has a spiritual sense and a spiritualized, fulfilled view of these shadow matters of the Torah.

Really now: What would you do? And remember, no epistles on this specific Torah peddling yet. Who would you believe? Does it really matter?

And why not be safe and go ahead and submit to these zealous Torah men? Perhaps they are blurring the distinctions between the two covenants a bit. But what could it hurt, to play it safe?

Then you receive a letter from a very terse guy named Paul who speaks very boldly on this point that seemed to be so "disputable" before...


Gal 5:1-4,7-10,12 (NIV) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is required to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace... You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be... As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

Now what? Now what will you do? Believe this man, with his "talk at" attitude and over-clear discernment (doesn't even give the opposition proper respect for all their scholarship; rather unsporting of him, don't you think?) saying such bold new things without referring to ANY direct Torah authority... He seems to trust that those who have the Spirit will know what he is saying is true, and so makes the case directly to that confidence.
But now, here is the point. How is circumcision different from the rest of the religious shadow law? For all of these sorts of things are of the same kind, are they not? They are a symbolic shadows of spiritual realities that we now have in Christ. The only thing unique in this context about circumcision is that it just happened to be the "Torah du jour" emphasis and controversy back then, and Paul deals with it in no uncertain terms.


Col 2:17 (NIV) These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

But I suppose the "Torah du jour" of today is different, somehow. Yes, in fact, it is. It has less of a leg--or history--to stand on than the circumcision controversy in the first century had. Thus, it is a greater sin for us to fall into such error now than even the Judaizers of old, since we have the benefit of having such legalistic temptations clearly warned against and soundly renounced in the record of New Testament scripture.
To draw out this challenge further... on what basis, before hearing from Paul (who you might have been inclined to reject... as he was not canonized yet) could you have--would you have--resisted the Judaizers of the first century? Show me the chapter and verse in the Tenakh? Rather, these things are discerned by those who have apprehended the gospel and will not let go of it (1 Jn 2:20-28). Against such there "is no law" (Gal 5:23b).


2 Cor 3:6-12 (NIV) He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.

To be sure, those who are truly born again will produce fruit "in keeping with repentance" as grace works obedience and righteousness into us (Luke 6:46). To be flippant about this is license rather than legalism.
As well, certain people might feel led from time to time to observe certain portions of the shadow law due to a sense of personal leading of the Holy Spirit, and we are enjoined not to judge others in these matters (Rom 14:5-10). But, the issue we are here dealing with falls outside individual obedience or private spiritual discipline; for when a person tries to conscript others into the shadow law... they have crossed the line. If it is "Christ plus anything (fill in the blanks)", then the Gospel has been corrupted; and woe to the man through whom such teaching comes. For it is one thing to be personally empowered or persuaded by God to some spiritual discipline in the freedom that we have in Christ; but it is quite another thing to try to influence others to do the same. Even worse, to offer such a legalistic emphasis as "the next step" in spiritual progress is perilous business indeed.

[Lonnie Kluttz]

Sister Anna,

You keep making the same point. Let's break it down point by point.

1) Easter is not a biblical holiday...LET IT GO. Jesus Died on Thursday and rose on Sunday. We get it and got it. Easter isn't mention in the bible and it wasn't ordained by God.

2) You are no different than the Pharisees. All you saw is the Law, the Law, the Law!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are so many scriptures in the New Testament that states that Jesus/Yeshua freed us from the Law it's to many to list. But I will give a few: Galation Chapt. 2 and 3. Abraham was counted righteous not by the Law but By faith. Noah was counted righteous by the Law but by faith. But let me also give you this:

Galations 3: 10

For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: For it is written, " Curse is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them"

11

But that no one is justified by the law in the site of God is evident, for "the just shall live by Faith."

12

Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."

You, that keeps repeating to people about the law can not and will not ever Justify me by God. Only God can do that. So stop with the nosense. Jesus gave us two great commandments to follow:

1) Love God with all of your strength, mind, body and soul
2) Love others as you love yourself
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

This is directly from Jesus/Yeshua, so unless you you are greater than Jesus/Yeshua ( which you are not),
I WILL ONLY FOLLOW HIM AND HIM ONLY!!!!!!!!

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

AMEN

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

Anna I don't know you and you don't know me, but one thing you should understand about me Is I preach the GOSPEL...the death = burial - = resurrection of Jesus, THAT is the message that will SAVE people, I grow weary of banter that is NOT centered around the Gospel, we could argue all day about wheter we should eat shrimp or go to church on Saturday, but there is NO argument that i am a GOSPEL preacher. So please don't bother me with mindless arguments that do NOT impact salvation by GRACE and the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ, I will not be baited into an argument that takes away from my time I could be spending helping someone get SAVED! God Bless and peace to you.

[Anna]

Bro Mark:

Did you miss reply to your previous statements, and my resulting questions to you:

You stated: #1) "The whole system changed under the New Covenant. Notice what happened"
~~~~~
My Reply:

#1) The New Covenant was to be made with whom? Twelve disciples?

No, the New Covenant was to be made with the "HOUSE of ISRAEL and the HOUSE of JUDAH" according to Jer. 31, and Hebrews 8.

The heads of the House of Judah crucified Jesus the next day.

The House if Israel was in the dispersion when Messiah ate of the "Last Supper" and spoke those words.

So please give me the date that the HOUSE of ISRAEL and the HOUSE of JUDAH agreed to a New Covenant with Jesus/Yahshua.
~~~~~~~~~~
#2) Also, in your last message, you did not address the points made earlier.

Jesus DID keep the law of Moses.

Please tell me which of these laws that He broke
~~~~~~~~~
#3) You did not address this either, and retract your erroneous statement, when you said:

"ONLY LEVITES COULD RECEIVE THE TITHES"

This is not true for which I gave you the texts. Please correct your blog since the widow, orphans and strangers, his family and servants also recieved the tithe directly from the hands of the one giving the tithes.
~~~~

Your final point, if you know of the paganism of Rome embraced by the church you too should be admonishing those participating in them to repent....

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

PS I know all of the pagan influences introduced by Rome as well as you do so please give it a rest.

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

Anna I celebrate JESUS, if going to church on Sunday which I do every week is an offence I am guilty, stop trying hunt for offences, I love Jesus and EVERYDAY is a HOLY day as far as I am concerned, try expending more energy sharing Jesus with people instead of trying "prove" you are MORE "saved" than another believer.

[Anna]

Bro Mark:
Did you keep EASTER today?

[Anna]

Bro Mark:
You stated:

"The whole system changed under the New Covenant. Notice what happened"
~~~~~
My Reply:

#1) The New Covenant was to be made with whom? Twelve disciples?

No, the New Covenant was to be made with the "HOUSE of ISRAEL and the HOUSE of JUDAH" according to Jer. 31, and Hebrews 8.

The House of Judah crucified Jesus the next day.

The House if Israel was in the dispersion when Messiah ate of the "Last Supper" and spoke those words.

So please give me the date that the HOUSE of ISRAEL and the HOUSE of JUDAH agreed to a New Covenant with Jesus/Yahshua.

#2) Also, in your last message, you did not address the points made earlier.

Jesus DID keep the law of Moses.

Please tell me which of these laws that He broke.

He did keep EVERY ASPECT OF the law of Moses in regards to the woman caught in adultery.

Where did He not follow the Law of Moses in His dealing with this adulterous woman?
And the Levites were not the only recipients of the TITHE.

#3) You did not address this either, and retract your erroneous statement, when you said:

"ONLY LEVITES COULD RECEIVE THE TITHES"

This is not true for which I gave you the texts. Please correct your blog since the widow, orphans and strangers, his family and servants also recieved the tithe directly from the hands of the one giving the tithes.

[Mark H. Stevens, Th.D]

The whole system changed under the New Covenant. Notice what happened:

Jesus said the temple would be utterly destroyed

"And, coming out, Jesus sent from the sanctuary. And His disciples approached to exhibit to Him the buildings of the sanctuary. Yet He, answering, said to them, 'Are you not observing all these? Verily, I am saying to you, Under no circumstances may a stone here be left on a stone, which shall not be DEMOLISHED.’" (Matt. 24:1-2).

Under the New Covenant, God does not dwell in temples made with hands,

"The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is NOT dwelling in temples made by hands..." (Acts 17:24).

The true believers under the New Covenant are now God’s temple,

"For YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD, according as God said, that I will be making My home and will be walking in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (II Cor. 6:16).

See also, (I Cor. 3:15 and I Cor. 1:19).

All theologians know that when the temple ceased, the priesthood officiating at the temple CEASED!

Each individual believer under the New Covenant forms a NEW priesthood,

"Yet you are a chosen race, a ‘ROYAL PRIESTHOOD’..." (I Peter 2:9).
How then, under the New Covenant, does a believer give a tenth, when he is supposed to give his all (Rom. 12:1), to a priesthood that does not exist, but now he himself is part of a priesthood (I Peter 2:9), at a temple that does not exist (Mat. 24:1-2), but rather he himself is the temple wherein God dwells. No longer do we have priests with spiritual infirmities interceding for us, but rather we have Christ Jesus as our perfect intercessor and High Priest seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens (Heb. 7:28-8:1).

At this time in history, Israel owes no tithe to anyone. And, of course, we Gentiles (who are a new creation and the true Israel of God--Gal. 6:16) were never instructed to tithe in the first place. Read all thirteen books of the apostle Paul to the gentiles and find one verse where he instructed Gentiles to pay one cent of tithe money to anyone.

[6] Deut. 12:6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 18, "And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your TITHES, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flock.

And there, ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.

Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your TITHES, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord.

And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, YE, and your SONS and your DAUGHTERS, and your MENSERVANTS, and your MAIDSERVANTS, and the LEVITE that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you.

You may not eat within thy gates the TITHE of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of the flocks, nor any of thy vows which thou vow, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand: But YOU MUST EAT THEM before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose..."

Let us learn. Who was to partake of all these tithes and good things of the herd and of the land and of the trees? Everyone (yes, the Levite was also included) was to rejoice before the Lord. Did anyone see "money" in the list of things they were to bring before the Lord to rejoice? Was it just the ministers (the Levites) who were the recipients of these tithes and offerings, or was not everyone to partake of these things? Rejoicing and eating one’s own tithe before the Lord, was a very personal and reverend act of worship and communion with God. Not unlike prayer. Others may share and profit from our prayers, but we offer them to God, not to men.