Transcript adapted from the supplied Teaching transcript. Timestamps were removed, the eight original chapter divisions retained, biblical names capitalized, and verbal fillers and minor repeated words removed for readability. Minor punctuation and paragraphing changes were made; the spoken wording, including audience discussion, has otherwise been retained.

Chapter 1: Introduction to tithing

Amen. Thank you, Samuel. And welcome to our lesson this morning on tithing. As usual, why am I doing this lesson? Well, this topic has been on my list. I think I’ve shared many times that I have a running list of things that I want to talk about and teach. Many of these things you’ve suggested or asked for me to teach. So this is one of them that’s been on my list and I think it’s always a timely topic especially because of the world that we live in.

We are to test what we’ve been told in the churches and knowing our group knowing that we literally come from all over the world. I know that there are so many people from Christian backgrounds or churchianity backgrounds regardless of the denomination and we’ve been burned a time or two in regards to tithing. But I also know that there are a number of people who want to know what the scriptures actually say in this regard. So that’s what we’re going to do today hopefully.

I was sharing with Randy this morning in our fellowship that this is one of those topics where you think you got a pretty good grip on it biblically. And every time you think that about something, the father humbles you, you know. And so I I I came to some new conviction myself just in preparing for this. I wanted to share the theme of Scripture today. We’re going to be coming back to this several times during the course of our discussion. Leviticus 27:30.

All of the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is Yahovah. It is holy to Yahovah. That’s a very important passage of Scripture. And we’re going to unpack it. We’re going to try to understand what it means by looking at some other supporting verses along the way and try

Chapter 2: Origins of the tithe

to get a conviction on this. So what is the origins of the tithe? Well, I think we all know where the first tithe took place, its first mention in Scripture, Timothy, does that come to you to the top of your head? Are you aware of where that might be? the Genesis 14:20, Abraham. Genesis. Yeah, Genesis 14. Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God most high. And he blessed him and said, “Blessed the Abraham 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, Abraham, gave him Melchizedek a tithe of all. Well, the tithe in this verse is the word maaser in Hebrew and it basically means tenth. A tenth. When we look at this verse or these two verses, what can we learn? Well, the scriptures tell us that Abraham voluntarily gave a tenth. Nowhere in the Scripture does it say that Melchizedek asked for it or required it or mandated it.

You’ll find as we go along here that is going to be a reoccurring theme in Scripture. this voluntary offering of one’s possessions. In this case, the winnings of the battle that Abraham just won. In other cases, agricultural overflow and or financial blessings. These things are given on a voluntary basis. Secondly, this 10th portion was a set aart offering given from what Yahovah had accomplished or given to Abraham. So he was involved in this. And this is an important thing that we need to understand as it pertains to the tithe.

This tithe, this tenth was a portion that was set apart from what the father, God has accomplished through us or given to us. In other words, you can’t take him out of the equation as we talk about with him. Why is this all true? And here’s some questions that I answer or I had to ask myself in studying this thing. I I asked why are we giving a tenth? Where did Abraham get this idea of a tenth? And as long as we’re asking questions, why not a fifth? Why a tenth? Why not a quarter? Not an eighth. Is there something magical about a tenth?

Well, try as I may, there is no biblical answer to why a tenth and not a fifth. Why a tenth and not a quarter? Why a tenth and not half? I couldn’t find a solid biblical answer to that percentage. But it is a percentage nonetheless, and we have to try to understand more about it. Leviticus 27. This is our theme Scripture. We’re going to go back to it several times. All the all the tithe, the tenth of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree is the Lord’s, is Yahovah. It is holy to him.

And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, or whatever passes under the rod, the tenth, that one shall be holy. So in Leviticus 27, we see two things at work here. On this very first slide, we see Abraham experiencing, giving, donating, offering this tithe, this tenth. We don’t know where he learned it, how he came to decide a tenth and not a fifth or a quarter, not a half. And then we see in Leviticus 27 that this tenth, this tithe was then commanded to Israel. Okay? Abraham was 400 years before Si. So how could he have known this?

How could he have understood this whole idea of a tenth that would later become law for Israel? These are some of the difficult questions that you have to answer or at least seek out anytime you set your mind and your heart to understanding these things. Well, we talked about this, didn’t we? Where did we talk about this? Well, in a recent study, we did a lesson called Torah Before the Tablets. And what did we see in that study? Torah Before the Tablets.

We saw so much of what was written down and given to Israel already in play all the way back to Adam, didn’t we? We saw these laws being obeyed in early Scripture. And when I say early Scripture, I mean Adam, Eve, his sons, Noah. And here we see it again with Abraham. And that verse, if you look carefully in Leviticus 27, identifies seed of the land or fruit of the tree. And then on the same verse, herd or the flock. And I’m asking the question, who does this remind you of?

When we’re thinking about the origins of tithe, Randy, when you when you can think about all the people I just mentioned and then you look at Leviticus 27 and you see the two things, the seed of the land of the fruit of the tree and the tithe of the herd of the flock. Who does that remind you of historically? Joy said, Jo, my wife whispered it from a distance, Cain and Abel. Isn’t Isn’t that right? What did what did Abel offer? Herds of the flock, the firstborn of the flock. What did Cain offer? Fruits and vegetables. Right?

So, as we’re reading our Bible, we got to go that this is all makes sense. It all works. It all jives that the father’s ways, his laws were known from the very beginning. They just weren’t written down and carved in stone until Israel. Right? So that’s the origin of the tithe. We see it again with Jacob in Genesis 28. Jacob made a vow saying, “If Yahovah be with me and keep me in his way.” Isn’t it funny?

Chapter 3: Purpose of the tithe

When you do a study on the way, you start seeing it everywhere. If Yahovah be with me and keep me in this way, then I’m going and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on. So I come back to my father’s house in peace. Then Yahovah shall be my God. And this stone which I have set up as a pillars will be Yahovah’s house. And all that you give me, I will surely give you a tenth back to you. This is Jacob, but this is before Si. This same pattern with Jacob. Jacob understood the principle. Abraham gave a tithe of all that Yahovah helped him win in battle. Jacob gave a tithe of everything that Yahovah gave him.

But here’s the million-dollar question. Does the father need or want this tithe? And I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me in the course of my life when I’m teaching about giving. And Lord knows in my pastoral years, I taught about giving a lot. Unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. But that’s a that’s a valid question. Why? Why does the father want me to give my money? Why does the father want me to give my agricultural increase as Israel did or the overflow of my abundance? What’s why is that important to him? We have to answer that question. Does he need it? Does he want it?

And of course, we know in Psalm 50 and Job 35, it says things like this. I will not take a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the fields are mine. And of course, these are items of wealth. When you read Psalm 50, when you’re reading beasts of the forest, a thousand hills, birds of the mountains, you’re thinking in the mind of a person in that time, that is descriptive of wealth. And the father is saying, “These things are all mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all its fullness. So no, he doesn’t need or want our tenth. Job 35. If you sin, what do you accomplish against him? Or if you trans if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him? If you’re righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? In other words, none of this none of these things does he need nor does he want. And yet it’s a principle that you cannot ignore throughout Scripture. He neither needs it nor wants it. So why am I supposed to be giving it? Why the tithe?

Chapter 4: Structure of the tithe

And the simplest answer is this. Covenant stewardship. In the simplest of terms, covenant stewardship is a structured system within the covenant by which Israel’s increase was distributed to do three things. sustain worship, support those without inheritance, and provide for the vulnerable with a strong conviction of who it belongs to in the first place. Timothy, when it says support those without inheritance, do you have a do you understand who that’s a reference to? yes. The Levitical priests did not have an inheritance. Levitical priesthood. Yeah. Now, they were not given an inheritance among the tribes, right? So, the scriptures tell us first and foremost that it’s to sustain worship.

We’re going to learn, this statement isn’t telling you that, but we’re going to learn in Scripture that it’s the purposes of the tidal tithe were to sustain worship, support those without inheritance, and provide for the vulnerable. For the sake of our discussion this morning, I’m not going to get too much into worship. I’m not going to get too much into needs. Because when we think of tithe, we think of support for staff, support for ministry, support for the church. And so this morning, I’m kind of looking at it at that angle. And for the sake of our discussion, that means the Levites, right? The Levitical priesthood.

In Leviticus 27:30, we’re again reminded there’s our theme Scripture that the tithe, all of it belongs to who? Belongs to the father. It’s holy to the father. He then takes this tithe, all of it that belongs to him, and he does what? What with it? Numbers 18. The Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have,” and who is Aaron? Aaron is the high priest in the Levitical priesthood. He is a Levite. You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion, and your inheritance among the children of Israel. Behold, I have given the children of Levi what? all the tithes. Well, what were the three tithes? Worship, Levite support, needs of the body.

I have given all of these tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work for which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. So, what are we learning here? The biblical tithe, all of it was given to the Levites who are a tribe, one of the 12 tribes who were set apart to do what? The work of the tabernacle of meeting. They were the servants in the tabernacle, the servants in the temple. They were the teachers. They were the pastors.

They were the people who were available to the greater body to serve their needs. For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. Therefore, I have said to them among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. So to break this down into the most simplest of terms, when the time came for the father to divvy up the land of Israel and assign certain inheritances, i.e. regions, parts of the land that say Judah would have or Issachar would have or Benjamin would have. Guess what? The Levites were left out. They didn’t get any of this inheritance.

So instead, what the father said was, “All that you give, your tenth of the land goes to the Levites, and that will be their inheritance.” Are we following? Are we tracking? Okay, good. It continues, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,”Seak thus to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up an offering to the Lord.” What’s he saying right there? He’s saying yes. He’s saying a tenth of a tenth.

He’s telling the Levites that this tenth that’s come to you, you are now going to tithe a tenth, right? And it’s not just going to be any tenth. This tenth that Israel gave is the best of their everything. You’re going to take that best and then offer me the best of that best. You see this? A tenth of the tithe. And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and as the fullness of the grapes.

Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to the Lord from your tithes which you received from the children of Israel. And you shall give the Lord’s heave offering from it to Aaron the priest and all your gifts. You shall offer up every heave offering due to the Lord of all the best of them, the consecrated part of them, meaning the best of the original 10%. Therefore, you shall say to them, when you have lifted up the best of it, then the rest shall be accounted to the Levites as the produce of the threshing floor and the produce of the wine press, meaning it’s all theirs. They can do with it as they please.

You may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward for your work in the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall bear no sin because of it. Now, let’s stop there because I I want to talk about this for a second. You shall bear no sin because of it. What’s he talking about here? What did he just get done telling us? He just got done giving us the structure for the tithe. The body gives to you a tenth. The Levites take that tenth and give to me another tenth. A tenth of that tenth. The best of that tenth. He goes on to say, “Whatever is left. You can do with it as you please.

It should be counted among you as produce on the threshing floor or produce on the wine press, meaning a harvest, and bear no sin because of it. Let me ask Tim, let me ask Randy. And by the way, if you don’t have an answer for this, that’s totally fine. But do you have any idea what he might be saying there when he says you shall bear no sin because of it?

My thought would be that there would be either freedom in that in terms of you bear no sin or still the way that you use the remaining 90% okay should not be used towards something that would be considered sin okay Timothy I would say that they don’t become personally accountable for any wrongdoing tied to how they handle this. I I think you’re both hitting the nail on the head. As a person who used to be a full-time pastor, Randy can also speak to this as that’s what he did does there.

There were times where and I knew that I was being supported by the greater congregation that their tithes and their giving was coming to us and supporting us. I always had this sense of, oh, am I in sin if I use some of this money to buy this fishing rod or this watch or something else that I wanted versus needed, right? Guilt, guilty complex because I didn’t want to defile what was given to me. And yet the father is saying, “No, you bear no sin.

Bear no guilt because of how you’re spending what’s yours, what’s been given to you.” And that’s a that’s a it’s an important thing. It’s an important lesson to learn, especially as we move forward in this lesson. because we’re going to get into how this looks in the new covenant here in a moment. But the father wanted the Levites to be at peace with the fact that they were living off of the donations of the greater body of Israel. Does that make sense? But then he says, “You shall not profane the gift.

You shall not profane the holy gifts of the children of Israel, lest you die.” How do we profane our giving? And I don’t want to call our giving a tithe yet,

Chapter 5: Profaning the holy gift

but how would we or a priest profane this set aart money? To profane the holy gifts is to treat what is set apart for Yahovah as common by misuse, improper handling, or disregard for the instructions governing them. Do we have an example of that in Scripture? Yes, we do. In 1st Samuel 2, we know the story. The sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know Yahovah. Which is interesting, isn’t it? Let’s stop right there at that first sentence. These guys were priests. Eli’s sons were priests in the priesthood. And the Scripture says they did not know Yah. Isn’t that funny how that works out? Because the same could be said today in so many circles.

So many people who serve in the quote unquote ministry, they don’t really know who Yahovah is. And the priest, Eli’s son’s custom with the people was that when they when any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged flesh hook in his hand while the meat was still boiling. Then he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot and the priest would take it for himself all that the flesh hook brought up. So they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

Also before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who sacrificed, “Give me meat for roasting to the priest. For he will not take boiled meat from you, but raw.” And if the man said to him, “They should really burn the fat first.” Then you may take as much as your heart desires, he would then turn around and say, “No, you give it to me now. And if not, I’m going to take it by force.” Therefore, the sin of the young men who who were these young men? The servants of the priests was very great before Yah. For men abhored the offering of Yahovah. What’s happening here?

These sons of Eli and his servants were taking portions that were not assigned to them. They took it before Yahovah’s prescribed order before the fat was burned. That’s in the law. And that’s why this fellow said, “you really should burn the fat first.” And they said, “No. They threatened to take it by force, ignored the instructions governing the offering. They treated what was set apart for the father according to his command as something that was to be handled on their own terms. Now, we’re looking at all these things through the prism of the tithe. We’re going to see in a moment that’s not what we do today. That a tithe is not something that we do today. However, the principles remain the same.

And as we look at this story in 1st Samuel 2 and we look at this quote unquote very great sin of mishandling what’s been given to us. And by the way, what has been given to us as believers today? Everything that we have and everything that we own and everything that we possess, we’ve already learned is already the father’s. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Everything on the earth, even though you think you own it for the moment, belongs to him.

So anytime that we read stories like this, we have to somehow make this applicable to us. Even though this is not a story about us, there are principles to be learned as it pertains to giving that we cannot ignore. What were Eli’s sons doing? They were treating something holy in their own terms. making the decision regardless of how it applied to them. They didn’t care. They were dealing with it however they wanted to deal with it. Now, how does that apply to us? We’ve all been given things. My income, Ry’s income, my wife’s income.

Brett, not sure if you work, but whatever we do for a living is a blessing from the father. He gives us the ability to increase our wealth. Are we dealing with those funds according to our own terms or are we doing our best to use even that even during the hard times and we have hard times. Are we submitting those things to according to the word or dealing with them on our own terms? terms and I think we’re doing a little bit of both. I

Chapter 6: Tithing in the new covenant

personally, just as spirit of confession here, as I was going through this lesson, I haven’t even shared this with my wife yet, babe. So, this is going to be the first time in your ears as well. As I was going through this lesson, I couldn’t help but sit back and go, I need to prepare here of some things in my life. because you think you think you’re feeling good about things, but then you actually put your nose in the word and you go, “Yeah, no, I’m falling short here.” And I’m I’m hoping that we all are learning that in the course of this lesson.

So, as I said a moment ago, we’re going to see that this is not the model for today. Everything that we looked at as it pertains to tithing, how it’s handled, who it’s for you, the question begs to be asked, is all of this the model for us today? And the answer is no. Remember what we’ve already learned? How many tithes were there? Three tithes. Three tithes, right? Who were they for? primarily for the Levites for the purposes of worship and the needs of the tabernacle and the the needs of the greater body, the people who didn’t have much. Okay, those were the three tithes predominantly for the Levites.

But again, in the previous slide, we learned that all of them were given to the Levites. So, can we tithe today as commanded in the Torah? No. Any pastor that tries to compel you otherwise simply does not know his Bible. Why do I say that? Well, because there are people today who still require pastors, teachers, reverends, priests who still try to impose a quote unquote tithe on the body. Even in our old church, Joy, we knew that the tenth wasn’t demanded in the new covenant. But what did we used to tell people? Oh, it’s a good place to start, right?

And it was manipulative to say, “Yeah, the the new covenant doesn’t require a tenth because we can’t really.” But sure, it sure is a good place to start with a 10th because what you’re doing is you’re using psychological attempts, psych psychological manipulations to get people to start thinking at the 10th, even when that’s not what the scriptures say in the new covenant. And beyond that, there were people who demanded a tenth in Christian churches. If a pastor does that, they simply don’t know their Bible.

However, the model that we do see in the tithe, as we just looked at, it was about the land. It’s about their agricultural increase. It’s for the Levites and the temple system. We still see the principles reappear in the New Testament. Supporting those who minister, providing for the me needy, giving from our increase, acknowledging the father as the source. So even though the tithe, the quote unquote tithe is tied to certain things in the Hebrew scriptures that simply are not with us today. I.e. We are not in the land.

We do not have a temple and we do not have a Levitical priesthood. Those things are gone. The principles reflected in those situations still are with us. So I want us to take a close look at the New Testament verses in light of what we understand about the law. And let me start here. This is where the lesson finally gets interesting. The first half, it’s kind of boring because you got to go through all that Old Testament stuff that a hard a lot of people don’t understand. Every word of instruction, I want to read this very slowly.

Every word of instruction, every doctrine, every practice recorded in the New Testament was proclaimed while the temple still stood, its altar still active, its priests still ministering, and its system fully in operation. That is a huge statement. What does that mean? We can sometimes assume that because we see these teachings appear in what we call the New Testament, they must represent something new, something different that was commanded in the Torah. You read them as if they overturn or we can read them as if they overturn or replace the Torah. And they simply do not.

In most cases, they are not introducing a new system to us at all. With rare exception, they’re not even addressing tithing. What do I mean by that? Going forward, you have to understand a couple of things as it pertains to tithing. We must read every so-called new covenant teaching on giving through the prism of an active temple system. And I asked the question, have we done this? Has the churches done this? And the answer is no. We have not. We read Paul’s words on giving and we think he’s teaching something new, something fresh, something different than what was taught in the Torah. But when Paul wrote his letters, Randy Lychens, was the temple still there? It still was.

So he wouldn’t have been teaching against the temple. he wouldn’t have been teaching against tithing because that stuff was all there. So we have to read these things through that prism. And two, now that we are beyond an active temple system, we must properly distinguish between what was commanded within that system and what is being described outside of that system. And the most important question to ask as we move into the New Testament is this our theme Scripture. Is this still true in the New Covenant? Tim, looking at our theme Scripture, how would you answer that question? Is that statement in Leviticus 27 still true under the new covenant? Yes, but not as we know it. Okay.

Well, let me let me toss this little wrench in our thinking. This is this is not such a simple topic that you think you can just figure it out in a day. Really, I could have taught this lesson for three weeks, but is this still true in the new covenant? Tim, what point in history was the old covenant come into play? The Mosaic covenant, when did it come into play? with at Sinai. Yeah, at Sinai. And how how long was that from say Adam? 400 about 430 years. Any idea? It doesn’t really matter if you know or doesn’t know. My point isn’t how much time it was. My point was the old covenant didn’t start with Adam. The old covenant started with who?

Moses, right? And Israel. That’s where the old covenant, the Mosaic covenant began there. So, what we’ve already learned about Adam and Eve and Abraham understanding this tithe, was all of that before the old covenant? It was before the old covenant. So, was the Leviticus 27:30 true for them before the covenant was made? Obviously. So then, is it true for us under the new covenant? Yes, it has to. If we’re going to be consistent with all of this, we can’t look at something like Leviticus 27 and go, hm, we can pretty much take that little verse and scratch it out of the Bible because it’s over. That would be wrong. His word is settled in heaven forever is what the Psalms say.

So Tim, I think you answered it the best in this regard because the answer to the question is not as simple as a yes or a no. I think it’s yes and no. What do I mean by that? If Leviticus 27 remains true, then the tithe as opposed to other giving is still of the land of agricultural increase and set apart as holy. So in s in one sense it remains but in another sense it doesn’t because of these things. If it does not remain true, then where does Scripture redefine it? This is my wrestling you guys are getting a in insight into.

If Leviticus 27 is no longer true, then where does Scripture redefine it for us? It doesn’t really redefine it anywhere for us. So, in one sense, yes, it is true. On the other hand, no, it’s not because we are limited by certain things by being in diaspora. At the same time, Scripture consistently affirms that all increase regardless of form comes from him and Yahovah and belongs to him in principle. So again, the principle is Leviticus 27 still true? Well, yes and no.

Yes. and that everything still belongs to him and he is the one who’s giving you power to get your wealth. Haggai, the silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. So the tithe is defined in Scripture as produce from the land, but the principle behind it does not disappear outside the land. God still owns the increase and whatever is given to him remains set apart as holy. So I wanted to look at some of these things real quickly here in the new covenant to see if we can have a better understanding of what it looks like today for us.

And we have to start with the missionaries in Matthew 10 and Luke 10. In Luke 10, we see these things. Provide neither, this is Yeshua speaking, provide neither gold nor silver, nor copper in your money belts or bag for your journey, nor two tunics or sandals or staffs. For a worker is worthy of his food. Okay, this is Yeshua speaking, sending the guys out to do their evangelism, and he’s telling them, don’t bother taking all this extra stuff with you. Why? Because a worker is worthy of his food.

Similarly, in Luke 10, he says, “Remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the labor is worthy of his wa wages. Don’t go from house to house.” And as I’m reading these verses, I’m asking myself, what are the implications here? There are so many things that are not said in both verses. Yeshua assumes or believes that these people are going to care for the disciples. Isn’t that what we see? He says, “Don’t take these things because the worker is worthy of his food.” There’s an assumption there that the people are going to rise up and take care of this worker.

There’s an assumption there that there’s going to be housing given to them, food given to them, drinking given to them, wages given to them. Right? There’s there’s that assumption. We cannot ignore that. Why should Yeshua believe this in this case? And this is important because when you look at it in context, who are they going out to evangelize? They’re going out to evangelize the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Where are they? They’re in the wind. So, he’s not just going out to Gentiles, pagan Gentiles.

He’s going out to people who even though they are outside of covenant knew their history. They knew the law. So there seems to be some kind of mutual understanding here between the people and the worker. Some kind of mutual understanding. Both of these people being believers at some level, right? They understood what Deuteronomy 24 said. that you’re not supposed to oppress a hired person, that you’re supposed to pay a person his wages by the end of the day. They both understood this.

So among believers, there should be a mutual understanding of this path in this regard that a person who is serving in the in the course of his quote unquote ministry, this goes back to what Randy was asking about, is supposed to be supported. The Scripture says in Luke 10, “As they give, do these things, eat these things, stay in these houses as they give.” So again, Yeshua understood that A, these guys are going to go out having no support of their own and B, who was going to take care of them? The people to whom they were preaching. It was understood. What about pastors, preachers, teachers, and elders? Well, here’s where we get into the weeds with Paul. 1 Corinthians 9.

This is Paul speaking. Do we have no right? And that word right is authority in the Greek. Do we have no authority to eat and drink? Eat and drink what? That’s a reference to what we just looked at in Matthew and Luke 10. Do we have no right to take along a believing wife? wife as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord and Cephas. Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to what? Refrain from working. So what’s it what does this tell us?

Paul is saying that a person in his position like Cephas, like James, like the other brothers have a quote unquote right to refrain from working, meaning not working a full-time Job, but serving the body or serving the people in a full-time capacity. That’s interesting. Paul understood that he had this quote unquote authority to do this. He asked the question, “Who goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as mere man? Or does not the law say the very same thing?” Interesting.

For it’s written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out in the grain.” Is it oxen the father is concerned about? Or does he say this for our sakes? For us, it’s for our sakes. No doubt. This is written that he who plows should plow in hope. Stop. He who plows should plow in hope. Hope for what? of your needs to be met since you’re not working downtown. Yeah.

Now, between us and the and the fence post, I know this is going out on YouTube, so it’s not going to quite be that private. there are brothers in my life who serve in a full-time capacity who are accused of profiting from the gospel because they monetize their videos. I’ve been accused of profiting from teaching by monetizing my videos. I’ve been accused of pedalling the word of God for writing a book that I sell on Amazon. I’ve been accused of pedalling the word of God because I dare ask for support from people who come to YouTube or, you know, on my Patreon. But Paul says right here that he who plows should plow in hope.

And I have to ask the question, hope for what? Randy said some financial support and that’s true. But Paul goes on to say, he threshes in hope should be a partaker of his hope. And then he asked this, if we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing that we reap your material things? And I don’t again I can’t speak for everybody but you guys know on this channel it I went several years before I even started talking about supporting this channel financially because I’ve I’m jaded and I think we all are jaded to a certain degree by people and the in giving practices of our past. We’ve seen our fair share of shysters.

We all know the people, the churches who are doing what they do simply so they can get rich. We’ve seen the pastor’s big houses and the fancy cars and the airplanes that they’re flying around in. And so because we’ve all come from that background in one degree or another, we’re kind of jaded. and and I certainly have been jaded and never wanted to be accused of anybody in my group of doing what I do so I can earn a buck. That’s not my heart. I don’t believe that’s your heart, Randy.

Being in the ministry, you don’t do what you do because you want to earn a buck. You do what you do because you love people and you love the truth and you want to be used by the father in this regard. However, despite all those amazing intentions, Paul was asking the question, is it is it a bad thing that in return you offer some type of support even though I might struggle with guilt taking that support? It’s a weird thing, isn’t it?

How money messes with our heads? and it has but Paul is saying emphatically that it shouldn’t that there should be this mutual understanding that those who are sowing spiritual things should be able to reap material things. But it has to be the willingness of the giver to make it happen. And that can be sometimes where things break down. If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we’ve not used this right. Paul didn’t exercise this right. He endured all things, lest he hindered the gospel of Christ. He didn’t want it to be a stumbling block for them.

Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the holy things of the temple? He’s talking about the Levites there. And those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar. Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. Tada. That’s the verse you were talking about. Right. So, I have a couple of questions if we’re going to explore this in this verse. Jim, feel free to answer. Randy, feel free to answer.

Is Paul making an argument that he should be the recipient of the tithe? I would I would argue in a sense, yes. or the principle of the tithe that he’s a recipient, not a direct recipient, but he should be allowed to reap some if not, you know, some of the material things, right, Randy? He’s certainly making an argument that he has the right. He goes later on in this passage and says that he’s going to choose not to and he’s going to make he’s going to be attacked.

But I think he certainly is making an argument that he has the right. Okay. Second question. He mentions James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem when he talks about the brothers and Peter Cephas implying that they are recipients of support in that very first verse. Are they receiving tithes? potentially. I thought it was taking a believing wife along with them, but potentially. Yes. Well, I included as well. But he’s making this argument in light of these other people who are who are benefactors of the giving that he’s referring to.

So, the question remains, and I’ll open it up to my our beautiful wives here who are sitting across from us, is Paul making an argument that he should be the recipient of the tithe? Do people like James who leads the congregation in Jerusalem or Peter, are they recipients of tithes? Yes or no? I have a nod. Yes. Over here. Yeah. Okay. Not over there. Here’s your answer. Why? Remember our talk. Neither James nor Peter are Levites. They are not tithes, but they are free will. Yes. No guilt or compulsor.

Remember, we have to read everything in the New Testament through the prism of an active system, an active temple system. At the time, any support that James, Peter, or Paul are given would have been in addition to the commanded tithes commanded in the Torah as long as the temple stood. And that’s the thing that we miss. When we look at Paul’s writings, Paul is already on record as saying, “What? Neither against the law of the Jews or against the temple have I taught anything at all.” Acts 25.

So, he wouldn’t be saying in his letter to the Corinthians, “Oh yeah, those tithes you’re giving, they should be coming to me.” No way. They still go to the Levites at that time. So everything he’s talking about here matter of fact anytime he’s talking about giving he is talking in addition to what they are already giving and it’s a huge difference for us to understand these things. Okay. 1 Corinthians again even so the lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live in the gospel.

Where did he says the lord has commanded where did the lord command that? Well, we’ve already looked at that the labor is worthy of his wages. So, we have an example of Yeshua saying yes, that person, that minister, that pastor, that reverend has the authority, has the right based on a command from Yeshua to be worthy of his wages. So, we have that command. Yeshua himself is an example of this. We see in Luke 8 certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.

Mary called Magdalene and Joanna the wife of Huza, Herod’s steward and Susanna and many others who quote provided for him from their substance. So these people were providing Yeshua’s needs from their substance. Why? Gratitude. And when we think about our own world, there are people who serve us in ministerial, ministerial, is that the right word fashions. Be it giving or pastoring or serving in gratitude because they have served freely, we should give freely back. and not just with attabo but with support for that service. We see this in Matthew 10.

Yeshua says these 12 Yeshua sent out and commanded them saying do not go into the ways of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans but go rather the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand heal the sick cleanse the lepers raise the dead cast out demons freely you have received and freely you give there’s that mutual thing happening again what’s the things they freely received the support from the people that they were preaching to. So they were freely giving and you freely receive. And this is what Paul was paring every single time he taught.

Second Corinthians 9, let each of you give as he proposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity. Was he talking about the tithe here? No. Philemon 14. that your good deeds might not be by compulsion as it were but voluntary. Second Corinthians 6 8, I am testing the sincerity of your love. And there it is. I in one sense, brothers and sisters, and I got to finish up here because I’m running long. In one sense, our whole lesson could be you framed around 2 Corinthians 8:8 as it pertains to giving.

I am testing the sincerity of your love. 1 Peter 5 he says not by compulsion but willingly not for dishonest gain but

Chapter 7: Conclusions on giving

eagerly. So I want to conclude by asking some questions. and you’re might be wondering what’s the scary image in the that’s all going to come clear in a second. Can we biblically tithe a tenth today as commanded in Torah? No. Who is the tithe for? Land Levites needs. Can modern-day teachers claim that they are the new Levites and thus do support? No. Can believers give to and offer support to today’s pastors and teachers? Yes. Is it a sin if they choose not to? No. Is it a sin if a pastor, teacher hopes to receive such donations? No.

Is it a sin if we do not give at all to people in need or those who labor for us? Yes. Matthew 6, the lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Now you know why I chose the image in the background.

And also you should know that for many years I would look at this verse and thought he was talking about lust. In our culture we read that and we go, “Oh, he must be talking about lust in our hearts with our eye, right?” No, he’s not. He’s pulling straight from Deuteronomy 15. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart and your eye be evil against your poor brother and give him nothing. So in Scripture the evil eye is consistently tied to withholding stinginess and resentment toward giving. And that shouldn’t be those of us who walk according to the path. Now, I’ve run long in my lesson. I want to quit here. Here’s that slide I was going to show you.

I’m not going to show

Chapter 8: Group discussion and Q&A

it to you for sake of time. Instead, I hope everything was clear, guys. You know, sometimes when I put these lessons together, I this is just flowing in my mind. one slide’s flowing from to the next and I’m thinking, “Yeah, I got this.” And then I get to the lesson, I’m like, “Man, that didn’t flow very well.” And I hope that wasn’t the case this morning for you guys. But wanted to get your thoughts, your two cents, your agreements, your disagreements, your rebukes. If you think I’m wrong, I’m always open to them. Jeff Miller, you have your hand up. Make sure you unmute yourself and give us your thoughts.

The one thing I always say is you don’t know what you don’t know. Before you learn something, you don’t know it. And you’re not aware that you don’t know it. When you learn it, then you can think to yourself, “Ah, I didn’t know this before. Now I know this. I was in ignorance before. Now I know it.” If I act out of it incorrectly, that’s stupidity. I’m saying that to say a lot of times we think we’re getting back into the mindset of the biblical Hebrew and we’re not. We don’t know what was in the mind of Adam. But right after he was created, he could name all the animals. He came up with something.

So there had to be some sort of language that he knew that he and God were talking because they talked to each other. We can’t put ourselves all the way back in there, but we can look at all the teachings of the time. And one of them is the Hebrew, like the Romans have Roman numerals. The Hebrew, their letters are numerals. And it just so happens that the 10th letter is the yod. The yod in Hebrew is the hand. And biblical Hebrew is actually a stick figure of a hand.

But in words like pare which is fruit pay mouth r head yod hand it’s about giving with your hand. The early Hebrews have teachings on the reason it’s a tenth a tithe because you’re giving the tenth your hand. God gave you the hands to put to work. Now, from that increase of work, you with your hand give too and help other people. But I agree, Ed, with most everything you said. Maybe a few things that not I don’t know. Not trying to make you feel good, bad, or indifferent. Maybe we’re both ignorant. I don’t know. Anyway, thank you. Amen. Brother, thank you. Appreciate you. Brother Harrell, you’re up. There we go. Okay.

I just was pointing out that Paul was also bivocational. and so he did note that he built tents and he wasn’t just dependent solely on the offerings of the free will offerings of people. he he makes a point of that. He almost seems proud about the fact that he’s just not living off the those that he teach. But I certainly see no problem if people want to offer someone that’s in ministry. I I personally have been blessed. And so I’m I’m you know, each person is going to have their different circumstances, but I I I personally refuse all money.

And even ever since I removed myself from a fellowship, I’ll just rent the building and I won’t let anybody help. But again, that’s my circumstances. Other people may have less fortunate circumstances from a from a financial blessing.

But so again, others may want to receive money from others that are a free will offering to defay some of the cost of a website or Zoom or, you know, if you are renting a building like that, I don’t know what you guys are doing for Passover, but we’re going to have about 50 or 60 people. so I just rented the local community center but that’s nothing compared to the open quote ties I used to pay to the local fellowship you know when I was still up under I guess the religious influence and which is run like a business model even if others wanted to chip in it’s it’s still a lot less money than what I was given.

I think that might be one reason even though I was teaching directly against, you know, some of the Judaism that the not rabbi friend of mine might have wanted me to stick around. At least that was my wife’s that was my wife’s discernment. It’s like he doesn’t want you here. He likes your money. So, but anyway, I think everybody on that issue just and I think Ed had we talked and you said, you know, you were accepting offerings, you kind of monetized your channel.

And again, I I don’t see there’s any prohibition against that whatsoever as far as accepting offerings because you’re not teaching, hey, you’ve got to give me Ed Doss 10% of your money. So, I’ll just be, you know, brutally honest with you guys. I you know I as you know I have a a business that I I run. Sometimes it’s awesome and sometimes it’s in the tank and you know we’re run close to the line but the father always makes sure that our needs are taken care of. and as a as a speaker when I started doing this channel Randy and I were discussing it this morning.

I I didn’t start a YouTube channel because I wanted to be a YouTube personality. I one of the brothers just suggested that I start recording my Zoom lessons and put them on YouTube and I thought that’s kind of a fun idea and I did and it’s turned into what we have now. But I never set off with the intent to become a a YouTube tube personality in the Torah observant world. It was never my desire. I I’m not an author. When I wrote my book, those are that’s a collection of notes from my own journey.

So, I never considered myself an author. and I certainly didn’t do this because I wanted to get rich. having said all that though, when a person like me or a Doug Hamp or a Jim Staley or, you know, pick your pick your brother or sister puts a lot of time and effort into doing something like what we do. when another brother or sister in the comments or in person or in this Zoom express their gratitude or in an email, it’s it’s meaningful.

I get a lot from people who share that gratitude for our discussions and for the things they learned in our lessons. However, I can’t deny this. When one of those people expresses that gratitude and then says, “I want to support you somehow financially. How do I do that? Can I give you on give to you on YouTube or whatever?” I can’t deny the fact that makes me feel something a little differently. But that person isn’t just grateful. They’re putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak. They’re they’re doubling down on that some. And I don’t care if it’s a dollar. I don’t I don’t care the amount. It doesn’t matter the amount.

What it matters is, man, there it makes me feel differently when someone says, I am not only grateful for what you’re doing here and how you’re serving us. I I want to show my gratitude by giving you something back. As a person in my position, I see that. I sense that. I feel that. It makes me feel differently and I don’t know how else to articulate that. Samuel’s got his hand up all of a sudden. Maybe he can articulate it better than me, but Samuel, do you have something to share? Ed, I doubt if I can articulate it better than you have.

I think this was a very wonderful, very wonderful teaching and so I thank you for that. the interesting thing is we we tend to confuse covenant with the terms of the covenant. So you’re you’re writing in as much as the establishment of the tithing system with respect to the covenant that was established through Moshe at Sinai. But the terms of the co covenant are the Torah of the most high. So you have Adam with the covenant that he was given at the outset. You have Noah with the covenant that he was given.

And then you have the covenant that was established through through the prophet Abraham, the dividic covenant. But the thing is the covenant is the relationship between us and the most high and the Torah the instructions is more or less was given to say this is going to be the terms of the covenant that we are establishing which is essentially you’re not going to turn from the left or the right. You’re going to do as you are instructed. As far as tithing is concerned, I think you are correct that it’s the principle that carries over that is essential to understand.

And what’s interesting is that when you look in the Torah under the covenant that was established through Moshe for the time of the festivals, if it was too ownorous for you to bring your pro produce or your animals to the place where Yahovah placed his name, you can convert that into money and then you can bring that to celebrate before Yah.

So that’s a part of it and I see that being present even now where you’re able to take what you have as an increase from what the father has provided you even if you’re not a farmer even if you don’t make your living from the produce of the land or from animal husbandry but through whatever method that the father allows you to you take that and you give because I think ultimately the point is that we don’t give directly to yah But we give to Y when we give to others. That’s the whole point of it.

So if I if I if I’m able to sew into your ministry, brother to sew into the ministry of brother ASF, I know that it’s going to good work. I know that it’s going to help. And the point isn’t for me to try and impress the father through, you know, large sums of, you know, ridiculous amounts of money. But the point is that I know good work is being done.

And so when given to someone who is earnest in terms of the gifts that they’re given that is helping the body, you’re facilitating that and then in turn also taking those things that are given to us and giving freely to those who are desperately in need or are a part of the body because we operate as the hands of our Messiah as the hands of the father within this reality. That’s how the work is done through us. And that’s our token and sign of being faithful to the covenant that we adhere to when we walk in righteousness.

I’m going to say one last thing and then I’m going to ask you a question, brother Ed, and you can answer this. U Randy can answer this and anyone else who’s involved in ministry that may be open to receiving an offering. It’s it’s interesting, but when you look at what the father says in the Torah as far as the Levitical priesthood, what I notice that’s interesting is I I’m I’m looking at what happens in Genesis or Bear and I look at chapter 49 when Jacob or Yakov is prophesying and within chapter 49, he addresses Simeon and Levi and essentially What he tells them is that you’re going to be scattered throughout Yakov in Israel.

So in my mind right there was established the fact that the Levites are going to have to serve in the capacity of the priesthood. That was established I think in chapter 49. I’m not giving that as doctrine. I’m just giving that as something that I looked into and I think there may be some credence to that. The question that I have for you, brother Ed, and anyone else who’s involved in ministry is this. In Deuteronomy or Devil, it indicates that you are not to bring the hire of a or the wages of a dog, which is basically a male prostitute, as an offering to the temple.

Do you see or understand there being a prohibition on accepting money through ill-gotten gains even if you think it’s something that can be used for righteous purposes? And with that, I’ll say thank you for allowing me to share and Shabbat shalom. well, it’s not a deep question to me. if the person if the recipient is aware that these funds are ill gotten, then yes, I have a problem with it. If he’s not aware, he can’t be held accountable for it. That’s just a fact.

If Randy comes along and says, “Hey, Ed, I I really love your ministry. I just want to, you know, donate $10,000.” And I’m like, “Wow, bro. I mean, that’s amazing. Thank you. but I don’t know that Randy stopped on the 7-Eleven on his way over here this morning and robbed the store. Am I accountable for that? No. But if I do know, if I am aware that he stopped at a 7-Eleven and robbed it and then gave me that money to donate to my ministry, that’s a problem. Does that make sense, Samuel? It does, Brother Ed. It does.

And it seems to also align with what Apostle Paul was teaching in terms of the meats that those who were dispersed amongst the Gentiles would eat and their concern about whether or not it was sacrificed unto idols or not. You don’t know. You don’t know. So you take it as long as it’s something that’s that’s clean or to or to mean and you give thanks for it and you eat because it’s food that’s provided through the father. So I see what you’re saying and I thank you for sharing that insight, brother. Amen. Timothy, yes, I just miss Samuel calling you Elder Doss, by the way.

Side note. anyway, so we know that tithing is not a fixed 10% legal requirement, you know, commanded in the new covenant. but I I would I I believe an argument can be made that its principles are a more demanding and b still binding. you know, we’ve got honoring God with what you have. you know, setting apart a portion. And I think Paul said that in 2 Corinthians 9 supporting his work. and then I think really not treating what is God’s as our own.

I believe those principles arguably are still binding and could be seen as more demanding. So just a thought there. And then obviously I know we didn’t touch on the pink elephant in the room of Malachi 3:10 being used as to guilt people into a tithe. I would argue that one side note that misusing Malachi to extract money can actually be a form of profaining. because if you’re treating God’s word as a tool for gain rather than something to be handled faithfully, you are in sin.

So I I know you know evangelicals Christians go to the Malachi 3:10 passage u misuse it. But anyway, those four things I just wanted to hit. Thank you. Well, thank you, Tim. And yes, I consciously kept Malachi 3 out of this discussion because it’s been so misused over the past. But even that, even Malachi 3 is centered around a biblical tithe, right? And so you’re right, Tim, in saying that it has been misused by evangelical teachers because they want to use the principles from Ma Malachi 3 from the Old Testament, but they don’t want to submit themselves to the Old Testament, which is a ultimate hypocrisy.

You know, the Old Testament to them is useful for borrowing awesome passages that support their New Testament, their supposed New Testament understanding. It’s just wrong. Okay, we’re running short on time. Matt Rambo, you can share, brother. Go ahead. so real quick, to kind of go off of what, Tim was saying, we have to be careful because the new covenant actually is found in Jeremiah, and you’ve talked about this a lot, where he will take out the heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh, that we would love him and keep his commandments.

So the new covenant is that we keep his commandments that he gave us with the old covenant whereas the original Israelites didn’t keep the covenant because they didn’t have the faith to do so. So we have to be careful on that. the other thing that I wanted to point out that wasn’t mentioned at all which is very important. so Ed, you talked about how you have struggled with people wanting to give. and it’s important that when somebody is willing to give to you, whatever that is, that we accept that giving because what we’re doing is if we reject, they’re blessing us. we are preventing them from receiving the blessing that Yahovah intends for them to receive for their act of generosity.

So we have to be careful about that we don’t spurn people’s giving. And so that’s all I had to add. And thank you for allowing me to be a part. I know it’s been a while since I’ve been able to attend the live ones. Hey man, no problem. Great, great having you and your comment was timely. And I just want to I want I’m going to close with this. What we’re talking about here has nothing to do with covenants. Okay. What do I mean by that? What changed the tithe? The cross or the temple going away in AD70? The temple. The temple. The temple. What did the cross bring? A new covenant.

The new a new covenant’s got no bearing really on this as much as the lack of a temple does as much as you and I being outside the land does. So I want to make sure you understand that. Not that it really matters at the end of the day because we are outside the land and there are no Levites around here that we’re aware of. There certainly is no temple. So because of that, the tithe as we know it can’t be done.

But for your understanding, this doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Yeshua died on a cross. The new covenant didn’t change this model, the temple being destroyed did, and the fact that we’re outside the land did. So what Tim said in his closing thoughts is absolutely correct. No, we can’t do that. But yes, the principles still apply. And we have to look for ways to step up to that as believers and and fulfill that calling to not have the evil eye. And Ed, just a quick thing on that real fast.

So the transferring of Israel’s covenant curses to new to new covenant believers does also not transfer, correct? in that Malachi 3:10 passage. The curses stipulated in the Malachi 3:10 also do not transfer along with that. Of course, that’s correct. What are the curses? Well, you know, he says, “Test me in this. If you test me, I’ll I’ll bless you. If but if you don’t, the opposite’s going to happen. It’s Deuteronomy 28 all over again.” yes, to answer your question plainly, Tim, yes, I would agree with you. Can I guys?

And if I may, just real quick, the reason why I brought that up is because I had an experience a few months ago where I was talking with the lady who was asking me about this very subject. And what the tendency is to separate the Old Testament from the New Testament as most of this group knows and to say well I’m a New Testament believer therefore you know we have to do new covenant things. and what was happening in her case was she was being told that she has to tithe 10% to her church. And I informed her that scripturally that is not the case.

But what was happening was the saying that we are under the new covenant to say that all of the Torah, all of the old covenant things were gone and done away with. And so it’s not to how do I say this? the point is that the what the modern church tries to separate and what we see is that in our near future there is going to be a third temple that you know Scripture tells us about in Ezekiel 40-48 and all of the original things that Yahovah had in place is going to be restored. and so that was the point that I was trying to make and I I hope I was clear on that.

And just real quick, ju just I want to be careful with how I phrase this, but Israel as a nation was already under the curse after the dispersion because you had the destruction of the temple. When you come into the new covenant, that is what takes you out of the curses. That’s what takes you out of the curses because now you are under the blood. It’s a lot different for Israel that is still asleep and still not walking in covenant with Messiah because they’re still within the dispersion and we’re still within what you would you would call the captivity.

And just to address one thing that brother Snow said, the reason why I call brother Ed brother Ed now is because he expressed that he doesn’t like being called elder. And out of respect for him, I do not call him Elder Doss. That’s the only reason. But it’s getting harder and harder with that awesome beard. So I’m still going to call you brother Doss. We put our request. I love it. Just know I’m struggling with it. Oh, hey man, bro. I appreciate you.

Love you guys as always. love all your thoughts, all of your comments. as usual, if you have something that you want to talk about afterwards, email me, shoot me a text, if you know my phone number. But, guys, have a great Shabbat. Have a great afternoon, a great rest of your weekend. A couple of lessons coming up. We’re going to talk about what sanctification means. We’re going to talk about whether or not Yeshua is God. I know we did a lesson on Trinity a while ago.

This is a little different. and we’re gonna we’re gonna address that a little bit. So, have a great weekend and we will see you guys next week. Brother Matt, thank you for that insight, man. Thank you for the insight that you gave, brother. That was that was quite deep. You’re welcome. Thank you for letting me be a part of the group. Shabbat shalom. Love you guys. Shabbat shalom. Shabbat shalom. Shalom everyone. Passover. Happy Passover. Happy Passover. Yeah. Next year in Jerusalem. Love you guys. Thank you, Ed. Shalom.