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NASB | Deuteronomy 14:1 "You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 14:1 "You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead, |
Bible Question: Can anyone tell me if a tithe MUST be given to your home church or can you give it to another church that actually needs the money. Also, if you know someone who is in need can you give them the money and have it be your tithe? My husband and I have had an ongoing disagreement about this for years. Any answers will be helpful. Thank you! |
Bible Answer: Hello Lisandra, I'm sure others will have much more insight regarding this issue but I saw your question unanswered and wanted to give you some thought to start with. Deut 14: 23-25 seems to shead some light on this. It appears that your tithe is meant to be given to a specific place chosen by God. We know in that day there was a single temple where the priest of the tribe of Levite carried out the practices of leading worship and ceremonial sacrifice. The tribe of Levite, having the responsibilities of the priesthood were to receive from the tithe of the other tribes. This was so that their daily lives were spent with the business of the temple and not out trying to make a living off the land. The tithe served the purpose of both providing for the Levite's needs as well as obedience to God in recognition that all the Israelites had came from Him in the first place. With this in mind, the tithe continues to serve the same purpose. It provides for those who devote themselves full time to ministry and the overall work of the church, as well as the chruch member's responsibility to the work to giving back to God what is already His, not to mention we are commanded to do it. Finally, since Jesus finished the work and negated the need for ongoing sacrifices, and as christianity spread worldwide, God the Father no longer dwells in a single holy place on earth. We worship, as you know, in churches all over the world. Why the long-winded attempt to explain? If you go back to the verses in Deut. you will see reference to "the place he will choose" (he of course referring to God). Well we know that He no longer dwells in a particular place on earth but His Spirit dwells in each Chriatian. But is there still a "place" He has chosen. I argue yes. For you it is the church you are a member of. God places each of us within the church body where "He chooses". Where He want's us to be. Therefore, I believe that our first responsibility is to our local church where we are members. A key thought on tithing is that you, the one who tithes, has no control over what is God's. That has been left to the priests (or pastors). I believe it is wrong to "cut out" your tith and then take it on yourself to evaluate the need and allocate it accordingly. That is God's tithe and He has given the church the responsibility of managing it. One final thought. You will see the word tith and offering used interchangeably in the bible. But if you can imagin your tithe as the ten percent you must give, and your offering as anything above that your delima may go away. That is, give your tithe to your local church who depends on it to operate. Where you see other needs, give what you can as an offering. God will bless both. Hope this helps, With love, Jeff |