The Tenth
Every tenth of the land's produce, grain from the soil, or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord: it is holy to the Lord. If a man decided to redeem any part of the tenth he must add a 1/5th to it's value.
Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the shepherd's rod, will be holy to the Lord. He is not to inspect whether it is good or bad, and he is not to make a substitution, both the animal and the substitute will be holy, they cannot be redeemed. Leviticus 27: 30-34
It seems the Lord was requiring the tenth of everything. This signified that the Lord was the source of everything. All came from Him. Yet this was not practiced consistently as Nehemiah had to re-institute the practice and in the book of Malachi God rebuked His people for failing to keep this instruction.
What does the Lord require of us? We could say: 'We are now in Christ and are no longer obliged.' However, if we love God and want to honour Him then what is the problem? Some people would say: 'I don't give to the church because I do not trust them to use it in a way I would like.' OOh! needing to control eh? Is this not just an excuse not to give? Others may say that it is not 10%. Some would say: 10% of what? Gross or Nett? I can just imagine the Lord saying: " Ok people, take the heads off the wheat, then give me what is left." No! He asked for the best portion, the first portion. Just as the Lord said not to discriminate as to whether the animal is good or bad, He would instruct us not to discriminate.
He did not give the angels to redeem us, instead He gave His best. His Son! Amen!
Every tenth animal from the herd or flock, which passes under the shepherd's rod, will be holy to the Lord. He is not to inspect whether it is good or bad, and he is not to make a substitution, both the animal and the substitute will be holy, they cannot be redeemed. Leviticus 27: 30-34
It seems the Lord was requiring the tenth of everything. This signified that the Lord was the source of everything. All came from Him. Yet this was not practiced consistently as Nehemiah had to re-institute the practice and in the book of Malachi God rebuked His people for failing to keep this instruction.
What does the Lord require of us? We could say: 'We are now in Christ and are no longer obliged.' However, if we love God and want to honour Him then what is the problem? Some people would say: 'I don't give to the church because I do not trust them to use it in a way I would like.' OOh! needing to control eh? Is this not just an excuse not to give? Others may say that it is not 10%. Some would say: 10% of what? Gross or Nett? I can just imagine the Lord saying: " Ok people, take the heads off the wheat, then give me what is left." No! He asked for the best portion, the first portion. Just as the Lord said not to discriminate as to whether the animal is good or bad, He would instruct us not to discriminate.
He did not give the angels to redeem us, instead He gave His best. His Son! Amen!
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