Saturday, August 27, 2005
23:23
Many times over recent months I have seen the number 23. On digital clocks, buses etc. I have, in the past also seen 22 a great deal as have a number of other people (I posted on this issue some months ago). I always assumed that 23 was just missing out on 22 but I have just read Matt 23:23 that Helen pointed out to me after recent comments on this blog about tithing. Any way I laughed out loud at the coincidence that the verse was about tithing and lifestyle when that is the very thing God has been speaking to us about.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Tithing is mentioned only three or four times in the New Testament and is in the context of the Mosaic law. Jesus acknowledged that the Pharisees were very careful about tithing (Luke 18:12), and he said that they should not leave it undone (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42). Tithing was a law at the time Jesus spoke. Jesus criticized the Pharisees not for tithing, but for treating tithing as more important than mercy, love, justice and faithfulness.
The only other New Testament mention of tithing is in Hebrews. The fact that Abraham was blessed by and paid tithes to Melchizedek illustrates the superiority of Melchizedek and Jesus Christ over the Levitical priesthood (Heb. 7:1-10). The passage then goes on to note that "when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law" (verse 12).
There was a change of the priesthood from the Levites to Jesus Christ, and this implies a change in the law that assigned the Levites to be priests. How much has been changed? Hebrews says that the old covenant is obsolete. The package of laws that commanded tithes to be given to the Levites is obsolete.
But it is still a valid principle that humans should honor God by voluntarily returning some of the blessings he gives them. The only place that a percentage is required is within the old covenant. There is good precedent for tithing before Sinai, but no proof that it was required.
Jesus criticizes the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23 for their obsession with tithing in minutiae.
The Bible describes tithing in an agricultural economy. It does not tell us whether or how potters, carpenters, merchants, etc. calculated tithes. Neither does it help in the context of tithing - if required - for, say, a computer programmer.
Instead of getting bogged down in tithing as a concept, Christians should be devoted to giving generously to God. That might mean giving somebody a meal, a hug, a bed for the night, some time. Most importantly, in the place where you live, it means focussing on the needs around you. For the family man, for instance, you give your all to your family for that is what God has called you to fulfil.
For the single person, it might mean going away from home to do the Lord's work.
Post a Comment