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12/11/2024 - It seems that every law of God begins with God’s right as the Creator, which is established... Read More
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12/09/2024 - The law of God makes every man liable for his own sin, whether this results in the demand for rest... Read More
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It seems that every law of God begins with God’s right as the Creator, which is established in the first verse of the Bible. He labored for six days and then rested. As the Creator of all, He owns all things and is ultimately responsible for which He created.
Man too has the ability to labor. However, man does not create; he forms or shapes that which God created previously. For example, God created the trees, but man takes a tree and shapes it into lumber which is used to build houses or furniture. In such cases, God still owns the trees (that is, the wood itself) but man owns the houses and furniture—the result of his own labor.
Property rights are based upon the sacred principle (law) of labor. The Sixth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” forbids any man or government to steal a man’s labor through taxes or confiscation. A lawful tax is one where God gets a return on His labor, either 10 or 12 percent, depending on the circumstance. God then assigns the tax toward the support of His Kingdom government on earth. It is not theft; it is payment for services rendered. It is what God is owed when men use God’s labor in the course of creating wealth for himself.
In addition, there are first fruits laws that are owed to God. First fruits are given in recognition that God is the ultimate Owner by right of creation. These are based on the right of an owner (whether it is God or man) to be the first partaker of his own labor. Exodus 22:29, 30 says,
29 You shall not delay the offering from your harvest and your vintage. The first-born of your sons you shall give to Me. 30 You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. It shall be with its mother seven days; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.
The tribe of Levi substituted for all the firstborn sons of the other tribes (Leviticus 3:41). Yet the law above applies prophetically to the eighth day law of Sonship. It is for this reason that there are eight days in the feast of Tabernacles, for this feast extends from the birth of the firstborn sons of God to their presentation to the Father in heaven on the eighth day.
The other (non-firstborn) sons of God will have to wait until the start of the eighth millennium “day” at the Great White Throne judgment, at which time they too will receive their reward (John 5:28, 29). The same law applies to both companies, but in different ways and times.
There were three main first fruits offerings given to God over the course of a year. Barley first fruits were given on the day after the Sabbath following Passover (Leviticus 23:11). No one was allowed to eat of the new crop of barley until the first fruits had been given to God (Leviticus 23:14).
The same was true with the “new meal offering” seven weeks later. This was the offering of wheat at the feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:17; Exodus 34:22). The final offering of first fruits was that of the grapes at the end of the summer. This was the drink offering that was poured out during the feast of Tabernacles (Numbers 29:12, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 34, 38).
Those who labor on the front line have rights to partake of the first fruits even before others. This even applies to animals, for Deuteronomy 25:4 says,
4 You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.
The labor of an ox gives him the right to partake of the fruits of his labor even ahead of his own master. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:6,
6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
Paul applies this verse to Timothy’s right to accept financial support for labor in guiding the church. Paul was not referring to tithes but to offerings. He asserted his own right to receive offerings to support his teachings in 1 Corinthians 9:4-11,
4 Do we not have a right to eat and drink?... 7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? 8 I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the law also say these things? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle the ox while is threshing.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He? 10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. 11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
Again, Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 5:17, 18,
17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says [in Deuteronomy 25:4], “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and [in Matthew 10:10] “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
In all of this, Paul makes no appeal to receive tithes. His appeal is to the laws of labor, as applied specifically to man’s labor. Tithes are owed to God for His labor. But support for ministries are based upon man’s labor. The time will come when the Kingdom of God will be established with territories governed by stewards of God’s law who are of the Melchizedek Order. No doubt that is when tithes will become most relevant.
Dr. Stephen Jones has been writing blog posts since 2005 on a variety of topics from Bible Studies to World News, and he has been writing books since 1992. Dr. Jones' most important writings came after God brought him back into the full-time ministry in 1991. It is here that all his earlier years of searching the Scriptures began to come into clear focus. He combines a knowledge of the Old and New Testaments with a personal revelation of God that began and developed during the "wilderness" period of his life, which he often refers to as God's True Bible College... Read More
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