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Tithing: should I/do I have to?

I'm biblical christian & try to stick to commandments of the bible from YHWH. Tell me what y'all think. do you think I have to tithe? do you think that I'm free to do so on my own merit?
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hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
Tithing s part of the law and has no place in the church. Rather you should give to the church with love offerings as that LORD has blessed you so give out of love. However the church should not be your only love offering. Give also to those less fortunate than you as unto the LORD. Oh and have a blessed day.
DarlingLinds · 41-45, F
@hippyjoe1955 christ said give to God what belongs to God.
hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
@DarlingLinds What was the context in which Jesus spoke? Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto God that which is God's. Does God need you taxes (tighes)?
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@hippyjoe1955
What was the context in which Jesus spoke? Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar and unto God that which is God's. Does God need you taxes (tighes)?

How do you think the Levites got to live a life of comfort and ease without doing any work? Moses said that the common people had to give them the best food and a percentage of their money as well as pay them fees for all kinds of things, such as when they had a new donkey colt or a child. The Moses character was a master extortionist and the big wigs in all religions have been using his techniques for thouands of years.
hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
@Diotrephes You would have to prove that those rules came from Moses and not some greedy Cohen who wanted the best for himself.
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@hippyjoe1955
You would have to prove that those rules came from Moses and not some greedy Cohen who wanted the best for himself.

Well, they are part of the real Ten Commandments. The God character told Moses that he would write them again on the new set of stone tablets that Moses chisled out and lugged up the mountain. However, when Moses got up the mountain, Moses ended up writing them. God must have had a sore finger from doing it the first time.
hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
@Diotrephes the Decalogue does not mention tithing.
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@hippyjoe1955
the Decalogue does not mention tithing.

I refer you to the 4th Commandment =

Exodus 34:20 (CEV) = "19 The first-born males of your families and of your flocks and herds belong to me.

20 You can save the life of a first-born donkey[a] by sacrificing a lamb; if you don't, you must break the donkey's neck. You must save every first-born son.

Bring an offering every time you come to worship."

Numbers 18:25-27 (CEV) = 25 The Lord told Moses 26 to say to the Levites:

When you receive from the people of Israel ten percent of their crops and newborn animals, you must offer a tenth of that to me. 27 Just as the Israelites give me part of their grain and wine, you must set aside part of what you receive

Genesis 14:20 (CEV) = All praise belongs to God Most High for helping you defeat your enemies.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=tithes&version=NKJV
hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
@Diotrephes Sorry but the 4th commandment is about keeping the Sabbath. Nothing to do with first born or bringing gifts to worship. Once again we can not prove who wrote Exodus in part or in whole. Some would say that the parts you quote are from later additions to the writings of Moses since they reference much more established worship (temple).
Diotrephes · 70-79, M
@hippyjoe1955
Sorry but the 4th commandment is about keeping the Sabbath. Nothing to do with first born or bringing gifts to worship. Once again we can not prove who wrote Exodus in part or in whole. Some would say that the parts you quote are from later additions to the writings of Moses since they reference much more established worship (temple).

I have explained this issue multiple times. All you hve to do is take some time to read it for yourself. So, get a pen and some sheets of papers and start reading at Exodus chapter 19 and continue till the end of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 19 just sets the stage for what follows. And, as you read summarize every few verses in your own words.

You wil see that the commandments in Exodus chapter 20 were verbal and were not written on the stone tablets or called the Ten Commandments. Some Bible versions do headline the verses as the ten Commandments but they are fake.

As you read you will see that Moses did a lot of yakking and going up and down the mountain like a mountain goat. He got all kinds of fashion and decorating tips.

You will get to Exodus 31:18 before he gets the stone tablets written by the finger of God. Of course Moses got ticked off when the people wanted to exercise freedom of religion so he smashed the tablets and had his minions kill about three thousand men (they didn't count the women and children).

In Exodus chapter 33 God and Moses kiss and make up and in Exodus chapter 34 god told moses to chip out some new tablets and lug them up the mountain for a rewrite.

This is where you need to pay attention. Exodus 34:10 establishes the basis for the miracles. The real Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 34:11-26 and verse 28 plainly states that those are the damn Ten Commandments. If you pay attention to the biblical stories you will see that all of them in the Old and New Testament illustrate one or more of the real Ten Commandments. The writers did a very clever job in doing that.

The purpose of the stories is to act as a quiz so tha the listener, or reader, can identify which of the real Ten Commandments the stories are about. That's why the stories themselves sometimes are illogical. They are merely mnemonic devices.
hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M
@Diotrephes What you have to realize is that the book of Exodus seems to have had multiple authors all of which were attributed to Moses. The decalogue is the Ten Commandments were given to Moses on the Mount but to assume that the order of the first born came at the same time seems a bit silly as does the idea of bringing gifts to worship. Much of that only makes sense after there was a temple which there was not at the time of the Ten Commandments. So either Moses was speaking of a time 400 years in the future or else someone else added that little bit and then said the Moses said that. Did it come from Moses? Maybe but it seems more logical to say that it was a later addition attributed to Moses much like the sayings of Mohammed did not all come from Mohammed. Things get added as time progresses. People wandering in the wilderness wearing clothes that never wore out are not too likely to be concerned about the fiber content of their clothes but the law stipulates that they were not to mix the fibers. Was that rule written by Moses or was it a later addition?
All that completely aside the fact is that we Christians are not bound by those rules. They were removed from us so we can look on them as curious things that no longer apply to us. We can mix our fibers. We can eat any food we desire. We are not bound to tithe. We do not go to the Temple once a year to celebrate Passover. We don't celebrate the New Moon festivals or even have to keep the Sabbath. Christianity is a very different world view than is Judaism.