Noble, Wise, and Just

Noble, Wise, and Just
by Ronald W Robey
(written October 06, 2019)

Acts 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

A little over 8 years ago, I was voted out of a church for teaching what the Bible says about tithing. (it doesn’t say what many people are made to believe)

Context of Malachi 3:10 reveals that Malachi was calling for the tithes and offerings that were required by the Mosaic Law. (see Malachi 3:7; 4:4) He was calling for a return to God’s ordinances.

The fact that Malachi was calling for a return to God’s ordinances should cause people to look into the Pentateuch to ascertain exactly what God said concerning His commanded tithe. Malachi would not have called for any other tithe to be brought to the House of God than the tithe God decreed was to be brought. Nor would Malachi have told anyone who God expressly said were not to take their tithe to the House of God to tithe to the House of God. Therefore, two questions must be asked and the answers to those questions searched in the Scriptures:

1. What did God say was to be His tithe in the ordinances?
2. Who did God say was to tithe to the House of God in His ordinances?

When you search the Scriptures for the answer, as the men of Berea did in Acts 17:11, the answer to these questions may surprise you.

¹There are only 14 verses in the entire Bible that tell us the elements of God’s commanded tithe. God’s commanded tithe was to be

a) seed of the land. (Le. 27:30)
b) fruit of the tree. (Le. 27:30)
c) every tenth animal to pass under the rod. (Le 27:32)
d) corn. (De. 12:17)
e) wine. (De. 12:17)
f) oil. (De. 12:17)
g) seed. (De. 14:22)
h) corn. (De. 14:23)
i) wine. (De.14:23)
j) oil. (De.14:23)
k) oxen. (De. 14:26)
l) sheep. (De. 14:26)
m) wine. (De. 14:26)
n) strong drink. (De. 14:26)
o) oxen. (2 Ch. 31:6)
p) sheep. (2 Ch. 31:6)
q) tithes of our ground. (Ne. 10:37)
r) tithes out of the fields. (Ne. 12:44)
s) corn. (Ne. 13:5)
t) wine. (Ne. 13:5)
u) oil. (Ne. 13:5)
v) corn. (Ne. 13:12)
w) wine. (Ne. 13:12)
x) oil. (Ne. 13:12)
y) food. (Mal. 3:10)
z) mint. (Matt. 23:23)
aa) anise. (Matt. 23:23)
ab) cummin. (Matt. 23:23)
ac) mint. (Lu. 11:42)
ad) rue. (Lu. 11:42)
ae) herbs. (Lu. 11:42)

Therefore, Malachi would not have been calling for a tithe of man’s monetary income. He would not have told man to return to God’s ordinances in 3:7 and then told man to transgress the ordinances by bringing tithes that God never commanded.

² Numbers 18:21-22 & Nehemiah 10:29,37-38 reveal that the congregation was not to take tithes to the House of God. The congregation was to give the tithes of the land (Leviticus 27:30) to the Levites, (Numbers 18; Nehemiah 10) and the Levite was to take a tithe of the tithes he received to the House of God.

That’s right…not all the tithes of the congregation was to go to the House of God…only ten percent of ten percent was to be taken to the House of God. And only the Ministerial Staff of the House of God could take take that tithe of a tithe to the House of God…no one else!

Hosea 14:9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

To be noble is to search the Scriptures. To be wise is to understand the Scriptures instruct. To be just is to walk accordingly. If you are a member of the congregation and have not searched the Scriptures to ascertain what they say concerning God’s commanded tithe, and you are taking tithes to a building commonly referred to as “the House of God,” you are walking contrary to the noble, wise, and just.

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No Other Building

No Other Building
by Ronald W Robey
(written October 03, 2019)

Argument: “All your tithes and offerings belong to your local assembly, God’s storehouse, not sent to false prophets.”

Rebuttal: “I’ve yet to find the Scripture that says that “your local assembly is the storehouse where God’s tithe is to be taken.” Where is that verse?

Two important questions must be asked at this point:

1. If, as you allege, your local assembly is in fact the storehouse where God’s tithe is to be taken , why is what you allege to be God’s tithe not stored at your local assembly?

2. Why do you take what you allege to be “God’s tithe” to a bank where the pagans do business transactions instead of keeping it in what you allege to be “God’s storehouse”?

The only storehouse God approved for storing His tithe in the Bible was a three-tiered structure attached to the Temple in Jerusalem. God named no other building in the Bible as His tithe storehouse.

 

If the Government Criminalized the Monetary Tithe Requirement Doctrine

If the Government Criminalized the Monetary Tithe Requirement Doctrine
by Ronald W Robey
(written October 03, 2019)

According to the Bible, God’s commanded tithe is to be agricultural…not money. Therefore, monetary tithing should be considered to be a criminal offense.

According to Black’s Law Dictionary 8th Edition, ©2005 extortion is defined as “The obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right.”

Pastors are taking money from the members of the congregation, with the consent of the members, through the use of fear tactics, such as, (but not limited to) “God will get His money through Hospital bills”. They also claim “official right” to take tithes of the members. Therefore, the doctrine that “God requires that you give Him ten percent of your employment wages/government benefits/household income” is indeed an act of extortion that is being committed within the four walls of many religious institutions around the world today.

The punishment? Well, since the pastors rely on verses under the Law to bolster their doctrinal error, (Leviticus 27:30; Malachi 3:8-10; Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42) then a punishment from the same Law that his error was taught should be the proper punishment for the offending pastors…

Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
Leviticus 6:3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
Leviticus 6:4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
Leviticus 6:5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.
Leviticus 6:6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:

The offending pastors should be required to pay back the monies they extorted from their congregations at 20% interest for each offense.

Romans 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

 

Have Some Respect, Will You?

Have Some Respect, Will You?
by Ronald W Robey
(written September 30, 2019)

We should not pay tithes our own way. If we are going to submit to God’s command to tithe, we should be tithing God’s way…not our own way.

So, going by the way that the Bible says God’s tithe should be paid, then we must

1. inherit land in the land of Canaan. Numbers 18:21-26
2. move into the land of Canaan to live there as a citizen of that land. Deuteronomy 12:10-11
3. tithe only from agricultural crops, flocks, and herds in the land of Canaan. Leviticus 27:30,32
4. give our tithe to bloodline descendants of the biblical patriarch Levi, to widows, to the fatherless, and to foreigners in the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy 14:27-29; 26:12
5. Eat a tithe in Jerusalem at the end of every harvest. Deuteronomy 14:22-26

God never said in His word that pastors living outside of the land of Canaan are to be His Authorized Tithe Collection Representatives. Nor did God say in His word that church buildings erected outside of the land of Canaan are to be His Authorized Tithe Collection Agencies.

If we are going to insist that the word of God commands a tithe, then we should have the decency and respect for the God of the word to tithe in the manner that He decreed His tithe is to be observed.

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

 

Tithe Facts

Tithe Facts
by Ronald W Robey
(written September 29, 2019)

A careful study of the biblical texts on tithing will reveal that the tithe God commanded is not even supposed to be observed outside of the land of Israel.

Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.

Land?…What land?

Read Deuteronomy 12:10-11. The place to bring the tithes is in the land of Canaan. (called Israel today) Not in other geographical parts of the world.

Deuteronomy 12:10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
Deuteronomy 12:11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:

The “land” Leviticus 27:30 is referring to must be the land of Canaan. For, the children of Israel had been promised that land by God in Genesis 28:12-15 and Jacob vowed to tithe that land in Genesis 28:20-22.

That is why Leviticus 27:30 says the tithe of the land is “holy.” It was set apart by Jacob’s vow three hundred fifty years prior to the children of Israel moving into the land of Canaan.

Further, God’s tithe was to come from agriculture, not money. It was to come from “the seed of the land; the fruit of the tree; every tenth animal to pass under the rod. (see Leviticus 27:30,32)

Even Jesus Christ knew that His Father did not require man to tithe his monetary income/employment wages. Else He would not have told the apostles to use money gained to purchase a sword. (Luke 22:36) Nor would He have told the apostles to sell their possessions and give the money away as alms. (Luke 12:33)

Oh, and the command to bring the tithes into the storehouse? (Malachi 3:10) Malachi is not speaking to the congregation…the congregation is not even supposed to be tithing to the House of God. They were to keep the tithe in their farming communities and give the tithes to Levites who came to collect them. (see Numbers 18:21-22 & Nehemiah 10:29,37-38) Malachi was calling for a return to the ordinances of God. (Malachi 3:7) He would not have told the congregation to tithe to the House of God. The congregation tithing to the House of God would be breaking the ordinances that He had just said to return to.

So, who was Malachi speaking to? Malachi 1:1,6-7 & 2:1 hold the answer. He was speaking to the Priests. They had stolen the tithes and offerings. God was telling them to return them.

Pastors have no business preaching a monetary tithe requirement. Such a requirement is totally foreign to the pages of the Bible.

 

Unknown Tongues?…NOT!

Unknown Tongues?…NOT!
by Ronald W Robey
(written September 21, 2019)

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Acts 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Acts 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Acts 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Interpret 1 Corinthians 14:2 in light of the fact that the tongues given in Acts were known languages.

1 Corinthians 14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

The word “unknown” is in italics. Meaning, the word “unknown was not in the original text. The word “him” is also in italics. So, 1 Corinthians 14:2 actually reads:

“For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.”

The word “tongues” in Acts 2:4 and the word “tongue” in 1 Corinthians 14:2 are translated from the same Greek word, “glossa”. It means, “a language; one unnaturally acquired.” The tongue itself is not unnatural, it is the way it was acquired that was unnatural. They were speaking in tongues that were known languages, but they did not acquire them through study of the languages.

1 Corinthians 14:2 is not saying that tongues are an unknown language. When it says no man understandeth, it is speaking of how the person is able to speak in the tongue…just as those in Acts 2 did not understand how men who were not from their countries were able to speak their languages.

Acts 2:7 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
Acts 2:8 And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Acts 2:9 Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
Acts 2:10 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
Acts 2:11 Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

To say that the tongues mentioned in Acts 2 or 1 Corinthians 14 are an otherworldly language is grievous error.

 

No Tithes, No Heaven!

No Tithes, No Heaven
by Ronald W Robey
(written September 21, 2019)

“No Tithes, No Heaven!”

Imagine my shock when I was told this just a few house ago by a man who believes that we are required to tithe our money.

Let’s roll with the above statement made by the tither for just few moments, shall we?

Let’s just suppose that if the tither is correct that those who do not tithe will not enter Heaven…what then will become of those who do not tithe their money?

According to the tither,

“Not paying tithes = Transgressing God’s commandment”, and,
“Transgressing God’s commandment=sin”, and
“Wages of all sin=Hell fire”

Now, if this particular tither is correct that those who do not tithe end up in Hell, then we must conclude that Jesus Christ and His apostles must be in Hell and not in Heaven. After all, they did not tithe their monetary gain.

Notice:

Matthew 17:24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
Matthew 17:25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
Matthew 17:26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
Matthew 17:27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

What does the above text from the Gospel of Matthew say was done with the money gained from fishing? It was given to “they that received tribute money.” Who were “they that received tribute money”?

There are two streams of thought among the top Bible commentators:

1. “They that receive tribute money” is referring to Roman soldiers who occupied Jerusalem at the time, and the tribute was a Roman Tax imposed on the Israelites.

2. “They that receive tribute money” is referring to Jewish leaders and the tribute was the atonement offering commanded in Exodus 30:15-16…

“Exodus 30:15-16 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.

It is clear in that Jesus and His apostles did not give any of that money gained in Matthew 17:24-27 as tithe…they gave it either to Roman soldiers or to Jewish leaders. It was either a tax imposed by Caesar, or it was the required atonement offering commanded by God.

Conclusion: If we are going to Hell for not tithing money as claimed by the tither, then we will be in good company…Jesus and His apostles did not tithe their money either.