Tithe teachers keep repeating that Christians are supposed to tithe from their "gross" income instead of "net" income.
For those who do not know the difference between gross and net incomes:
Gross income is the salary amount you get before your taxes, the total salary including the tax that you owe to the federal, state and local tax collecting agencies. Net income is your "take home" income, that is the total amount minus the tax amount.
Let us see how various people tithed or promised to tithe or supposed to tithe in Biblical times
1) Abraham (Abram's) Tithe:
a) Did Abram' tithe from the "gross" total of the war spoils?
Hebrews 7:4 declares that Abram tithed from the "best of the spoils". So it was neither from gross nor net.
ἀκροθινίων (akrothiniōn) - Strong # 205 - Best of the spoils in Koine Greek!
b) Was it from gross?
According to Genesis 14:24, the 318 young men who accompanied Abram in his expedition to rescue his nephew Lot, had ALREADY EATEN during their return journey before Abram gave tithes to Melchizadek. Therefore Abram did not set "tithes" apart first and even allowed his young soldiers to eat from the spoils for war before tithing. Obviously Abram's tithe was not from gross.
Genesis 14:24 - Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
2) Jacob's Tithe:
Genesis 28:20-22 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
a) Here Jacob makes a conditional vow that he would tithe if he returns back to Isaac safely, so if Jacob had actually kept his promise, he would have tithed after 20 years after come back to his father Isaac. So during his stay with Laban, Jacob did not tithe nor did he promised to tithe in the first place.
b) Jacob sent the following to his brother Esau before he could reach Canaan.
200 female goats
20 male goats
200 ewes
20 rams
30 Milking Camels & their colts
40 cows
10 bulls
20 female donkeys
10 male donkeys
Therefore Jacob sent his presents to Esau BEFORE he could have tithed, hence it was not from gross.
Genesis 28:13 - 18 | 13 So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.” 17 He commanded the one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’”
The above 2 examples were individuals tithing based on their own free will and they were description of tithing events.
Description Does Not Equal To Prescription
Let us see if God had commanded Jews to tithe from gross or net from the prescribed tithes:
The following commandments in the Torah makes it abundantly clear that Jews were even forbidden to bring the "gross" agricultural tithe!!!! Also the poor were supposed to get their share before tithes were even set apart!
Leviticus 19:9
'Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest.
Leviticus 19:10
Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 23:22
"'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the LORD your God.'"
Deuteronomy 24:19
When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
Deuteronomy 24:20
When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
Ruth 2:2
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter."
When it comes to Animal tithe:
The 10th domestic animal that passed under the rod became the tithe animal. What if a Jewish herdsman had 9 cows - zero cows were tithed. What if a herdsman had 19 goats, only 1 goat was tithed!
Leviticus 27:32 - 'For every tenth part of herd or flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD.'
No Separation of Church and State In Those Days:
The nation of Israel was not a democracy when it was established. It was originally established as a Theocracy where there was no separation of church and state and the ancient Jewish religion was supposed to be the official state religion. Even it was not God original intention to have Kings for His people because God Himself wanted to be the King of Israel.
Now a significant portion of tax payer money (in certain first world countries) is being spent in public work projects, helping the poor and for the common good. Therefore Christians who pay taxes faithfully (yes, we are supposed to) are already contributing in helping the poor indirectly. (Please do not make this political, we also know that the tax payer money is also spent on various ungodly causes, but the point is to highlight that there was no separation of the Church and the State in those day).
In The New Testament:
I Corinthians 6:19 - Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
It is not 10% that belongs to God, but 100% - ALL of our finances, ALL of our time, ALL of our talents & ALL of our resources belong to God in the New Testament. Any one who thinks that 10% belongs to God and 90% belongs to themselves, has not become a disciple of Jesus yet.
Luke 14:26 - "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
..... "Even his own life".... Hmmm.....
2 Timothy 2:6 - The farmer that labors must be first partaker of the fruits.
Christians, don't be fooled by money hungry tithe teachers, when they say that we are supposed to tithe from gross income, it means they want more money from you for their own purposes!
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