The Ohio Independent Baptist, November 1963

the p rog ram He has • given to the churches :,And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the tree. is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD." - Lev. 27.30 ..£,,er)' man according a he pur– po eth in hi heart, so let him give; not grudging!}\ or of necessity, for God love th a cheerful giver .. ' - II Cor. 9 :7 A little Chri tian girl had ten new pennie given to her. ' 'This " he said , la)·ing aside one, "is for Jesu ; and this is for you Mother; and this for Father ;., and so on to the last one. ' 'And this is for J esu ," she said. '"But,' ' said her mother, ·'you have alreadv oiven one to Jesus " "'Yes ' ' ., 0 • ' aid the child. "but that belonged to Him. this is a present.,. If this Scriptural principle were carried out, how much more would be found in the Lord's treasury. God alwa1 s has a program. H e alwa:" s uses the same method to finance H is program. His method is adequate. From the call of Abraham until Pentecost. H is program was Israel. To His Chosen people He gave the Tabernacle and later the Temple. He chose the tribe of Le\ 1 i to be His full time servants. Page 4, NOVEMBER 1963 . s . oon a the Tabernacle wa et tip, the tribe of Levi wa nun1bered. ··Fron1 30 year and upward even L1nto 50 year old, every one that can1e to do the ervice of the mini try . . . were 8,580." um. 4:47-48. ' 4 mong the children of Israel they hall have no inheritance." Num. l :24. God had a method of pro– viding their u pport. Let u study it. The fi rstborn ... ' ' IT IS MINE' ' "Sanoitify unto me all the firstborn . . . it i mine." Ex. 13: 2. This an– nouncement came after the fir t pas... - over. "There was not a hou e where there wa not one dead." Ex. 12:30. Either the fir tborn died or the lamb became its sub titute in death. So God purchased the "firstborn ' as He purchased you by ' the blood of the Lamb'. ' 'The Levites SHALL BE MINE'' Num. 3:45 "For all the first born of the child– ren of Israel are MINE ... I sancti– fied them for myself. I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn . . . ' um. 8:1 7-1 8. God chose a tribe as a substitute for the firstborn by His own Sovereign will. His choice now became His responsibility. How could He provide the support for 8 580 men with families, at a moment's notice? God already had His method! ' 'All the Tithe of the land . . . IS THE LORD'SJ' - Lev. 27:30 · Is, is present tense! In God's Etern– al present, is is always present tense. God could do as He desired with His money. Hi s provi ion was made be– fore His need was apparent. Here is the rule of first mention. Our Lord has money to pend, de ignated money! ''I have GIVEN ALL THE TITHE to the Levi thes' ' - Num. 18:21 8,580 Levites were chosen, conse– crated ( um. 8) and ready to serve in the T abernacle. They were to have no inheritance in the LAND. There– fore God must have a means to support them. God was prepared! The means was the tithe of the children of Israel. By Llewellyn Thompson "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." Lev. 27: 30. ' 'And be– hold I have given the children of Levi ALL THE TENTH is I srael ... for their ervice which they serve ... ' ' Num. 18:21. It hall be a statute f orever throughout your gener– ation . um. 18: 23. It wa a marvel– ous provision. T he Levites were sup– ported by the LORD who chose them. As long a the children of Israel were obedient and brought ALL the TITHE into the LORD'S treasury the Levites were well cared for. eh. 13: 10. This supplied all the servants need in Gods program for Israel. Of course, it all pointed to Our Lord J e us Christ. To summarize thus far we clearly ee outlined in the Word of God His method of finance until Calvary. The firstborn ''is mine". "I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn.' ' The tithe is the LORD'S. ' 'I have given all the tithe to the Levites." This is a clear teaching indeed. Would it not be wonderful if we could find a clear teaching in the New Testament that would care for H is cho en servants today? The Bible Basis for the Tithe This is stated in Lev. 25:23. "The LAND shall not be sold forever ; for the LA D IS MINE." This is al o stated in Ex. 19: 5. ' 'The earth is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof." P a. 24: 1. In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.' ' Gen. 1: 1. The LA D "i mine" by right of creation. Here is the ba is by which God charge the tithe, one tenth to every per on who live on the earth. From Gene i to Revelation the principle hold true ' ' the 1and i mine . "All the tithe of the LA D . . . i the LORD'S." Therefore all who fail to "pay' ' the tithe to God, break God' command. Notice L ev. 27: 30. Here i the way The OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST