KLEPTOMANIAC is a journey into the annuals of biblical history concerning what the Bible teaches about tithing and giving. This book will take you on the proverbial archeological quest to uncover the true meaning of biblical words that deal with money. When confusion exists about what certain words mean in the Bible, such as tithe, tithing, tenth or ten percent, this book will examine the Hebrew and Greek language to bring to life what these words actually mean in context. This book will upend the common beliefs held by believers concerning giving and tithing based on the history of the original people of the Bible and how they related to money. From the very beginning to the end of the book, everything is supported by Scripture and research. You will know from the onset why the author, Dr. Frank Chase Jr., wrote the book and learn about his personal story of what happened as a result of embracing New Covenant giving principles from the New Testament. No book asks questions like this book. And some of those questions are: does the Bible talk about tithing? Did God change the tithe at some point in biblical history? Are first fruits money? Is the tithe food or money? Is the church the storehouse? Did Jesus, Paul and the Disciples tithe? Did the early church honor a money tithe system? Are Christians really cursed for not tithing ten percent of their income?
Frank Chase, Jr. was born in 1959. He is the son of Frank Chase and Romaine Berry. He grew up in Baltimore Md. and graduated from Walbrook High School in 1978. After high school, Frank spent four years in the United States Army and during that time became a follower of the Messiah. After completing his tour of duty, he attended Washington State University (WSU) and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Sociology. Because Frank believes in education, he pursued religious degrees and graduated from North Carolina College of Theology with a Bachelor of Biblical Studies, a Master of Arts in Theology, and a Doctor of Theology. You can follow is blog at http://tithenomore.com and the ebook is available on now on Book Baby and the paperback June 1st at https://store.bookbaby.com/book/kleptomaniac. For signed copies go to the Author's website at https://www.fcpublishing.com
In teaching that tithing is required for believers, tithe teachers avoid teaching about Jacob’s tithe proposal because the text blows up modern tithe teachings in church today. The problem is, if Jacob is used as proof text to support monetary tithing, then pastors have to prove whether Jacob offered a tithe to God as a burnt offering, gave it to a Melchizedek priest, gave it in the name to of the Lord to someone, the poor or disposed of it in some way. The smoking gun is that Jacob never tithed but bargained with God to tithe conditionally only after God would fulfill his requests. So if you tithe because you feel conscience-stricken if you don’t, you need not to be convinced that you don’t have to before you stop in faith. Otherwise, you will sin against your conscience and walk in condemnation. Jacob promise to give a tenth was based on 4 conditions in Genesis 28:20-22. Jacob’s conditional tenth was based on what he told God in the “if” statements as he negotiated with God about giving a tenth. His whole motive for offering the tenth is based on fear and he said he would never pay the tenth unless God met his conditions.
Book Excerpt
Kleptomaniac
Jacob’s tithe proposal is a weapon of mass destruction to all mandatory tithe arguments heralded from pulpits around the world. Jacob’s tithe pattern would not fly today. Congregants or individual believers who tithe based on God meeting conditions of a vow before they hand over a tithe might get thrown out of their churches. Jacob’s tithe bargain with God is not based on faith but fear. If tithe teachers showed you Jacob’s “if” statements in the Scripture, the aftermath could destroy the entire modern tithing system. To prove that a specific tithing instruction existed as an eternal moral universal principal from the Lord prior to the law, tithe proponents must answer the following question: why did Jacob include the “if” clause in his contract with Yahweh if he were required to tithe? If you look at Jacob’s proposal closely, it seems like a slight to God’s law. Why would Jacob bargain with God’s tithe instructions if a mandatory universal tithe law existed? The only argument that can be made about Jacob is that his grandfather, Abram, informed him of the tithe. The text shows that Jacob offered to give a tenth to God; however, not from the perspective of worship; it was to buy protection and safety from his brother, Esau, who vowed in anger to kill him. Aren’t people paying the tithe today to buy protection from God’s curses albeit out of context?
The Fear Factor
There is scriptural evidence that suggests fear motivated Jacob to offer God a tenth. Author, Tony Badillo, explains the fear factor regarding Jacob’s offer of a tenth. As you read further, I will highlight some of his arguments from his book, Tithing: God’s Command or Man’s Demand. Jacob’s vow at Bethel is discussed in the section called, “Jacob’s Tithe: A Vow at Bethel And His Terror of Esau?”31
Stories Jacob heard from his father, Isaac, about his grandfather, Abram, could have motivated him to offer a tenth as payment for protection from Esau’s revenge. Jacob offered a tenth as a matter of expedience to obtain the promised inheritance. However, Jacob did not need to do that because God’s promise to bless him was final and not conditional. It would have been passed down to him from Abram. We know Jacob stole his brother’s birthright by disguising himself as the first son. Esau’s response, in today’s language, could have gone like this, “Brother, we will be cool during our father’s funeral. But after the burial and mourning for the appropriate number of days, I’m going to kill you for stabbing me in the back and stealing my blessing from our father!” Genesis 27:41-43 say:
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran…” (NKJV).
It is clear Esau had a grudge about what happened. Jacob’s mother sent him to live with his uncle, Laban, to escape Esau’s wrath. We know Jacob feared Esau for twenty years and later in life they reconciled their differences. The story shows Jacob showering his brother with gifts as a way to make amends for what he stole from him. The text is clear about Jacob’s fear in Genesis 32:7-9, 11:
So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.” Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children….” (NKJV).
No one reading about Jacob’s tithe can explain it away as nonsense because the Scriptures speak for themselves. When you look at Jacob’s vow to give a tenth at Bethel in Genesis 28:20-22, it is fear based. Jacob’s own words in Genesis 35:3 proves this point:
Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way, which I have gone.
As you can see, Jacob’s distress and fear of Esau motivated his actions and there is no way around it. Jacob made a deal with Yahweh by offering the tenth/tithe to buy protection and safety from his brother. Jacob’s promise to give a tenth amounted to telling Yahweh to put up or shut up. In Genesis 28:20-21, the text reads, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God…” (NKJV).
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