Kleptomaniac

Let’s critically examine Leviticus 27:30-33. From the Scripture, we can extrapolate that the tithe refers to agricultural products (seed of the land and fruit of the tree), herds and flocks. Now, the text does not say 10 percent of the herds or flocks. It says the tenth animal that passed under the shepherd’s rod is the tithe, not the first tenth as is common in tithe teaching today. The message coming from pulpits every time the church doors open is that the first tenth of your check belongs God, but when you examine the tithe verses in Leviticus and the entire Bible, God never says that. Since farmers and cattle herders tithed in Israel, make sure you understand that Yahweh meant what he said about the tenth animal. If a cattle herder had less than nine cattle in a birth cycle, whether sheep, bulls, or goats, they did not tithe because God wanted the tenth animal from the increase not the ninth. Herders tithed only the tenth animal whether its condition was good or bad. The Bible says God would accept the eleventh animal if the herder thought the tenth did not meet the standard. Despite the condition of the tenth animal, it became the tithe; it could not be exchanged for another animal because the tenth animal was holy unto the Lord. Israel paid a tithe on an increase and never on a decrease. For example, if you have nine sheep and during the birth cycle, those sheep would need to give birth to ten or more calves to tithe on the increase. If you had less than ten, you did not tithe. When you examine the Jewish Mishnah, which is a compilation of Jewish oral traditions called the Oral Law, the text reveals that whatsoever is kept watch over, cultivated, and grows from the soil; whatever is used for food (excluding unclean) is what is tithed. The tenth sheep, the tenth goat, the tenth bull was the tithe, not 10 percent. Remember if a herdsman had nine cattle, he didn’t tithe because the tenth animal that passed under the rod belonged to God as the tithe despite its condition.