After reading chapter 14:
*Here we find a list of more dos and don'ts for the Israelites. Don't shave your head or cut yourself for the dead. Do eat ruminants, don't eat pigs. Don't even touch a dead pig. Do eat sea creatures that have both fins and scales. Do eat "clean" birds. Do not eat unclean birds, including bats. Do not eat flying insects that swarm, except the clean ones. Do not eat anything found dead, but you can give it to foreigners to eat. The difference is the Israelites are "holy." These regulations were also in Leviticus 11.
*Then there are the regulations for tithes, which is a tenth of everything produced. They get to eat the tithe at the designated place of worship. But if it is too far away, they trade the tithe in for silver, go to the place Yahweh designates for worship, buy food and drink, and have a party with their relatives, not forgetting to give something to the Levites. Every three years, the tithes are to be stored to provide food for the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. This is a bit different than the instructions for tithes in Leviticus 27, where it seems implied that the tithes are given to the priests, um the lord, not eaten themselves.
Showing posts with label tithing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tithing. Show all posts
Friday, January 22, 2016
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Leviticus 27
After reading Leviticus 27:
*I found this chapter a little confusing and had to read it multiple times, along with the study bible notes. Here is what it seems to be saying, at face value:
Things and people can be given (dedicated) to the lord by special vows. But the actual person or item doesn't have to be physically given, an amount of money equivalent to the gift can be given. Who do you think got the money? Did you say the priests? I'm thinking that would be a good guess. What would God do with money?
There are rules for each type of gift:
-A gift of a person (as though you can give people as gifts) is represented by a monetary amount based on their age and gender. The most valuable people were between twenty and sixty years of age. Young children were of the least value. Females were less valuable than males. Frankly, this appears to me to be a substitute for human sacrifice.
-A ceremonially clean animal gift to the lord is accepted outright and becomes holy.
-A ceremonially unclean animal gift to the lord must be presented to the priest who will judge it as good or bad. The priest will set a value for the animal. If the person wishes to give money in place of the animal, he must add a fifth to the value.
-A house dedicated to the lord is to be judged good or bad by the priest, who will set its value. If the person wishes to give money in place of the house, he must add a fifth to the value. It seems that, among other things, the priests would have controlled the market value of real estate.
-Family land dedicated to the lord is to have a monetary exchange value of the amount of seed it would take to plant on it, but only in the year of Jubilee. Its monetary value decreases during the years between Jubilees. The priests set the value, and if the person wishes to substitute money for the gift of land, he must add a fifth of the value. If he does not substitute money for the land, he doesn't get the land back at the Jubilee. It becomes holy land belonging to the priests, of course.
-Previously purchased, non-family land dedicated to the lord is valued by the priests according to how close to the Jubilee it is. In the year of the Jubilee it reverts to its family of origin.
-A first born animal may not be dedicated to the lord because it already belongs to him. If it happens to be unclean, he can buy it back at a fifth more than its value (determined by the priests) or the priests will sell it themselves.
The money used to redeem property is silver shekels. The standard is the sanctuary shekel.
Now, apparently, Devoting something to the lord is different than Dedicating something. People or property devoted to the lord cannot be redeemed monetarily. Everything devoted becomes holy, probably meaning it now belongs to the priests.
People devoted to destruction cannot be redeemed monetarily, they must be put to death. I take this to mean that anyone incurring the death penalty, because of breaking the aforementioned laws in Leviticus, cannot get out of their sentence by monetary redemption.
*Added to everything else, a tithe of everything that a person's land produces,of all food and livestock, must be given to the lord. (Read the priests) It can be monetarily redeemed by adding a fifth to its value, which was probably determined by the priests.
There ends the book probably written by priests, outlining laws, duties, responsibilities, plus priestly privileges and job benefits.
*I found this chapter a little confusing and had to read it multiple times, along with the study bible notes. Here is what it seems to be saying, at face value:
Things and people can be given (dedicated) to the lord by special vows. But the actual person or item doesn't have to be physically given, an amount of money equivalent to the gift can be given. Who do you think got the money? Did you say the priests? I'm thinking that would be a good guess. What would God do with money?
There are rules for each type of gift:
-A gift of a person (as though you can give people as gifts) is represented by a monetary amount based on their age and gender. The most valuable people were between twenty and sixty years of age. Young children were of the least value. Females were less valuable than males. Frankly, this appears to me to be a substitute for human sacrifice.
-A ceremonially clean animal gift to the lord is accepted outright and becomes holy.
-A ceremonially unclean animal gift to the lord must be presented to the priest who will judge it as good or bad. The priest will set a value for the animal. If the person wishes to give money in place of the animal, he must add a fifth to the value.
-A house dedicated to the lord is to be judged good or bad by the priest, who will set its value. If the person wishes to give money in place of the house, he must add a fifth to the value. It seems that, among other things, the priests would have controlled the market value of real estate.
-Family land dedicated to the lord is to have a monetary exchange value of the amount of seed it would take to plant on it, but only in the year of Jubilee. Its monetary value decreases during the years between Jubilees. The priests set the value, and if the person wishes to substitute money for the gift of land, he must add a fifth of the value. If he does not substitute money for the land, he doesn't get the land back at the Jubilee. It becomes holy land belonging to the priests, of course.
-Previously purchased, non-family land dedicated to the lord is valued by the priests according to how close to the Jubilee it is. In the year of the Jubilee it reverts to its family of origin.
-A first born animal may not be dedicated to the lord because it already belongs to him. If it happens to be unclean, he can buy it back at a fifth more than its value (determined by the priests) or the priests will sell it themselves.
The money used to redeem property is silver shekels. The standard is the sanctuary shekel.
Now, apparently, Devoting something to the lord is different than Dedicating something. People or property devoted to the lord cannot be redeemed monetarily. Everything devoted becomes holy, probably meaning it now belongs to the priests.
People devoted to destruction cannot be redeemed monetarily, they must be put to death. I take this to mean that anyone incurring the death penalty, because of breaking the aforementioned laws in Leviticus, cannot get out of their sentence by monetary redemption.
*Added to everything else, a tithe of everything that a person's land produces,of all food and livestock, must be given to the lord. (Read the priests) It can be monetarily redeemed by adding a fifth to its value, which was probably determined by the priests.
There ends the book probably written by priests, outlining laws, duties, responsibilities, plus priestly privileges and job benefits.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Genesis chapter 28
After reading chapter 28:
*Because Rebekah did not want Jacob to marry a Hittite woman, Isaac sent Jacob, with his blessing, to Laban to chose a wife from among his cousins. When Esau heard about this, he realized his parents didn't like Canaanite women, so he took another wife. This time it was his cousin Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael.
*On his journey, Jacob stopped for the night to sleep. He had a vivid dream of angels going up and down a stairway to heaven ( the sky ). Yahweh, whom no one has ever seen, stood at the top and spoke, renewing the promises he had made to Abraham and Isaac of giving the land to his descendants and blessing the earth through them.
*When Jacob awoke, he thought the dream must have been real because people took dreams very seriously back then. Not like today, when we know dreams are just our own random subconscious thoughts. He believed that spot was the gateway to heaven and named it Beth-el which means house of God. Then he made a vow that if God helped him accomplish his goal and return safely, the stone pillar he set up would be God's house (as if a God needs a house) and he would give him a tenth of everything he owned. The question is: What would God do with all that stuff?
*When Jacob awoke, he thought the dream must have been real because people took dreams very seriously back then. Not like today, when we know dreams are just our own random subconscious thoughts. He believed that spot was the gateway to heaven and named it Beth-el which means house of God. Then he made a vow that if God helped him accomplish his goal and return safely, the stone pillar he set up would be God's house (as if a God needs a house) and he would give him a tenth of everything he owned. The question is: What would God do with all that stuff?
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Genesis chapter 14
After reading chapter 14:
*It came to pass that there was a lot of fighting between a bunch of small kingdoms from the hill country to the desert to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea). There were so many kings that they must have been more like chieftains.
* With a few exceptions, evidence of most of the people and place names in this chapter has been found nowhere outside religious sources. This includes Sodom and Gomorrah.
*It is interesting to find Amalekites here because Amalek was a descendant of Esau, Abram's grandson who isn't born yet.
*Lot and his household were living in Sodom at this time, and were captured by Sodom's opposition. Abram was still living in Hebron and had some allies in the area. He got together his own army, chased down Lot's captors, and retrieved him and his possessions.
*Abram returns in glory and is met by a few kings, not the least of whom is Melchizedek, the special king of Salem, priest of El. Melchizedek brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram. Abram gives him a tenth of everything. Here we see the introduction of tithing.
*Abram apparently brought back spoils of war, but keeps nothing for himself because he does not want it to be said that he is a beneficiary of Sodom.
*It came to pass that there was a lot of fighting between a bunch of small kingdoms from the hill country to the desert to the Salt Sea (Dead Sea). There were so many kings that they must have been more like chieftains.
* With a few exceptions, evidence of most of the people and place names in this chapter has been found nowhere outside religious sources. This includes Sodom and Gomorrah.
*It is interesting to find Amalekites here because Amalek was a descendant of Esau, Abram's grandson who isn't born yet.
*Lot and his household were living in Sodom at this time, and were captured by Sodom's opposition. Abram was still living in Hebron and had some allies in the area. He got together his own army, chased down Lot's captors, and retrieved him and his possessions.
*Abram returns in glory and is met by a few kings, not the least of whom is Melchizedek, the special king of Salem, priest of El. Melchizedek brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram. Abram gives him a tenth of everything. Here we see the introduction of tithing.
*Abram apparently brought back spoils of war, but keeps nothing for himself because he does not want it to be said that he is a beneficiary of Sodom.
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