Part one in a loose, non-chronological series, this episode of The Spirit of the Law focuses on tithing and how it is to be represented today.
Other videos in this series:
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I’ll start out by saying we have touched on this subject in The Covenant Law of Yah Part 8, so please watch that video in full if you haven’t already. This video will be a companion to that one, so that a bigger picture can form regarding this subject. Also, as stated in John 4:24,
24 Elohim is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
—John 4
For this reason, Kingdom Preppers mainly focuses on the Spirit of the Law, which is a theme you’ll see running through many of our materials. This video will act as the first in a loose series that will be served non-chronologically. Also, these videos will come when they come, and I have no idea how many will fill the series ultimately, but all these videos will be focused on Torah. That said, first up is:
THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW PART 1: TITHING
Let’s start out by establishing the fact that none of Yah’s laws can ever be “done away with.” Not one of them. Yah and his law are inseparable, meaning, he is his law. His character is the very basis for his law, as we’ve stated before. Therefore, he keeps his own law, which is why we see Yah resting on the Sabbath in Genesis 2:2. This is also repeated in Exodus 31:17. On the other hand, while his laws are never “done away with,” some of his laws lay dormant when all the parameters required to observe those particular laws are no longer in place. For instance, all the laws that pertain to the temple service only apply when a temple is present.
The same can be said of the priests who officiate in that temple. If Levitical priests are absent, the laws surrounding the temple cannot be fulfilled because there is no one to fulfill them. This is also true of the laws pertaining to the Levitical priests themselves. In their absence, all those laws remain dormant. But if there is a true spiritual representation that a particular law points to, then the requirements of that law only fall on their spiritual representation, which is true of both the temple and priesthood.
Both sets of laws have their fulfillment in heaven, where Yah’s true temple is, as pictured throughout the book of Revelation. This is also where the Melchizedek priesthood resides, with Yeshua as High Priest of that order. These laws are all fulfilled and observed there, not on earth, but they are not, as some would say, “done away with.” They are merely dormant on earth. The same goes for the laws surrounding sacrifice, which were part of the temple service. Those have also been transferred to the true spiritual representation that is Yeshua. That brings us to the law of tithing.
As stated in The Covenant Law of Yah Part 8, “Tithing always involved that which could be grown or birthed, that is, people, livestock, and crops of the field. And this included secondary products that could be produced from these things, such as grain, wine, and oil, etc.” Understanding that tithing consisted of things that can be birthed or grown and that are yielded from the earth, and that it was also to support the Levitical priesthood, what arguments can be raised to refute these truths?
Also, where are the Levites today? And even if they were found, what does that matter when there is no temple present on earth, and the priesthood itself has been transferred to that of Melchizedek, whose High Priest is Yahushua? If tithing mainly involved what could be grown or birthed, or what was yielded from what was grown, why are we still discussing currency, which is not real money?*
*(See our documentary The Economy of Yah for more on this).
In fact, the exception to the tithing law involving money is found in Deuteronomy 14, where the tithe was allowed to be converted into actual money (not currency) due to long journeys to celebrate feasts. There we read:
24 “Now when Yah your Elohim blesses you with a good harvest, the place of worship he chooses for his name to be honored might be too far for you to bring the tithe. 25 If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds, put the money in a pouch, and go to the place Yah your Elohim has chosen.
—Deuteronomy 14
Now this makes sense, seeing that traveling with a tithe from your flocks and herds may prove difficult, and expensive. It would be far easier to convert that tithe to silver or gold in preparation to buy the replacement representation of your tithe once you arrive at the place of worship. Continuing we read:
26 When you arrive, you may use the money to buy any kind of food you want—cattle, sheep, goats, wine, or other alcoholic drink. Then feast there in the presence of Yah your Elohim and celebrate with your household.
—Deuteronomy 14
Once at the place of worship, the money is then used to purchase back your tithe portion, which, in this particular instance—according to the law—was to be used by you, the tithe giver, along with your household, and not just the Levitical priests. But they weren’t to be neglected either. A portion of food was to go to them.
27 And do not neglect the Levites in your town, for they will receive no allotment of land among you.
—Deuteronomy 14
Now, are we in the land of promise? And are any visible Levites around? But again, even if they were, we are under the order of Melchizedek now. But besides that, do you see what the tithe, converted to money, was used to purchase? Food for a household. And the tithe also fed the Levites.
That, in a nutshell, was what tithe was mainly for. Food. That is exactly what Deuteronomy 18:1 says.
1 “Remember that the Levitical priests—that is, the whole of the tribe of Levi—will receive no allotment of land among the other tribes in Israel. Instead, the priests and Levites will eat from the special gifts given to Yah, for that is their share.”
—Deuteronomy 18
THE SPIRIT OF THIS LAW
We have to understand that the law is to be lived at its ultimate level, and that is spiritually, not with greater emphasis on the letter, particular as concerns laws that have since taken on spiritual application, like everything involving the temple, priests, sacrifices, etc. Today, tithing can and should be seen from a spiritual standpoint. But how is it truly represented today? For the answer to that, we have to approach the question using the rule of Isaiah 8:20, piecing together Scripture “one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there.”
According to the full view of redemption and its overall plan, how Yah has structured the system of salvation, and how he views those who are to be saved, a primary concept frames everything. Starting in Genesis, the very first man Yah brought forth was given a particular occupation:
5 . . . for Yah Elohim had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
—Genesis 2
8 Yah Elohim planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
—Genesis 2
9 Out of the ground Yah Elohim caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food. . . .
—Genesis 2
15 Then Yah Elohim took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
—Genesis 2
1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. . . . 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
—Genesis 4
What do we see here? First, Yah’s main concern for his new creation was placing someone over it to cultivate the ground. He himself planted a garden, which shows us one of his occupations. His creation, Adam, begins to cultivate and keep the garden within which he is placed, following in Yah’s footsteps. Then his firstborn son, Cain, is taught the very thing he was downloaded with: tilling the ground. So farming is the chief occupation in Yah’s eyes. It frames everything. Yeshua’s parables of the Kingdom and salvation were bursting at the seams with analogies concerned with farming:
3 He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: "Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. . . .”
—Matthew 13
18 Then Yeshua said, “What is the Kingdom of Elohim like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden. . . .”
—Luke 13
1 Then Yeshua began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. . . .”
—Mark 12
And so forth, and so on. Remember that Yeshua was the firstborn of Yah, and, as with all firstborn sons, they were to learn directly from their fathers, which is why we see Cain adopting the occupation of Adam. Yeshua, being Yah’s firstborn, says this:
15 “. . . for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”
—John 15
His father is primarily a farmer, hence Yeshua’s many farming parables, for he is a farmer also. But being that the father is the chief farmer, Yeshua himself, as the main component in the overall plan of redemption, is also part of Yah’s crop, hence his designation as: “Yeshua Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,” according to Revelation 1:5. That makes him the wave sheaf, or first fruit from Yah’s coming great harvest of resurrected souls. Whereas, the 144,000 will be the first fruits among the living, as pictured in Revelation 14:4.
The farming framework that surrounds the plan of redemption and salvation itself is why we get this definitive language in Revelation 14:15:
15 And another heavenly messenger came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
—Revelation 14
The entire earth will be, “harvested.” This is farming language, and the great farmers are Yah and Yeshua. But the beauty of it is: we are the great crop. That is not to say that all of us will be saved; it just means we’ll all be harvested. Remember,
38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the heavenly messengers. 40 Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his heavenly messengers, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 And the heavenly messengers will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
—Matthew 13
Now concerning Israel, remember too that the entire nation, that is all 12 tribes, were to function as a kingdom of priests to the rest of the world. See our scripture study video A Kingdom of Priests for more on this. In other words, the Levites filled a role in Israel that Israel was itself to fill in the entire earth, but failed to. That will all be fixed when Yeshua sets up his kingdom and returns the nation of Israel to its rightful position. But only a remnant will form this Kingdom:
22 But though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant of them will return. Yah has rightly decided to destroy his people.
—Isaiah 10
While the Levites functioned as a kind of tithe to Yah, being a special treasure within a special treasure:
14 In this way, you will set the Levites apart from the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites will belong to me.
—Numbers 8
. . . The same way the remnant from all 12 tribes will function as Yah’s tithe. And remember what tithe was primarily for. It was to do what? Feed people. At the highest spiritual level, the Levites were to feed the people of Israel with the law and with their service. And they were also fed by the law. That is what the food that was set aside as tithe really represented. But the entire nation of Israel was to feed the entire world, which is exactly what will happen during the millennium. Yeshua himself told his disciple, Peter, to:
17 “Feed my sheep.”
—John 21
And he wasn’t referring to physical food.
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Elohim.’ ”
—Matthew 4
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Yeshua, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But Yeshua replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” 33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. 34 Then Yeshua explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of Elohim, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
—John 4
This all ties in to what is being said here.
Essentially, tithing now involves giving back to Yah of ourselves, in the form of talent, abilities, service, time, energy, and whatever he has blessed us with, in order to spread his truth and the Good News message to the four corners. And, since you yourself are now a tithe to Yah, this should come free of charge as dictated by these verses:
1 “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. 3 “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.”
—Isaiah 55
20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of Elohim with money!”
—Acts 8
15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of Elohim. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no Elohim in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.” 16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as Yah lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused.
—2 Kings 5
16 “I am told that you can give interpretations and solve difficult problems. If you can read these words and tell me their meaning, you will be clothed in purple robes of royal honor, and you will have a gold chain placed around your neck. You will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.” 17 Daniel answered the king, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means.”
—Daniel 5
7 “Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”
—Matthew 10
These principles are also highlighted in the List of Kingdom Preparedness series, particularly part 4, which I encourage you to watch in addition to the other videos referenced herein. That said, we choose to live and function according to Kingdom principles here, so that is why you are able to enjoy everything on our website free of charge, including downloads of certain items. And it is also why we do not accept monetary donations, as stated in our FAQ.
This is the spiritual foundation upon which we stand. Yet, some make merchandise of Yah’s truth, while others have been convinced that tithing boils down to giving currency to men and women in order for them to build houses and buy cars; this in exchange for their false shepherding of the flock, which they also fleece.
I urge you to study this subject further on your own and come to greater light on the matter via the guidance of the Ruach. And I do hope this study primer has been of benefit to you. Shalom.
Keywords: spirit of the law, letter of the law, tithe, tithing, Levites, Levitical priesthood, Melchizedek priesthood, covenant law, tenth, one tenth, done away with, harvest, resurrection, first fruit, firstfruit
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