Insights into the Proper Use of Tithing

I was surprised to read Numbers 18 gives some insights into what the Lord considers proper use of tithing. Consequently, I thought I'd share this with you.

I did not expect to find such clear counsel tucked away in the Old Testament. Yet, the whole chapter deals with the role Aaron and his sons have to minister in the priest’s office and how the Levites are to have no lands of inheritance. It lays out how they are to be supported instead: from the tithes of the people.

“And the Lord spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.” Numbers 18:20

Here the Lord tells Moses, the Tribe of Levi will be given no land for their lands of inheritance. In the Book of Mormon, lands of inheritance are linked to people’s liberty and represents their means of providing for their needs and wants. The Levites were to have none of this. Knowing they still had to feed, shelter and clothe their families like the rest of the tribes, the Lord had something different in mind for them.

“But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.” Numbers 18:24 

Their “inheritance” was to be the tithing of the offerings the rest of the children of Israel made to the Lord. There were a couple of conditions attached to the receipt of these offerings. One, is their receipt of the offerings was contingent upon their “cleanliness” before the Lord. Or to use today’s vernacular: it was dependent upon their adherence to the “Covenant Path” which the Lord had given to them through Moses.

“11 And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it.

13 And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.” Numbers 18:11, 13

The other condition is they were to tithe what they received back to the Lord too.

“Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the Lord, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.” Numbers 18:29

There are the passages in the Doctrine and Covenants which lay out how tithes and offerings are to be used today, but that is beside the point I’m trying to make. That being, as far back as in Old Testament times, the Lord knew those who gave their full-time service to Him in the kingdom, still had the material needs of us all. They had to eat, care for their families and a place to live. This passage shows, the Lord saw nothing wrong with using the tithes of the people to support those who gave their full-time service to Him (and by corollary the people). 

We should therefore not take offense if the Lord sees fit to do the same thing today. Nor should we take offense at the amount they are given. As we read in Numbers 18:13-14, the Lord intended that the best of the offerings which the people gave, were to be for the Levite’s use.

“All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it. Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.” Numbers 18:12-14

So, if you read about how terrible it is that General Authorities, Mission Presidents and Temple Presidents, “live off” the efforts of the members of the church, ignore the complaint. Instead, keep in mind, it’s the Lord’s way of providing for those who work full-time ministering in His kingdom. It justifies using tithing funds to pay the wages and salaries of people who work full time for the church: a church that is also a multi-national organization.

Sacrifice and Consecration... what's the difference?

This isn’t a Book of Mormon related entry, but it’s something I wanted to share just the same. Our Gospel Doctrine lesson today was on the Law of Consecration. As I sat in the lesson listening to what was being said, I wondered what the difference is between consecration and sacrifice.

As I did, I began to wonder why in the temple endowment session there was a section on each. The two concepts seemed to be synonyms. So after pondering on it, this is my answer… it works for me.

In simple terms, sacrifice is an investment: you trade something of value in exchange for something of greater value. There’s always a personal payoff involved. I sacrifice my comfort by exercising with the expected payoff of becoming more physically fit.

On the other hand, consecration is a gift. There’s no personal payoff other than the feeling of gratitude or satisfaction of having contributed to something you believe in.

In the temple, we covenant to comply with the law of sacrifice in the sense that we are willing to live in exchange for blessings which come personally to us… hence it is the first of the main covenants. We’re saying in effect, “I’ll give up this, in exchange for that.”

When we covenant to comply with the law of consecration, we are saying, “I’ll give whatever is asked of me, not for a personal reward but because of my love for God.” There’s no personal gain expected, therefore it is a much “higher” or demanding law.

In that light, it’s easy for me to see why they are separate and why sacrifice comes first.

By the Weak and Small things...

If you’ve read my essays on the creation of the Earth, you know I’m an old Earth advocate. I also think Heavenly Father uses natural laws to order and run the universe. That being the case, the footprints of the Earth’s creation and terraforming are left in the geological record for us to read. At best, the geological record is incomplete in that it can tell us what happened. It can only imply the "how" and nothing at all about the "why."

That’s where a belief in God and revelation come into play. They tell the "why" but leave you to figure out the "how."

So, in the temple this week, the thought came to mind as I watched the recounting of the creation that it is by small and simple things which God brings to pass great works. I also thought how there’s evidence now, found in Australia of prokaryotes which lived just 400 million years after the Earth formed. They are the hardiest life forms today: they live in the most inhospitable environments on the Earth. The extreme conditions they live in were global back then. So, what did they do? They “ate” methane and carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans and released oxygen. The carbon they took to make themselves, the freed oxygen combined with the minerals and got stored in the ground. When they died, their carbon settled to the ocean bottoms and became the fossilized sludge geologists found.

The net effect of this is they ate the primordial atmosphere and sequestered all that gas in the crust. Did you know, the most common element in the ground you walk on is oxygen? At one time it was in the atmosphere… a much thicker one. The patina of carbon is where life exists. All that was “put in place” by these early prokaryotes.

From an engineering standpoint it’s marvelous. They were a distributed, fault tolerant, self-replicating process… life… which brought the Earth to life. As each step neared completion, God began the next step. In time the dirt was saturated with oxygen and the gas began to collect in the atmosphere. Under the bombardment of UV radiation, some of it formed the ozone molecule… a gas which absorbed this lethal radiation.

The point is, Heavenly Father does work by small means to bring to pass great works. So if He can use single celled organisms to terraform a planet, He can make use of us to do great things too. And that’s the kind of stuff you can learn by going to the temple. I love it!

A Personal God... A Personal Savior

When the Savior blessed the children of the people of Bountiful, He also prayed for their parents. This passage underscores what I’ve written about before: with God, everything is personal. The written account speaks of how the people marveled when they heard the Savior pray for them. If you ever wondered what He says when He pleads our case to the Father, this passage in 3 Nephi 17:15-17 gives us a clue as to what it must be.

This fact is also shown when He blessed the children and the people went forth to touch his feet and hands. It was all one on one. How would you like some time like that with the Savior? The beauty of the Gospel is you can.

The personal nature of the Gospel is also manifest in the temple. There are no group ordinances — everything is done for the individual. When I go there, I represent just one person at a time. Implicit in all the church does and the doctrine of Christ is the importance of the individual.

I can’t comprehend how Heavenly Father is mindful of all His children everywhere across the cosmos, but He does. It’s enough for me to know that of all His children everywhere, He still knows me. Along beside Him, the Savior likewise knows us personally. That is comforting. That is one of the greatest truths of the Gospel: we are children of a personal, loving God. And representing our needs to Him is Jesus Christ, the Great Mediator. The Mediator who’s prayer for the people filled them with indescribable joy.

2 Nephi 16 - Jehovah, Seraphs and the Temple

In Isaiah 6/2Nephi 16, Isaiah recounts a vision in which he sees Jehovah in the temple. In Revelations 4, John’s revelation changes tone from being one of counsel to the seven churches in Asia Minor to an apocalyptic recitation of what he sees. While Isaiah sees inside a temple, a place where God lives or visits, John sees into Heaven where God resides.

In both places, there are “winged” creatures. Isaiah calls them Seraphim, John says they are “beasts.” They have common qualities in that both have six veils or wings and that they both sing praises to God. Did both men see the same thing? It’s interesting to contemplate, especially when you realize they are separated by nine hundred years. Word meanings can change a lot in that time.

What I found most interesting in this is in Isaiah and the purification he goes through. Isaiah cries he is unworthy to behold the vision. In response an angel comes (one of the Seraphim??) holding a hot coal in tongs and purifies him by touching it to his lips.

This is a ritual purification: touching your tongue with a glowing coal will not purify your soul but destroy your tongue. So, where on earth do we have a place where we can be in God’s presence and be purified through a ritual? Yep, the Temple.

I don’t know why it is, but God uses actions to teach abstract principles. We eat a piece of bread and drink a small cup of water to help us remember the Savior. Likewise, we do things in the temple to help us learn eternal truths and make covenants with God. There’s a lot more to these actions and accounts than meets the eye. It’s the Holy Ghost that explains it all.

1 Nephi 12 - A little something in between

In chapter twelve, we get the condensed history of the Nephites and Lamanites. The main event is the appearance of the Savior to the Nephites. This account of the visit is the chiastic counterpart to chapter 10 which tells of the Savior’s visit to the Jews.

We also get the interpretation of the river, the spacious building and the mists of darkness. It’s interesting to me to see these definitions given in the context of the history he saw. I’m sure there’s a lesson there but what it is evades me at the moment. It’s something I get to ponder upon. I do think however, it’s an example of how Heavenly Father teaches us about Him and His works using images we understand and our experiences. Again, the concept of taking us from where we are to higher states of awareness.

I just have to add this… it has nothing to do with the Book of Mormon, but with the temple. I go weekly on Wednesdays. What struck me today is how alike men and women are treated in the temple rituals. Many ordinances are performed by women upon women. The ritual clothing with all their symbolic meanings are virtually the same for all. It’s something to think about.

That’s all for today. Stay tuned, Nephi gets apocalyptic next when we read through Chapters Thirteen and Fourteen.