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whole heaven is mine," claims God
in
Job
41:
ll.
Now, turn to Deuteronomy
10:14. "Behold, the heaven and the
heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy
God, the earth also, [and) all that
therein is." And in Exodus 19:5
God says, " ... a11 the earth is
mine."
" If 1 were hungry [says God in
Psalm 50: 12) , 1 would not tell thee:
for the world is mine, and the ful–
ness thereof." And then in verse
1
O,
"For every beast of the forest is
mine, and the cattle upon a thou–
sand hills."
Yes, even the money, even the
gold and the silver on this earth. In
Haggai 2:8 we read, "The silver is
mine, and the gold is mine, saith
the Lord of hosts."
Dare any man deny this claiin of
God? God's claim stands. Admit ,
then, your income belongs -to God.
It's bis todo with as he wills, notas
you please.
Your Reward for Your Labor
But God is a God of !ove. He knows
your needs. God is concerned about
you-about a11 of us. And, therefore,
God has made a law respecting that
portian of bis wealth that your think–
ing- your labor- has extracted and
worked upon.
Now, get this fixed thoroughly
in your mind. Your wages, your
salary, your profit, your income
belong to God, not to you. Probably
you never thought of it that way or
rea1ized this befare. This may seem
like a new idea to you. But it's not
an idea at all. It's a fact. And so,
God, the rightful owner of your
income, has made a law respecting
its disposal and its use.
God's law respecting wha t you
earn is in fact a deal that he has
made with you. He allows you to
work on bis earth, to use a part of
the earth, what is in it or on it, its
forces and energies, and to extract
from it food, materials, supplies,
metals, wood, oi ls, coa! or what–
ever. Or to work with that which
others have extracted from the
earth, in manufacturing or distrib–
uting, or selling, buying, invest–
ing-whatever may be your occu–
pation, job, or your profession. And
so, whether you have realized it or
not, you have been working in part–
nership with God.
8
The farmer or the gardener may
plow, plant seed and expend bis
labor in raising food. But who sup–
plied the soil? Who created the liv–
ing processes that make the seed
sprout and grow? ·Who sends the
rain or produces water for irriga–
tion? Who set the sun in the sky
and causes it to shine and to warm
the earth? Who causes the plant to
drink out of the soil the minerals,
the elements, and to grow into the
vegetable, the grain or the fruit?
Did you perform this part of the
business of raising the food that
you eat?
When you sit down and really
think, you shall see that God sup–
plies about nine parts of everything
that man makes or produces. And
man's thinking, planning and work–
ing supply only about one part. But
God does not take nine tenths of
the proceeds of the income. He
doesn't take even eight tenths, or
seven, or even three, or even two
tenths. No, God is generous when
we come to really understand. God
has reserved for his use only one
Iittle tenth of what is produced out
of his earth through bis forces and
his energies, and with your brain
that he devised and he created, and
with your hands and your labor.
God takes only one tenth. And
after you have been honest in pay–
íng God's tenth to God's chosen
representatíve as God has directed,
then-and not until then- God has
decreed that the other nine tenths
legally become yours.
That is God's law-not generally
known today, is it?
When we get our thínking
straight, when we get to under–
standing, when we stop to realize
how much of what we have was
provided by God, then we realize
how generous, how solicitous for
our welfare God really is.
But that's only part of the story.
Wliat does God want wíth that first
tenth? And why does he want it
anyway?
How Does God Use lt?
God requires that small fraction of
what is produced out of bis earth
that he created for the purpose of
disseminating to the people of this
world bis message of the way of life
that will free them from fears and
from worries, that will give them
peace of mind and happiness, that
will give them joy, success and life
eterna!.
Yes, even that tenth that God
withholds for bis own use is
expended for human good, to make
life worthwhile and to make people
happy; for proclaiming bis gospel of
peace, of happiness and of joy and
salvation; for lettíng people know
that God will heal them when
they're sick, that God will deliver
them from every trial and trouble,
supply theír every need, guide
them and dírect them, give them
wísdom, show them the way, give
them eterna! life.
This unhappy world is starving
for that knowledge. This world is
under a curse because it has robbed
God of his money, of bis wealth,
and, thereby, has withheld from
itself the knowledge of why thís
wor1d is now in chaos, why it has
had so many wars, why there is not
real peace, why it finds life empty
and fruitless, full of suffering and
unhappiness, frustration and
death.
God's laws are for man 's good.
Obedience to God's laws brings
blessings. But when we violate
God's laws, we bring curses upon
ourselves.
Since whole nations are under a
curse- because of lack of under–
standing, as weU as for disobedi–
ence to the laws of God-it's cer–
tainly time that we opened our
Bibles and began to study honestly,
diligently, prayerfully, exactly what
the Almighty has declared on this
much-misunderstood subject.
What Do You Mean- Tithe?
But first, before looking in the
New Testament teaching to see
whether or not Christians must
"tithe," Jet me make clear just
what God does mean by this word
tithe.
It's an old English word,
commonly used three or four
hundred years ago. Today, it is sel–
dom used, except in this scriptural
connection. The word
tithe
means
"tenth." A tithe of anything is a
tenth part of it.
lt
is well known that the ancient
nation Israel was required to tithe,
that is, to pay in one tenth of
income. But the matter of to whom
each Israelite paid this tenth, which
tenth was paid, why and for what
The PLAIN TRUTH