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mands often become. But what was
President Reagan talking about,
God's "simple tax plan- tithing"?
What is "tithing"? The word
tithe
is an old English word. I t is
found in many English translations
of th e Bible. It merely means
"tenth." God's plan- it really isn't
a " tax"- is actuaJJy a prior claim;
o r , as Mr. Reagan said , " Hi s
[God 's] share is a tenth."
His share of what?
God, of course, al ready owns all
things. "The earth is the Lord 's,
and the fulness thereof [yes, every–
thing on it and in it]; the world,
and they that dwell therein" (Ps.
24: 1). Even we ourselves belong to
him, because he created every–
thing. And everything is his.
All the wealth we produce comes
from the earth-God's earth. Gold,
silver, iron and other minerals,
petroleum, agr iculture, fo restry,
fishing, hunt ing, livestock produc–
tion- all depend on and come from
the earth. God has a prior claim, by
virtue of creation, to it all.
But he is generous. For our use of
his abundant raw materials, his
ample space and his bountiful energy
sources, he requires not a half, not
even a third, but only 1O percent of
the profit made. Eminently fair.
Sorne people think tithing began
with the Jaw of Moses and that it is
not in force today. Not true! Tithes
were paid to God long before the
nation of Israel exis ted . The Bible
specifically mentions tithing centu–
ries before, in the time of Abraham
(Gen . 14:20) and again in J acob's
day (Gen. 28:22).
Later, when Israel did become a
nation directly ruled by God , he
ordained that the tithe- 10 percent
of one's profit, or adjusted gross
income- be paid to him to support
his chosen represen tatives ( Lev.
27:30; Num. 18:21).
Under the tithing program God
provided the national defense by
. divin e ly inte rvening in human
affairs. He intervened in nature
throug h earthquakes, hai l a nd
ftoods to punish the military adven–
tures of the nation 's enemies.
Ancient Israel did not need a stand–
ing army so long as they obeyed
God. God was their protector- a
God of war and a God of peace.
But when the nat ion sinned, ene–
mies overran the land. God let
8
Israel's enemies punish them till
they turned to him again.
But in the days of Samuel the
nation wanted a human king in
place of God . They wanted a stand–
ing army to protect them. They
began to want increasing govern–
ment services. So God gave them
their wishes . H e gave them a
king-Saul. And King Saul-who
was going to pay his way?
The prophet Samuel made it
plain . In addition to God's tithe
owed him, the human king would
require taxes to run his government
and pay his army. His tax rate
would
begin
at 1O percent. (See 1
Samuel 8, especially verses 15-18.)
Saul's, or, if you please, Caesar's,
10 percent would be only a start.
Under God's government the citi–
zens ·of Israel had the ideal national
system. It was both fair and simple.
But since the time they adopted a
human as their ruler , their tax bur–
deos have not ceased.
Jesus, a thousand years later, rec–
ognized the right of human govern–
ment to collect taxes: " Render
therefore to Caesar the things
[taxes, imposts, fees] that are Cae–
sar's, and to God the things [tithes
and offerings] that a re God's"
(Matt. 22:21, Revised Authorized
Version).
Yes, far from doing away with the
tithing law, J esus taught tithing!
Notice what he said to those Pbari–
sees who were excessively diligent in
tithing, at the same time neglecting
such important aspects of God's law
as judgment and !ove. Did J esus tell
them it was unnecessary for them to
tithe? Not at all! He declared that
"these [exercising rigbteous judg–
ment and Jove] ought ye to have
done, and"-here is J esus' teaching
on t ithing-"not to Jeave the other
[tithing!] undone" (Luke 11:42).
Later on in his ministry J esus once
agai n repeated the same thing
(Matt. 23:23).
Jesus did no t a bo lis h God's
revealed spiritual laws and com–
mandments (Matt. 5: 17- 18) . He
said we are to "do and teach" even
the " least" of them (verse 19).
Many theolog ians and professing
C hristians consider tbe law of tith–
ing to be among the " least" of
God's laws. But no matter. Jesus
said not to leave the least undone.
Under th e N ew Testament,
God's t ithing law has been changed
in one important respect-not abol–
ished, changed (Heb. 7: 12). The
change is that rather than being
paid to God for the work of the
Levitical priesthood, the tithes are
paid to God for the work of the
New Testament ministry preaching
the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
An Equitable Tax System
At the end of the 18th century,
Adam Smith, in bis
Wea/th of
Nations,
one of the most inftuential
economic treatises ever written, set
forth four commonsense tests by
which to evaluate taxation plans.
Today, sorne 200 years later, men
have yet to devise and implement a
method of national revenue collec–
tion that measures up to Adam
Smith 's perceptive guidelines.
Most exist ing or proposed tax sys–
tems don't even come
el
ose.
God's tithing system, however,
surpasses the requirements.
The four tests Adam Smith pro–
posed may be summed up in the
following four words:
equity, cer–
tainty, convenience, economy.
1)
Equity.
As with God's tithing
system, which has a prior claim on
your income, taxes would be paid at
the same rate-1 O percent. Every–
one would be in the same bracket.
Those who have enough initiat ive
and resourcefulness to become pros–
perous would not be penalized for
their indust riousness. (God doesn' t
penalize the prosperous tither. But
people often penalize those who hon–
est ly prosper.) No matter how much
money a family made, they would
still owe, after God's tithe had been
paid, only lO percent in taxes.
President Reagan's comment to
t he reporters on this aspect of
God's system was, "The Lord said,
' If
1 prosper you ten "times as much,
you will give ten times as much.'
He didn' t say you' ll give 70 times
as much."
2)
Certainty.
The percentage in
taxes to be paid would not be in
doubt. Everybody would know at
what rate everybody else was pay–
ing. They would know when to pay
and how. There would be no need
for any loopholes and nonbusiness
deductions.
3)
Convenience.
It
would not be
difficult to calculate the amount
(Con tinued on page 31)
The PLAIN TRUTH