Page 978 - Church of God Publications

that dwell therein" (Ps. 24: 1). Even

we ourselves belong to Him,

because He created everything.

And everything is His.

All the wealth we produce comes

from the earth- God's earth. Gold,

silver, iron and other minerals,

petroleum, agriculture, forestry,

fishing , hunting, livestock produc–

tion- it all depends on and comes

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 10

percent of the profit made. Emi–

nently fair.

Sorne people think tithing began

with the law of Moses and that it is

not in effect today. Not true!

Tithes were paid to God long

before the nation of Israel existed

(Gen. 14:20; 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 ch'osen representatives (Lev.

27:30, Num. 18:21).

Under the tithing program God

provided the national defense. He

intervened in nature to bless

Israel's harvests and to punish the

military might of the nation's ene–

mies. They did not need a stand–

ing army. God was their protec–

tor-a God of war and a God of

peace. But when the nation sinned

enemies overran the land. God Jet

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

standing army to protect them.

They began to want increasing

government services. So God gave

them their wishes. He gave them

a human 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 govern–

ment and pay his army. His tax

rate would

begin

at 1O percent.

16

(See 1 Samuel 8, especially verses

15-18. ) Saul's, or, if you please,

Caesar's 1O percent would be only

a start. Under God's government

the ci tizens of Israel had the ideal

national system. It was both fair

and simple. But once they adopted

a human as their ruler, their tax

burdeos have never ceased.

Jesus, a thousand years later,

recognized the right of human

government to collect taxes:

"Render therefore unto Caesar

the things [taxes, imposts, fees,

etc.] which are Caesar's; and unto

God the things [tithes and offer–

ings] that are God's" (Matt.

22:21 ) .

~~

The human/y.

devised systems of

taxation are

complicated,

burdensome and, by

common admission,

have gotten out of

control. It seems

few people realize

there is a better way!

' '

An Equltable Tax System?

At the end of the 18th century,

Adam Smith, in his

Wealth of

Nations,

one of the most inftuential

economic treatises ever written, set

forth four common-sense tests by

which to evaluate taxation plans.

Today, sorne 200 years later, there

has yet to be devised and imple–

mented a method of national reve–

nue collection that measures up to

Adam Smith's perceptive guide–

lines. (God's tithing system in–

eludes all four!) Most humanly

engineered tax systems don't even

come close.

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 the tithing

system, everyone would pay taxes

at the same rate-10 percent.

Everyone would be in the same

bracket. Those who have enough

initiative and resourcefulness to

become prosperous would not be

penalized for their industriousness.

(God doesn't penalize the prosper–

ous tither. But humans do penalize

those who honestly prosper.) No

matter how much money a family

made, they would still owe only 1O

percent.

President Reagan' s comment on

this aspect of God's system was

"The Lord said,

'lf

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

of loopholes and deductions.

It

would not be difficult to calculate

the amount owed. Nor would it be

necessary to hire an accountant to

wade through long and compl icated

tax forms.

3)

Convenience.

Paying special

taxes seems usually to hit a person

at an awkward time-when little

money is on hand to pay them.

God' s tithe is, by contrast, the

first

1O percent of any profit. And

for the person who pays to God

the

first

lO percent of whatever

increase or profit he makes, God

promises to make the other nine–

tenths stretch to cover all needs.

4)

Economy.

Taxes seem to need

a vast organization to explain and

police the system. There are tax

collectors, accountants, arbitrary

tax regulation changes and court

decisions. How different God's

tithing system! Tithes paid would

arrive at their destination with little