Tithing: Spoils of War

Strictly for tithers who claim to follow the Bible.

This post will need your mathematical minds active.

Follow attentively.

Abraham gave 10% SPOIL OF WAR to a King priest and the remaining 90% SPOIL OF WAR to the King of Sodom (to share in his discretion for the sodomite soldiers and people).

Here is how the Bible showed it:

‘Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave THE TENTH OF THE SPOILS.’ (Hebrews 7:4)

‘I would not take anything that is yours, from a thread to a sandal strap, so you could not say, ‘I [the King of Sodom] have made Abram rich.’ (Genesis 14:23 AMP)

Abraham did 10% first to a Priest and refused to take the 90% that belonged to Sodom naturally.

Fast forward to Moses.

Moses gave 50% SPOIL OF WAR to the soldiers who went to war and the remaining 50% is shared to the people of Israel who were fought for.

‘…SPLIT the plunder between the soldiers who fought the battle and the rest of the congregation.’ (Numbers 31:27)

Oh!

I could hear some tithe preachers speaking to Moses:

‘Daddy Moses! Don’t you know that tithing started before the Law? You did not see what Father Abraham gave to a Priest? He separated 10% first for the Priest (Melchizedek) before giving the remaining 90% over.’

Moses to them: I don’t know what you are talking about.

Lol.

Moses has shared the spoils in equal halves: 50% to the soldiers and 50% to the people.

So, the question is: “what will now reach the Priests and Levites from these spoils of war”?

Hmm.

That now became the responsibilities of the soldiers who received 50% and the people who received the other 50%.

So, it is time to learn the next stage: what the Soldiers and the people would give to the Levites and priests from the 50% spoils of war they received accordingly.

You would naturally think at least tithing should come in here right? (Don’t forget that Abraham did 10% on this for a Priest).

Good.

So let me show you the ‘tithe’ the two parties gave. The priests and the Levites are the separate receivers of what will be given by the soldiers or People. The Soldiers are mandated to attend their percentage to the Priests while the People will go ahead to give their own percentage to the Levites.

Soldiers give your percentage to Priest.

People give your percentage to Levite.

Now, question: what percentage? Is it 10%?

Hmm.

Follow carefully: The soldiers are only commanded to give ‘ONE OUT OF 500’ as TITHE to the PRIEST while the people are only commanded to give ONE OUT OF 50 of their shared spoil to the LEVITES!

Now, that’s a wow!

‘Then tax the SPOILS that go to the soldiers at the rate of ONE LIFE OUT OF FIVE HUNDRED, whether humans, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. It’s A GOD-TAX TAKEN from their half-share to be turned over to Eleazar the priest on behalf of God’ (Numbers 31:28-29)

‘Tax the CONGREGATION’S half-share at the rate of ONE LIFE OUT OF FIFTY, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give this to the Levites who are in charge of the care of God’s Dwelling.’ (Num 31:29-30)

In case, the revelation is being too mathematical, let me break it down for you:

The ‘tithe’ of the spoil of war that gets to the Priest is 0.1%, while the ‘tithe’ of the spoil of war that gets to the Levites is 1%.

Please note that the Law never commanded 10% tithe for spoil of war but instead it was 0.1% to the Priests and 1% tithe to the Levites.

A PRACTICAL EXAMPLE:

To make this clearer, if the spoil was N10,000 – you will first divide it to 2; that is, N5,000 each to soldiers and the people.

Then, the Soldiers will give ‘one over 500’ (1/500) of N5000 to the priest. That is N10 goes to the priest out of the overall N10,000. (0.1% of the total spoil is N10)

On the other hand, the people will give ‘one over 50’ of N5,000 to the Levites. That is, N100 goes to the Levites out of the overall N10,000. (1% of the total spoil is N100)

Therefore, the total you give as a spoil of war tithe on your N10,000 according to the Law is N110 only.

Abraham’s spoil of war tithe would have been N1,000.

Hmm.

TAKE AWAYS:

Before you think Moses missed the mark, let me remind you that it was God that COMMANDED that the spoil of war tithe should be a total of 1.1% under Law (not 10%).

‘Moses and Eleazar followed through with WHAT GOD HAD COMMANDED MOSES.’ (Numbers 31:31)

Even under Law, tithing had specifications.

It did not touch everything people possessed.

It did not touch money neither did it touch spoils of war.

It was limited to the crops that grew from the land of Israel and the livestock raised in the land of Israel.

Anything apart from crops and livestock had their separate modes of giving.

Possessions like gold, silver, etc are basically freewill offerings (not tithe).

‘Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of A WILLING HEART, LET HIM BRING IT, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass, And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair’ (Exodus 35:5-6)

When it comes to money, it is mainly a census or temple tax offering (half shekel) and freewill offerings that are commanded and received.

‘Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the LORD—the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple.’ (2Kings 12:4)

There is NO RECORD where MONEY was paid as tithe! And there was money in circulation.

Once your definition of tithing gets faulty, heresy is bound to fly around. Once again, here is the definition of biblical tithing:

Tithing was a requirement of the Law in which the Israelites were to bring 10 percent of the crops (not money) they grew and the livestock they raised to the Levites. (Lev 27:30-32).

• Don’t point to Abraham to claim tithing is required in the New covenant, except you go to war too. (Tithing is specified).
• Don’t run to Malachi to claim tithing continued from Abraham, as the tithe of spoil of war under law is 1.1% and not 10%.
• Once you are doing 10% as a continued practice, your only Biblical reference are crops and livestock, never money. If you are not doing crops or livestock, you are not following a Biblical commandment.
• It is ok to slash 10% of your salary as long as you don’t say it is what God commanded.
• Believers are free to choose any percentage they decide (below, equal or above 10%); as long as it is cheerful and proportional to the blessings of God on them. ‘…let every one of you lay by him in store, AS GOD HATH PROSPERED HIM…’ (1Cor 16:2).
• Churches can encourage and Graciously guide believers to come up with a percentage but the ultimate decision on what the percentage should be is with the believer (not Malachi).
• Visit the New Testament and comply to the Gospel of Grace with full integrity: ‘EACH OF YOU SHOULD GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE DECIDED IN YOUR HEART TO GIVE, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’ (2Cor 9:7)

Thanks for reading and complying.

Amen.