The Tithe Test

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					Is 10% of your gross income to be given to the local church for the rest of your life?
What do you actually know about the Biblical teaching on the tithe? Well, here is your
chance to find out! Below are twenty questions worth five points each. Normally,
60% would be a passing grade. But in this case, I want you to study this subject until
you score 100% ! Why do I want this? Well, if your income averages $50K a year,
after fifty years, you will have given a quarter of a million dollars to the local church.
It does seem sensible to ask some questions about this - and know some answers.
Actually, it is wrong for you to give 10% of your gross income to anybody without
knowing for sure it is God's will ...100% sure. That's why I want you to work on this
until you are an A+ student!

Take this right now, closed book, cold turkey, and write your answers on a separate
sheet of paper. Don't cheat by looking at the answers. Go!


2. Who are they?


4. Can you explain the "tithe cycle" of the Israelites?

5. What was done with the tithe every seventh year?

6. Explain Abram's tithe. What did Abram give Melchizedek?



9. In the "to the Levites" tithing years, did all the tithe go to the Levites?

10. What group did Jacob give his tenth to?


12. When was the tithe "rediscovered?"

13. Who is credited with that "rediscovery?"

14. What was the catalyst for that "rediscovery?"


17. Where did Jesus tell Christians to bring their tithe?



20. Can the tithe be given to parachurch ministries?

Now, before rushing down to grade yourself, let's address one other little item. It
seems reasonable to me that anyone who tells you God requires you to tithe - should
be willing to answer a few questions (like ... maybe twenty?). And if that person
scores under 60%, well, ... where I grew up, that was an "F." Should you be expected
to yield to such "expertise?" But, even if expected ... should you?

How to give this test to others.

1. Practice on a friend or two (I did). It's fun.

2. Tell your "testee," you took a tithe test - and how you scored. Tell them you are
curious how well they can do. My friends were eager to show me up.

3. Either give the test orally or lay a copy of this before them. In either case, let them
write down their answers. All that really matters is that the test is taken right then, in
the order written, as a "pop quiz." No questions in advance - or taken home.

4. Grade it on the spot (they will want to know how they did).

The Answers

"The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on folly"
(Pr 15:14).

Multiply the number of correct answers by 5 to get the percentage score.

1. One.

2. Moses. In Malachi, God was speaking and simply reiterated the commands in the
3. It was kept in the local town. It was for the local Levite, alien, orphan, and widow.

4. Year one, two, four and five were taken to the designated place (eventually
Jerusalem). Year three and six - see question 3 answer. Year seven - see below.

5. There wasn't one. There was not one on year fifty (Year of Jubilee) either.

6. He gave him 10% of the choicest spoils of a bunch of stuff he had no intention of
keeping anyway. He gave nothing of his own possessions.

7. Yes. Those Levites not of Aaron's family gave a tithe of the tithe they received.
They gave it to the priests of Aaron's family.

8. None. The tithe was never money.

9. The tithe of year one, two, four and five were shared by the tither with the Levite in
a celebratory meal when the tithe was given. What was left over stayed with the
Levite. In year three and six, it appears the tither deposited the whole amount in the
local town without partaking of any of it.

10. There was no "group" to give it to of which we know. If the testee simply says,
"God," go ahead and give him/her credit. The testee is still going to flunk.

11. God had to be with him, keep him on his journey, give him food to eat, give him
garments to wear, and return him safely to his father's house. At that point, God would
be his God. The tenth came (we assume) twenty years later. It was a vow fulfillment.

12. After the Bill of Rights was adopted in the United States.

13. American Theologians in the Higher Criticism of Systematic Theology.

14. The loss of the church's ability to tax citizens (The First Amendment in the Bill of
Rights) caused a financial crisis in the church. That led to this "rediscovery."

15. No. Family obligations are number one. There is no tithe for Christians anyway.

16. There aren't any. Christians are not Jews under Law.

17. He didn't, because there isn't one.

18. They didn't, because there isn't one.

19. It was saved - probably at home by each contributor.
20. There is no such thing as a parachurch ministry, and there is no tithe for the
Christian either. All the assumptions in this question are nonsense.

These answers are correct.

The teaching that is going around today is not the Tithe of the Bible. In fact, this "new
teaching" is totally foreign to the Bible. A legitimate Biblical word and teaching (tithe)
has been hijacked - and applied it to this new concoction.

God does have specific priorities for your money. But that design is not found in this
"new teaching." This "tithe" teaching is actually extortion in the Name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But, it is not just the extortioner who will be held to account. The one
being duped is also accountable. It is our responsibility to seek out God's knowledge
and will in all matters. And in this matter, "I have not spoken in secret, in some dark
land" (Isa 45:19). God's material on the tithe, and His priorities for our money, are
clearly stated in the Bible - there for the reading.

So, how did you do? Are you comfortable with your current knowledge level on this

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