Chapter 17: Myth—Giving 10% Is A Tithe

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Myth—Giving 10% Is A Tithe

The fourth commandment explicitly tells the Israelites to observe the

Sabbath—“As the Lord your God commanded you.” Therefore, unlike the nine other commandments, which are very clear on their face, the Sabbath commandment came with detailed instructions and ceremonies to follow. A penalty of death came to those who failed to follow some of the instructions.

Sabbath Instructions

1. Don’t cook on the Sabbath day. Prepare all your food the day before. [Exodus 16:23] 2. Do not gather food from the field on the Sabbath. [Exodus 16:25-26]

3. God gives bread for two days on the sixth day. [Exodus 16:29] 4. Do not work on the Sabbath. Your son, daughter, servants, cattle, and stranger shall not work on the Sabbath. [Exodus 20:10-11] 5. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to

death. [Exodus 31:15; 35:2] 6. The Sabbath shall be a sign between God and Israel. [Ex. 31:17] 7. Israel shall keep the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. [Exodus 31:16]

8. You shall kindle no fires in your dwellings on the Sabbath. [Exodus 35:3] 9. The Sabbath is a statute [law] forever. [Leviticus 16:31] 10. In the seventh month, first day, you shall have a Sabbath-rest, a

memorial of blowing of trumpets. [Leviticus 23:34] 11. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall kept the feast of the Lord … and on the first day there shall be a Sabbath-rest. [Leviticus 23:39] 12. Every Sabbath you shall put the showbread and frankincense in

proper order as a memorial …taken continually from the children of Israel by an “everlasting covenant.” [Leviticus 24:5-8] 13. Aaron and his sons shall eat it in a holy place. [Leviticus 24:9] 14. The land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. [Leviticus 25:2]

15. The Lord said to Moses, “the man [who gathered sticks on the Sabbath] must be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him to death outside the camp.” [Numbers 15:33-36]