Deuteronomy 14:22-29

22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from [p]what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 If the [q]distance is so great for you that you are not able to [r]bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, 25 then you shall [s]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your [t]heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your [u]heart [v]desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your [w]town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your [x]town. 29 The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the [y]orphan and the widow who are in your [z]town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Two recurring themes stand out here. First, that God makes provision for us when he asks us to do something. He knew that somewhere, someone was going to say, “well, that’s just too far to go to tithe, forget it!” So He puts it within reach. He doesn’t lessen the value of the tithe, and still requires it, but he takes away our excuses (when we listen).

There are several reasons we give, and those are highlighted here. First is to take care of our pastors, and the other is to take care of the needy. It isn’t that God needs our giving to provide for them, but he wants to bless us through our giving. Sounds weird, but very true.

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