Tithe After Tithe

Tithe After Tithe New Church, New York August

2nd

2009

Genesis 14:17-20 Matthew 23:23-24 Apocalypse Explained 675c [18]-[19]

A matter that has often agitated Christians, particularly those who give more attention to “the letter”, is the obligation of the tithe – the offering of a tenth of income or possessions to the Lord. Some assert that this is just a matter of the “ritual law”, and should not concern us, as we are “under grace”, not “under law”. Others point to our lesson from Genesis as proof that the tithe came before the law, so there! On my visit to the local Pentecostal church, I heard a member of their Executive Presbytery take this as a point to embark into an exposition of the various tithes set forth in the Torah, in a detail which fascinated me, until I recognized I was in the grip of what the Writings describe as scientifica cognitione1 – but that is a topic for another time. Others have been drawn into similar intricacy in a more new dispensation context. Such is the figure of the Reverend Dr. Blattergowl in Scott’s The Antiquary2, who appears to have spent the happiest time of his life when he served on the Tithe Court of the General Assembly, and is likely to start discoursing on the obscurities of teind law at the least provocation. Or they may be caught up in discussing whether a tithe of “increase” is or is not the same as a tithe of “income”. How are we to understand the injunctions to give a tenth of … well, something?

Our teachings warn us repeatedly against considering “only the letter”. When we turn to the spiritual sense, we learn that numbers in Scripture are always correspondences. Therefore, we are to understand, as set out in our reading today, that the number ten always stands for the fullness or completeness of something. So a tenth of our produce means in the higher sense, all of the truth or good that we can find within ourselves. It is these that we must offer to the Lord, for the overwhelming reason that all of it is derived from Him in the first place. More specifically, the Writings connect these “tenths” with what are called reliquiae, or confusingly “remains”; but which might be clearer if I call them “original virtue”.3 These seeds of good and truth are implanted in us by the Lord Himself from the beginning, to strengthen us against the pull of the evils we are surrounded with. And our offering of whatever comes from them only returns what came from Him. As was written elsewhere, “Our desire to thank You is itself your gift.” Another warning against paying attention to literally counting out tenths of things is found elsewhere in the Torah, where the Israelites are commanded to offer the “first fruits” of produce. (Deuteronomy 18:4) Here they are told only to give “some”. Indeed, the scribes and sages concluded that this “heave-offering” 4 must not be measured exactly.5 This would never have happened if Mr. Monk had been a rabbi!6 But it was left to every one to follow his heart. Mr. Swedenborg again writes that these first fruits “signify the spiritual good first formed, which is essentially truth from good from the Lord…. Now because nothing born and produced from the spiritual mind is from man but from the Lord, therefore those things were sanctified to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, because they were His, and consequently holy.”7 So it may be good and helpful to make a practice of giving your literal tithe; but this is nothing without acknowledging the spiritual gifts which come from the Lord, and which must be rendered back to Him. As our Matthew Bruce wrote on this, people who worry about the mint, dill and cumin may neglect truth, justice and mercy, but those who attend to truth, justice and mercy will not overlook the mint, dill and cumin. There may be piety without true religion, but there can not be true religion without piety. William Linden

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ARCANA CELESTIA 1472 The Antiquary See, among others ARCANA CELESTIA 5291. See Terumah Gedolah ("Heave Offering" As a guideline, they noted that “most people give a fiftieth, the generous man gives a fortieth, and the stingy man gives a sixtieth.” 6 Obligatory pop culture reference. 7 APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED 865 [2]