ok so in the Old Testament, the Bible says that one must offer the first fruits to bless the entire harvest. So I have a new job and my paycheck is coming soon. I want to give it purely because I want the whole harvest to be blessed. Is this the wrong mentality? Is it wrong to do this expecting something in return (not financial) from God, even though He promised?
Comments
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the LORD of hosts;
12 And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:10-12)
Have faith, and give the first-fruits to God.
With that mentality then:
In a marriage the couple must give their first child to God, their first 'fruit'. I must be given to God... Hmm.
And why not?
Yay!
Abel gave his fruits in sacrifice to God.
Hannah and Joachim gave, their first fruit, St. Mary, to God.
The Father, gave His First-Fruit, in Sacrifice for all of Mankind as a Sweet Savour before Him.
The purpose of the Old Testament laws was to teach us to offer the best of what we have to God and to trust in Him to supply what we need.
St Gregory of Nyssa in his sermon on prayer says that God treats material things which we pray for as childish toys. What God really wants to give us now is not material things like a house or a car; He wants to give us the most precious thing He has which is Himself. He wants to send us His Holy Spirit, His heavenly knowledge, virtues and other things that are eternal and not visible. God tells us that if we seek the kingdom above all things He will supply the physical lack we have in whatever may come our way.
St Basil says that these promises God makes to us about not worrying about what we eat or what we wear is an invitation from God to be like Adam and Eve in the garden when they never worried about what they ate or what they wore because they walked with God and have unshakable simplicity and faith in His promises.
The other thing is that there are no tithe rules in the whole of the New Testament because there is now no notion of tithe; our whole lives were purchased by God and now both we and all that we have are His. This means that we are simply stewards of possessions which God shares with us and it is our duty that should the Church require anything from us that we give it when God requires it.
St John Chrysostom in one of his writings on possessions gave an example that a man with a broken roof; if he is able ought to pray to God about whether or not He should fix it or distribute the money to poor people need it more. This is our job as citizens of the west where we are more affluent and have the ability if we buy a cheaper car or house and in doing so having excess which can be used to help alleviate the suffering of the poor.
Please pray for my weakness.
LiD
Love is Divine, you are correct that the tithe has been superseded, by a greater law in the New Testament.
The New Law is actually to give everything. So it is not just 10%, as a minimum, but rather 100%.
Christ is the First-Fruit of the Father.
It is this greater calling that St. Anthony the Great carried into obedience.
For those of us, that need to survive in the world, the tithe becomes a guideline.
Our Lord did not come to destroy the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it.
Unfortunately, there are quite a bit of people that use these types of limited argument and logic towards not meeting their
obligation to God and the Church.
The tithe, as a minimum, is engendered in the Old and New Testament.
He had a treasurer, Judas Iscariot, in order to keep track of paying for the expenses of the ministry.
Ministry requires donations.