Post by Standing Firm in Christ on Jun 25, 2014 7:20:24 GMT -6
Exegeting Matthew 23:23
by Ronald W Robey
Woe to you, (sorrows, calamities)
scribes (lawyers)
and Pharisees (religious leaders)
Hypocrites! (actors; those who put on a pretense)
For ye tithe mint, and anise, and cummin (you give a tenth of your garden products)
and have neglected (you've failed to observe)
the weightier matters (more important things)
of the Law (the Mosaic Law)
Judgment, Mercy and Faith
These (tithes of garden products)
ought ye to have done (you should have done)
and not to leave the others undone (Judgment, Mercy and Faith)
The Mosaic Law stated that God's holy tithe was crops and livestock in the land of Israel. Jesus was commending the scribes and Pharisees for keeping the command concerning tithes (tithing mint, anise and cummin) and said they should be doing exactly what they were doing. Why? Because that is what the Law required, and as citizens of the land to which the Law applied, it was their duty to obey the Mosaic Law given to Israel just as we are to obey the laws in the state/county in which we live today.
Leviticus 27:30-33 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
Deuteronomy 12:1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
Deuteronomy 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
The Mosaic Law commanded tithes of crops and livestock. (Notice in this verse God made a distinction between firstlings and tithes. So much for the claim that firstborn animals were tithes. LOL)
Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
Man could not do what seemed right in his own eyes. The tithe was crops and livestock, not money. Man was forbidden to tithe money.
Jesus was not saying 'tithe money in Matthew 23:23. Not at all. He was saying continue tithing that which the Law requires.
That is proper exegesis of Matthew 23:23.
by Ronald W Robey
Woe to you, (sorrows, calamities)
scribes (lawyers)
and Pharisees (religious leaders)
Hypocrites! (actors; those who put on a pretense)
For ye tithe mint, and anise, and cummin (you give a tenth of your garden products)
and have neglected (you've failed to observe)
the weightier matters (more important things)
of the Law (the Mosaic Law)
Judgment, Mercy and Faith
These (tithes of garden products)
ought ye to have done (you should have done)
and not to leave the others undone (Judgment, Mercy and Faith)
The Mosaic Law stated that God's holy tithe was crops and livestock in the land of Israel. Jesus was commending the scribes and Pharisees for keeping the command concerning tithes (tithing mint, anise and cummin) and said they should be doing exactly what they were doing. Why? Because that is what the Law required, and as citizens of the land to which the Law applied, it was their duty to obey the Mosaic Law given to Israel just as we are to obey the laws in the state/county in which we live today.
Leviticus 27:30-33 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.
Deuteronomy 12:1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
Deuteronomy 12:6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
The Mosaic Law commanded tithes of crops and livestock. (Notice in this verse God made a distinction between firstlings and tithes. So much for the claim that firstborn animals were tithes. LOL)
Deuteronomy 12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
Man could not do what seemed right in his own eyes. The tithe was crops and livestock, not money. Man was forbidden to tithe money.
Jesus was not saying 'tithe money in Matthew 23:23. Not at all. He was saying continue tithing that which the Law requires.
That is proper exegesis of Matthew 23:23.