Chapter V: Jews

Now, back to the Old Testament. You know the Jews were required to give a tenth of their income and even more. Some Bible students say the requirement was ²/₁₀ all the time and ³/₁₀ every third year. That is not entirely clear to me, but we do know that they had to give a tenth and in addition to that, they had to make daily, weekly, monthly and annual sacrifices. So at the very least, they gave more than a tenth, and you know that the Jews were a prosperous people. For some reason God tells us about all these Old Testament characters who gave a tenth and prospered while doing so. They were required to give a tenth. The New Testament commands us to give liberally. Now, which is more? Of whom does God require and expect more—those who give a tenth or the ones who are told to give liberally?

Now, I could stand up here and give you many more examples of those who gave a tenth of their income and were blessed while they did so. A man in Richmond, Virginia, who had himself and a wife to support, was making only $20 per week. He purposed to give a tenth to the church. Later, he became sick and his remuneration was only $10 per week. He continued to give $2.00 per week to the church. He soon recovered, returned to work, and was promoted to a position that paid $75 per week.

My wife and I had another good friend at Richmond, Virginia, who gave $5.00 out of her $35 per month salary. One month, after meeting all necessary expense, the $5.00 that she had set apart for the church was all she had left with which to buy a new spring dress and you know how much a young lady wants a new dress in the spring. After debating the question for awhile she overcame the temptation and gave the $5.00 to the church as she had planned. The next day her employer, who was not a Christian and who knew nothing of the battle the young lady had fought and won, gave her enough material to make two new dresses.

I could continue compiling such examples indefinitely. If you think a tenth is too much for one to give, ask the man who has tried it. I never knew any one to discontinue the practice of tithing after trying it for a while. Experience proves that it is a good practice. A church in Dallas, Texas, has a large sign on the wall of its building which reads as follows: “If any member will practice giving one-tenth of all he earns for one year and at the end of that time can say that he has been made poorer by doing so, we will give him $1,000 in gold.” No one has claimed that $1,000.

The church at Lily Chapel, near Portsmouth, Ohio, doubled its contributions. That meant, of course, that some of the members were even giving more than twice as much as they had been giving. One night I requested that all who had been made poorer, or who had less left to live on, as a result of increasing their contribution, raise their hands. Nobody raised a hand. Then I said, “Why don’t you double it again, then?”