Page 62 - Teaching Principles and Methods Student Textbook short

4. Limit the search to only those synonyms which will assist you in answering the question you
created about the topic. As I begin my search, I find that there are over 2,350 verses in the
Bible that talk about “money.” There is NO WAY I can look up and study that many verses. So
my search words are way too broad. I need to limit my search to answer my question about
pastor and the tithe. But I also want to find out if what he is sharing is not true, then “what
pattern of giving is Scriptural?” So I must limit my search to verses which specifically deal with
these two questions.

5. Look up each verse and read it IN CONTEXT. I looked up every verse in the Bible about what my
pastor is teaching: tithing. Here are the results of my search. As I studied the verses in context,
I put my personal notes in red after the verse.

Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into
thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. In this Bible verse, Melchizedek comes out to meet
Abraham, as Abraham gives him a tithe of the spoils of his victory.

Genesis 28:20-22 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch
over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so
that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God and this stone
that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a
tenth.” After the vision of God’s renewed covenant, Jacob initiates a covenant with God
vowing to give him a tithe of what he receives from the promised land. However, it is never
recorded in Scripture that he actually did give God a tenth, nor is it recorded what method
of giving he used.

Leviticus 27:30-32 ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit
from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. The specifications of tithing is
introduced into the law of Moses. This is called the Mosaic Law given specifically to the
Israelites.

Numbers 18:20-32 “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return
for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. Under the Mosaic Law, this tithe is
dedicated the Levites for the work in the tabernacle.

Deuteronomy 12:5-11 …there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and
special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of
your herds and flocks. God gives instructions for what to do with the tithe once Israel
crosses the Jordan. Again this is a regulation within the Mosaic Law.

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each
year. 23Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and
flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his
Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24But if that place is too
distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because
the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25then exchange your tithe
for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26Use
the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you

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