In our study of Mark we are in Mark 12:38-40; and the parallel passage in Matt 23; where Jesus is condemning the Jewish leadership for their failure to fulfill their duty to accurately communicate God's Word to the people.
Last time we saw that because of their negative volition the Jewish leaders had completely disregarded the things of God and were completely focused on the things of satan's cosmic system.
Matt 23:19; Religion cannot perceive from the perspective of divine viewpoint so it must emphasize what can be seen. They see the temple and the altar but they don't recognize their value because they only represent Jesus Christ and grace and truth.
They see money on the altar and to them money means something. Today we have the Bible and religion sees the Bible and the Bible doesn't mean anything but religion looks at money and that does mean something so today religion misuses the Bible in the same way that the Jewish leadership was using the temple and the alter.
Religion misuses the Bible to enslave the people by lies, deception and propaganda so that money that it wants can be extracted from the people rather than teaching the truth of grace and faith.
Religion only views God as a genie who exists to satisfy man's whims and desires and lies to the people in order to deceive and control them.
This same thing is happening in our country today. The progressive socialist fascist pantheist religious leaders have deceived the people with their lie of "hope and change" in order to foist a satanic agenda on them for the purpose of stealing all their money and enslaving them.
Jesus' warnings therefore also apply to the leaders in our nation at this time.
Matt 23:20; It wasn't necessary to execute a vow or take an oath with money but because of their lack of spiritual awareness that is what they demanded.
If a vow was going to be made it was stuffiest to simply make a vow by the altar because the alter and what it represented was much more important than any amount of money.
Matt 23:21-22; The Lord Jesus Christ dwells in the temple. Hab 2:20; Psa 11:4; Jesus Christ controls history Col 1:17; and everyone will answer to him. John 5:22;
Jesus makes the point that making a vow using the alter or the temple is equivalent to making the Lord one's witness so it is the most t solemn oath possible.
In that context money is meaningless because the worst penalty in using money is the forfeiture of the money but to make the Lord Himself one's witness and then fail to perform is to commit perjury that the Lord will personally punish.
The unbelieving Jewish leadership was so blind that they could not recognize what was really important.
Matt 23:23; "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe (habitually and continually)."
Tithing is authorized by the Mosaic Law, Deut 14; Lev 27; Mal 3. There were three kinds of tithes authorized by the law and the Jews did not pay ten per cent of their income per year, they paid twenty per cent.
They paid 10 per cent for the maintenance of the Levites; Num 18:21,24; an additional 10 per cent for the feasts and sacrifices; Deut 14:22-24; and every third year an additional 10 per cent or three tithes, and the third one was for the poor of the land Deut 14:28,29.
Tithing was not the basic principle of giving in Israel and it isn't the principle of giving for the church either. Tithing was the annual income tax payable to their IRS.
These unbelieving Jewish leaders were meticulous about paying their taxes but Jesus warns them that that being meticulous in paying their taxes was not sufficient.
The principle of giving for Israel is found in Proverbs 11:24,25; and for the church in 1 Cor 16:2; and 2Cor 9:7. Tithing is taxation, not spiritual giving.
Israel was a theocracy, and later a monarchy, based upon spiritual principles and spiritual heritage and tithing was the system of taxation God gave them in His Word.
The Jewish leaders tithed in the minute detail that even included the very small seeds of the herbs "mint and anise and cummin" they had an agricultural economy so they not only tithed money but they tithed everything that grew.
When the taxman came he collected ten per cent of the money and they also collected ten per cent of the little seeds and that was fine but...
"they had omitted the "weightier matters of the law" ( the more important things) that (the Old Testament scriptures, the Word of God told them to do)." see NET