I wonder how those who claim that the Torah must be observed by believers handle the three tithes that are required.
The Torah specified three tithes:
1. Tithe to the Levites (Numbers 18), which modern Judaizers consider tithing to the church
2. Festival tithe (Deuteronomy 12:1-19 and 14:22-26) to be used for festival observance
3. Tithe to the needy (Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and 26:12-13) every 3rd and 6th year out a 7 year cycle
So, in essence, 23 1/3% of your income would be allocated for devotional purposes on average each year.
In the Judaizing church I attended, they required tithing on gross income. Assuming your governmental tax rate is 30% and you had a modest family income of 80,000, 23,000 of your income would be allocated to taxes and 17,000 would be allocated to these three tithes. Your remaining disposable income would be about 40,000. Not much for a family.
Some individuals ended up leaving the church just due to financial problems, and for them, leaving the church basically meant forfeiting their eternal life.
By the way, on the few occasions when I heard of families getting "third tithe assistance" due to extreme need, it was doled out very sparingly and not without criticism.
Ironically the church had a great excess of funds in this third tithe fund. At one point, they funded a corporate private jet with these excess funds, which were supposed to be used for the poor and needy. Funny thing is, as a blind Pharisee, even though I knew about this stuff, I justified it somehow by considering it to be God's will.
I also heard a minister complaining once about people in the church driving cars in poor repair and leaving oil on his driveway. I remember getting very disillusioned over that, as I knew the reason they drove such vehicles is due to the fact that they had so little spare income.
Those who claim they keep the law, I wonder if they are aware of this triple tithing system, and if they observe it. I've seen how it works in practical terms. You might not have much of an issue with it if you're living with your parents or you are single with a decent job, but if you have a family and your income isn't high, good luck with that.
By the way, excess festival tithe was required to be remitted to the church, through some "escape clause" they found that "required" it. The church came up with every sort of way of squeezing money out of the membership. And, in addition to tithes, you were expected to budget for offerings, so 30% giving or more would not have been abnormal.
I also knew church members who were so financially strapped that they were not able to help needy family members such as parents, which speaks directly to what Christ said about Corban.
