VOL. VIII, NUMBER 7

International Magazine ofTHE CHURCH OF GOD

JULY, 1959

What You Should KnowAbout TITHING

Some argue that there is only one tithe mentioned in the Bible­that ibis one tithe is to be used tor the work of God, for travellingto the festivals, and for widows and orphans. Is this argument

sound? Here is the answer!

I s THERE only one tithe mentioned inthe Bible? To whom does the tithebelong? How is it to be used? Is it

any different in New Testament teachingcompared with the Old?

The New Testament Teaching

Many sects assume that in New Testa­ment times no tithe is to be kept. Otherscontend we are commanded to tithe inthe New Testament. So let's notice whatthe Bible really says.

Paul tells us in Hebrews 7:5-9, "Andverily they that are of the sons of Levi,who receive the office of the priesthood,have a commandment to take tithes ofthe people according to the law, that is,of their brethren, though they come outof the loins of Abraham."

Observe that this verse says that, ac­cording to the law, the Levites had beengiven the commandment to take tithesof the people. It was nor left to thediscretion of the people as to whetherthey were to give a tithe-or only a littleoffering. I want you to notice, accordingto the law the Levites "have a command­ment to take tithes of the people." God,therefore, must have given a command­ment that the Levires do this. Accordingto the commandment of God in the law,it became the Levites' responsibility totake tithes of the people.

by Herman 1. Hoeh

Does this mean that tithing com­menced with Moses and the Levites?Let Paul continue with the answer:Verse 8, "Here men (the Levites] thatdie receive tithes"-not portions oftithes, not a part of a tithe, or merelyofferings-but "receive tithes; but there(speaking of Abraham} He receiveththem, of whom it is witnessed He liveth[speaking of Melchisedec}. And, as Imay so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes[according to the law}, payed tithes inAbraham, for he was yet in the loins ofhis father [he wasn't born yet} whenMelchisedec met him."

So tithes were being received even inAbraham's day!--centuries before theLevites were made priests.

Continuing: Verse 11, "If thereforeperfection were by the Levitical priest­hood"-[of course, it was not} then,Paul goes on to say, there would havebeen no need to change a priesthood.But "the priesthood being changed thereis made of necessity a change also of thelaw" (verse 12).

What Paul is pointing out is thatAbraham paid tithes to Melchisedec.Though the Levites received tithes of thepeople, yet through Abraham the Levitesindirectly paid tithes to Melchisedec also.Christ today is high-priest, with the rankof Melchisedec. Therefore, if even those

who died [the Levites] received tithes,how much more should the One wholives receive tithes? That is Paul's argu­ment.

That is the New Testament teaching!The tithes, then, are to go to the priest­hood of Melchisedec-to Christ-be­cause Christ, who is Melchisedec,received tithes of Abraham even beforeLevi was born! Tithing in the NewTestament therefore becomes even moreimportant than it was in the Old Testa­ment.

We might now turn to II Timothy2:3-7, where Paul emphasizes nearly thesame thing to the evangelist Timothy:"Thou therefore endure hardness, as agood soldier of Jesus Christ. No manthat warreth entangleth himself with theaffairs of this life; that he may pleasehim who hath chosen him to be a soldier.And if a man also strive for masreries,yet is he not crowned, except he srr ivelawfully." In other words, the man whois called for a special duty should per­form his duty and not be trying to makea living on the side.

To continue: "The husbandman thatlaboureth must be first partaker of thefruits. Consider what I say; and the Lordgive thee understanding in all things."Paul is pointing out that Timothy, likethe husbandman, like the soldier, has a

Page 2 The GOOD NEWS July, 1959

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Copyright, July, 1959By the Radio Church of God

International magazine of

THE CHURCH OF GODministering to its members

scattered abroad

jured, or diseased. They were not to

search whether it be good or bad. Therewas to be no exchange. The tithe wasjust to be a plain 10% of the averageflock or herd when sold.

Now verse 34: "These are the com­mandments, which the Lord commandedMoses for the children of Israel in MountSinai." This is spoken directly to Mosestor the people. The people are made toknow that the entire tithe doesn't belongto them, but to God, and it is holy untoHim.

Who Received the Tithe?

Now we can proceed to Numbers18:8, "And the Lord spake unto Aaron... " What He says to Aaron is in thefollowing verse. In Leviticus the Lordspoke to Moses to tell the people abouttithing. Now, in Numbers 18 God isn'teven speaking to Moses. "The Lordspake Unto Aaron!" Aaron was the highpriest. Notice verse 20: "The Lord spakeunto Aaron, Thou shalt have no in­heritance in their land [that is, in theland of the other tribes], neither shaltthou have any part among them [theother twelve tribes]: I am thy part andthine inheritance among the childrenof Israel."

What were the Levites and the familyof Aaron to inherit? Thev were to in­herir God's part. "I am '(hy parr andthine inheritance among the children ofIsrael."

Verse 21: "And, behold, I have giventhe children of Levi ALL THE TENTHIN ISRAEL FOR AN INHERITANCE,for their service which they serve, eventhe service of the tabernacle of the con­gregation."

The Lord is here speaking to Aaron,in verse 20, about the fact that Aarondoesn't own any productive land for aninheritance. The only places in Palestinethey were even allowed to reside in were48 Levitical cities, and of these 13 citieswere devoted to the priesthood. Theyjust had a small area around the citieswhere they kept the produce which wasturned over to them -the tithes andofferings. But notice especially verse 21:"I have given ... " Who is speaking?God is speaking! God has given. If Godis giving then He must have somethingto give. If God doesn't own what He isgiving then He wouldn't be able togive it! Isn't that clear? Whatever Godowns He is giving. 1£ you have a pieceof property legally recorded in yourname, what right have I to give yourproperty to your neighbor? Why, noright at all! I have no right to take yourinheritance and give it to someone else.

And what has God given to thechildren of Levi? All the tenth in Israelfor an inheritance!

The word "all" here comes from the

The Principle of Tithing

Let us read the first mention of tithingin its full details in Leviticus 27. Verse1: "The Lord said unto Moses .. ·' Thisis what the Lord tells Moses. Verse 2:"Speak unto the children of Israel, andsay unto them . . ." What does Godcommand Moses to tell the children ofIsrael?

Begin with verse 30: "And ALL thetithe of the Land, whether of the seedof the land, or of the fruit of the tree,is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord."

Did you notice? ALL the tenth, or,the WHOLE tenth, or the ENTIRE tenthof the land, whether it be of the seed orof the fruit, whatever comes forth fromit, is the Lord's. (The word "tithe" ofcourse, means a tench.) It is holy untothe Lord. It then belongs to God. It isHis. It is not man's. It's His.

We read also in Malachi, with respectto the tithe, "Will a man rob God?" IfGod didn't own something, how wouldman be robbing Him? Isn't it very plainthat whnr is heine rohhpd from God iswhat belongs to Him? If man ownedthe tithe, and God did not own it, itwouldn't be robbing God to keep it!Nodet: it-Malachi 3:8: "Will a manrob God? Yet ye have robbed me. Butye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?"-Don't we own everything? WeU, theanswer is No!-"In tithes and offerings,Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye haverobbed Me, even this whole nation."

God must own the tithe. It is His.It isn't man's. Since it belongs to God,man doesn't have anything to say aboutwhat's to be done with it, does he? It'sGod's. It's not man's. We need to recog­nize that fact.

Continuing with Leviticus 27: 31,"And if a man will at all redeem oughtof his tithes [of the seed or of the fruit,]... "-in other words, if he wants tokeep a certain crate or basket of fruitwhich was a part of the tithe-God says,"He shall add thereto the fifth part there­of." That is, he paid the equivalent of atithe with other fruit or seed, PLUSanorher rwenry percent, if he wanted to

keep a special crate marked as tithe."And concerning the tithe of the

herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoeverpasseth under the rod, the tenth shall beholy unto the Lord." If something isHOLY, it is for special use and purpose.It is for God to use as He purposed.When it comes to tithes of the herd orthe flock, the owner "... shall not searchwhether it be good or bad, neither shallhe change it: and if he change it at all,then both it and the change thereof shallbe holy; it shall not be redeemed."

They were not to examine the titheof animals to see whether it was good orbad. Suppose that one of the lambs thatwent through was lame or had been in-

NUMBER 7VOL. VIlI

A Law from the Beginning

Tithing is not an invention of Moses.Tithing preceded Moses. Moses did notdream up the idea. Genesis 14:20 tellsLIS: "Blessed be the most high God,which hath delivered thine enemies intothy hand." Melchizedec is speaking."And he [Abraham] gave Him [Me1chi­zedec] tithes of all." Abraham paid tithes,and Abraham did not receive this fromMoses! This was over 430 years beforethe Law was delivered through Moses.

Now turn to Exodus 19: S. There is alittle phrase at the end of this versethat we should notice. God says: "... forall the earth is mine." Everything belongsto God. God owns everything. Man isonly a sojourner on the earth. Man ownsnorhing permanently.

Since God owns everything, then howdoes man receive anything? He receivesit from God. As everything belongs to

God, then whatever man has COMES

FROM Goo Rut, on what basis does manreceive things from God. Does God puta stipulation? Does God reserve a certainportion for Himself?

Herbert W. ArmstrongPublisher and Editor

Garner Ted ArmstrongExecutive EditorHerman 1. HoehManaging Editor

Roderick C. MeredithAssociate Editor

right to receive remuneration as one whoworks for the Lord. The Lord is to payhim for his work. Timothy was not tobe looking for a job outside to sustainhim. If he is going to do God's work,God is the One who is to take care ofhim, The Levire who worked at thealtar, remember, ate of the altar,

Now let us notice that tithing in theOld Testament is commanded by astatute which we are to k(;:(;:p FOREVER.

July, 1959

Hebrew word "kowl," sometimes "kohl,"and it means ALL, or the ENTIRE amount,the WHOLE. You may check that inYoung's or Strong's Concordance, Thewhole of the tithe is the Lord's. Herewe find that He has given all, or thewhole, of the tithe or the tenth in Israelfor an inheritance to Levi. He doesn'tsay, "I'll let the people decide how muchof this they want to give." He says,"I have given all the tenth." But forwhat? "... for an inheritance" to thechildren of Levi.

This then, becomes the children ofLevi's inheritance. It now belongs tothem!

Now, we should examine what Godsays abour an inheritance.

The Rights of Inheritance

Tum to Numbers 36. Here is a veryemphatic account. According to thestory, one of rhe families of the childrenof Joseph had only daughters and nosons. The question was, were they goingto lose their inheritance? Numbers 36: 7:"So shall not the inherirauce of thechildren of Israel remove from tribe totribe: for everyone of the children ofIsrael shall keep himself to the inherit­ance ot the tribe of his fathers. Andevery daughter, that possesseth an in­heritance (because there was no son)in any tribe of the children of Israe-l, shn l]be wife unto one of the family of thetribe of her father, that the children ofIsrael may enjoy every man the in­heritance of his fathers. Neither shallthe inheritance remove from one tribe toanother tribe; bur el'ery one of the tribesof the children of Israel shall keep him­self to bis own inheritance,"

Now, doesn't that make it plain?It says everyone of tribes of the chil­

dren of Israel shall keep his own in­heritance!

Twelve tribes inherited the land, andeach one was to keep to its own in­heritance. The daughter who was saleheir of the father, because there was noson, was not to marry a man of anothertribe, bur was to marry a man of herown tribe in order that the land wouldnot pass to another tribe.

But Levi also had his inheritance-thetithe-"all the tenth . . . for an inheritance." And verse 23: " ... It shallbe a statute FOREVER throughout yourgenerations, that among the children ofIsrael they [the Levires] shall have noinheritance [in the land}."

The inheritances are not to movefrom tribe to tribe. The tenth does notand never did belong to any of the othertribes, but to God who gave it to Levi,as long as the tribe represented God'sministry on earth. Now, as the priest­hood of Melchisedec is doing the workof the ministry today, the tithe goes to

The GOOD NEWS

Melchisedee and to his ministers. Noticethat, according to the Old Testament,Levi was NEVER to have a land in­heritance-but that did not guaranteethat Levi would always inherit the tithe,Levi received the tithe when they obeyedGod and were His ministry-or elsethey received nothing! God ordainedthat they serve Him and live, or elseperish!

The Levites Tithed Also

Now read verses 25 and 26: "And theLord said unto Moses, When you takeof the children of Israel the tithes whichI bare given you from them for yourinheritance, then ye shall offer up anheave offering of it for the Lord, evena tenth part of the tithe."

What is this? The tithe that theLevites are to pay!

If all the people pay God all thatbelongs to Him-that is, pay to Himthe tenth which He in turn gives to theLevites-then we find (verse 27) thatthe l.evites offer up a tithe which isreckoned as the corn at the threshingfloor, and as the fullness of the wine­press. The Levites tithed of their in­heritance, too.

Verse 28, "Thus ye also shall offer anheave offering unto the Lord of all yourtithes, which ye receive of the childrenof Israel; and yc shall give thereof theLord's heave offering to Aaron thepriest."

And they were to make an offeringout of all their gifts (verse 29).

A Levite was anyone of the tribe ofLevi, but the priesthood came from thefamily of Aaron, Levi's great-granclsonThe Levite had to tithe his income. Hehad to give one tenth of the tithe to thefamily of Aaron, which held the high­priesthood at the time.

All the tithes belonged to the tribeof Levi, but one tenth of it was givento the family of Aaron. The tenth of thechildren of Israel went to Levi, and atenth of that went to the family ofAaron. That is the order in which Godarranged the tithing system in the OldTestament.

But let us notice again verse 26.Nehemiah throws light on this subject,chapter 10:29,38. In verse 29 they en­tered into a covenant to set aside (lastportion of verse 37) "the tithes of ourgrounds unto the Levires that the sameLevites might have the tithes in all thecities of our tillage. And the priest theson of Aaron shall be with the Levites,when th(' I.evires take tithes: and theLeuites shall bring up the tithe of thetithes unto the house of our God, to thechambers unto the treasure house."

It is dear from this that the Levites­even over this long period of centuriesfrom the days of Moses to the days of

Page 3

Nehemiah-were to have [he tithe asan inheritance and they were to set asidea tenth of those tithes for the family ofAaron. The priests were to supervisethe taking of the tithe, a tenth of whichwas to go up to the house of God whereit was distributed to the entire Priest­hood which resided at Jerusalem-theonly place where offerings were permit­ted on the altar.

We should now turn to another illus­tration which is found in Deuteronomy18: 1-2. "The priests the Levires [inother words, those of the family ofAaron, the priestly family of the tribeof Levi}, and all the tribe of Levi [notof the family of Aaron, but of the tribeof Levi}, shall have no part nor in­heritance with Israel [no land}: theyshall eat the offerings of the Lord madeby fire, and His inheritance, Thereforeshall they have no inheritance amongtheir brethren: the Lord is their in­heritance, as He hath said unto them."

What was "His inheritance"? Accord­ing to the book of Numbers, chapterj 8, HIS inheritance was "ALL the tenth."So [he Levires were to live and eat ofthe offerings made unto the Lord at thealtar, AND of all the tenth-the tithesof Israel. That should be very plain!

Everywhere we find the Bible agreeswith itself, whether in Numbers, inDeuteronomy, or iu Nehemiah orHebrews. The tithe was the inheritanceof the Levites. This is bis, not the peo­ple's. This is what the Levire owns.

Only One Tithe?

Now come the problem texts. Manyhave had questions and doubts about thebook of Deuteronomy. Let's begin withchapter 12. "These are the statutesand judgments, which ye shall observeto do in the land, which the Lord Godof thy fathers giveth thee to possess it,all the days that ye live upon the earth."

Then he tells them they were to throwdown idolatrous altars; throw downeverything that represented false reli­gion. The children of Israel were not inany way to serve God as the heathenhad done to their gods (verse 4). Nowverse 5: "But unto the place which theLord your God shall choose out of allyour rribes to put his name there, evenunto his habitation shall ye seek, andthither thou shalt come . . . "

What were they to come there for?Verse 6, "And thither ye shall bring yourburnt offerings, and your sacrifices, andyour TITHES, and heave offerings ofyour hand, and your vows, aud yourfreewill offerings, and the firstlings ofyour herds and of your flocks: And thereye shall eat."

This is addressed to the people byMoses on the east side of Jordan. Hewarned them to bring all these things

Page 4

up to headquarters. "There ye shall eatbefore the Lord your God and you shallrejoice in all that you put your handunto, ye and your households, whereinthe Lord thy God hath blessed you. Yeshall not do after all the things that wedo here this day, every man whatsoeveris right in his own eyes."

Instead of having altars and highplaces throughout the country, they wereto have one central place and there theywere to bring their burnt offerings(which they wouldn't be eating anywaybecause the burnt offering was whollyburnt on the altar), and other sacrifices,and tithes, and heave offerings, free-willofferings, and the firstlings. And it wasthere that the people were to eat beforethe Lord; not some other place. That iswhat Moses is emphasizing. Some havehastily concluded from this verse thatthe people were to eat the Levire's in­heritance' But it does not say this. Tnthis particular verse Moses does notexpressly tell what is to be eaten. Itcannot mean everything mentioned inverse 6, for burnt offerings were uuteaten.

But notice, they were to bring "tithes"there. The word is in the plural-morethan one! Every where else where thetithe, or inheritance of Levi, is men­tioned it has been in the singular. Buthere it is plural, "tithes," more than one!

Let's go on. We pick up the storyagain in verse 11: "Then there shall bea place [when you reach the other sideof Jordan} which the Lord your Godshall choose to cause his name to dwellthere; thither shall ye bring all that Icommand you; your burnt offerings, andyour sacrifices, your tithes, and the heaveoffering of your hand, and all yourchoice vows which ye vow unto theLord: And ye shall rejoice before theLord your God, ye, and your sons, andyour daughters, and your menservants,and your maidservants, and the Levitethat is within your gates; forasmuch ashe hath no part nor inheritance withyou [in the LAND]."

Israel was to observe the annual festi­vals where God chose to put His name.The Feast of Tabernacles was held espe­cially at the one place, whereas the otherswere often held in areas more localized.They were also told: "Take heed tothyself that thou offer not thy burntofferings in every place that thou seest"(verse 13). Verse 14: "But in the placewhich the Lord shall choose in one ofthy tribes, there thou shalt offer thyburnt offerings, and there thou shalt doall that I command thee."

According to verses 15 and 16, theycould kill and eat other meat at home ifthey wanted to. Only those things thatGod had especially commanded were tocome to the one place.

The GOOD NEWS

Now Deut. 12: 17-a most importantsubject, "Thou mayest NOT eat withinthy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thywine, or of thy oil, or the firstling ofthy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thyvows which thou vowest, nor thy free­will offerings, or heave offering of thinehand: but you must eat them" [Jewishtranslation in Magil's Linear reads it,not themJ-"but you must eat it [thetithe] before the Lord thy God in theplace which the Lord thy God shallchoose, thou, and thy son, and thydaughter, and thy manservant, and thymaidservant, and the Levite that is with­in thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice be­fore the Lord thy God in all that thouputtest thine hands unto. Take heed tothyself that thou forsake not the Leviteas long as thou livest upon the earth."

Verse 17 clearly forbids anyone to eatwithin his gates the tithe of the corn,wine, oil, the firstlings of herds or flocks.They must be eaten before the Lord inthe place which He shall choose.

Who is to eat it? You, your son, yourdaughter, rnanser-uaru , muidservan», andthe local Levite.

Not the First Tithe

Many have stumbled on this verse. Iwould like to quote what a modernscholar says about these verses. It is agood illustration of how people reasontoday.

The International Critical Commen­tary states this in its comments on page169: 'The Deuteronomic law of tithe is,however, in serious, and indeed irrecon­cilable, conflict with the law [mentionedin Numbers]. In Numbers 18: 21-28the tithe is appropriated entirely to themaintenance of the priestly tribe, beingpaid in the first instance to the Levites,who in their turn pay a tenth of whatthey receive to the priests; in Deuter­onomy it is spent partly at sacred feasts... partly in the relief of the poor-inboth cases the Levire ... sharing onlyin company with others, as the recipientof the Israelite's benevolence."

If that tenth described in Numbersbelonged to the people, then the Levitehas no real right to all of it. But if itbelonged to the Levites, the people haveno right to it. If it belonged to the peo­ple, the Levire had no right to give atenth of it to Aaron; that would havebeen the people's responsibility. But itwas Levi's responsibility, not the peo­ple's.

It is very plain then, that whatevertithe is described here in Deuteronomycannot be the same tithe described in thebook of Numbers! That it is not thesame tithe becomes clear when we readthe same account from the Septuaginttranslation of the Bible. This is theGreek translation of the Hebrew Old

July, 1959

Testament, rendered again into English.It throws a great deal of light on this17th verse of Deuteronomy 12 in theHebrew:

"Thou shalt not eat in thy cities theadditional tithe of thy corn, of thy wine,or of thy oil, or the first-born of thyherd or of thy flock, ... but before theLord thy God thou shalt eat it, in theplace which the Lord thy God shallchoose."

The Greek word rendered tithe isephidekaton which may mean "an addi­tional tithe," or "a tithe besides." TheGreek word dekaton which means riatenth" is not used, but another wordephidekaton which means "an additionaltenth"-or "a tithe besides."

If this were the same tithe as is de­scribed in Numbers, then it means thatall that tithe had to be eaten by the peo­ple and the Levites in only one place.What, then, were the Levites to do whenthey returned home?

Deuteronomy 12: 11 plainly speaks oftithes-in the PLURAL-more than one10%, Dut when we come to verse 17­in speaking of A tithe NOT to be eatenat home-Moses uses the word in thesingular. One tithe, or 10%, which isthe Levire's, is to come to headquartersfor distribution throughout the country.Another tithe, or 10% is to be eaten byeverybociy only at the place where Godplaces His Name.

It's plain that the Greek-speakingJews who translated the book of Deuter­onomy understood tithing clearly. Thepeople were not to eat within their gatesor cities the "additional tithe"--or the"tithe besides"-the "other tithe." Thishas nothing to do with the first tithe!

Chapter 12 is not the only place men­tioning these two tithes.

Verse 22 of Deuteronomy reads:"Thou shalt truly tithe all the increaseof thy seed, that the field bringeth forthyear by year," Verse 15: "And thoushalt eat before the Lord thy God, inthe place which He shall choose to placeHis name there, the tithe of thy corn,of thy wine, and of thine oil, and thefirstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks;that thou may est learn to fear the Lordthy God always."

Even the Levite was to eat of it onlywhere God chose to put His name!(Deut. 12: 18.) Yet the Lcvites were tolive off their tithe in all the citiesthroughout the country. Therefore, thetithe that they must have lived on intheir cities and villages certainly couldn'thave been the tithe which all were for­bidden to eat in their own homes.

Obviously, the plural usage in Deu­teronomy 12: 11 shows that there is morethan one tithe under consideration.Notice very plainly in chapter 14, verse

(Please continue on page 10)

Is the BIBLE True?Can we believe the Bible? Is it historically true? Here

is one surprising proof that it IS truel

by Herman 1. Hoeh

D ID the children of Israel reallycross the Red Sea? Weare toldin the Bible that Israel fled Egypt

during the Days of Unleavened Bread.That they were driven our because theEgyptians had been supernaturally pun­ished by God. But at the last minute,Pharaoh changed his mind! It took yetanother miracle co deliver the childrenof Israel our of Egypt, says the Bible­the "miracle of the Red Sea."

Did this miracle really happen?

Do Miracles Happen Today?

It is time we asked ourselves if ittakes a miracle today for Christians toseparate from this world, to come out ofthis world's society, and to live as Godhas ordained? Those who say that themiracle of the Red Sea did not happenare the same people who today say wedo not have to rely on any supernaturalpower to overcome this world.

The supreme lesson we must learnfrom the Days of Unleavened Bread isthat, after Christ has passed over ourmistakes and overlooks our past, wehave to go through a period of separat­ing from this world-and in this proc­ess we cannot extricate ourselves fromthis world without a divine miracle.This miracle is something that God, notman, has to perform-just as God per­formed, according to the Scripture, themiracle of the Red Sea! God told thechildren of Israel, "Stand still, and seethe salvation of the Lord."

Now let's look through the story ofwhat really took place during the sevendays of Unleavened Bread-from thetime the children of Israel left the landwhere they observed the Passover to thetime they crossed the Red Sea.

Modern critics have all kinds oftheories as to the directions the childrenof Israel took when they journeyed inEgypt from the city of Rameses, wherethey met at the night of the Festival,to the Red Sea. One sometimes wonderswhere the children of Israel would havebeen taken had all the modern criticsinstead of Moses led them from Pharaoh!

What portion of the land of Egyptdid Israel journey through upon leaving?What is the route of the Exodus? Didthe crossing of the Red Sea really occur?

The Background of the Story

Let's turn, for the background of thestory, to Genesis IS: 18, "In the same

day the Lord made a covenant withAbram, saying, Unto thy seed have Igiven this land, from the river of Egyptunto the great river, the river Eu­phrates."

Is this "river of Egypt" the Nile?Some modern critics tell us "no."

They claim it is, instead, a dry riverbed, which flows only in the winter, inmidst of the Sinai peninsula.

Bur the Bible plainly declares it isthe River of Egypt, not the river of theSinai peninsula. It is not the river ofthe Philistines. It is the river of Egypt!

There is only one river of Egypt­the Nile.

If God had not given Abraham'sdescendants dominion to the river ofEgypt, bur had given them only a dryriver bed in the middle of the Sinaidesert, then what right have his de­scendants-the British and other West­ern Europeans-had to build the SuezCanal? Why is it wrong for Nasser tohave taken over the Suez Canal unlessit belonged to Israel in the first place?

The very fact that God used Israelto build the Suez Canal is in itself proofthat the children of Israel should possessthe land of Egypt to the Nile!

Certainly from fulfilled prophecy theriver of Egypt is the Nile.

We have this confirmed in Joshua15: 4. This Scripture tells us that theborder of the land in the south "passedtoward Azmon, and went our unto theriver of Egypt; and the goings out ofthat coast were at the sea: this shall beyour south coast."

Also in verse 47, "Ashdod with hertowns and her villages, Gaza with hertowns and her villages, unto the river ofEgypt, and the great sea, and the borderthereof."

When we come to I Kings 8:65, wefind the same border: "And at that timeSolomon held a feast, and all Israel withhim, a great congregation, from theentering in of Hamath [near the Eu­phrates} unto the river of Egypt" cele­brated a festival.

Now we want to find out if God evercaused the children of Israel to possessthe territory east of the Nile. Was theland east of the Nile ever possessed bythe children of Israel?

Where Is Goshen?

Notice what the Egyptians themselvespromised for the children of Israel be-

cause of what Joseph did for them. Hereis what we find in Genesis 45: 10, "Andthou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen,"says Joseph to his father at Pharaoh'scommand, "and thou shalt be near untome, thou, and thy children, and thychildren's children, and thy flocks, andthy herds, and all that thou hast."

Jacob and all of the family of Israelcould dwell in the land of Goshen.

Bur-where is the land of Goshen?Modern scholars tell us that it is a

small, semidesolate area east of the Nilehalfway between the Nile and the SuezCanal today. This is supposed to be theland with which God blessed Jacob inthe land of Egypt.

Because critics have assumed this isthe land of Goshen, they cannot believethat there were 600,000 Israelite men,besi~e women and children, at the timethe exodus occurred.

Of course in this area which thescholars tell us is the land of Goshen,there couldn't have even been 6,000men, beside women and children, withall of their cattle. The fact is, scholarshaven't understood where the land ofGoshen is.

Genesis 46: 28 tells us more of thestory. "And he [Jacob] sent Judah be­fore him unto Joseph, to direct his faceunto Goshen." Jacob was coming downfrom Beersheba in Palestine into Egypt."And they came into the land of Go­shen. And Joseph made ready his chariot,and went up [northward] to meet Israelhis father, to Goshen, and presentedhimself unto him."

Did you notice that Joseph was notin the land of Goshen? Joseph dweltwhere Pharaoh was. And Pharaoh wasat Memphis, the capital of lower Egypt."Joseph made ready his chariot, ANDWENT UP TO MEET Israel his father."He went up to Goshen. He was goingNORTH. Therefore, the land of Goshenwas NORTH of the capital of Egypt atthis time.

Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong, Dr. Mere­dith and I have all been to Memphis. Itis just west of the Nile, a few milessouth of modern Cairo.

Now verses 33 and 34 of Genesis 46:"And it shall come to pass, when Phar­aoh shall call you, and shall say, Whatis your occupation?"-]oseph instructshis father to say this-"That ye shallsay, Thy servants' trade hath been abourcattle from our youth even until now,

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both we, and also our fathers; that yemay dwell in the land of Goshen; forevery shepherd is an abomination untothe Egyptians." Egyptians often hiredforeigners to tend to their cattle. So thepurpose was to have the children ofIsrael dwell in the land of Goshen totend cattle there.

Chapter 47, verse 5 picks up thestory. "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,saying, Thy father and thy brethren arecome unto thee: The land of Egypt isbefore thee; in the best of the land makethy father and brethren to dwell; in theland of Goshen let them dwell: and ifthou knowest any men of activityamong them, then make them rulersover my cattle."

Did you notice that Pharaoh said tothe children of Israel, "The land ofEgypt is before you, the best of the land,the land of Goshen." This is the portionof Egypt that Pharaoh is actually turn­ing over to the children of Israel be­cause of what Joseph did!

Remember, God told Abraham thathis descendants were going to controlland to the river of Egypt-the Nile.This is how God began to fulfill thatpromise!

Now to verse 10: "And Jacob blessedPharaoh, and went out from beforePharaoh. And Joseph placed his fatherand his brethren, and gave them a pos­session in the land of Egypt, in the bestof the land, in the land of Rameses, asPharaoh had commanded."

The best of the land, in verse 6, iscalled "the land of Goshen," while inverse 11, it is called "the land ofRameses."

Obviously, then, the land of Goshenand the land of Rameses are the same!It is the best of all the land of Egypt.

The Land of Rameses

One of the titles belonging to rulersof Egypt was "Rarneses." This title, oneof several applied to the rulers of Egypt,existed from the beginning of Egyptianhistory-long before the "PharaohRameses the Great" of history, whoactually began to reign about 790 B.C.

Ancient Egypt was a feudalistic world.In feudalism the king claims theoreticallyto own everything. He leased the landout to his princelings and lords (wholease parts of their land to others of stilllower rank), but the king reserves a cer­tain portion for himself.

Pharaoh naturally reserved the bestland for himself-the land of Goshen.It belonged personally to Pharaoh. SoPharaoh was not taking land leased tohis lords. He is granting this territory toJoseph, who was next highest in thekingdom, for his service. The fee forreceiving the land of Goshen or Ramesesis stated in verse 6: "And if thou know-

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est any men of activity among them,then make them rulers over MY cattle."

Where were Pharaoh's cattle? In theland of Goshen, the land of Rameses.Pharaoh knew that if Joseph could blessall Egypt as he had done, his familywould also be bound to bless his ownstock. But in so doing, the Egyptiansgranted the right of the children ofIsrael to this territory. And by commandof their ruler all the land of Goshen,the land of Rameses, is given to thechildren of Israel-as partial fulfillmentof God's promise that Abraham's seedshould extend to the river of Egypt, tothe Nile.

Goshen During the Plagues

Continuing the story with Exodus8:22. Another dynasty has risen up;Moses is dealing with a new Pharaoh.One of the plagues is about to occur:"1 will sever in that day," God says, "theland of Goshen, in which my peopledwell, that no swarms of flies shall bethere; to the end thou [Pharaoh} mayestknow that I am the Lord in the midst ofthe earth. And I will put a division be­tween my people and thy people: tomor­row shall this sign be."

And this sign did occur, "... theLord did so" (verse 24). These fliescontaminated and plagued all the landof Egypt where the Egyptians were, butthe flies did not plague the land wherethe children of Israel dwelt.

The land of Goshen is a particularterritory where the children of Israelwere dwelling. This was the land thathad once belonged to the royal house.God makes a separation between thatland and the rest of the land of Egypt.

Verse 26, chapter 9 tells us almostthe same thing: "Only in the land ofGoshen, where the children of Israelwere, was there no hail."

Now to Exodus 12: 19, the night ofthe Passover. "And it came to pass, thatat midnight the Lord smote all the first­born in the land of Egypt"-this wasmidnight on the 14th day-"from thefirstborn of Pharaoh that sat on histhrone unto the firstborn of the captivethat was in the dungeon [or the prison­house} and all the firstborn of cattle.And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he,and all his servants, and there was agreat cry in Egypt; for there was not ahouse where there was not one dead.And he called for Moses and Aaron bynight, and said, Rise up, and get youforth from among my people, both yeand the children of Israel; and go, servethe Lord, as ye have said. Also takeyour flocks and your herds, as ye havesaid, and be gone; and bless me also.And the Egyptians were urgent uponthe people, that they might send themout of the land in haste; for they said

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[if they were to stay there any longer],We be all dead men."

In verses 34 and 35 the story con­tinues. "The children of Israel . . .borrowed of the Egyptians" amongwhom they had been living. The nextnight-the 15th of Abib-having"spoiled the Egyptians" and driven theircattle, the Israelites came to the cityof Rameses.

Stop for the moment and considerthese facts. God told Moses, "Go notout of your houses until the morning."

Moses and Aaron naturally wouldhave remained in their house this night-all of the night of the 14th. ButPharaoh, who was not a firstborn son,came out of his house by night to findMoses and urge him and all Israel to

leave.Modern critics tell us that Pharaoh

at this time lived in the city of Thebesin upper Egypt, the land of ancientSheba. But they are all wrong! Pharaoh'sheadquarters was at the city of Memphis.The ruling dynasty in Moses' day camefrom Xois in the Delta, bur the capitalof all lower Egypt was at Memphis. Thisis where the government administrationoriginated. It was at Memphis thatPharaoh that night rose up and went toMoses, and said, "Get our of the landand all your people, and he was urgenton cheru."

Pharaoh could not have been far fromwhere Moses was. That very night, hesaddled his camel and went to Moses andAaron! Wherever the children of Israelobserved the Passover was a place verynear the city of Memphis!

Remember, Israel dwelt in all theland of Goshen, but they had assembledin one particular area to keep the Pass­over. From this area they journeyed onthe daylight part of the 14th of Abibto the city of Rameses, and met therethe next night, the night of the 15th!

The Night of the Exodus

"The children of Israel journeyedfrom Rameses to Succoth, about sixhundred thousand on foot that weremen, beside children. And a mixed mul­titude went up also with them; andflocks, and herds, even very much cattle"(Ex. 12:37-38).

From here the children of Israel lefton the night of the 15th! (Deut. 16: 1 ).

Numbers 33: 3 makes it even plainer.The children of Israel "departed fromRameses in the first month, on the fif­teenth day of the first month; on themorrow after the passover the childrenof Israel went out with an high handin the sight of all the Egyptians."

Between the morning after the Pass­over and the next night, "the childrenof Israel did according to the word ofMoses; and they borrowed of the Egyp-

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"-.~

"

"------

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'----'--~<,

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-,-.

tians jewels of silver, and jewels ofgold, and raiment: And the Lord gave

the people favour in the sight of theEgyptians, so that they lent unto them;'

that is, paid them, "such things as theyrequired. And they spoiled the Egyp-

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tians," that is, they took their wagesthat the Egyptians withheld from themfor nearly two centuries.

Then they gathered at Rameses.Where was this city?

Let me read what Josephus plainlytells us. Josephus, Antiquities of thejews, Book II, Chapter XV. "So theHebrews went out of Egypt, while theEgyptians wept, and repented that theyhad treated them so hardly ... Nowthey took their journey by Letopolis,a place at that time deserted, but whereBabylon was built afterwards, whenCambyses laid Egypt waste." So Rameseswas the city of Leropolis, which laterunder Persian rule, was called the cityof Babylon. Did you know there wasalso a Babylon in Egypt as well as inMesopotamia where Nimrod started hiskingdom?

What city is this today? Josephus,writing in Greek, calls this the city ofletopolis-a Greek name for Rameses.Polis means city in Greek. A metropolisis a "mother city." So letopolis was thecity of Letona---one of the names ofSemiramis or Easter, the Queen ofHeaven. It is the same from whichLatin has come. So this was one of thecities dedicated anciently to the Queenof Heaven. No wonder it was alsocalled Babylon later!

Smith's Classical Dictionary of Greekand Roman Biography says of the city ofBabylon in Egypt that it "is in latertimes called Fostat OR OLD CAIRO, afortress in lower Egypt on the rightbank of the Nile exactly opposite tothe pyramids of Giza, and at the be­ginning of the canal which connectedthe Nile with the Red Sea.

The city of Rameses, built by thechildren of Israel in honor of the Phar­aoh, was Letopolis, the very city whichtoday the Mohammedans call Old Cairo!

Notice the accompanying map. Godgave the children of Israel the land allthe way to the Nile River. The landeast of the Nile toward Palestine wasthe land of Goshen. That's where thecattle of Israel were grazing.

The capital city of lower Egypt wasMemphis. That is where Pharaoh hadhis court.

The children of Israel, when theyassembled in Rameses, were assem­bling at Old Cairo. Since they reachedRameses or Old Cairo on the night afterrhe Passover, they must have assembledfor the Passover a little to the south ofOld Cairo-near Memphis, Pharaoh'scapital. Memphis is on the west side ofthe Nile. Old Cairo is a little farthernorth on the east of the Nile River.Old Cairo is but a suburb of modernCairo today. It is just an old section oftown. Most visitors are not even per­mitted today to see Old Cairo because

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ir is such a ramshackle place-thoughit is not as deserted today as rhe childrenof Israel found it then. That is whythey met there-because there weren'tEgyptians living in that area.

Many Bible maps cannot be reliedupon. They disagree with each other andwith the Bible. The producers of thesemaps do not use the Bible as evidence,but their human theories instead!

Josephus at least should know asmuch as the scholars today. And whenyou put his evidence with the Bible,it's very clear that it had to be near thecity of Memphis where they kept thePassover! As the congregation of Israelwere leaving northward they gatheredat the city of Rameses, which Josephuscalls letopolis-Babylon or Old Cairoin Egypt.

Israel Built Pyramids

Israel naturally had their headquartersnear Memphis because at Memphis, theEgyptian orders were issued. That is theregion where the pyramids were built.

Interestingly enough, as we go throughthe account of Josephus we find thefollowing surprising facts. Josephus tellsus in hisAntiquities of the jews (BookII, chapter IX) that the children ofIsrael "were forced to channel [makechannels for the river], to build wallsfor the Egyptians and make cities anr]

ramparts.... they set them also to buildpyramids [after the pattern of the GreatPyramid], and by all this wore themout .. ."

The majority of the pyramids startfrom Old Cairo and go south, not north.The children of Israel must have laboredin the area centered at the region ofOld Cairo and on south throughout theheart-land of Egypt.

Notice a plain statement in the Im­perial Bible Dictionary (published inEngland, Volume 5, subject, Ram­eses"}: "Immediately south of this re­gion of Old Cairo there is an area wherethere were ancient quarries in a rockymountain, from which much of thematerial for the pyramids was procured,and in which the poor jews are said byManetho [an Egyptian historian] tohave worked."

This confirms what Josephus tells usin his work entitled Apion, Book I,chapter 26. Near these quarries on theeast of the Nile opposite Memphis isan area called "Mera-vad-Musa, or the'Habitation [or dwelling] of Moses.'''Moses was the leader and as he com­municated back and forth with Pharaohit is logical that opposite Memphis,where many of the lesser pyramids werebuilt, Moses should have his headquar­ters-to this day bearing the name, "theHabitation of Moses."

Now continuing with the Imperial

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Bible Dictionary: "From thence [that is,Mera-vad-Musa or the "Habitation ofMoses"] they moved northward, pass­ing, as Josephus says, by ancient Babylonor Old Cairo, and then by or over thesite of modern Cairo, proceeding alongthe direct route to the land of Canaan,as far as Succoth, or Berket el Hadj, the'Pool of the Pilgrims; . . ." "Succoth"merely means booths-or an encamp­ment. It was where Moslem pilgrims,to this day, can go from Egypt over toMecca, the holy city of the Moham­medan religion. It is on the way thatled out of Egypt to the wilderness ofthe Red Sea.

But let us go on to Numbers 33 andread the rest of the account. "And theydeparted from Rameses [Old Cairo] inthe first month, on the fifteenth day ofthe first month . . . and went out witha high hand in the sight of all the Egyp­tians. For the Egyptians buried all theirfirstborn, which the lord had smittenamong them: upon their gods also thelord executed judgments. And the chil­dren of Israel removed from Ramcscs,and pitched in Succoth.

"And they departed from Succoth,and pitched in Etham, which is in theedge of the wilderness. And they re­moved from Erharn, and turned again[literally turned back] unto Pihahiroth,which is before Baalzephon: and theypitched before Migdal. And they de­parted from before Pihahiroth, andpassed through the midst of the seainto the wilderness, and went three days'journey in the wilderness of Etham, andpitched in Marah."

The miracle of the Red Sea! Did itreally happen?

What Road Did Israel Take?

Now let us pick up the story withExodus 13: 17: "And it came to pass,when Pharaoh had let the people go,that God led them not through the wayof the land of the Philistines." Here wehave the first of several highwaysnamed.

In ancient Egypt there were majorroads which went out of Egypt. One was"the way of the Red Sea" which wassoutheast from the Delta. Another was"the way of Etham," or "the wildernessof Shur" which went from Egyptthrough Beersheba. It was the road bywhich Jacob came down into Egypt. Thethird is "the way of the land of thePhilistines" which went up from thecoast through Gaza by the Mediter­ranean. See the accompanying map.

As Israel was proceeding norththrough Old Cairo, they could haveeasily taken the way, or the highwayof the Philistines-the Philistine high­way.

Many assume that this road must have

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been by the Mediterranean They arewrong! The way of the land of the Phil­istines extended far into Egypt.

While the Israelites were still inEgypt, they could have traveled by theroad that led northward to the land ofthe Philistines. Bur, instead of takingthat, near as it was, God said, "Lest per­adventure the people repent when theysee war, and return to Egypt," God ledthe people about through the way ofthe wilderness of the Red Sea.

This is another road. This is the mostsoutherly of the three major roads inEgypt. Instead of taking the northerlyroute which would have taken themthrough the land of the Philistines, orthe middle route in an easterly direc­tion through Beersheba, they took theroad leading southeast into Sinai andArabia. God led them, not straight north,bur through the way of the Red Sea.

This is the common road that evento this day the Moslem pilgrims take tothe holy city of Mecca in Arabia. It isa road that has been used from the verybeginning of time when human beingshave dwelt in the land of Egypt.

Continuing: "And the children ofIsrael went up harnessed (or, in ranksof five] out of the land of Egypt" march­ing up the road. "And Moses took thebones of Joseph (perhaps from theGreat Pyramid just west of Old Cairo?}with him: for he had straightly swornthe children of Israel, saying, God willsurely visit you; and ye shall carry upmy bones away hence with you. Andthey took their journey from Succoth,"the first stopping point on this roadwhich went toward the Red Sea. Andfrom there, they took their Journey "andencamped in Etham, in the edge of thewilderness (of Sinai)."

At this point, they could have gonestraight out of Egypt into Sinai, andPharaoh never could have caught them!All they had to do was to follow theroad just as the Arabs do today-our ofEgypt through the Sinai peninsula downthrough Arabia to Mecca.

Here they were at the border ofEgypt, just north of the Red Sea, not bythe Mediterranean. What happenednext?

Now "the Lord went before them byday in a pillar of a cloud, to lead themthe way; and by night in a pillar offire, to give them light; to go by dayand night" (Ex. 13: 21 ). It took themthe seven days of Unleavened Bread toleave Egypt altogether.

God "took not away the pillar of thecloud by day, nor the pillar of fire bynight, from before the people" (verse22). "And the Lord spake unto Moses(Exodus 11: 12), saying, Speak untothe children of Israel, that they turn[don't continue, but turn sharply to the

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right} and encamp before Pihahiroth,between Migdol and the sea, over againstBaalzephon: before it shall ye encampby the sea." They now camp by the sea­shore.

Where Are These Places?

The Imperial Bihle Dictionary tellsus again. "Pihahirorh, therefore, musthave been the name of some naturallocality, such as a mountain, or a rangeof mountains, a cliff, precipice, cape orpromontory. it is said of the childrenof israel, when (they were} overtakenby Pharaoh at the Red Sea, that theywere entangled in the land, being shutin by the 'wilderness' or mountains(Ex. 14:3) ."

Israel could not have gone farther inits line of march. Pharaoh had thembottled up in front of the Pihahirothrange of mountains! Did God make amistake in leading them by the hand ofMoses?

Israel ended up on an area at theupper portion of the Red Sea by theGulf of Suez where there is a hugemountain range that comes right downto the sea. When they got into thisarea, it was like entering a hag Theycould not go any farther by land, Theonly place they could go was Out intothe water because the mountain rangecomes right down to the seashore.

Opposite Pihahiroth was Baalzephon.This must have been a city where Baalwas worshipped. Zephon means "thenorth," This was "Baal of the North"­the Baal that comes down from thenorth pole, clad in red and white everyDecember 25! This was the ancientseat of Santa Claus worship.

They also camped near Migdal.Where was it?

Trumbull, in his book called Kadesb­Barnea, page 377, reveals somethingabout the city of Migdol: "A short dis­tance to the northwest of Suez . , . thereis a station, or a pass, known as ElMaktal"-the Migdal. "It is directly onthe line of the Hajj route." The Hajjis a modern Arabic term for "the wayof the Red Sea." The modern El Maktalis "near the track noted ... as the 'Wayof the Bed'ween into Ancient Egypt.'''"Wilkinson judged 'from its name andposition,' that this represents 'the Mig­dol of the Bible."

As they encamped before Pihahiroth,which is a mountain range, and Baal­zephon, then Baalzephon was on thenorth, and Pihahiroth was the mountainrange on the south. Then between Mig­dol, in the west, and the Red Sea, inthe east, there is an area large enoughfor the children of Israel to be bottledup.

The Red Sea is nearly 8 miles acrosshere! There is a very extensive area-

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many chousands of feet wide-whichcould have opened up for the childrenof Israel to cross.

Crossing the Red Sea

Let's continue with Exodus 14:3:"For Pharaoh will say of the childrenof Israel, They are entangled in the land,the wilderness hath shut them in." AndGod hardened Pharaoh's heart, "And hetook six hundred chosen chariots, and allthe chariots of Egypt, and captains overeveryone of them. And the Lord hard­ened the heart of Pharaoh king ofEgypt, and he pursued after the childrenof Israel." Pharaoh overtook them camp­ing by the Red Sea on what probablywas the sixth day of Unleavened Bread.

The Israelites were now frightened.They said in verse 12, "Let us alone,that we may serve the Egyptians. For ithad been better for us to serve the Egyp­tians, than that we should die in thewilderness. And Moses said unto thepeople, Fear ye not, stand still, and seethe salvation of the Lord, which he willshew to you to day: for the Egyptianswhom ye have seen to day, ye shall seethem again no more for ever. The Lordshall fight for you, and ye shall holdyour peace. And the Lord said untoMoses, Wherefore criest thou unto me?speak unto the children of Israel, thatthey go forward"-into the water? No!

Notice: "But lift thou up thy rod,and stretch out thine hand over the sea,and divide it: and the children of Israelshall go on dry ground through themidst of the sea."

The miracle was wrought whenMoses stretched his rod forth. The seaparted thousands of feet wide! Thenthe winds came in to drive back thewaters and to build them up as a wallon either side!

Now verse 21: "Moses stretched outhis hand over the sea; and the Lordcaused the sea to go back." It was amiracle! Contrary to seasonal weathera strong wind blew "all that night, andmade the sea dry land, and the waterswere divided, And the children of Isradwent into the midst of the sea uponthe dry ground: and the waters were awall unto them on their right hand,and on their left. And the Egyptianspursued, and went in after them to themidst of the sea, even all Pharaoh'shorses, his chariots, and bis horremen.And it came to pass, that in the morningwatch the Lord looked unto the host ofthe Egyptians through the pillar of fireand of the cloud, and troubled the hostof the Egyptians, And took off theirchariot wheels, that they drove themheavily: so that the Egyptians said, Letus flee from the face of Israel; for theLord fighterh for them against the Egyp­tians. And the Lord said unto Moses,

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Stretch out thine hand over the sea,that the waters may come again upon theEgyptians, upon their chariots, and upontheir horsemen. And Moses stretchedforth his hand over rhe sea, and the ~ea

returned to his strength when the morn­ing appeared; and the Egyptians fledagainst it."

Here was an area wide enough for600 chosen chariots of the Egyptians to

race through, beside a great many troopsin order to capture the nearly 2,000,000Israelite men, women and children. Verse28, the waters "returned, and coveredthe chariots, and the horsemen, and allthe host of Pharaoh that came into thesea after them; there remained not somuch as one of them. But the childrenof Israel walked upon dry land in themidst of the sea; . . . Thus the Lordsaved Israel that day out of the hand ofthe Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyp­tians dead upon the sea shore. And Israelsaw that great work which the Lord didupon the Egyptians: and the peoplefeared the Lord, and believed the Lord,and his servant Moses."

Egypt Left Desolate

Pharaoh was dead. His army was slain.There was not one left. There was noteven a solirary messenger to tell theEgyptians what happened (Psalm 106:11)

Read Exodus 15:4: "Pharaoh's char­iots and his host hath he cast into thesea: his chosen captains also are drownedin the Red Sea. The depths have cov­ered them: they sank into the bottom asa stone. Thy right hand, 0 Lord, is be­come glorious in power: thy right hand,o Lord, hath dashed in pieces the en­emy."

God won the battle for the childrenof Israel. They were delivered out of theland of Egypt. They now rested on thepeaceful shores of Sinai, where eventoday such names as "Ayn Musa" and"Ras Musa" testify to the Exodus. (Seethe map.) Not one of the Israelitesperished, but all the Egyptians whopursued were overthrown.

Josephus adds some vivid details to

the same story! "The number that pur­sued after them was six hundred char­iots, with fIfty thousand horsemen, andtwo hundred thousand footmen, allarmed. They also seized on the passagesby which they imagined the Hebrewsmight fly, shutting them up between in­accessible precipices and the sea; forthere was ... a (ridge of} mountainsthat terminated at the sea, which wereimpassable by reason of their rough­ness, and obstructed their flight; where­fore they there pressed upon the He­brews with their army" (Antiquitin o]the Jews, Josephus, page 76).

A few verses in Psalm 77 are worth

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reading at this point. "I will rememberthe works of the Lord: surely I willremember thy wonders of old. I willmeditate also of all thy work, and talkof rhy doings" (verse 11) _ What wereGod's doings?

We find them in verse 16: "Thewaters saw thee, 0 God, the waters sawthee; they were afraid: the depths alsowere troubled. The clouds poured outwater: the skies sent out a sound: thinearrows also went abroad. The voice ofthy thunder was in the heaven: thelightnings lightened the world: theearth trembled and shook. Thy way isin the sea, and thy path in the greatwaters, and thy footsteps are not known.Thou leddest thy people like a flock bythe hand of Moses and Aaron."

Thunder and rain and great Iighuringshook the land that night. In early morn­ing the waters just poured in on Pharaohas his chariot became stuck in the mudat the bottom of the sea-and he is thereto this day!

Psalm 78 also tells us a little about it.Verse 12: "Marvellous things did he inthe sight of their fathers, in the land ofEgypt, in the field of Zoan," The word"field" here is properly translated else­where as "country" or "kingdom."

The "land of Egypt" is "the field,"or "the country," or "the kingdom ofZoan." Zoan gave its name to Egyptbecause it was the earliest city built inEgypt (Numbers 13:22 says that it wasbuilt 7 years after Hebron and was ap­parently the first city built in post-floodEgypt) .

The country of Egypt was named afterZoan just as Israel was often named afterSamaria, or Judah was named afterJerusalem.

The miracles that God wrought werein the land of Es;ypt-in the land ofZoan. They mean the same thing! Thesemiracles did not occur in some obscurefield outside the city of Zoan near theMediterranean!

Egypt's Historians AdmitWhat Happened

That is the story of the miracle of theRed Sea. And it is corroborated fromthe Egyptians' own record of history!

From the Exodus forward, Egypt wasfor almost four centuries overrun byArnalekires (or Hyksos, the Egyptianword for "shepherds") and punished forhaving enslaved the Israelites. Even aslate as the days of Saul and David theAmalekites dominated Egypt.

In I Samuel 30 David meets anEgyptian slave left by his Amalekitemaster to die in the wilderness. "AndDavid said to him, To whom belongestthou? and whence art thou? And hesaid, I am a young man of Egypt, ser­vant to an Amalekite; and my master

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left me ..." (verse 13).The ancient Egyptian historian Ma­

nerho admits all this: "There was a kingof ours whose name was Timaus [theGreek form of Thorn, a king of the 14thdynasty}. Under him it came to pass, Iknow not how, that God was averse to

us, and there came after a surprisingmanner, men of ignoble birth out of theeastern parts (the Arnalekires], and hadboldness enough to make an expeditioninto our country, and with ease sub­dued it by force, yet without our hazard­ing a battle with them ..." (AgainstApion by Josephus, Book I, Part 14).

So the historical record of Egypt,when rightly understood, confirms theBible. There was neither Pharaoh norarmy left to defend the country! Theydisappeared in the Red Sea withoutleaving a trace. Not until the days ofKing Saul did Egypt recover her formerpower (See As;es In Chaos, Vol 1).

The miracle of the Red Sea did hap­pen! The Bible is true! And the sameliving God who delivered ancient Israelfrom the world will intervene miracu­lously for us today to deliver us fromour enemies. 1£ we trust him and waitupon him, we, too, "shall see the salva­tion of the Lord."

TITHING( Continued from page 4)

23, the word "tithe" is in the singular.This is a particular tithe-another tithe-that you are not to eat privately inyour own home.

What If It's Too Far?

Continuing with verse 24: "And ifthe way be too long for thee, so that thouart not able to carry it ... then shallthou turn it into money, and bind upthe money in thine hand, and shalt gounto the place which the Lord thy Godshall choose. And thou shalt bestow thatmoney for uibateuer thy soul (desires]... and thou shalt eat there before theLord thy God ..

Certainly, you don't eat the Levites'inheritance'

Though the tithe mentioned in Deu­teronomy 14 is something which theLevites may share in (verse 27), thistithe is something that the people decidehow to use for themselves! The peoplecan turn it into money; they can spendit for whatever they like. And they aretold not to neglect the Levite out of thistithe. (The Levires' portion was to bethe firstfruits of vegetable produce andthe unblemished firstlings as we shallsoon see.)

You will find no statement in theBible that the Levite was required tobring up a special tithe which he was to

July, 1959

eat here. The people are to bring it.If there were only one tithe mentioned

in all the Bible, that would mean thatGod gives man the right to bestow it onwhatever he wishes-winc and strongdrink! And he could squander theLevites' inheritance, which is holy tothe Lord, on whatever he pleases. Im­possible! These must be two differenttithes under consideration. Do you findany place in the Bible where you havethe right to set aside that which is holyto the Lord-which is the Levites' in­heritance-for the purchasing of yourfood, wine and strong drink, for all yourown personal desires? Of course nolo

You are not free to spend God's tithe!The only stipulation that God puts

on this additional or second tithe is theplace and the time where you use it!

Another Tithe!

Now turn for the moment to Deuter­onomy 26; 12, "When you have madean end of tithing ALL THE TiTHES ofyour increase the third year, which isthe year of tithing, and hast given It

unto the Levite, the stranger, the father­less, and the widow, that they may eatwithin your gates, and be filled; thenyou shall say before the Lord your God,I brought away the hallowed things outof mine house, and also have given themunto the Levite, and unto the stranger,to the fatherless, and to the widow,according to all thy commandmentswhich thou hast commanded me: I havenot transgressed your commandments,neither have I forgotten them."

Notice: The first porrion of this versetells us about TITHES. The people com­pleted tithing that third year ALL THETITHES-that implies more than onetenth in the third year. ("The third year"refers to the third year of the cycle ofseven.) The third year was a special year.Why?

We have already observed that thefirst and second tithes were set aside"from year to year." The people wereto go from year to year to the placewhich the Lord chose to eat the secondor "additional" tithe. But here is some­thing which is to be set aside the thirdyear which is the year of tithing thisspecial tithe!

I would like to quote from the Ben­son's Commentary concerning what theinspired Hebrew really signifies. Chap­ter 25; 12 of Benson's Commentarymakes this comment: "The third tithe... the Hebrew expression is, 'of thattithe.' "

Let us read it, now, as the Hebrewreally emphasizes it; "When you havemade an end of tithing all the tithes ofthine increase the third year, which isthe year of that tithe, and hast given itunto the Levite, the stranger, the father-

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less, and the widow, that they may eatwithin thy gates... ."

What He is emphasizing here, is thatafter you have made an end of tithingall your tithes in the third year, whichis the year of that special tithe, you areto see that that special third tithe isgiven to the stranger, the fatherless, thewidow, and to the Levire that they mayeat within your gates.

Now notice what is mentioned inDeuteronomy 14;28; "At the end ofthree years thou shalt bring forth allthe tithe of thine increase the same year,and shall lay it up within thy gates."They were to bring this tithe out oftheir houses, as you read in Deuteron­omy 26: 13, and they were to lay thisone up within their gates. Bur the othertithes they were to take out from theirhomes (Deut. 12) and BRING THEMYEARLY'to the place where God chose toput His name.

Bur some people reason; "that meansthat for two years they took it up toheadquarters, but for the third year, theoue urhe was left at home." Moderncritics reason in the same way!

They, too, reason that there was onetithe, that it didn't belong to God, thatit wasn't the Levites' inheritance. Theyreason that the people spent it on them­selves two years at the Holy Place, andthe third year, they spent it for theneedy at home. The indication, theyconclude, is that the people wouldn'tbe keeping God's festivals any morethan 2 out of 3 years! That's the waymen reason! But that's not what theBible says!

This special third tithe-Gad's insur­ance program-is for "the stranger, thefatherless, the widow, and the handi­capped Levite"-in other words, thosehaving no means of support.

But I would like to read you how theJews themselves, who translated thisverse into Greek in the Septuagint, un­derstood it. Deuteronomy 26: 12: "Whenthou hast completed tithing all the tithesof thine increase the third year, thoushalt hring the second additional titheto the Levire, the stranger, the father­less, and the widow, that they may eatin thy gates, and be merry." The Greekwording here is to deuteron epidekaton,that is, "the second additional tithe."

As there is not only one tithe, but alsoan additional tithe, then this secondadditional tithe would be the thirdtithe! That is how the Jews understoodit 250 or 270 years before the time ofChrist.

What About the Firstlings?

We come now to the question of the"firstlings," or firstborn of animals. Somereason that since "firstlings" are men­tioned as belonging to the priests and

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also as part of the second or additionaltithe, therefore there are nor two differ­ent tithes, but only one tithe, part ofwhich people may spend on themselves.Is this reasoning sound?

Notice in Deuteronomy 14:23 thatthe people are to eat of the firstlings.These firstlings are clearly parr of thattithe used at the annual festivals. But inNumbers 18; 17-18 we read: "But thefirstling of a cow, or the firstling of asheep, or the firstling of a goat, thoushalt not redeem; they are holy: thoushalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar,and shalt burn their fat for an offeringmade by fire, for a sweet savour untothe Lord. And the flesh of them shall bethine [the priests} as the wave breastand as the right shoulder are thine."

How are these verses to be reconciled?Turn to Exodus 13. When the Israel­

ites were to come into the land, verse12, they were to "set apart unto theLord all that openeth the matrix, andevery firstling that cometh of a beastwhich thou hast; the males shall be theLord's, And every firstling of an assthou shalt redeem with a lamb' and ifthou wilt not redeem it, then thou shaltbreak his neck; and all the firstborn ofman among thy children shalt thou re­deem" (in part by offering the tribe ofLevi in their place. Num. 3: 12-13).

Now continue with Exodus 13;15,"And it came to pass, when Pharoahwould hardly let us go, that the Lordslew all the firstborn in the land ofEgypt, both the firstborn of man, andthe firstborn of beast: therefore I sacri­fice to the Lord all that openeth thematrix, being MALES; but all the first­born of my children I redeem."

What specifically belonged to theLord were the MALES among the first­lings. All firstlings were set aside for aspecial purpose. Bur those which wereMALES belonged specifically to God,and He gave them to the Levitical priest­hood.

But in the book of Deuteronomy thepeople also used firstlings at the festi­vals. A contradiction? No.

There are firstlings AMONG FEMALEanimals as well as among males. Anythat first opens the womb is a firstling,whether it be male or female.

The very fact that the males are em­phasized in one place but not in anothercertainly indicates that what was thepriests' part of the second tithe wasthe male firstlings. The rest of the first­lings, the females, were those which thepeople kept as their part of the secondtithe and brought up to be eaten at theannual festivals. That is the simple an­swer to the problem!

But some will bring up Deuteronomy15; 19 and 20; "All the firstling malesthat come of thy herd and of thy flock

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thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thyGod: thou shalt do no work with thefirstling of thy bullock, nor shear thefirstling of thy sheep. Thou shalt eatit before the Lord thy God."

If this were the correct translation,it would imply that any person couldeat the firstling male, But this is nottranslated according to the. inspiredHebrew! From Magil's Linear SchoolBible, by Joseph Magil, with the Hebrewtext and translation for teaching inJewish schools, we read: "Every firstlingthat is born among thy herd and amongthy flock, the male, thou shalt sanctifyto the Lord thy God... .' In other words,of all the firstlings, the male shall besanctified to the Lord. Continuing:"Thou shalt not work with the firstlingof thy herd and thou shalt not shear thefirstling of thy flock. Before the Lordthy God thou shalt eat year by year inthe place which the Lord shall choose,thou and thy household."

When translated clearly, it is veryplain that of every firstling that is born,the males were to be sanctified tv theLord, that no firstlings were to be usedfor work, that the remaining firstlings-which were not directly offered toGod and given to the priests-were theones you kept for yourself and used aspart of the second tithe at the feasts.They could, of course, be exchanged formoney if traveling distances were toogreat to the feasts. Blemished ones werekept at home for ordinary use (Deut.15:21-22).

What About "Firstfruits" ?

Another controversial aspect of tith­ing is that of "firstfruits'' mentioned inNumbers 18-12: "All the best of theoil, and all the best of the wine, and ofthe wheat, the firstfruits of them whichthey shall offer unto the Lord, them haveI given thee [the priests}."

What are "firstfruits''? To whom dothey belong?

Deuteronomy 26:2 makes it plainer:"Thou shalt take the first of all the fruitof the earth, which thou shalt bring ofthy land that the Lord thy God giveththee, and shalt put it in a basket, andshalt go unto the place which the Lordthy God shall choose to place his namethere."

The firsrfruits are mentioned againin Exodus 23: 19: "The FIRST OF THE

FIRSTFRUITS of thy land thou shaltbring into the house of the Lord thyGod." Numbers 18: 13 reads: "What·soever is fint ripe in the land...."

The first of the firstfruits correspondsto what we find in Numbers 18: 12:"The best [or the first} of the oil, andthe best [or the first} of the wine, andof the wheat, the firstfruitJ of themwhich they shall offer unto the Lord,

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them have I given thee rthe priests}."The first portion of the first harvest,

which began about the Days of Un­leavened Bread and ended by Pentecost,was set aside and called the "first of thefirstfruirs." It was brought to the "houseof the Lord."

In other words, out of the secondtithe of corn, wine and oil and otherproduce, a special offering was pre­sented to God for the service of thepriesthood, and the remainder of thetithe of the first harvest was used bythe people at the festival (Deut. 26: 11 ) .

By way of summary, notice Deuter­onomy 14:22. "You shall truly tithe allthe increase of thy seed, that the fieldbringeth forth year by year. And thoushalt eat before the Lord thy God inthe place which He shall choose . . .the tithe ... and the firstlings...." Thistithe is set aside year by year, as longas they are reaping harvests of thesoil.

Chapter 15, verse 20 makes this espe­cially clear: "Thou shalt eat ... beforethe Lord thy Gud year by year."

If a tithe for the widows and orphans(Deur. 14:28-29) was set aside withineach city every third year, and yet, inDeuteronomy 15: 20, the people wereto eat a tithe before God's presence yearby year, then obviously the tithe whichwas eaten only before God's presen..:e(Deut, 12: 17) year by year-every year-was not the same tithe! And both ofthese are distinct from the tithe whichbelongs to Gud fur His work.

One tenth God reserves for Himself-that is for the work of the ministry incarrying the gospel to the world. Yousend that tithe to headquarters.

Then there is another tithe you bringup to the place God puts His name.You enjoy it with the others at theannual festivals. Then there is yet an­other which you set aside, as a kind ofinsurance program, to take care of thosewho have no source of income or nofathers to provide for them, and thosewho have been uprooted from theircommunity, and widows.

The Example of the Jews

Let us read what Josephus said abouttithing. In Book IV of Antiquities ofthe Jews, chapter 4, section 3: "Andnow Moses . . . commanded the He­brews, according to the will of God,that when they should gain the posses­sion of the land of Canaan, they shouldassign forty-eight good and fair citiesto the Levircs; ... and besides this, heappointed that the people should pay thetithe of their annual fruits of the earth,both to the Levires and to the priests.. . . Accordingly he commanded theLevires to yield up to the priests thirteenof their forty-eight cities, and to set

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apart for them the tenth part of thetithes which they every year receive ofthe people; as also, that it was but justto offer to God the first-fruits of theentire product of the ground; and thatthey should offer the first-born...."

Now from his own account, Book IV,chapter 8, section 8: "Let there betaken out of your fruits a tenth, be­sides that which you have allotted togive to the priests and Levires. This youmay indeed sell in the country, hut itis to be used in those feasts and sacri­fices that are to be celebrated in theholy ciry: for it is fit that you shouldenjoy those fruits of the earth whichGod gives you to possess, so as may beto the honour of the doner.'

The Jews understood that they wereto take besides the tithes which hadbeen allotted to the priests and theLevites, another tenth, which they couldbring up, or exchange for money athome and bring up to the Lord duringthe three festive seasons.

Now, Book IV, chapter 8, section 22:"Besides those tWO riches, which I havealready said you are to pay every year,the one for the Levites, the other forthe festivals, you are to bring every thirdyeat a tithe to be distributed to thosethat want; to women also that are wid­ows, and to children that are orphans.Rut when anyone hath done this, andhath brought the tithe of all that hehath, together with those first-fruits thatare for the Levites, and for the festivals,and when he ... hath fully paid thetithe~ according to the laws of Moses,let him entreat God that he will be evermerciful and gracious to him."

Josephus here reveals the understand­ing of the Jews in the days of Christ andthe apostles. Jesus recognized they prop­erly followed the Bible in tithing!

Now read the Jewish historical recordin the Book of Tobit: Tobit is quoted:"A tenth part of all my produce, I wouldgive unto the sons of Levi who officiatedat Jerusalem, and another tenth, I wouldsell and go and spend the proceeds inJerusalem each year, and a third tithe Iwould give to those to whom it is fittingto gi:e, as Deborah, my grandmother,had instructed me, for I was left anorphan by my father."

Why did Tobit know how to spendthe third tithe? He knew because hewas an orphan!

How plain the subject of tithing is!There are three distinct tithes men­

tioned in the Bible. Each one of thoseis for a distinct purpose. These tithesare still for us to keep today. They arecommanded to be kept in the land whichGod promised to Israel (Deut. 12). Wetoday are in part of that land which Godpromised Israel! We therefore are toobserve these things!