The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-12-13
LAW OF THE 1.-THE
The Lords Revenue System
By Dr. JAMES E. TAEMAGE
OF the Council Of the Twelve Church Of Jesus Christ M
ter-Day Saints; Salt Lake City, Utah.
NOTE: For free copies Of other articles Of this SERIES
request to the author.

Payment of tithes was required
under the Law of Moses. Indeed, the
early prominence given to this re-
oIiirenent has led to the incorrect as
sumption that tithe-paying had It's
beginning In an Israelitish statute.
Tithing is older than Israel. Abraham
paid a tenth part of his gains TO
I Melchizedek, who was king of Salem
and priest Of the Most High God tGen-
l14:2O and Heb. Z 1871 and Jacob made
covenant to devote to the Lords ser
vice a tenth Of all that would come
into his hands (Gen. 2S:22).
Following the development OF the
children of Israel into a theocratic
nation, the practise Of paying tithes
In kind became one of the features by
which they, the worshipers of Jeho-
van, were distinguished from all other
peoples. The requirement was ex-
plicit and its application general. to
rich and poor alike Thus we read:
.And all the 1.-THE of the land,
whether Of the seed of the land, or Of
the fruit of tho tree, 10 the Lords: Il
lis holy unto the Lord. :. And
concerning the ttihe of the herd, or
OF the flock, even Of whatsoever pas
seth under the rod, the tenth shall be
holy unto the Lord" Gev. 1880. 32).
/ AS long as the people faithfully
complied with the law of the 1.-THE
they prospered, and when they failed
the land was no longer sanctified to
their good Hezekiah e Chron. BIB
10) and Nehemiah (Neh. 13:10-13) re-
proved the people for their negli-
gence in the matter and awakened
them to the jeopardy that threatened:
and, later, Malachi voiced the word Of
Jehovah in stern rebuke, forceful ad-
monition, and encouraging promise,
relative to the payment of the Lords
tenth:
"WiIl man rob God7 Yet 70 have
robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee7 In tithes and
offerings. We are cursed with q
curse: for ye have robbed me, even
this whole nation. Bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse, that there
may be meat in mine house, and prove
me now herewith, saith the Lord Of
hosts, II ! will not open you the win
dows of heaven, and pour you out
blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it," (Mal. 3:S-10).
At the time of our Lords personal
ministry the law had been supple
mented by innumerable rules, com
prising unauthorized exactions often
based upon mere trivialities Christ
approved the 1.-THE but made plain the
fact that other duties were mona the
less imperative. See Mat. 1928.
During recent years great interest
has been manifest in the matter of the
1.-THE, among theologians, ministers
and intelligent laymen: and the re-
establishment of tithe-paying as a
religious duty has been strongly ad-
vocated. It Is important to know that
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
day Saints has observed this require
ment from the early days Of It's his
tory-not because it was operative in
ancient Israel, nor because 1t was
law and custom among the Jews in
the days Of Christ, but because 1t
has been authoritatively established
through modern revelation in the
Church In 1893 the Lord system
affixed the practise upon which the
people had voluntarily entered, and
defined the 1.-THE as tenth OF ones
Individual possessions: "And thisy,