Your Questions Answered II

Question 1 Should I pay my tithe on the pocket money I receive since I am not yet working? Answer
"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and

offerings. You are under a curse - the whole nation of you - because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 'Test me in this', says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it'" (Malachi 4:8-10). It is instructive to note
that to pay tithes is to obey the will of God as Jesus himself referred to the practice even though he rebuked the Pharisees for tithing at the expense of more important matters of the law (Matthew 23:23). It was the practice then for the Israelites to pay a tithe on their livestock and their farm produce, it is important to note that Abraham the first man who paid tithe did so on the spoils of war recovered from the battle with the four kings (Gen 14:17-20). The bottom line is to show that the parameters on what one can pay tithe on revolve around increase or profit. Leviticus 27: 30-32 says, '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. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock - every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod - will be holy to the Lord'. When God made man, he put
him in the garden to work and till the land so everything that came to him because of his work represented an increase, pocket money may not necessarily be because of work but it is surely an increase (Deut. 14:22). The most important thing anyway is to be convinced that it is the right step so you will not pay tithe without your faith at work (Romans 14:23b). Please note that the focus here is pocket money and not school fees; you are not to pay tithes on your school fees or on any other levy or tax imposed by authorities, as you should give to Caesar what is Caesar's property. Let us assume you get #5000 as pocket money now in addition to your school fees and you cannot take out #500 as tithe, what is the probability that when you begin to make #5,000,000 you will be able to take out #500,000 as tithe. You should pay tithe on everything that represents an increase to you no matter in which form it comes. Question 2 Please explain Exodus 22:18. How then do we pray for evil people who cause us harm?

Answer
'Do not allow a sorceress to live' was a command in the Old Testament that indicated what

constituted the Israelites' social responsibility. Without a doubt, there are many differences between the old and the new covenants chief of which is the blood for purification. Under the new covenant, the blood of Jesus Christ speaks better things than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus does not cry out for vengeance and it was the blood that He shed for the whole world witches and wizards included (John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9). The commandment under the new covenant is to love one another (John 15:12, Mark 12:29-31). It is certainly not easy to show love to those who do you wrong but that is the reason for the abundance of grace that God has given to us to enable us reign in life (Matt. 5:44, Romans 5:17). According to the Scriptures, the devil is our only enemy even though he will always require human agents to carry out his work (Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 5:8-9). It is a fact that spirits do not die so even when you say 'every power of darkness fall down and die' God knows that what you really want is to destroy their works and render them powerless in your life, family and business, that is exactly what He will do. The key point here is that how the answer to your prayer manifests in the physical is really His business and not yours. If He says that, some people have to die because of the evil they have sown, which has made their cup full then so be it (1 Samuel 2:6, Galatians 6:7-8). Question 3 Please throw more light on Ecclesiastes 4:11. Answer
'Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone '. The

main thrust of this verse is the synergy that comes from forming friendships, forging alliances and making relationships. If you read from verses 8-12, you will see and understand the context to which the entire portion refers. Essentially, when people of like minds join forces to do anything, they can achieve more as in the tower of Babel example in Genesis 11 when God saw that with everyone speaking one language nothing was going to be impossible for them to do. However, we can export that truth to relationships and marriage and use that to restate the biblical standard that it is only a man and his wife who must lie down together, which could be a veiled reference to a sexual union. Question 4 Why was it that the Israelites retreated even though the prophet of God had already assured them of victory? (2 Kings 3:26-27)

Answer A close study of 2 Kings 3 actually reveals that the prophecy was fulfilled even though they eventually retreated from their enemies. Verse 19 says, 'You will overthrow every

fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones'. Reading further reveals in verse 25 that, 'They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well'.
Bringing it home to today, we must understand as believers that even when God gives us a word of promise about any matter it does not automatically mean that the enemy will go to sleep and let us have smooth sailing. The enemy will stop at nothing to ensure that we do not enjoy the promises of God to us. That is why the Scriptures enjoin us to be strong in the Lord and to take our stand against the wiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:1011). If the Israelites had stood their ground and continued fighting, they would have destroyed the Moabites more than they did. Question 5 I do not understand what the Bible means when it says we will judge angels. (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). Please explain. Answer The angels who rebelled against God along with the devil will receive their reward when the day of judgement comes and they are the ones this verse refers to directly. The same applies to people now who refuse to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour but choose to live life outside of the will of God for them. 'For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement; ' (2 Peter 2:4). Also in Jude verse 6 it is written, 'And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority

but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgement on the great Day'. To cap it all, Revelation 20:4a says, 'I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.' That can only be a direct reference to
those who live right before God. Question 6 Please explain Proverbs 26:4-5. Answer
'Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool

according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.' Apparently, there are two options here

when addressing a matter like this. There are sometimes when in trying to talk to someone who is unwilling to accept correction people might just not be able to tell the difference between that person and you. At other times, if the action of the person concerned will affect others negatively or lead them astray then it becomes imperative for you to speak and address matters decisively before they get out of hand and result in unpleasant consequences. Knowing when to say something and when to be quiet requires great discernment. Proverbs 4:7 says, 'Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding'. The place of wisdom in dealing with fools is very important, as it will guide you to know what to say and when. Weigh every situation first and know whether to speak or not. Question 7 Please can you throw more light on Exodus 4:24? Answer
'At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him'. This was

shortly after the encounter Moses had with God during which God commissioned him for the deliverance of Israel and gave him three signs with which to get them convinced (Exodus 4:1-9). Moses had blatantly refused to accept the responsibility saying he was slow of speech and that God should send another person (Exodus 4:10-13). This was an open display of stubbornness and rebellion against God on Moses' part and not just a consciousness of his weakness. This we know because God is merciful and gracious and slow to anger (Ps 103:8, Ps 145:8). God eventually had to give in to Moses' demand when He said Aaron would do the speaking (Exodus 4:14-16). Apparently, God knew Moses would object and prepared Aaron and probably instructed him to meet Moses. Stephen speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says in Acts 7:22, 'Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action'. This appears to be in obvious direct contrast to Moses' assertion that he was slow of speech, as it remains to be seen how someone who was powerful in speech could not be described as eloquent. In other words, it was like Moses calling God a barefaced liar and this after God had even promised to help him speak and teach him what to say (verse 12). This sin of rebellion against God was certainly enough for God to want to kill him, remember this was way before the law came into existence so there was nothing like regulations relating to atonement for sin. At the time of this incident, Moses was 80 years old and had spent the first three months of his life in the care of his parents (Exodus 2:1-2) hence it is safe to believe he was already circumcised even though the Bible does not say so explicitly. A school of thought

says that it was because of the circumcision i.e. that his son was not yet circumcised but the Scriptures do not say that God met Moses on the way to kill his son. When God gave the covenant of circumcision to Abraham, he did not say that refusal would be punishable by death. In Gen 17:10-11, it is written, 'This is my covenant with you and your

descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you '. Verse 14 says, 'Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant'. The emphasis then was on the person who was
yet uncircumcised so God could not have come to kill Moses because his son was not circumcised at the time. In circumcising her son and touching Moses' feet with the foreskin, Zipporah, even a Midianite, 'reminded' God of His covenant with Abraham and redeemed Moses' life with blood. As God knows the end of a thing from the beginning, it is also instructive to note that God knew that Zipporah, Moses' wife would do what she eventually did so He would not have to kill Moses. Question 8 Please explain Matthew 5:21-22 Answer "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who

murders will be subject to judgement.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." Self-control,
which is one of the fruit of the Spirit, is the underlying principle here as that is what will cause you not to be angry to the extent of using words of contempt and committing murder (Galatians 5:22-23). James 1:19-20 says, 'My dear brothers, take note of this:

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires'.
Question 9 Please throw more light on 1 Corinthians 11:3-16. Answer There are two schools of thought here as this is one of the controversial topics in church today. One school believes that Paul was referring to coverings like veils, scarves and the like for women and that men should not pray to God with caps or hats on their heads. Though it is not explicitly stated, it can be inferred from verse 6 according to a particular rendering of that part of the Scriptures.

Another school believes that the covering that Paul referred to was hair, using verse 15 as an anchor for its argument. Hence, the focus here is on the length of hair and not a physical covering. This school also believes that custom or tradition i.e. of using head coverings must have existed only at the time of that writing. The aim here is to strike a balance because the truth is that God answers the prayers of all denominations whether cap wearing or not. If that is so, it definitely means there is a higher level to attain to and that is in Psalm 24:3-5. 'Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his saviour'. This is then the main standard for fellowship and
worship, not any other thing.

Authors note: This is a transcript of a discussion forum at the Parish Youth Chapel, Church of the Pentecost (Anglican Communion), 21 Road, Festac Town, Lagos at both 7am and 10am services on Sunday, 15th January 2012, over which I presided in my capacity as Coordinator. All scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV).