Reading verse 16 through 19 things are really looking up for the Israelites, maybe even exemplifying the way things were meant to be. As we know it doesn't pan out so well. I wish I could say my life was much different. I feel these same high moments from time to time but always fall. Holy Spirit strengthen me every day!

I agree with you Greg.

We talked about it a little last year in the discussions. But really interesting to see the incorporation of tithing into helping the poor. What I'm not sure about is whether this was setup as a civil duty or a moral one. I originally have always thought a moral one and that the church should be helping the poor not the government. However, as I've come to understand tithing in the old testament from research it was actually their form of taxes... and not what we commonly refer to as tithing today which we understand as giving money for the church (a totally separate endeaver from giving money to the government). Where it gets confusing for me here is that there isn't a lot of separation from church and government so it can be hard to apply the principles correctly without more really doing some research. However, I'm too tired for research! I'll have to come back to it. The question being: In the law, was tithing to help the poor done with money given as taxes to their government, or was it done with money given to priesthood/church. And maybe it doesn't matter, but it seems like it has practical application one way or the other.