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Chapter 22: Caesar, Taxes And Tithes
One of the tools that Antichrist could use to identify Christians and Jews who will refuse to worship him, is our tax returns. The Christian and Jewish religions are the only ones that teach giving the tithe, (ten percent) to God. Leviticus 27:30 "'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. Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet can easily identify devout believers of either faith by searching the IRS files for tax returns that contain ten percent or more in donations to Christian or Jewish organizations. The national average for charitable giving is about three percent. Antichrist would consider the people who tithe to be potential enemies to his government because they are serious enough about their beliefs to let it touch their pocketbook. There is a good possibility that people who tithe will refuse to worship Antichrist and take his mark for the sake of material gain. Another reason that Satan desires Christians to keep track of their tithes, offerings, and assistance for the needy, and report them to the government, is to rob Christians of their reward from God. Matthew 6:1-4 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Jesus said that our giving should be done in secret, and that we should not even let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. This is another way of saying that we should not keep track of what we have given throughout the year in order to add it up and find out the total. The government will reward us for disobeying God's word and return to us about three hundred dollars for every one thousand given to charitable organizations. For that we give up God's promised reward of a hundred times more for material things we have given up for him, both in this life, and in the life to come. Mark 10:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields-- and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. If a person really needs the three hundred dollars per thousand that the government will pay for one to reveal their tithes and offerings, it would be better just to give seven hundred dollars in secret, and spend the other three hundred, rather than reveal ones giving to the IRS, and lose God's reward for the entire amount. If you have in the past been revealing your giving to the government, don't despair! God does not hold us responsible for things done in ignorance. Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. Jesus taught that we should fulfill our duties toward God and government and that these two should be kept separate. Luke 20:20-26 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" He saw through their duplicity and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on it?" "Caesar's," they replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent. We should pay both our taxes to the government and our tithes to God, without intermingling the two. If we follow Christ’s command, the Antichrist will not be able to use our tax returns to single us out for persecution and death at the hand of his government agents. Romans 13:7-8 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. If there are any tax deductions at all for charity during the tribulation period, they will probably be permitted only for those organizations that support the Antichrist. Don’t be deceived by greed and tempted to give only to charities that offer a tax deduction. When the Antichrist rules a gift to a true church will be a cause for persecution, not a blessing of a larger tax refund. |