Taxing…

 

 

The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Psalm 24:1b-2

 

Every year in June or July, my husband tells me that the money we earn is now ours. We are moving beyond the portion that Uncle Sam claims for the year.

For years I have been hearing, from my economics minded husband, that personal property ownership is a big deal in God’s economy, yet our government taxes it. Then, it takes ownership of the land if we cannot pay the taxes. This takes our ability to use that land to get on, or stay on, a positive financial footing. It is as if the government is claiming the land that God says is His (Psalm 24:1)

Understanding God’s Words on property gives us a better perspective of who God is and how His law would take care of us if we obeyed it. In a lecture by R.J. Rushdoony (where his topic is the tithe) he calls God our Landlord because, as Psalm 24 (above) points out, the earth is the Lord’s. The Lord’s tithes was to be a tax for the use of the earth and to be used for the social concerns (education and welfare) of the people.

In his “Institutes of Biblical Law,” Rushdoony says, “Basic social functions must be paid for. If they are not paid by a responsible, tithing Christian people, they will be paid for by a tyrant state which will use welfare and education as stepping-stones to totalitarian power.”

As the study took us through some of the tithing laws, it was obvious that God had created what we would consider a “fair” system of taxation. It was a law of voluntary, proportionate giving (Leviticus 27:30-33) and each man was to give as he was able (Deuteronomy 16:17). The poor tithe was used to help those who could not help themselves, the widow, the foreigner, and the fatherless (Deuteronomy 14:27-29).

Obviously, we live in a nation that ignores God’s law and they will not be reinstated because we (Christians) say they should be. But, to know and understand what God says about these things is a great witness for us to share. People understand the burden of taxes, the unjust “laws” of man that allow for eminent domain, and the impersonal “care” that our welfare system affords the poor. Their understanding gives opportunity to speak of the perfect Law of God as a way of understanding who He is and how He cares for people.

R.J. Rushdoony is quoted as saying, “Regeneration, not revolution, which alone makes true and effectual change.” .

These issues are important. God has spoken to every sphere of our lives and we ignore many of them that would help us inform others that they might want to know this God who regenerates individuals and through them, He will reform a nation.

Taxes are the tip of the iceberg of all that He covers in His Law-Word.

Will we be a part of that reform, telling others of God’s all-encompassing love for His people, or will we remain superficial in our understanding of His Word, thus leaving people in their ignorance of how great our God is?