WHAT MRS. HOWELL TOLD THEM.
"Mamma," cried Edith, "I've been trying to tell Marty about tenths and
offerings, and why I give my money that way, but I can't do it so that
she can understand. Wont you tell her, and show her some of the verses
you showed me?"
"Good-morning, Marty," said Mrs. Howell pleasantly to the little girl
who ran to kiss her. "What is it you don't understand?"
"I don't quite understand why the Jews gave tenths, nor why Edith has to
do what the Jews did."
"Well, bring your Bible, Edith, and give Marty mine, and I will show you
some of the passages about giving. The first mention in the Bible of
giving tithes to the Lord is when Jacob was at Bethel."
"Wasn't that when he slept on a stone pillow, and had the beautiful
dream of angels going up and down a ladder that reached to heaven?"
Edith asked.
"Yes; and you remember the Lord appeared to him in the dream, and
promised to be with him wherever he went. And Jacob made a vow to the
Lord, in which he said, 'And of all that thou shalt give me, I will
surely give the tenth unto thee.' You will find it all in the
twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis."
"Yes," said Marty, after turning the leaves a few minutes. "Here it is:
I never noticed it before."
"Then," Mrs. Howell went on, "you know when God brought the children of
Israel out of Egypt into the promised land, he gave them a great many
laws, for they were just like children, and had to be told exactly what
to do on every occasion. Among other things he told them how to give.
Edith, find the eighteenth chapter of Numbers and the twenty-first
verse."
Edith found the place and read, "And behold, I have given the children
of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for the service
which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the
congregation."
"Why should the children of Levi have it?" asked Marty.
"Because the tribe of Levi was set apart for the service of God in the
tabernacle, and afterward the temple, and had no 'inheritance' of land
to till and pasture flocks upon like the other tribes; so the rest of
the nation was instructed to provide for them. So you see these tithes
were for what we should call the support of the gospel; and Levi was the
ministering tribe."
Then Mrs. Howell showed the children passages in Second Chronicles and
Nehemiah where bringing tithes is spoken of, and in Malachi where the
people are rebuked for not bringing them. Then she bade them turn to
places in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke where our Saviour commends the
giving of tithes, though he says that there are "weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith."
"But tithes were not all the Israelites gave," Mrs. Howell resumed,
after the little girls had read the verses. "They gave in many other
ways. Let me take that Bible a moment, Marty. Here in Deuteronomy,
twelfth chapter and sixth verse, you see that many things are mentioned
besides tithes--vows and free-will-offerings and the firstlings of the
herds and of the flocks. Then at their feast times, three times in the
year, they were told, in the sixteenth chapter of the same book, the
sixteenth and seventeenth verses, that every man was to give as he was
able."
"Seems to me they must have been giving all the time," observed Marty.
"Yes, it has been estimated that a truly devout Jew gave away about a
third of his income. That is more than three-tenths, you know. Giving
freely to the Lord's service and to the poor was part of a Jew's
religion."
"That's what Edith says," Marty remarked. "'Tisn't part of ours, is it?"
"Oh, yes it is," said Mrs. Howell, smiling a little; "though perhaps not
as much as it should be. All through the Bible we are taught the duty of
giving, and though, of course, those particular directions in the Old
Testament were intended especially for the Jews, we may learn from them
that the best way of giving is to give systematically."
"What do you mean by systematically?" asked Marty.
"I mean not giving just when we happen to feel particularly interested
in some object, or when we don't want the money for something else, but
having some plan about it and giving regularly, intelligently, and,
above all, prayerfully."
"Tell Marty the New Testament plan for giving, mamma," Edith requested.
"St. Paul tells the Corinthians in the sixteenth chapter and second
verse of the first epistle: 'Upon the first day of the week let every
one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.' You see that
is somewhat different from tenths. No particular portion is mentioned,
but we are to regularly set aside for religious purposes as much as we
can afford, and the amount is to be increased as our means increase."
"Why doesn't Edith do that way?" Marty inquired.
"When she is older and better able to judge how much she ought to give,
she may adopt that plan. But it is simpler and easier just to give a
tenth, and it is well for little people who are learning to have a plain
and easy rule to go by."
"And why does Edith give her tenths to foreign missionary work instead
of to something else?" asked Marty.
This led to a long talk about the duty of obeying Christ's last command
to carry the gospel to all nations; and Mrs. Howell explained how
missionary societies are trying to obey this command, and how important
it is that Christians should be very prompt and regular with their
contributions, so that the good work may not be hindered.
"You see," said Mrs. Howell, "in order to send the gospel to these
far-away people, we must send missionaries to them. There is no other
way, while there are a good many ways in which even children may help
people near by. For instance, they can persuade other children to go to
church and Sunday-school. And then they can be kind to the poor, and
can help them in other ways beside giving money to them. Edith mends her
old toys for poor children. She keeps her bright cards and picture books
as nice as possible, and when done with them carries them to the
Children's Hospital or to the Almshouse; and she is very careful of her
clothes, so that when she has outgrown them they will do for poor little
girls. There are children now down town going to Sunday-school in her
clothes. So you see that even if your money goes to the missionary work,
you need not neglect other ways of doing good."
"I think it's grand!" said Marty with long-drawn breath. "I've a great
mind to begin trying to do somebody some good, and not keep everything
myself. I have a dime every week to do what I please with, and sometimes
I get other money besides."
"I am sure you would find a great deal of satisfaction in helping
others," said Mrs. Howell.
"Mrs. Howell," asked Marty, after studying the verse in First
Corinthians for some time, "what does it mean about laying by in store
the first day of the week?"
"The first day of the week is the Sabbath, and that is a fitting time to
consider how God has prospered you and to lay aside your offering."
"I think if I had a box and saved tenths I'd like to do that way," said
Marty. "I suppose papa could give me my dime just as well Saturday as
Monday. I do believe I'd like to belong to that band and give some money
to send Bibles and teachers to the heathen."
"Oh! do, do join our mission-band," urged Edith. "You'll like it ever so
much," and she went on so enthusiastically telling how delightful it
was, that Marty at once decided, if her mamma approved, she would "join"
at the very next meeting. Of course she could not have been so
constantly with Edith without already having heard much about the band,
but she had never been so interested in it as this morning, and was now
very anxious to go to the meeting the coming Saturday.
"I'll run right home and ask mamma," she said.