Given that there were 12 tribes of Israel, the gift of one-tenth of everyone else’s produce seems disproportionately large, but the Levites were instructed to give part of the tithe – the best of it – as their offering to the Lord ( verses 25–29).ĭeuteronomy 26.12–13 says that the tithe should be given not only to the Levites but also to orphans, widows and resident foreigners in the land. So the practice of tithing ensured that the priesthood and other members of the community who might otherwise have been without support did not go hungry. The Levites were allocated no land to cultivate they were supported by the gifts of their fellow Israelites instead. Numbers 18 tells us that the tithes were to be given to the Levites, the Israelite tribe who were set apart as priests. Tithing is the practice of setting apart one-tenth of one’s earnings as an offering to God. The Israelites, after they had left Egypt and were being established as a new nation led by Moses and the high priest Aaron, were instructed by God to tithe all of their produce, whether grain, fruit or livestock. Image: Human trafficking illustration, Semmick Photo / Shutterstock.Question: What does the Bible say about tithing? She researchs human trafficking and wrote her dissertation, 'City of Slaves: Local Regulation of Human Trafficking,' on modern day slavery in Los Angeles County. is an instructor at Chapman University and cofounder of the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force. So the next time we read James, let this 2,000-year-old call to action be the first step towards ending human trafficking today. The Bible mentions care for orphans and widows more than 15 times. If anything, the systemic targeting of these vulnerable populations by human traffickers means the need to empower these groups is even more paramount than when it was originally penned by James. The orphan and widow are not obsolete in our modern society. With children to feed and the promise of a decent paying job, these women's hopes are capitalized on by traffickers. Traffickers lead women to believe they are being recruited for legitimate jobs in the service or manufacturing industries. It is much more difficult for women to earn a living wage so they must participate in more risky behavior to find decent work. According to the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Trafficking (UNGIFT), women are more likely to be trafficked because their work is undervalued. The majority of foreign nationals trafficked into the United States are women and children. Second, widows are a vulnerable population. While shocking, this is not rare the average age of entry into sex work in the United States is only 13 years old. Pimps make $600,000 per year in untaxed income with only four children. Finally, the trafficker flips and forces the child into slavery. This grooming can occur anywhere from weeks to months, leading the victim to believe they are in a romantic relationship with their exploiter. A trafficker establishes trust by showing interest in the runaway child. One in 3 runaways are picked up by pimps within 48 hours of running. But more often, these children are approached and groomed by traffickers. Some are forcibly snatched off the street. These vulnerable children often have experienced abuse and lack a stable support system. Children in the foster care system and runaways are targeted by human traffickers. The orphan and widow make up the majority of human trafficking survivors.įirst, the orphan. each year, it is essential for the church to take notice. With an estimated 14,500 - 17,500 trafficked through the U.S. Human trafficking is an emerging human rights issue both globally and in the United States. These two tell the tale of human trafficking today. However, the plight of these two underrepresented and often ignored groups - women and children - has modern impacts. At best they are just another good we should do and at worst, we see them as an outdated notion that does not really apply to the modern American church. Its widespread usage makes it easy for us to see the orphan and widow as abstract conceptions. This verse gets pulled out on service days and when seeking funds for short-term mission trips. James' assertation that "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress"(1:27) is nothing new in the church.
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