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| While none of us would dare erect altars as Abraham did, we don't mind tithing like him... |
Some say Melchizedek was the Lord
Jesus appearing to Abraham. But note what Genesis 14:18b says about
Melchizedek, "And he was the priest (not high priest) of the most high
God." The language in the context suggests Melchizedek as a man. Also the
Lord Jesus is not a “Priest” but a High
Priest, there is a distinction. Paul constantly used "High
Priest" to qualify the uniquely exalted position of Lord Jesus throughout
the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 2:17, 3:1,
4:14-15, 5:5, 6:20, 7:26, 8:1, 9:11, 10:21). Before the dispensation of the Law priesthood was not
exclusive to Melchizedek, Jethro the father in-Law of Moses was also referred
to as a priest (Exodus 2:16).
Paul spoke about Melchizedek as,
"Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning
of days, nor end of life; BUT MADE LIKE UNTO THE SON OF GOD; abideth a priest
continually." Hebrews 7:3 KJV
Melchizedek was MADE LIKE Lord
Jesus who lives forever and not the reverse. This verse places clear distinction
between Melchizedek and the Lord Jesus. Paul was merely commenting on the
mystery of this priest whose history and pre-history was never recorded in
scripture, which made him appear as not having beginning (ancestry) and no end (successor)
just like our Lord Jesus Christ yet Abraham gave him tithe of the spoil. Let no
man in the name of higher revelation describe Melchizedek beyond what exactly
is written about him.
Now let's get back to Genesis
chapter fourteen and highlight some salient points and see if Abraham's tithing
is compatible with faith or it was one of the many antecedents of the Law as
we've seen in his walk.
“And Melchizedek (king of
righteousness) king of Salem (peace) brought forth bread and wine: and he was
the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram
of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most
high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him
tithes of all.” Genesis 14:18-20 KJV
There are five things to note in
this order:
- Bread and wine
- Priest
- Blessing of God (as
possessor of heaven and earth)
- Tithe
- Righteousness and peace
The five principles are all tied
to how tithing was done under the era of the Law. First the Lord blesses the
Israelites with bread (corn) and wine which is produce of the fields (before they can tithe), for their
major occupation was farming. Second, a priest has to be involved in the tithe
process else that tithe becomes null and void. Third, they are to tithe because
the Lord who POSSESSES heaven and earth (1Chronicles
29:11) has freely given to them rain from heaven and good harvest from the
earth. Fourth, only after these three constants are present could they give a
tithe of what they have. Fifth, under the Law you can’t be without fault (righteous)
and enjoy peace if you don’t tithe.
“Will a man rob or defraud God?
Yet you rob and defraud Me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud You?
[You have withheld your] tithes and offerings. You are cursed with the curse,
for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation.” Malachi 3:8-9 AMP
We can readily admit without
prejudice that tithing is not of faith but of evident material possession and
prosperity as it is written under the Law also:
“Thou shalt truly TITHE ALL THE INCREASE OF
THY SEED, that the field bringeth forth year by year.” Deuteronomy 14:22 KJV
This was why Abraham tithed out
of the spoil and by extension Jacob.
“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
IF GOD WILL BE WITH ME, and WILL KEEP ME in this way that I go, and WILL GIVE
ME BREAD to eat, and RAIMENT TO PUT ON, So that I come again to my father's
house in peace; THEN shall the Lord be my God: And this stone, which I have set
for a pillar, shall be God's house: AND OF ALL THAT THOU SHALT GIVE ME I WILL
SURELY GIVE THE TENTH UNTO THEE.” Gen 28:20-22 KJV
As such we can rank what Abraham
did not on faith but as another antecedent of the Law. We can note further that
what Abraham gave was not a sign of love neither did it cost him anything of personal
worth. Ten percent of what people give barely affects their finances and
lifestyle. Put it this way, it places lesser stress on your finances and you
don't necessarily have to express love before or after giving it. I believe the
Lord will want us to hit that point clearly. Some may perhaps argue that we
ought to tithe because we inherited the blessing of Abraham recorded in Romans
3:14, but clearly you’ll discover this argument to be a distortion of
scriptures. First what is the blessing of Abraham according to Galatians
chapter 3? It is simply the righteousness by faith, as the scripture says:
“Foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then THEY WHICH BE OF FAITH
ARE BLESSED WITH FAITHFUL ABRAHAM.” Galatians 3:8-9 KJV
As it is also written:
“Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Ps 32:2 KJV
This blessing is not a material
blessing but the total blotting out of our sins. We inherited the blessing (of
righteousness) with Abraham and not the tithing (works) of Abraham. Also, Paul
quoted Psalm 32:2 in respect to righteousness and the faith of Abraham in
Romans chapter four.
While a lot of believers insist
on following Abraham in his approach on tithing, we are beclouded to see that God
ushered Abraham beyond the first dispensation of the Law to the second dispensation
which operated on the principle of grace by faith and love.
“And He (God) said, TAKE NOW THY
SON, thine ONLY SON Isaac, WHOM THOU LOVEST, and get thee into the land of
Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of.” Genesis 22:2 KJV
Notice the details and emphasis
in the Lord's instruction. This time Abraham was required to give something
personal, something/someone he loved, what he waited for years to receive, the
embodiment of his hopes and aspiration and there was absolutely no guarantee of
getting anything in return. Can you begin to notice what the Lord was
introducing into this giving? Yes, Faith and Love. The New Testament Began with
such remarkable commitments of faith and love. Jesus said:
“He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me: and HE THAT LOVETH SON or daughter MORE THAN
ME is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37 KJV
Let us note Paul when he spoke on
the theme of faith never referred to the tithing of Abraham as a step of faith
but said:
“BY FAITH Abraham, when he was
tried, OFFERED UP ISAAC: and he that had received the promises offered up HIS
ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence
also he received him in a figure.” Hewbrews 11:17-19 KJV
Therefore by that one verse the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul
placed value and importance on the second giving over the first. Note that and
let your spirit grasp the ambience of it. When Abraham obeyed to lay down his
son (his all) to God, then the Lord said:
“[11] And the angel of the Lord
called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am
I. [12] And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing
unto him: FOR NOW I KNOW that thou fearest God, seeing thou HAST NOT WITHHELD
thy son, thine only son from me. [16] And said, By myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord , for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son.” Genesis 22:11-12,16 KJV
Notice the high level of commitment
upon the basis of faith and love as demonstrated in Abraham’s second giving.
You don't need faith to tithe because you have something to fall back on, but giving
by grace requires your all with no guarantee of getting back anything. Tithing
preaches “Out of all” just as Abraham, Jacob and those under the Law gave it.
But the giving of grace through faith ushered by love teaches “All in all.”
“And all that believed were
together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and
parted them to all men, as every man had need.” Acts 2:44-45 KJV
Believers of today are quite
confused about the purposes of God because our minds are closed on certain
themes of scriptures. If we are open minded to the Spirit of Truth, God will always
direct us. While none of us would dare erect altars as Abraham did, we don't mind
tithing like him. While none of us is sacrificing heifer, birds or goat as
Abraham did, we distance ourselves from the faith of giving all. Could this be
hypocrisy or self-delusion? The reason we are not living out this life of faith is because we think we can't do it. Yes we can't! that is why it is of grace and not works. It is accessed by faith and love and not fleshly will.
If Abraham's giving of all does
not agree with many apostolic teachings and beliefs recorded in the epistles we
could have just ignored it. But now we can't, as we see Christ in what Abraham
did in the land of Moriah, which remarkably means, ordained/considered or
chosen by the LORD. Is that a co-incidence? Therefore this second act of Abraham
by faith and love is God’s ordained and perfect will for the saints on giving.
Jesus Himself attests to this after He had gathered His disciples together said:
“Truly and surely I tell you,
this widow, [she who is] poverty-stricken, has put in more than all those
contributing to the treasury. For they all threw in OUT OF their abundance; but
she, out of her deep poverty, has put in everything that she had — [even] ALL
SHE HAD on which to live.” Mark 12:43-44 AMP
If it didn’t matter to the Lord,
He wouldn’t speak about it. If He didn’t want His disciples to observe this
lifestyle of giving, He wouldn’t tell them about it. And we are His disciples
called to do what our Lord says. It is for this reason we address Him as LORD.
OUR CALLING IN CHRIST
“I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him THAT CALLED YOU INTO THE GRACE OF CHRIST unto another gospel.”
Galatians 1:6 KJV
We are called into the grace of
Christ short, plain and simple. Now this grace of our Lord which we stand in
and which abides with us, shouldn't we walk in it? Just before you wonder what
that means, here is what Paul said about the grace of Lord Jesus:
“For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
that ye through his poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 KJV
We also who were called into this
grace of our Lord ought to live our lives in such manner where we give up all
for others to be rich (comfortable). This grace is not of percentage or sharing
formula. It is a total surrender of everything on the basis of faith and love,
so you can wholly lean upon the Lord. To be candid none of us like that, we
don’t want to feel insecure. We want to have lot of money so we don’t have to
worry about our needs or pray about it anymore. This is the reason why many
still cling to the percentage thing. Where is the faith in that? The just shall
live by his faith affects your finances too you know? This is what was preached
in the early church. People were selling their stuffs to meet needs of their
brothers and sisters, sharing their belongings and they became insecure in
themselves but secured under the glory and grace of God.
“And with great power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and GREAT GRACE WAS
UPON THEM ALL. NEITHER WAS THERE ANY AMONG THEM THAT LACKED: FOR as many as
were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things that were sold, [35] And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and
distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” Acts 4:33-35
KJV
Both dispensation of grace and
Law is unique on their own. We cannot operate the principle of the Law upon faith.
Neither can we operate the principle of faith on Law. The Law requires a percentage
after you have been settled with corn (bread) and wine but faith demands you
step out on water during the storm.
Just
as Abraham tasted the Law ahead of the Jews, he also tasted of faith ahead of
the whole nations, that Christ may be the only base of unity and identity. And
if you are ever in doubt of this truth, simply note you are not called into the
grace of Abraham but of Christ. Christ remains the perfect example. In Him we
do not see a mixture of two dispensations but one, the grace of our Lord Jesus
and the love of God. The faith and grace of Christ is a total surrender in
response to His love. All of God for all of you. Should we tithe or give by
grace? If you are His sheep please harken to the Good Shepherd’s voice. Walk in
faith and grow in the grace of our Lord. Shalom
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