Transcript

A country preacher once delivered a sermon on giving. He said, “Now, church, you know we’ve got to go somewhere, and so we need the church to walk.”

And the deacons lined up on the front row, and they said, “Pastor, let the church walk. Let the church walk.” The preacher said, “We’ve got to start moving.” And the deacons said, “Let it walk.”

The preacher saw that he had the deacons with him, so he said, “And then after we’ve walked for a little while, church, we’ve got to run.” The deacons said, “Yeah, Preacher, let the church run!”

He went on preaching, getting the congregation and deacons more excited as he continued. He said, “Then, after we’ve run for a little while, it’s time for the church to fly! We’ve got to fly!” The deacons said, “Yes, Pastor, we’ve got to fly! We’ve got to fly!”

Then the preacher said, “Well, now, church, you know it’s going to take money for the church to fly!” And the deacons said, “Let it crawl, Pastor. Let the church crawl.”

With this episode, we are going to begin a series on tithing and giving, which we are calling “Right on the Money.” Our desire for giving should be that it is right and based, not on the popular teachings and traditions of the Church, but on what the Scriptures teach for how the Church is to give today.

The Apostle Paul tells the Church in Romans 6:14 that we are not under the law, but under grace. And we are going to apply this fact to tithing and giving in this series.

Genesis 14:17-20:

“And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

“And Melchizedek king of Salem 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.”

The topic of tithing has caused a great deal of discussion, debate, and division over the years. Many churches teach that tithing is mandatory and that Christians must give 10 percent of their income to the church. This is an expectation from rich and poor alike. Others have more moderate or varying views of tithing.

Tithing is a sensitive and emotional subject. And for churches, it’s emotional and sensitive because the tithe they require or encourage keeps the money flowing.

What do the Scriptures say? That’s what is most important. As we examine tithing and giving, we must let the Scriptures teach us concerning this subject. And as we do so, we must rightly divide the Word of truth.

In our study together of tithing and giving, we are going to begin at the beginning with the first mentions of a tithe in Scripture, which are found in Genesis.

Here in Genesis 14, Abram, who would later be named Abraham, had just returned from fighting against King Chedorlaomer and the three kings with whom he had allied himself.

This confederation had attacked and defeated another alliance of five kings in the region of Sodom and Gomorrah. Chedorlaomer’s confederation then looted Sodom and Gomorrah and captured Abram’s nephew, Lot.

In response, Abram gathered a fighting force of 318 men to pursue the kings and to rescue Lot. Their total number was no match for that of this alliance, which had already overwhelmed other armies with much larger numbers, as this chapter explains.

Abram’s 318 reminds you of Gideon’s 300, which battled against 135,000 Midianites and defeated them, because God was with them.

Also, like Gideon, when Abram caught up to this confederation in the north of the promised land, he divided his men and attacked them “by night.”

As this army was relaxing, sleeping, and enjoying the spoils of war, Abram launched a surprise attack from multiple directions, causing the larger army to scatter and flee. Abram’s men then pursued them further north to the area of Damascus.

As a result, verse 16 reads, “And he [Abram] brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”

Abram’s raid was a complete success. He rescued his nephew Lot, and he took a tremendous amount of spoil, goods, and treasure from the kings and their armies that he had conquered, and he brought it all back to Hebron (13:18).

Two kings then met Abram on his return from the battle “at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale [or valley].” And they were two kings that could not possibly have been more different.

King Bera, ruler over the wicked city of Sodom, went out to meet Abram, and also “Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.”

Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. According to Hebrews 7:2, the name Melchizedek means “King of righteousness.” Thus, both an unrighteous and a righteous king came to meet Abram in the King’s valley.

Hebrews 7:2 also further defines the King of Salem as meaning “King of peace.” So Melchizedek was the King of righteousness and the King of Peace, Who was the representative and priest of the most high God. He is the first priest mentioned in the Bible, and this is also the first mention of peace in Scripture.

In His kindness, Melchizedek brought bread and wine to feed Abram and his men. And providing bread and wine for the refreshment of the weary fighters and travelers would have required a large amount.

And then Melchizedek blessed Abram, telling him, “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.”

Abram gladly and willingly recognized Melchizedek’s high station as a priest and representative of his God; he accepted that his victory had come from God as Melchizedek said, and he acknowledged the Most High God as his God, the same God who had called Abram out of Ur to Canaan.

And Abram demonstrated his recognition of all this by giving “tithes of all” to Melchizedek. This is the first mention of tithing in the Bible. This took place before the law and reminds us that tithing did not originate with the Mosaic Law. Tithing predated the law by around 500 years or so.

And with Genesis 14 being the first mention of tithing, that means for the first approximately 2000 years of history in the first 13 chapters of the Bible, there was no tithing.

The word “tithe” in Hebrew means a tenth. It isn’t a religious word; it’s a mathematical word. It has to do with a percentage, and it means a tenth.

The tenth here is in regard to “the goods” and the spoils that Abram brought back from his victory. Overwhelmed by the presence and blessing of Melchizedek, and to honor Him,

Abram gave him a tenth of all the spoils of war.

God did not tell Abram to do this. There is no statement from God regarding tithing at this point in Scripture. No one told Abraham to give a tenth. And Genesis is not establishing a principle for the church’s giving.

This was a free-will offering of Abraham. Abram believed and knew that this victory had come from the Lord God, and not from his own achievement, and to express his gratitude to God for his victory and to honor Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of God, Abram willingly gave a tithe of all the spoils to Melchizedek.

Abraham lived to be 175 years old. At no time in Scripture is it ever recorded before or after this incident that he ever gave a tenth again. This is the only time that he ever gave a tenth that we know of in the record of his 175 years on earth.

This tenth he gave wasn’t a tenth of his income or personal property, but a tenth of the spoils of war. And it wasn’t an annual or regular tenth. This was a single incident. Abram chose to do it just this one time. And no church that requires tithing is going to agree that you should only give a tithe once in your life.

The reason we say all this is because some use Abraham’s tithe in Genesis as an argument for tithing today, because, just as marriage was established in Genesis and predates the law, so tithing was established as a timeless practice and is to be carried out for all ages.

However, the observance of the Sabbath also predates the law of Moses (Ex. 16:23-29), and Paul makes it clear that the Sabbath is not binding on the Church today.

As he told the Colossians, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”

Like the Sabbath, which predates the law, is not binding on the Body of Christ under grace, the same is true of tithing.

And when you study this tithe in Genesis, you find no command for the tithe; it was not required. It was free, voluntary, and motivated only by the gratitude of Abram’s heart. And it was a one-time event in Abram’s life. And Abram did not command a tithe or desire it of anyone else in his household, either, including Lot.

Abram’s example of tithing actually teaches against mandatory tithing. Yet, this example of Abraham’s tithe of gratitude is mistakenly interpreted as an obligation of the Church.

The author of Hebrews wrote the following about this account,

“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

“To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

“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.

“Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils” (Heb. 7:1-4).

Melchizedek was a King of righteousness, a King of peace, who had no father or mother, no beginning of days or end of life, who abides as the priest of the Most High continually. Melchizedek’s priesthood was royal, righteous, peaceful, and unending.

While there are differences of opinion as to Melchizedek’s identity, when you put everything together that is said about Him, I believe that Melchizedek was and is the eternal Son of God, the preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ is the King of righteousness and the King of peace. As Jeremiah 23:6 says of Him, He is “the Lord our righteousness.” And as Isaiah 9:6 that He is “the Prince of Peace.”

Christ is also the great High Priest and a priest continually of the Most High God, and as the eternal Son of God, Christ had no beginning of days or end of life.

Further, the bread and wine that Melchizedek gave to Abram are the elements that Christ used and gave when instituting the Lord’s Supper with His disciples.

Being in the presence of the preincarnate Christ, recognizing the greatness of Melchizedek, Abram gave his tithe to the Son of God.

Hebrews 7:4 states, “Now consider how great this man was [or Melchizedek who appeared as a man],” that “even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.”

And in explaining that greatness, Hebrews 7:6-8 says, “But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.”

Abram was a patriarch who possessed the promises of God and was one of great rank in life and in the plans and purposes of God. But One far greater and superior to the patriarch Abram, blessed him who was inferior in every respect, or Abram.

And then the lesser, Abram, gave tithes to the greater, Melchizedek.

Under the law, men that died received the required tithes, but when Abram gave his free-will tithe to Melchizedek, he gave it to One who lives and lives forever.

While this tithe of Abraham to Melchizedek in no way establishes a principle of tithing for all ages, it does carry a principle that, whether it was tithing under the law or giving under grace today, when we give, it is given to the living and eternal God.

We, who are inferior and undeserving, have been blessed by the Superior, by God. And when we give, like Abraham, the lesser gives to the Greater, the Greatest of all. It is given for His honor and glory, in acknowledgment, thanksgiving, and praise of His greatness, goodness, and worthiness as our Lord and God.

When we give, we do not ultimately give to a church or a ministry, or to the pastor or missionary. We give to the Lord when we give towards these things. We give to Him and toward His work in the world.

Genesis 28:18-22:

“And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

“And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. 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.”

A robber pulled a gun on the bank clerk and manager saying, “Give me all the money! I need it to set myself up in a trade or profession. You know, initial investment is needed to cover the overheads until my cash flow is established.”

The bank manager said to the clerk, “You’d better do what he says, I think he means business.” With tithing, it is taught as something we better do as we’re told. But what do the Scriptures teach us about tithing?

Jacob is on the run here from his brother, Esau, after deceiving his father, Isaac, and stealing the special blessing of the firstborn from Esau. Esau was furious and planned to murder Jacob in revenge.

Jacob was fleeing to Haran to stay with his Uncle Laban when he stopped for the night at a place called Luz. There, he used stones for a pillow and fell asleep.

As Jacob slept that night, he had a dream of “a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it” (v. 12).

In the dream, God spoke to Jacob and reiterated the covenant made with Abraham and Isaac, promising him the land and descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth, and God assured Jacob that He would be with him wherever he went.

Jacob woke up in awe of the dream, knowing that he had actually met God in this place.

Early in the morning, Jacob rose and hastened to mark it as a sacred place by setting up his stone pillow as a pillar and a monument to the vision in his dream. Then he anointed it and poured olive oil over the top of the stone and pillar to consecrate it.

Jacob then called the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God,” to commemorate the event further.

Finally, Jacob “vowed a vow.” After receiving these blessed assurances from God, Jacob responded by dedicating and devoting the pillar and the place to God, and then he made a vow with God that concerned his own life and service.

The vow shows, however, that Jacob’s faith was not strong enough to take God at His Word. Jacob, at this point, had not yet fully surrendered and dedicated himself to God. And his vow demonstrates that.

God had just promised to bless, protect, and always be with Jacob. As he fled from Esau, Jacob was leaving the promised land to go to Haran, but God promised that He would bring Jacob back again to the land.

God also confirmed with Jacob that He would fulfill the promise that He made to Abraham concerning the land and the great nation through him and his seed.

God didn’t ask for a tithe or anything else in order to do these things for Jacob (v. 15). All God wanted Jacob to do was to believe Him.

But Jacob didn’t respond to God’s promise in the same way that his father and grandfather did. Abraham and Isaac accepted the promise by faith, but not Jacob.

In response, Jacob’s vow was that “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.”

The vow has an “if…then” conditional aspect to it. Jacob said, “If” You will do all this, “then” you will be my God. Jacob was willing to accept God’s promises, but he would not commit himself fully to God until God proved faithful to him personally.

Jacob made his commitment to God conditional on God’s performance of His promises, as well as a couple of additional things.

Jacob stated that IF God would be with him and keep him safe on his journey to his Uncle Laban in Haran, IF God would give him food to eat, IF God would give him clothing and garments to wear, and IF God would bring him back to his father Isaac’s house in peace and safety, THEN the Lord would be his God and he would serve Him.

It wasn’t until returning about twenty years later, when he wrestled with the preincarnate Christ all night at the brook Jabbok in Genesis 32, that Jacob finally committed himself fully to God.

Jacob added in verse 22 that if God did all these things, when he returned to the promised land, “this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house,” or the stone which he had set up as a pillar and memorial would be God’s house and a sacred place, meaning that he would construct an altar there to worship the Lord.

This vow of Jacob was later carried out as he returned to this spot and built an altar there. Genesis 35:3,7 states, “And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.”

And finally, Jacob vowed that if God kept His promise, when he returned to the promised land, “and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth [or a tithe] unto thee.”

In his conditional vow, Jacob asked that God give him “bread to eat, and raiment to put on.” And Jacob promised to give a tenth of this food and clothing back to God, as well as anything else that God gave him.

Jacob did what Abraham had done. He honored God with a portion of the things that God had given him. With Abraham, he tithed from the spoils of the victory that God gave him in battle. With Jacob, he vowed to tithe from the food, clothing, and possessions God would give him in His care and protection of him in fulfilling His promise.

Exactly how Jacob would give the tithe, and to whom, we are not told. Without there being a tabernacle to worship at or a Levitical priesthood to support in Jacob’s time, dedicating food and clothing to the Lord was most likely given to Him by giving it to the poor and needy.

Jacob put up numerous conditions to be met before he would pay this tithe to the Lord, however. But what is clear is that Jacob set the conditions, not God.

Jacob made a vow to tithe, and God did not ask for it. God did not command Jacob to give a tenth. God’s promise was unconditional and did not require the payment of tithes to keep it in force.

There is no word of praise from God to Jacob for his vow to give Him a tenth. And the Bible doesn’t even say if Jacob ever paid it. This is the only mention of tithing in Jacob’s life, and there is no further mention of tithing or giving a tenth in the book of Genesis.

The Scriptures do not teach that Abram’s or Jacob’s tithe is a pattern to be followed by anyone.

Jacob’s pre-law promise of a voluntary tithe should never be used as justification to require post-law mandatory tithes of believers today under grace. Yet it is.

Later, tithing did become mandatory and was commanded under the Mosaic Law. But with both Abraham and Jacob in Genesis, it was a voluntary response to God’s blessing and God’s promise.

There is no Scripture that records any commandment, instruction, or even suggestion by God related to a tithe prior to the Law of Moses.

During the entire period of time before the Law, there are only two biblical references to a tithe, and in neither case with Abraham and Jacob is there any indication that God instructed them to do what they did. It was just an arbitrary, voluntary response.

Tithing is neither a principle nor a mandate from God to be followed today. It has been misinterpreted to be those things because the Church has failed to see and understand the dispensation of the grace of God and the message of grace that was revealed to Paul for the Church today.

This has led the Church to go outside of Paul into God’s program with Israel and to use the tithe to put people under bondage to a way of giving that is not applicable today.

In the message and epistles of Paul, we find the instructions concerning giving for the Church today, and the Apostle Paul does not even once mention tithing.

Tithing was exclusively for Israel and is not for us who are members of the Church, the Body of Christ under grace. The percentage of a tenth is not even a principle for us. Today, we operate and give according to grace.

As the Apostle Paul instructs us, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”