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.
(Genesis 14:18-20)
i see no mention of a command given to Abraham -- it appears that this righteous man gave out of free will. out of free will also, and against the customs of the day, he conceded to the king of Sodom what he could have rightfully taken - that the Lord should be honored, instead of a man.
Quite true. Abram recognized his blessings of victory came from God, from whom Lot's substance came. God commended Abram for that all along to this day, forever recorded. I don't know of a single instance of a commanded tithe to be linked to a success story, but his free will tithe is so linked, Abram becoming fantastically wealthy from blessings of cattle and crops 430 years before the law came demanding the tithe without promises.
The children of Israel couldn't complain much seeing that the priests and Levites were forbidden to own land or inherit anything. They ministered to the things of God, while of course they were put in the position of depending on support from the other tribes. It was simply the proper thing to do.
It was well after the giving of the law commanding tithes that Malachi linked the tithe back to Abraham's blessing on the tithe, not the law, for the law promised no blessing, but curses for disobedience. Like with Abram, God was pleased over voluntary tithing, in Malachi promising blessings for the tither.
2 Cor 9 explains how it is that God looks to bless people according to their generosity. Giving little assures reaping little. Once again there is no promise of big blessings over small giving. This plays out around the world every day, most of the world living in deep poverty, yet among them some please God and live in prosperity.
Christians should not forever expect to find a place anywhere to worship in if unwilling to support one, but perhaps they will find a nice tree to sit under like the low caste folks in rural India have to do, if too few are willing to support the present/future buildings and ministers that tend to our assembling together and coordination of outreach together, etc. .I don't believe the Lord will put on a heart to give joyfully with good conscience a ten dollar bill a week when it ought to be a tithe amounting to $75 a week for a gross income of $750. The Church as we know it will not remain in public view on tips. If each Christian "goes it alone" deciding to whom and when to give a gift of some kind, then the Church will be divided and not a significant influence as a group. An example is a friend that stopped going to church because of some hypocrisy in it, saying he would just bless people in need. I asked him recently how many folks has he blessed. None. He is now convinced that if he gives someone food, they will trade it for pot, which fear stops the giving of money to anyone. So he is doing nothing other than sending a tv ministry $58 a month to get the $5,800 blessing this year.
A better way is to support a church that actually blesses their own community, like providing hot yummy meals to the needy, or sending pairs of women to minister directly to a needy family, providing pots, pans, food, teach to cook, send off payments for water, gas and electric so they can cook and be warm, counsel, pray
with, spot needed repairs the men's ministry can tend to (turning in a work order), making widows comfortable, and many other ministry opportunities few of us could do alone. But when a church budget is met, great helps are afforded, and workers are available. Jesus sent disciples out in pairs, so how is it that a loner should go do the job?
The alternative is for the churches to disappear at the rate of 7,000 a year, the people scattering, remaining buildings unable to accommodate more people and the added expenses the new folks won't help with, with efforts to reach the world in disarray, missionaries not being supported until they find a worthy home to care for them, lacking coordination. In the end whatever is offered of significance would probably go to keeping ministry satellites in orbit and operating, with the unsaved in the world unable to find a Christian for help.
Of course every Christian ought to assemble themselves together somewhere. Why not get involved with a church that's still open, then get with them to determine what is needed from all to keep it going at least meeting a minimal budget? If your church asks for a monthly pledge it probably wouldn't be as much as a tithe. The tithers are the ones blessed according to the promise that receive enough from God to make up the difference, but ought not be expected to carry the whole burden. I hope folks are not taking the national entitlement mentality concerning a church budget, satisfied to let the wealthier pay all the bills, seeing they are blessed, while the ones giving little see little blessing, not enough to be of significant help to anyone.
Jesus tithed and payed the temple tax even though, as he explained to Peter, he nor the disciples ought to have to pay that tax, like the priests and Levites were exempt, but that none of them are offended, they payed the tribute. Mt 17:24
Jesus also went beyond the law to endorse payment of taxes demanded by governments, a principle many dislike. Paul reinforced that principal. If that's God's will, then how could it be the Lord is not superintending over the tithe
and what the saints that minister ask for?
I see we're ignoring the news in Hebrews 7 about Jesus still expecting tithes to be paid, more deserving than the earthly priests and Levites who died, receiving their living by commandment. The Levites supported the priests. Meanwhile, we Christians are patterned after the Levites, with Jesus being High Priest forever. The priests of old were the men that tended to the Temple. If you are a minister of the sanctuary, then you deserve whatever support the Lord says for the rest of us to yield up. The Lord knows who is doing that, blessing those that hear him and do it.
