When it comes to the topic of tithing (and the Biblical tithe has to do with all sorts of provisions, and certainly not just money), there seem to be two polar extreme points of view, and, in my estimation, the truth lies somewhere between these two polar extremes.
At the one extreme, there is no shortage of charlatans parading around in what professes to be the Christian church who regularly fleece the flock of their monies while promising them huge financial returns in exchange for their tithes. To hear them speak, one would think that God intended the tithe to be some sort of surefire stock market investment that is guaranteed to yield a thirty, sixty, or hundredfold return.
This is definitely not God’s intent for the tithe (I’ll explain his actual intent later), and I would never condone anyone giving even one red cent of their money to any of these charlatans. Their “gospel”, when examined in the light of rightly-divided scripture, is “another gospel” (II Cor. 11:4) which in no way reflects the true gospel of Christ, and to financially support them is to financially support Satan and his ministers (II Cor. 11:13-15).
At the other extreme, there is no shortage of those in what professes to be the Christian church who insist that the tithe was done away with when the new testament/new covenant replaced the old testament/old covenant. In other words, they claim that the tithe only pertained to the Israelites/Jews and the Levitical priesthood which accompanied the Mosaic law.
According to their beliefs, seeing how the Levitical priesthood has long been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ, Christians are allegedly no longer obligated to pay their tithes. Their beliefs, when examined in the light of rightly-divided scripture, are not only found to be as equally false as the first extreme, but also detrimental to true ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ as I'll explain momentarily.
As I stated earlier, I believe that the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes, and I’ll now give three scriptural reasons why I believe this to be so.
1. The tithe PRECEDED the Levitical priesthood.
If we actually take the time to read our Bibles, then we will come to understand that saints of God tithed LONG BEFORE the Levitical priesthood ever came into effect.
For example, we read:
“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 has delivered your enemies into your hand. AND HE GAVE HIM TITHES OF ALL.” (Gen. 14:18-20)
“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 YOU SHALL GIVE ME I WILL SURELY GIVE THE TENTH UNTO YOU.” (Gen. 28:20-22)
Both Abram/Abraham and Jacob paid tithes BEFORE there was ever a Levite, a Jew, or an Israelite upon the face of this earth and LONG BEFORE the Mosaic law was ever given at Mt. Sinai.
Jacob vowed to “give the tenth” (Gen. 28:22) or to give the tithe BEFORE Levi was born (Gen. 29:34), and the Levitical priesthood sprang forth from the tribe of Levi HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER.
Furthermore, Jacob vowed to “give the tenth” (Gen. 28:22) or to give the tithe BEFORE Judah was born (Gen. 29:35), and it is from the name Judah that we derive the word “Jew":
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Jew
Further still, Jacob vowed to “give the tenth” (Gen. 28:22) or to give the tithe BEFORE God changed his name to Israel (Gen. 32:28) and BEFORE his twelve sons became known as “the twelve tribes of Israel” (Gen. 49:28), so there was no such thing as an Israelite in existence at that time.
Additionally, a simple reading of scripture will clearly show that Abram/Abraham (Gen. 25:7) and Jacob (Gen. 49:33) both died HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE the Mosaic law was ever given (Exod. chapter 19 and beyond), so the tithe PRECEDED the Mosaic law as well.
This is reality, friends, and we’d be wise to embrace the same because the only other embraceable option is DELUSION.
2. Although the Levitical priesthood truly has been replaced by the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that Christ still receives tithes as our high priest.
We’ve already seen that Abram/Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek who was “the priest of the most high God” (Genesis 14:18) LONG BEFORE there was ever a Levite, a Jew, an Israelite, or the Mosaic law upon the face of this earth. Now, we need to consider that the Melchizedekian priesthood not only PRECEDED the Levitical priesthood, but that God also swore that he would raise up another priest forever after the order of Melchizedek AFTER the Levitical priesthood had come into effect.
We read:
“The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)
Friends, this "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” of whom God swore is none other than Jesus Christ.
We read:
“For this MELCHIZEDEK, 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; abides a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, UNTO WHOM EVEN THE PATRIARCH ABRAHAM GAVE THE TENTH OF THE SPOILS. And verily they that are of THE SONS OF LEVI, WHO RECEIVE THE OFFICE OF THE PRIESTHOOD, HAVE A COMMANDMENT TO TAKE TITHES OF THE PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THE LAW, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 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 RECEIVES THEM, OF WHOM IT IS WITNESSED THAT HE LIVES. And as I may so say, LEVI ALSO, WHO RECEIVED TITHES, PAYED TITHES IN ABRAHAM. For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met him. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For he of whom these things are spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah; of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for that AFTER THE SIMILITUDE OF MELCHIZEDEK THERE ARISES ANOTHER PRIEST, who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. FOR HE TESTIFIED, YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.” (Heb. 7:1-17)
Here’s a breakdown of what we just read:
A. Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God LONG BEFORE there was ever a Levitical priesthood (Heb. 7:1) in that his descent was not from the sons of Levi who came many years later (Heb. 7:5-6).
B. Melchizedek was made like unto the Son of God or made like unto Jesus in that he was without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life (Heb. 7:3). In other words, seeing how neither his birth nor his death is recorded in scripture, his priesthood foreshadowed Christ’s priesthood in that, figuratively speaking, he abides a priest continually (Heb. 7:3).
C. Abram/Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek (Heb. 7:2, 4, 6, 9) whose priesthood foreshadowed Christ's priesthood LONG BEFORE the Levitical priesthood ever came into effect.
D. Levi, from whom the Levitical priesthood later came, was also accounted to have paid tithes to Melchizedek who foreshadowed Christ because he was in Abram’s/Abraham’s loins when he paid tithes to Melchizedek (Heb. 7:9-10).
E. Not only did the Melchizedekian priesthood under which tithes were received PRECEDE the Levitical priesthood, but the sons of Levi or the Levitical priests who later received the office of the priesthood also had a commandment to receive tithes of the people according to the Mosaic law (Heb. 7:5).
F. After the Levitical priesthood had gone into effect, God swore (Psalm 110:4) that he would raise up another priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:15-17).
G. Jesus Christ is now a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and he descended from the tribe of Judah, not Levi (Heb. 7:13-14).
Here is the pertinent point that cannot be missed:
H. Here men that die receive tithes, BUT THERE HE RECEIVES THEM, OF WHOM IT IS WITNESSED THAT HE LIVES (Heb. 7:8).
We must remember that at the time that this epistle was written the Jewish temple was still standing, and there were still Levitical priests (“men that die”) receiving tithes.
At the same time, however, he of whom it is witnessed that he lives or the risen Christ who now has an everlasting priesthood in heaven RECEIVES TITHES THERE.
Who is our high priest, Jesus Christ, receiving tithes from if not FROM CHRISTIANS?
He’s obviously not receiving them from those who deny his priesthood while still looking to the Levites, and, again, that priesthood is no longer in effect anyway.
In the same exact manner that Melchizedek received tithes of the faithful during his priesthood, Jesus Christ, whom Melchizedek foreshadowed, receives tithes from the faithful TODAY.
(Continued in my next post)
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