The truth about tithes and offerings

 

The Truth about tithes and offerings

The comparison between Melchizedek and Jesus is NOT a case for Tithing

Hebrews 7 is a new testament Scripture used to promote the requirement for Christians to tithe; however, the purpose of this chapter is not to promote tithing in the church, but to explain the change in priesthood from men who are limited by death to that of Jesus whose priesthood is FOREVER. Death, hades, and the devil could not stop him from being a priest FOREVER. It is very important we understand who Melchizedek is; let’s see what the Scriptures say about Melchizedek.  

 Melchizedek is NOT Jesus.

The first time Melchizedek is mentioned in the bible is in Genesis 14:18; prior to this verse, we are not told anything about him. The bible normally tells us who the father and, or mother of a person of interest is; in the case of Melchizedek, we are not told who the parents are. The reader is also not told who or when he was anointed/appointed priest or king, neither are we told anything about the people Melchizedek is king over! The lack of this type of records on Melchizedek has led to several theories on who he is.  There is a sense of mystery when Melchizedek is brought up on the pulpit or in conversations; some have concluded that he is a preincarnation of Jesus in the Old Testament, while others have just given up on trying to know who he is. I was one of the people who resigned myself to getting to know who Melchizedek is when I get to heaven, but a good pastor friend of mine asked me the question: who is Melchizedek? I simply answered “he is what the bible says he is”. My friend laughed at my response; because I had to attend to some matters, we ended the conversation there. However, the question never left me: who is Melchizedek? I picked up my bible and prayed for understanding on who he is; The Lord answered my prayer and showed me who he is.  I am going to share this with you. First we need to realize that Melchizedek was made like Jesus; a likeness is not the same as the object it is made like. However, the likeness bears resemblance to the object it is made like. God created man in his image, after his likeness; this does not make man God the father. Now let’s read the first verse where Melchizedek is mentioned in the bible:

 Genesis 14:18 – “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” (NKJV)

 This verse clearly describes Melchizedek as a king that existed in the days of Abraham, he was the king of Salem. The amplified bible elaborates on Salem in parenthesis “ancient Jerusalem”. Joshua 10 also makes reference to Salem and the king at the time, Adoni-Zedek. Adoni-Zedek of Jerusalem (formally Salem) went to war against Joshua with 4 other kings; he and the four kings fell before Joshua. This shows us that Salem was an actual place that existed in the days of Abraham; Salem had kings and Melchizedek was one of their kings who reigned in the days of Abraham. Adoni-Zedek was also the king of the same Salem (Jerusalem), but he existed in the time of Joshua. Reference to Melchizedek as the king of Salem is not a figure of speech or some mystical expression to hide his true identity.

 The name Adoni-Zedek is actually similar in meaning to Melchizedek, it means king of righteousness or my lord is righteousness. Melchizedek means king of righteousness (Hebrews 7:2); so, both Adoni-Zedek and Melchizedek mean king of righteousness, and both were kings of Salem i.e. king of peace. And like Melchizedek, there is no record of Adoni-Zedek’s father, mother, siblings, and genealogy.  Do these comparison between Adoni-zedek and Melchizedek sound familiar? These are some of the similarities between Jesus and Melchizedek, which inevitably they share with Adoni-Zedek who is not a priest of God, nor is there any indication that he walked with, or believed in The Lord God. So if there is no indication that Adoni-Zedek walked with The Lord, I believe it is safe to say that some might be reading too much into the interpretation of the name of Melchizedek to conclude that he is Jesus. As Hebrews 7 points out, there are comparisons to make between Melchizedek and Jesus, but the purpose behind these comparisons is not a case for tithing. Before we go into Hebrews 7, let’s look into some other Scriptures about Melchizedek; I believe this will give us a clearer picture of the comparison the Word of God is making between Melchizedek and Jesus.

The change in Priesthood

After Genesis 14, the next time we see Melchizedek mentioned is in one of the Psalms of King David; this Psalm is also quoted by the writer(s) of Hebrews:

 Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:6 - As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”;” (NKJV)

 The emphasis in this psalm is that the priesthood of Jesus is FOREVER, just as the priesthood of Melchizedek never ended. This psalm is quoted twice in Hebrews 5 to imply the same thing: Jesus is a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchizedek. Under the Levitical priesthood, when priests died, someone else took their place; however, there is no record of anyone taking over the priesthood of Melchizedek, neither will anyone take over the priesthood of Jesus.

Hebrews 6: 19 – 20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (NKJV)

These verses in Hebrews 6 further highlight the actual comparison being made between Jesus and Melchizedek. Verse 19 talks about how Jesus has gone behind the veil, which the Levitical high priest did yearly to offer sacrifices for both the priest and the people with the blood of animals. The Lord Jesus went in once and for all, having become High Priest FOREVER in the order of Melchizedek! We know that Melchizedek did not die for our sins, so there is only one comparison here between Jesus and Melchizedek, it is the unending FOREVER priesthood! Now let’s take a look at Hebrews 7.

Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:2 “Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” (NKJV)

Hebrews 7:2 reemphasizes exactly what Abraham paid a tithe of, the spoils of war; this verse does not say that he gave a tithe of his personal belongings nor that he ever gave Melchizedek a tithe at any other time. To say this was one of many times that Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek would be adding to the bible; the bible does not say nor imply this.

Hebrews 7:3  “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.” (NKJV)

Verse 3 shows us again the actual comparison the writer is really trying to make here – both Melchizedek and Jesus continue to be a priest perpetually. This verse actually states that Melchizedek was made like Jesus.

Hebrews 7: 5&6 “And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.” (NKJV)

Under the law, the sons of Levi are commanded by God to receive tithes from their brothers, but Melchizedek whose genealogy is not in the line of Abraham received tithes from Abraham. On the other hand, Jesus is also not from the tribe of Levi, but as we saw earlier, He went behind the veil to perform priestly duties by presenting his blood for our sins. The comparison here is that both Melchizedek and Jesus performed priestly duties that were, under the law, only the responsibilities of the Levitical priests.

Hebrews 7: 8&9 “Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.  Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,”  (NKJV)

“Mortal men” in verse 8 is referring to Levites, not pastors like some have interpreted it to mean; verse 9 clearly states this: “…even Levi …”. “But there he receives them” is referring to Melchizedek, not Jesus as some have inferred. It is important to point out here that the comparison in verse 8 and 9 about receiving tithes is between Melchizedek and the Levitical priesthood, not Jesus. Jesus is never recorded in the bible, nor is his disciples, to have ever received tithes from anyone while physically on earth. With this understanding, we see that the true purpose of these verses is another comparison between Melchizedek and Jesus, HE LIVES! Unlike priests under the Levitical priesthood who die and their successors take over from them, in the case of Melchizedek it is witnessed that he lives; like Melchizedek, JESUS LIVES! He rose from the dead on the third day and he lives forever. The declaration in these verses in Hebrews 7 is that Jesus is our High Priest and HE LIVES FOREVER! Amen!

 

Abraham’s Tithe to Melchizedek

                                                                                        picture source: www.borntowin.net
The tithe of Abraham to Melchizedek is very often used as the foundational argument for tithing in the church; the view is that since he is the father of faith, if he gave tithes, we should also tithe. It is important we take a look at what Abraham did when he gave Melchizedek a tenth. First and foremost, the Scripture nowhere indicates that God asked Abraham to do this, to make this deduction, we would have to add to the Word of God. The bible also does not tell us why Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth and I am not going to speculate on why he did.

 “And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:20). If Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek is a requirement for the church, it appears the only things we should tithe are the spoils of war. There is no Scripture that shows us that Abraham gave a tithe of any of his possessions; the only record of a tithe by Abraham is a tithe of spoils of a war. Let us compare the tithe of Abraham to the instruction God gave the children of Israel concerning the spoils of a particular war recorded in Numbers 31:25-31:

 

Numbers 31:25-31 – “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Count up the plunder that was taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. And levy a tribute (tax) for the Lord on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord. And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.” So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Obviously missing from this passage is God asking for a tithe of the spoils; He actually called what He asked of the soldiers a levy (tax)! The instructions given by God about the spoils bring the levy of the soldiers to about 0.2% of what the soldiers got, and only about 2% of the rest of the congregation. The total percentage of the persons, donkeys, and the cattle that were given to The Lord adds up to about 1.1%, not 10%. Something important to note in the passage above is that God did not include gold, which they also plundered, in the levy He asked of them. Verses 50-54 of Numbers 31 talks about how the soldiers gave a freewill offering of the ornaments of gold as gratitude to The Lord for none of the soldiers dying in battle. God did not request a levy of the gold ornaments! If the action of Abraham was an everlasting ordinance from God, like some have suggested, the requirements/actions in both cases should be the same.

 Another point to keep in mind in regards to the tithe of Abraham to Melchizedek is that the bible never tells us that Abraham ever gave another tenth of anything, either spoils or not, to Melchizedek or any other person. Hebrews 7:4 even shows us that this was a singular act, not something done repeatedly by Abraham. Hebrews 7:4 – “Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder!” (NIV). This verse points to the fact that Abraham only gave a tenth of the plunder we read about in Genesis 14; he did not give a tithe of anything else, not even once does the bible indicate that he ever gave any other tithe to anyone else.

 Genesis 14: 22 – 23 – “But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’”
 

If Abraham’s actions in Genesis 14 is indeed the Christian’s guide to tithing, then we need to follow it all the way through. Abraham did not keep any part of the spoil of war, he gave his portion to the king of Sodom! He had a right to keep it since he fought the battle against the kings and won, but as we see in the above passage, he did not keep any of it for himself. He gave it all away. To teach the encounter with Melchizedek as the foundation for the church, we would need to follow the second part where he gave the remaining part (his portion) to the king of Sodom. For the church to follow Abraham’s example in Genesis 14, we need to give 10% to the church (as it is preached today), and then give the 90% back to our employers, clients, customers and coworkers. Sounds ridiculous? That is actually what Abraham did in this encounter with Melchizedek and the King of Sodom. As our salaries are our rights for working for an employer, so was the plunder to Abraham for going to war and winning. Using Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek as the reason Christians are to tithe is not right; it was not an eternal ordinance from God to Abraham, neither is it a command of God to the church today.

Tithes - The truth about tithes, offerings, and freewill giving

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The Command to Love (Part 3)

1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (NIV)

Love is not boastful, braggadocios, nor proud! Have you ever met someone that just went on and on and on about what they have done, where they have been, who they have met, who they are about to have dinner with, the designer they wear, the car they drive, how much their shoes are, and the list goes on? Yes? I am sure we all have met at least one person like this. Usually the person is bragging, boasting and trying to impress; love does not do this. From the text above, we see that love does not boast and it is not proud. One thing common to boasting and pride is that they like to talk about themselves and are really not interested in anything or anyone else; it has to be about them, what they have done, what they have, and what they are going to do or get. The love of God is truly interested in others and is not focused on self. 

Obadiah 1:3 - The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee...

Pride deceives the prideful and tries to deceive others as well. One of the primary reasons people lie is because of pride. Why? Because, usually, they are ashamed of the truth, so they make things up to look better. Lie long enough about something and you will start to believe it i.e. the pride of thine heart hath deceived thee. One thing about humility is that it lives in reality and it is not deceived nor does it try deceiving anyone. Lying is of the devil; his very language is lie. 

John 8:44 - You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

So when God’s children lie, they switch over to the realm of darkness; there is no darkness in God (love) at all. This is sometimes why the enemy has a hold on the children of God; they are identifying with the devil rather than with God. The devil is the father of liars or deceivers; there are no white lies, lies are lies. However, he that walks in love walks in God; the father of those that walk in love is God – there is no lie or deception in God.

It can be described like this, let's say God is pure water, when we walk in love, we become pure water and completely miscible with him, so when one looks at us, they see God because pure water mixed with pure water is pure water. When we do not walk in love, we are like spent engine oil that cannot mix with water; if you try to mix water and oil, you get two different layers which can be easily separated. In the state of the spent oil, not only can we be easily scooped up, the enemy can easily plague us because we are not operating in our dominion when we walk in his realm.

James 4:6 - But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.  

The very thought of God resisting me in anyway is unbearable, so for me learning more about what pride is became very important to me; that way, I can avoid pride, be humble and enjoy the grace of God. In reading the scriptures, and listening to some messages on humility, I have come to learn some of the characteristics of pride. As discussed earlier in this series on love, pride does not honor people enough to listen to what others have to say; pride interrupts people and is not a listener (see The command of love Part 2). Pride exaggerates things to look good or better than they really are. Pride knows exactly how everyone should treat or address it; proud people would often think to themselves, don’t they know who I am? They should talk to me like this, give me this, and exempt me from this or that… Pride thinks it needs to be treated differently or preferentially than anyone else because pride is puffed up.  

Proverbs 13:10 - Only by pride comes strife: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Where there is strife, there is pride! This scripture reveals that the source of strife is pride. So when someone is always in strife with almost everyone, the person needs to check him or herself for pride. In marriages, a home filled with strife has one or both spouses walking in pride; when both members of a marriage walk in love towards each other, strife is forced out of that home.  Pride also finds it hard to admit it does not know something. How many times have many of us got lost going somewhere because we refuse to ask for directions? How many times have you seen someone trying to do something for the first time and refuse help from an expert because they do not want to admit they don’t know? People have actually broken expensive electronics because of this. Everyone already knows that nobody knows everything, so it is OK to admit that there are things we do not know. Pride tries to paint a picture that it knows everything about everything; sometimes, it is humorous to watch such people talk about a subject they pretend to be experts about and in actuality know very little to nothing about the subject matter. Pride is not teachable; a student that thinks he already knows will find it difficult to learn - the pride of their hearts has deceived them to believe they are experts when they are not. Pride is very ugly and is the very thing that got the devil kicked out of heaven.

When Pride is wrong, it would rather act nice to you than say it is sorry; pride finds it hard to say sorry. I am sure we have all met people like this; humility, which is the nature of love, is quick to repent and ask for forgiveness. Pride in most cases would not even admit that it is wrong, it would rather defend it’s stand no matter how obviously erroneous and faulty such a defense may be; in other words, pride is very defensive and finds it difficult to apologize for a wrong. Lastly, for this post, pride refuses to show how impressed it is of the achievement of others; pride would actually down play such achievements. At times, pride would actually find something it has done in the past that is better than the current achievement of another being discussed. You would hear pride say things such as “oh, that is a nice car, but my first car actually had X, which this one does not have” or “oh he came first out of 40 people that took the exam? Well, when I did mine, there were 45 people that took the exam and I came first”. Pride can’t imagine anyone doing better than it, so it does not show impression, nor allow itself to be impressed by the achievement of others.

Many think pride is limited to the rich, Nah! Anyone can be proud: the rich, the poor, and everyone in-between… it is a state of the heart, not a state of the pocket.

The next post will look into other characteristics of the love of God.

The Command to Love (Part 2)

1 Corinthians 14:1 - Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]
  
This scripture highlights the importance of love; it commands us to pursue love, make love our aim, and our quest. This scripture also helps us to see that love is not a feeling; it is something that needs to be done consciously, and on purpose - Love is not a reaction, it is an action. So how do we make love our aim? We walk, talk and live consistently in love; all our actions are guided by the nature of love. When in doubt if an action is an act of love, the answer is to ask if the action passes the checklist of love: Is what I am about to do patient? Is it based on pride or humility? Is it kind or unkind? Is it rude or is it polite? Is it envious? Is it boastful? Is it self-seeking? … You get the picture from 1 Corinthians 13 on what love is; in every situation, we need to go with the action of love.

Galatians 5:6 - For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love.
  
As we can see from the scripture, even faith works by love; love activates, energizes, is expressed, and works through love. So love is inexcusable for a vibrant and living relationship with our father, God. Now, let’s take a closer look at the nature of love. 

1 Peter 4:8 - Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
  
Love covers a multitude of sin! It is rather unfortunate how often believers are so quick to talk about each other’s faults or sins. Some pastors actually turn it into a sermon and by the end of the sermon everyone knows exactly whom it is that was being preached about. No! This is not scriptural and a direct disobedience to the command of love. Some do this under pretense of wanting the other person to pray for the person; the truth is that the Holy Spirit knows how to raise intercessors for a person that needs it – he does not need the “prayer requestor ministry” to help him do that. We should not find ourselves picking up the phone to discuss our brothers or sisters faults, we need to spend that time praying for them if we get to know about it, or talk to them directly if we are in the position to do so. Love covers, not expose the faults of our brothers and sisters. It is actually very sad to see when a believer discusses the faults or sins of a believer with an unbeliever. We are one body, so every time we do that, we are only shaming our own body (1 Corinthians 12:12-30).

The love of God covers! This also extends to spouses that spill out everything going on in their marriages to their friends, family, co-workers, and even strangers; this is unfaithful to the spouse, and obviously not an act of love towards them. At the end of the day, this discussions only end up bringing more problems to the marriage than help. In some ways, this act is selfish because it makes the unfaithful spouse feel better; feel better at what expense? At the expense of making the spouse look bad and destroying their reputation – as everyone knows, in the absence of the other spouse, the talking spouse will usually eliminate what they are doing wrong and exaggerate the faults of the other spouse.  Love is not selfish and does no harm (Romans 13:10), so this act, on multiple levels, is against the command of love. I am not advocating not having counsel in marriage; there are however proper channels and people in places of authority in our lives that can help with such things. Some have found themselves doing exactly what the bible tells us not to do: casting pearls before pigs (Matthew 7:6); as the scripture says, it has led to destruction of lives, homes, friendship, and above all, a direct disobedience to the command of love, which is sin.

Romans 12:10 - Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another. 

Love prefers others above itself; Jesus died for us even though he never sinned. He put our needs before himself; obviously, what he did for us was not glamorous in execution, for he was naked, beaten, spat on, shamed, and the list goes on about what he did for us. However, this is what love does; love puts the needs of the other person first. Giving precedence to one another is putting others first, honoring them, and esteeming them as if they were better than us. Lets take an example we see everyday; there is only one seat left and two people walk into the room, usually the faster gets the chair. Love would give up the chair even if it got there first. Another example from everyday life is when people are having a conversation; love esteems and honors the other person enough to listen to what they have to say about the topic being discussed. It is however very prevalent for people to talk over each other, and not even listen to what the other has to say about the topic being discussed; this is not giving precedence or honor to one another.

In marriage, when both spouses are esteeming, honoring, and giving precedence to one another, it is so beautiful to watch how peaceful and full of love (God) the home is. No one knows everything, so even though the man is the head of the home, the wife’s input is vital in coming to a conclusion. In many cases, if men could really listen to what their wives are saying about a topic, they would see that the Lord was speaking through their wife about that situation. Love gives precedence; it honors, and esteems the other person.

In the next post, other characteristics of this love will be discussed.

Hope – the backbone of faith

Proverbs 13:12 - Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

Have you waited for something all your life and thought you were finally about to get it and then, just then, everything vaporizes and you are left feeling empty, unfulfilled, unwanted or a failure? Have you ever thought you are living your dream only to find that it was not the real thing? Have you ever had a man or woman walk out of your life when you thought they were the one? I believe most of us will say yes to at least one of the questions above; I want you to know you are not alone. The Word of God is so true, as always, when it says hope deferred makes the heart sick; many people have ended their own lives when they think all hope is lost; some people have compromised when they think there is no hope, others have settled for whatever comes their way because they stopped hoping. When hope is absent, the anchor for our soul is missing (Heb 6:19); he that stops hoping stops living. We can not afford to stop hoping - hope is the backbone of faith.

1 Corinthians 13:13 - Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

Though hope is not as much spoken about in churches compared to faith and love, it is one of the three things that will last forever. Faith is anchored on hope; without hope, there is no faith. Why? Because faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Heb 11:1). We can clearly see that in the absence of hope, faith cannot exist, which means the absence of pleasing God (Heb 11:6). So, it is important to understand what hope is. What is hope? Let’s look at other translations of Heb 11:1

God’s Word Translation: Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see.
Jubilee Bible 2000: Faith, therefore, is the substance of things waited for, the evidence of things not seen.

In these versions of the bible,hope is interpreted as expectation and a waiting for; expectation or a waiting for what? Romans 4:18 provides the answer to this question:

Romans 4:18 - Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be (NIV).

Abraham hoped against all hope, expected, and waited for the promise God made him; his hope, expectation, and waiting for was totally based on a promise God made to him. So the hope that is the backbone of faith in God is based on the Word/promise of God. From these scriptures we can see why sometimes the claim of being in faith about something may not be necessarily true because a number of times, the hope/expectation are not based on the Word or promise of God. Psalm 119:114 also affirms this truth:

Psalm 119:114 - You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope (NLT).

Your word is my source of hope! This scripture confirms what we see in the life of the father of faith, Abraham. The source of hope that brings about true faith is the Word of God! There are also expectations based on the lies of the devil and his words; these expectations also bring about results, but results that are not God's will for our lives. Now, my question to us is: what is our hope or expectation based on? If it is not based on God’s Word or a Word from God, we need to search the scriptures for a Word to anchor our souls in regards to the situation. When our hope is based on the Word of God or a Word from God, then our faith can be in God.