Сайн байна ууPalm trees ! May the LORD increase his favors for you and your children. May integrity open doors for you and make you an influential person.
A few days ago, a friend told me that she was considering quitting her tithe. According to her, her church was sufficiently well off and did not need it. In addition, her banker advised her to invest tithes in small stock market investments or to save it, in order to increase his borrowing capacity and quickly obtain a mortgage. “You could get rich very quickly,” he told her. Like me, she works in finance, she is interested in entrepreneurship, real estate, and stock market investments. Needless to say, the banker was sincerely certain to give her good advice.
When she asked me what I thought about it, I had the impression that I was indirectly asked to choose between faith and reason. Question for me, without real interest, when we chose the Truth (JESUS) and his love. If my faith is based on the Truth (Rhema) and my reason conforms to the Truth (Logos), I do not have to choose between the two.
Without judging, nor trying to convince those who consume their tithes, I will below explain why I am giving my tithes. Free to each to do according to the revelation (of the scriptures) and the conviction that he has received from the LORD; Who we know, educated and let himself be found by those who seek him. Certainly, the tithe is certainly not the only way by which GOD blesses us and preserves our finances, but as for the firstfruits offering, give is for me, an act of love, of gratitude, of reverence, of faith, and above all an act of worship.
Melchizedek king of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine [for them]; he was the priest of GOD Most High. And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “Blessed (joyful, favored) be Abram by God Most High, Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed, praised, and glorified be GOD Most High, Who has given your enemies into your hand.” And Abram gave him a tenth of all [the treasure he had taken in battle].
Genesis 14: 18 - 20 (Amplified Bible, AMP)
Tithing is first mentioned in the Bible when Abraham meets the king and priest Melchizedek. Was he the first person to tithe his income? I don't think, but we cannot say so. However, if it pleased the LORD that the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek be written, certainly it is for our edification.
Note first, that Abraham willingly gave his tithe to the priest Melchizedek. It was a voluntary offering. Abraham gave, as he resolved in his heart, without sorrow or compulsion. As the apostle Paul tells us, inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT "GOD loves the one who gives with joy." (2 Corinthians 9: 7).
The second person mentioned in the Bible to have given his tithe is Jacob (later called Israel) grandson of Abraham, father of Levi. He made 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. (Genesis 28: 20-22).
Like Abraham, Jacob gave willingly, without coercion or sadness. They did this before a law was given in the Levitical priesthood by GOD to Moses (Leviticus 27:30; Leviticus 27:32; Deuteronomy 14: 22-28; Number 18:26; Number 18:24; Nehemiah 10:38). Remember that Moses is a descendant of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2: 1). The law (Leviticus) did not institute the tithe, the law has made it an obligation for the Jewish people. A people who had lived in slavery for generations in Egypt. Abraham, the father of faith, gave his tithe more than 400 years before the Levitical priesthood was established. It is the law, precisely the Levitical priesthood and not the faith, which was abolished by JESUS CHRIST for the benefit of grace.
So as with the the firstfruits offering, those who give their tithes cannot be accused of submitting to the law. The law, precisely the Levitical priesthood, was abolished by JESUS CHRIST. Likewise, since we are under the dispensation of grace, we cannot compel a person to tithe, nor curse him for not doing so, much less judge him. By giving their tithe, Abraham and Jacob recognized that the LORD was with them, and through Him, they were blessed. Tithing was for them an act of gratitude and reverence.
I am aware that GOD is committed to blessing those who faithfully bring their tithes and offerings (Malachi 3: 10-12). But I give first because I recognize that I have received from Him, not in order to receive. Giving my tithe is an act of gratitude. By freely choosing to give my tithe, I proclaim, and I recognize that the first part of my income goes to GOD, the one to whom I owe everything I have, everything I am, and everything I will be. Giving my tithe is also an act of reverence. Since I don't wait to receive to give, I don't wait to be a millionaire, I don't wait for all my prayer requests to be answered, so giving my tithing is also an act of faith. GOD approved my tithe if, I give it as I resolved it in my heart, with joy, without sadness, nor regret, nor constraint, in accordance with the recommendation of the HOLY SPIRIT through the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9: 7, whatever my present or future situation, whatever the estimated value of my tithe. These reasons are enough for me to give my tithe.
Many people think there is no longer any point in tithing. One of the reasons is, they confuse the Levitical law of tithing with the basis of tithing. Again, The law (Leviticus) did not institute the tithe, the law has made it an obligation for the Jewish people. Education, even the schooling of children is compulsory in almost all countries in the world. Yet in many of them, the state has not opened the first school. In Cameroon, for example, the first school was opened by the church, precisely by a Jamaican pastor. By making education compulsory (obligation), the State has, in a way, popularized education, to allow all children, at least to the greatest number of people to benefit from it.
Hébrews 7 : 6 -10 (KJ) " 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. [...] 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him."
According to the epistle to the Hebrews, because Levi is a descendant of Abraham, he is considered to have also given through Abraham the tithe to the priest Melchizedek. Melchizedek is the one who blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:19). Thus, the priest Melchizedek, representative of the order of Melchizedek, is superior to Abraham, the father of faith who is also a prophet (Genesis 20: 7), himself superior to Levi, his grandson, father of the tribe of Levi, from which came Moses, the judge and prophet, through whom GOD established the Levitical priesthood by giving the law. Abraham tithe more than 400 years before the Levitical priesthood was established. Once again, I insist, The law (Leviticus) did not institute the tithe, the law has made it an obligation for the Jewish people.
Hebrew 5 : 5-6 (KJ) " So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
The subject of this article being the tithe and not the priest Melchizedek, I will not dwell on the person of the priest Melchizedek. The HOLY SPIRIT, through the apostle Paul, tells us that JESUS, CHRIST is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. This means that the order of Melchizedek continues to exist through JESUS. So we can say that JESUS received the tithe from Abraham. In other words, JESUS although having abolished the Levitical priesthood, in no way abolished the order of Melchizedek.
It is easy to give your tithe when you understand the principle of the firstfruits offering. The Teacher and Pastor Mensa Otabil, used to say "Tithe is the base, the beginning of our giving in the new convenant". Tithing is an act of gratitude, reverence, and faith. It is one among others. An act could not sum up in itself my gratitude, my reverence, my faith, my adoration. Giving my tithe doesn't mean I am better than you. It means I am aware of the importance GOD places on it and the reward that will be mine.
It is written in the third chapter of the book of Proverbs : " Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.
(Proverbs 3 : 9 - 10)
This promise is not reserved for those living under the old covenant. It is for all believers. The book of proverbs is not a book of the law. It is not one of the books that constitute the Torah or the Pentateuch.
Because the LORD will always appreciate offerings made with the right dispositions (your heart), because He will always bless (one way or another) the one who gives, and because the order of Melchizedek will always exist through JESUS, I encourage you to give your tithe. Because we are under grace and not under the law, I will never judge you if you don't.
** Сайн байна уу = goodmorning in mongolian language
To go futher
- Tithes, Offerings & First Fruits: Timeless Principles for Christian Stewardship, by Dr Mensa Otabil
- Frequently Asked Questions About Tithes, Offerings & First Fruits, by Dr Mensa Otabil
- The Path to Wealth, by T.S. Linscott
- The Midas Touch: a balanced approach of biblical prosperity, by Kenneth E. Hagin
- On ne paye pas la dîme, Pasteur Mohammed Sanogo
- La Loi en Israël, www.universdelaBible.net
- La grâce ou rien!, Derek Prince