A Law in Disguise?

Hold on to you faith, because we are going to address an issue in the church that should not be, but still causes confusion and mixed feeling among many believers today. Believer's today must throw aside the laws that the "wisdom of men" has so cunningly slipped in among the ranks if believer's are to truly experience the freedom that Christ has paid for, that is grace. So, what does the Bible say about tithing? Is tithing the standard of giving in the church? Is tithing an obligation for every believer? Is tithing part of the Law? Naturally this controversial subject will take some time to discuss, but hopefully by the end there will be no more questions or confusion when it come to giving in the church.

In this article we will look at the first of two passages of scripture that the evangelical church uses to support tithing by believer's as a standard and or obligation because both passages of scripture show tithing before the Law.

GENESIS 14:15-24 Abram goes out to rescue his nephew Lot from the king of Elam and other kings that join him to overthrown Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram defeats these kings, take all their goods, rescues Lot and all of Lot’s good and as he was heading back to his dwelling place is met by the priest of God Most High, whose name is Melchizedek. God is about to make a covenant with Abram, so Melchizedek meets Abram with bread and wine, a Biblical symbol of covenant. In turn Abram gives Melchizedek a tithe of all. What is the all that Abram gave him?

HEBREWS 7:4 tells us that the tithe was the "spoils" or the goods that he took after he defeated the kings while rescuing his nephew Lot. This is an important key, because this is one of two passages of scripture that is used to support tithing as an obligation or standard for the church prior to the Law. Let’s not only consider what Abram did, but also what he did not do as well, which is equally important.

• This appears to be a one time act and not an on going obligation or standard...
• Scripture does not reveal that Abram ever tithed again for the rest of his life...
• Note that the tithe (tenth) that Abram gave to Melchizedek was not from his personal possessions or wealth but the spoils that he took from the kings...
• We also see Abram giving the 90% of the spoils to the king of Sodom so that the king of Sodom could not boast the Abram wealth was from him...
• Next this tithe was voluntary. There is no indication that he was obligated to do this. There is no indication that God or anyone else had told him to do this...
• Scripture does not indicate at all that Abram taught his son Isaac to tithe...

You may also find it interesting that for approximately 2000 before Abram the Bible is silent concerning tithing. Now you may have your reason(s) for this but I find it altogether interesting that if tithing was so important to God, why was it not a part of man's economy from the beginning? Why is the Bible silent on this issue over 2000 years? Well as we can see in the above scripture, what is taught in the church concerning tithing being a standard or obligation of giving prior to the Law is not what the Bible clearly shows.

LORD willing we will eventually uncover what the Bible teaches concerning tithing as a standard or obligation verse cheerful, bountiful giving through grace. So what do you think?