Genesis 14: 18 – 20: 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.
Malachi 3: 8 – 12: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
The subject of tithes and offerings has everything to do with our attitude towards it. Unless we understand the depth of wonderful truth that exists behind it, then we cannot hope to give to God with a cheerful spirit. God does not need our money, but what we need is a clear understanding of the principle behind tithes and offerings, and it is here that we will explore and come to appreciate the amazing principle that exists behind it.
Genesis 14 is the first record of tithing in the Bible. Now this is very important to see, because when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, he did so before the Law was given to Moses. So tithing existed before the Law, and when the Law was done away with at Calvary, the principle of tithing continued on into the New Testament, and as we shall later see, it continues right on into Eternity.
One of the worst ways to show dishonor to God is by stealing from Him! God had taken offence with Israel (in Malachi 3) because they had committed this most dishonorable of acts against Him in their tithes and offerings, because the two go hand in hand. If Israel was robbing God, then what they should have been giving to Him must not have belonged to them to begin with, for you cannot steal something that is yours! All of Israel’s land, money, and possessions did not actually belong to them; it belonged to God. If their land, their money, and their possessions was actually their very own and they chose to keep it back from God, then they could not have been robbing from Him. To be robbing from God implies very clearly that everything Israel possessed was never theirs to start with, but that it all belonged to God, and that He was not actually asking them to give anything of their very own, but to simply give back to Him a tenth of what was already His, and He in return would bless them for doing so.
God is the Creator of the universe; He owns everything! There is nothing we have that is actually our own. Our bodies, our health, our strength, our possessions, our everything, it all belongs to God, for He is the Creator and Giver of all of it, and we can in no ways claim ownership over that which we did not create. It is only by the privilege granted us of the Creator that we actually possess what we have. Paying tithes is not about God’s need, but is about our need to recognize who we stand before and who is in control of everything we have.
It was God that moved Israel into the land that He promised to Abraham and his descendants. But it was God’s land, and He asked for only a tenth of the increase of His own land to be given to the priests, and an offering to be brought to the House of the LORD. God in actuality did not need Israel’s grain or sheep or whatever else they would bring to Him; instead, what He needed of them was their understanding, honor, and respect toward His commandments. The same holds true for us, that God does not actually need anything of us except our understanding, honor, and respect toward His Word, for by our tithing and offering we are acknowledging the one who gave us everything that we have.
If we approach tithes and offerings with the wrong attitude and concept and see it as us having to relinquish something of our own, then the spirit we are displaying is Luciferian in nature, for it was Lucifer that said “I will” five times in Isaiah 14: 12 – 14, in much the same way as we would say, “I worked,” “I earned,” “I have,” etcetera. Instead, the attitude we ought to have toward tithes and offerings is that of joy and expectation, and to let it become an expression of our worship and adoration toward God, because it is Him who gave us everything that we have in the first place.
God has made a binding contract with us that He is willing to be tested on, for He would say in Malachi 3: 10, “Prove me now herewith…” But in order to seal the contract, all He needs is your signature in the form of your tithes and offerings. This is the best investment proposition a person could ever be presented with, for God is promising to bless, secure, grow, and prosper the ninety percent that you can keep if you willingly give to Him ten percent of what is already His! The truth is, you are actually giving up nothing to gain everything! For everything that you have came from God to begin with.
The tithes and offerings that we give to God are presented to Him at the local church we attend, for the local church is the storehouse where our spiritual food comes from via the ministry God has given us there. The tithes went to the priests of Israel that served in the tabernacle of the LORD, and were their source of income and livelihood. The priests represent the ministry of the local church, but more specifically, the pastor, whose sole responsibility it is to care for the flock that God has appointed Him to oversee. With the tithes of the church, the pastor is able to live and provide for his family and their needs, as well as take a vacation, or do whatsoever he likes with it. The offerings on the other hand are used for the upkeep of the local church, for church projects, for mission work, or whatsoever the offeror would request that their love offering be used for.
God is a Spirit, so there has to be a way for the tithes and offerings to reach Him; there has to be a way for your coins and notes, or electronic payment to reach God. When we look again at Genesis 14, we see that Abraham came into contact with God in the form of Melchizedek the Priest who was God in flesh. Abraham then gave a tenth or a tithe of all He had to Melchizedek, and when he did this, it was accepted by God. What we are learning here is that in giving our tithes to the priest or pastor of our local church, and in realizing that he is representing us to God and that he is God’s appointed shepherd for us, and is ordained to receive our tithes, then what we are giving to the pastor is us actually giving to God, and so it will be accepted by God, and will close the loop of blessing for us.
Paul wrote the following in 1 Corinthians 9: 13 – 14: Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Here it is more plainly confirmed that as the priests lived off of what the people gave to the temple, so the ministry (the pastor) is to receive the tithes of the church and live off of them. Paul is teaching us about a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship that existed between the priests and the people, that as Levi depended on his brethren for support, so the people depended on Levi to serve in the temple and represent them to God.
A shepherd is not independent of his sheep, nor are the sheep independent of the shepherd. The shepherd gets his clothing, his milk, his meat, and his income from the sheep, and the sheep in return get their leadership and security from the shepherd. Again, it is a symbiotic relationship, where the one cannot work independently of the other. This is a mutual dependency, and when the shepherd and flock, when the pastor and his congregation come together and work together, then God can bless it on both sides.
Melchizedek did not need Abraham’s tithes, for He had no beginning of days nor end of life (Hebrews 7: 1 – 10), and He owned all of Heaven and Earth, yet He received Abraham’s tithes because He acknowledged Abraham’s faith; and if we are of the faith seed of Abraham, then we in faith and goodwill will give our tithes and offerings just as readily and cheerfully. A striking truth to realize is this; if you pay your tithes and freely offer to God, then it is a sure sign you have met Christ (Melchizedek) and are in communion with Him!
When Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, we learn in the twentieth verse of Genesis 14, that it was God that delivered the enemies into Abraham’s hand, and therefore the spoils Abraham gained were because God had given him the victory. Again, the point is established that the tithes Abraham gave to God actually belonged to God to start with. And because Abraham did this in faith, the Word of the LORD would come to Him in Genesis 15: 1 and say, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Abraham enjoyed a blessing that came from His giving, the promise of the LORD as his perpetual security and Provider, and the promise of a son.
Yes, God has promised to open the windows of Heaven and pour us out a blessing, and that He would rebuke the devourer. Heaven consists of the Word, and when the blessings of Heaven are poured out, then the revelation of the Word will come into us until we are bursting and overflowing with the blessings it brings both spiritually and in their natural expression. Truly, to give our tithes and offerings with the right spirit and with a proper understanding will give us the greatest security in our natural lives, and further deepen our love and adoration of the Lord Jesus.
Lastly, we will see that the principle of tithing will continue on in Eternity as described in Revelation 21: 23 – 26: And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. The nations of the saved (from the Great White Throne of Judgment) that will inhabit the new earth will come to the New City at regular intervals bringing the tithes and offerings of their increase to it. And in exchange for the glory and honour they bring, they will partake of the Tree of Life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations (not the elect) as described in Revelation 22: 1 – 2: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. In their honouring God, they shall be honoured in return with eternal life that comes by their receiving the healing leaves of fellowship from the Tree of Life which is our Lord Jesus Christ.