Abram’s Tithe

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. 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. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion. Genesis 14:17-24.

INTRODUCTION

In this post we will investigate whether Abram was following a universal principle known to all men.

CURRENT TEACHING ON ABRAM’S TITHE

The current teaching about Abram’s tithe focuses on the phrase tithes of all. Some claim Abram tithed of all his possessions to the priest of the most High God approximately 500 years before the Mosaic Law.

After this incident, he is alleged to have done so on a regular basis. Since Christians are Abraham’s seed, it is claimed, and Melchizedek is a type of Christ, it is reasoned, Christians should also pay tithes to their Melchizedek, Jesus Christ.

Further, it is claimed, in tithing to Melchizedek, Abram was following an eternal principle established by God with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Cain and Abel were acting in accordance with this eternal principle in bringing their tithes to sacrifice before God.

LIMITATIONS OF THIS TEACHING

There is no Scripture showing Abram to be obeying a universal eternal principle.

There are no records of Adam paying tithes to God! The text above shows other persons had an interest in the spoils; Aner, Eschol, Mamre, Lot and the King of Sodom; who were all ignorant of this eternal, universal principle.

The is no resemblance to the modern Church tithe.

The Church tithe is defined as “ten per cent of a person’s gross income.”. In fact, this tithe is on the spoils of war and not gross income for a period. There is nothing in the passage to connect this tithe with the modern Church tithe.

The scripture has been strained and inferences made which cannot be supported by the text.

Can we ignore what God said and accept the speculations and inferences of men. For example, it is inferred Abram gave a “tenth of all” means all of the spoils and all of his personal possessions.

It would have been very reckless of Abram to take all his possessions to war; these included large flocks and herds of animals. Surely these would have hindered him in the fight.

The tithe was from the spoils of war, not income.

An examination of the things tithed reveals it was not Abram’s goods; it was the spoils of the war (Heb. 7:4). The scripture is clear,  the goods did not belong to Abram and GOD did not want him to have it. The word spoils, in the Bible, means stolen goods, goods taken forcibly from a person or place; as a verb spoil means to diminish or destroy the value or quality of something or someone.

Although Abram did not steal the goods, but he recovered it, he did not claim it as his own. Several other persons had claims to it; Aner, Eschol, Mamre, Lot and the King of Sodom. In addition, part had been eaten by Abram’s servants. Abram refused it, an indication of its unsuitability for combining with his personal goods which were a blessing from God.

These goods bore no resemblance to the tithe which was “holy unto the Lord” (Lev.27:30).

It was not of the crops of land nor of the specified animals, but of the spoils of war. It was the goods of “wicked men sinners before the Lord exceedingly” (Gen. 13:13).

What was the extent of Abram’s tithe?

Did he tithe on his personal income and was it a continuous arrangement with Melchizedek? Was it a tenth part of all the spoils and so given voluntarily and on a special occasion? Or, was it a tenth of all his personal assets and therefore something paid as a due?

Hebrews 7:4 says it was of the spoils (goods of Sodom) and careful reading of Genesis 14 also shows it was the spoils. Some preachers argue that the use of the “all” means the spoils and all of Abram’s personal possession. However, this would require him to take along all of his possessions, thousands of sheep and cattle and much silver and gold with him to the war, a very ridiculous thing to do.

Arguments are made from assumptions.

It is claimed these individuals did certain things because they were following an eternal principle. The reasoning seems to be, “Abram gave tithes to Melchizedek in 1900 BC and this was something good he had done, therefore, I must pay tithes too.”

This is illogical. Why am I bound to imitate Abram’s tithing or any other action of Abram? His tithing did not make him righteous, but his faith was counted as righteousness. The clear evidence of the scriptures shows no evidence of any existing principles that could be binding on believers today.

However, Abram may have acted on the basis of the existing custom which was to give a tenth of the spoils of war to the priest. He did it because the surrounding pagans he lived among did it. He lied about his wife so that he would not be killed for her, because the pagans did this. He paid tithes to Melchizedek because the surrounding pagans did.

Consider the person who received the tithe.

Whoever Melchizedek was, he was not Abram’s priest. A priest is someone who mediates between you and God by praying for you and making your sacrifices and offerings.

Abram did all these things himself; there was no man mediating between him and God. No Priest, Pastor or Pope was present when God appeared to him (Genesis 12:7; 17:1; 18:1) and made a covenant with him.

This tithe is not connected to the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis 15.

Some has seen it as the “Kingdom Connector”, connecting the one who paid tithes to the Priest of the Kingdom of God.

They think that it was only after Abraham tithed to Melchizedek that God made a Covenant with him. However, to see and to enter the Kingdom of God ye must be born again, not pay tithes. To get connected to the Kingdom of God you must be born again.

It is not stated in the Scriptures that payment of tithes is required for entry to the Kingdom of God. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6).

God does not say “because you have honored me with your tithes and offerings I will make a covenant with you and your descendants to continue this forever,” but He counted his faith for righteousness. When GOD reaffirmed the Abrahamic covenant with Isaac (Genesis 26:3-5), again nothing is said about tithes to Melchizedek or any other priest. This would have been the place to say it, if the tithes were an eternal thing.

It was not the reason for his prosperity or the fulfilment of God’s promises to him.

He was already extremely wealthy before he met Melchizedek. God made him rich because of His promise only, not because he gave Melchizedek a tithe of the spoils.

There is no scriptural evidence suggesting Abraham tithed again in his life.

Spiritual principles cannot be invented from incidents in the Bible; spiritual principles must be stated. How then would we know whether we are serving God, following men or serving the devil?

Next, the persons tithed, it was a tenth of the goods of Sodom.

It is not certain who is paying the tithe here. The modern Church tithe is personal, that is, it is based on your personal income.

Abram swore to God, before going to the war, he would not take as much as a “shoe latchet” from the spoils, save what his servants had eaten; the spoils were not personal, but belonged to others as well, Aner, Eschol and Mamre (v24), who also participated in the war.

Next, the timing of the tithe.

It is also claimed that Abram regularly gave tithes to Melchizedek. Again there is no record of this in the sacred or secular literature. Abram’s tithe was a “one off” case. It may not have been an exact fraction. Further, modern translations disagree with the KJV here, translating the word as a tenth.

It has its roots in the pagan customs as has been shown by historians, notably Professors Maspero and Sayce. This was Sodom’s tithe to Melchizedek and it certainly could not be termed “a sacred tenth” with the men of Sodom being described as sinners exceedingly before the Lord.

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF ABRAM’S TITHE

The main focus of the passage is not the tithe.

But the generosity of Abram, his bravery in the rescue of Lot, his recognition and blessing by the Priest of the Most High God and the conversation between Abram and the king of Sodom.

The king of Sodom suggested, “Give me the persons (including Lot), and take the goods to thyself.” Abram’s response is significant: “I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:”

A tithe of Sodom’s goods did not make Abram rich; the preceding chapters of Genesis shows it was God who had blessed Abram and made him rich.

Abram clearly stated that he had promised God not to take to himself any of the spoils and this promise was before he went to war.

His reason, it would not make him rich because God had before blessed him. This was recognized and confirmed by the pronouncement of a blessing by Melchizedek. Those who claim that the blessing of Melchizedek made Abraham rich have not read the scriptures carefully.

We must consider this incident in relation to the future Law of Moses on Tithing.

There is no agreement whatever with the law of tithing later revealed in the Book of Leviticus. The Law required the tithe be paid only on the increase of the land and animals (Leviticus 27:30–31). But Abram did not work to produce any of the spoil he had recovered.

Spoil does not represent an increase from farms. There was no biblical teaching which showed that Abram was required to give a tenth of the spoil to Melchizedek.

Much later in the time of Moses, the Israelites were informed how spoils such as Abraham’s should be disposed. The ratio to the Levite was not the same, a tenth, and spoils were not to be tithed.

When the Israelites spoiled the Midianites, Moses insisted that the priests receive 1/500^th of the goods from those who had gone to war—not 1/10^th as a tithe would require (Numbers 31:9, 27–29).

The Levites got more booty than the priests, 1/50^th of the congregation’s half of the spoil (verse 30). Again, the law concerning “spoils” in war had nothing to do with the later ordained tithe.

Consider the action of Abraham.

If Moses was recording in Genesis a universal law of tithing when he wrote about Abraham giving a tenth of his spoils to Melchizedek, why does he depart from that very law, with a completely different set of figures?

The Mosaic Law on Tithing also abolished all previous laws with it:

These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. …For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: Deuteronomy 12:1-4; 9-11 KJV

Moses instructed the Israelites not to do the things which the pagan people and Abram did but to follow after the new laws which God gave them. No eternal principle was established.

The Law also abolished all previous tithes practiced.

The persons seeing an eternal principle expressed in these passages, did not do their own reading of the paragraph, but adopted the teaching because they were taught it, they heard it on television or they receive tithes themselves.

Consider it in relation to the Israelites spoiling the Egyptians.

Before the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt, God told them to spoil the Egyptians (Exodus 12:35).

Spoil is the booty of war similar to that of Abram’s. The booty belonged to the Israelites and they were not to return it. There is no evidence of the Israelites giving a tenth of it to anyone.

There was at that time no priesthood among the Israelites, however, Moses was God’s representative and also a Levite, yet he did not take a tithe on God’s behalf.

This proves that Moses was unaware of any eternal principle of tithes. And if there was, these must be reckoned as spoils of war, not income or compensation.

Moses ordained a different set of laws for spoil, as previously explained. Thus, there were no laws, concerning tithes, eternal or of shorter duration, when the Israelites left Egypt.

Abram’s tithe was not initiated by the Priest Melchizedek, but by Abram who gave the tenth of the spoils. Ministers today are very bold in demanding tithes of people, especially those to whom they have not blessed, nor provided a service.

We are not even told if Melchizedek was aware of God’s promise to Abraham or not. God’s blessing of Abraham and his seed had already been promised and started long before he gave the tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek (Gen.13:2).

There is no biblical or even historical record of him continuing the practice.

In summary, Abraham was not following any law of tithing on spoil or on anything else. Abraham’s tenth was only in the nature of a voluntary (free will) offering of thanksgiving to God for the deliverance of his nephew from captivity. In determining the amount to give Melchizedek, he used the smallest fraction he knew, a tenth, the equivalent of one of his fingers.

CONCLUSION

We examined the passage to determine whether Abram gave the tenth part of the spoil in keeping with an eternal principle which requires an individual to pay ten per cent of his gross income to a priest who is His representative on earth.

Abram’s tithe does not provide a pre-law justification for tithing by the Church and this incident was not used to validate tithing after the Cross by the Apostles, yet many Pastors and Preachers continue to use this incident as a means of exacting a tithe of their congregation.

If any principle was revealed in this passage, it is a fraction of the spoils of war was given to a priest in ancient times.

You are not Abram and you’re not living before the law. “Christ is the end of the Law…” (Romans 10:4). The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the point at which the entire nature of man’s relationship to God changed.

It matters little now who Milchizedek was or why Abram gave him a tithe. These things are not a part of being in Christ, in fact, they are incompatible with Grace.

There are many other things Abram practiced which do not bind us today.

Everything Abram did was done before the Law for he lived his entire life before the law. Of particular interest is tithing, circumcision, animal sacrifices, clean and unclean meats and keeping of concubines (Genesis 25:6) with whom he fathered many sons. Why choose tithing as the one thing to practice?

My conclusion is the modern church tithe bears no resemblance to Abram’s tithe. No purpose of this tithe nor its frequency given in the Scriptures. It is a one-off event and from the spoils of war.

Of the 66 references to Abraham in the New Testament, none requires us to tithe as he did. There is no evidence in the scriptures to show that Abram ever tithed before or after this event.

Therefore, I believe it is an error to use this example to claim tithing had been established before the law and therefore is brought into the New Testament Church. Since Abram gave nothing of his own, it is an error to find the concept of a tithe in this context and apply it to everyone’s personal income or property.

THE END

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