MYSTERY OF THE TITHE

THE MYSTERY OF THE TITHE                     

June 2004

A mystery, in New Testament terminology, refers to a truth long hidden but now revealed by God to man. Therefore, to Bible scholars, a mystery is not something shrouded in secrecy but a revealed truth from the scriptures. For example, the mystery of marriage is that it symbolizes Christ, the Head (husband), and His body, the church (wife). This is the great mystery referred to in Ephesians 5:32. The Believers’ Study Bible defines mystery as “revealed truth which man cannot discern by human wisdom.”

The meaning of  a mystery in biblical sense is best illustrated by Jesus’ discussion with His disciples regarding His true identity found in Matthew 16:13-18: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

What Peter said was not revealed to him by a man, neither was it understood through study. God gave it. God reveals a mystery to us and it is our duty to check His word to make sure that we have truly received a revelation from Him. If the word of God cannot confirm what we perceive as a divine revelation, then we must discard it and label it as unbiblical. A mystery is, therefore, a divinely revealed truth.

We can easily see the importance of divine revelation in Jesus’ additional comment in the passage quote  above. Jesus said that it is upon the rock of revelation knowledge that He will build His church and even the strongest demons from hell cannot stop it.

Many have questioned if tithing is also for the New Testament church.  Payment of tithes to God is definitely an ordinance for us today as much as it was for the Old Testament believers. In Matthew 23:23b Jesus said, “Yes. You should tithe …”  Hebrews 5:5-6 says that Jesus’ Priesthood is in the order of that of Melchizedek forever. As explained below, Abraham paid a tithe of the spoils of war to Melchizedek. Therefore, Jesus our Most High Priest, is entitled to tithes from us forever.

Deuteronomy 14:22 & 28 say we should tithe all our “increase.” Increase here means fresh income, whether worked for and received as wages or received as gifts or received as profits on investments. Loans taken are not to be tithed because they do not qualify as increase or income.

Deuteronomy 26:13 says that the tithe is an “hallowed thing.” In the Lord’s Prayer we say, “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Leviticus 27:30 says the tithe is he Lord’s and it is holy.” Verse 32 says, “The tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.” Therefore, it is not ours but hallowed or holy and so belonging to God. That is why the tithe is “paid” to Him and not “given”. No wonder, Malachi 3:8 & 9 say those who don’t pay tithes are directly stealing from the Lord.

The tithe is a tenth of one’s income or increase. Hebrews 7:2 makes us to understand that it was tenth of the spoils that Abraham gave to Melchizedek. Nehemiah 10:37,38 also state that the tithe is ten percent of all increases of both livestock and crops. In Jesus’ day the Pharisees, a strict Jewish sect, used to observe the tithe ordnance by paying ten percent of all their incomes to God. (Luke 18:12)

Why is the tithe ten percent and not any other number? It’s not five, not nine, not twelve percent. But why? To unveil the mystery behind the number “ten” we need to study the Scriptures from the time tithing was introduced.

The first mention of the word “tithe” in scripture is in Genesis 14:20: “And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” (KJV). Other translations of the Bible say Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he recovered.  This is part of the encounter between Melchizedek and Abram before God changed his name to Abraham. Abram had just returned from defeating five kings and recovering his nephew, Lot, and had taken a lot of loot or spoils of war.

Why did Melchizedec, a Priest of the Most High God, approach Abram with bread and wine, the emblems of the Holy Communion? (1) He did because he was a Priest and only Priests were permitted to minister to God in the temple. (2) He did because there was a religious practice then of celebrating atonement with bread and wine what we call the Holy Communion today. But Jesus had not yet come to earth in Melchisedek’s day, let alone die and resurrect. So what information did he have on the atoning death of Jesus Christ?

In Revelations 13:8 we learn that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the earth. That is, the plan for Christ to come to earth and die for the salvation of mankind was hatched by God as the earth was being created because God is omniscient (all-knowing). God knew that man would fall and redemption would become a necessity. John, the writer of the book of Revelations, was given a vision of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the purpose of redeeming man. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” (Revelations 5:6).

The Bible doesn’t say how, but Melchizedek was aware of this plan of God. Believers must have been given the ordinance of celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection in anticipation (or in advance) of the event. Today, we celebrate it in retrospect as an event that took place in the past. Therefore, the salvation of mankind has always been through faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord, either looking forward to the event or looking back at it. How wonderful! Who could have made all these elaborate arrangements except God?

Jesus confirmed the fact that His death and resurrection were known and anticipated in faith by Old Testament saints thousands of years before the event. He told the Jews that Abraham who lived two thousand years before His birth saw His day and rejoiced about it. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (John 8:56) Melchizedek and Abraham both knew that God had promised to send His Son to come to the earth one day and die for the sins of man. They believed this but just didn’t know when it would happen. 

“Melchizedek,” meaning “my king is righteousness,” is described as the “King of Salem,” that is, the “King of Peace.” The appearance of Melchizedek, a worshiper and a priest of “The God Most High”  is unexplained. His parentage or lineage or beginning or end are not mentioned. His priesthood is not connected with Aaron’s either since Aaron was not even born yet.

Abram apparently knew more about Melchizedek than is recorded in Scripture. Abram “gave him a tithe” of all. Therefore, tithing was practiced 500 years before the Mosaic Law which included tithing. Abram commenced it in the Dispensation of Promise, Moses commanded it Deuteronomy 12:6 during  the Dispensation of Law, and Christ Himself commended it in Luke 11:42 during the Dispensation of Grace which we are in today. Tithing is therefore still a biblical obligation on all Christians today.

God introduced Melchizedek as a type of our lord Jesus Christ. That is why it is written that Jesus’ Priesthood is like that of Melchizedek. Melchizedek typifies Jesus in seven ways: (1) As King of Peace; (2) As king of Righteousness; (3) In his genealogy; (4) As both King and Priest; (5) As being greater than Abraham; [For it is the greater that normally blesses the lesser.] (6) As having an endless Priesthood; (7) In sacrifice.

According to Genesis 14:20 and Hebrews 10:2, what Abram gave Melchizedek was a tenth part of all that he recovered. The tithe is therefore one tenth. We are not told any where in scripture why the tithe should be ten percent. We therefore have to try and understand what was going on in Abraham’s mind on that day in order to get the significance of the tenth part. What Abraham then knew is the mind and law of God. That is why we are interested in knowing same. So that we too can know Gods mind and law.

“Abram” means “the father of heights”, which portrays Abram as a tall man. Mechizededek, however, welcomed Abram with a salute that was meant to convey a message to him. He 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.” Abram was made to understand that his victory over his enemies was made possible by the MOST HIGH GOD who is higher than he, Abram, the “father of heights.”

The word translated “possessor” here is the Hebrew word “qanah” whose better translation is “creator” as it occurs in some Bible versions. Melchizedek therefore wanted Abram to acknowledge God as his Creator and Owner. Abram realized this and immediately gave the Priest a tenth part of everything he had recovered.

Why did Abram give a tenth part? It was because Melchizedek reminded him that God is his Creator. To acknowledge God as Creator, Abram knew that a tenth part given to God would do it. But what is the relationship of the tenth part to creation? The relationship is that in God’s acts of creation, man was the tenth. Man was not just the tenth to be created but the best of the ten. When God created other things He looked at them and said, “Good.” But after creating man on the sixth day, He said, “Very good.” (Genesis 1:31). Therefore, was the best creature in all of God’s creation. Man is the only creature made in God’s image and likeness.

Let us prove that man was the tenth creature to be created from the Bible. In Genesis chapter one God said, “Let us …’ or “Let there be …” ten times.

First                 -           Let there be light … (v.3)                             -           1^st day 

Second            -           Let there be a firmament .. (v.6)                    -           2^nd day 

Third               -           Let the waters under the heaven be … (v.9)  -           3^rd day

Fourth             -           Let the dry land appear … (v.9)                     -           3^rd day

Fifth                -           Let the earth bring forth grass … (v.11)         -           3^rd day 

Sixth                -           Let there be lights in the firmament … (v.14)-           4^th day

Seventh            -          Let them be for signs, and for seasons ... (v.14)         4th day

Eigth               -           Let the waters bring forth abundantly… (v.20)  -       5^th day

Ninth             -             Let the earth bring forth the living creature (v.24)       6^th day

Tenth               -           Let us make man in our image … (v.26)         -           6^th day

Being the tenth creature to be created and owned by God, Abram knew that he was a tenth of God’s creative acts and so a tenth part is the correct percentage of our substance that we should give back to God. In fact, the tenth part does not belong to us but to God. Paying the tithe to God by man is like saying, “God, Your all your creatures are still loyal to you.”

Because God’s power over creation was tested ten times, the number “ten” in scriptures tends to represents testing or trial. Remember the Ten Commandments, The Ten Virgins and The Ten Lepers Jesus healed, Sarai gave Hagar to Abram after they had been in Canaan for ten years, Daniel asked for ten days to prove that the diet he chose was better that the King’s rich food, the Beast in Daniel and Revelation has ten horns signifying the Antichrist’s authority, Isaiah made the shadow on Ahaz’s dial to go back ten degrees, etc?

Malachi 3:10 instructs that the tithe be brought to the store house of the Lord. The store house is the treasury of the House of God or what we call the local church today. Your local church, that is, the church you attend and receive spiritual nourishment, is the only recommended receptacle for your tithes. You cannot choose to take your tithes to any other place or person. Your other offerings, which are over and above your tithes, may be sent elsewhere, but never tithes.

The benefits of tithing according to the Bible include: (1) God’s blessings beyond what we can contain (Malachi 3:10). (2) God Himself will rebuke Satan, the devourer, on our behalf. (Malachi 3:11) (3) “That there may be meat in mine house.” Providing material and financial support for the work of God. (4) “Prove me now.” Confirm or test God’s promise regarding tithing. (5) A means of getting God to open heaven’s window for our blessing to flow to you. (6) We honour God when we give Him our substance. (Prov. 3:9). (7) Avoid the sin of robbing God and the curse which it carries.

Now that we have established the origin of tithing and God’s instructions regarding it, we do not have an excuse anymore not to observe this ordinance. Now that you know, if you do not practice it, you will be guilty of the sin of deliberate disobedience. James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” I urge you to be faithful in your tithes as Christians.