Abraham Paid Tithes, so should Christians Pay as Well?

Abraham paid tithes so should Christians pay as well? this a common question that comes when you start to debate the subject of paying tithes. Those who believe it is a requirement for Christians will want to use this fact to squash your argument that tithes were a part of the Jewish law.

You will undoubtedly be told that Abraham paid tithes and he predates the law. Meaning that If Abraham tithed then you should too.

Well there are a few things to consider about this event that can be read about in Genesis 14:17-24

Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

Gen 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. 

Gen 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 

Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth”; 

Gen 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all”. 

Gen 14:21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” 

Gen 14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 

Gen 14:23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—

Gen 14:24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

 

Firstly: Abram received a blessing from Melchizedek before he gave him a tenth, verse 18 says that Melchizedek King of Salem brought bread and wine and bestowed a blessing on Abram.

Abram Gave a Tithe Of All

We are then told that Abram gave Melchizedek a “tithe of all” in verse 20. So let me give you a bit of background here.

Abrams, nephew Lot had gone to live in Sodom, a city that was renowned for its sinfulness and was later destroyed by God.

Lot is Taken

King Bera and king Birsha of Sodom and Gomorrah and three other Kings warred against Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations.

The outcome of this battle was the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah lost and fled to the mountains. So Chedorlaomer King of Elam and the others stole everything from Sodom and Gomorrah. They even took the people and Lot, Abrams Nephew and all his possessions.

Now when Abram heard what had become of his nephew Lot he went with over three hundred of his trained men and attacked Chedorlaomer and basically ran them out of town, so to speak, and recaptured everything and everyone that was taken, including his nephew Lot.

 

Abram Tithes from the Spoils of War

It’s on his return from this battle that Abram met up with Melchizedek and in verse 20 where we read, “And he gave him a tithe of all”; the “All” being referred to here is the possessions that Abram had recaptured in battle.

Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of the spoils of war in other words. Abram was a very wealthy man and had a lot of his own possessions, yet he offered none of this to Melchizedek. Neither was this an annual arrangement, it happened just the once.

 

Abram Gave 100%

Another important fact to note is the king of Sodom told Abram to keep all the goods for himself, but Abram declined his offer and gave him back the other 90%. So in fact, if we are to use this to teach that as Christians we are to tithe, then surely we must be giving 100% right?

 

Now I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me, I am not saying that Christians should not to give to the church. The New Testament teaches about giving of your own free will and not under compulsion, in my next blog I will write about this in more detail.

 

But for now, if anyone tells you that you are obligated to give a tenth of your earnings to the church, then I would advise you to ask them to show you in the bible where tithes were changed from food to money. If they say “well we don’t grow crops or keep flocks and herds anymore”. I would remind you that even when tithe was converted to money (because the journey was too far to travel with the tithe) when the tither got to where he was going, he would convert it back to grain and flocks, herd and drink because God didn’t want money.

 

If a church wants to use the principle of tithing then that’s entirely up to them, but they have a responsibility to tell their members that it is not an obligation and ask members to volunteer to give a tithe.

This is my fifth blog on the subject of tithing, to read the previous blogs click here.

Written By

Pastor Donovan