Sometimes the objection is raised that Abraham and Jacob’s tithes aren’t based on laws or commandments, but instead they were given out of gratitude. This objection claims their tithing did not set a permanent example that is still relevant to us in the New Covenant, nor was it based in any law. This objection misses a crucial biblical principle…
The previous article refuted the objection that the tithe is no longer mandatory because the Mosaic law has been abolished. I pointed out that one major problem with that argument is that the tithe originated prior to the Mosaic covenant, and it is given a double witness in the book of Genesis: Abraham and Jacob each tithe. Since the tithe existed prior to the Mosaic law, just claiming that the end of the Mosaic covenant was the end of the tithe is problematic because the Mosaic covenant wasn’t actually the beginning of the tithe.
And so, the author who described these objections advances to Abraham and Jacob in an attempt to discount the notion that their tithes support the continuing mandatory tithe:
2 – The examples of Abraham and Jacob are not normative patterns.
Some think tithing is required because both Abraham and Jacob gave a tenth, and they both lived before the Mosaic covenant was in place. Such examples hardly prove tithing is for all time, however. Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek was a one-time event; there is no evidence he regularly gave God a tenth.
Jacob’s giving of a tenth signified his gratefulness to God for promising to be with him and to protect him. His gratefulness and generosity still speak to us today, but a historical description of what Jacob gave doesn’t support the idea that all believers must give God a tenth of their income.
The fact that Abraham and Jacob tithed prior to the Mosaic covenant provides strong evidence supporting the idea that the tithe is not a principle or commandment exclusive to the Mosaic covenant. So, this author’s second objection against the mandatory tithe effectively nullifies his first objection, or at least greatly weakens its force.
ARGUING FROM SILENCE
To argue that there was no law or commandment for Abraham to tithe is an argument from silence. The absence of any recorded discussion where a commandment was given is not necessarily evidence supporting the conclusion that there was no commandment. So, we must examine Scripture as a whole to look for clues to those early exchanges. As history developed, so did the Bible. And the “newer” parts help shed light on incidents in “older” parts.
The author overlooks crucial details like this. The tithing of Abraham and Jacob does establish a pattern, a pattern which is illustrated in the Old Testament, confirmed in the New Testament, and therefore remains in force today in Christ’s ministry.
One question ought to enter our minds: to whom, exactly, did Jacob give his tithe?
This writer doesn’t ask, much less answer, the question. But the answer is important. It is most likely Jacob would have tithed to his father, Isaac, upon returning to Isaac’s household.
Similarly, to whom would Abraham have given regular tithes, if he had done so?
There are some basic principles in play or, as the author might call them, “normative patterns”:
- The lesser priest tithes to the higher priest.
- Jesus “was designated by God as high priest after the manner of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:10).
Jacob specifically promised God a tenth, a tithe (Gen. 28:22), just as his grandfather Abraham paid the tithe to Melchizedek (when he was still named Abram). Melchizedek was a high priest, higher than Abram. Melchizedek served Abram a communion meal: bread and wine. But when Abraham parted ways with Melchizedek, Abraham became the highest ranking priest of his household. Therefore, he did not pay anymore tithes. Melchizedek was not around.
FROM THE LESSER TO THE GREATER
Jacob was a lower priest in his father’s household. Isaac was the high priest of his own household. This is why Jacob would have paid his tithe to his father once he returned home. After Jacob moved out and away, he would not have paid additional tithes.
In Mosaic Israel, this principle of the lesser priest tithing to the higher priest was made clear in the law. Israel was a nation of priests (Exodus 19:6). The people, who were lesser priests, tithed to the Levites, who were higher priests. The Levites tithed to the temple priests: a tithe of a tithe (Numbers 18:26). Every greater level of priesthood allowed the priest to come closer to God. The higher orders of priests had various ritual duties like handling the animal sacrifices and cleansing the temple. The high priest had the closest access of all, entering the Holy of Holies once per year to atone for the sins of the entire nation.
You need to understand the idea of covenantal representation. This author, and others like him, does not, which is why the truth eludes him. Adam represented all of mankind, and so all of mankind fell into sin when Adam sinned. Everyone understands that, once we are saved, Jesus becomes our representative before God. He suffered death on our behalf to take the punishment that should have been ours, and He intercedes on our behalf to God the Father. We speak to Jesus, and Jesus speaks to the Father. He represents us to God the Father (1 Tim. 2:5; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25).
Likewise, “Father Abraham” represented the entire nation of Israel, before Israel had even been born. When Abraham paid his tithe to Melchizedek, he representatively paid the tithes of all of Israel who would come after him–much like Adam sinned on behalf of all mankind who would also come after him. This is what the Epistle to the Hebrews affirms, and it does so on the basis of covenantal representation:
“And, in a manner of speaking, Levi, who received tithes, also paid tithes through Abraham, because Levi was in the body of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham” (Hebrews 7:9-10).
The entire Levitical and Aaronic priesthood was subordinate to the high priesthood of Melchizedek; this is why they representatively paid tithes to Melchizedek. So, when you look at the big picture, we can say that the Israelites paid their tithes to the Levites, the Levites paid their tithe of the tithe to the Aaronic priests, and the Aaronic priests representatively tithed to Melchizedek through Abraham.
This means that Jacob’s tithe was also paid to Melchizedek, representatively through his grandfather Abraham.
The author of Hebrews argues that Jesus is the new high priest after the order of Melchizedek: “We have this as a secure and reliable anchor for the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered into that place on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
Levi’s priesthood was subordinate to Melchizedek’s because Abraham was subordinate to Melchizedek. Now, in the New Testament, Jesus is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and the Christian church is “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession” (1 Peter 2:9).
The principle is still in force because it was always in force: the lesser priest tithes to the higher priest, and all tithes belong to God, paid to His high priest. Just as the Aaronic priests collected the tithes on Melchizedek’s behalf, the officers of the local church collect the tithe from the royal priesthood on behalf of Jesus, our high priest forever.
There is a very good book about all of this. It is called The Covenantal Tithe. You can download it for free by clicking here. It goes into greater detail about the tithes of Abraham and Jacob.
CONCLUSION
It was not mere gratitude that motivated Jacob’s tithe. It was his faithfulness to God’s covenant. He was affirming to God that he would remain faithful to God’s laws. Paying a tithe is a mark that you are subordinate to a higher priest. That higher priest represents a God. That high priest had better represent the God you believe in, or else you are visibly subordinating yourself to a rival god with your tithe. We pay our tithes to the local church, who represents Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
This is why Jacob didn’t pay a tithe to anyone while he was away from his father’s household. He was around pagan people who worshipped rival gods. It would have been a mark of rebellion for Jacob to tithe to a pagan priest who represented a rival god.
Melchizedek represented the One True God of Christianity, God Most High, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 14:18). Abraham subordinated himself to Melchizedek because Melchizedek represented the God whom had brought Abram out of the land of Ur and given him a great promise.
Jacob tithed to Isaac because Isaac’s God was also Jacob’s God, and Jacob paid his tithe to demonstrate his faithfulness and show that he was judicially subordinate to God by becoming economically subordinate to God’s highest priest.
Likewise, the Israelites tithed to the Levites to demonstrate their faithfulness to God by obeying his law and commandments. The Levites and the Aaronic priesthood tended to God’s house. Anyone who did not tithe was robbing God and in rebellion against him (Mal. 3:8). By not tithing to God, they were tithing to a rival god. They would have been serving a different master. To use a popular phrase, “follow the money.” The money trail will reveal a person’s true allegiance. The economic trail leads back to the confessional source of a person’s beliefs.
And so, Christians today pay their tithes to their local church for the same reason. Jesus said “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also…No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:21, 24).
Christians who do not tithe today are still robbing God. “But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). They are tithing to a different god. They are not serving God. They are serving wealth and themselves. And as Jesus said, they are at risk of loving one and despising the other. No man can serve two masters for very long.