I don’t know about you, but giving has always been a difficult issue for me. Yes, I know I should do it, and yes, I even know it’s all His anyway but it still seems so hard at times given all of the alternative uses – and needs - I have for my money – do you ever feel that way?
On top of that, for the longest time, I never really felt comfortable with how much I was giving – or should give. Sure, I was familiar with the concept of the tithe – or giving 10% - but then there was that pesky issue of should it be on my gross income or my net? Even more troubling was that, given all my other commitments, there often just wasn’t 10% left to give. So … whenever I heard a message on giving, the guilt trip would start again.
Finally, every now and then I would come across a pamphlet or article that talked about how much the average Christian gives and even in churches that strongly preach the tithe, the average was always about 3% - so what kind of testimony is that??? Especially when those same churches mention Malachi 3:8 as part of their teaching – do you recall what it says?
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’ In tithes and offerings.
Pretty strong words, don’t you think? In fact, think about your response to the following questions.
1. As a true-blooded, died-in-the-wool believer, how much of your income, as a percentage, are you supposed to give back?
2. If you responded with 10%, then is it to be based on gross or net?
3. And finally, other than the Malachi passage above, can you think of any other Scriptural support for your answers?
The tithe – or giving 10% of your income – is such an easy concept to present that many pastors, churches and non-profits and many books and brochures simply state it as the “requirement” for Christians today. If they provide any Scriptural support, in addition to the passage in Malachi, they may offer one or two more that seemingly support the concept.
So, in preparing the seminar I teach – and from which the book is developed - I wanted to go back to the source and examine ALL that God’s Word has to say about tithing … and giving in general. No pre-conceived notions, no biases. If God’s guidance for us is to tithe, so be it and all that would be left would be to resolve the issue of giving on our gross or net income. But, if like so many other topics in His Word – like the sacrificial system and living under the requirements of the Law – the tithe was only for Old Testament believers, then what IS the requirement for us in New Testament times?
I will tell you upfront that what I learned – and has been validated by the research of many others – absolutely floored me. Beyond that, there is - for lack of a better term – an unsettling aspect to God’s guidance. But you are going to have to wait on learning about that – we need to first see what the actual guidance is. And because of the importance of this concept, I want you to see it for yourself in black and white. But, because of how much God talks about this issue, it will take several postings to make this issue perfectly clear. So … let’s get started.
Giving is a subject that has been the source of much confusion, much aggravation and unfortunately, much avoidance for many Christians. And in fact, the Bible even records an event where this topic was the cause for someone turning away from faith, away from the only true, loving God – the rich young ruler in Mark 10, who when faced with the choice giving all of his wealth away and following God or hanging on to his wealth, he could not let it go. Mark 10:22 contains his regrettable and likely ominous response: He went away sad [literally grieved to the point of distress], because … he had great wealth.
That was not giving 10% but 100%! So … let’s start by first looking where this whole 10% concept comes from, which, in fact, goes all the way back to the very first book in God’s word, the book of Genesis.
The Hebrew word used in the Old Testament is ma-ah-ser', literally, a tenth part. In NT Greek, it's de-ka'-tay, the tenth, and is the same root from which the word "decathlon" or "ten events", comes from. Ma-ah-ser' wasn't a religious word, but a mathematical one. It only had to do with a percentage. It's origin? We know from ancient sources that man has always used ten as the basic number for counting systems, no doubt because he had ten fingers and ten toes. Throughout man's history he has used ten both as 1) a basis of measurement and, 2) a symbol of completeness. Even today we use the phrase “a perfect 10!”
The exact time of the origin of this concept is not known, but we do know that the tenth was a common pagan offering well before, during and after Abraham's time. For example, we know that a people called the Lydians offered a tithe of their booty taken in battle. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians sent a tithe annually to the Tyrian leader, Hercules. And, as you likely recall, the Egyptians were required to give a fifth part - or 20% - of their crops to Pharaoh [Gen 47:24].
The first Biblical mention of the tithe - ma-ah-ser' - is in Gen 14. Abraham has just returned from conquering Chedorlaomer and other kings in the valley of Shaveh, and has a tremendous amount of spoil and treasure. Two kings come out to meet him, the King of Sodom and the King of Salem, who was an interesting character named Melchizedek [Salem was the ancient name of Jerusalem]. Verses 18-20 of Gen 14 tell us that:
... Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand."
Then Abram gave him a tenth (that’s “ma ah ser'”) of everything.
We don't know a whole lot about this character Melchizedek, but it says here that he was a priest of the "God most high." And he blesses Abram. And what does Abram do in return? Abram gives him a tenth. A tenth of what? Of everything. Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? And in many printed documents that discuss tithing, this is their first justification for the tithe.
But now, take a close look at the passage … and notice a couple of things:
1. Is there any indication that Abram was commanded or ordered to do this? Remember that this is … pre-Law. Could it be that this was simply giving of the common pagan amount back then? Just think about that.
2. But there’s a bigger issue here. Regardless of whether this was strictly voluntary or if there was some unspoken or undocumented requirement, did Abram really give a tenth of everything? Or, does “everything” mean … something else? Many translations use the word “all” here and an analogy would be: When asked “how do you feel,” you respond, “I feel bad ALL over …,” do you really? So … to answer the “does it mean something else” question, we need to look at the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapter 7, where the author recalls this event in their effort to show how much greater the Melchizedek priesthood is to the Aaronic priesthood. In doing so, the writer provides an interpretation of just exactly what “everything” means. Look at verse 4 of chapter 7, where it says:
Just think how great he [Melchizedek] was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! [KJV: spoils]
What’s the issue, you might be thinking. This is what makes proper study of God’s Word so-o-o important, otherwise you can easily come to the wrong conclusions. Remember that we are reading a translation from the Greek and not all translations get everything completely correct. The Greek word used for “plunder” or “spoils” is used only here in the NT and is a fascinating one: ak-roth-in’-ee-on. What’s it mean? It’s composed of two parts:
· AK – RO and TH - IN
“Akro” (root is akron), means the “top-most or uttermost point” and “thin” means “a heap.” So, what Abram gave Melchizedek was a:
Tenth part of the “top-most or uttermost point” of the “heap.”
Strong’s Concordance words it as a tenth of “the best of the booty.”
Do you see the difference??? Abram did not give a tenth of all the spoils but only a tenth of the best of the spoils. Said another way:
· “The best of the best.”
That could have easily only been 1% of the total! Read how other translations put it:
… a tenth out of the chief spoils (ASV)
… gave a tenth out of the best plunder (World English Bible)
… a tenth of the choicest spoils (NASB)
… gave tithes of the best things (Wycliffe)
… a tenth … out of the best of the spoils (Young’s Literal Translation)
So … can you see for yourself that Abram didn’t give a tithe – a tenth of his “income” from the battle - from ALL the spoils … but only a tithe of the best of the spoils? Look at it this way. No doubt at the end of the battle, there were many broken spears, shields, saddles, even probably some half dead, though still alive, captured warriors and horses. If Melchizedek was as great as both Genesis and Hebrews say he was, there is no way Abram would have included a tenth of all the useless broken stuff – he would only have offered a portion of the best stuff. And … we have no evidence that he ever did this again!
And one more thing. According to both Genesis 13:2 and 24:35, Abraham had become:
“very wealthy in livestock, in silver and in gold” … “male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.”
Realize that this is how they measured wealth back then. Yet, we have no evidence that Abraham ever gave a tithe of these things.
So … taken together, using the Genesis 14:18-20 passage as evidence that Abraham gave a tithe of “everything”—or even that it was required—seems just a bit absurd, doesn’t you think?
Let me give you some time to ponder that. Come back in a couple of days and we’ll look at the next mention of the tithe in the Old Testament, Genesis 28 and Jacob’s amazing dream at Bethel. You won’t believe what he does in response!