1/15/2017. Session One

Transcription

1 Session One 1

2 Tithing Christians hear a great deal about tithing from various sources and have, in fact, for much of the church s history, though not always with the same teaching. Thus, today, we are going to discuss the issue and examine its history in the Bible. 2

3 The first place in the Bible where we find a reference to the word, tithe, is in Genesis 14:20, where Abram gives a tithe or tenth of all to Melchizedek, who was a priest of the God Most High, in Salem. This was in response to Melchizedek s bringing out bread and win to celebrate the victory of Abram in rescuing Lot and stating that God delivered Abram s enemies, into his hands. 3

4 17 Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. *He gave him a tenth of all. *(emphasis mine) The Hebrew word used there is מ ע שׂ ר pronounced (mah as ayr') from right to left. It is the word used almost exclusively with reference to one tenth of something, in the Old Testament. It is not used to refer to offerings. 4

5 The word most often used for offerings, is the Hebrew word, מ נ ח ה pronounced (min khaw'), again, from right to left. It means a *gift, tribute or offering and is translated as such, depending on the emphasis of the text. *(Source, Biblehub concordance) Later, in this series, we will examine the priesthood of Melchizedek. A bit later, however, on this topic, we will revisit this passage in the book of Hebrews where some people make an argument from a passage in Hebrews, which is a New Testament book, in asserting that tithing is binding for the Christian. 5

6 6

7 The truth is, there is no historical source which tells us of the precise origin of giving a tenth as a custom or religious practice. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliad, editor, 1987, s.v. tithe. (Reprinted by permission of the Gale Group): In the ancient Near East lie the origins of a sacred offering or payment of a tenth part of stated goods or property to the deity. Often given to the king or the royal temple, the tenth was usually approximate, not exact. The practice is known from Mesopotamia, Syria Palestine, Greece and as far to the west as the Phoenician city of Carthage. 7

8 Thus, we can only observe that Abram understood, for whatever reason we will assume a right one in which a deeper study would, historically, bear out that argument that on this occasion, it was appropriate for him to respond to God s blessing his victory with a giving of a tenth (a tithe) to the Melchizedek priest. However, we cannot point to this as a precedent by way of the law of first mention. Why? Let s return to Genesis to answer that. Genesis 4: 1 8 Cain and Abel s Offering 1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD. 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; 8

9 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the LORD said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it. 8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. While the event of Abel s murder is fascinating, our emphasis in the use of this text is to make a point that the first mention in the Bible of giving anything to God by way of response to him in a manner of obedience and worship, is not a tithe as the Old and New Testament use them, rather, a voluntary offering. 9

10 It is clear from the text that God did prescribe to Cain and Abel what would be acceptable, that is, one was not free to make up their own form of giving and establish it as God s protocol. Rather, God institued it hence, why Cain s offering was not acceptable and why Abel s was. Abel clearly obeyed something that God had prescribed, previously but not mentioned, and Cain did not. So if one were to use the law of first mention with regard to tithing/giving, in the Bible (and we are not because while there is some use of that law, it would be an incorrect use here on either side), they would be hard pressed to establish just what, exactly, we are to give to God seeing that this was a farm animal offering requiring death and specifically the fat of the first born. 10

11 It is reasonable that this was a precursor to the priestly offering in Leviticus 4:35: 'Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him in regard to his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven. One overriding truth we may extract, however, which is ascertained from this first citation of giving, is that giving to God is always to be within the boundaries which God prescribes in order for it to be acceptable. Do it yourself Christianity, theology or ecclesiology, simply because you feel something or have determined in your own mind it is a good idea, is Cain s path. 11

12 That is not to say there is not freedom to utilize our volition, that is, exercise our capacity to make decisions. Further, it is not to say that even in exercising our volition we are not free, at times, to formulate a hierarchy in those choices in serving God but always, as a Christian, where there is liberty to make a choice, there is the responsibility to apply Biblical principles when no direct or specific prescription (command) exists in the Bible. So what we have observed, essentially to this point, is that there does appear to be an understanding, even with Cain and Abel, about divine prescriptions for giving in response to God s blessings but at this point, no law commanding as such for all believers everywhere, is revealed. 12

13 Thus, we cannot use these as enforceable contexts to compel believers one way or the other apart from observing that God always provides a relevant prescription to relevant parties. Genesis 28 Jacob s Tithe Jacob, Abraham s grandson and Isaac s son, wanted a wife thus, he is sent to his mother s relatives to get a wife. On the way he had a dream which prophesied not only great blessing for Jacob but states in verse 14: Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 13

14 Jacob responds to this with great zeal and ends up calling the place, Bethel, which means house of God (the city was previously called Luz). Then he does something interesting and I will post the rest of the text so we may all read it. Genesis 28: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and I return to my father s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God. 22 This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You. 14

15 Essentially, Jacob decides that if God will prove himself as one who fulfills these promises as Jacob articulates, mostly within the scope of his own little journey (ignoring the gigantic promise of the whole earth being blessed through his line, lol), he will then give a tenth/tithe to God. For those who would use the Old Testament as a source of teaching that we are to tithe based on what the Bible teaches, even before the law given to the Theocracy of Israel, well, you have a rather glaring problem, here. 15

16 It certainly seems quite counter to the principles many Bible teachers offer with respect to tithing/giving which is first letting God prove himself and then he will give a tenth/tithe. I am not going to delay our study of tithing, which ultimately will lead to discussing the issue with respect to the New Testament church in examining the context and viability in God s eyes of Jacob s response, but there are some reasons given by various theologians as to why it was not a wrong action on Jacob s part, necessarily. I will say, however, that even in its most favorable light, that context is now gone and not with us, as Christians, hence, trying to use this text as an example for us to imitate would be an error. 16

17 The Theocracy of Israel and the Law of Tithing Until a Christian understands the Divine outline of history and the whys and wherefores of God establishing the Theocratic nation of Israel (which is now defunct with respect to its theocratic protocols) he/she will likely find their use of texts regarding tithings, offerings and all sorts of commands/law, generally injurious. The reasons for this is because CONTEXT IS KING. The context of a passage reveals the prescriptive reach of a text. Now, there may one or more universal principles we can observe in a text and extract from that text which are applicable while the text, itself, is not. 17

18 So unless we know the context, we often will miss both the right application and any universal principles contained therein. Why do I mean? Back to Genesis 4. Just as we studied in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel, we were able glean a transcendent principle. Remember its context, which was limited to Cain and Abel and yet, we also see a universal principle within the text which we could harvest and apply. 18

19 Context: Cain and Abel and a right offering to God. Universal Principle: God always provides revelation regarding what is and is not acceptable in the way of our responsive giving to him. Sometimes God is specific in his prescription and at other times, he leave us to account for the application of principles in making good, better and best decisions, all acceptable to him so long as guided by Biblical principles. And this is the way it is with the Theocracy of Israel which genetically began with Abram (some might argue Adam), formally and legally as a nation, with Moses and geographically realized with Joshua and was either completely ended or placed in dormancy or was fulfilled altogether, (depending on your theology) with the ushering in of the Church. 19

20 And no matter your theology, what is observable and undeniable, was that there was a radical change in God s protocols for his children in the entrance and establishment of the church, the Bride of Christ. Still, there are, at times, some things which continue. Hence, we must, as good disciples, study the whole of the Theocracy of Israel, to learn what did continue on and one of those long disputed things, is the practice of tithing as obligatory. 20

21 Next week we will look at tithing under the law within the Theocracy of Israel and then enter into our final third of the study with regard to the tithing or giving in the New Testament. End Session One 21