Abraham's Tithe Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 14

ABRAHAM'S TITHE

Go with me now to Gen. 14:18-20, where we read about Abraham giving a tithe to Melchisedec, and discover some very interesting things. I believe there is a beautiful allegory in this chapter which we will look at later, but for now let's consider the aspect of the giving of this tithe.
Gen. 14:18-20 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God
19 And he (Melchizedek) blessed him (Abraham) and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he (Abraham) gave him tithes of all.” (of 'all' the spoils of the battle) (parenthesis mine)
As we can see in Mal. 3:10&11, tithes given by the Law were brought to a storehouse. The tithes had to be given according to God's instructions, and then he would bless them abundantly and rebuke the devourer for their sakes. Probably most ministers consider this devourer to be Satan, although there are many kinds of pests that will eat at, and destroy crops. We know that Satan can bring many kinds of destruction if not stopped by the power and name of Jesus, so very often he is considered to be the devourer that God was saying He would rebuke. If that were the case, then God would have been promising victory over Satan when his people obeyed the law of tithing.
When we look at what happened with Abraham, however, we see that God had already given him victory over his enemies before he gave a tithe to Melchizedek. Furthermore, we do not see Abraham bringing this tithe to a storehouse, for Melchizedek appears to have come to Abraham after he returned from the battle he had been in. Also before Abraham gave the tithe, Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine, which are emblems of the Lord's supper, or communion as we call it today. After having taken communion, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, then he blessed God, who had already delivered Abraham's enemies into his hand. So many things were done in reverse in Abraham's case, from the way tithing was to be done according to the Law. With Abraham, it was not a case of tithing first and then being blessed, but rather, it was a matter of victory, communion and blessing coming first, then a tithe being given. I believe this to be very significant!
Another important difference was that this tithe was not of anything that Abraham himself had grown in the field or raised, as it was to be according to the Mosaic Law. (Lev. 27:30&32) But the tithes that Abraham gave had nothing at all to do with anything that had previously belonged to him. The only thing that scripture ever tells us that Abraham ever tithed of, was what he had brought back from a battle which God himself had won. For God gave the enemy into Abraham's hand.
Another difference was that this tithe did not go to support a priesthood, in a plural sense, that is, there was no group of priests mentioned, who would take this tithe as their own, then from it give a tenth to the high priest as in the Law. There is no mention of any other priests being under Melchizedek at that time, who needed to be supported by tithes. Abraham gave this tithe directly to God's high priest.

(NOTE: WHO IS OUR HIGH PRIEST?)

Another important difference is that, in the Law people gave 10% and kept the other 90%, but Abraham gave 10% of the spoils of the battle to Melchizedek and kept 0% for himself. The spoils of the battle were the material goods and the people captured from Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham kept nothing that belonged to the king of Sodom.
Gen. 14:21-23 “And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.
23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:”
Whatever belonged to Abraham before the battle, evidently still belonged to him when it was over. He had neither gained nor lost any material thing worth speaking of. In fact scripture does not tell us that Abraham ever tithed of his own personal belongings, nor does it say that God had commanded him to give what he gave. Abraham had gotten his nephew Lot out of bondage and captivity and given some of the spoils of the battle to God's high priest. The king of Sodom had suffered loss. Abraham received spiritual blessing. The entire situation was quite different from the giving of tithes in the Old Law.
If this story is an example to us, it is not an example for us to go back under the law concerning tithing. This happened before the Law was ever given and was not done in accordance with the Law. Do not forget that the reason Abraham was blessed by God was for his faith, not his works.
Gal. 3:6 “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Abraham is an example of faith, not works. So to tithe as Abraham did, in this day and age, would require some consideration and probably some learning, in order to know how to go about it.
We can see an amazing allegory in the encounter with Abraham and Melchizedek. But before studying this, let's stop for awhile and think about what allegories and parables are.