Dear Sisters and Brothers,
This is part II of the message on, “The Tithe – A Hotly Debated Topic in The Church.” We established that Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, Jesus Preincarnate, in Genesis 14. We also established that God required offerings as was evidenced by Cain and Abel. We know Cain and Abel had to be taught by someone to bring sacrificial offerings. Although it doesn’t say it, it is reasonable to believe God taught Adam and Eve, and Adam and Eve taught Cain and Abel and so on.
Now, in the debate about the tithe, people argue that the offerings of Cain and Abel were not tithes. I’m not going to debate this topic in this email. For the sake of this message, we will stick to the times in The Holy Scriptures when the word “tithe” is used. It was first used in The Holy Scriptures in Genesis 14 when Abram tithed “of all” he had taken from the four kings to Melchizedek. In fact, Melchizedek only appears three times in The Holy Scriptures: Genesis 14, Psalm 110:4, and Hebrews. There are MANY theories about Melchizedek. One thing I can shoot down immediately is all the theories where Melchizedek is an earthly man born of an earthly man and woman. No corrupt earthly man could EVER be a priest after the Order of Melchizedek. It is an eternal priesthood unlike the Levitical Priesthood of the Law. And only one man could fulfill it, Jesus Christ.
When God formed the Levitical, earthly priesthood, He gave Aaron and his sons, the first of the priesthood, specific commandments as to what was to be performed by the priests, where it was to be performed by the priests, when it was to be performed by the priests, how it was to be performed by the priests, and who it was to be performed for by the priests. This is called a ministration. Ministration means, “the act of performing a service as a subordinate agent.” The Levitical Priesthood, a human priesthood put in place with the giving of the Law, acted as a subordinate agent for God performing a service God commanded. The Melchizedek Priesthood is NOT a subordinate agent for God. It is God, The Christ, performing the Priesthood.
Understanding the fact God has commanded the Order of Melchizedek to perform an eternal service is VERY important. What does “eternal” mean? In its simplest form, it means “forever, without end.”
Psalm 89:34
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My [God’s] lips.
Once God has spoken something, it is established forever. I said this once and someone said to me, “well God changed when He changed from the Law to Grace.” It actually is a good question, although they meant it as a declarative statement. No, God didn’t change the Law to Grace. The Law is still with us, as is Grace. The Law is God’s standard which every human being born into this earth must meet or else they will perish with eternal death in the lake of fire. When a human being accepts the resurrected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, the Son of Almighty God, the human being fulfills, or meets, God’s standard of the Law through Jesus Christ. Whomever does not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, in this life, does not meet God’s standard, the Law, and therefore are condemned to eternal damnation for it when they leave this world. So, the Law has not gone away. God HAS NOT changed His standard. The Law is reserved to judge those that have not accepted Jesus as their Savior. It has no effect upon us, the Believers. We are under Grace because Jesus fulfilled the Law for us.
I said the above to make a point that the Order of Melchizedek is eternal with an eternal service to perform. One of those services is to receive the tithe. Let me share with you the two verses The Holy Spirit gave me which drove home the tithe is eternal.
Psalm 110:4
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent [turn from, change], Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 7:24
But this Man [Jesus], because He [Jesus] continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.
Psalm 110:4 is also referenced by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews 7:17 and 7:21. In Psalms 110:4, David receives revelation from The Holy Spirit that The Messiah will be of the Order of Melchizedek – a King and a Priest and eternal.
Notice the following from Psalm 110:4 and from Hebrews 7:24: “after the order of Melchizedek” and “hath an unchangeable priesthood,” respectively.
The two specific words, “order” and “unchangeable” are the foundation Words for an eternal tithe. The word “order” is the Hebrew word “dibrah,” which means “a cause, a reason, a manner.” There is a cause, a reason and a manner for which, and in which, the Priesthood of Melchizedek is administered. Just as the Levitical Priesthood, the earthly priests, had a cause, a reason, and a manner in which the earthly priesthood was administered, so, too, is the “Order of Melchizedek.” Part of the reason and manner of the Order of Melchizedek is, not was, to take the tithe. This is stated in Hebrews 7:8.
Hebrews 7:8
And here men that die receive tithes; but there He [Jesus] receiveth them, of Whom it is witnessed that He liveth.
Melchizedek received tithes before the Law and Mechizedek receives tithes after the Law. During the Law, the Levitical Priesthood received the tithe. This is why Hebrews 7:24 states Jesus continues the “unchangeable priesthood.” The reason and manner for how the Order of Melchizedek is administered HAS NOT changed and WILL NOT change. Part of the cause, reason, and manner is receiving the tithe.
In essence, when we tithe today, we aren’t giving our tithe to Levitical Priests. We are giving it to God’s storehouse on earth, the church we attend. And when we give the tithe here, we are not giving it to a Levitical Priest, we are giving our tithe to Jesus Christ, The Great High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek.
The next message will look at the Tither’s Rights. There is a promise from God that if we tithe, we receive Tither’s Rights. The tithe is the one time in all of The Holy Scriptures where God says, “prove Me.” God is saying “test Me” and see if I won’t keep My promise to you. I love that our Father is saying, “test Me with an expectation.” We are not just to believe, speak, and bring the tithe. We are to have an expectation from having brought the tithe to Jesus. This is called faith.,
“Lack doesn’t come from money you don’t have. It comes from the money you shouldn’t have.” Bill Winston.
Blessings in Christ,
Larry