Taxing, Tipping, or Tithing - Day 2: Tithing Predates the Law

"Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High... Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything." - Genesis 14:18-20

One of the most common reasons people sidestep tithing is this: That is an Old Testament command. We are New Testament people now. And on the surface, it sounds reasonable. But there is a problem - Abram tithed to Melchizedek hundreds of years before Moses ever wrote a single word of the Law.

This changes everything. Abram's tithe was not a legal obligation. There was no Mosaic law yet, no temple system, no Levitical priesthood. His giving was a pure, spontaneous, faith-filled response to God's deliverance. He had just returned from battle, having rescued Lot and defeated four kings, and his first instinct was to honor God with a tenth of everything.

That is not law - that is love. That is not duty - that is devotion. Tithing, at its root, is a faith principle, not a legal requirement. It predates the Law because it predates the need for the Law. It belongs to the era of grace and trust, not rules and obligation.

So the next time the thought arises - I do not have to tithe, that is Old Testament - remember: Abram did not have to either. He just trusted.

Have you ever used that reasoning as a reason to avoid tithing? How does knowing that Abram tithed before the Law change your perspective?

Father, I confess that I sometimes look for reasons to hold back. Help me to follow Abram's example of generous, faith-filled giving - not because the Law demands it, but because You deserve it. Amen.

In His grace,

The Brook Church Miami