In my last piece titled Abraham’s Blessing are Mine (IV), I said, “in order to fully grasp what is rightfully ours, it is vital we study the life of Abraham and find out how God treated him, because that’s how God has promised to treat us.”
Note Christ brought us to God through Abraham and that …Christ is an high priest after the order or rank of (equal status with) Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6).
Scriptures declare that when Abraham was returning from the slaughter of the kings, he met Melchizedek, king of Salem, a priest of the most high God …”And gave him tithes of all” (Gen 14:20).
You see, Tithe connotes a tenth or 10 per cent of one’s income, proceeds or emoluments.
Tithing is the bringing of the first 10 parts of all to God, according to his word. Put differently, it is the bringing of the tenth part to Jesus, according to his word.
Tithing represents the whole of what is due from man to God, and it is an act of worship. However, some have opined that tithing came with the law of Moses, and that since the law has been fulfilled, tithing should be done away with. They corroborate their assertion with 1Timothy 1:9… the law is not made for a righteous man and Galatians 3:25… But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster
Paul, in his missive to the Galatians Church, asked a question and gave us the import of the law of Moses, saying: Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made… (Galatians 3:19).
But from the above text, we see that the patriarch, Abraham, who lived 430 years before the law of Moses practised tithing.
Besides Abraham, Cain and Abel practised tithing, which I believe they learnt from their parents, Adam and Eve… By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain.(Hebrews11:4)
How does faith come? Romans 10:17 …So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Cain and Abel heard about tithing from their parents and at the end of the season, practised it… Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.(Genesis 4:3-4)
Tithing is proof of obedience and appreciation of God’s blessing. Today, when the word tithe is mentioned, it evokes thought of money, but in the Bible days it went far beyond money, because they weren’t only dealing with money as commerce, they dealt with crops, oxen, cattle. So if you had 10 oxen born to you, the first one belonged to God. If you had 10 bushels of corn, one belonged to God. Tithe is considered holy unto the lord… “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.”(Leviticus 27:30)
Religion gives the impression that “holy” means “clean” or “free of filth”. But in scriptures, “holy” connotes “consecrated to God or exclusively for Gods use”.
You see, tithing should be from one’s gross earnings, not net. Gross is a synonym for whole, and refers to the total or entire amount of income, before necessary deductions for taxes, insurance are made. While net income refers to the part of the total that really matters — your take home pay or income after all deductions. To be continued!!!
Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe(Ps)
