In the Old Testament the priests and Levites who ministered
in the temple received tithes from the people. After referring
to this custom Paul reminded the Corinthians that the Lord had
1II Corinthians 8:1-7.
2II Corinthians 9:7.37
ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gos1 pel. This necessitated some type of support from the Christians.
Paul drew a parallel between the Levites and those who preached
the gospel. The inference of his statement was that the Levites
had received tithes and that the Christian minis·try should be
supported in a similar manner.
Paul with his Jewish background and zealous activities as
a Pharisee was undoubtedly familiar with tithing.
His silence
on the subject does not indicate its unimportance to him. His
teachings on giving and sacrifice witness to a philosophy of
giving which suggests a standard equal to the tithe he knew as
an ardent young Jew.
The Epistle to the Hebrews
The account of Abram paying a tithe to Melchizedek the
priest occurs in the book of Genesis and was discussed in chapter two of this thesis.
The writer of Hebrews brings the account
to a further point of discussion. The early chapters of Hebrews
show Jesus to be greater than the angels, and greater than the
great Jewish leader Moses. 2 Jesus was made a high priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. The writer points out that Christ
was greater than the Levitical priesthood. The existence of a
priesthood outside the ranks of the Levitical priesthood is perhaps the main theme of chapters six and seven.
1 r Corinthians 9:13, 14.
2 Hebrews 1:2-14; 3:1-3.
Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham and the incident
is described as follows.
For this Melchizedek who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the
kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being
first, by interpretation, King of righteousness, and then also King of Salem •••
without father, without mother, without
genealogy, having neither beginning of
days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God), abideth a priest
continuaU.J;y.
Now consider how great this man was,
unto whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a
tenth out of the chief spoils. And they
indeed of the sons of Levi that receive
the priest's office have commandment to
take tithes o1' the people according to
the law, that is, of their brethren,
though these have come out of the loins
of Abraham: but he whose genealogy is
not counted from them hath taken tithes
of Abraham, and hath blessed him that
hath the promises. But without any dispute the less is blessed of the better.
And here men that die receive tithes; but
there on~ of whom it is witnessed that he
liveth. And, so to say, through Abraham
even Levi, who receiveth tithes, hath
paid tithes; for he was yet in the loins
of his father, when Melchizedek met him. 1
The primary emphasis in this passage is the relative superiority
of Christ over Levi and Melchizedek. The way in which this superiority
was expressed was through the tithe. Even the Levites
who received tithes were in the loins of Abraham when he paid the
tithe, and therefore may be said to have paid tithes to Melchizedek.
The men of the Levitical priesthood who received tithes were
men who died; such was not the case with Melchizedek or Christ.
1Hebrews 7:1-10.
39
All those who worshipped Jehovah in the Old Testament were to
tithe. Even the Levites tithed the tithes they received as their
income. Those to whom the letter of the Hebrews was addressed
worshipped Jesus Christ, a pr~est of a higher order. A logical
inference is that worshippers of Christ should render an acknowledgment
of God's ownership in as great measure as did Abraham,
Jacob and the Israelites.
Tithing was begun before the Mosiac Law ever came into
existence. It was later incorporated into the law and elaborated
upon.
Whether or not the practice of tithing belongs to the period of the Law or that of faith has been answered by Dr. D. Shelby Corlett, a Nazarene author, as follows:
Tithing belongs to the realm of faith
Abraham, "the father of all them that believe" (Rom. 4:11) paid tithes to Melchizedek,
the priest of the Most High God over
four hundred years before the law was given
by Moses. The law gave explicit command
for the observance of the practice of tithing in Israel,
for by law they were required to do what Abraham did by faith
four hundred years before; and they that
received'the law paid tithes in Abram,
(Heb. 7:5-9). The Christians are children
of Abraham, "They which are of faith, the
same are the children of Abraham ••• So then
they which be of faith are blessed with
faithful Abraham" (GaL 3:7, 9). 1