6. Abraham’s and Jacob’s tithes were before the Law. This shows that tithing is an eternal principle. T /
It’s often argued that Abraham tithed on the spoils of war (Gen 14:17-20) and Jacob made a vow to tithe (Gen 28:20-22). These were both before the Law was introduced, so this makes it an eternal principle that we still need to follow today.
Actually, it’s pretty remarkable that in all of 2,500+ years of pre-Law history, there are only two isolated incidents of tithing, and no teaching on it at all. But this should not be surprising – before Israel became a nation and was given her Law, there was no temple or Levitical priesthood, so this meant there were no tithes needed to support them. (Instead, in those days, every male household head functioned like his own family’s priest.)
Take another look at Abraham’s and Jacob’s examples - both of these were one-off events, and not from their regular income. They were both rich men before they tithed. We don’t even know whether Jacob fulfilled his vow or not, and if he did it would have been many years later.
Remember that the Patriarchs were all sojourners in a foreign land. When living with foreign rulers, they would have had to have followed foreign customs. Tithing was a very common practice in that part of the world at that time. It was like a tax, a form of income for the kings and nobility. Part of the custom of tithing was that 10% of the spoils of war be given to the local priest-king – does the name Melchizedek sound familiar in this connection?! Jacob was probably also simply following the cultural practice around him when he vowed to tithe to his own ‘king’.
So – no – Abraham does not show that tithing is an eternal principle – but rather that tax is a universal phenomenon! and one-tenth was probably just the most practical figure to work with in illiterate societies.
Just because something is recorded in a historical section of the Bible, it doesn’t mean we need to imitate it today. In the New Testament we are never told to imitate Abraham’s tithing – only his faith. And why should we copy manipulative Jacob’s vow but not godly Jephthah’s vow (Judg. 11:29-40)?!
Another very important point is that both Abraham and Jacob were already mightily blessed before they tithed. Melchizedek blessed Abraham before he tithed! Neither Abraham’s nor Jacob’s blessing (nor Isaac’s, for that matter) was linked with their tithing – only with God’s promises and their faith.
But actually this whole argument that these tithes were pre-Law completely misses the point.
There were lots of things that were introduced pre-law - for instance, circumcision, Sabbath keeping and animal sacrifices (even polygamy …). So if you say we should still tithe now just because Abraham and Jacob both tithed pre-law, then it follows we should also still be circumcising all our male children, keeping the Saturday Sabbath, and bringing animals to church every week to sacrifice ... Why do we not continue to do these things?
The main point is – pre-Law is also pre-Christ. The cross and resurrection ushered in a new era – we can now have a relationship with God that would have beggared the imagination of the Old Covenant saints.
Why should we pattern our giving after someone who was never even born again?! Jesus’ work on the cross did a radical work in the spirit realm that forever changed the way we relate to God. All those types and shadows went out the window, and a far greater and better reality came in. We simply can never go back to what was before – everything has changed for us. We truly are new creations!