Abram became wealthy because he tithed?
“Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.” Genesis 13:2.
As already mentioned, Genesis 14 is used as the foundation for the doctrine of Christian tithing. Here we are going to discuss three more, commonly used justification for Christian tithing using Father Abram and then the other one in the next chapter. We must therefore evaluate these justifications or teachings in line with scripture.
1. Abram was blessed greatly in cattle, silver and gold for tithing?
“The great Patriarch and wonderful example Abraham, gave ten percent of his income back as proof and evidence that he honored God as his provider and was blessed incredibly for it. ‘And Abram was very rich in cattle, gold and silver. Genesis 13v3’” Mike Murdock¹
Mike Murdock is not alone in sharing this view, in fact, believers across the globe are taught to give ten percent of their income in order to receive the blessing of Abraham! We are led to believe that God blessed Abraham in gold, silver and flock because of the tithe he gave to Melchisedech. This appears to be a deliberate effort to mislead, because the Scriptures make it very clear that Abram became vastly wealthy before his encounter with Melchisedech! The cattle, bronze, silver and gold were all mentioned before the tithe. He was already a wealthy man when he gave tithes from the spoils. God blessed Abram through faith, in keeping with the promise he had made earlier in Chapter 12. This blessing was appropriated through putting faith in what God had promised.
“The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:1-3
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8
Initially God had instructed Abram to leave his country, people and father's household to go to a land where He shall show him. God promised him that he shall bless and make him into a great nation. Abram believed God, in keeping with God’s command he left his father’s household. God did not at any point inform Abram that he would receive this blessing if he tithed, the tithe was never mentioned in any of the covenants or promises God gave to Abram! All that Abram needed to do was to LEAVE. He indeed left in keeping with God’s instruction. Then at the beginning of the next chapter, we are then informed that Abram had become a very wealthy man! Meaning that Abram activated God’s blessing and promise by leaving his father’s household.
“Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.”
Had become here signified that this is something that happened after he had left his father’s house. He became wealthy whilst he was still with Lot way before the battle with the Arab Kings. Remember that Abram only got involved in this whole episode because he wanted to rescue Lot. Moreover, Abraham’s vast wealth is cited as the main reason why he parted ways with Lot. The text plainly reveals that the land could no longer sustain the both of them for they both had lots of possessions and their servants began fighting over pastures.
“But the land could not support them while they stayed together for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. And quarreling arose between Abram's herders and Lot's…” Genesis. 13:6-7
God had already blessed Abram in cattle, silver and gold before the tithe incident occurred. Hence, most definitely Abram didn’t activate God's promise to bless him or receive this blessing through the payment of tithes. If one pays attention to the sequence of events from the Genesis 14 account, Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils after he had already been blessed by Melchisedech. The text plainly notes that Melchisedech blessed Abram upon meeting him (Gen14v17-18). It was only after he had finished pronouncing the blessing that Abram then gave him a tithe.
We have already established that Abram was already vastly wealthy because he had plenty of cattle, bronze, silver and gold before he met Melchisedech. So all those who assert that Abram became vastly wealthy because he tithed are gravely mistaken. We now need to follow the text so that we may understand why Melchisedech blessed Abram. Does the text say that Melchisedech blessed Abram because he tithed? Did Melchisedech bless Abram because he had given him tithes of all? What does the text in question say?
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High. Praise be the Lord, God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything... Genesis 14:18-20
The first thing that Melchisedech did was to bless Abram, upon meeting him. This was before Abram had even done anything. We then have to pay attention to what Melchisedech said as he blessed him. This will then reveal why he blessed Abram. Melchisedech didn’t just say “Blessed be Abram by God most High… and then stopped there. He went on to then say… “Praise be to God who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Melchisedech was kind of celebrating Abram's victory or congratulating Abram, hence the blessing. He celebrated what Abram did by blessing him and also giving praise to God for delivering Abram's enemies Into his hand.
Melchisedech blessed Abram for what he had done at the battle front hence his blessing is more of a celebration. Much like what happens when one buys a nice car or house. If my Pastor comes to see the house I would have built and then he says “Blessed be Lewis, by God most High, and Praise be to God, who has given you the ability to build such a house." I then give my Pastor, some money afterwards. Will it be proper for anyone to then conclude that my Pastor blessed me because I had given him some money? How would he feel if he learns that I am going around telling people that he blessed me because I had given him money? Against such a background, it is a complete distortion of biblical facts for one to then infer that God blessed Abram in cattle, silver and gold for paying tithes or that Melchizedek blessed Abram in the payment of tithes.
2. Believers must pay tithes to receive the blessing of Abram?
“By our obedient giving(tithes) in response to God's command, we activate the provision of the Covenant which guarantees that we will be blessed with the same blessing God poured upon our spiritual ancestor, Abraham.” Jerry Savelle²
“Abraham, the man of faith, was blessed by the High Priest of God in his day in the payment of tithes. We the children of faith, thereby the seed of Abraham are also blessed in the bringing of our tithes to our present-day high priest of God---Jesus Christ.” Dr. Edward L. Haywood ³
“Here is what most of us in the Body of Christ have a tendency to do. We sing songs about Abraham's blessings being ours, but we seem to forget how he got the blessings. You see, you can't get the promise unless you get it through the method demonstrated in Genesis 14:18 when it says, "blessed be Abram of the most high God"—a confirmation of what He promised to do earlier. It is through this tithe that God was able to carry out His promise of blessing to Abraham. Since Abraham represents all of us, if we do what he did then we can get what God promises in our lives, the same way Abraham got them to operate in his life.” Dr. Creflo Dollar; The Covenant Connector ⁴
Building from the faulty premise that God blessed Abram in cattle, silver, and gold because he had given a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek. Or that Melchizedek the High Priest of God, blessed Abram in the payment of tithes, believers are instructed to pay tithes in order to receive the blessing of Abram. A blessing which Abram only received through paying tithes. If one also wants to appropriate this blessing that resulted in Abram acquiring vast wealth, they must also tithe just as he did. Such a teaching directly contradicts this teaching that we got from the Apostles.
“So those who have faith[in Jesus] are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” Galatians 3:9
“He[Jesus] redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through [faith in]Christ Jesus....” Galatians 3:14
According to the teachings from the Apostle Paul, as Gentile Christians we can now receive the blessing of Abraham through nothing but faith in Jesus Christ. Paul said that those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham. Faith in Jesus is the basis upon which this blessing is appropriated. The scriptures don’t say that if you have faith in doing what Abraham did then you shall be blessed along with Abraham the man of Faith! This imaginary blessing that Abraham received through payment of tithes is not in the Bible! He was never blessed by Melchisedech because of the tithe, the Bible doesn’t say this. We do know that he was blessed alright, but the Bible doesn’t say that he was blessed because he gave Melchisedech a tithe. The teaching that Gentiles or anyone can receive the blessing of Abraham through paying tithes borders on being heretical and is unbiblical.
3. Pay tithes in following Abram's example?
This instruction to pay tithes in following the example left by Abram the Father of Faith, did not come from the Apostles. One will not find this instruction in the entire Bible. Not even a single Christian in the bible or even Jew tithed in following Abraham’s example. The Jews tithed because the Law required them to do so. Now, Gentile Christians across the globe are taught to give a tithe of everything in following father Abraham’s footsteps. Here is one classical example of such a teaching;
“… the fact that Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedech as mentioned there, indicates that as Abraham is the father of the faithful, so he left an example for us his children to follow--- in rendering tithes unto him whom Melchisedech was the type."6 Pastor A.W Pink
Here are a few problems with this teaching; Already mentioned is fact that even Jews could not give the tithes of all from the plunder, because God gave separate commands that regulated distribution of the spoils under Israel society. God did not allot tithes of everything from the plunder to either priests or Levites. Jews couldn’t follow father Abram's example even if they wanted to. Secondly, we notice that the King of Sodom instructed Abram to keep the goods for himself. Father Abram does acknowledge that the plunder that was in his possession did not belong to him but rather to the King of Sodom, from whence they were taken (for this was a rescue mission and not a conquest).
There appears to be a complete meeting of the minds as regards the real owner of the plunder in question. Both parties agreed that the goods and the people belonged to the King of Sodom. Plunder also included people, so this also meant that Melchisedech was also given a tithe of the people as well, remember tithes of all! Notice that Abram didn’t give a tithe from his portion of the spoils, but a tithe of everything from the spoils. How is this tithe an example for us to follow? How exactly?
Third, Abram then reveals that he made a vow to God that he didn’t want anything that belonged to the King of Sodom. This shows that whatever Abram did, was not to amass wealth, but simply to rescue his nephew Lot, who had been taken captive. Thus, Abram also made it clear that for all intents and purposes, the reason why he refused to accept anything from the plunder, was because he didn’t want the King of Sodom to say that he had made Abram rich. If Abram knew that he would get a blessing from tithing these goods, and this blessing would make him rich would he still have given the tithe? If he was blessed for tithing those goods, the King of Sodom would still have a claim on Abram. “Remember that your God blessed you because of that tithe that you gave from my goods, so I the King of Sodom, made you rich!”
Interestingly, the book of Hebrews chronicles all the brave heroics of Old Testament saints one by one starting from Abel. The scriptures also included Father Abraham as well as Jacob. The Bible actually mentions the things that were done by Father Abram through faith. The two things mentioned in this text were; leaving his father’s household, going to a land that God will show him. He chose to live in tents in the Land of the promise; And that he had obliged to offer Isaac as a sacrifice when asked by God to do so.
Jacob is also mentioned, yet tithing is never mentioned as something that he or Abram did through faith in the entire Bible. However, Father Abraham and Jacob are all referred to as being part and parcel of the great cloud of witnesses. This is what is in the Bible, that even Father Abraham, our Spiritual Ancestor or the Father of Faith, is listed among the great cloud of witnesses. What does the Bible say about these witnesses?
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2 The scriptures point out that even though we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we should not follow these witnesses. We must throw off everything that hinders! Our eyes shouldn’t be on the witnesses, but they must be permanently glued on Christ Jesus. For we know that our faith is perfected by fixing our eyes on Christ and not the witnesses! We know that there are powers that be, that want us distracted, powers that don’t want us to fix our eyes on Christ, but want to divert us, and want us to focus on the witnesses. That’s the reason why today, instead of seeing the mystery of the Priesthood of Christ in Melchizedek, people are now seeing the mystery of the tithe! Instead of following Christ, believers are now following Father Abram because of the Tithe! That is what happens, when you run fixing your eyes on the witnesses, instead of Christ!
It is therefore very dangerous for one to then assert that New Testament saints should follow the example of Abraham in tithing. As uncircumcised Gentile Christians, our giving is neither perfected nor does it become more acceptable before God because of following Abraham's example. Christian giving is now being regulated by what Christ instructed the Church through his Apostles.
“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you on how to live in order to please God as in fact you are… for you know the commands we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ”
1 Thessalonians. 4:1-2
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1 Mike Murdock: 31 Reasons why people don’t receive their financial harvest. pp.110
2 Jerry Savelle: Living to give, The Prophetic word for Christians today. pp.46
3 Dr. Edward L. Haygood: Why the Tithe, pp.18
4 Dr. Creflo Dollar: The Covenant Connector. pp.13-17
5 Dr. Russell Earl Kelly: Should the Church Teach Tithing pp.15
6 Arthur W. Pink: Tithing. pp.12