Five Things We Will Learn
- How Abraham modeled giving before the Law ever existed.
- Why the Law confirmed but did not create the tithe.
- How Jesus affirmed the tithe while calling for deeper faith.
- Why offerings, generosity, and helping others expand the heart of giving.
- How true discipleship means surrendering everything to God and stewarding what He entrusts back.
Abraham: The Pattern Before the Law
Genesis 14:20 (NIV): “And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Abraham—fresh from victory—meets Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, and offers him a tenth of everything. This wasn’t law; it was faith. Abraham’s tithe flowed from trust in God’s promise, not compulsion. That moment set the foundation for a practice that the Law would later affirm.
The Law Affirms, Not Invents
Leviticus 27:30 (NIV): “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.”
The Law didn’t invent the tithe—it sanctified what Abraham had already done in faith. Numbers 18:21 directs the tithe for the Levites’ support, and Deuteronomy 14 expands it to celebration, generosity, and provision for widows, orphans, and foreigners.
Malachi: A Question of Honor
Malachi 3:8–10 (NIV): “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
The issue was never math but trust. God invited His people to honor Him with the tithe, promising to pour out blessing in return.
Related:
- New Testament Giving: The Tithe, the Promise, and the Heart of a Disciple
- Should You Tithe? Promise Before Law, Faith Afterward
- The Argument for Not Just Tithing, But for Giving All
- The Lesser Gives to the Greater: Tithing in the Faith of Abraham
- What Does Jesus Say About Tithing?
Jesus: Do Not Neglect the Tithe
Matthew 23:23 (NIV): “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
Jesus didn’t abolish the tithe—He affirmed it. Yet He demanded more: justice, mercy, and faithfulness flowing from the heart.
Mark 12:41–44 (NIV): “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.’”
The widow gave all, not out of surplus but out of surrender. Jesus honored her offering as the truest act of faith.
Luke 14:33 (NIV): “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
Jesus takes giving beyond percentages—He calls us to total surrender.
Giving Everything, Stewarding What Remains
Luke 16:10–11 (NIV): “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?”
Jesus’ parable of the wise steward reminds us that wealth is temporary, but how we handle it reveals our readiness for eternal riches. The tithe is a baseline of obedience, offerings express gratitude, and generosity displays love. Yet true stewardship means placing everything before Christ and wisely managing what He entrusts back to us.
It’s a Heart Thing, Not a Money Thing!
Jesus made it clear—He is after our hearts, not our wallets. Money only reveals where our loyalties truly lie.
Matthew 6:21 (NIV): “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:24 (NIV): “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The question is never “How much must I give?” but “Who has my heart?” If God has your heart, then your giving will follow. If money has your heart, it will enslave you. Jesus warns that you cannot serve both.