Five Things We Will Learn
- How Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek reveals giving as a response of faith before the Law.
- Why the Law sanctified, but did not invent, the practice of tithing.
- How Malachi connects withholding the tithe to robbing God.
- Why Paul affirms that the promise to Abraham is still alive for all believers.
- How true giving flows not from legalism but from faith, trust, and gratitude to God.
Abraham’s Faith and the First Tithe
The question before us is simple: does Scripture present tithing as a mere law, or as a living part of the promise first given to Abraham? The answer starts long before Sinai.
Genesis 14:20 records that after the Lord gave Abraham victory, he met Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, and gave him a tenth of everything. No commandment. No census form. Just reflex obedience born from faith. That was promise-living before the promise had even been spelled out in Genesis 15.
The Law: Sanctifying What Was Already Sacred
When the Law arrives in Leviticus 27:30, we read: “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 doesn’t invent tithing—it sanctifies what’s already sacred.
Deuteronomy 14 takes it further: the tithe is used to feast with God and to provide for widows and orphans. It’s not payroll. It’s not earning favor. It still echoes Abraham’s pattern of faith-fueled giving.
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?
Malachi’s Warning and God’s Promise
Malachi 3 seals the link: Israel is accused of robbery—not taxes, but withholding what honors God. “Will a mere mortal rob God?” the prophet asks. Then comes God’s dare: “Bring the whole tithe… test me… if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out so much blessing you won’t have room enough to store it.”
Notice: God doesn’t threaten punishment for tithing too much. He warns against giving too little. The standard remains Abraham, whose promise was never revoked.
Paul’s Confirmation of the Promise
Paul drives this home. In Galatians 3:17 he says the Law does not set aside the covenant previously established by God. In Romans 4:16 he explains that the promise comes by faith, so it may be by grace and guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only the Jews, but all who share the faith of Abraham.
Abraham is the father of us all. Not just Jews. Not just legalists. Anyone born again by believing what God said. And what did Abraham believe? That God would bless him, credit righteousness to him—and then he gave. Faith first. Tithe followed. That is the same sequence we are called to walk in today.
Giving Beyond the Tithe: A Family Practice
So no, tithing isn’t legalism if you are a child of Abraham. It is family practice. The promise isn’t earned by the tenth; the tenth declares that you trust the promise. And when you do, Malachi says, the Father opens heaven—not because you paid dues, but because you honored Him the way the first believer did.
Give if you want. But give like Abraham: before anyone makes you, before the Law weighs in—give, because God already gave. That’s how the promise stays alive.