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pay tithes. That is, one tenth of
income- whether livestock, grain
or money. But the New Testa–
ment teaching on tithing is not
generally understood.
Yet the subject is mentioned
many places in the New Testa–
mcnt. Since it is a priesthood sub–
ject- the financing of Christ's
ministry- it's well to look fi rst at
the priesthood book- Hebrews.
You hear a great deal of a cru–
cified Christ-much preaching
about a dead Christ. But you hear
almost nothing about the message
he brought from God, and even
less about the function of the res–
urrected living Christ of today!
The book of Hebrews reveals
the Christ of the twentieth cen–
tury-the work and office of our
Christ today-Christ the High
Priest of God! And it contains
God's instruction for financing
the ministry of Christ! The sev–
enth chapter is the tithing chap–
ter.
Speaking of thc Christ ian hope
of eterna! life (which hope
is
Jcsus Christ), we
ar~
told, begin–
ning verse 19, chapter 6, this
hope (Christ) has entcred "within
thc veil"- that is, the very throne
of God in heaven- "whither the
forerunner is for us en tered, even
Jcsus, made an high priest for
cvcr after the arder of Melchise–
dec" (verse 20).
The New Testament Priesthood
Jesus Christ is High Priest now.
Let's understand it. Jesus of
Nazareth carne as a messenger,
sent from God, bearing a message
to man. His message is his gos–
pel- the gospel of J esus Christ–
the good news of the kingdom of
God.
After finishing his mission as
messenger, Jesus took on himself
the mission of Savior, paying in
our stead the penalty of our sins
by his death on the cross. But it
requires a living Savior to impart
to us the gift of eterna! life! So
God raised Jesus, by a resur–
rection.
And thereupon J esus ascended
to heaven, to the very throne of
God, where he sat down and con–
tinues today as our everlasting
High Priest. That is his office,
Aprll 1981
now. Soon he shall assume still
another office, returning to earth
in all the power and glory of God,
as King of kings- continuing his
priesthood office as Lord of
lords.
It
is in his office as High Priest
that Jesus sits as
living Head
of
the Church of God, the true body
of Christ in this age. He is High
Priest for this and all succeeding
ages.
And as High Priest he holds a
definite rank- a rank that out–
ranks every priestly office-"af–
ter the order of Melchisedec," or,
in the plainer English of the Mof–
fatt translation, "with the rank of
Mclchisedec."
And who is Melchisedec? This
is one of the intriguing mysteries
of the Bible! Suffice it to say
here, Melchisedec was the High
Priest of God during patriarchal
times. And Christ occupies the
same office now, holding the
same rank.
But the Mosaic dispensation
was a purely materialistic, fleshly
dispensation. The gospel was not
preached in Israel, nor did their
ministry carry it to other nations.
Israelites formed a flesh-born
congregation, not a Spirit-begot–
ten church. The ministry con–
sisted of rituals, carnal (fleshly)
ordinances, substitute animal sac–
rifices and burnt offerings. This
required of the priests much hard
physical labor.
During those years a ditferent
priesthood of lower rank was in
office- mere human rank, vastly
inferior to the spiritual and divine
rank of Melchisedec and of
Christ. The priests were of the
tribe of Levi.
lt
was called the
Levítica! priesthood.
A Tlthe-recelvlng Prlesthood
Yct this lower-levcl priesthood
had to be financcd. God's financ–
ing plan from dim antiquity,
through the Melchisedec priest–
hood, was the tithing system.
Th is system was
continued
through the ycars of the Levítica!
pricsthood.
Now coming to the seventh
chapter of Hebrews, God's
financing plan is explai ned.
Notice the comparison between
the two tithe-receiving priest–
hoods.
First read thc first five verses,
Hebrews, chapter 7: "For this
Me lchisedec, king of Salem,
priest of the most high God, who
met Abraham returning from the
slaughter of the kings, and
blcssed him; to whom also Abra–
ham gave a ten th part of
all ... abideth a priest continual–
ly. Now consider how great this
man was, unto whom even
Abra–
ham gave the tenth of the spoils.
And verily they that are of the
sons of Levi, who receive the
office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of
the people according to the
Jaw...."
Let's understand it. This vital
passage of Scripture begins to
compare the two priest hoods.
Notice, back in patriarchaJ times,
tithing was God's system for
financing his ministry. Melchise–
dec was H igh Priest. The
patriarch Abraham, it is written,
knew and kept God's command–
ments, bis statutes and laws
(Genesis 26:5). And he paid
tithes to the High Priest!
Then the statement is made in
this passage that, during that dis–
pensation from Moses until Christ,
the priests of that time, the
Levites, took tithes from the
people by law. l t was a
LAW,
started in the beginning, continued
through the Mosaic dispensation.
Tithing, then, did not start
with Mases!
1t
is God's systcm for financing
his ministry, which began from
the beginning- from the dim
antiquity of patriarchal times.
lt
was a law. I t d id not start with
Mases, it was merely continued
on through the Mosaic period!
Tlthing a Law from Dlm Antlqulty
Many excuse themselves from
tithing today on the false impres–
sion tithing pertained to the
Mosaic period only. They think it
was for Israel, alone. And that
illusion has brought a curse on
our nations!
The old covenant is gone–
that's true. But its ending could
not take away what it did not
bring! Tithing was God's law
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