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hundreds of years before the old
covenant started.
Tithing is revealed as God 's
system for financi ng his earthly
ministry. Prior to the Levít ica!
priesthood and the Mosaic dis–
pensat ion, the ministry was under
Melchisedec. And we see that
ministry, from the begi nning, was
financed by the tithing system.
Melchisedec, "having neither
beginning of days, nor end of
life ... abideth a priest
contin–
ual/y"
( Hebrews 7:3). Yes, he
was High Priest from the begin–
ning! Even from Adam! And the
ancient patriarchs from Adam
down through Abraham, J acob
and on to Mases, financed this
minist ry of God on earth by the
TITHING
system!
Me re ly Contlnued In Is r ael
Since tithing is God's permanent,
continuous financing system, it
had to continue through the
Mosaic dispensation. During that
period when the Levites were the
ministers, their work and labors
had to be financed . Bu t when the
priesthood was cha nged, God did
not change his financing system.
The Levites " had a command–
ment to take tithes of the people
accordi ng to the law."
And notice, the very subject of
this seventh chapter of Hebrews
is the tithing law!
Now continuing, the teaching
concerns which o f the two priest–
hoods- Melchisedec or Levi ti–
cal- is superio r, to determine
which priesthood should receive
tithes, now!
Christians of Paul's day did not
need to be inst ructed that tithing
is an obligatory and permanent
law of God. But they did need
muc h teaching to make clear to
them that the old covenant was
vanishing away- t he Levit ical
priesthood changed and replaced
by that of Jesus Ch rist- the Mel–
chisedec priesthood res tored! The
only question was as to which
priesthood tithes were to be
paid.
To make this point plain, Paul
proceeds to show the Melchisedec
priesthood is superior- has pre–
cedence now.
Notice the scripture: " Now
36
consider
how great
this man was,
unto whom even the patriarch
Abraham gave the tenth o f the
spoils ... but he whose descent is
not counted from them [the
Levites] received tithes of Abra–
ham, and blessed him [Abraham]
that had the promises. And with–
out all con tradiction the less
[Abraham] is blessed of the bet–
ter [Melchisedec] .... And as
1
may so say, Levi also, who receiv–
eth tithes, payed tithes in Abra–
ham. For he was yet in the loins
of his father , when Melchisedec
met him" (verses 4, 6-7, 9- 10).
The Melchisedec priesthood is
greater-superior!
1
t has prece–
dence! And it is again in force as
God's priesthood, under Chr ist!
It,
too, needs to be fi nanced! Now
notice the conclusion:
"For the pri est hood being
changed, there is made of neces–
sity a change also of the law"
(verse
12).
It
does not say the law was
abol ished. The change in priest–
hoods makes necessary a change
in the law. What specific law?
The very law thi s chapter is
instructing N ew Tesd1men t
Christians about- the
TITH I NG
LA
w! " ... the sons
of
Levi .. . have a commandment to
take
TITHES ...
according to the
law ..." (verse 5).
So ti thing, far from being abol–
ished , is New Testament law!
But , the pri est h ood being
changed to that of Jesus Christ–
the Melchisedec priesthood re–
stored-that t ithing law is also
changed of necessity, so as to
become God's system for financ–
ing the ministry of J esus Christ!
Actually, the law is merely
restored as it was from the begin–
ning!
How plain! Ti thing is God's
law-his system for fina ncing his
great work today; it's com–
manded,
now!
Why Go d Retains the Tl the
But why does God retain for him–
self the ownership of that first
tenth-that tithe- of your in–
come?
Here again comes a truth man
would never know, and could not
find out, except by God's revela-
tion to man! What is man, any–
way? Why is he? Where is he
going? God has a plan! God is
working out a great purpose! He
reveals it in his Word- his reve–
lat ion- the Bible.
For the carrying out of bis holy
purpose in placing mankind upon
this earth, God has always bad a
pries thood-a ministry, repre–
senting him, serving him, carry–
ing out his mission. Way back in
the dim antiquity of patriarchal
times, God 's High Priest-his
representative on eartb- was
Melch isedec.
During the national dispensa–
tion of Is rael, under the old cove–
nant, known as the Mosaic dis–
pe nsation - those year s from
Moses until Christ-the t r ibe of
Levi constituted the ministry of
God , known as the Levitical
priesthood. Then later, when
Jesus Christ arase from the dead,
he ascended to heaven as a living
High Priest. Today he calls min–
isters as his true representatives
in a darkened and Satan-deceived
world, to carry on bis plan. Today
the Melchisedec priesthood is
restored, in Christ.
Now it costs money to carry on
the work of God. God's ministers
who devote their entire time to
God's holy and spiritual purpose
are prevented from earning a liv–
ing in the usual channels. Yet
they work. lf they are
true
minis–
ters, they are men of ability who
work hard, and long, observing no
hours. Actually they earn a liv–
ing- they have worked for thei r
food , shelter and clothing and
physical need- the same as the
farrher , the laborer, the clerk or
the merchant.
And so God, in his wisdom, has
provided for financing bis work,
and for his ministers' living. In
God's program, these true minis–
ters work for
HIM ,
and
H I M
alone.
In God's great plan, he pays his
ministers.
It
is he who " hires"
them- he who calls them to their
work for him.
So, in arder to provide for the
fi nancing of bis ministry, God has
from the very beginning retained
for himself the firs t tenth of the
income of every human being on
The
PLAIN TRUTH