By Ninyo Omidiji
One big problem I see with the pentecostal/Charismatics is that they don’t consider or study the historical and cultural context of biblical events and practices before they seek to establish their pet doctrines and promote them widely and wildly.
Okay let’s settle this. Tithing did not begin with Abram. Please feel free to fact-check me. Tithing began as a pagan practice in the Ancient Near East, a region that included areas like Mesopotamia, Iran, Egypt, Anatolia and the Arabian peninsula.
This region was usually referred to as the cradle of civilization because it was the first place to develop complex cities such as the “Ur of the Chaldees” where Abraham’s ancestors lived. That was where God called Abraham from.
Giving tithes of spoils of war (which Abraham did after rescuing Lot from the attackers of Soddom) was part of the pagan practices in the Ancient Near East. They would usually give such tithes to their kings and some of these kings also doubled as pagan priests. Some would give such tithes to a god that was popularly worshipped in their land.
In the Ancient Near East, tithing of goods and materials was both an art of worship and an art of war. They had other practices which included sacrificing firstborn sons to their gods. Or why did you think Abram felt no qualms taking Isaac for sacrifice when asked to do so? He was accustomed to that practice from his ancestry.
But God interrupted Abram and redeemed Isaac back by providing a lamb as a substitute. This marked a paradigm shift in worship for the descendants of Abraham.
Although everything that opened the womb in Israel was given to the Lord as a sacrifice many years later according to the law by the hand of Moses, all firstborn sons of humans were redeemed back by their parents with money. In addition to the event in Egypt where their firstborn sons were smitten, this event on mount Moriah was a remote origin of the firstborn redemption offering.
Now, if you think the practice of sacrificing firstborn sons of humans perished among nations back then, you would be mistaken. It continued for centuries among pagan nations.
You may recall that the Moabite King, Mesha, offered his firstborn son on a wall to his god who was named Chemosh when the battle against him was fierce (2Kings 3:26,27). Friends, this is by the way. Now back to tithing.
Abram and Melchizedek:
The record of Abram giving tithe to Melchizedek the king of Salem (Gen. 14:18-20) was significant in a number of ways. First, although he was not a Jew, Melchizedek was reported to be the first King referred to as the “Priest of the most high God” (as against many others in the same region who were pagan priests) in the Hebrew text.
Secondly, although there were many conflicting beliefs about his ancestry among the jews, the most common one was that no one knew his ancestry or how his story ended.
This was the background of the analogy of Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews. As the name already suggests, the book of Hebrews was written specifically to the Jews who had received the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ but at the time, they were contemplating returning back to Judaism, the temple worship and venerating the Aaronic priesthood.
Apart from the fact that they faced persecution for becoming Christians, strong arguments arose as to why the Aaronic priesthood should be done away with considering the longevity of its divine history. It was tough for them to accept the new High Priesthood of Jesus because Jesus did not even hail from the lineage of priests to start with.
Friends, this is where the Melchizedek analogy came in. Please read Hebrew 7:1-21. Melchizedek was not known to come from a lineage of priests too. His ancestry was not known. Neither was his end known. Yet, he received Worship from Abram the Hebrew who the Jews held in utmost regard.
So, in order to persuade the converted Jews of the superiority and sufficiency of the high Priesthood of Jesus Christ, the writer of the book of Hebrews brought Abraham and Melchizedek into the mix. He pointed out how Melchizedek blessed Abram and Abram in turn gave a tenth of the spoil of war to him
Hebrews 7:4 NKJV
[4] Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
Friends, this is the message in the book of Hebrews but the monetary tithe mongers have made the narrative to mean that Jesus is the Melchizedek who is receiving tithes in heaven. And people are shouting Rhema! This is outlandish.
Melchizedek is not an eternal being. He was a king of a place called Salem. His brief history in the Hebrew text was brought to the fore as a shadow of Jesus’ High Priesthood whose Priesthood was already prophesied by the psalmist in Psalms 110:4 NKJV
[4] The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek
Jesus is the eternal one! Melchizedek was a shadow!
By the way, what fiat currency is your own Jesus receiving in heaven? Is it naira, pounds sterling, Kish or dollars which are printed on earth that your Jesus is receiving? To do what with it exactly? What a poor Jesus!
Friends, Christ is the fulfilment of all scriptures whether before the law or during the law. The scriptures are his testimony (John 5:39). Significant events, stories and narratives in scriptures point to Him in shadows and pale representations. So scriptures are meant to be interpreted through this lens.
I wonder why preachers who go back to the events before the law to establish doctrines don’t harp on circumcision which was also before the law and It was even a more serious practice because it was the sign of the covenant that God made with Abram.
Thank God the issue reared its head right under the nose of the first apostles and it was thwarted. We would have be circumcising people today “in the name of the Lord and someone might even say “no circumcision no heaven”
How about animal sacrifices? They also began before the law. Why are they not preaching it today? Oh! They have turned it to monetary sacrifices. So they keep asking people to pay heavy sacrifices in order to buy favours from God thereby making the sacrifice of Christ of no effect.
Friends, the promoters of “money gospel” do not only extort from you, ostensibly “in the name of the Lord” . They actually deprived you spiritually. They blind you to the sufficiency of the sacrifice that Christ has made for you.
The burden of religion will be heavy on you. You will continue to give sacrifices because you were not aware of what has been done on your behalf. This is why I consider them dangerous no matter their pious mien or demeanour. They are not to be treated with kid gloves.
I hope this helps someone…
It is a new day!
NINYO