[Tithesmeister]

QUOTE=coksiw;1610251]Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils of the enemy, not of the recovered goods, and not of his own substance, because it says in verse 23 "I will take nothing,", and in the setting he was, he didn't go real quick to his own properties and arranged a tithe and came back, while Melchizedek, Abram's army, and the Sodom king was waiting for him. It doesn't make sense that way.

I think he gave the offering acknowledging the priesthood of Melchizedek.[/QUOTE]

Well, if we are going to talk about what we think, but cannot prove with scripture, I have some thoughts. I am reluctant to say this because there is already rampant speculation involving this passage and the mystery of what all really went on and the significance of it all.

Just thinking logically, Melchizedek may have had some political skin in the game. He was a neighbor of the kings that Abram slaughtered. He was obviously friendly to Abram. If Abram had lost the battle to the kings, Melchizedek could have possibly suffered repercussions.

A modern example would be the Vietnam war. The U.S. carpet bombed Cambodia because they suspected that they were allowing North Vietnam to bring supplies through their territory.

So maybe Abram tithed to Melchizedek as a king. Maybe as a priest. Maybe he rewarded him for his loyalty or assistance. The Bible doesn’t say. It does say in Hebrews that the lesser is blessed by the better. So this means that Melchizedek was superior to Abram.

Some have even claimed (because of this) that Melchizedek was a theophany. I see no evidence of this in the Bible. The mystery of Melchizedek has only continued to grow in the Bible. It seems to have increased even to this day. I think the only prudent thing to do is accept that there is a lot we cannot know about Melchizedek but there is no doubt he was a type of Christ.

On thing that does appear verifiable is that Abram tithed of the spoils of war according to Hebrews (not his personal wealth and certainly not his income). Genesis lists the spoils. Money is not included in the list. So, to my knowledge, money is never tithed in the entirety of the Bible, and it is the primary commodity tithed in the modern church.

We have sure drifted a long way from our tithing roots.