Tithing…Is it a command?

[wire2john]

Originally Posted by Rev

(Heb 7:1) For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
(Heb 7:2) To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
(Heb 7:3) Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
(Heb 7:4) Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

(Mat 23:23) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Tithing didn't start under the law, it started in Genesis.

If you are Abraham's seed you will also pay tithes just like he did!

The Blood is what distinguishes us from earlier dispensations, I have written extensively about this subject in another thread if you are interested. In short, we don't tithe because we don't require priests; we are all priests by adoption. Abraham, for whatever reason, chose to fight rather than serve as priest for the war party, so he hired Melchizedek to serve as priest instead. In the case of Jacob, he could have stayed at Bethel and served as a priest in that place, but instead chose to finance the hiring of a priest for that location by committing a tithe.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by wire2john

. Abraham, for whatever reason, chose to fight rather than serve as priest for the war party, so he hired Melchizedek to serve as priest instead. In the case of Jacob, he could have stayed at Bethel and served as a priest in that place, but instead chose to finance the hiring of a priest for that location by committing a tithe.

No one hired Melchisedek. Melchisedek was already a priest. Abraham just recognized it.

Tithing started with FAITH.

Heb 7:6....But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

Descent of priesthood not coming from Levi proves another priesthood.

Giving tithes in faith is not law. I saw more people blessed as a result. People always think of THEIR concept of law when they don't stop to realize there are other concepts that are away from law that uphold a tithe.

Give tithes. Don't give tithes. But it's as much as LAW to say do not do it as it is to demand it.

None commanded Abraham to tithe. None, He did it in faith.

[wire2john]

Originally Posted by mfblume

No one hired Melchisedek. Melchisedek was already a priest. Abraham just recognized it.
.

There is no mystical mumbo-jumbo going on here, Abraham knew Melchisedek was a priest because Melchizedek was his grandfather, Shem. Melchizedek means "priest/ king". This is why in Genesis 23:6 they said to Abraham, "Sir, you are a mighty prince among us..."; they called him a mighty prince because he was the grandson of Melchizedek (i.e. Shem). Abraham was perfectly capable of serving as priest on this occasion and making the necessary sacrifices, as we have observed him doing on other occasions, but instead he chose to fight. So he hired Melchizedek, who was given a tenth as payment. This isn't hard to understand, why make it so?

[wire2john]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Descent of priesthood not coming from Levi proves another priesthood.

That's true, because Melchizedek (i.e. Shem) was a forefather of Levi, not his descendant. There was a line of priesthood that stretched all the way back to Noah, then to Shem, and on down the line to Levi.

descendant - a person who is related to you and who lives after you, such as your child or grandchild.

[wire2john]

Okay, technically speaking, Abraham was Shem's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandson...but you know what I mean. When a man lives to be 600 years old it is easier to just speak of his grandchildren in the plural sense.

[Pliny]

Wow! A LOT of "doctrine" based on everything except scripture.

Shem as Melchizedek - Jewish tradition.
Abraham hired Melchizedek? Where does the scripture say he was hired? Ans. Nowhere.
Abraham could have been the priest but chose to fight? Really?
Dispensations? Where does the Bible say there are dispensations?

The list goes on...

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by wire2john

There is no mystical mumbo-jumbo going on here,

Here is the mystical mumbo ju,bo....

Abraham knew Melchisedek was a priest because Melchizedek was his grandfather, Shem.

It's as silly as saying the Book of Enoch holds truth.

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by Pliny

Wow! A LOT of "doctrine" based on everything except scripture.

Shem as Melchizedek - Jewish tradition.
Abraham hired Melchizedek? Where does the scripture say he was hired? Ans. Nowhere.
Abraham could have been the priest but chose to fight? Really?
Dispensations? Where does the Bible say there are dispensations?

The list goes on...

A breath of fresh air!

[wire2john]

Originally Posted by mfblume

Here is the mystical mumbo ju,bo....

I don't follow...you don't think Abraham knew that Shem was his grandfather or that he was a priest? You think it is more likely that Abraham bumped into a stranger one day, somehow mystically recognized that he was a priest, and just gave him 10% of the spoils for no reason? Sorry, but that scenario is laughable to me. Melchizedek wasn't the only priest around, why did Abraham give the tenth to him rather than some other priest, if not for services rendered? I mean really, try to envision the scenario and use a little common sense, you might learn something...if you want to, if you have the heart for it.

[wire2john]

Originally Posted by Pliny

Wow! A LOT of "doctrine" based on everything except
Abraham hired Melchizedek? Where does the scripture say he was hired? Ans. Nowhere.

You know a more technical term for procuring the services of a priest? Please, enlighten us. As to the rest of what you wrote, you're just being difficult. Quibbling over the use of the word "dispensation"? What's the point? Everyone else who is following this conversation knows exactly what I am referring to...why play dumb? There was life pre-Flood, post-Flood pre-Law, post-Flood Law, post-Flood post-Law, ...; someone has to spell all that out to have a conversation with you? We can't just say "dispensation" or some other word that means the same thing, in the interests of brevity, lol? How about "epoch", will you accept epoch without objections? I don't think the readers here will recognize the meaning of the word epoch as readily as they do the word dispensation, but hey if that's what it takes to make you happy then so be it!