Let’s think about this for a minute. Here is the priest of God, Melchizedek (whom we think just may have been Jesus Christ in the flesh; and it seems like that is the case—as explained in Hebrews 7). What did He bring with Him? Think about what Jesus Christ brought in His first coming. What did He bring to His people? At this time, and in this chapter, God's "people" was Abraham and Sarah. What did the high priest of God bring to His people? ?Bread and wine. Bread and wine are the symbols that we use in the Passover—the broken body and the blood of Christ. They are symbols of redemption. We see this pattern is being shown here again. The priest of God brings out bread and wine. It's a symbol of redemption. It's more than just a meal. There's something greater about this offering from the high priest. This is something that the priest offers to the people (Abraham).
Now it's interesting that within just a few words of "bread and wine" the word priest pops up. This is what priests do.
This is a very interesting scenario. Let's look at it as closely as we can. Abraham does this wonderful thing, and brings back Lot and all of the wealth that had been taken. Melchizedek comes out to meet him, and He gives him bread and wine—a symbol of redemption. And then He blesses Abram; and it is very interesting the words that He uses. He said, "Blessed be Abram..." Is that where He stops? [No.] He says, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High."
Now what does that little two-letter word mean? It ["of"] means possessed by, belonging to, slave of. "Blessed be Abraham who was bought with a price—by God." So we have the second aspect here. (1) He was redeemed, and (2) he became a slave.
What is the next thing that Melchizedek says? He says, "God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth." What does He reiterate? —That God owns everything! You see why this is becoming important in the subject of TITHING.
Then what does He say next? "Blessed be God Most High." It's very interesting that He uses that term—God Most High. It's the term of Sovereignty! There is no one higher than God is. He could have said, "the Lord Almighty" or "the Sovereign God." He's showing that, not only does God own everything, He rules everything.
And then He says, "God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand." Back to what Abraham did—did Abraham do it? Yes, but how did he do it? God Most High (Who rules everything, and owns everything) allowed him to do it, and delivered his enemies into his hands. So even the actions of Abraham were actually something that God did through him. So not only were his body and all the things that he had really not his—[but] all of his actions as well, God possesses also.
Do you see how encompassing this idea of God owning everything is? It's like, when we become His, He has a copyright to our thoughts, and our words, and our actions. Because they are done by someone who is possessed by (or, belongs to) God—even those things, ultimately, can be traced back to God. He ownseverything. He ruleseverything.
And so, what does Abram do? Being reminded of this: That there was the bread and wine, that here was God's priest, that Abraham was possessed by God in total, that God possesses everything, that God is the Sovereign, and that even this great "work" that he had done was through God. Abraham said, "Here, God, is a tenth." The tithe that he gave to Melchizedek (God's high priest, representative on earth) was a response to what God was (or, is) and does.
Do you see, in these verses, any command from God to give a tithe? The first instance where tithing is mentioned in the Bible, and there is no command. All it is, is a response from a godly man—because of what God is and does. God didn't have to say, "Abraham, give me a tenth of everything you have." He didn't have to. Abraham had the mind of God! And he said, "Look Who this wonderful Being is—Who owns me, … . . .
Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek has this war as its backdrop, and this is a very interesting lesson for those of faith today contained in this. Now in passing I think it is interesting to note that tithing is introduced into the Bible as an ongoing practice, something that is already established, rather than something new and needing a legal basis. A legal basis is never provided previously, and we do not see tithing presented in a legal basis until we get to the book of Leviticus, 400 and some years later. And then, it established not that one should tithe, but rather to whom one should tithe. So it appears very strong that tithing was an ongoing practice from the very beginning, and it is something that is also required today. It is the way that God finances His work here on this earth.
Another thing. There are those who will argue that the introduction of bread and wine in this sequence of events here, with the presence of Melchizedek, indicates a forerunner, a type, a symbol of the Lord’s supper. Now if it does, I am convinced it is not the primary reason that it is put in here. It was merely a meal. I will tell you why I believe this in just a bit.
Remember, the warfare is a backlash. This event occurred immediately after Abraham’s return to the area after the defeat of the four kings. Now what does warfare do to a person? At the very least it is going to very severely enervate someone. You can see right in story here, in this case, why Abraham and his 318 men underwent a forced march. They got their troops together in a hurry and they took off and they went north as fast as their legs and horses and camels and whatever else they had would take them. Apparently they arrived at night, and they attacked at night and surprised the enemy and routed them out of there, and chased them all the way to Damascus, which is quite a hike up the road, and then when they felt it was useless to chase them any further, they apparently turned around and came back down again.
Now warfare under normal circumstances is something that enervates a person very greatly, and there is need of a great deal of refreshment because after all, we are just human. War is not easy. It is demanding, it is stressful, it is enervating because of the mental and physical forces that are unleashed by it. Tremendous tensions are created by fears and by hatred. When the battle is over, a period of R & R is in order.
Now when Abraham returned, he is met by Melchizedek. But Melchizedek is not the only one present and that sets up a very interesting by-play. It is important to a person of faith.
Abraham successfully defeated the Babylonish Assyrians, only to be tempted into a fellowship with the irreligious Sodomites. (I did not read that verse, I stopped just short of it.) Would it not seem the natural thing to do, to go into a truce, an agreement, a covenant with these people who assisted you in this warfare? You could become a team, “Hey, we work well together, don’t we? We could put our heads together and really have a thing going here.” They might have said something to Abraham like, “You could be the leader. You have already proven yourself of great leadership capacity. Let’s put our forces together and we could do a great deal.”
Abraham might have been tempted, but you see that is one reason why I stopped reading when I did because that was the exact point that God showed, that through Melchizedek He intervened to stop what Abraham might have been very tempted to enter into.
Remember, these things are symbols. These physical examples that Abraham went through are to teach you and me spiritual lessons. Now the lesson is this: That we do become enervated by the spiritual warfare in which we are involved, and there are times when are so tempted to let go, you see when the bowstring becomes wound so tight and your are twanging all over the place, you are about to make a compromise and make a deal with the world.
In Genesis 14, we have the story of Abram's brother's son, Lot, who had been captured by a king. This king, Chedorlaomer, and a group of kings had conquered Sodom and Gomorrah and took Lot and his family captive. Abram heard of this, quickly armed his three-hundred-plus servants, and went to chase after these kings. Abram was probably thinking of Lot and his family, remembering, perhaps, the times he would dandle his grand-nephews and nieces upon his knee. He must have been very concerned to say the least.
Here we see that this Melchizedek knew that it was God who had delivered Abram's enemies into his hand. I think that Abram knew this, as well.
Regarding the word spoils, the Expositor's Commentary says that this word literally means "the top of the heap" and is used of the choicest spoils of war. In other words, from these spoils, Abraham gave one-tenth—the very best—to Melchizedek. I do not know how the spoils were laid out. Were all of the linens piled together and the jewels piled all together and the armaments on their heap? Whatever the case, Abraham knew that his victory came from God; and he knew it down to the soles and the toes of his feet! He wanted to give God the very best that he had. He gave God the choicest spoils of the war.
There is an attitude in giving here that we must see and understand. Why was Abraham called the "father of the faithful"? David is called a "man after God's own heart." Abraham, too, was a man after God's own heart, but he was also the father of the faithful.
The attitude of Abraham is an example for us as we give to God. We should wholeheartedly imitate his faithfulness as we, too, pay our tithes and give our offerings. God wants us to give a perfect offering to Him. This is really important! This is not just something that we do and tell ourselves, "Here, it is done," like any bill to be paid.
We must remember this part of it: Those with whom God was working were receiving instructions from Him through Melchisedec. We are going to see, later on, that God instructed the heads of the families, and they, in turn, instructed the rest of the family.
No doubt, this Melchisedec was Jesus Christ.
Paul taught that Abraham—the father of the faithful, held in high esteem by the Jews—tithed to Melchisedec.
The Levites received tithes, but all these physical priests eventually died. However, these tithes were still received, in a sense, by Melchisedec.
Please turn with me to Genesis 14, verse 17. The most ancient record of anyone giving a tithe of anything is found in Genesis 14, about four centuries before Moses. In a battle between various kings and armies of that day, Abraham's nephew Lot was taken captive. (And as you know, Abram's name was not yet changed at this point to Abraham.) Abram set out to rescue Lot with the help of a small army and was successful. And along with his nephew, Abram brought back many spoils from the campaign and there was great rejoicing.
Hebrews 7:4 says that tithes were given on the spoils of the battle, including non-agricultural products.
So Melchizedek was the priest of God Most High, and Abram was of God Most High, and God Most High is possessor of heaven and earth. Tithing, in this context, was a direct acknowledgement of God's sovereignty and lordship over the earth. God reveals in Haggai 2:8 that, "The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine," representing that He owns all that is on the earth. Giving God back one-tenth of what is entirely His anyway, was a way of acknowledging God's ownership of every kind of wealth.
The account indicates that the spoils belong to Abraham by right of conquest. And Abraham gave the tithes to Melchizedek before discussing their further distribution with the king of Sodom. He considered the tithe first.
Genesis 14 succinctly reveals several principles of tithing. First, the tithe goes to God through His representative, the priest. Second, the Bible repeats that it is one-tenth. Third, this law was in effect long before God commanded it through Moses. And fourth, Abraham, blessed for his faithfulness to God, gave tithes in recognition of God's rulership and providence.
Abraham is called the father of the faithful in Romans 4 and he lived an honorable life. His faith was a prototype of all believers and Christians. God recorded Abram's act of tithing for a reason: to provide us with an example from the life of righteous Abraham. Speaking of the events of the Old Testament, Paul tells us,
So the faith and obedience of Abraham shows that tithing should be imitated or followed as a Christian practice.
As we go through this portion of chapter 14, and then through to chapter 15, verse 17, I want you to notice the progression of time as we move from event to event. As we do this, I want you to mentally compare this sequence both with Christ's observance of Passover preceding His crucifixion and burial, as well as the flow of events as the Israelites progressed through Exodus 12. You are going to see that there are a great number of parallels between the two, tying them together.
We begin with something that we have already read. In Genesis 14:18, bread and wine are brought forth by Melchizedek (Christ). Did not Christ bring forth bread and wine to be taken by His disciples? The answer to that question is obvious.
Abraham was brought bread and wine by Melchizedek. The next thing we see in Genesis 15 is the mention of "stars." It is dark. The Passover took place in that period of light before it became dark. That was the time that we, in our observance, would be normally eating Passover, just as the sun goes down, and in that period. That's where we are time-wise. By the time you see stars, it is now dark. You are beginning to see that time is moving.
Now let's go back to John 13. When we inject the calendar into this, when ben ha arbayim takes place, the 13th of Abib has ended and the 14th begins. The 14th is Passover day. This is undoubtedly when Melchizedek brought forth the bread and wine. Then came Abraham's vision when it was dark and the stars were out. It is clearly into the 14th, because it is dark.
Yet we should recognize that the bread and wine are not new symbols. They are the original elements of the fellowship meal between Melchizedek and Abraham (Genesis 14:18) on the eve of the historic covenant God made with Abraham (Genesis 15). Similarly, this Passover was a fellowship meal on the eve of the sealing of another, much-anticipated covenant.
This linkage between the bread, wine and Abraham is significant for a couple of reasons. First, God's covenant with Abraham undergirds the Exodus Passover. God was inclined to destroy Israel in Egypt for her idolatry, yet He made a merciful exemption for the sake of His name and His faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham. The Hebrew word for Passover means exemption. God overlooked Israel's sins because of His covenant with the family of Abraham, and it began with Melchizedek bringing out bread and wine.
Second, the timing of Christ's sacrifice also relates to the Abrahamic covenant. Christ's death did not take place at the time He commanded Israel to kill the Passover lambs, which was between sunset and dark at the beginning of the 14th day of Abib. Instead, His death took place in the afternoon of the 14th, which lines up with the time God made the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. Christ's death at that time signifies an incredible step forward in His fulfillment of that covenant, upon which the New Covenant is based.
We will look at some background on the origins of Jerusalem. It is very probable that the biblical origins of Jerusalem traced back to the ancient Canaanite site of Salem, the city of the priestly king Melchizedek.
It is interesting that right from the beginning, a tithe is mentioned as being associated with Salem. One of the major problems that the city of Jerusalem and the Israelites had, throughout their history, was not giving back to God His wealth.
The King of Salem, by name, is the King of righteousness, and by office, is the King of peace.
Hebrews 7:1-2 says "King of Salem" means "King of peace"—referring to Jesus Christ. You are all very familiar with that.
The etymology of the name "Jerusalem" is not certain, at least not in the world's eyes. It is apparently of Semitic origin. An Egyptian notice from the third quarter of the 19th century BC mentions Urusalimum. The Tell el Amarna correspondence of the 14th century BC refers to the town of Urusalim. The Assyrians called it Ursalimmu. You see the similarities in the pronunciation, or at least the transliteration, of the names that the city had.
As we go through this portion of chapter 14, and then through to chapter 15, verse 17, I want you to notice the progression of time as we move from event to event. As we do this, I want you to mentally compare this sequence both with Christ's observance of Passover preceding His crucifixion and burial, as well as the flow of events as the Israelites progressed through Exodus 12. You are going to see that there are a great number of parallels between the two, tying them together.
We begin with something that we have already read. In Genesis 14:18, bread and wine are brought forth by Melchizedek (Christ). Did not Christ bring forth bread and wine to be taken by His disciples? The answer to that question is obvious.
Verse 15 tells us what was on Christ's mind, and again, it was not the disciples' sins. Instead, the Son of God had been fervently looking forward to this special occasion - this fellowship - with those whom the Father had given Him (see also Matthew 26:18-29; Mark 14:13-25). Like the Exodus Passover, this Passover was about eating. However, the New Testament Scriptures place the emphasis on the bread and wine. The bread and wine are not new symbols, though, but the original elements of the fellowship meal between Melchizedek and Abraham (Genesis 14:18) on the eve of a historic covenant (Genesis 15). In like manner, this Passover was a fellowship meal on the eve of the sealing of a much-anticipated covenant.
We can see that there is a relationship between these two, and this begins the scenario that leads into Chapter 15.
One of the things I find intriguing is that the events of Exodus 12 and 13 took place on Abib 14 and 15, and that the story of this event, which took place 430 years earlier, somehow or another are linked in Genesis 14 and Genesis 15. Is that a coincidence or what? How far ahead was God thinking? It does not mean a thing really but it is just so interesting.
