Taken From the Sabbath School Quarterly for 1889
1. UNDER what circumstances was the first tithe paid, as recorded in the Scriptures ? Gen. 14:16-20.
2. What was the office of Melchizedek ? Verse 18.
3. Who was the greater, Abraham or Melchizedek ? Heb. 7: 7.
4. Of how much did Abraham give the tithe ? Gen. 14:20, last clause; Heb. 7:4.
5. What proposition did the king of Sodom make ? Gen. 14: 21.
6. What response did Abraham make? Verses 22, 23.
7. Did Abraham make any exception, and for whom was the exception made? Verse 24.
8. Was the tithe before or after the young men had eaten ? See note.
9. By giving a tithe of all, whom did Abraham acknowledge as the only rightful owner of the tithe ?
10. How many years was this before the law respecting the tithe was given to the Israelites ? Compare margin of Gen. 14 and Ex. 20.
11. Then to what priesthood did the tithing system properly belong ?
12. What solemn vow did Jacob make 15o years after Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek? Gen. 28: 20-22.
13. How can we account for the fact that Jacob knew God's claim to the tenth ? Gen. 18: 19.
14. Who is our high priest ? Heb. 3: 1.
15. After what order is Christ a priest? Heb. 5:5, 6.
16. Then as tithing originated under the Melchizedek priesthood, and as Christ is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, what would we conclude in relation to the payment of tithes in this dispensation ?
17. Did Christ teach the paying of tithes? Matt. 23: 23.
IN the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, every principle of the tithing system is given. Abram gave a tithe of all he possessed to Melchizedek, after which the king of Sodom proposed that he should have the persons, and Abram might keep the substance. That which he had taken from the kings was his by right of conquest, therefore it was his privilege to dispose of it as he thought best. He first gave to God his portion, the tithe of all; he then assured the king of Sodom that he would himself not take anything, even to a shoe latchet; but certain individuals who went with him were to receive their portion, and the young men were to have what they had eaten, and their portion.
1. What portion of a man's time does the Lord claim as his? Ex. 31: 15-17.
2. What portion of a man's substance has God reserved as his ? Lev. 27: 3o. See note.
3. Can a man dispose of that which is the Lord's as he chooses? Verse 26.
4. What class of offerings connected with the tithe went to the priest ? Neh. 10: 37.
5. What does God say of those who withhold tithes and offerings from his treasury? Mal. 3: 8, 9.
6. What promise does he make to his people if they bring their tithes and offerings into the storehouse ? Verses 1o, 11.
7. If, while passing the flock under the rod to be tithed, the owner, for any cause, sought to exchange the tenth for some other, what direction did God give? Lev. 27: 27, 32, 33.
8. Could the tithe be given to the poor ? Why not ? Prov. 19: 17. See note.
9. Could a covetous man sacredly regard God's claim in the tithe and offerings ?
10. Would it not then be reasonable to conclude that God's reservation of the tenth was to guard the heart from covetousness ?
11. To whom, and for what purpose, was all the tithe appropriated? Num. 18: 21, 24.
12. What portion of the tithe were the Levites to give? Verses 26-28.
13. What other offering went to the priest who served at the altar? Verses 7, 11-13.
14. Is it a duty of those who receive the blessing of the gospel to contribute for its support ? Gal. 6: 6.
15. How does the apostle enjoin this duty 1 Cor. 9: 6-1 I.
16. How does the apostle show that the ministry should be supported ? Verses 13, 14.
17. Does not the apostle show from this that it is just as important to support the worthy laborer in the gospel as it was formerly to support the priesthood ?
IN a certain sense, everything we have and are belongs to God; but there are some things that belong to him in a special sense. Tnose things which he has never given to man for his own use are God's and his alone. The Sabbath, the tithe, and the first-fruits in the former dispensation, illustrate this fact. God has also permitted men to make gifts to him, and to consecrate a portion of their substance, their talents, or their time, especially to his service. This the Lord also accepts, and it becomes consecrated and holy. In the former dispensation after men had consecrated a portion of their substance, if in any way they wished to change it the Lord would have them add onefifth to it that they might realize the sacredness of his claims. When men realize and acknowledge the importance of God's claims, he has promised to let a special blessing rest upon them. The paying of the tithe also secured the heart from covetousness; for continual giving serves to cultivate the spirit of benevolence, which is a part of the grace of Christ.
THE Levitical priesthood received the tithe from the people, and they gave a tithe of what they received to the ones who had special charge of the work of God. Another tithe was taken for the poor. Thus there were two tithes, one going to the priests and the other going to the poor. The apostle, in 1 Cor. 9, teaches the duty of those who have received the gospel to support the same. He appeals to the law, and then applies it to the gospel. Men cannot give the tithe as a donation, because it never was theirs; but God has permitted them to handle the tithe, and then return it to God, that it may cultivate in them that spirit of liberality which was manifest in Christ's coming to this earth to die. The tithing system, therefore, is one of the greatest blessings to man.