Derek Prince - By Tithing We Acknowledge The Lord As Our God
This is a clip from the full sermon The Christian And His Money.
Now let's come to the particular application of this principle of putting God first with our material possessions and our money, which is tithing. And remember I've already said tithing is setting apart for God the first tenth of all that we receive. I think God has been gracious to people who are not good at mathematics. Because especially now we have the decimal system, it is very easy to discover what your tithe is. You just move the decimal point one place to the left and that's your tithe, you don't have to be a mathematician. If God has chosen the 13th or the 11th, then we'd have had a lot of problems.
Now, a lot of people think that tithing began with the Law of Moses. But that's not true. It began more than 400 years earlier as recorded. And it began with a man named Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham. Let's look at this incident in the life of Abram in Genesis 14:18 and following. Abraham had just gained a great victory over some alien armies that had sought to invade his area of the world and had taken his nephew Lot prisoner. Abraham had gone after these armies with his men, defeated the armies and released Lot and had taken a tremendous amount of booty or spoil. As he was on his way back from this battle, a very wonderful strange person met him, who is called Melchizekek. That word means, 'melech' is the Hebrew for 'king'; 'tzedek' is the Hebrew for 'righteousness': king of righteousness. This man was two things: he was a king and he was a priest.
This is the first use of the word 'priest' in the Bible. It's very important to see it's not the Levitical priesthood that came later. It's the priesthood of the Melchizedek, which reappears later in the New Testament in the person of who? Jesus, that's right. Melchizedek is a foreshadowing of Jesus. And this is the incident. Then Melchizedek king of Salem [which means king of peace] brought out bread and wine: and he was the priest of God most high. Let me just add this it's very interesting. The Levitical priest never had anything to give to the people except what the people first gave to them. But Melchizedek had something for Abraham that Abraham had not given to him. And the symbol of his priesthood was bread and wine. And at the Last Supper, when Jesus gave the bread and the wine to His disciples, He said by that act: In Me the priesthood of Melchizedek has reappeared. I am a priest of that order. And he, Melchizedek, blessed him, Abraham, and said: Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.
Now, don't miss out the last sentence. And he, Abraham, gave him, Melchizedek, a tithe, or a tenth, of everything that he had taken in the battle. What did he do by giving him a tithe? He acknowledged him as his priest. Very important to see the first time 'priest' is mentioned in the Bible, it goes with tithing. This is, I think, a principle that most of us has lost sight of. Tithing is a way of acknowledging our priest.
Now, if you turn to Romans 4 for a moment, you'll find that Paul says Abraham is the father of all who believe. Romans 4. We read verses 11 and 12, we won't try to expound them all. And he, Abraham, received a sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all those who believe - notice, he's the father of all believers, whether Jew or gentile - though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who are not only of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
So, in order to qualify to be truly Abraham's children, we have to walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham. Which he had while still uncircumcised, which was when he met Melchizedek. So, I believe myself, this is my personal opinion, tithing is one of the steps of the faith of Abraham. And we are challenged in the New Testament to walk in the steps of his faith. The next person who is recorded as tithing is still long before the law, it's Jacob. And we read about this in Genesis 28:20. Jacob was now a fugitive, a refugee. He offended his brother Esau who wanted to kill him. And he had to pick up and leave and flee eastward to Mesopotamia. He only had one thing with him. All he carried was the staff in his hand. But God appeared to him in a dream, promised him protection and blessing.
And this is Jacob's response in Genesis 28:20: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to you. What's that? It's tithing, isn't it? What did Jacob indicate by that vow? He indicated that he was acknowledging the Lord as his God. The LORD will be my God, and of all that you give me I will give back a tenth to you. So, by tithing he acknowledged the Lord as his God. I believe that is true for you and me. By tithing, we acknowledge Jesus as our high priest after the order of Melchizedek and the Lord as our God.
Now it's interesting to read Jacob's personal testimony about 15 years later. He left the land of his inheritance a refugee, with nothing but a staff in his hand. About 15 years later as far as I can calculate, he came back a very prosperous man. With a large family and abundant flocks and herds. This is his own testimony. Speaking to the Lord in Genesis 32:10: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I have crossed over this Jordan with my staff - nothing but a staff in my hand - and now I have become two large companies. What was the source of his prosperity in one word? Tithing, that's right, I think it's silly not to, frankly. I mean, you're free to make your decision. But why opt for insufficiency when God has offered you more than sufficiency?
I think that's just a beautiful story. A man who was a refugee. Running from his brother, nothing in his hand but a staff. He said, God, whatever you give me from now on, I'll give you back a tenth. Fifteen years later he was a very wealthy, prosperous man. Now, our world today is full of refugees, all over. And if any refugee ever hears this talk, I just want to recommend that is a principle. God hasn't changed. The God of Abraham and the God of Jacob is still alive today and he hasn't changed. It depends how we respond to Him.