 All right, so we're working through tithing. Now one of the reasons that we are doing this is because this has been a subject that has caused some confusion over time. A part of that confusion comes because of the various voices out in evangelicalism or in teaching that hold various views and because of things like theological systems and those kinds of things, these issues over law and gospel. Basically, this is a law, gospel kind of an issue. These things can cause some confusion. Well, the word of God is not confusing. There are some things in the word of God as Peter says that are difficult to understand that sinful men, wicked men twist to their own destruction. But if we study, we do the hard work, we can understand these things and we can have a confidence in the word of God with the theology that will hold. When we're not confident, we'll say when we're not very confident about that, and we have to hold those things loosely. But with something like this, there's good evidence in Scripture for why we hold the view that we hold and we want to be able to defend that from Scripture and uphold faithfulness to the Lord in this issue. It's something that because of a host of reasons, churches don't teach on today or they pull out, you know, one month a year. That's Stewardship Month and for four straight Sundays, they just preach hard on giving to everybody and, you know, people get tired of that every year. Giving is to be an every week act of worship. This is the way that we worship the Lord. It's an important part of worship because we see that in Scripture and it's something that is as much as everything else, we want to be faithful to the Lord in our giving. And so what does the Bible teach on it? And we want to be clear on that. So tithing, tithing. There really is, as we look at again this today, a distinction, two separate parts to this. One is the issue of tithing itself, which is the tenth. And as we talked about last week, the questions that come up around that, whether the tenth or the tithe is still applicable for the Christian today, how that is to be given, if it is, all those questions. Then you have the issue of Christian giving, which is something that is another issue. Those two things are connected, but not the same. And we see a large amount of instruction given in the New Testament with respect to giving. But for purposes of our Sunday School class here over the next couple of weeks, we're going to address specifically the tithe. And then as we talk about the tithe, we'll get into how Christian giving relates to that. So here's where we're at so far. I was going to get on a whiteboard, but we'll just sort of talk through it. Tithing, as we saw last week, is clearly taught under the Mosaic Covenant. So in the Old Testament, that'd be great, brother, if you don't mind, that we can write some of that now. Thank you, brother. Clearly taught under the Mosaic Covenant as part of the law. Moses was given the Ten Commandments, was given the Mosaic Law. If you hear dispensationalist talk, we'd be considered, I think, by some to be leaky dispensationalists, as MacArthur would put it, but others consider us more covenant. We'll talk about that later. But if you look at like dispensationalism and breaking up the ways that God administers his rule and reign over people, there was a way in which he did that under the Mosaic Law, under the Mosaic Covenant, with the children of Israel, and tithing was certainly taught under that Covenant during that time. Okay, we established that next week that according to Scripture, very, very clear that the tithe was a part of the Mosaic Law, the Mosaic Covenant. So give me, just shout out, some principles that we learned about tithing last week as it relates to the Mosaic Law, as it was taught under the Mosaic Law. What are some principles that we learned about tithing from last week? The Levitical Tithe? Yeah, the tithe was to take care of the Levite, okay? The tithe was instituted to take care of those that did the work in the temple. So we have to care for the Levite. We have to care for the priest. The priest gets taken care of through the Levitical Tithe. And then we have the orphan and the widow and the stranger and the foreigner that the tithe was to take care of, right? Okay, sorry, I stole your thunder, sister. Sorry. So yeah, all those reasons for the tithe. Thank you, baby. Yes, ma'am. Very good. So they've got two more principles there. You have the principle of giving our best, or thank you, brother, our first fruits, the first of our herds, the first of our produce, are the best of all that we possess. And then all of that is to be brought into the storehouse. The Scripture taught, clearly teaches that it comes to the tabernacle of meeting or comes to the temple, and then the priests, the Levites, get to distribute that as it's needed, right? So tithes are of first fruits of the best that we have, and then they're all brought into the storehouse, something else. Those are good. Other principles from the tithe out of, come on now, you gotta get brain cells fired up. Yes, Sergio. Amen. Yeah, that very, very, very important point that the Lord instituted tithing, what we saw under the Mosaic Covenant, so that the Lord could teach the people how to fear Him, how to live for Him, how to respect, how to reverence Him. So very good, taught the people to fear the Lord. That was a very important point. It's another principle that we learned. There's several here. Do you think of one? Yes, ma'am. Yeah, there was a festival tithe, so you have the three tithes, right? There was a festival tithe, there was the Levitical tithe, there was what they call the Charity tithe, the Poverty tithe. Yep, so three tithes. What did the three tithes amount to? What did the people normally give? Was it a tenth? No, it was actually the people gave considerably more, often in any given year, between 20 and 30 percent that the people gave to the work of the Lord, 20 to 30 percent of all that they had. What are some other principles? Give me another one. There's one. It was an act of worship, right? They brought their tithes to the Tabernacle of Meeting, to the temple, in worship of the Lord. So it wasn't separate from worship. They didn't fill out a tax return every year and send their check, right? It was a part of worship. They went to the temple, they went to the Tabernacle and gave their tithe, gave their tenth, as a part of worship. That's one of the reasons, too, for that festival tithe, the Levitical tithe, as a part of their worship of God and the festivals that the Lord instituted, they worshiped the Lord in giving. So very, very important, a tithe was a part of worship. They were to give above and beyond the tithe in certain circumstances. So for the work of the temple and rebuilding the wall and rebuilding the temple under Nehemiah or under Ezra, the people gave more than the tithe, so that's a principle we see under the Mosaic Covenant. It was robbing God if they didn't give the tithe. Not only was it robbing God if they didn't give it, it was robbing God if they didn't bring it into the storehouse. That they were to bring tithes and, very interesting, in Malachi chapter 3, they were robbing God if they didn't bring the tithe into the storehouse. What else? Tithes and offerings, yeah, it wasn't just the tithes, it was tithes and offerings, Ben made that point. So yeah, they brought tithes and offerings to the Lord, brought them into the storehouse. If they didn't bring both, Malachi 3 says they're robbing from God, okay? It's all those good principles, yes, ma'am. Yes, yeah, yeah, so if you didn't tithe and that's tithe that was considered robbing from God, then you have the judgment of God, judgment of God against tithes. And it happened in Malachi, it was in that passage in Haggai 2, where the Lord says he'll put what they produce in a bag with holes. In other words, the Lord makes it, he blows it away. He blows it away. And there are multiple times we see that in the scripture of God who is sovereign over our possessions supplying everything that we need, say that if we're going to hoard that to ourselves, that he will blow it away. You know, what happened to the manna in the desert if you try to collect more than you were supposed to? Yeah, it's stinketh. It rotted. They weren't to collect, they weren't to take in more than what they needed, the Lord provided it. If you got outside of that, that provision of the Lord outside, the Lord's understanding there that we're to have what we need and we're not to hoard more than we need to ourselves. That was sort of the lesson of the Israelites in the desert. Trust God. Trust God to provide what you need. Don't sinfully hoard possessions because of a lack of faith, right? And so there are all kinds of principles like that that we learn from tithing and all of that under the Mosaic Covenant. But is tithing only or is giving for that matter, but specifically tithing, is tithing only a Mosaic Covenant issue? No, why not? Why isn't that? When we consider tithing, is it only because of the Mosaic Law that we consider tithing? Then? Amen. So why would that be important? Okay, the Mosaic Law definitely teaches tithing, but why is it important that it happened before the Mosaic Law? Yeah, amen. So we talked about mentioned dispensational thinking here there for just a moment. It's sort of during that time, that's the way the Lord administered his rule or his reign over the people, but this happened before. So let's take a look at a couple of those texts. One of them is Genesis chapter 14. So turn to Genesis chapter 14. And this is important to understand. This is what some people would say is a trans dispensational principle. This is a principle from Scripture, command from Scripture that goes beyond one dispensation. Yeah, Oliver. It's the way that a dispensation is described. It's the way that the Lord interrelates with his people during any time in history. Or the way that he administers his rule and reign over the people. So people would say, like a dispensationalist would say, that the way the Lord interacted with the people of God in the wilderness under Moses is different than the way that the Lord administers his rule and reign with the people of God now in the church. So you'd see two different dispensations. You might say that the way the relationship that the Lord had with Adam and Eve in the garden was a little different. The way that he interrelated with Adam and Eve in the garden was a little different in the way he interrelated with the people of God in the wilderness with Moses. And there was some that would say the way that he interrelated with Noah and the people of God at that time was a little different. So they see these various dispensations. Dispensation is a biblical word. Paul uses that word. And it just is a way of describing the way that God interrelates with his people over different times. And if you're a dispensationalist, so to speak, though, that's a theological system that is broad in its understanding. There are some that believe in dispensationalism. They want to break everything up that God is nothing today that he was under Moses, that he was with Adam and Eve in the garden, that there was a different salvation for the people of God under Moses. And there's a different way to be saved nowadays. And it's heretical. It's called hyper-dispensationalism. But along this spectrum, you've got varying degrees of the way people view those various dispensations. And the issue really is with, we'll talk about this in the coming weeks. This is the next subject we're going to cover, a sort of dispensationalism and covenant theology. And we'll break that down so it's clear. It won't be too technical. I think it'll be a really interesting topic to cover for everybody. It's going to be helpful. But there are some dispensationalists who break things up to the point where there is no continuity. There's no connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Or there's little, varying degrees of connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And this really is where this issue of tithing has become an issue. For those that say there's no connection, or little connection, little continuity between Old Testament and New Testament, the issue of tithing was an Old Testament law. It related to the people of Israel under the temple in the Tabernacle. And really isn't for the Christian today. And one of the things that they will say is that's because it says it in Moses' law, but the Mosaic law doesn't apply to the Christian today. Now we have the royal law, or the law of Christ. And so Moses doesn't apply. And the only reason that any law from the Old Testament would apply today is if the New Testament clearly teaches it. If the New Testament doesn't say it or doesn't teach it, then it does not apply to the Christian. So you see in that theological system how that causes issues with our subject of tithing, right? If we established last week tithing taught under the Mosaic law, well if the Mosaic law doesn't apply to the Christian, then why would we tithe? So we go into the New Testament and look at the New Testament and say okay, does the New Testament teach tithing? And they would say no. So the Old Testament taught tithing, that was for a different dispensation. Not really much continuity between Old Testament and New Testament. We come into the New Testament. The New Testament really doesn't teach tithing, they say. We're going to find out that it does. New Testament really doesn't teach tithing, and so tithing is not for the Christian today. But we see passages in the New Testament related to giving and a free will giving, giving from the heart. And so what is taught to the Christian today is just to give as Lord would lay it on your heart to give, right? So that's that issue. It really is, and I know this is a little technical, but an issue between continuity and discontinuity between Old and New Testaments. And the law of God versus whether that applies to the Christian today or not. Our church, our stance on this, and we'll explain why this is, is that there is great continuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. That the law of God given in the form of the Ten Commandments applies to the Christian today. You know, James says, if you stumble in one point of the law, you've what, broken, what is he talking about there? Ten Commandments, yeah. And so there's continuity between Old Testament and New Testament. There's continuity. The law of Moses still applies in some form or fashion. We'll talk about that. To the Christian today, we're to obey the Ten Commandments to walk in a way that is worthy of God, right? To please the Lord. We're to obey him. We're to obey the Commandments. So, does that make sense any? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. We're actually going to try to get into that this morning if there's time, because now what we're doing now, and that's a very good question. If you understood Mike's question, you know, we would say that the ceremonial law, we'll talk about this and we'll explain it. The ceremonial law has all been fulfilled in Christ. So that's why today we don't have feast days and we don't sacrifice animals and we don't celebrate those festivals. It's because Jesus Christ, all of those festivals, all those sacrifices, all of that ceremony, all of that ceremony in the Old Testament was pointing forward to Christ, right? The animal sacrifices, all pointing forward to Christ, the Sabbaths they would hold, all pointing forward to Christ. And so we would say that all that ceremony now has been fulfilled. And that's why all of that stopped, that when Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of that ceremonial portion of the law. Then you had a judicial, like Mike is talking about, a judicial part of the law that was, there were laws of governance for the theocracy. You know, Israel was a nation, not just a, or not a church, so to speak, or not just a covenant community, they were a nation of people. And so they had judicial laws that are also given in the Bible and that pertain to them as a nation, that pertain to them as a theocracy. Well, we're not a theocracy today. We don't live in Israel, the nation. And so those judicial laws that apply to them in their theocracy don't apply to us today. But now also in the Old Testament, you had judicial, you had ceremonial, you also had the moral law of God. And the moral law of God is binding on every person who claims the name of God, it's binding on every person. Lord is going to hold people accountable one day for not obeying the moral law of God. The moral law of God transcends all time, His word lasts forever, stands forever. But from Genesis to Revelation, because it's in keeping with the character of God, we are created as image bearers of God, we're to reflect His character. The moral law applies always. And so when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, those Ten Commandments, all of the Ten Commandments are upheld in the New Testament. The New Testament teaches that we're to obey the Ten Commandments, teaches us to obey the moral law of God. And so it goes across both testaments, there's great continuity, that makes sense. So now the question that Mike points to, where does tithing fit in with that? And that's what we want to try to get to today if we can. So tithing is an important point related to Mike's question. A really important point is that tithing didn't exist only under the Mosaic law. It didn't exist only under the theocracy. So now, picture this if you will. It's a Mike's question, you've got the moral law, the ceremonial law, the judicial law. Tithing was a part of that program, so to speak. The children of Israel, as a nation in the wilderness and when they got into the Promised Land, practiced tithing. So is tithing a part of the judicial law, the ceremonial law, or the moral law? And that question becomes very important for us, is that if it's only under that time period, then there'll be some that would say, well it's gone away with the ceremonial law. Or that was strictly a judicial law, we don't have a nation where we have to pay a temple tax, so to speak, to cover priests. And so we don't have priests today, it went away with the judicial law. There are others that would say it's a principle that applies. Now here's the point I guess to make from this, and this is Ben's point. That because tithing, if tithing was strictly limited to the theocracy, in other words we got to pay the bills, so to speak, and so we created a theocratic tax for the people of Israel to pay. If tithing only existed for the theocracy, then it would have only been under the theocracy. It would have been judicial only, and there'd be no other purpose for it. So when that purpose goes away, then the tithe goes away. Or was it ceremonial only? And so if we're tithing in terms of ceremonial worship, ritual worship, or tithing to support ritual worship or ceremonial worship, then when the ceremonies go away, then the tithe would go away. So why is it important then, considering those things, why is it important then that we see the tithe outside the mosaic covenant in the book of Genesis, long before the mosaic law was given, long before Israel became a theocracy, long before priests and Levites were doing their work, why is that important that we would see that, yes Tom? Yes, yeah. Amen. So to Tom's point now, worship exists outside of the mosaic law, right? Adam and Eve worshiped God, Noah worshiped God. People of God have always worshiped God. From Genesis to Revelation, we'll always worship God. So see Tom's point, not tied strictly to attacks, not tied to just the judicial law, not tied to just ceremonies, it's an act of worship. Yeah, hopefully we're going to get to that today. We'll make a good effort. So if we don't finish it today, we'll finish it next week. Okay, so let's look at this text now. We're in Genesis chapter 14, and somebody nice and loud, just read for us verses 13 through 24. This is Genesis 14 verses 13 through 24. Alright, thank you brother. Okay, so now many, many principles again that we're going to draw from this. And that's the way we study the Bible. When you take a text of Scripture, you have to look at that Scripture at, we've talked about this before in hermeneutics, but how that applied to them specifically at that day and age, their immediate context. You know, how an audience at that time would have understood what is being said. You have to take the principles out of that that would apply to us in our context today. There are things that will differ between us contextually, and then there will be things that apply to us from the Bible the same. And we have to separate those two things. And so we've got several examples done in Scripture, and I'll give you some examples here. So first, we have this situation coming where Abram goes in and rescues his brother Lot. There's a battle, and he is victorious, and Lot, and all his goods, all his people are rescued. And so these two kings come out then to meet Abram. Abram is victorious, and you have a huge contrast here. You have the king of Sodom who was extremely wicked. Sodom is just a wicked place, the king of wicked king. And so this wicked king comes out to Sodom, comes out to Abram, and then you have Melchizedek. Now Melchizedek said the king of Salem. Melchizedek, the name, means righteous one, or righteous king. Melchizedek, king of Salem. And it says in Genesis 14 that he was a priest of God most high. So as a priest, Melchizedek was a spiritual authority. And it's important to note, he was a spiritual authority over Abram. When Abram came, rescued, ran into Melchizedek, Melchizedek is a priest, and he's a priest with spiritual authority and spiritual authority over Abram. Name meaning king of righteousness. So some believe that Melchizedek is just an unknown person from biblical history. Others believe this may be a theophany. This was a picture of Christ from the Old Testament. We don't really know much about Melchizedek other than what we get here in Hebrews chapter 7. But it's important to note here that Abram, in the way that Abraham, interrelated with Melchizedek, that Abram saw him as a spiritual authority. Or saw him as, I mean, for lack of a better way of putting it, that Melchizedek had authority as a spiritual priest of God most high. So then in verse 19, Abraham accepted a blessing from him. He says Melchizedek verse 18, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God most high, and he blessed him and said and gave him a blessing. So as a result of the blessing of the priest of God, as a result of Abram's thankfulness to God for the blessing of having gotten locked back, just as an act of worship like Tom was talking about, to God for all that God has done for Abram, in response to the Lord's blessing and to the Lord's representative, so to speak, Melchizedek, priest of the Lord most high, Abram paid a tenth, gave a tenth of all that he possessed. It was a tenth of the spoils of his war, so to speak, of the war. He paid him a tithe, okay? What does the tithe mean again? Tenth, tenth, okay? Now, think about the principles as we go through, what principles you're gonna draw from this. But because Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, and this is gonna be the point that we'll look at when we get to Hebrews chapter 7, because Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek, or the priesthood of Melchizedek, is superior to the Levitical priesthood that came out of Abraham. Now, explain that. Abraham, father of Israel. Out of Abraham came the 12 tribes of Israel, out of Abraham came the Levitical priesthood, out of Abraham came the Levites, came Aaron, right? So out of Abraham, the people of Israel came. Because Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, this is gonna be the point that Hebrews 7 makes, because Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, Melchizedek, the order of Melchizedek's priesthood, or Melchizedek himself, is greater than the Levitical priesthood that came out of Abraham. Right? Everybody understand that? Get that? So that's a very important point to make, and the Lord's gonna make that point later. The Levites descended from Abraham. The Levitical priesthood descended from Abraham. So when Abraham tithed, as if the whole Levitical priesthood tithed to Melchizedek through Abraham. That's an important point to make, okay? So now, think about this for a moment. You've got this scenario with the two kings. In talking about the king of Sodom, Abraham said that he would not take a thread from that wicked king of Sodom, because Abraham had lifted his hand to the Lord Most High, to God Most High. What did Abraham do there? He was making a covenant, making a vow, making a promise to God. So Abraham, now Abraham, was he, did he deserve to take spoils from Sodom? Technically yes, because it was victorious in war. Abraham won the battle. He could have taken all those spoils for himself. But Abraham had paid a vow to God, made a covenant with God. He wasn't going to take anything from that wicked king of Sodom. And in all of that, that's exercising what in God. Faith in God, exercising faith in God that God is going to provide. Now he took the blessing from Melchizedek, and he would have seen Melchizedek as God's representative. He would have seen that blessing as coming from God himself through Melchizedek, right? He'd already received the promise from God. We've got to get to Genesis 15, where God is going to make the covenant with Abraham, where he separates the animals, right? The fiery furnace and all of that. So he has this covenant from God to Abraham. So God, Abraham is exercising faith in God. He is not going to trust the kings of this world. He's not going to trust the spoils of war. He's not going to trust anything he could get from, he could get from the king of Sodom, a Sodom. And he doesn't want the king of Sodom to say down the road that he made him Abraham rich and somehow Abraham owes him. Abraham wants to be beholden to God alone in all that he has. So this is, in addition to being an act of worship, which it is, a response and thankfulness of the Lord, which it is, a tithe in accord with priesthood, so to speak, or a representative of God, which it is, it's also an act of faith in the Lord, an act of faith in the Lord alone, okay? So, give me some principles now from this account. If you look at Scripture, you're going to observe the text and you're going to draw out principles from the text that relate to the tithe, what would some of those principles be? And don't think about it, you know, too in-depth. Some of these are lying right on the surface. You just pick them right up and they're good principles to take from this. What are some principles that we get from this account in Genesis 14? Don't be bashful. Yes, Nolan? Ten percent. Ten percent, awesome. Thank you, brother. So he paid a tenth and it was a tenth of the, here a tenth of the spoils of war, a tenth of all that Abraham received from his activities here, okay? So a tenth, yeah, very good. Some good principles. Ben's already mentioned one, what would that be? Yeah, Tom mentioned worship, so it's an act of worship. That's the principle we draw. Ben mentioned it's outside the Mosaic Covenant. This is in Genesis 14, so that's pretty obvious. Somebody else, Brenda? Faithfulness, yeah, so an act of faith in the Lord. Oh, thankful, yes, thankful. Yeah, a faithful too, so we covered two verses with one stone. Yeah, so he's thankful that he gives that thankful to God. Is that obvious from the text? So expressing gratefulness to God, Abraham gives a tithe, okay? Yeah? Yeah, if you're gonna observe the text well, you gotta say that it's of all. It says that he gave him a tenth of all. That all there is referring to everything that had come in, to Abraham from the, they're gonna say the spoils of war. So, you know, he went in, he took all these goods and possessions back with him, and of all that he took back with him, he gave the tenth to the Lord of all. So yeah, you'd have to say it's a tenth of all that he took in, right? Amen. Yeah, that's something that you pick up from the text, right? We see that in the Mosaic Law, we see it here with Abraham. This is a very important point, that those in covenant with God give, and not give only indiscriminately, they give a tenth, and then give offerings above and beyond the tenth. So yeah, it is a, it's a testimony of the covenant. It's you enter into covenant with God. That's what he's done here. I mean, he's trusting God. He's entered into covenant with the God most high. He's not going to tie himself to the wicked kings of this world. And so in, I mean, for lack of a better way of saying it, sort of, you know, in a way that ratifies the covenant or depicts or evidences the covenant, Abraham gives a tenth of all that he has, of all that he gets. He gives a tenth back to God. So yeah, I think it's closely tied to the covenant. Yes. Yeah, that was actually a question I was going to ask coming up, is that, can you think of any place, you know, no, no, it's good. It's perfect segue, brother. Thank you. Genesis 14, we'll look at Genesis 28, too, with Jacob. But any other time outside of that, that you see this act of giving, and we see that in Genesis chapter four with Cain and Abel. What's, you know, thinking real quickly about Cain and Abel, bringing their offerings before the Lord, what's a principle that we've already mentioned that you see in that account in Genesis four with Cain and Abel? A principle that you would take away about what they gave and how they gave. Yes. Yeah, amen. So if you're tied and you're tied just out of ritual, then it's not the right heart. That's not acceptable worship of God. So again, it ties it to worship, doesn't it? You've got to give. You've got to give with the right heart. This is an act of worship. Yeah. So it's an act, it's a testimony of faith. So there again, see all these principles that get brought? It's a testimony of faith in the Lord. Very good. From their earnings. So we see a principle of it's from earnings and that we get the issue of first fruits. First are the best of the flock, the best of our produce. No one. Amen. Amen. Yeah, it's got to be acceptable worship. Yeah, very good. So you see how that we're tying all this. We're building a case here. We're tying all this together. It's not just a tax to support somebody working in the temple. And I mean, if that was all that it was just to keep the lights on, so to speak, it'd be different. But there's so much more to this, isn't there? That we see throughout Scripture related to this. And all those principles related to Genesis chapter 4 with Cain and Abel, very important principles. And we see the same thing here in Genesis chapter 14 with Abram. All those principles still in operation. Oliver. Yeah. Can you imagine? I mean, in one sense, it just, you know, it popped into the head of Cain to do some ritualistic, heartless, you know, worship of God. I'm just going to go before God. I'm going to worship him inappropriately because I'm a God-hater and that's what I'm going to do. That'd be one thing. But yeah, there's the implication there that worship of God was expected and that Cain came inappropriately. That Cain came with an unacceptable sacrifice, an unacceptable worship. So yeah, that's a good point too. So a lot of really good principles from that. And again, that's in Genesis chapter 4 that we see all those. And those principles, aren't they? We're finding out. We're coming to the understanding. And this is going to be important. We've got to determine, once we look at these passages, if this is just descriptive of what Abraham did with Melchizedek or if this is something that is prescriptive that all people of God need to do, we've got to answer that question. And one of the ways that you answer that question is by looking at these principles throughout Scripture and the way that people of God obeyed him and we take lesson from that from Scripture. So all these things, these trans-dispensational principles, if you will, or these principles that last from cover to cover in your Bible, all very important and very important for making this case. So any other principles that you see drawn from Abraham and Melchizedek here? Yes, Mike. Yes. So it shows that Melchizedek was in authority over Abram, but also shows that Abram was being submissive to priestly authority, right? So this was an act of submission on the part of Abram to do this as well. Some people have difficulty reconciling those two things. Act of worship and act of submission. Those two things go hand in hand. We submit ourselves to the Lord in worshiping him. And we are to submit ourselves. Can you imagine going to worship the Lord in rebellion, the rebellion in your heart, you know? We submit ourselves before the Lord in worshiping him. So Abram did that with Melchizedek. It's very good. I think we've said everything else. So it's a suppression of faith. It's a response to blessing equal to a tenth given to an order of priests. That priesthood greater than the Levitical priesthood. So all those principles apply. Okay, so I hope you're jotting those down. Now, because what we're going to do here soon is we're going to build this case. I'm going to put all those principles to good work. Yes. Amen. Yeah, very, very good. Yeah, very good point. I love Pastor Mark's exhortation this morning during the giving part of the worship service. Yeah, the Lord judges those who are covetous. We saw that in Isaiah when Mark was speaking to that pastor this morning. And so it's a way to put off covetousness for us is to faithfully give. And in faithfully giving, trusting the Lord, not only is it putting off covetousness for us, but it's that act of faith that the Lord is going to provide exactly what we need and going to care for us. So just so much blessing that the Lord weaves into the fabric of tithing. It's very, very important. It's a very good point, brother. Okay. Let's take a look at next text we want to look at is Genesis 28. Genesis 28. And Genesis 28 is the account here of Jacob. And again, this is outside the Mosaic Law outside the Mosaic Covenant. And many principles involved here in Jacob's act. If you're going to say that tithing was only related to government in Israel, the theocracy, or you're going to say that tithing was only under the Mosaic Covenant, only applied to Israel while the temple was necessary or why the tabernacle was necessary. And that's what many who object to tithing say. Tithing doesn't exist today or isn't important today because we have no temple. We have no priesthood. We have no tabernacle. So it's not necessary. We have no theocracy, so it's not necessary. If you're going to do that, if you're going to say that, then you've got to be able to say that Genesis 14 doesn't apply as a text on tithing to the people of God. It's descriptive only for Abraham in that one circumstance. Now, the reasons that are raised for that very thought process or that point is that, well, in the ancient Near East, at the time that Abraham was doing this, the pagans tithed. This was a custom of the pagans. That's why Sodom, the king of Sodom, was going to take a portion or give a portion of goods. The pagans practiced tithing at that time. Well, we have no account of whether the pagan cultures who did practice tithing at that time took that practice from the Bible. These people who object would say that Abraham took that from the pagans. Well, we've got no basis for that. It was obvious that Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek that's illustrated for us very clearly in Scripture. And there are reasons given for why Abraham did it. All of that was faith in God, act of worship, trusting in God, thankful to God, all those kinds of things. And so whether a pagan country did it or not really is irrelevant. The Bible teaches, the Bible clearly says what Abraham did. And it gives us an example there. I have to say that it was only descriptive, that because it was spoils of war and I mean those kinds of things. And all of that really is reading into the text to speculate about the circumstances that Abraham was under. Lord says all Scripture has been given by inspiration of God and is profitable for. We're to be able to take instruction. We're to be able to take rebuke. We're to be able to take correction from Genesis chapter 14 with respect to Abraham and the tithe. Yes, yeah. It's explicitly given under the Mosaic covenant, right? And we'll talk about why that's important to and how that, there's a progression. We'll talk about why that works. Yeah. So here it's implied from what Abraham did. Many examples given in Scripture, worship isn't it? Throughout Scripture, there are places where the Lord commands people of God to worship him. But we see examples of worship throughout Scripture that informs how we are to worship the Lord. That aren't explicitly commanded. But we take that, those laws, if you will, are principles about worship and we apply them in our worship of God. Because it's right to do that. It's right to study the Bible that way, right to obey the Bible in that way. And we'll talk more about that. I think it's a good point, brother. Okay. So Genesis chapter 28. We'll run out of time. Let me read this quickly to you. Genesis chapter 28. Look down beginning in verse 10. And it says here verse 10. Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Heran. And so he came to a certain place and stayed there all night because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of that place, put it at his head, he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed and behold a ladder was set up on earth and its top reached the heaven. And there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. Behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to the west and the east to the north and to the south. And in you and in your seed all families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold I'm with you. We'll keep you wherever you go. We'll bring you back to this land for I'll not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. What is that? The Lord just, yeah covenant. So this is the Abrahamic covenant that is being renewed or given to Jacob. Okay. So look at what Jacob does verse 16. Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. And he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven. So Jacob rose early in the morning and he took the stone that he'd put at his head and he set it up as a pillar. What's Jacob about to do? Worship. He's about to worship God. And he poured oil on top of it. Verse 19. And he called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of that city had been Lutz previously. And then Jacob made a vow saying, If God will be with me and keep me in this way that I'm 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. Okay. So we have another example now. Old Testament outside the mosaic covenant where Jacob gave a tenth of all that he had, of all that he got to the Lord. So give me some principles here. You're going to find these overlapping. What are some principles? You're going to observe the text, draw out principles from the text. What do you see? Amen. Yeah. Very good. Yeah. It's interesting how those two things fit together. You saw that in Genesis 14. In Genesis 15, God gives the Abraham covenant and you've got Abraham and God in covenant together. And so it's connected there. You've got the same thing here. The Lord repeats the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob, repeats the promise and Jacob worships and Jacob gives a tenth. I think those things are connected. Very good. Someone else? What's another principle? Yes. Trusting and depending on God. You notice one of the objections, one of the objections to Jacob giving here, because again, if you're going to say that tithing was only mosaic, then you've got to do away with this text. This text can't apply. So you've got to do away with it. So one of the objections that they say about this text is that Jacob is a swindler. He cheated his brother out of his birthright, out of the blessing. He deceived him. So Jacob is a deceiver. And so Jacob, when he comes to God in this passage, listen, God, here's what I'll do. If you do these things for me, okay, then I'll do this for you. It's not what Jacob is saying here. This is not the act of a swindler. This is Jacob's response to God's covenant to provide for Jacob. Does Jacob believe, let me ask that question that way, maybe, does Jacob believe that God is going to provide for him? Yes, he does. Does Jacob believe God's covenant promise to him? Yes, he does. Does Jacob believe that he is going to bring him back to his father's house in peace? Yes, he does. He's not like, listen, God, if you bring me back to my father's house in peace, then I'll give you a tithe of all I have. Or listen, God, if you'll provide, give me everything I need, then I'll give you a tithe. Jacob trusts God for all these things, and in response to God's faithful provision of these things, they're a done deal. In Jacob's mind, Jacob is worshiping God by giving a tenth of all that he possesses. So this again is just a testimony of God's faithfulness. It's an act of faith and the goodness and provision of God. What other principles do you see? Very good. Yes, so God gave it to him. Who does everything belong to? The Lord's. Jacob sees himself simply as a steward or a recipient of the blessings of God, and so Jacob freely gives back to God. Yeah, that's a good principle to carry forward, too, as we start talking about this later in the New Testament. Yeah, Tom. Amen. Can you see how... That's such a good point, Tom. Can you see how if the tithe were only to a theocracy to try to keep the government, the work going, is that really to God? If the tithe were only to, you know, support work in the temple, only to the Levites. Well, the tithe would be to the Levite, and it would have no bearing, really, would it on God? It would be going for the work of the Levite. But at Tom's point in Genesis 14, here in Genesis 28, under the Mosaic law, the tithe was to God. It was given at the temple. It was given as an act of worship, given as an act of faith. So, yeah, thank you, brother. I think it's really, really good. Some quick points, Jen and then Ben. Amen. Yeah, Jacob feared. And that was the purpose, right, that the Lord had instituted the tithe in the Mosaic Covenant, was to teach the people how to fear the Lord. And here, Jacob, fearing the Lord, gave the tithe. Yeah, as we gave it, trusting God. Yeah, amen. You know, it's interesting, the objections that people have. Well, okay, you know, my tithe goes to the Lord. And so, I can give it to this organization and this organization and this organization. Most of them are church or false organizations. Well, the Lord says, where's that principle? Where's the principle that applies in that circumstance? Pardon me? It comes into the storehouse. Yeah, it comes into the storehouse. The other issue that comes out of that is that because my tithe is to God, does God need my money? No. And so, you know, I can, that's what people think, say those things. Those are objections that are raised. Crazy ones. Okay, so what are some other principles that's a common part of worship, right? He was setting up the stones. That was actually those stones. That's the way they set up stones when they were going to sacrifice. Just a normal part of worship he gave. So, yeah, I think that was a very good point. Yes. Not, the Bible doesn't say that, but it is an act that a believer does in the course of worship. And so, I think the connection that we can make is that Abraham believed God, God counted it to him for righteousness, and then as a fruit of his faith in God, Abraham gave as an act of worship. We can say the same thing of Jacob. The Lord made a promise to Jacob. Jacob believed God, God credited to Jacob as righteousness, and then as a fruit of Jacob's belief in God, he gave as an act of worship to God. That makes sense. So, yeah, it's a fruit. I think giving is a fruit or tithing. It's a fruit of faith, evidence of faith. Yeah. If you're a humble-hearted Christian, you come across a passage like this and you read it and you're observing the text, right? You're trying to draw out of the text worship to the Lord, and so you're reading it and you think, wow, Jacob, boy, the house of God, can you imagine? Ladder, angels ascending and descending on it and what an awesome scene, what an awesome promise given by God, and then you see as a humble-hearted Christian, right? You're reading that and you're thinking, wow, what an amazing experience there that Jacob had. And look at what Jacob did. Jacob worshiped and then Jacob gave. In your heart, you're just, I want to worship the Lord, and I want to worship the Lord just like Jacob did. I want to give. Look at all the Lord has given me. It just doesn't that produce in you. It's those principles like that through Scripture that inform our worship, and a tithe is inescapably a part of that. We see it throughout Scripture. So, yeah, active gratefulness to God. Yeah, made a vow before the Lord. It's almost back to this covenant issue that the Lord made a covenant with Jacob, and in response, Jacob covenanted with the Lord. Now, we covenant with the Lord to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to follow him as Lord, but here Jacob also made a vow as a part of that to give the tithe to the Lord, made a commitment, made a vow to do that. Very good. Okay, we're running out of time. So, those two passages now, if you can, between now and next Sunday, come up with reasons for why those should not be in the Bible. Then let me know. But these are passages outside of the Mosinic Covenant that cannot be... This is no swindler's deal that Jacob is making here. Jacob here is not being a cheat. Jacob is not up to, some would say, his old ways, so to speak. This is worship of God. Abram, that's worship of God. That wasn't strictly because of some agreement that he made with those he went to war with. It wasn't as a result of, you know, trying to shove off the king of Sodom. It wasn't because, well, this is what the pagans of the land are doing, so I'm just going to do the same thing. Abram was in an act of worship to God-most high that provided him with a victory. Well, most of the time it's dispensationalism that... Well, it doesn't have to be hyper, no, any form of dispensationalism. There's some that obviously dispensationalists that believe in the tithe, but I think it's a fruit of dispensationalism that does away with the tithe. But listen, when you do away with the tithe, then you've got to go back into Genesis and say, why don't these passages count anymore? You've got to do away, so to speak, with the application of Genesis 14 or Genesis 28 to modern-day tithing. You've got to say that doesn't apply in the way that we're saying it applies, and you've got to come up with reasons why. And so on one case, I do think there are many, you know, godly men who hold a different view on tithing that are trying to be intellectually honest with the text, and they just, you know, I think get it wrong, but I think in a lot of cases, it's just here's the sort of the theological system that I'm holding to, and so in order to support that theological system, I don't believe that tithing is for the Christian today. If tithing isn't for the Christian today, then these principles that proponents of tithing use, like Genesis 14, Genesis 28 being transdispensational, I've got to come up with reasons for why that isn't true. And so that happens over the centuries. Countless tithes, Jesse. I think that's the right way to view Scripture, and that's why I think we hold more to the continuity of Scripture than a discontinuity between the Testaments. There's continuity, so we would go back in the Old Testament, and there's much that we can learn, much that we need to apply from the Old Testament today, and we just would see more continuity. I think that's the right way to view the Bible, so we'll talk about that a little more next week, next week too, and we didn't get through the sort of the point of all this, we'll do that next week too, and the point of all this is we've got to answer the question, because Genesis 14, Genesis 28, teaches all these principles on tithing, then we've got to answer the question, is that then prescriptive for the Christian today, or is it merely descriptive of what Abraham or Jacob did in their context at that time? If it's descriptive for them only, well, then it doesn't apply to us, and we can ignore it, but if it's prescriptive, then it's something that we need to take into consideration today, and we'll answer that question and go on to a couple of New Testament texts next week. All right, let's pray. Father in Heaven, thank you for this time together. Thank you for the clear teaching of the Word of God, just so grateful to you, Lord, for how the Word, just so clear to us. Just a sure guide teaches us what we're to know, what we're to obey, just so helpful, Lord. So thank you for your word to us, and be with us now as we worship you. Be with us as we study your word further during the worship service. Help us to sing, Lord, from the heart, or I pray that our worship of you would be true worship in spirit and in truth from the heart. We love you, Lord. We're so grateful for all that you've done for us and all the promises, Lord, that you've made and kept that have been fulfilled in Christ, and just so grateful, Lord, that we can be called children of God. So we worship you. Love you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. A few minutes, and we'll get started in...