Firstfruit in the Old Testament is a type and shadow of the New ——- the literal substance. Christ is our firstfruit (1 Cor 15:23)!
On tithing... many preachers love to quote Malachi 3.
Malachi 1 sets the context for Malachi 3.
Malachi 1:11-12
For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
12 “But you profane it,
In that you say,
‘The table of the Lord is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
Malachi 1:13-14
13 You also say,
‘Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the Lord.
14 “But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.
Question: Who is God addressing in the audience?
Answer: The priests of Israel!
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. - Malachi 2:1
In chapter 2, God rebuked the priests, who were the leader of His people, because of their wayward lifestyle.
Malachi 3:1-4
Behold, I send My messenger,
And he will prepare the way before Me.
And the Lord, whom you seek,
Will suddenly come to His temple,
Even the Messenger of the covenant,
In whom you delight.
Behold, He is coming,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
2 “But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner’s fire
And like launderers’ soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the Lord
An offering in righteousness.
Questions:
1) Who is the messenger who prepares the way for the Lord?
Answer: John the Baptizer. See also Matthew 3:1-3 and Matthew 11:10.
2) Who came to the temple of God?
Answer: Jesus.
3) Who purified and rebuked the sons of Levi —— the priests?
Answer: Jesus.
4) Who purified the offering so that it is now offered in righteousness?
Answer: Jesus.
Malachi 3:3 says that Jesus will purify the sons of Levi and refine them. Then the offering (3:4) will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in the former years.
Jesus will not be purifying the sons of Levi in His second coming. This happened in the first coming. It’s pointing to the New Covenant offering in Malachi 3:4.
Malachi 3:8-12
Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”
Says the Lord of hosts;
12 “And all nations will call you blessed,
For you will be a delightful land,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
Since God was addressing the Levitical priests, the tithes which He referred to is the Levitical tithes —— the Law tithe.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. - Gal 3:13-14
Malachi 3 can no longer be used for believers on tithing. It was meant for Israel —— the Levitical priests. The Old Covenant. The Law. All had been fulfilled by Christ and we have been redeemed from the curse of the Law!
Anyone who preaches, “if you don’t tithe, you will be cursed...” tells us very clearly that he doesn’t know what Christ did on the Cross.
Besides, the true Levitical tithe had three parts:
The first Levitical tithe in Numbers 18 for the priests and the Levites; the second tithe in Deut 12 —— they could eat this tithe on their own!!!; the third tithe for the poor and the widows in Deut 14.
It consists of three tithes. The first two are a tenth.
The third tithe for the poor and the widows is once in every 3 years, so it’s 3.3% per year. Technically speaking, the total Levitical tithing is 22.33%!!
If you really want to tithe, you should follow the Levitical tithing of 23.33%, not just 10%!
Of course, some preachers will argue about Abraham’s tithing (before the Law was given) and Hebrews 7. But all of those passages have to be read in context.
In Abraham’s case, God did not request for any tithe. Abraham himself wanted to give to Melchizedek. In fact, Abraham did not give a tenth from his produce. Technically speaking, he was not fulfilling the law of tithing (since tithing is supposed to be from your produce/harvest). He merely gave a tenth from the enemy’s spoils! For the remaining 90%, he kept nothing (Gen 14:22-24) but gave to the King of Sodom. If we want to follow Abraham’s ‘tithing’, then you should give 100% to God, instead of mere 10%.
Note: In Abraham’s days, it was a common pagan practice/custom to give tithes (in varying percentage) to the pagan kings. Abraham lived in a land filled with pagan kings and it wouldn’t be surprised that he adopted the custom when he gave to Melchizedek and King of Sodom.
Next, we look at Jacob. Jacob was not asked to tithe. He gave a tenth because he himself made a vow to God (Gen 28:20-22). We cannot take a passage or an incident and build a whole doctrine around it!
Last but not least, the passage often quoted by preachers is in Hebrews 7:4-10. We need to understand the context of Hebrews before we can interpret this passage.
The whole book of Hebrews lays a big context —— Jesus is BETTER than the Old Covenant and every other thing. The Hebrew Christians in those days were living in both covenants. They were born again, yet they tried to keep the Law. The Temple had not yet been desecrated by King Nero.
The writer of Hebrews wrote the letter to teach them on the New Covenant and Chapter 7 talks about why Jesus, in the order of Melchizedek, is like Melchizedek priest and that His priesthood is way better than the Levitical priesthood and the patriarchs.
The Levitical priests were greater than the people. That’s why they received tithes from them (Heb 7:5).
The Melchizedek priest was greater than Abraham. That’s why He received Abraham’s tithe.
Hebrews 7:6-7 explains that the Greater blesses the lesser: Melchizedek > Abraham > Levi > People of Israel. That was the sequence.
Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. - Heb 7:9-10
Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. - Heb 7:8
Mortal men (the Levitical priests) receive tithes and they obviously died. Melchizedek receives, but lives forever —— pointing to the truth that He is greater than all the patriarchs and all the Levitical priests.
Jesus, being in the order of Melchizedek, is the Greatest Priest of all, and He is better than all of them. It points to the flaws of the Levitical priesthood and the need for a New Priesthood, Jesus Christ and the New Covenant.
In a nutshell, Hebrews 7 has nothing to do with the context/principle of tithing. The subject is not on tithing. Tithes in this passage is merely an illustration to establish the greatness of the Melchizedek priesthood. Because in Abraham’s days and in that custom, you only tithe to the king who is greater than you.
