Tithing By Bruce W. Robida Part 2 of 5 The Covenants Updated 11-17-09

 

Before we continue with the issue of tithing, it's important to consider the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.  In the fist part of this essay we saw that  tithing was a requirement under the old law, which some will argue today still applies.  The final seven verses of Scripture (in the New Testament),  which deal with tithing refers us back to the Old Testament. These verses show us the similarities and the differences, between Melchizedek the high priest, and Christ the Most High Priest.  The Bible says that Melchizedek had no ancestry.  Like Christ, he has no beginning, and no end, and he is a priest forever.  The difference is, that Melchizedek was not a perfect man and had to offer sacrifices in the temple not only for the sins of the people, but for his own sins as well. Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all except himself because He was perfect.  He was without sin.  Abram gave a tenth, voluntarily to Melchizedek, before the tithe became mandatory.  Aaron, who came after Melchizedek, received a tithe from the Israelites because they were commanded by God to do so, after God made a covenant with Moses.  This was part of the Old Covenant, or what some places in the Bible call, the first covenant.  But now, since Christ came, He made a New Covenant with us which made the Old Covenant obsolete (Heb 8:13).  But it would only take affect after He died on the cross.  Because of this New Covenant, we are no longer bound by the old law, but we have a new and better way of doing things, including how we give.  We are no longer commanded to tithe under the New Covenant. The High Priest is no longer a mortal man, but Christ. The Levitical priesthood ended when Christ became our High Priest. Christ is not here to distribute the tithes that were once required, nor are the levitical priests here to receive it.  But we who believe, have become priests ourselves (1 Pe 2:1-9, Rev 1:6, 5:10).  And Christ has made us ministers of the new covenant (2 Cor 3:6), and in His Word, He has told us how we should minister.  Later, we'll look at what Christ and the apostles taught about giving, but for now, let’s take a look at what the Bible says about the New Covenant, the priesthood, and the law. 

First, we must establish that Jesus has become our new high priest.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. HEB 4:14

No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." HEB 5:4-6 

During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. HEB 5:7-10

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. HEB 6:16-20

It is easy to see from these Scriptures that Jesus is our high priest. Next we will see that He established a New Covenant with us; a covenant that was completely different from the one that God had established with Moses and the Israelites.  This New Covenant was superior to the Old Covenant in that the Old Covenant came with conditions.  If the Israelites obeyed the laws of the Old Covenant, God would bless them.  If they disobeyed, they would be cursed (see Deuteronomy 28).  But Christ established a New Covenant that could not be broken unlike the Old Covenant.  Keeping the laws of the New Covenant was not dependent upon man’s effort, but it was entirely for Jesus to keep.  The reason He made it that way is that we were imperfect and incapable of keeping the law. 

If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come--one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?  For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law.  He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." 
HEB 7:11-17

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
 HEB 7:18-19

And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn  and will not change his mind: `You are a priest forever.' " Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. HEB 7:20-22

Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. HEB 7:23-25

Such a high priest meets our need--one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. HEB 7:26-28

The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man. HEB 8:1-2

Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain." But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. HEB 8:3-6

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. HEB 8:7-9

So now we see that Jesus, who became our high priest, also established a New Covenant because the people were imperfect, and there was something wrong with the Old Covenant.  Moses was commanded by God to explain His covenant with the Israelites, and before Christ came and died, all of God’s people were expected to obey the entire law as set forth by Moses.  But since Christ did come, and He did die, and He did establish a New Covenant, all of God’s people are now expected to obey the laws of Christ and not the laws of Moses.

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. HEB 6:9-12

Who and what are we to imitate?  Do we imitate those who obeyed the laws of Moses by obeying the laws of the Old Covenant?  No! We imitate their faith.  By faith they obeyed God’s laws according Moses, and so we too should obey God, but not according to the laws of Moses, but according to the laws of Christ.

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. HEB 3:1-6

These Scriptures establish Christ and His Covenant as being superior to Moses and his covenant.  The following Scriptures teach us about some of the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant and why the New Covenant is superior to the Old Covenant.

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear. HEB 8:10-13

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. HEB 9:1-5

When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external regulations applying until the time of the new order. HEB 9:6-10

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! HEB 9:11-14

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.  HEB 9:15

In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. HEB 9:16-22

It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. HEB 9:23-28

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. HEB 10:1-4

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, `Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do your will, O God.' " HEB 10:5-7

First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. HEB 10:8-10

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. HEB 10:11-14

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: "This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more." And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. HEB 10:15-18

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. HEB 10:19-25

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. HEB 10:26-31

As I said earlier, the first covenant, or the covenant God made with Moses, was a covenant with conditions.  If the Israelites obeyed the laws, God would bless them.  If they did not obey the laws, they would be cursed (Deuteronomy 28).  Today, we are under the New Covenant.  God blesses who He wants, when He wants, whether we are good or bad.  He does this so that we will turn to Him.  Christians should have no fear of being cursed because we are no longer under the law of Moses.

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. GAL 3:10-14

To get a better understanding of the New Covenant, it would be good to read and study the entire book of Hebrews.  I included many verses here, but there is much more that can be learned by reading all that is written about it.

Next, we will take a look at the literal meanings for the word, covenant as it was used in the Old and New Testaments in their original language.  You will see that even though the English words are the same, their meanings change in the Hebrew and Greek languages based on their context. It is important to see these differences because they will show how one covenant was clearly different from the other.

The Old Covenant

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites." Ex.19:5-6

Did you notice that I underlined the words if and then?  These were the conditions of the covenent.  If they obeyed their part of the covenant, then God would fulfill His part of the covenant.

Covenant (Hebrew) Old Testament

Strong's Concordance of the Bible  Ref. # 1285 Romanized  briyth Pronounced ber-eeth' from HSN1262 (in the sense of cutting [like HSN1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh):  KJV--confederacy, [con-]feder[-ate], covenant, league.

The word covenant as it is used in Exodus 19:5, was the covenant that God made with Moses and it was a covenant that was established with conditions.  God told Moses, "...if you obey me fully and keep my covenant..."Notice the word, if.  There were conditions set for maintaining their covenant with God, and we see that those conditions in Deuteronomy chapter 28 were blessings for obedience, and curses for disobedience.  This covenant was an agreement between God and man, but because man could not keep his agreement, God did away with it by making a New Covenant with us through Christ.

The New Covenant 

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Heb 8:10. 

Did you notice that I underlined the phrase, I will?  Three times God tells us that He will do something, requiring nothing from us in response.  This is the difference.  In the Old Covenant a response was required.  In the New Covenant, no response is required to make His New Covenant affective.

Covenant (Greek) New Testament

Strong's Concordance of the Bible, Ref. # 1242 Romanized  diatheke Pronounced dee-ath-ay'-kay from GSN1303; properly, a disposition, i.e. (specially) a contract (especially a devisory will): KJV--covenant, testament.

The word covenant, as it was used in Hebrews 8:10 was the covenant that was established by Jesus.  According to Strong's Concordance of the Bible, the term devisory will is used. 

In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,... 
Heb 9:16

...because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. HEB 9:17

There is another form of the word diatheke, or covenant, and that word is diatithemai, meaning covenanting.  You’ll notice I underlined the phrase, who made it, which is a reference to making the covenant or covenanting.  In the following definition you will see another reference to how the New Covenant was established.  It was assigned, or bequeathed to us by Christ.

Covenanting ( Greek ) New Testament

Strong's Concordance of the Bible, Ref. # 1303 Romanized  diatithemai Pronounced dee-at-ith'-em-ahee middle voice from GSN1223 and GSN5087; to put apart, i.e. (figuratively) dispose (by assignment, compact, or bequest):  KJV--appoint, make, testator. 

This is a covenant of grace.  It was a gift from God that was given to us after Christ had died on the cross.  The curtain in the temple leading to the most holy place was torn making it possible for all men to enter. 

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Rom 4:16

Grace (Greek) New Testament

Strong's Concordance of the Bible, Ref. # 5485 Romanized  charis Pronounced khar'-ece from GSN5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): KJV--acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace(- ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank(-s, -worthy).

This New Covenant of Christ is obviously a gift from God.  It is not an agreement between God and man, it is God's free gift that Christ assigned or bequeathed to us.  We can either accept it, or reject it.  Once He died, His gift of the New Covenant took affect.  He bequeathed it to us in His will (see Strong's numbers 1242 and 1303). Notice the different meanings for the word, covenant, from the Hebrew to the Greek. In the first usage (Old Covenant), it is an agreement between God and men.  In the second usage (New Covenant), it is a free gift from God.

Can you see that the Old Covenant and the New Covenant are different, even in principle?  One was established with conditions attached to it and the other was offered as a free gift without conditions. 

The New Covenant is something we are brought into by Jesus Christ, through believing in Him.  Believing, means that we know we are saved by grace, because of the sacrifice that Christ made by taking our sins upon His own shoulders, and paying the penalty that we no longer have to pay.  That on the third day He rose from the dead, and lives today at the right hand of God the Father.  That He intercedes for us because He knows our weaknesses, Himself being tempted in every way, but remaining faithful even unto death.  That we can enter the most holy place, where mere men are no longer forbidden to enter, but we have been invited to go in, behind the curtain, petitioning God with every kind of request, boldly, as sons who know who they are, and who their Father is. That Christ is the mediator of a New Covenant, and we no longer need a priest to intercede on our behalf.  Believing what Christ taught the apostles, and what the apostles teach us through the Word of God, and that we do what we know we should do according to the Word of God because the Holy Spirit, Who indwells every believer, leads us into all truth. 

And in so believing, Christ has put His laws in our minds and wrote them on our hearts, saying, "

... I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." Heb 8:10-11

Being in Covenant with God is something we cannot work our way into, nor is it something that we can maintain by doing good works. It has been given to us as a free gift, without effort on our part except that we believe in Christ.  Being in covenant with God is simply, believing.  It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy (RO 9:16).

Our salvation depends on being in covenant with God.  But it is important to understand which covenant.  Salvation comes to those who have been brought into the New Covenant by believing in Christ.  It is not by our own effort, but by God's great mercy. 

Although we are free from the law, we are not free to commit sin.  We also know that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.  EPH 2:8-9

But we were saved to do good works.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do EPH 2:10

We prove we have faith when we do good works.  Faith requires action.

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. 
JAS 2:14-18

So you ask, what has all of this got to do with tithing?  Everything!  Tithing had a purpose under the old law.  It was a means by which men could give something back to God through the Levites, to show how grateful they were for His many blessings.  It was also a means of support for the Levitical priests. We know that the Levitical priesthood no longer exists today, but shouldn't we still give something back to God to show how grateful  we are for His many blessings? Yes, but not in the form of the tithe.  Christ and the apostles showed us clearly how we should give, and tithing was not included in any of their instructions to us.

In Part Three, we will see what the New Testament has to say about tithing.  You’ll discover that most occurrences are only references from the Old Testament, but there are a couple of references made directly by Jesus, that those He was speaking to should tithe.

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