1. Where did Abraham dwell when Lot was taken captive? "And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram." (Genesis 14:13)
2. When he heard of Lot's misfortune, what did he do? "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." (Genesis 14:14)
3. What success did he have? "And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people." (Genesis 14:15-16)
4. Who went out to meet Abraham on his return with the spoils? "And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale." (Genesis 14:17)
5. Who else met him and brought refreshments? "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine." (Genesis 14:18)
6. Who was Melchizedek? "He was the priest of the most high God." (Genesis 14:18)
"For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace." (Hebrews 7:1-2)
7. What besides giving him refreshments did Melchizedek do for Abraham? "And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth." (Genesis 14:19)
8. Which was the greater man, Abraham or Melchizedek? "Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. ... And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better." (Hebrews 7:4,7)
9. What did Abraham give to Melchizedek? "And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all." (Genesis 14:20)
"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." (Hebrews 7:4)
10. What did the king of Sodom say to Abraham? "And the king of Sodom said unto Abram: 'Give me the persons, and take the goods to yourself.'" (Genesis 14:21)
11. What reply did Abraham make? "And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up my hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich." (Genesis 14:22-23)
12. What only did Abraham reserve of the spoils? "Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion." (Genesis 14:24)
13. What had he taken out before he reserved the portion for the young men who went with him? "And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him tithes of all." (Genesis 14:20)
14. Since Abraham said that he would not take so much as a shoe latchet that belonged to the king of Sodom, whose property must he have regarded the tithe which he gave to the priest of the Lord? "And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord." (Leviticus 27:30)
15. Who is our priest? "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." (Hebrews 4:14)
16. Of what order is he the priest? "Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 6:20)
17. Then ought we not to pay tithes as well as Abraham?
18. What words of the apostle Paul indicate that our great High Priest should receive tithes of us? "And here men that die receive tithes; but there He receives them, of whom it is witnessed that He lives." (Hebrews 7:8)
19. What did Jesus himself say concerning men's duty to pay tithes? "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these you ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23:23)
Notes:
But although Abraham was a man of peace, he could fight when it was necessary. Taking three hundred and eighteen of his servants he pursued the enemy, and brought back Lot and his family, and everything that had been taken from Sodom. We must not understand that Abraham's servants comprised the whole of the army, for we learn that Amer and Eshcol were confederate with him, and accompanied him on the expedition. Doubtless each of these had a large number of followers.
It was not a small thing for Abraham to conquer Chedorlaomer and his confederate kings. The seat of Chedorlaomer's kingdom was beyond the Euphrates; and a glance at the map will show how extensive his kingdom was when the city of Sodom was subject to him. Rawlinson says of his defeat by Abraham: "The actual slaughter can scarcely have been great, but the prisoners and the booty taken had to be surrendered; the prestige of victory was lost; and the result seems to have been that the Mesopotamian monarch relinquished his projects, and, contenting himself with the fame acquired by such distant expeditions, made no further attempt to carry his empire beyond the Euphrates.[1]
This event, which stopped the course of an empire, is passed by in the Scripture narrative with a word. Rawlinson says that the word "slaughter" (Genesis 14:17) is too strong a rendering of the original. The Hebrew does not mean more than "defeat" or "overthrow." When we read that... "Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold, "Genesis 13:2" we cannot form any estimate of his greatness. But when we think that on an expedition of this kind he was able to arm three hundred and eighteen servants that were born in his own house, we know that he was not an ordinarily rich man. This one item, more than any other, gives us an idea of how God had prospered Abraham. In his case we have a comment on the words of our Saviour: "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:31-33)
Abraham's first desire was to have the righteousness of God; he looked for a heavenly country, and God gave him the wealth of this. We must not expect to see such wealth given to everyone who seeks God and His righteousness; He has not promised more than food and raiment, and, having that, the Christian will be content. But that is sure to be given. Says David: "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)
So, "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)
The first recorded instance of tithing is this one, where Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God. Abraham had a right to all the property that he recovered from the Chaldeans, and this right the king of Sodom acknowledged when he said: " Give me the persons, and take the goods yourself." (Genesis 14:21)
But Abraham answered: "I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich." (Genesis 14:21)
Abraham would not be under obligations to a wicked man. The wealth that he had was received through the blessing of God; and now he would not give anybody a chance to say anything that would detract from the glory of God. So Abraham returned the goods to him, with the exception of a share for the young men who went with him.
But before Abraham had this talk with the king of Sodom, he had taken out a tithe of all, and had given it to Melchizedek.
"And he gave him tithes of all." (Genesis 14:20)
This was before the young men took out their portion. From this, then, we learn how we should pay tithe. The tithe should be the first-fruits. It should come out before we take out of our earnings that which is necessary for our support.
"The tithe ... is the Lord's." (Leviticus 27:30)
When we pay it to Him, we are simply giving to Him His own. For this reason Abraham could say that he would not keep back anything that belonged to the king of Sodom. One-tenth of all the wealth of Sodom belonged to the Lord, and ought to have been given to Him. But the king was an unfaithful steward, and had kept the Lord's money. But when it came into Abraham's hands, he promptly gave the Lord that which belonged to Him.
"Will a man rob God?" (Malachi 3:8)
Alas! too many do. How is it with you, reader? Have you stolen property in your possession?
Many will ask the question, "Who was Melchizedek?"
The best answer that we can give is that he was "king of Salem, ... and ... priest of the most high God." (Genesis 14:18)
Our information does not go beyond this. That he was a type of Christ is stated in Psalms and in Hebrews. Christ is a high priest, "after the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:10; 6:20, etc)
He combines the kingly and the priestly office in one person. And since Abraham paid tithe to Melchizedek, the type of Christ, surely the children of Abraham ought to pay tithe to Christ, the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek.--Signs of the Times, March 2, 1888--Genesis 14:13-24.
E.J. Waggoner
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