Lesson 01 · Genesis · before the Law
The first tenth
“And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.”
Genesis 14:18–20
Abram had just come back from rescuing his nephew Lot. He had won. The spoils were legally his — nobody was going to argue with a man who had just routed four kings.
Then a stranger walks out to meet him: Melchizedek, king of Salem, and — the text says it almost casually — priest of the Most High God. There is no temple yet. No tabernacle. No Levi, no Aaron, no priestly line at all; those are still four hundred years away. Yet here is a priest, and Abram recognizes him instantly.
Melchizedek brings bread and wine and speaks a blessing. He doesn't ask for anything. And Abram, unprompted and uncommanded, hands over a tenth of everything.
That is the first tithe in Scripture. It happens with no law behind it, no offering plate, no obligation. It happens because Abram had just been reminded who actually won that battle.
Put plainly
The tithe didn't start as a rule. It started as a response. Abram gave a tenth because he recognized that the victory wasn't his to take credit for — and giving was the most honest way to say so.
Sit with this
- Abram gave before anyone told him to. What does that say about where giving actually begins?
- Melchizedek blessed Abram first, and Abram gave second. Which direction does generosity usually flow in your life?
- What would it look like to give something this week that nobody asked you for?
If you're giving the message
- 01The very first tithe in the Bible happens roughly 400 years before there's a law about tithing.
- 02Abram gave a tenth of the spoils of war — the part he was fully entitled to keep.
- 03Melchizedek blessed first; Abram gave second. Grace goes ahead of our giving.
- 04Giving isn't paying God back. It's admitting who the victory belonged to in the first place.