Tithes & Offerings
The tenth — and the story behind it, before any law was written.
Long before there was a temple, a priesthood, or a commandment about money, a man came home from battle and handed a tenth of everything to a priest-king he barely knew. Everything the church says about giving is still tied to that moment.
The thread
Genesis 14 · ~2000 BC
Abram gives a tenth to Melchizedek
Genesis 28 · ~1900 BC
Jacob vows a tenth at Bethel
Leviticus 27 · ~1445 BC
The tenth becomes a stated principle
Malachi 3 · ~430 BC
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse
2 Corinthians 9 · ~AD 56
Not reluctantly — God loves a cheerful giver
Hebrews 7 · ~AD 65
Melchizedek returns, and points to Christ
Lessons
01 · Genesis · before the Law
The first tenth
Genesis 14:18–20
02 · Genesis · the next generation
A vow in the dark
Genesis 28:20–22
03 · Sinai & the wilderness
When the tenth became law
Leviticus 27:30; Numbers 18:21
04 · After the exile
Bring the whole tithe
Malachi 3:8–10
05 · The early church
A cheerful giver
2 Corinthians 9:6–8
06 · Hebrews · the thread tied off
Melchizedek returns
Hebrews 7:1–3, 15–17