Deuteronomy 8:18; Proverbs 3:9
Remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Wealth is not truly ours till we thank the Lord for it. We have not paid the royal dues upon it—it is contraband and we are illegally using it. Beloved, as you have not failed to give unto the Lord your loving thanks, your mercies are now yours to enjoy as in His sight. I hope, too, that the most of my Brethren can feel that their temporal possessions are theirs because they have conscientiously consecrated the due portion which belongs to God. From the loaf there should be cut the crust for the hungry. From the purse there should come the help for the Lord’s work.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Ere leaving this verse, a few words need to be said upon the subject of tithing.
C. H. SPURGEON: The tithing of the substance is the true title to the substance. It is not altogether yours till you have proved your gratitude by your proportionate gift to the cause of the Master.
CAMPBELL MORGAN (1863-1945): I do not personally believe that tithing is incumbent upon us. It was a Jewish provision and has passed away, in common with all ceremonial law.
A. W. PINK: Tithing existed among the people of God long before the law was given at Sinai―this principle of recognizing God’s ownership and owning His goodness, was later incorporated into the Mosaic law, Leviticus 27:30.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): The Jews say Abraham was the first in the world that began to offer tithes.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): Now what saith the Scripture on this subject?
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): This is the first scripture, Genesis 14:20, that gives us any account of paying the tenths of goods to God―and this Abraham did.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): Had we been told that Abram gave Melchizedec a present, we should merely have considered it as a proper compliment suited to the occasion. But we are informed that “he gave him tithes of all.” This circumstance is peculiarly important. If we attend to it, and consider it according to the light reflected upon it in other parts of Scripture, we shall find in it an acknowledged duty.
JOHN GILL: This is no proof of any obligation on men to pay tithes now; for this was a voluntary act, and not what any law obliged; it was done but once, and not constantly, or every year; it was out of the spoils of the enemy, and not out of his own substance, or of the increase of the earth―but to testify his gratitude to God, for the victory obtained, and his reverence of, and subjection to the priest of God.
A. W. PINK: No one can point to a “thus saith the Lord,” nor can we assign chapter and verse giving a command for the saints to tithe before the Mosaic law was given; yet is it impossible to account for it without presupposing a revelation of God’s mind on it. The fact that Abraham did give a tithe, or tenth to Melchizedek, intimates that he acted in accordance with God’s will. And Abraham is the father of all that believe, Romans 4; Galatians 3―the pattern man of faith. He is the outstanding exemplar of the stranger and pilgrim on earth.
C. H. SPURGEON: I cannot help believing that when Abraham met Melchizedek, the Priest of the most high God, first King of Righteousness and then King of Peace—and when he gave Him tithes of all and received His blessing—he recognized in Melchizedek, One who was greater than himself.
A. W. PINK: Melchizedek is the type of Christ. If then, Abraham gave the tithe to Melchizedek, most assuredly every Christian should give tithes to Christ, our great High Priest…So too, the words of Jacob in Genesis 28:22 suggests the same thing. Here again we see the tithe.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): This is the second place in which we find mention of the tenth, or tithes, solemnly consecrated to God. Jacob promises to give them in return for his prosperous journey, as his grandfather Abraham had given them in return for his victory…How they came to pitch upon this portion, rather than a fifth, twentieth, or any other, is not so easily to be resolved.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): Probably it was according to some general instructions received from heaven that Abraham and Jacob offered the tenth of their acquisitions to God. The tenth is a very fit proportion to be devoted to God and employed for Him.
A. W. PINK: We are not told why Jacob selected that percentage, nor why he should give a tenth; but the fact that he did determine to do so, intimates there had previously been a revelation of God’s mind to His creatures, and particularly to His people, that one-tenth of their income should be devoted to the Giver of all.
CHARLES SIMEON: Though the particular engagement then made by Jacob is not binding upon us, yet the spirit of it is of universal obligation.
CHARLES BRIDGES (1794-1869): The law dealt with us as children, and prescribed the exact amount. The gospel treats us as men, and leaves it to circumstance, principle, and conscience.
A. W. PINK: Are our offerings to be regulated by sentiment and impulse, or by principle and conscience? That is only another way of asking, Does God leave us to the promptings of gratitude and generosity, or has He definitely specified His mind and stated what portion of His gifts to us are due Him in return? Surely He has not left this important point undefined. Only God has the right to say how much of our income shall be set aside and set apart unto Him. And He has said so clearly, repeatedly, in the Old Testament Scriptures, and there is nothing in the New Testament that introduces any change or that sets aside the teaching of the Old Testament on this important subject.
A. P. CECIL (1841-1889): In the Christian economy there is no stated rule; only special principles are given to be carried out by the motive power of the love of Christ.
A. W. PINK: Tithing is even more obligatory on the saints of the New Testament than it was upon God’s people in Old Testament days—not equally binding, but more binding, on the principle of “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required,” Luke 12:48. The obligations of God’s saints today are much greater because our privileges and our blessings are greater. As grace is more potent than law, as love is more constraining than fear, as the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the flesh, so our obligations to tithe are greater, for we have a deeper incentive to do that which is pleasing to God.
CHARLES BRIDGES: Is it not a privilege to lay aside a portion of our substance with this sacred stamp: This is for God? The “first-fruits of the increase” were the acknowledgment of redemption from Egypt, Exodus 13:12,13; Deuteronomy 26:1-10―and shall we, redeemed from sin, Satan, death, and hell, deny the claim? Well may we think our substance due, where we owe ourselves, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. Nay, could we be happy in spending that substance on ourselves, which He has given us wherewith to honour Him? The rule and obligation are therefore clear.
