Were Abraham and Jacob tithing? Tassos Kioulachoglou

Were Abraham and Jacob tithing ?

In contrast to what we have seen in the first chapters of this study, and to support the application of tithing, many say that tithing is in fact not part of the law because it was applied - they say – before the law, by Abraham and Jacob. Thus, in this view, it is a principle that transcends time and Bible administrations and applies equally to before, during and after the Mosaic law. Before we go to the passages they use, let’s see how Jesus Christ saw and classified tithing. Matthew 23:23 tells us:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.”

The Lord is speaking to the Pharisees. These people were paying their tithes but they had forgotten the weightier matters of the law. They were hypocrites! The phrase “weightier matters of the law” makes a comparison between lighter “matters of the law” and weightier “matters of the law”. Tithing was a lighter matter of the law. Justice and mercy and faith were weightier matters of the law than tithing. This is not a comparison between general matters but “matters of the law” and tithing was classified by the Lord as a “matter of the law”. And such a matter it is. And now let’s move to the records used to support that Abraham and Jacob were actually tithing.

Was Abraham tithing?

Was Jacob tithing?

Tassos Kioulachoglou