The Melchizedek Order

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess (Hebrews 3:1).

Church I want you to realize that Jesus Christ was an Apostle sent to fulfill the office and role of a Priest. You see, an apostle is not just a ministry title but a function, as we should all know by now. Jesus, as an apostle, established the church in the order of Melchizedek.

¹Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins… ⁴No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. ⁵So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father^]” ⁶And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

There you have it! Jesus was ordained by His Father to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek was priest of God Most high in the days of Abram (Abraham). Hebrews 7:2 says that his name means, king of righteousness and king of Salem, which can be translated as king of peace. Hebrews 7:3 further states that no record has been found of him having a father, mother or children, neither when he was born nor when his life ended, because He was made like the Son of God, remaining a priest continually. He was a personification and not just some type and shadow of Jesus Christ.

 

The Order of Tithing

The word order is from the Greek word “Taxis” meaning:

1) An arranging, arrangement

2) Order

a) A fixed succession observing a fixed time

3) Due or right order, orderly condition

4) The post, rank, or position which one holds in civic or other affairs

a) This position generally depends on one’s talents, experience, resources

 

Melchizedek’s order or position was that of priest of the Most High God, appointed by God for men in matters related to God. He met Abram on his return from defeating several kings to rescue his nephew, Lot (Hebrews 7:1, Genesis 14:18-21).

When Melchizedek met Abram, the first thing that he did was to give to him bread and wine, representative of the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ. What is significant is that God made Abraham partake of the bread and wine – a type of the Body and Blood of His Son – before He established His covenant with him in Genesis chapter 15 and 17.

After this, Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand, And he gave him tithe of all” Genesis 14:19-20.

The word blessed here means to adore, to congratulate and to praise by kneeling down or bowing. You can get a picture of what actually took place when they both met each other. It would seem as though they both knelt as they exchanged what they had in their possession to each other. But what motivated Abram to tithe seeing that the law concerning tithing to the Levitical priesthood was not established until many years after?

Abram tithed to Melchizedek in recognition that it was God Most High who gave him all the victory over his enemies, thus granting him all the spoil. He could not help but give back to God in acknowledgment that He was the ultimate owner of both heaven and earth.

Furthermore, since according to Hebrews 11 we know that Abraham did everything by faith; it would be safe to say that he tithed by faith as well. This order of tithing was not based upon an end-of-month salary, but upon God’s goodness to him.

 

You are not CURSED with any CURSE

 

It has been said to us in the Church that if you do not tithe, then you are cursed with a curse. But I say to you that you are not cursed with any curse. You are blessed!

When God gave His people this message in the book of Malachi 3:8-11, He was speaking to Old Testament believers, so to speak, or those under the law. Both the people as well as the priests in prophet Malachi’s day turned from obeying the law, and because of this they could not acquire the blessing, but a curse, because they were all guilty.

I was told that if I robbed God I would be cursed, but then I was confused because Paul said that I have been redeemed from the curse of the law when Jesus became a curse for me by hanging on the tree, that is, the cross (Galatians 3:13). This was done so that the blessing of Abraham would come upon me. Therefore, if I have been redeemed from the curse that the law brought when it was disobeyed, how am I still cursed by the law for withholding my tithes under grace? For just as the Israelites received the blessing of Abraham by obeying the law, even so do the Gentiles receive the very same blessing of Abraham by obeying Christ through faith.

“Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law” (Heb. 7:11, 12).

If the priesthood has been changed from the order of Aaron to the order of Melchizedek, as the text above clearly tells us, why is the Church tithing to God but in the order of Aaron and not Melchizedek?

 

Tithing today

I do believe that we should tithe today, but not under the law or by the order of Aaron; but after the order of Melchizedek. Furthermore, the scriptures teach that Levi (the Levitical priesthood) did tithe to Melchizedek through Abraham while Levi was still within Abraham’s loins (Hebrews 7:9).

Therefore, if the Church is still tithing to God based on the law (according to Malachi 3:8-11), then we have reduced Jesus’ Priesthood to that of Aaron’s. And when we fail to tithe under the priesthood of Aaron, we will certainly be cursed with a curse.

One does not have to be from Levi to receive tithes or be from Levi to pay tithes.

“And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; ⁶ but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better (Heb. 7:5, 6).

 

The Levitical priesthood received tithes according to the Law, but not Melchizedek. As a matter of fact, Melchizedek was not of the blood-line of Levi; and neither was Jesus, who was called from the tribe of Judah with no ties to the Levitical priesthood (Hebrews 7:13-14).

Since you don’t need to belong to the tribe of Levi to receive tithes, then you do not have to belong to any tribe under the law to give tithes, for Abraham did not tithe under the law. YOU ARE FREE FROM THE LAW; though not free do what we wish under grace, for the law reveals sin. And had it not been for the law we would not have known sin.

Today there are many who pay tithes in fear and not in faith. They fear that if they do not tithe they will be cursed.

Hebrews 7:7 says that the lesser is blessed by the better. In this case, Melchizedek is being called the better and Abraham the lesser, because it was Melchizedek who blessed Abraham. And if Levi was still in the loins of Abraham according to Hebrews 7:9-10, then Jesus, whose priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek, is greater than the entire Levitical priesthood and its order – the order of Aaron.

If you work for two thousand dollars monthly, your tithe would be two hundred dollars. Suppose God blesses you with twenty thousand dollars above and beyond the regular monthly salary that you receive from your job. What will you do? Well I will tell you what you should be compelled to do – tithe. You should tithe free from the law and free from the fear of the curse, because of the goodness of God. For it is He who gave you your financial blessing in the first place, and tithing to Him establishes your connectivity with your Father.

Tithing is a form of giving thanks to God, for God does not need our money but our worship. This is just one of the expressions of the Church as it relates to the serving Jesus Christ, who is made to be a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

If Jesus was an Apostle, the Chief Apostle sent to establish the Church in His priesthood and after the order of Melchizedek, then the Church, which is said to be an Apostolic Church, is sent to express His priesthood in the order of Melchizedek and not of Aaron.