Jesus said in Matt 5:17 NLT " "Don't misunderstand why I have come. I did not
come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose".
In other words the lethargy and evasion of the body of Christ towards the admonitions of the old testament may be doing us more harm than good.
The old testament is equally a part of the authoritative Word of God as much as the new testament is!
An example is Malachi 3:8-12
8."“Should people cheat God? Yet you have cheated me! “But you ask, ‘What do you mean? When did we ever cheat you?’ “You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me.
9. You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me.
10. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the LORD of Heavens Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!
11. Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease. Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
12. “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the LORD of Heavens Armies."
A tithe is a spiritual symbol. We observe it for the first time in the Bible in Genesis 14:20b NLT " Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered".
Abram had just returned from a battle where he had defeated 5 strong and recently victorious armies with just 318 of his servants and 3 other allies. He knew his victory had not come by his own strength or that of his allies.
He was met by King Melchizedek of Salem, described as the High priest of God Most High. This elusive character then goes ahead to give Abram bread and wine before blessing him.
Let us recall the symbolism of bread and wine in the new testament where Jesus (our eternal High priest of the new covenant) shares out bread and wine amongst his disciples.
Jesus describes the bread as his body, and the wine as his blood, a symbol of a new COVENANT.
Mark 14:24 NLT " And he said to them, "This is my blood, which
confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice for many".
In other words, Jesus presents bread and wine as a symbol of a COVENANT!
This is a vital clue as to the purpose of King Melchizedek's presentation of bread and wine to Abram. It was a symbol of a covenant. This means the presumed meeting was actually a covenant remembrance, which culminated in Abram handing over a tithe of all the recovered spoils to the priest of God Most High.
Let us now look at the passage in Malachi 3:8-12 with more clarity.
To be continued
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