(Genesis 14:14-20) "When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, 'Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

(Psalm 110:4) "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

(Hebrews 7:1-10) "This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means 'king of righteousness'; then also, 'king of Salem' means 'king of peace.' Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people--that is, their brothers--even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor."

Who was Melchizedek? He is mentioned in Genesis then a thousand years later in Psalms and a thousand years after that in Hebrews. He is priest to God Most High and King of Salem. After defeating enemy kings the fatigued 318 fighting men are given refreshment by Melchizedek in the form of bread and wine and Abram receives blessing. In return for the blessing he gave Melchizedek a tithe of everything. Christ is said to be a priest in Melchizedek's order. (Hebrews 6:20) "He has become a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Melchizedek is a type of Christ the Messiah the regal-priest far higher than the order of Aaron and his sons. Melchizedek is surprising and mysterious in his first appearing in Genesis and subsequent references in the poetry of Psalms and New Testament epistle of Hebrews. Abraham is recognized as the friend of God but Melchizedek is unhesitatingly recognized of a person that far outranks friendship with God. One thing is certain, that God fully intended to surpass and abolish the law and Levitical priesthood of Aaron and his sons before they came into existence. Melchizedek received the tithe of Abraham the friend of God.

1. Was Melchizedek Shem the son of Noah? He was certainly alive in the early days of Abraham chronologically. (Genesis 9:26) "He also said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem." Shem is blessed to be not only superior but 'the' superior. So Shem was superior to Abraham the friend of God therefore the greater could bless the lesser. But when was Shem's name changed to Melchizedek? And why should he inhabit land given to his brother Ham? And why should he congratulate Abraham for defeating his own bother and descendants? (Hebrews 7:3) "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life…" Shem's father was Noah with a mother a two other brothers Ham and Japheth. It was not Shem.


2. Was Melchizedek an angel? He appeared from nothing and vanished from the pages of Israelite history just as quick. Like the angel who set Paul and Silas free or the angels who visited Abraham with new of Sarah's pregnancy. Or the angels that appeared suddenly in the skies praising God at the birth of Christ. (Hebrews 1:14) "Are not all angels sent to serve those who inherit salvation?" At no point does an angel come close to being the priesthood.

Jewish tradition holds that it was an appearance of Christ the Messiah. But does scripture say this? We must not put unauthorized additions into scripture. The argument that the letter to the Hebrews presents is that Christ is a better high priest with better shed blood making a better way than the Levitical order of Aaron and his sons. But it also includes in the argument Melchizedek saying that Christ is 'like' him and yet surpassing the Levitical order. (Hebrews 5:6) "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." There are similarities that scripture draws up between Christ and Melchizedek:

1. They are both without genealogy. Not just the absence of it being recorded but literally no genealogy. (Hebrews 7:3) "Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever." Both are priests of God by immediate divine constitution.

2. They are both priests without ordination rooted in the law but from God. (Hebrews 6:20) "He has become a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Both did not derive it from a forefather or pass it on to sons. No predecessor or successor.

3. Both were superior to Abraham. (John 8:58) "Before Abraham was born, I am." Abraham would never have given a subordinate a tithe.

4. Both were not limited to a definite time of priesthood. (Hebrews 7:3) "…without beginning of days or end of life…" Both were priests 'forever.'

5. Both were regal-priests. (Hebrews 7:1) "Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High." The only other time we read about a regal-priest was with fatal consequence in Uzziah. He was king of Israel who tried to offer a sacrifice as priest and died for it. (2 Chronicles 26:16) "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron"

6. Both were literally righteousness and peace. (Hebrews 7:2)"First, his name means 'king of righteousness'; then also, 'king of Salem' means 'king of peace." A king is always preeminent in his own jurisdiction. Both are preeminent in righteousness and peace.

When you tithe, like Abraham, you are literally giving to God. Never think that you are giving to the church and its economy but to honor God in the tithe and receive the blessing that Abraham received.

The lesser blessed by the greater. (Hebrews 7:7) "And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater." Abraham was the lesser person to Melchizedek as you are the lesser person to Christ. The promise is that the lesser person is blessed when a tithe is given. This is understood when a father places his hand on his sons head to bless him like Jacob did with his sons or when parents bought their little children to Christ for him to lay his hand on their heads. Lesser means to be inferior in age, rank, position, office but it does not imply less moral as we are children of God. It does not mean more righteous or holy because we have been made righteous with his righteousness and holy. It simply implies we are lesser because we are his children. (Matthew 11:11) "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…" But even when God calls you great you are still the lesser. (Mark 1:7) "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie."

1. Your tithe will cause God to bless you. (Genesis 14:20) "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth." By the age of 16 the Hungarian Andor Foldes was a skilled pianist. A piano teacher called Sauer wanted to teach him more. Andor played for him in Budapest. Sauer kissed him on the forehead saying that he had played for Liszt when he was 16 and he played for Beethoven when he was 16 who kissed him on the forehead. Sauer said to Andor, 'if you did not agree to play for me I would not have passed the kiss of Beethoven to you.' The greater wants to bless you.

2. Your tithe will cause God to protect you. (Genesis 14:20) "And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." A native Indian custom for a 13 year old boy was to blindfold him and take him deep into the forest. His blindfold was taken off and he had to survive the night. By morning the outline of a man's figure was seen. It was his father who stood by all night protecting his son. (Exodus 15:3) "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." The lesser is blessed by the greater.

King Solomon still holds the record for being the wealthiest man on earth. The Bible records that he owned 12,000 horses with 1,400 chariots. His assets amounted to the equivalent of $1 trillion today. His wisdom extended from the board room to the bedroom in a career of 42 years found in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. With 31 chapters in Proverbs it lends itself to a month reading of wisdom. If you want to know about money management then Proverbs is the book.

As a culture we have been borrowing record amounts making home equity debt the biggest liability. We keep borrowing from the future to pay for the present. 57% of marriages end in divorce over financial issues. It is a 'until debt do us part.' But how we handle money is how God measures our spiritual maturity. The Bible states that God trusts us with spiritual blessing on how we handle financial blessing. (Luke 16:11) "If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth who will trust you with true riches?" Christ makes a distinction between money and spirituality which is 'true riches.' Pennies, nickels, dimes and dollars are measuring lines in how much God can trust you. Who makes the rules about money? Is it God or culture?

The children's game 'Simon Say's' came from Medieval England. Unless Simon said it you could not do it. Solomon says is our focus today. Unless he is saying it we don't do it. There are five things Solomon has to say about getting out of debt:

#1 - Keep good records

" What do you own?
" What do you owe?
" What do you earn?
" Where does it all go?

The math equation people live by: ignorance of your financial condition plus easy credit equals a complete disaster. Marriages live this equation where one person knows where the marriage is financially but the other person is oblivious. No one has the time to keep good records and it's the least interesting thing to do but Solomon says 'know the condition of your flocks and herds.'

#2 - Plan your spending

(Proverbs 21:5) Good News: "Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough." Budget by definition is planned spending. It is telling your money what to do rather than money telling you what to do then wondering where it all went. Financial; freedom is not determined by how much you earn. People think if they had more money they would have financial freedom. But your yearnings will always outweigh your earnings. Financial freedom is based on how much you spend by spending less. You have to bring your spending in line with your income. Most shoppers don't plan when shopping. Solomon says 'haste leads to poverty' because we buy too quickly. We see it and we want it. America is built on capitalism. Capitalism is built on advertising. Advertising is built on impulse buying. When did you last see, hear or read an advert that told you to take your time? What you saw five minutes ago becomes something you cannot live without. Advertising is built on getting you to do what Solomon does not say. Impulse buying leads to debt. The word 'sale' gets the juices flowing and 40% off makes us decidedly rabid. People say 'look how much I am saving' but Solomon says 'look how much you are spending.' (Proverbs 21:20b) Good News: "Stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it." This is the trade mark of immaturity. My kids will want to spend their allowance straight away without any plan because they are children. Have you grown up yet? Spending is like any other addiction with uppers and downers. An impulse buyer kept her credit card in a bowl of water in the freezer so the urge to spend would be tempered with how long ice takes to melt. A real addict would use a microwave. How do you break the habit of impulse buying? Plan your spending with a budget.

" What is a fixed expense like mortgage or rent?
" What is not fixed but flexible?

#3 - Save for the future

(Proverbs 21:20a) Living Bible: "The wise man saves for the future." The average family in Japan saves 20% and in Europe 18% but in America the average family spends 1% more than they earn. Eat and drink today for tomorrow we die is the mentality of our culture but Solomon says 'save.' The reason you get annual ants in and on your property is because God wants you to learn something. (Proverbs 30:25) "Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer…" When you learn what Solomon says perhaps the ants will go away this summer. Saving for the future is not rocket science and is easy to learn but hard to do.

#4 - Return 10% back to God

(Proverbs 3:9-10) Living Bible: "Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income, and he will fill your barns to overflow." Why do we tithe?

" It is an act of gratitude that recognized God as the provider of all things without whom we would have nothing.
" It is an act of priority in the present saying that our money is where our mouth is so the worship of our hearts and the fruit of our lips match the generosity of our giving. It's a way of proving we mean what we say in worship. Your checkbook and your schedule will show if Christ is Lord.
" It is a statement of faith saying that we know the promise of blessing follows the cheerful giver. Blessing God is connected to God blessing us.

(1 Corinthians 16:2) Living Bible: "On every Lord's Day you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn." You may be in debt to other people but you do not want to be in debt with God. He will bless you when he is first in your finances. If you want to be blessed in your money put God first in your money. It is the 10-10-80 principle of 10% to God the tithe 10% to me with savings and investments and 80% to live on.

#5 - Enjoy what you have

(Ecclesiastes 6:9) Good News: "It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else." Enjoy what you have no matter what you have. The four stages we go through to no enjoyment are:

" Our yearnings are stronger than our earnings
" We become overextended borrowing from the future to pay for the present.
" We hustle by taking on extra jobs leaving no time for family and marriage
" Family and marriage break down. Someone else is raising the kids and someone else is paying attention to your spouse.

Kids don't need more stuff but they do need parents. When you say to the kids 'this is just temporary' they know it means forever. A temporary situation can quickly become a lifestyle. To enjoy what you have is a radical thought in our culture. No one is holding a gun to your head so change the lifestyle. Things will settle down when you settle down.

" Earn it
" Tithe on it
" Save it
" Repay it
" Enjoy it

We do not need a financial planner but a life planner. Christ is your life. The single reason for lack of giving is unbelief that Christ will keep you financially. We know he has saved us but cannot believe he will always be faithful to his Word when it comes to money matter. Make money count by Solomon says.

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