Someone asks it every year. Do I still have to give ten percent? It is a fair question, and one verse in Hebrews answers it in a way most people do not expect.
Hebrews 7 is about a change of priests. Under Moses, only the tribe of Levi could serve as priests, and the whole system of worship ran through them. But long after Moses, God promised a different kind of priest, one in the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4), the king-priest who blessed Abraham. Jesus is that priest. And here is the catch. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah, not Levi (Hebrews 7:13-14). He does not fit the old system at all.
So the writer states it plainly:
Hebrews 7:12 (CSB)
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well.
The priesthood was the foundation the whole law stood on. Change the priest, and the rules built on him change too.
Now connect that to the tithe. Why did the tithe exist in the first place? The Levites received no land of their own, so God gave them the people’s tithe as their inheritance:
Numbers 18:21 (CSB)
Look, I have given the Levites every tenth in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the work of the tent of meeting.
The tithe was the paycheck of a priesthood that no longer exists. There is no tribe of Levi collecting it, no temple to support, no storehouse to fill. The command that funded the old priesthood does not cross over to us unchanged.
Here is where people go wrong in both directions. Some hear this and think they are off the hook. But the New Testament does not lower the bar. It raises it, asking for giving that is regular, proportional, cheerful, and sacrificial (1 Corinthians 16:2):
2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (CSB)
The point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.
Ten percent can be a wise place to start, but it was never the ceiling, and it was never a tax you could check off to feel finished with God.
Others cling to the tithe as if giving falls apart without a number, pointing to the charge that withholding it robs God (Malachi 3:8-10). But that was a covenant lawsuit against Israel under the old covenant, not a rule for the church. And watch what Hebrews does with the tithe. It points back to Abraham and Melchizedek:
Genesis 14:18-20 (CSB)
Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
Abraham gave a tenth freely, as tribute to a greater king who had just blessed him. He was not paying a bill. He was worshiping.
That is what changes everything. Your giving is no longer a fee owed to a temple. It is worship offered to a King, and your King is Jesus, the priest who “always lives to intercede” for you (Hebrews 7:25). He did not collect a tenth from you. He gave Himself for you.
So the tithe is not a debt to check off. It is a shadow that has met its substance. Give, and give generously, but give it as worship to the better Priest who gave everything for you.