Abram and the First Mention of a Tithe

The first mention of tithing is found in Genesis 14:20.

And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

The context of this passage is Genesis 14:13-24 and the above verse is a part of the interaction between Abram (later to be renamed Abraham) and Melchizedek king of Salem. What though, is the 'tithes of all' mentioned in verse 20 referring to? We get our answer in verses 14-16.

14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Our passage lets us know that Abram gave a tenth of all the spoils of war. Hebrews 7:4 references this and helps us see that it was 10% of the spoils of war that Abram gave to Melchizedek.

Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

I know this part of the story is often referenced in Churches that promote tithing. On the surface I suppose it looks good, yet there is more to this story that I have not heard mentioned in connection with tithing. Let's read about Abram and the king of Sodom in verses 21-24.

21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Here we see what Abram did with the remaining spoils of war. The important thing here as I see it, is that he kept nothing for himself. It all went to two kings and some young men. we also see that Abram did NOT give ten percent of his income. He gave ten percent of the war spoils that he, himself, said did not belong to him. He gave nothing of his own. This passage in Genesis and the one in Hebrews are the only passages in the Bible that mention this tithe from Abram. It appears me to me, that from verse 22, Abram had made a prior vow that he personally was not going to accept anything, or keep any of the spoils at all from the king of Sodom. So, we see that Abrams tithe was connected to a vow, was a one time event (as far as what the Bible tells us), was given freely to Melchizedek, was not of any possessions or personal increase he had gained, and was 10%. This leads me to some questions that I have not got any answers to and keep praying that one day I will. 1. Since Abram/Abraham is not recorded as tithing in his personal increase but is shown tithing on the spoils of war, why is this passage used to defend income tithing? 2. If this passage is to be used to support income tithing, why then is not also used to teach to give the rest away? 3. Where do we see any evidence in the Bible that Abram/Abraham tithed as taught today? Sadly, from this passage, I have no questions for non-tithers, except..... 1. Are you giving at all?