Why 90% Is Better Than 100%

Why does God begin the commandments by reminding Israel who brought them out of Egypt?

Before God asks for anything, he names what he has already done. Israel is standing at the mountain because of a rescue they did not perform. The sermon leans on that order: obedience rests on a history of God's faithfulness.

“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:2–3

When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all these commandments before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”

Deuteronomy 6:20–25

“Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.” The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods; for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God.”

Joshua 24:14–18

Why did Abraham give a tenth to Melchizedek before any law required it?

Abraham meets a priest after a battle and hands over a tenth of everything before anyone told him to. The sermon points to that as generosity that comes from the heart, not from a rule.

Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.

Genesis 14:20

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham divided a tenth part of all (being first, by interpretation, “king of righteousness”, and then also “king of Salem”, which means “king of peace”, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth out of the best plunder. They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives. We can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes, for he was yet in the body of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Hebrews 7:1–10

Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”

Genesis 28:20–22

Why does Malachi say the whole nation is robbing God, and what does God invite them to do about it?

Israel keeps asking how God has loved them while holding back what had been set apart. God names it as robbery and then does something unusual: he invites the people to test him. The sermon calls that the place where the curse breaks.

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with the curse; for you rob me, even this whole nation. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be enough room for. I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies. “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Malachi 3:8–12

“I have loved you,” says Yahweh. Yet you say, “How have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” says Yahweh, “Yet I loved Jacob; but Esau I hated, and made his mountains a desolation, and gave his heritage to the jackals of the wilderness.”

Malachi 1:2–3

You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always. If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it because the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to set his name there is too far from you, when Yahweh your God blesses you, then you shall turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose. You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates. The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living among you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Deuteronomy 14:22–29

I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had each fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is God’s house forsaken?” I gathered them together, and set them in their place. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.

Nehemiah 13:10–12