Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: How strong is your faith? Are you able to withstand the trials that come your way? What happens when you mess up? Welcome to Thru the Bible, where our teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, takes us to Genesis chapter 12, and we're going to learn that even the greatest man of faith, Abraham, hit a few bumps in the road.

I'm Steve Schwetz, and while you find your seat on the Bible bus, I have some great stories from our fellow listeners. The first one is from Sharon, who called to encourage us all.

Guest (Female): Hi, my name is Sharon. I'm from Florida. I've been listening to Dr. McGee for years, but not consistently until I was diagnosed a year ago with some optic nerve damage. As a principal of a Christian school for over 40 years, I knew that my work wasn't done. I love Dr. J. Vernon McGee's Thru the Bible, going through each book, and he has taught me so much, but even more now since I can't read anymore unless I use a super-duper magnifying glass.

So, using Dr. McGee's words, I very candidly must say that I love his unique accent. It keeps me focused in the Word. My husband and I both read the Bible, but listening to him every day is such a joy. To know that there are 250 languages out there—oh my goodness, praise the Lord, and I want to be a part of that. I just want to encourage you, if you're listening to me or listening to Dr. McGee or whoever, just keep on keeping on. Don't give up. You don't know what you don't know, and God has a precious way of teaching us what we don't know. So to Him be the glory. May God bless each of you. Thank you.

Steve Schwetz: Great message, Sharon. Thanks for sharing, and may God bless you too. Here's a note from Carolyn, who shared on our Facebook page: "My husband was a Marine in the 1960s and served in Vietnam during some of the hardest years of the war. After he came home, God's Word became a steady part of our lives. For years we listened to Thru the Bible together, often in the middle of the night. We'd use our cell phones and he would wake up and say, 'Can we listen to J. Vernon again?' And we would."

"I grew up in Tennessee, so I recognized some of the places Dr. McGee talked about even though he passed away before I ever met him. I loved his teaching for many years—so many, I honestly can't remember how long anymore. I'm 76 now, my husband is in heaven, and I've had a stroke. But God's Word is still precious to me. I wouldn't miss it. I listen every night and sometimes during the day, but most often I save it for nighttime when my husband and I would always listen."

Thanks for writing, Carolyn. After all these years, you've earned a VIP seat on the Bible bus, and I'll keep saving it for you. Aren't these great stories? I hope you are encouraged. We'd love to hear your story as well. You can send us a note through the feedback section of the app. You can also email us; biblebus@ttb.org is the address. Write to us at Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109, or in Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C 6B1.

If you loved hearing from Sharon, I know that others would love hearing from you. Why don't you call and share your story at 1-800-65-BIBLE? In the options, you'll hear one for leaving your Bible bus story. From there, it's as simple as listening to the prompt and then recording your voicemail; just talk to one person. That number again is 1-800-652-4253. Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your Word that carries us through every season of life. Keep drawing us back to you day by day. In Jesus' name, amen. Now open to Genesis 12 as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Friends, if you have your Bible, you'll want to turn with us today to the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis. We are now getting well on in our Thru the Bible program. As we said last time, we're halfway through the Bible chronologically, but that is not actually true, of course. We've finished 11 chapters of the book of Genesis, and we are moving slowly this time because we're going to be at this five years, the Lord willing.

We trust that you have notes and outlines to follow along with. If you do not have them, write in and ask for yours. Now, we have concluded the first 11 chapters, and it might be well, since this is a tremendous break here, just to have a brief review. In these first 11 chapters, we have seen four great events: creation, the fall, the flood, and the tower of Babel.

These are tremendous events, and it's in this section that we've seen that God has been dealing actually with the entire race of mankind, not so much individuals but actually with the race of mankind. All the way from Adam to Abraham, God had not appeared to anyone only to Adam and to Abraham. God is dealing with the human race at this time, the entire universe.

Now there's a radical change here at chapter 12, and through the rest of the book of Genesis, we have something quite remarkable. Now we have brought before us four individuals. It's no longer events, but God now is dealing with a man, and from that man, He'll make a nation. We have in this first section: Abraham, the man of faith, Genesis 12 through 23. Then we have Isaac, the beloved son, Genesis 24 to 26; Jacob, the chosen and chastened son, Genesis 27 through 36; and Joseph, suffering and glory, Genesis 37 through 50.

These are the four patriarchs that are so important to the understanding of the Word of God, and we're taking up their story now in the rest of the book of Genesis. God now has demonstrated—and I trust that He has to your satisfaction—that He can no longer deal with the race because after the fall of man, you have the great sin of Cain.

What was his great sin? Pride. I tell you, he was angry because, down deep in his heart, he was proud of the offering that he brought, and it was rejected, causing him to hate his brother. You see, that leads to envy, and pride was the sin of the devil. It is the sin of the mind. Then at the flood, that was the lust of the flesh. We saw that things, even the imagination of man and his actions, everything was to satisfy the flesh.

Then we saw the tower of Babel, and that was open rebellion against God. Now, God had to bring the flood to judge man. If God had waited even another generation—and He'd been patient 120 years, and from the day of Methuselah, 969 years—God had been patient with the world, and they hadn't turned to Him. I'm confident that any person will say that 969 years is long enough to give anybody an opportunity to change their mind.

They didn't change their mind. They are now in open rebellion, asserting a will that is against God. None seeking after God, and the tower of Babel reveals that. Now God is going to have to do something differently. He turns from the race of mankind, and now He takes an individual. From that individual, He's going to bring a nation, and out of that nation, He'll bring a Redeemer. To that nation, He'll give His revelation.

Actually, this is the only way, apparently, that God could do it. Let's put it like this: if there were other ways, this is the best way because we can trust God to do the thing that is the best thing to do. Now when God called Abraham, you're going to find out he's the man of faith. We said last time we were tempted to point out that Abraham was one of the great men that's been on this earth, and we were using the secular measuring rod for that.

I believe that today the world would accept that he was the world's most famous man. More people have heard of Abraham than anybody that's ever lived. Three great world religions came from him. There are men out yonder in that desert today that never heard of the President of the United States. They never heard of who won the golf tournament. They do not know who is the football hero. They've heard of Abraham, and the interesting fact is the heroes of today will be forgotten tomorrow. For 4,000 years now, Abraham has made the headlines.

He is a pretty famous man, friends. If you want the measurement of the world, he was a generous man. He was a wealthy man, tremendously wealthy. He was the John D. Rockefeller, the Henry Ford, and the Paul Getty, and anyone else that you want to put in the list, and the sheikhs of one of these rich oil countries in the Middle East, all rolled into one. By the standard of his day, he was a very wealthy man.

But he was a man of faith, and I recognize that the world somehow or another doesn't feel like that is the way that you measure an individual. Well, that's the way God measured him. God said he's a man of faith, and we'll find as we go through here that is the thing that is developed in his life. Seven times God appeared to this man, and each time to develop faith in his life.

He was not perfect at first. In fact, he fell on his face. God gave him four tests, and he fell on his face on all four of them. But like Simon Peter, he got up, brushed himself off, and started again. May I say to you, if God has touched your heart and life, you may fall, but you sure are going to get up and start over again. We're going to see that as we get into this very rich chapter here. This is very important, and we have here in chapter 12 the call of Abraham. We'll be following this all the way through the Word of God.

Let me read these first three verses because they are very important verses: "Now the Lord had said unto Abram, 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.'" Now, that's number one of the things God promised Abraham. He promised him three things, and this is the hub of the Bible. May I say all of it rests upon this threefold promise, and the Bible is just an unfolding of this threefold promise.

God says, "A land I'm going to show you and I'm going to give it to you." The second thing God said He is going to do, verse two now: "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing." Well, God said He would make his name great. God's done pretty well there. God said here the third thing: "I'll make you a blessing." God says, "I'll make you a great nation and I'm going to make you a blessing to all mankind."

God brought from them a great nation, and it has probably the longest tenure as a nation of any people on this earth today. No one can quite match them. Then the third thing He said to them: "You're going to be a blessing." Well, through Jesus Christ, they've been a blessing to the world. The giving of the Word of God—they've been a blessing. God's made good except that first one. He said, "I'm going to give you that land."

You look what's happening over there today. They've just got their toenails in the land, and they're holding on by their toenails, but they don't have it. Somebody says, "Well, God didn't make that good." Let's don't put it like that, friend. Why don't you be friendly toward the Bible and give God a chance? Some people don't even give Him a chance. 4,000 years ago, God said to Abraham three things I'm going to do for you. Two-thirds of them have been made good right to the very letter.

Because of disobedience, God said He wouldn't let them be in the land if they were disobedient and if they were away from Him. They're away from Him today, and as a result, they're having trouble over there. Don't say God's not making good. In fact, God's doing exactly what He said He'd do. The day will come when God will put them back in the land. When He does, it won't be a toehold. They're really going to have it all the way to the Euphrates.

They'll be up as far as the Hittite nation was and all the way down the river of Egypt, which is a little river in that Arabian desert. They have a land they've never really occupied. At the very zenith of their power, they occupied 30,000 square miles, but that's not what God gave them. He gave them 300,000 square miles. They've got a long way to go, but they'll have to take it on God's terms in God's appointed time. The United Nations can't do anything about it, and the United States and Russia won't be able to settle the problem.

It's very comfortable today where I sit. I've come to the position now that God's running things, friends, and it's just nice to sit here and not be scared by the headlines in the paper and not be disturbed what's going on in the world. He's in control, and He's going to work it out His way. Now, God promised these three things to Abraham. What did Abram do?

"So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him." Already he's disobeying. He took relatives with him. He should not have done that. He took his papa with him, Papa Terah, and God told him not to take them. Why did God want to get him out of the land away from his relatives? It's quite obvious when you go over to the book of Joshua. God said to Joshua, "I called your fathers Abraham on the other side of the flood when they were serving other gods."

Old Abram was in idolatry. You see, the world was pretty far gone at this time. God had to move like this if He was going to save humanity. The other alternative is He could have blotted them all out and started over again. I'm glad He didn't. If He had, I wouldn't have been here because I arrived here a sinner, and sinners would have been blotted out. But thank God He's a God of mercy and grace, and He saves sinners.

Now what we have here is this man taking along his nephew and his father. Abram took Sarai his wife—that was all right, of course—and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they'd gathered, and the souls that they'd gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Now we find this man spent in Haran a nice period of time marking time and delaying the blessing of God. God never appeared to him until he moved into the land, until he got separated from at least the closer relatives, and he only brought Lot with him. Now, will you notice we have to come back and say this again in verse six. He says at the end of verse five: "And into the land of Canaan they came."

"And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." Here is the fact: the Canaanite was then in the land. May I add this right at this point because it's very important. A great many people are going to say, "Well, this was the land of corn and wine, the land of milk and honey; everything was lovely." Abraham left a terrible place, Ur of the Chaldees, and he came to a wonderful place. Don't you believe a word of that. That's not what the Bible says.

Abram left a place we know today through archaeology had a high civilization. I think maybe he might have had a bath in the house. He had a very wonderful civilization. He left that, and he came into the land of Canaan, and the Canaanite was still in the land. Now, the Canaanite was not civilized. He was a barbarian and a heathen, and Abraham did not better his lot by coming into this land. That's not the point. The point is, will he obey God? Now he has obeyed God, and what happens?

Verse seven: "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, 'Unto thy seed will I give this land.' And there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." You just have to pay attention to that: Abram built an altar unto the Lord. God appears to him a second time. While he was in the land of Haran, a place of delay, God did not appear. One of the reasons today many of us are not blessed in reading the Bible is because the Bible condemns us because we're not living up to the light we have.

If we would obey God, then more blessing would come. God does not appear to Abram until Abram's ready to move out and obey God on the light he's had. Now God's ready to appear to him. He builds an altar, and Abram is a real altar builder, by the way. Everywhere he goes, notice verse eight: "He removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord."

Two things that he did now: he got into the land and he pitched his tent. He bought him a house in the new subdivision, and he moved in. He's going to retire in California, only it's going to be in the land of Canaan. He's arrived. He pitched his tent; that's what he lived in. Then he builded an altar; that's his testimony to God. Everywhere Abraham went, he left a testimony to God. What kind of testimony do you have?

You don't have to put a tract out in front of your house, and you don't have to write on the back end of your car "Jesus Saves" and then drive like a maniac down the freeway—and there are some that do that. My friend, that's no testimony at all. This man quietly worshipped God, and the Canaanite soon caught on to that. Abram, we're told, journeyed, going on still toward the south. That's a good direction to go. It's warm there, you see. Good weather.

So this man is moving south. He's a nomad; that was Abram. Now we come to that blot in his life, the second one: "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, 'Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, "This is his wife": and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.'"

Abram was in the land. It was the place of blessing. God never told him to leave, but a famine was in the land. I think one morning Abram pushed back the flap of his tent, looked out and said, "Sarai, it looks like everybody's going to Egypt. There's a famine, you know, and it's getting worse. Maybe we ought to think about going down." Sarai said, "Well, anything you want to do, Abram, I'm your wife, I'll go with you."

A few days went by, and Abram talked to some of these travelers. One of them that had come from up north of where he lived said, "It's getting worse, and it's coming south." Abram said to Sarai that evening, "I think maybe we better pack up and go to Egypt." God never told him to. When God appeared to him last time, He said, "This is it, Abram, this is the land I'm going to give you, and you'll be a blessing, and I'm going to bless you here."

But you see, he didn't believe God. He went on down into the land of Egypt, and Egypt is a picture of the world in Scripture. You'll find that all the way through. I think it's still a picture of the world. Abram went down there. It's amazing how the world draws Christians today, and so many of them rationalize. They say, "Well now, Brother McGee, we're not able to come to church on Sunday night because we have to get up and go to work Monday morning."

Believe me, everybody has to do that. It's amazing that during the week on Thursday night, or Friday night, or Tuesday night, if there's a banquet and they have a long-winded program, a lot of music, and a lot of talk, that party doesn't seem to worry about getting up and going to work. It's amazing how the world draws Christians today, and they can rationalize. If you'd met Abram going down to Egypt and said, "Wait a minute, Abram, you're going the wrong direction, the wrong way on a one-way street; you shouldn't be going this way. You should be staying in the land."

He could have given you a good reason: "Well, look, my sheep are getting pretty thin, and there's not any pasture for them. The grazing land is not very much, and there's plenty down in Egypt. We're going down there." But immediately there was a problem. We have here something that's quite interesting: he's going to have trouble actually with his wife, and the reason is she's beautiful.

Next time I want to tell you about what one of the Dead Sea Scrolls reveals. At first, the unbelieving scholar thought that he had found something that was going to disprove the Bible, and have you noticed how silent the higher critics have become? They just don't seem to have found any contradiction in the Bible. I want to give you next time how one of them confirms the Bible. It's quite interesting, and they thought it was something else when they found it.

That reveals the fact you better not listen to the scholars until all the facts are in. We'll save that until next time, and in the meantime, we'll be going on down to Egypt with Abram because we want to go down and see what happened to him there. Until next time, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: For information on this fruitful ministry, download our app or call 1-800-65-BIBLE, or just visit ttb.org. I'm Steve Schwetz, and I'll meet you back here next time as the Bible bus rolls along.

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Thru the Bible exists to take God's whole Word to the whole world, and we invite you to stand with us with your faithful prayer and financial support. Where will God's Word go today?