Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Living in North America where sometimes at a disadvantage really, we can be lulled into thinking that we're not in a struggle between good and evil in part because life is just so comfortable. So as we make our way through the Bible, we're in the small and powerful book of Micah where we hear very clearly who will win this battle between good and evil and who's going to lose. So as you open your Bible to Micah chapter 1, Greg Harris is here in the studio with me and pretty regularly we like to take some time to talk about core values, core values of our ministry and today we want to focus on a pretty important one.

Greg Harris: And it's one that's always been something God built into this ministry from the early days and that's all of our listening family, all of us are missionaries wherever we are.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah, and it's it's really fulfilling the Great Commission. So I mean it's been given to us by none other than Jesus Christ.

Greg Harris: Absolutely. That's right. And actually people that have studied Greek say that he actually is saying as you go. In other words, as you're moving in the world, make disciples of all nations and and I love we have such a great passionate listening family and they love to share through the Bible. And so what we've done is create tools to hopefully help you do that even more effectively.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. Yeah, and I would encourage you that you would have what I call a missionary mindset and I don't do this every day, but think about it in the morning and say, Lord, you're going to put me in contact with people that I don't know or maybe that I do know and I will have new gospel opportunities. I pray that you'd help me through your spirit to be faithful and to share my faith. And we've got a really easy way for you to do that, not necessarily with the quote heavy sell of let me tell you about the gospel specifically, but let me tell you about something that's really impacted my life and that's the teaching of through the Bible because you love the Bible.

Greg Harris: Yes. Yes. Exactly. And and it's such a natural thing to say what Steve just said or to say this has meant a lot to me and you're my friend. I'd love I just like to share this with you. And then you give them what we call a Bible bus pass. And it's a business-sized card with a QR code that takes you to ttb.bible, which is a special site that not only has our English app, they can download the English app, which by the way has the Bible and the teaching of TTB. But then about right now about 70 other languages.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. Yeah, and if that phone that hits that site, ttb.bible is tuned or set up for that particular language, it's going to present to them through the Bible in that language as their first option to download.

Greg Harris: Yes. So we know from from our interactions with our listening family, you love to share not just the English, but the different languages and and we encourage you to do that and hope that these Bible bus passes will help you. How can people get their Bible bus passes?

Steve Schwetz: Well, they can call 1-800-65 Bible and we send them out in 10 packs. You can just ask for them or you can go to ttb.org and ask for those packets to be sent to you.

Greg Harris: Yeah. Or send an email to biblebus@ttb.org and just say, please send 10 passes to this address.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. Now quickly, if you want to go to what I would consider the next level and start a small group Bible study. Oh, my friend and

Greg Harris: Yes. I have a friend. His name is Steve and he did that.

Steve Schwetz: Yes, Steve. We have a resource for you. These are the Bible companions. We have the complete New Testament done and available. They're free online if you're willing to download and work with a PDF, either printing it off or using it on an iPad or if you do want a physical copy, there is a charge for that. Call 1-800-65 Bible. But basically it coincides with Dr. McGee's teaching. You pick a book of the Bible, 1 John as an example, and you get the book. There's a brief synopsis of Dr. McGee's teaching on that particular section, the programs that you would listen to if you would choose to do that are there.

And then there's some good discussion questions. It's not, you know, 12 ft deep in the theological pool, so to speak, but it's really geared toward getting people to engage and have conversations around what the scripture's teaching. So hopefully that's a resource that you can try. It's real easy. You can do it yourself. You can start a small group. I I've done a couple of them with my small group Bible studies over the years at church. Others have done it as well. They find it very helpful.

Greg Harris: Yeah, and so we get requests from people can can we start a small group? We say, absolutely. You you are empowered and encouraged and just get these Bible companions and and see where God takes you.

Steve Schwetz: Absolutely. Greg, let me go ahead and pray for us as we begin our study. Heavenly Father, I pray for all of us individually as believers in Jesus Christ that you would give us gospel opportunities. And Lord, equally as importantly that you would help us to be faithful, that you would give us the words to speak and that we would be able to present clearly the gospel if that opportunity is there. And if it's only just an opportunity to give a a Bible bus pass or some other type of encouragement that you would use us to bring glory to yourself.

We know that no one trusts Christ without first the spirit moving in their dead souls. We pray that you would do that as people faithfully walk every day in your love and grace and mercy. And now, Lord, I pray that you would bless the program as it goes out in Jesus name. Amen. Now here's Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now we are in the first chapter of the book of Micah. And if you have your Bible, I'm sure you've turned there by now. And I'll pick up today actually at verse 13 though we covered that rather adequately last time. But to tie up the strings together here, why we'll do just that. I do want to say that the little prophecy of Micah has been so greatly misunderstood because he begins the first three chapters are one of judgment. And there are many that call it judgment. And actually I don't feel that that is the important message at all, although it certainly stands first in the book.

And I would say that it 's judgment and redemption, judgment and salvation. And the two, I believe, need to be put together, the judgment and redemption of God. And even in this second chapter which we'll be coming to, we are going to find another one of these very striking passages that looks into the future and tells of a deliverance that is coming. But this man Micah is like Jeremiah's we saw last time. The message he gave broke his own heart and it revealed that he was not just a paid preacher, but that he was called of God, a prophet of God, and that he was revealing the heart of God as well as the mind of God when this man lamented and wept and mourned because of the message he gave.

Now in this first chapter the message is largely directed in judgment to the urban areas. And there are 10 different urban centers that are mentioned beginning with Samaria, the capital in the north, and Jerusalem, the capital in the south. And these two great centers had actually led the two nations into idolatry. And connected with the idolatry there was the worst type of abominations, not only human sacrifice, but actually the sins of gross immorality that was associated with the high places and the idolatry. Now we saw that he mentioned last time several towns and each one had a particular meaning and you begin with Samaria and just move south even past Jerusalem.

And in verse 13 we came to Laish. And oh thou inhabitant of Laish, bind the chariot to the swift beast. She is the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion. But the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. Now the charge that he makes here is that Laish, which was actually south and west of Jerusalem actually over near Gath, was the place where idolatry of the north that had been brought in especially by Ahab and Jezebel. It started of course with Jeroboam putting up the two golden calves and one of them was in Samaria.

Now all of that had moved down to Laish, but connected with idolatry there was also the worship of the sun. And you remember that in Greek mythology Apollo had a chariot and horses. Each morning he'd drive across the sky. Well, Laish was actually a horse town. It was where horses were kept. Great stables were there and they were used in the worship of idolatry in that particular connection. And they led the southern kingdom into idolatry. They introduced it in this way. Now in verse 14 he says, Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moresheth Gath. And that of course was the hometown of the prophet.

And it was in the southern kingdom. And he says, the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. Well, Achzib actually means lie town. And they lived up to their name. In fact all of these towns lived up to their name. And this is a lie town. They were given over to liars. And the word that is used here comes from an Old Testament word that has to do with Brooks. That is the Brooks in Israel are very much like they are in California, Southern California I should say. A friend of mine was driving with me and we crossed the Los Angeles River.

Well, the Los Angeles River in wintertime years ago could really go on a rampage when we had our wet season. But in the dry season there's not a drop of water in it. And it's very dry. Now that was way back in the 1940s. And this friend of mine as we crossed the river, why he says, you know, that's a good place for a river. Well, I said it sure is. And in wintertime the river is there. Well, Israel has a great many of those like that. You can see that at one time water ran down there and they have what we would call out here flash floods.

Out on the desert they have them. Water is as dry as powder can in just a few minutes become a raging flood. And so these brooks, Achzib suggests that lie town. In other words, they had promised to be a help to the northern kingdom, but they were not. They had actually offered no help at all. And this place apparently is way down near a Julum. And that's the cave you remember that David hid in. And it's down in a place that is quite a place today. There are palm trees there, very fertile. There are falls there because there's a great spring there and the cave of Adullam is there.

It's called in Getti today and it was called that back in Old Testament times. And so we have here Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. They look like they got water in them. They look like they're going to be a help, but there were no help whatsoever. Now we come to verse 15 and he says, Yet will I bring an air under thee, oh inhabitant of Marishah. He shall come unto Adullam, the glory of Israel. Now here is a suggestion that there is coming a help to them, but not at that time.

But it is a suggestion. And I must confess a faint one that an air would be an air of the line of David that would come and would deliver them. And one of his names is faithful. He's faithful and true and he is coming to deliver them. You'll not be coming from lie town by any means. But at this time they are deceived, greatly deceived, and no help came to them when the Assyrian came down from the north and overran the land. Now he calls upon them at this time to mourn as a nation. Verse 16 he says, Make thee bald and cut off the hair of thy delicate children.

Enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are gone into captivity from thee. In other words, when Assyria came down they took first the young people with them. And now the nation is called upon to mourn because of that. And this was a custom in Israel. Although if you go back to the Mosaic law and in Deuteronomy 14:1 they were told not to trim their beards. They were told not to shave their heads. But now they are told to do it because of the sin that it's come in and it was a custom. Now Isaiah, the contemporary of Micah, has something to say about it.

Over in the 15th chapter of Isaiah verse 2 he says here he's gone up to Bayith and to Dibon, a high places. Again they're places of idolatry to weep. Moab shall howl over Nebo and over Medeba. On all their heads shall be baldness and every beard cut off. That's a sign of deep mourning and of wailing. They've lost their children, you see. And this is the judgment of God upon them. Now that brings us here to chapter 2 and you have here the prophet's second message. And in this he describes specific sins. You see in the first chapter the sins that are mentioned and the judgment rests upon the fact that they have gone into idolatry and all that that implied.

It represented gross immorality that actually the wages of a harlot ran these high places. That was where they got their funds because of the fact that sex was associated with idolatry. And you find today that in the and Satan worship. And I think there's a connection between that and this idolatry of that day. Sex plays a very prominent place in it. It is a revelation of man's actually breaking God's commandment. And it destroys the home and it destroys a sweet and tender relationship between a man and a woman in marriage. There's nothing that will spoil it like that because God made the woman to give and the man is the one to get.

And when it's put in that context and in that spectrum it is examined under the marriage relationship. It can become the sweetest and the most precious relationship that there is on earth. But my friend, when it moves out and even moves under the name of religion and today the numerality that we have in this land is an evidence of the fact that we have moved today into an area of a nation that is on the decline and actually is on the way out. Now in chapter 2 we're going to see specific sins that are mentioned here and he'll deal with these specific sins and he 'll spell them out.

He denounces here the sins of God's people. And actually the sins here are against one another. It's against mankind. While the sins in the first chapter are actually largely related to God, their relationship to God. You know, when a man is not right with God, he can never be right with his fellow man. And when a man is right with God, he can be. Now it doesn't mean he always is, but he can be right with his fellow man. And he will treat him as another human being. That's the reason that this lovey-dovey movement that got started a few years ago with the flower children up in the San Francisco area, we've had many of them that have come to the Lord.

But at that time were far from the Lord. And that's the reason that that thing lapsed into gross immorality and it wrecked the lives of many young people. Why? Well, simply because of the fact that they were not right with God. And when you're not right with God, you won't be right with other people. Someone says what we need are honest men in government. Yes, what we really need are men who are right with God in government. And when you have that, men who respect and appreciate the word of God and will listen to it.

But we as I've already indicated have reached the place where the general public will not hear the word of God today. That was one of the things we took in account when we began this ministry. Could we survive in a nation that had largely rejected God and had come to the place where they didn't want to hear what he had to say. And for that reason a great deal is streamlined today with sugar plums and with rose water. And it's made very palatable to the natural man. Now the word of God is not palatable to the natural man.

And that puts this program at a terrible disadvantage because we don't soothe you with sweet music. And I think music has its place and we don't attempt to use this comforting method. But we attempt to bring out what the word of God has to say. Now chapter 2 is not going to be pretty. I don't think that you are going to say that this is the most beautiful chapter that you have found in the word of God because very candidly I don't think it is. But it reveals the sin of the nation that brought destruction upon them and its wealth for not only God's people, but for the nation to wake up.

Now will you listen to him chapter 2 verse 1. Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds. Now this not only refers to immorality. It refers specifically to something else. When the morning is light they practice it because it is in the power of their hand. Now even when they go to bed at night they don't go to sleep. They lie there and devise and plan iniquity. And chances are they're engaging in it at the same time. Many of divorced today and we've had some experience with folks like this. Oh why that complains bitterly that my husband comes home, but he doesn't leave his business back at the place of business.

He brings it home. And his one wife said to me, Even when he goes to bed at night he can't think of anything but business. He lies there and begins to plan the next day. May I say to you, no wonder that the wife contemplated divorce because that is the picture that is presented here that God condemns. God does not approve of this sort of thing at all. Now you'll notice here that they devise this and in the morning they're able to execute it. They practice it because it's in the power of their hand, the ungodly and the sinner is successful today.

Very frankly the wealth of this country is not in the hands of godly people. I think at one time it was true, but the wealth of the country today is in the hands of the ungodly. And they're able to accomplish their purpose. Why? Because they have the money. The money means power and they're able to carry through that which is wrong. That's the reason our nation is in the predicament it is right now, friends, because of that. It's not just been an energy shortage. It hasn't been this type of thing or that type of thing or whether this plan and work or another or whether this part is wrong or another.

The power is in the hands of the ungodly today. Now you try to put this program on one of the most powerful stations in the city in the East. And several have attempted this. They never dreamed that they'd get such a rebuff. And you can't imagine the turn down that you get. You talk about the freedom of the press and the freedom of religion today there is none because of the fact that you're shut out from that type of thing. Now I'm talking pretty plain, but may I say that I'm telling you today like it is.

This is what brought Israel down. And Micah, as we've already noted, presents a philosophy of human government. And God follows it through. And if you don't believe it, read history. This is the way the great nations go down when the wealth and the power get in the hands of a few ungodly, then God moves in because God has been on the side of the poor. And as Lincoln used to say, God must love poor people. He made so many of them. And he knew what it was to be poor and some of us know what it is.

Now they plot this. The writer of the Proverbs has something to say about this in the third chapter of Proverbs verse 27. Withhold not good from them to whom it's due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again tomorrow. I will give when thou hast it by thee. There's so many people today. I got a very pious letter about a party that has spent $10,000 in a very foolish way, at least an unnecessary manner. And they said, Oh, if that was only given to the through the Bible, how it could help the through the Bible.

Well, these folk had no intention of giving it to our program when they had it. They were using it for something else that couldn't quite be called a godly sort of an enterprise. May I say to you that the writer of the Proverbs says, If you have it in your power to do good, you better do it while you can because the power to do evil is in the hands today of those that are ungodly and they're not attempting to do good at all. And that is actually the reason that every program that has come up by the government to help the poor has entered into the grossest form of dishonesty.

Why? For this same reason. You can't get ungodly men to do good, friends. I don't know why we think that you can. Our Lord Jesus you remember said, You just can't get grapes from thistle. You're just wasting your time if you're trying to pick luscious fruit off of a cactus. You just won't get it that way. That's not the way it comes. Our time is up. We'll begin right there tomorrow. Until then may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Next time Dr. McGee gives us insight into the interesting question, Why did God allow Herod to kill James while he rescued Peter? The answer may surprise you. Until then find everything you need to stay up to date on the Bible bus in our app or over at ttb.org or just call us at 1-800-65 Bible if we can help you find a Bible study resource by Dr. McGee. I'm Steve Schwetz and as always I'll meet you back here next time as together we travel through the Bible.

Guest (Male): Through the Bible exists to take God 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?