Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: How long have you been studying God's word? A year? A decade? A lifetime? Well, no matter how long you've been diving into the Scriptures, you know that you've only just scratched the surface of God's amazing, deep, and powerful word. Welcome to Thru the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz, inviting you to hop aboard the Bible Bus as our teacher, the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee, opens the pages of our first book study in our new five-year journey. We're in Genesis, of course, the book of beginnings. And to get started, Dr. McGee has a word of introduction, and then we'll come back to pray together.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: We begin today a thrilling journey and adventure. It's a long journey through the Bible, long as to time—five years plus—and it's long as to space—all the way from Genesis to Revelation, all the way from creation to eternity future, and from the Garden of Eden to heaven. We can cover every book of the Bible, every chapter, and almost every verse in this space travel through the word of God. And that will be covering a great deal of ground, I can assure you.

We can also cover the great truths and emphasize them as we come to them, the great doctrines of the faith. As far as we know, this is the only program going through all 66 books of the Bible on both domestic and foreign radio networks. Thousands have made the trip. They testify that each time it's fresh and new to them. It's a life-transforming experience. Thousands have turned to Christ for salvation. They have, as the writer to the Hebrews puts it, "But we see Jesus." And you can see Jesus in the word of God. I believe He’s on every page if we could just only find Him there, but we'll find Him on many pages, we can assure you.

And we're told that as we take this study, that the word of God is going to speak loud and clear to us. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So Christians have found out that the Bible is the only answer for living the Christian life. Living the Christian life is not by rules and regulations. It's living and loving the Lord Jesus Christ in the everyday walk and workshop of the Christian.

The only way to come to know Christ is in the word of God. The only way to know the word of God is to have the Holy Spirit teach you the word of God. The Lord Jesus said He’ll take the things of mine and show them unto you. And so He takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. And the word of God today is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing asunder, even the bone and marrow and the soul and the spirit. Only the word of God can dig in deep into the human life and into the human heart.

This is life. This is what actually the Lord Jesus meant in that remarkable statement that He made in the Lord's Prayer. He says there, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." And Paul, you remember, put it in another way. Paul in the third chapter, the 10th verse, says this: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his image." And friends, the only way that you and I can know Him is through the word of God.

Steve Schwetz: Let's pray for each other as we begin this exciting adventure through God's entire word. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Spirit who will guide us and then teach us the amazing things that are revealed in the Scriptures. Our desire, Lord, as Dr. McGee often said, is simply this: that we may know Your Son, Jesus, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering; that our lives would look more and more like His every day. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. We're off to Genesis 1 on Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now friends, as we come today to the book of Genesis, I want to spend some time in just giving us what might be called a bird's-eye view of Genesis, but a view that will cover the total spectrum of the book. And in order to do that, there are some very important things that we'd like to say about it. When you read the book of Genesis, there are certain things that you should know. Because the book of Genesis is actually germane to the entire Scripture. The fact of the matter is that Genesis is a book that states many things for the first time. You're going to have many things that are mentioned here for the first time.

You also will find certain things that occur very frequently. For instance, "these are the generations of," and that's an important expression because actually the book of Genesis gives the families, and that is all-important because you and I are members of the human family that begins here. And then there are a number of very interesting characters that are portrayed for us. Someone has called this a book of biographies. There's Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Pharaoh, and the 12 sons of old Jacob. Besides Joseph, of course, with him you have the 12.

Then you find that God continually is blessing Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. And you find that those that are associated with them are blessed. Lot was blessed, Abimelech, and Potiphar, and the butler, and Pharaoh, all blessed. And then you find the mention of the covenant in this book. And you find the frequent appearances of the Lord here to the patriarchs, especially to Abraham. And then you find the altar becomes very prominent in this book.

You see jealousy in the home and also Egypt comes before us here in this book as it does nowhere else actually. And you find that there are the judgments upon sin that are mentioned here and then the leadings of providence. And as we study the book here, we need to keep in mind something that Browning wrote years ago in "A Grammarian's Funeral." He said, "Image the whole, then execute the parts. Fancy the fabric quite, ere you build, ere steel strike fire from quartz, ere mortar dab brick."

In other words, get the total picture of this book. And I formerly, as a teacher of Bible, would tell the students that there are two ways of studying the Bible. One is with a telescope and the other's with a microscope. And first, you need to get the telescope and get off and see all of it. And if you do that, why you'll find that this wonderful book is divided into two major divisions. And I'd call your particular attention to that.

These major divisions are very important. And before I develop that, I'd like today to give you a quotation from a great man of the past, Robinson, the great preacher of England, in his book, "The Personal Life of the Clergy." And the chapter I'm quoting from is "Devotion to Our Lord." And this is something I wish that I could write indelibly in the minds and hearts of God's people today. Will you listen to it very carefully?

"We live in the age of books. They pour out from us from the press in an ever-increasing multitude. And we are always reading manuals, textbooks, articles, books of devotion, books of criticism, books about the Bible. Books about the Gospels are devoured with avidity. But what amount of time and labor do we give to the consideration of the Gospels themselves? We are constantly tempted to imagine that we get good more quickly by reading some modern statement of truth which we find comparatively easy to appropriate because it's presented to us in a shape and from a standpoint with which our education, or it may be partly association, has made us familiar. But the good that we acquire readily is not that which enters most deeply into our being and becomes an abiding possession. It would be well if we could realize quite simply that nothing worth the having is to be gained without the winning. The great truths of nature are not offered to us in such a form as to make it easy to grasp them. The treasures of grace must be sought with all the skill and energy which are characteristic of the man who is searching for goodly pearls."

Now I love that statement because it reveals to us as we begin this study of the word of God that this is not just entertainment, and we're not promoting. We are actually, friends, trying to teach you the word of God. We're not dealing with sensationalism. Of course, the Bible to me is a sensational book and we'll deal with many things that are sensational, but you're going to find that in the word of God that we are just dealing with it, and that's all. But we believe that it'll speak to our hearts in a way that no other book will speak to us.

And as we suggested a moment ago in the book of Genesis, you have the beginnings of many things: creation, man, woman, sin, Sabbath, marriage, family, labor, civilization, culture, murder, sacrifice, races, languages, tongues, and redemption, and cities. We're having a great urban problem today. Well, we could learn a great deal by going back here to Genesis and see the beginning of the city. Now we have a major division in the book. And I've given you a little time to think about it. Where would you divide the book of Genesis if you did divide it into two parts?

Well, the very interesting thing is that the first 11 chapters constitute a whole. And beginning with chapter 12 through 50, we have an altogether different section. They're divided in several different ways. For instance, in the first section, you have the creation to Abraham. And in the last section, you have from Abraham to Joseph. The very interesting thing is that in the first section, we're dealing with great major subjects, subjects that still engage the minds of thoughtful men today.

You have in the first 11 chapters, in the first two chapters, creation. Chapters three and four, the Fall. Genesis 5 through 9, the Flood. And Genesis 10 and 11, the Tower of Babel. Now when you come to the last division, it has to do with personality. And there are four outstanding personalities in this section: Abraham, the man of faith, Genesis 12 through 23; 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.

But my friend, that's not really the major division, although that's major enough. But there is a division here that to my judgment is tremendous and it has to do actually with time. The first 11 chapters cover approximately a minimum of 2,000 years. And I would say 2,000 years plus. That means that the first 11 chapters could cover several—well, I'm prepared to say several hundred thousand. In fact of the matter is, I believe that this first section of Genesis can cover any time in the past that you need to fit into your theory, and the chances are you'd come short even then. We'll see that when we get down to these first few chapters in Genesis.

Now here you have a book that from Genesis 1 through Genesis 11, a minimum of 2,000 years. But from Genesis 12 through Genesis 50, only 350 years. Tell the truth, from beginning with the 12th chapter of Genesis and going all the way through the Old Testament, in fact, covering the New Testament, you only cover 2,000 years. So that as far as time is concerned, you are halfway through the Bible when you cover the first 11 chapters. And from chapter 12 through the rest of the Bible, why you are covering 2,000 years. I actually believe that the first 11 chapters cover thousands of years longer than the other does.

Now that ought to suggest something to your mind and to your heart. And that is that God has something very definite in mind when He gave this first section here. Moses is the writer. Fact of the matter is, the first five books of the Bible have been called a Pentateuch. And they're called a Pentateuch because Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and I think there's abundant evidence to testify to that. And the first five books of the Bible Moses is the author. Now these first 11 chapters cover more than the rest of it put together.

Where do you think then that Moses is putting the emphasis? On the first 11 chapters or on the rest of the Bible? Let me widen that out and say, where do you think God is putting the emphasis? Is the Spirit of God putting the emphasis on the first 11 chapters of Genesis or the rest of the Bible? Well, He's putting more emphasis, if you want to know the truth, on the last part. And the subject of this first part has to do with the universe, with creation.

May I say that the last part deals with man, nation, and the person of Jesus Christ. May I say to you, God was more interested in Abraham than He was in the entire created universe. And God, my friend, is more interested in you, and He attaches more value to you than He does the entire universe. That is, the physical universe. Let me further illustrate that. You have in the four Gospels 89 chapters. Only four chapters cover the first 30 years of the life of the Lord Jesus.

85 chapters cover the last three years of His life and 27 chapters cover the last eight days of His life. Where do you think the Spirit of God is putting the emphasis? Why, I'm sure you'll say, well, the big emphasis is upon the last part, the last eight days. Because there's 27 chapters. And what is that all about? It's all about the death, burial, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that, my friend, is the important part of the Gospel record.

In other words, God has given the Gospels that you might believe that Christ died for our sins and that He was raised for our justification. And that's essential. That's the thing that's important. It's the thing that's all-important. Now may I say to you that the first 11 chapters are merely the introduction to the Bible. And we need to look at it in that fashion. I'm of the opinion that if Moses were present today and heard all of the present-day discussion about creation, for instance, and the record that he gave, and what both the theologians and the scientists are saying, he'd be rather amused.

He would, I'm sure, make the comment, "All of you really miss the point. I wasn't attempting to give you the account of creation. I was just attempting to give you a few facts that would be the beginning. But that was not my story. My story had to do with God dealing with man in sin. The story that I wanted to tell was the story of redemption. And if you think that I was writing a scientific book on creation, you missed the entire point. I was writing a spiritual book on redemption." That's very, very important to see.

Now that doesn't mean we're going to pass over these first 11 chapters. We're not. I intend to deal with them. We've got more time this time, as we've indicated, and we'll spend more time there. Genesis, therefore, is the seed plot of the Bible because you have here the beginning and the source and the birth of everything. In fact, the book of Genesis is just like the bud of a beautiful rose and it opens out in the rest of the Bible. But its truth is given here in germ form.

And actually, I think one of the best divisions that can be made of the book of Genesis, and I have it in my notes and outlines that many of you have received and I hope you'll pay attention to it, is to divide the book of Genesis according to the genealogies, according to the families. It opens with the book of the generations of the heaven and the earth. And then you have the generations of Adam, and the generations of Noah, the sons of Noah, sons of Shem, and of Terah, and of Ishmael, and of Isaac, and of Esau, and Jacob. All of these are given to us in the book of Genesis, and it's a book of families.

Now all of this that we are giving is actually preliminary study as we come now to the first chapter of Genesis and we can barely introduce you to this chapter. And in this chapter, we have the story of the creation of the universe. And believe me, this chapter is still causing more comment than you can possibly imagine. And that's the thing that we're going to get into next time. And I think that probably I ought to conclude today by just giving the first verse of Genesis. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." That is one of the most profound statements that has ever been made.

And yet we find that that is a statement that is certainly challenged in this hour in which we're living. I will be giving you the statement next time of a professor right here in California because now they're going to permit the creation story to be taught in science textbooks. Now frankly, I'm not so sure that I'm happy about that. And somebody says, "Why, you ought to be. That's a wonderful step." No, my friend. I'll tell you why.

It'll be the character of the teachers who teach it. And I'm afraid that we do not have enough with a Christian background and with a Bible background to be able to teach it properly. That would be my criticism of the fact that today very few of our public school teachers are prepared really to teach the story of creation. And the reason is they have practically no Bible background and they've been given a background that is contrary to it. You see already, we've entered a controversial section. Creation has provoked more controversy than probably any other subject in Scripture. We'll look at that next time.

Steve Schwetz: I agree. There is so much more to gain from our studies when we read ahead before we travel the pages together. And as Dr. McGee often reminded us, don't just read it once, read it twice or more. So I'll keep encouraging you as the Bible Bus rolls along. And to make it easier, our app includes the Scripture passage for each study. You can also download a copy of our schedule as a bookmark. Find it in our app or at ttb.org or call 1-800-652-4253 if we can help. And then consider signing up for our monthly newsletter. It's really full of helpful information for your journey. I'm Steve Schwetz, your host and fellow traveler on the Bible Bus, grateful to be with you on this new journey through the whole word of God.