In this enriching episode, we address listener questions that span from the role of women in scripture to the foundational narratives of Genesis. Dr. McGee provides insights into the dispensation revealed in Romans, exploring Israel’s evolving relationship with God. As always, we encourage further study, with resources available through the Through the Bible Radio Network.
Well, here it is, tax season. Time to give the tax man his share. But have you thought about your responsibility to God? Are you giving to your local church? And how much should you give? Does God demand a tithe? Well, that’s one of the issues that we’ll deal with today. So keep listening. a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
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What more can he say than to
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have said to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
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Fear not, I am with
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You’re listening to the Question and Answer program with our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. This is Steve Schwetz for the Through the Bible Radio Network. Won’t you join us for the next 30 minutes as we benefit from the wit and wisdom that Dr. McGee provided in answering the questions posed by his listeners? Well, our first question today comes to us from a listener in Brookville, Pennsylvania. She says, Would you please explain Christ’s statement in Luke 9, verse 62? What’s the relationship of this verse to our service for Jesus?
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And we’ll turn and read Luke 9, 62. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Well, what he’s saying here simply is this. He’s calling disciples and he is putting down a test for them. And this, by the way, is the importance of being called of God. Let me give it to you like this, because when you see things together, it makes them more understood. In verse 57, it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. Now here’s a man who wants to follow the Lord Jesus. Now the Lord Jesus told him first what it would cost him. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, follow me. And he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Now, the first is the cost, you see. What does it cost you? It costs you everything. If you’re going to follow him, you’d be willing to give up home, all your possessions, in order to follow him. Now you have actually here the urgency of it. And this man that came and said, I’ll follow you, but let me first go and bury my father. Now it wasn’t that the old man was in the casket. Actually, I forget now who it was, but one of our great scholars, was over there many, many years ago, at the turn of the century it was, and he went to ask for an Arab guide and was told a certain young man would be the man for him to take him into this area he wanted to go in. And when he got there, the young man was outside and sitting at the door of the little house was an old man. And he asked this young man, he says, I want to hire you. And he said, well, first I have to bury my father. Well, as the old gentleman sitting there very much alive means that he had to take care of his father till he died. And then when his father died and buried him, he’d be free to do it, but that he was not free at that time at all. And so that’s what this man is telling the Lord Jesus. I’ve got a father and I have to take care of him. Now the Lord Jesus puts upon him the urgency. He says, let the dead bury their dead. That is, let someone else take care of the funeral. But go thou and preach the kingdom of God. The urgency of it. In any call that I think God makes to us today, we need to recognize the cost and the urgency of it. He doesn’t intend for you to hang around and take care of some other business. If He’s called you to go somewhere, He’s called you to go. Now we come down here to the importance of it. And another said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell that are at home at my house. Now that would just take a little while for him to do that. But now he’s showing him the importance of it. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. If you intend to think you can serve me and then be running back home for every party or birthday that they have, then forget it. Because if you’re going to follow me, you’re going to have to put your hand to the plow. You can’t go back to every party. You can’t go back to take care of certain social engagements. You are to give your time to me. And that’s what I think he means here. He’s showing here to follow him what it costs, the urgency of it, and the importance of it. I am greatly today distressed, frankly, with the way I see young men and young women today serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Serving Him is a sideline for them. There’s so many today, yes, I’m serving Him, but I’m doing something else also. And I consider that something else very important. Well, then you don’t consider serving Him to be important. The thing that I have learned in the ministry is this, that if you’re going to serve the Lord Jesus, you’ve got to give him everything. And if you don’t give him everything, you haven’t given him anything. And you cannot serve without giving him everything. Now, I think that it’s worthwhile to call attention to that because that is a verse that has a deep meaning, especially when you put it with these other verses that are here.
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The 1960s feminist movement has created an expanding ripple effect. In recent years, a movement has begun to de-gender the Scriptures. So it’s not surprising to receive this question from a listener in Portland, Oregon. She says, Why is the Bible written from the male point of view? From Genesis to Revelation, it makes reference to Father, Son, He, and Him. Why do women have such a secondary role in Scripture?
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I don’t seem to read the Bible like you do, to say that the word sons and fathers are used. Actually, the word mothers also used. Abraham is called Father Abraham, but Sarah is Mother Sarah, if you want to know the truth. She had a son. a very important one, by the way. And I think that if you read the Scripture from that standpoint, now as far as the genealogy is concerned, why, the man’s genealogy is the one that’s given. That is true. But what is your problem with that? You are writing to me and you give a name, and the name you give is your husband’s name. You didn’t even tell me what your name was. And may I say to it, because that’s our custom today in a marriage for a woman to take the name of her husband. And that’s a carryover from these early days. You could keep your own name, and since you have the feeling that you do, I wonder why you didn’t agree with your husband that you’d keep your own name. You can do that, you know. I think it’s legal for a couple to take their wife’s name if they want to, but I don’t find any going that route today would be a little unusual. So this idea today that somehow or another the Bible is a man’s book, not a woman’s book, is not to read the Bible or write. You hear so much being made today in these how-to books about woman’s place. And believe me, they generally give her a second place. But did you know that Sarah had charge of the household while Abraham had charge of the land and the farming and raising of cattle? Sarah had full charge of the home. And if you don’t believe it, read the story over again. It was Sarah’s idea, that little maid Hagar, BE USED BY ABRAHAM TO BRING A MALE CHILD INTO THE WORLD. IT WASN’T ABRAHAM’S IDEA. AND THEN WHEN THE LITTLE FELLA GREW UP AND BECAME A NUISANCE AROUND THE CAMP, A SAYER WENT TO ABRAHAM AND SAYS, YOU GET THAT BRAT OUT OF HERE. HE’S NOT GOING TO INHERIT WITH MY SON. AND POOR ABRAHAM WENT TO THE LORD TO PLEAD FOR HIM. THE LORD SAYS, SAYER IS RIGHT. YOU HAVE TO LET HIM GO. And Abraham had to let him go. And I ask you, who’s getting first place in this? And if you read the other stories, read the story of Samuel. I don’t know much about Samuel’s father at all, but I know a great deal about his mother. And also, I think I know more about Solomon’s mother. And the whole last chapter of Proverbs is the word of Bathsheba to her son Solomon about drinking. and other things. May I say to you that I don’t think you read the Scripture very carefully if you feel like that it’s a man’s book. I sometimes wonder if it isn’t a woman’s book that she’s given the place that she is in it. Look at the part she played in the Garden of Eden that got them out of the Garden of Eden. Don’t tell me that the Bible is a man’s book because the male gender is used and the word father occurs and the man’s genealogy is given. That seems to be the way things go today. And this party goes on with quite an argument, but I think that the argument is actually beside the point because I don’t think that your premise is accurate at all. I think you have a very biased viewpoint of the Scripture.
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Now, this person in Joplin, Montana, has misunderstood Dr. McGee’s teaching on the first 11 chapters of Genesis. He says, it seems that your premise for these chapters is that they don’t have to be historically accurate since they’re such a minor portion of Scripture. Can you please explain?
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It’s questions like this that disturbed me a great deal. I’m known as a very simple Bible teacher. I’ve had that reputation. But when I read a statement like this, I realize I’m not making it clear, that somebody’s just missed the point, and they missed it a great deal. I did not even suggest that the first 11 chapters of Genesis were not historically accurate and inspired, verbally inspired. I never said that at all. The thing that I did say about these chapters was this, that in the first 11 chapters of Genesis, you cover 2000 years of history. From Genesis 12 on to the end of the Old Testament, You cover 2,000 years of history. Now, God spent only 11 chapters in covering a great expanse of time and of history. He could have put a great deal more in that, but He didn’t. And the reason is He is getting to His story, which is going to begin at chapter 12 with Abraham. But that doesn’t mean that the first 11 chapters are not plenary, verbally inspired, and are as much inspired as any other portion of the Word of God. It’s just a fact of history that we’ve covered 2,000 years and 2,000 years. And so just common sense would teach us that God is putting the emphasis upon the last period and not the first period. But that doesn’t have anything in the world to do with the inspiration of Scripture. So let me just read on here, because what you say is just entirely beside the point. But I’ll read it here. The problem I see with that is this. If God is not accurate concerning the beginnings of the world, well, who said He wasn’t accurate? You see, you have adopted a premise that you think I have, and you have gone with it like a dog takes a bone and runs with it. Come back and look at the facts. I did not make the statement that you think I made at all. If God is not accurate concerning the beginnings of the world, why should he be any more so on accuracy of the resurrection of Christ? Much of the remainder of Scripture hinges on the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Of course that’s true. But what does that have to do with the statement that I made about nothing in the world, but that something ought to be called the attention of the reader that 2,000 years are covered in 11 chapters. That doesn’t mean it isn’t inspired. Doesn’t mean it isn’t important. It’s very important. and your entire premise is wrong. And I do not know how you could have adopted that viewpoint. I’m not going to go on with your letter because this part actually wants to carry on a dialogue with me. Well, if you don’t get me accurate, I couldn’t carry on a dialogue with you, and I’m disturbed that you missed the entire point that we were making at that particular place in Genesis. That is the reason that I say that we need to be very careful today in our understanding of the Word of God.
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Many churches today have an annual or semi-annual stewardship drive to encourage people in their giving. Well, in response to a similar activity in his church, this listener in Shelbyville, Kentucky writes, Would you please explain the scriptural view of the tithe and how it applies to Christians today?
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the tithe in the Old Testament was God’s method of Israel giving. And if you want to be very accurate, I think you would find that there are three tithes that were given in the Old Testament, but I don’t care to go into that today. But the tithe is not the basis on which Christians are to give. Paul spent a great deal of time with the Corinthians because he talked to them about giving. And first thing he said to them that they should first give themselves to the Lord because God wants the person rather than the giving. And then he also said, says that in our giving that we should give as we are able to give. And therefore, that is the important thing. As God has distributed to every man, let him give. And that applies not only to money, but it applies to the talents that a person has. God wants this man to do this thing. and this man to probably give and i do not think the tithe is the standard of giving today i actually believe that it is more than the tithe i think that people today christian people should give more than a tenth to the lord especially in our affluent society today and there are many people that do that i know of quite a few Christians, people of means, that one man gives half of what he makes to the Lord. And by the way, if you don’t give it to the Lord, the income tax is going to get it from you anyway. And so a great many people knowing that, why they give very generously. AND THEY’D RATHER GIVE TO THE CHURCH OR TO THE LORD’S WORK RATHER THAN TO GIVE TO SOMETHING ELSE. CERTAINLY GIVE TO TAXES WHICH ARE BEING SQUANDERED TODAY IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. SO THAT THIS MATTER OF GIVING, PAUL SAYS, LET EVERY MAN PURPOSE IN HIS HEART HOW HE SHOULD GIVE. And I probably ought to read some of what Paul has said to you in 2 Corinthians, the eighth chapter. And I would suggest you read that very carefully and study it very carefully. And I think that you will find that giving is on a different basis. Let me read beginning with the first verse. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, that is the witness of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. You see, giving is a grace. It’s grace giving, not the tithe giving. As God has blessed you, that’s the way you’re to give. how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Here was a church that was poor, and yet they gave a great deal. And they were praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. God wants you first before he wants your gift. And if he has you, then he’ll talk to you about your giving. And this eighth chapter, it says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. Now, that’s your standard of giving. If you want a standard today, not the tithe, but the Lord Jesus is our example. He says, if there be first a willing mind, a person ought to give, not because it is a commandment, because it’s burdensome, but to give joyfully. It ought to be a happy experience. And brother, if it hurts you to give, I don’t think the Lord wants you to give. You’re to give out of the fact that God, by His grace, has so marvelously blessed you. I think that I’ve about answered your question. Maybe not quite the way that you’d like to have it answered, but the way we believe that the Scripture teaches it.
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Romans 9-11, according to Dr. McGee, is the second major division of this book. Dr. McGee refers to it as dispensational in nature. It reveals how God dealt with Israel in the past, how he’s presently dealing with them, and how he will deal with them in the future. Now, this listener is specifically concerned with Romans 11. She says, Will the Jewish people who were blinded eventually become God’s children?
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May I say to you, you have gone to a very difficult chapter of Scripture that requires more than just an answer to your question. Therefore, I would recommend that you get our book on Romans. Now, will you notice Paul writing chapter 11, and let me go back now to the first verse. I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I am also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. And then you remember he goes on to say that all Israel is not Israel. Back in the 10th chapter, he says, My heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. But then he said, but not all Israel is Israel. That is, not each individual Israelite. In other words, just to be an Israelite was not a basis of salvation at all. It wasn’t a natural birth at all. It was one that’s in right relationship with God. Now let me finish your question. So then what about the Jewish people who are accepting the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior? are considered and included as the bride of Christ. This puzzles me. Well, the minute that a Jew accepts the Lord Jesus, he’s the same thing as a German that accepts Jesus. He becomes a member of the body of Christ, the church, and he’s no longer A German, he’s no longer an Englishman. He’s no longer an African. He’s now in the body of Christ and a member of that body. And that is the thing that is important to see, by the way, that not all Israel is Israel. And it’s the nation that is to be saved, not every Israelite, because he says not all Israel is Israel. Now to take up your questions that you gave me, certain verses. Verses 15 and 16, let me read those. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so also the branches. The whole thought is this. If by the fact that Israel stumbled, as they did and rejected the Savior. And as a result, He now goes to the world and provides a world salvation. And it was in their rejection as a nation. Now when He receives them as a nation, just think what that’ll mean to the Gentile nations in that day. And that’s the reason that I make this statement. that the greatest time of salvation is yet in the future. That’s going to take place down the road, I think, during the time of the Great Tribulation and even the millennium. It’s going to be a time of great turning to God. This idea today that the Lord is coming off with the short end of the stick, that few people are saved and more people are being lost. Well, today that is true, but you must remember that we are just one little point in history. and that the day is coming when there’ll be a great turning to God, and I think that in the end that God is going to win out. In fact, I’m sure of that.
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As Dr. McGee mentioned, this is a very difficult portion of Scripture. Many great men throughout history have pondered its meaning. Dr. McGee grazed in the fields of many of these men, but from his own personal studies, he produced a wealth of interpretation and application. So if you’d like to further your understanding of the book of Romans, we have a two-volume paperback set of Dr. McGee’s edited messages on Romans. Now, you can also expand your knowledge of Scripture by joining us on the Through the Bible radio program heard Monday through Friday on this station. We continue Dr. McGee’s five-year journey through the whole Word of God book by book and chapter by chapter. We offer notes and outlines for each book of the Bible to help you in your study of the scriptures. You can either get them by mail when you ask to receive our monthly newsletter, or you can download a PDF version from our website. To order the two volume set of commentaries on Romans, Or to get on the mailing list, call 1-800-65-BIBLE Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pacific Time. Or write to Questions and Answers. For those in the U.S., Box 7100, Pasadena, California, 91109. In Canada, Box 25325, London, Ontario, N6C, 6B1. For the electronic version of the notes or to get our e-newsletter, visit us online at ttb.org. And we pray that our Lord and God will answer all your questions and solve all your problems. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. Through the Bible Radio Network.
