How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

Whenever you read a book of the Bible, it's important to remember the circumstances surrounding

that book and what was happening to the people reading it at that time. Welcome to Through the

Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and we've just started studying one of the top 10 books of the Bible,

according to Dr. McGee. It's packed with great encouragement, great theology, great history,

and best of all, packed with great truth.

But when the first readers of this letter to the Hebrews received it, they were leading pretty desperate lives.

Hebrews was written to the new Christians living 30 years after Jesus ascended into heaven.

This group of first century believers was disillusioned,

and they were discouraged. Some were drifting, some were drowning, and they didn't know what to do.

Well, because of their faith, many had lost their homes, their jobs, their loved ones, and even lost

their lives. They had turned to Jesus and were suffering for it. So the writer to Hebrews was building a bridge back, a bridge over, very troubled, terrible,

threatening waters of the first century.

But we'll soon discover back then, just as now, Jesus Christ is the bridge from this life

to death to eternal life, and following him is worth it.

And to give us perspective, I want to read to you this email from someone who rides the Bible

bus with us and is living, really in a very dark place. He writes,

I was born and raised in another faith that considers Jesus a good teacher, Issa, is how

his name is pronounced here. When I began to question the basic foundations of my faith,

my family feared for my life. They accepted me, but could not associate with me in any way.

A local, secret gathering in the name of Issa told me about your television program where

respected teachers discuss matters of faith. I am now a follower of Jesus Christ, of Issa. I am learning day by

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