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Whole Bible in 30 Minutes

Think of it now like a buffet table with 66 dishes on it. You get a very small taste from each, but you'll know what that flavor is—and then you'll have a full plate.

The point of this is to hear and see the harmony of scripture and how we can absorb it all the while we can't exhaust it. Another big takeaway is to be encouraged in the total fullness of God's message in one brief presentation.

Our text today is from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21.

So, let's go.

Part One: The Pentateuch

Genesis

That's our God as creator in the beginning. It also introduces us to the theme of the entire Bible: the fall of humans into sin and the first promise of redemption for mankind.

We meet Adam and Eve and Noah and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph with his coat of many colors. And we see the garden, the flood, and the founding of God's nation for the world.

Exodus

The actual title means departure or exit. It recounts the great redemptive events that made Israel God's nation. This book forms the theological heart of the Old Testament.

We meet Moses in the burning bush. We get the Ten Commandments and the Ten Plagues. And we get our booming voice learning the words, "Let my people go."

The Red Sea gets parted and Pharaoh's cork gets sunk.

Leviticus

This is one of the hardest of all, if not the hardest read in the Bible. It is basically a manual for priests. The technical jargon for various sacrifices, holy days to observe, dietary laws, and more.

Now, if you want to punish a child, make them read this from the King James version in their timeout.

Seriously, the book's purpose is to call Israel to holiness and is broken into two parts. Even though it's difficult to read, it's still valuable because the first part brings us the rules of holy worship and the second part is the rules for holy living.

Numbers

This is the census count in the wilderness and is the account of Israel's 40-year aimless stroll through the desert. The book really takes us through the failure of Israel to enter the promised land due to rebellion.

There's just richness in chapters 13 and 14 alone—the spies and Caleb and Joshua and they came and gave the bad report.

The message of Numbers to us would be that we must trust and obey to fulfill God's plan for us.

Deuteronomy

No question this is the hardest book in the Bible to spell. Even spellcheck sometimes is like, "What? What are you getting at, dude?"

What this is is Moses's farewell address to Israel. He has a heartfelt appeal to the people to love the God that delivered them.

And one of the best verses in the Bible is Deuteronomy 6:5:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

Part Two: The Historical Books

Joshua

The story of Joshua tells of the conquest of Canaan in the promised land. Now, Joshua picks up right where Deuteronomy left off with Israel camped on the east bank of the Jordan.

Following Moses's death, God commissions Josh to lead them. And we get this amazing story of Jericho and the walls and the sniveling Gibeonites and our God giving victory and demonstrating his power in the allotment of dividing up the promised land.

My favorite Caleb story is in the book of Joshua.

Judges

It tells the amazing story of various names we all know like Samson and Gideon and maybe some we don't know like Ehud. He was the left-handed warrior that killed the fat king. Should look it up.

The book reveals Israel's need for a godly king. Doing as we see fit and not allowing God to be our true king leads to defeat and despair.

Ruth

I call it "The Boaz Situation."

I love that it's called Ruth, but Boaz plays the part of the kinsman redeemer, and Naomi plays the part of resolve in the midst of a broken life.

This whole deal sets in motion the grafting of a Moabite woman to be in the line of King David and therefore in the line of Jesus himself. That's great news for us Gentiles all the way back to the ancient times.

I have written a three and four-part sermon series on the book of Ruth and I tell you it could be five or six real easy.

First and Second Samuel

These were originally one volume, but they were first separated into two books in the Septuagint. And what's that? That's when the 70 scholars translated the Old Testament in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

These books tell the story of rule from judges to the rule of kings. And the last judge Samuel actually anointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David.

First and Second Samuel are what's called theological history. They are not so concerned with general events of a king's reign, but with a king's faithfulness or unfaithfulness to God and the blessings and curses that come upon a nation as a result.

This is something I wish America would take heed, I dare say.

First and Second Kings

Like Samuel and Chronicles to come, they are one volume originally. They were first separated by the Septuagint.

Here you get Solomon's reign, the kingdom divides, the awesomeness of Elijah and Elisha's ministries. And it gives some outstanding examples of God ruling in ancient Israel just like he rules in our lives today.

First and Second Chronicles

Like Kings and Samuel, originally one volume separated by the Septuagint. And it was written for the Israelites after their return from exile in Babylon to reassure the Israelites that they were still God's chosen people.

The book testifies that God's faithfulness never fails.

Ezra and Nehemiah

It's another split that was originally one book in the Hebrew Bible and it was simply called Ezra.

But together they tell the story of Israel's return to the promised land. Ezra's focus is on rebuilding the temple and Nehemiah is all about rebuilding the city.

And if you want to see an aggressive biblical response to troublemakers, look up how Nehemiah handled the building of the wall around the great city.

Here, God demonstrates his control over history and his faithfulness in his promises.

Esther

What an incredible book. It tells the story of how a Jewish orphan became the queen of Persia and saved her people from destruction.

We get Mordecai and Haman and the incredible story of the long shot bringing in the victory. It's a great book.

At the end of the day, number one, it recounts God's preservation of his chosen people. Don't doubt it no more. And two, it explains the origin of the feast of Purim.

The message is that even when it isn't apparent, God is working behind the scenes to bring about his plans.

Part Three: The Wisdom Books

Job

Why do the innocent suffer? The question that has puzzled the human race forever. It is the question that this book addresses.

The book of Job reveals that God is working out a purpose when innocent people suffer. Even if that purpose remains a mystery, when we go through difficult times, we must remember that God has a reason and in the end will turn everything around for us if we just continue to trust him.

And it may not even be on this side, maybe on the life to come. But his promise is sure, and Job gives us that encouragement.

Psalms

My hope is that you would read a Psalm every day of your life. There's plenty of them to read.

The book of Psalms was ancient Israel's worship manual and serves us so well even to this day. Many of the chapters were simply written to be sung—translated into English and it doesn't rhyme, so it's hard for us to sing them.

But this is the most incredible collection of lyrics, highly artistic poems, and some deep reminders to the greatness and sovereignty of our heavenly father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The book tells us God wants to hear our heartfelt prayers and praises. Psalms is inspired to actually aid believers in worshiping God through all of life's experiences, the good and the bad.

Proverbs

This is a book of wisdom. It is full of short, memorable statements of practical truth.

31 chapters gives you one for every day of the month. And if you read one on the 8th of the month this month and next month and the month after, you'll still see stuff in chapter 8 you didn't see before.

So if you're like, "Well, I don't know when to study the Bible," just pick up Proverbs, whatever day of the month it is. Look that proverb up and just read it. You will be blessed.

It's such outstanding practical wisdom for godly living in our daily lives.

Ecclesiastes

If you were given everything in the world that anything the world has to offer—you were given it, all of its pleasures, power, and possessions—would you now be happy?

Solomon answers that in Ecclesiastes with a big fat no.

Not if you leave God out. Life without God leaves you empty. And this book tries to warn off the folly and the bitterness of trying to find happiness apart from God.

Song of Songs

Sometimes it's called Song of Solomon in many Bibles. This is the Bible's celebration of romantic love. That lifelong commitment is awesome and incredible.

Song of Songs 6:3 is inscribed on my ring in Hebrew:

"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine."

And it is my prized possession that Emily bought for me in Jerusalem 10 years ago. I asked Emily if it was forged in the fires of Mount Doom, and she assured me, "No, it's not one ring to rule them all."

But this one from the Song of Songs is mine.

Part Four: The Major Prophets

Isaiah

Isaiah is considered the big dog of the prophets. His writing prophesies more about the coming Messiah than any other prophet.

His ministry lasted six decades and covered the reign of several kings. He predicted with amazing accuracy the detail and events hundreds of years in the future.

He also throughout calls God's people to repentance. That's a theme of the Bible. Sin brings judgment, but God offers forgiveness and restoration to all who trust in the promised Messiah, the promised spotless lamb.

Jeremiah

He was active in the last 40 years of the kingdom of Judah. Sometimes he's called the weeping prophet because he was announcing the pending doom because of the sin, suffered big-time persecution, and it was just awful during that time.

He had to bring the message to the people because of his own despair for the people, which made it very difficult for Jeremiah.

Takeaways from the book of Jeremiah:

1. We must take sin and its consequences seriously.
2. We must never give up hope for a better future in God. Even if it doesn't happen on this side, we have a better future waiting for us. And we cling to that.

Lamentations

The next book was also written by Jeremiah.

See, because of people's sin, God permitted Babylon to invade the promised land, lay siege to Jerusalem, breach its walls in the fourth month of 586 BC. One month later, they burn the temple, and they carry the people into exile.

The book of Jeremiah predicted it. The book of Lamentations looked back at what happened.

Together, the writings of the prophet tell us to remember sin has dire consequences and remember that there is always hope in God.

Ezekiel

While Jeremiah was doing his thing, young Zeke was his contemporary. He was a younger contemporary.

Now, while Jeremiah was warning the people in Jerusalem, Ezekiel was delivering the same message to the Jews already in exile.

This book reveals the reason for the destruction and the glorious future God still had in store for Israel.

The big message is God's kingdom will come to earth. God's kingdom is coming on the earth.

Daniel

The work of Daniel is just astounding to me because it reveals God's sovereignty over all nations and really doubles down on the fact that God is in control.

So much rich storylines with Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel in the lion's den and so much more.

But I always point to Daniel chapter 3 with the three Hebrew children and the "if not" clause. They said as they were about to be thrown into the fiery furnace:

"God has the power to save us. But if not, if we go to our death right now, we will still serve him."

The "if not" clause is so important for Christians living in modern times to be able to stand firm.

Part Five: The Minor Prophets

Moving on to the minor prophets. Let me tell you why they're named as such. It has nothing to do with the importance of their work, but it has to do with the length and brevity and thickness of their works.

These next 12 books are small in comparison to the big large works of the major prophets. And they do conclude the Old Testament.

So, let's burn through them here.

Hosea

Hosea gets us started with him purchasing Gomer's freedom so he could restore her. That is a prophetic picture of Christ's redemptive work for us.

Joel

Joel announces the day of the Lord and the coming that God is going to have for us in the day of the Lord—and that God desires us to return to him before the day of the Lord so he can bless us and pour out his spirit on us.

Amos

Amos says religious ritual without justice and compassion towards others is useless.

Obadiah

Obadiah carries the powerful message that God will repay every nation for its deeds as well as stating that God expects us to show mercy to those in distress.

It's only one chapter—I think Obadiah had writer's cramp or something.

Jonah

Probably the most famous of the minors with the great fish. By the way, it's not a whale. It's a great fish.

It reveals God's concern for all people. God expects his people to share his message with everyone.

I believe in the power of God so much that I don't get caught up in this "Well, Jonah could not have lived inside the belly of a whale, nor could he get through the whale's throat." Look, it was a big fish.

In 2012, they found a fish in the Pacific Ocean they'd never seen before, and it had a throat cavity so big you could drive a smart car through it.

God's creation is amazing and his ability to sustain life is amazing. If I learn when I get to heaven that God put a sofa and a mini fridge in the belly of that great fish to sustain Jonah for three days, I'd believe it.

You can trust God and God expects us to share his sovereignty, his love, and his joy with all people.

Micah

Micah basically says straight up, God will hold his people accountable.

Nahum

Nahum is specifically to the people of Nineveh. This book is to the people of Nineveh saying no nation regardless of its great power and seeming security can defend against God's judgment.

Habakkuk

You maybe have heard maybe a little bit about Habakkuk, but maybe not much.

But do you know that most people owe their faith to this obscure little book?

Habakkuk 2:4 says:

"The just shall live by faith."

That verse is quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11. And it's actually what Martin Luther was reading when he rediscovered the biblical doctrine of justification by faith, which the Protestant Christian Reformation was based on.

And also in Habakkuk chapter 3, if the fig tree doesn't bloom, we'll still praise him. That's been a mantra of mine throughout the film industry for the last 10 years.

Zephaniah

Another book to declare the day of the Lord was coming on Judah, the nations, and the world.

Haggai

Haggai was written to encourage the returned exiles to finish rebuilding the temple. A message that God will take care of our house if we take care of his.

Zechariah

His name means "the Lord remembers"—and he wrote to encourage the Jews to rebuild the temple and look forward to God's Messiah. God has a good plan for this world and for our lives.

Malachi

Last book in the Old Testament that's written to fan the flame of faith among God's people specifically and to discuss the cure for spiritual burnout. Malachi talks to us about recalling God's love, recalling God's justice, and that he rewards obedience.

Then 400 years pass.

Part Six: The Gospels

And then the New Testament starts and we start with the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew

The first of the four gospels. You know, gospel means good news.

In the first book in the New Testament, Matthew was actually one of the 12 and he was an eyewitness of Jesus's life and ministry. He wrote specifically to demonstrate that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah promised by the Old Testament scriptures.

He explained how Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecies with remarkable and undeniable accuracy and that we can trust Jesus as the true Messiah and the savior of the world.

Mark

A lot of people don't know this, but this is actually Peter's gospel. It's well understood that Peter actually dictated this to John Mark who wrote it down.

It's the shortest of the four gospels and some believe the earliest. Mark is very fast-paced. He uses the word "immediately" a lot. Immediately Jesus left the shore. Immediately he departed Capernaum and so on.

The book is to prove that Jesus is the son of God.

Luke

Luke is the only known Gentile author of the Bible books. Luke was a physician by trade and Dr. Luke wrote to provide an accurate, like journalistic investigative account of Jesus's life and his ministry and to strengthen the reader's faith.

Luke really drives home the point that Jesus came to be the savior of all classes of people.

John

I always tell people who first come to know Jesus, read the Gospel of John. That's really where you want to start.

John was one of the 12. He was an eyewitness and he is "the apostle that Jesus loved." That's how he would refer to himself. I've always liked that. "I'm the apostle Jesus loved."

The gospel is so rich in so many ways. But if you really study what that phrase means, he's kind of putting himself down. Like the others were apostles by right. He was only there because Jesus chose him and loved him.

His book is so rich in so many ways. It inspires the divinity of the son of God and proclaims loudly we can trust Jesus with our today, our tomorrow, and our eternity.

When you are a new Christian or a fatigued one, read or reread the Gospel of John.

Part Seven: Acts

Dr. Luke is back with his second book and tells the story of the early church, how it was founded, how Paul was converted, and so on and so on. And there is a ton in here for us today.

My favorite non-disciple in the whole entire scriptures is found here. Just an average dude, just a basic Christian with the name of Stephen. But he was fully alive in Christ.

He didn't hesitate to speak the truth, the hard truth, to people who he knew they didn't want to hear it, even if it would cost him his earthly life.

And some of us won't even speak the hard truth if it'll cost us our reputation or maybe our situation or maybe a dirty look from some stranger. Why that would bother you, I don't know.

Stephen stood his ground and delivered one of the best truth bombs ever recorded.

Part Eight: Paul's Letters

Romans

This is such a definitive book for the Christian walk. Saul from Acts who became Paul wrote much of the New Testament.

What's so cool about this book is Paul wrote it to a place he had yet to visit. Romans is huge in the explanation of God's plan for salvation. It is so awesome.

Look, God grants us righteousness. That is right standing with him as a completely free gift just through our faith in Jesus Christ.

First Corinthians

People are now walking with Jesus. Jesus has ascended back to heaven and now they started the church.

If I could rename this book, it would be "Letter to the Christian Losers Who Need to Stop Being Losers."

Paul takes great pains to help this troubled church that is plagued by immorality, divisions, and various bad doctrines. So as Paul writes to correct moral, congregational, and doctrinal errors, he helps all generations of Christ followers overcome influences of ungodly culture to live in spiritual victory.

Be careful if you use First Corinthians as your authority to try to add extra special stuff into your life. It's dangerous.

But you can always use First Corinthians for, if nothing else, chapter 13, which is the love chapter.

Second Corinthians

It's the most personal of the Apostle Paul's letters. He lays out conduct and ministry, his precautions, and his visions and revelations.

This book states, "We can totally trust the message of the Bible because it is delivered to us by proven apostles."

That's the message of Second Corinthians. Someone tells you there's new apostles, tell them to shut their pie hole. There are no new apostles. That is a made-up thing from people who want to try to have their significance grow or to line their pockets.

Second Corinthians doubles down on that.

Galatians

Another Paul letter. This one is to combat false teachers who came in saying Jesus wasn't enough. You needed to submit to the law of Moses as well.

Here we read that salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Ephesians

Paul writes this one with a different objective. He's not correcting error here. He is wanting to increase our spiritual understanding.

This letter reveals that God, as part of his eternal purpose, reconciles believers to himself through the redemptive work of Jesus. And our new life should change the way we live in the world.

Philippians

Philippians is about supporting the work of spreading the gospel. And in spite of his imprisonment, Paul was still telling us that the cause of Christ should be advancing.

Colossians

Colossians tells us all of our spiritual needs are met in Christ. We don't have to add any mumbo jumbo. Simple faith in Christ, getting into his word, talking with him through prayer is enough.

First Thessalonians

Message to all believers: we will experience persecution, but we're to endure it faithfully in the hope of the Lord's return.

Second Thessalonians

Paul clears up the misunderstanding about the second coming and tells us to keep working for a living.

Some people want to believe the rapture's around the corner, so they sell all their stuff and then when he doesn't show up, their faith is hurt.

Paul says, "He's going to show up when he's going to show up. Keep working."

First Timothy

Proper functioning of the local church and how our faith should result in godly behavior and service through the local church.

Second Timothy

Now this is Paul's farewell. It's his postgame interview. He tells us to carry on and most importantly to preach the gospel in season and out of season.

Titus

We're encouraged in good works and to make the teaching of the Lord and Savior lovely or attractive.

Philemon

It tells the story of Onesimus that God had graciously forgiven and accepted us and we should graciously forgive and accept others.

Part Nine: The General Epistles

Hebrews

The one book that nobody knows who wrote it, but Paul gets credit.

You know, we all face the temptations to return to our old life. This book, the book of Hebrews says, "Stay faithful to Jesus Christ."

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, the spotless lamb of God, and not turn back.

James

If you want practical straight up, you want James to demonstrate the difference Christian faith should make in your daily living.

James pulls no punches. Highly encourage you to read James.

First Peter

Now we hear from the early church chief spokesman and he implores us to follow Jesus's example to wholly persevere in a hostile world.

Look around. Peter tells us you persevere. You stay the course. Maintain your testimony in spite of how hard it may get.

Second Peter

He wants to strengthen the church against external threats and false teachers that are constantly coming in to introduce destructive heresies.

And he gave us treasure to hold tightly to and that is the truth of the gospel.

And Second Peter is also kind of like Peter's farewell address. He knew his time on earth was short. Keep that in mind when you read Second Peter.

First John

We are told to guard our faith in the biblical Jesus.

Second John

We are told to withhold support of false teachers and stand behind those preaching the original unaltered message of the gospel.

Third John

We get a smackdown straight up on arrogant church leadership. And it's encouraging Christians to be and show hospitality. We are to care more about Christ's love than our own agenda.

Jude

Ah, I love Jude. Snatch those from the fire. To defend the faith against heretics and evil workers.

Oh, aren't we supposed to all be nice? The Bible in Jude says, "Snatch them from the fire." Is that a nice thing?

Part Ten: Revelation

Then we get the big finish.

We get Revelation, the showstopping number of what we have in our hands, which is the holy word of almighty God.

We get to see a small glimpse of Jesus:

• Hair like wool, white as snow
• Voice like many waters—that loud rushing river sound—that's what the glorified Lord's voice sounds like
• A golden sash around his chest
• His feet like bronze fired in the furnace
• A sharp two-edged sword comes from his mouth
• His face shines like the full strength of the sun

This is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Of his kingdom there will be no end.

The Big Picture

This is who we serve. Every knee will bow. The victory is already won. And now we walk in it.

And as we walk in it, we want to make sure that we can look at Genesis 1:1 all the way through Revelation 22 and know that there's something in there for us wherever we turn.

We can absorb the Bible. We can never exhaust it.

Revelation 22:21 says this:

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

Amen.