Jesus is the “center” of the Bible. The center fold in the Bible is the four books, which are the four accounts of the life of Jesus. Of course, there are more books in the Old Testament than there is in the New Testament. Therefore, when the word “center” is used, we are not talking about the middle of the books. Here is a note of interest, when you have an even number of anything, there is no “center,” and this is the case with the Bible. It has 66 books, this means there is no middle book. However, Micah and Nahum are the 33rd and 34th books of the Bible.
Here is a little more on this subject; both having no meaning to the importance of the Bible at all. There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible and the middle chapter is 595th which is Psalm 117. Then, there are 31, 102 verses in the Bible, which means there is no middle verse, but the middle verses are in the Psalm 103, verses one and two. The two middle verses are the 15,551st and 15,552nd verses respectively. This is true, if my source is truth. The answer to your question: “Did I count the number of chapters in the Bible, no! Did I count the number of verses in the Bible, the answer is no! This information has noting to do with our subject, other than, in our opening statement, that Jesus is the “center” of the Bible. Finally, in this trivia is the fact that there are 789, 314 words in the Bible (counting the Psalm introductions). As this number is an even number, there is no middle word. Thus, there are two middle words, the 394,656th and 394,657th words in the Bible are found in Psalm 56 verse two.
We could say, if Jesus is removed from the Bible it has little purpose, other than history, medical, and why Israel fared better than other nations when they obeyed God. As the greatest need man has is his salvation and salvation is in Jesus! There is no other book that could possibly address the subject of the salvation of man. This is true, as there is no other way to gain salvation, other than through Jesus and all we know about Jesus, save a few points of information in the historical record; is in the Bible! Then, most of what we can learned about Jesus is in the New Testament. Then, it is also true, that most of what can be learned about Jesus is in the four gospel accounts! Yet, we must keep in mind, that the other twenty-two books have a great deal to say about Jesus. Therefore, it is incorrect to think, that all we need is in the four gospel accounts!
It is generally agreed that the first time the Bible addresses Jesus is in Genesis, chapter three and verse fifteen. This is called the “protoevangelium,” the first pronouncement of Jesus. The verse reads: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” In this verse, “the LORD God,” is the antecedent to the personal pronoun “I” (see verse 14); thus, the words in verse fifteen are the words of “the LORD God.” Before continuing, it is needful that we look at the Hebrew word translated “LORD.” First, please notice that the word in the King James Version is in all capital letters. The reason for this is to call attention to it; to give notice that the word is very important in our understanding. Moses used the Hebrew word, yehovah or yeh-ho-vaw, which means: “self Existent” or “Jehovah!” (Strong). The second word Moses used is, “‘elohıym,” which is translated “God” in verse fourteen and is also the antecedent to the pronoun in verse fifteen, “I.” Having now identified the antecedent in verse fifteen, it is correct to put the antecedent in the verse itself; therefore, the verse would read: “And the LORD God will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it (the “seed”) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The announcement is not only that the “seed” would come, but also that he would have the greatest victory of all time! This is seen in the words, “it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The victory belongs to Jesus! But, his victory is for us!
The “seed” in verse fifteen is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. Keep in mind, that verse fifteen is the beginning story of Jesus, the Christ. Who is the “seed” of the “self Existent” and “el-o-heem” is the same word found in the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God (eloheem) created the heaven and the earth.”
Therefore, he that would become Jesus, God in the flesh, in the New Testament is in the opening statement of the Bible! No, I did not write that “Jesus” is in the first verse of the Bible but that he who would become Jesus is in the first verse of the Bible. There is a great deal of difference between these two thoughts!
Frank R. Williams