Believe It Or Not – Unusual Stories Of The Bible

“‘A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.'” (Matthew 1:23; CEV)

A LIST OF UNUSUAL STORIES

I want to talk to you about unusual stories in the Bible in this introduction of a blog post series.

And beyond the opening text in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 1 (which is incredibly unusual and unbelievable in itself – yet it really happened), here’s a list of some of the unusual things mentioned in the Bible (and we’re going to be looking at some of these over the course of this study)…

1. A man who almost lived 1,000 years (Methuselah was 969 years old when he died!). (Genesis 5:27)

2. When it had never rained a single day prior, the entire earth was covered in a flood. (Genesis 6-8)

3. A city being burned to a crisp by fire falling from the sky (Sodom and Gomorrah). (Genesis 19)

4. God telling a man to kill his own son and then stopping him just as he was raising the knife to do it. (Genesis 22)

5. 2 million people crossing a sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14)

6. Bread falling from heaven for these same people. (Exodus 16)

7. Water coming from a rock for these same people to drink. (Exodus 17)

8. When these same people shout, an entire city’s impenetrable walls crash to the ground. (Joshua 6)

9. A donkey speaking with a human voice. (Numbers 22)

10. A man riding off to heaven in a chariot. (2 Kings 2)

And let me just skip ahead to the New Testament…

11. 5,000 men being fed by 5 loaves and 2 fish. (John 6)

12. 4,000 men being fed by 7 loaves and a few fish. (Matthew 15)

13. A man walking on water. (Matthew 14)

14. A man flying up in the clouds like Superman. (Acts 1)

And I could go on and on and on.

But you get the point.

It’s an unusual book – the Bible is!

Is it any wonder we’re a peculiar people (believers in Jesus are!). (1 Peter 2:9; KJV)

You can’t help but become peculiar reading a book like this!

BE PREPARED TO SHARE

And let me just make a point in this Believe It Or Not – Unusual Stories Of The Bible introduction.

We think of these Bible stories, and because we’ve heard them all our lives, some of us – and we can forget that they ARE unusual.

And when you consider we live an an ever-increasing age of Bible illiteracy (it’s a big word referring to people who don’t have a clue what’s written in the Bible) – and so people will hear these things in the Bible (like I’ve already highlighted) and, quite frankly, they’ll be tempted to say, “What? You must be crazy to believe stuff like that.”

And then you add to it all the liberal theologians who work hard to twist and turn the Scriptures to their own ends as they’re bowing at the altar of political correctness. “That couldn’t mean that. Jesus didn’t really ascend to heaven. It’s only an allegory meant to teach us something.”

An allegory is “a story in which people, things and events have a symbolic meaning, often instructive, as a fable.” (Webster’s)

But what I really wanted to say here, in light of this, is: We need to be prepared to share with people and be equipped to explain the unusual things in the Bible should the opportunity arise for us to do it.

And I’m praying it will.

Peter says: “[B]e ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15; NKJV)

It’s why I’m talking about the “Believe It Or Not” of the Bible in a blog post series.

Watch for “Believe It Or Not – There’s A Man In The Bible Who Got Married 700 Times” to come soon.

(Nativity Scene via pixabay)

You might also be interested in:

• A “God” Thing
• A “Somebody” Becoming A “Nobody”