In my conversations with some friends lately, we have been discussing some of the really strange stories in the Bible. The Bible is full of stories that seem to make absolutely no sense, at least at first glance. And then when you give them a second glance, you get even more confused. Take for instance one of my all time favorites, Elishah and the Bears. It sounds almost like a nursery doesn’t it? Here is the narrative.
2 Kings 2:23-25
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. 25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
So Elisha is taunted by a group of kids and he calls out two bears to maul them. Whoa!
Or how about this happy little story from Judges 11.
At that time the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he went throughout the land of Gilead and Manasseh, including Mizpah in Gilead, and led an army against the Ammonites. And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. He said, “If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will give to the LORD the first thing coming out of my house to greet me when I return in triumph. I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”
“So Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites, and the LORD gave him victory. He thoroughly defeated the Ammonites from Aroer to an area near Minnith – twenty towns – and as far away as Abel-keramim. Thus Israel subdued the Ammonites. When Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, his daughter – his only child – ran out to meet him, playing on a tambourine and dancing for joy. When he saw her, he tore his clothes in anguish. “My daughter!” he cried out. “My heart is breaking! What a tragedy that you came out to greet me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and cannot take it back.” And she said, “Father, you have made a promise to the LORD. You must do to me what you have promised, for the LORD has given you a great victory over your enemies, the Ammonites. But first let me go up and roam in the hills and weep with my friends for two months, because I will die a virgin.” “You may go,” Jephthah said. And he let her go away for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never have children. When she returned home, her father kept his vow, and she died a virgin. So it has become a custom in Israel for young Israelite women to go away for four days each year to lament the fate of Jephthah’s daughter.”
Those two are but a sampling of some of the really strange stories we find in the Bible. Here is a listing of my favorite strange stories. Feel free to add your own and vote for the strangest one.
In no particular order
Genesis 6 – Nephilim: The sons of God marrying the daughters of men, it is all strange
Judges 3 – Ehud the left handed assassin and the disappearing sword
Samuel 9-10 – They chose a king because he was tall and handsome? (Alright this one I get)
Genesis 9 – Daddy (Noah) drinks to much, gets naked and passes out, what are we to do
Nehemiah 13 – The Prophet is angry that the Israelites are marrying foreigners (again) so he beats them and pulls out their hair (ouch)
Acts 5 – Ananias and Sapphira cheat God and Peter puts them in a body bag (talk about effective ways to lead into an altar call)
Mark 16:9-20 (this may be extra-canonical anyways) This is where our snake handling, poison drinking brethren get their ideas
Joshua 5, 8 – The obliteration and apparent genocide of Jericho and Ai, these are hard stories
Those are my first 10 (including the one listed above) any ones you want to add? Which are the hardest to understand? Any interpretations of the ones above that you want to offer?
Enjoy-
Greg
April 11, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Oh Lord, the Nephilim. That was on our OT midterm. I still don’t think I completely understand who they were or what they were. Needless to say they were some strange folks.
April 11, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Exodus 4- Bridegroom of Blood?!?
Acts 20- Paul preaches for so long that a young man falls asleep and then falls out a window and dies. His name is Eutychus, which actually means Lucky!
April 12, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I think you have to learn about the Nephilim for every OT test!
That is a great one from Paul.
Genesis 19 – How about Sodom and Gomorrah when the angels are staying with Lot and some people from the town come to Lot’s house and demand to have sex with them. Lot instead offers his daughters to them. Then they try to break down the door, the angels strike them blind then go an a rampage that had to be the basis for the movie Dogma.
April 12, 2008 at 3:49 pm
And then Lot’s wife is turned to salt when they are leaving town!
September 1, 2009 at 12:12 pm
How about Isaiah 20:3….I dunno, walking around naked and barefoot for three years has to be a bit bizarre.
September 1, 2009 at 12:39 pm
That is three years of ministry I can do without.
October 21, 2009 at 3:58 pm
And who could forget a talking donkey…Balaam…not the donkey from Shrek.
May 24, 2010 at 12:10 pm
What about the boy who falls asleep during Paul’s sermon in Acts….falls out the window and dies? That’s pretty peculiar, too.
May 28, 2010 at 5:53 am
If I had a greenback for each time I came here! Superb article.
May 31, 2010 at 6:16 am
hi. im an observer. have you ever heard of “the old path”. I dont take side, so im wondering what wo9uld you gonna say!
July 30, 2010 at 1:08 pm
My observation is not a conventionally strange story. In fact, it is in large part the basis of the Christian religion.
We are often told by Christians that faith and belief are what Christianity require. The idea that people have not gotten a sign that is provably from God in the past couple of millennia is not supposed to matter. Faith should be enough. That is a complete departure, however, from the early days of the Christian religion.
The followers of Jesus ran away and hid after Jesus was taken by the Jewish and Roman authorities. They only got back their courage and started to be Christians again when they were given physical proof that Christ had risen from the dead. The point was made that Mary Magdalene saw Jesus from a close distance, his disciples did the same, one of them even inserted his finger into Christ’s wounded side, and a group of people saw Christ eat. All of this is to prove the physical rebirth of someone who represents God.
If God saw a necessity to offer such strong proof to the people who knew Christ best, how can it possibly be argued that offering equally strong proof on a regular basis since then somehow tampers with one’s faith? There is at least one possible explanation: It is possible that this proof is not occurring now because it never occurred two thousand years ago. It is commonly thought that one of Jesus’ half-brothers, James the Just, believed that his half-brother was the messiah who died and did not rise again. The apostle Paul is responsible for much of the story that surrounds Jesus’ rebirth. He and the four recognized gospel writers came to rule the story of Christianity, and yet none of them had met Jesus, and they certainly did not know him as James did.
Jesus was an uncommonly brave, caring, eloquent, and intelligent man, but he was also one of many in Galilee who thought he was the messiah or perhaps the only son of God. This is not intended to say that Jesus was not exactly what Christians believe, but it is disingenuous to argue that faith is enough. It clearly was not nearly enough for the closest followers of Christ in about the year 30.