Weird Stuff in the Bible

• Did Moses say it’s OK to beat your slave? Does the Bible endorse slavery?

  When you’re a Christian, you believe certain things about God. That the Bible reveals God to us. That God is morally perfect. That God is the same yesterday, today and forever.But also, in the Old Testament, that God allowed slavery.Wait wait wait. Wait a minute. We all know that slavery is wrong. We had a Civil War about it, we had Martin Luther King Jr, we had like four Planet of the Apes movies to teach us why slavery is wrong.And yet Old Testament Israel includes people who were slaves, Old Testament laws regulating the use of slaves, and even this shocking command from Moses inExodus 21:20-2120 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged, for the slave is his money.So wait- is Moses saying that it’s OK to beat your slave, as long as you don’t kill him?I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible. Turn to Exodus 21 and Leviticus 25, and let’s get weird.Check out the website! www.weirdstuffinthebible.comVisit the Weird Stuff store!https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.comSign up for the weekly newsletter! Get additional insights and Bible study tips for unpacking strange things in scripture. Enter your email here:https://weirdstuffinthebible.beehiiv.com/You can also find a list of past newsletters at that same link so you never have to miss one.0:00 - Introduction1:30 - Slavery in the Old Testament4:30 - Jubilee Years and the Mosaic Economy10:50 - Differences from Chattel Slavery14:25 - Laws Regulating the Treatment of Slaves24:40 - Newsletter & Closing ThoughtsIf you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected] by Luke TaylorIf you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!

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• Weird Old Testament Laws: Clean and Unclean Food

  I hope you enjoy your bacon-wrapped water chestnuts, your gummy bears, your Hawaiian Pizza, your Shrimp Tacos, your Crab Rangoons, and your Sausage Egg McMuffins. Because all of these foods are forbidden under the Old Testament law.Thankfully, we don’t live under the Old Testament law!Although I do still think we should forbid ham and pineapple pizza. I probably would be willing to go back under the Old Testament law to stop pineapple on pizza. But it’s not up to me. It’s up to Jesus. And Jesus said in:Acts 10:15What God has made clean, do not call common.Why did Jesus have to say this in the New Testament? Because back in the Old Testament, God had declared certain foods to be unclean- and therefore forbidden to eat.But the list seems a little random. Scholars have puzzled and debated for centuries over why certain foods were acceptable and certain foods weren’t. God gave the Israelites these rules as they set off on their journey through the desert after they left Egypt. And apparently, God didn’t want them stopping at a Red Lobster as they were wandering through the wilderness.I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.Turn to Leviticus 11, and let’s get weird.Check out the website! www.weirdstuffinthebible.comVisit the Weird Stuff store!https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.comSign up for the weekly newsletter! Get additional insights and Bible study tips for unpacking strange things in scripture. Enter your email here:https://weirdstuffinthebible.beehiiv.com/You can also find a list of past newsletters at that same link so you never have to miss one.0:00 - Introduction2:00 - Eat What You Want4:45 - Leviticus 11’s Clean and Unclean Animals8:45 - The Health and Sanitation Theory9:50 - The Religious Theory11:00 - The Mixture Theory17:00 - The Ethics Theory21:20 - Next Time and Closing Thoughts If you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected] by Luke TaylorIf you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!

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• What was the big deal about building a tower to heaven? A theory about Babel and Genesis 11.

  OK so my brother Ben sent me this comment over the summer:Why did God have a problem with the Tower of Babel but not us going to the moon?That’s because we never went. That’s Biblical. Put that in your library and smoke it.Now that’s actually a really smart question Ben. I don’t really know what the library part meant but you got my gears turning with the first part. A lot of us hear the story of the Tower of Babel as kids, the story about a group of people who tried to build a tower that reached heaven. And God said He wasn’t going to allow mankind to do this. It’s a really fascinating comment God makesIn Genesis 11:6…this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.God slapped this down pretty hard. He confused the speech of the peoples, which means He switched up all their languages, and therefore they couldn’t finish the project so they all went their separate ways, and now that’s why now we have to take 4 semesters of French class to get a Bachelor of Arts degree.So why did God have such a strong reaction to this? Why did He literally say that if the Tower of Babel was constructed, mankind would truly become capable of anything? I mean, just because of a tall building?If the problem with the Tower of Babel was just about altitude, then yes, space travel raises a lot of theological questions for us.But what if the Tower of Babel is not what we thought? What if the problem with the Tower of Babel was not how high it reached, but what it was capable of doing?I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible. Turn to Genesis 11, and let’s get weird.Check out the website! www.weirdstuffinthebible.comVisit the Weird Stuff store!https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.comSign up for the weekly newsletter! Get additional insights and Bible study tips for unpacking strange things in scripture. Enter your email here:https://weirdstuffinthebible.beehiiv.com/You can also find a list of past newsletters at that same link so you never have to miss one.0:00 - Introduction2:00 - The Full Story10:15 - What Did Babel’s Tower Do?14:45 - Ziggurats and Pyramids21:30 - Gaps in My Pyramid23:15 - Mailbag26:00 - Closing ThoughtsIf you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected] by Luke TaylorIf you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!

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• Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh: Does God Command Evil Spirits?

  Paul’s thorn in the flesh. This is a mysterious phrase Paul uses that has stumped commentators for centuries. In II Corinthians 12:7, Paul writes7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.Paul experienced some kind of hardship in his life- and what exactly it was, we don’t know. A sickness, a demonic attack, some kind of earthly trial or hardship, we aren’t entirely sure. That’s the part that commentators theorize about- and that’s NOT the part I want to focus on today.I’m more interested in where it came from. Now you say: well Luke, it’s obvious where it came from- it came from the devil. Paul right there said it was a messenger of Satan.Sure. But why was it given to Paul? He said it was to keep him from getting conceited, which means prideful or arrogant. Now let me ask you a question: is Satan interested in keeping us from becoming too prideful or arrogant? No! Satan wants us more prideful, not less. Satan wants us full of ourselves. Satan wasn’t interested in helping Paul be more humble. God is the one who wants that.Which means that this evil spirit was allowed into Paul’s life by God. The Lord allowed this evil spirit to go after PaulI find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible. Turn to II Corinthians 12, and let’s get weird.Check out the website! www.weirdstuffinthebible.comVisit the Weird Stuff store!https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.comSign up for the weekly newsletter! Get additional insights and Bible study tips for unpacking strange things in scripture. Enter your email here:https://weirdstuffinthebible.beehiiv.com/You can also find a list of past newsletters at that same link so you never have to miss one.0:00 - Introduction2:00 - Breaking Down the Context10:30 - God’s Sovereignty Over Evil Spirits17:30 - Evil Spirits as a Tool21:30 - Newsletter23:00 - Sometimes It’s Not Our Own SinIf you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected] by Luke TaylorIf you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!

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• Raptured to the… Third Heaven? (II Corinthians 12:2)

  Paul uses a phrase that I don’t quite know how to interpret, because it’s the only place in the whole Bible that uses this phrase.II Corinthians 12:2 readsI know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heavenWait, who was this guy?What is the third heaven?And what happened to the first two?I mean, some of us know about the Seventh Heaven, if we spent a little too much time watching cheesy Stephen Collins family dramas on the WB as kids. I’d kind of like to forget about that one. But I DO want to know more about this third heaven, because I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible. Turn to II Corinthians 12, and let’s get weird.Check out the website! www.weirdstuffinthebible.comVisit the Weird Stuff store!https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.comSign up for the weekly newsletter! Get additional insights and Bible study tips for unpacking strange things in scripture. Enter your email here:https://weirdstuffinthebible.beehiiv.com/You can also find a list of past newsletters at that same link so you never have to miss one.0:00 - Introduction1:00 - Paul’s Humility in Boasting10:30 - The Third Heaven14:50 - Next Time & Mailbag19:45 - The Rapture of Philip22:50 - Chris M from BostonIf you want to get in touch, my email is [email protected] by Luke TaylorIf you’re intrigued by strange Bible stories, uncovering Bible mysteries, or learning about unusual biblical teachings, this podcast is for you! Dive deep into weird Bible facts, biblical controversies, and the supernatural in the Bible, while exploring the hidden stories of the Bible you may have never heard. Get a fresh perspective as we explain the Bible in ways that challenge the norm and uncover the unexpected. I’m so glad you’re here- don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss an episode!

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