If you grew up in church, you’re probably familiar with some of the more popular Bible stories like Moses parting the Red Sea, David killing Goliath, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But there are some Bible stories that I bet you skipped over even if you’ve gone to church your whole life. The Bible is full of stories that are incredibly strange, so I’ve put together a list of some of my favorite strange stories. And who knows, maybe these strange stories will inspire you to read your Bible a little bit more closely.
1. Roadkill Cafe
Judges 14:5-9
You’ve probably heard the story of Samson. He had beautiful hair and was incredibly strong. But before he met Delilah and was attacked by the Philistines, he had a strange run in with a lion. The lion started attacking him, but Samson “tore the lion apart with his bare hands.” More than that though, he found some honey in the lion’s carcass and decided to eat it and share it with his parents. Yuck.
2. Bear-y harsh.
2 Kings 2:23-26
There was once a prophet named Elisha. Elisha happened to be bald, and apparently he was pretty sensitive about this. Some young boys thought it would be fun to make fun of Elisha’s bald head. Big mistake. Elisha cursed the boys and then two bears came and mauled 42 of the young boys. FORTY-TWO YOUNG BOYS. Don’t make fun of bald people...
3. Alternative fuel.
Ezekiel 4:12-15
Ezekiel was also a prophet, and God wanted his life to be an illustration of the bad things that were going to happen to the Israelite's. Ezekiel had to do multiple strange things for the purpose of this illustration. One of these things happened to be that he had to cook his food over human feces. Ezekiel, disgusted and worried, begged God to not make him do this. So God instead told him to cook over cow patties.
4. You’re not You when You’re hungry.
Matthew 21:18-21
One day Jesus was walking down the road and He spotted a fig tree. He was really hungry and wanted some food, so He approached the tree. When he reached the tree, there wasn’t a single piece of fruit on it. He was so hangry that He cursed the tree so that it would never bear fruit again and the tree withered. I’m sure there’s some kind of profound illustration behind cursing a tree, but it’s still a strange story.
5. I AM.
John 18:4-5
I think this story is pretty cool and I don’t think it gets enough attention. Jesus is being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. The soldiers coming to arrest Him said they were looking for Jesus. Jesus responded by saying, “I am he.” For those of you that don’t know, I AM is the name that God gave himself in the Old Testament. When Jesus said “I AM” and proclaimed to be God, the soldiers fell back onto the ground. Two words from the mouth of Jesus literally knocked people to the ground!
6. Streaking and fleeing.
Mark 14:5-52
Here’s another story from the arrest of Jesus. Jesus has been taken away, but the soldiers noticed a man that was following Jesus who was pretty much just in his underwear. When the soldiers tried to seize him, he slipped out of what little he was wearing and fled from them naked. Who is this guy and why was he running around naked?
7. Death by sleep.
Acts 20:7-13
This story should serve as a warning to all of you. There was once a man named Eutychus. Eutychus had a hard time staying awake during church. One day as he was fast asleep during church, he fell out of a third story window and died. He literally died because he fell asleep during a sermon. But no worries, Paul brought Eutychus back to life and then they continued on with the service. But just to be safe, try not to fall asleep during church.
