The Bible has some hard commandments in it. “Do everything without worrying or complaining.” “Forgive 70x7 times.” “Be content in all circumstances.” “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wifi.” “Thou shalt not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

I’m sure I’m not the only person out there who struggles with these.

OK, maybe that last one was kind of a joke. That actually is in the Bible, and it’s a weird thing in the Bible, but that’s not the weird thing I want to focus on today. Maybe we’ll circle back to it in a future episode.

No, the thing I want to focus on today, and perhaps a harder instruction than all those others, is a command found in

I Timothy 2:1-2

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Wait a minute, what? We’re supposed to pray for our leaders? That wouldn’t include presidents I don’t like, would it?

Well, it says “for kings and all who are in high positions.”

So perhaps presidents, then. But not the bad presidents, right? Not the evil and wicked rulers who sometimes get into power over us? God surely couldn’t be telling us to pray for THEM, right?

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to II Kings 6, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

2:00 - Ben-Hadad and Elisha

5:55 - Who Was Jehoram?

7:55 - Supplications and Prayers for Leaders

12:15 - Intercessions

16:25 - Thanksgiving

20:20 - Mailbag

22:45 - Closing Thoughts

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor

The raising of Lazarus. The 10 Plagues in Egypt. Walking on Water. Feeding the 5,000.

There are lots of miracle in the stories that are pretty well-known, even by non-Christians. Most of them are done by Jesus, but Moses and Elijah have their fair share as well.

But there’s a miracle in II Kings 6 that’s just a bit harder to categorize. It’s not nearly as dramatic as other miracles; it doesn’t solve a problem that seems nearly as dire as something like parting the Red Sea to save all the Israelites. And it can leave us scratching our heads wondering what it’s even doing in the Bible.

II kings 6:5-7 has this story of some men chopping down trees by a river

5 But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. 7 And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

So a man is distressed that he broke an ax, so Elisha throws a stick in the water, which makes the iron ax head float back up to the surface. A miracle, sure…but kind of mundane compared to the rest.

In fact, another element of this story I’d like to study today is that Elisha is only given a limited amount of miracles to do, and this is how he chooses to use one of them.

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to II Kings 6, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

2:00 - A Double Anointing

5:25 - A Wasted Anointing?

7:25 - The Context

12:20 - So What Does it Mean?

14:45 - Next Time

16:45 - The God of Everything

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor

Most of us would agree that God and Satan are about as different as you can get. That they are such polar opposites that it would be virtually impossible to confuse one with the other. That it would be tantamount to heresy to try to compare the two.

And yet, there’s a mystery to the identity of the figure called the “God of this World” in II Corinthians chapter 4.

Verse 4 of that chapter says

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

So, the conventional wisdom or assumption that most Christians make is that the “god of this world” must be Satan. The reason being, this figure is said right here to be blinding the minds of unbelievers to prevent them from hearing the Gospel. Sounds like a not-good thing to do, right?

However- that raises the question: if unbelievers have had their minds blinded by Satan, then how is it their fault that the don’t obey the Gospel? How can God hold it against them that they don’t believe if it’s not their fault?

And is it really true that Satan would have the power to blind people to God’s truth?

But then if it’s not Satan, if it’s actually God, then that raises another question: why would God blind people to the truth about Himself?

It’s not clear-cut any way you look at it. And it’s strange that this one mysterious figure could potentially either be God or Satan.

That kind of mistake isn’t like mixing up the ranch dressing with the caesar dressing. This is like mixing up the ranch dressing with boiling hot lava that melts your face off. It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out…yet it kinda is.

I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.

Turn to II Corinthians 4, and let’s get weird.

0:00 - Introduction

2:30 - The Context

5:15 - Is it Satan?

10:40 - is it God?

16:45 - Hardenings and Delusions

20:20 - The Abandonment Wrath of God

If you want to get in touch, my email is weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com

Hosted by Luke Taylor