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 10:15

What 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.com

Visit the Weird Stuff store!

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0:00 - Introduction

2:00 - Eat What You Want

4:45 - Leviticus 11’s Clean and Unclean Animals

8:45 - The Health and Sanitation Theory

9:50 - The Religious Theory

11:00 - The Mixture Theory

17:00 - The Ethics Theory

21:20 - Next Time and Closing Thoughts

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

Hosted by Luke Taylor

If 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!

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 makes

In 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.com

Visit the Weird Stuff store!

https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.com

Sign 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 - Introduction

2:00 - The Full Story

10:15 - What Did Babel’s Tower Do?

14:45 - Ziggurats and Pyramids

21:30 - Gaps in My Pyramid

23:15 - Mailbag

26:00 - Closing Thoughts

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

Hosted by Luke Taylor

If 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!

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 writes

7 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 Paul

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.com

Visit the Weird Stuff store!

https://luketaylorpodcasts.creator-spring.com

Sign 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 - Introduction

2:00 - Breaking Down the Context

10:30 - God’s Sovereignty Over Evil Spirits

17:30 - Evil Spirits as a Tool

21:30 - Newsletter

23:00 - Sometimes It’s Not Our Own Sin

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

Hosted by Luke Taylor

If 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!