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| Weirdest Offering to God One of the oddest trivia facts in the Bible revolves around the Philistines. God, after they captured Israel’s Ark of the Covenant, plagued them with painful hemorrhoids (1Samuel 5). Realizing their possession and mistreatment of the Ark brought the painful condition, they decided to give it back to Israel. The Bible records that when they returned it they included a rather weird offering of pure gold shaped in the form of both hemorrhoids and mice (1Samuel 6:5, 11)! Lust of the Dead Here’s another bit of Biblical trivia you probably did not hear about at church. Moses, before he died, reminded ancient Israel of its history when he stated, “. . . and at the Graves of Lust, you provoked the Lord to anger” (Deuteronomy 9:22, HBFV). What were the graves of LUST? The location in question is called Kibroth-hattaavah in the Bible. It is where a plague was sent among the people for their sin of lusting after meat after God miraculously provided manna for them (Numbers 11:31 – 35). Circumcision Hill The largest collection of men, according to the Bible, that were circumcised at one time were all those destined to enter the Promised Land under Joshua (see Joshua 5). Although those who left Egypt forty years prior were circumcised, their children (who were the ones God allowed in Canaan) were not (Joshua 5:4 – 6). Although it may seem a bit weird, all the circumcisions of Joshua 5 occurred at the same time. They were also performed by anyone (not just priests or elders) who wanted to do so.  Weird portrait using fruits and veggies Giuseppe Arcimboldo, c. 1590 More than 600,000+ males left Egyptian slavery under Moses (Numbers 1:46). At least as many, and likely more of them, were alive when the Israelites entered into their inheritance. The place where the men were circumcised or had their trimmed parts buried (or both) was called “the hill of the foreskins” (Joshua 5:3). Left-handed Killers There are only two references in the Bible to people who were known to be left-handed. Ehud was a left-handed warrior used by God to save the Israelites from being oppressed. He would ultimately serve as Israel’s Judge for eighty years, the longest of anyone who served in such a capacity (Judges 3:14 – 30). The Israelite tribe of Benjamin seems to have produced an unusually large number of left-handed individuals. Some of them were so skilled at slinging stones that the Bible reveals, “Every one could sling stones at a hair’s breadth, and not miss” (Judges 20:16). Faster Than a Chariot Who is the fastest person in the Bible? Both King Ahab and Elijah were at the foot of Mount Carmel after the prophet had all the false priests of Baal slain (1Kings 18:1 – 40). Elijah tells the king that he needs to get on his chariot and rush to Jezreel (16+ miles or 25.7 kilometers away) before a drought-ending downpour makes it impossible to travel. God, after Ahab left, empowered Elijah with the superhuman ability to outrun the monarch’s speedy chariot and arrive at Jezreel before him (verses 44 – 46)! The Circumcision Group Our last weird Bible trivia fact relates to the sometimes humorous topic of circumcision. Scripture refers, by name, to ten individuals or groups of men who were circumcised. In the Old Testament, they were Ishmael, Abraham, Isaac, the men in the city of Shechem, Moses’ son, and every uncircumcised male to enter the Promised Land. In the New Testament, they were John the Baptist, Jesus, Timothy and the Apostle Paul. ——————————————————————————————————– See BibleStudy.org’s other articles at: BibleStudy.org – Church of God, Bismarck (church-of-god-bismarck.org) Reprinted with permission from: Bible Study https://www.biblestudy.org/ ——————————————————————————————————– |
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