Forgotten Bible Stories with Deeper Meanings...

what if I told you that the bleeding woman who touched jesus' cloak was told exactly how she would be healed by the Messiah what if I told you that there was a very specific reason why God chose a famine to curse Israel during Elijah's time and what if I told you that the inscription of Caesar on the Denarius coin has a much deeper meaning than we initially noticed today we're looking at five more deeper meanings in Bible stories most of these stories have a particularly strong practical implication so I hope you'll stay around until the

end to see how you can become more like Christ by learning from these ancient biblical stories there's a moment in the gospels where Jesus is asked a cunning question by some opponents that was designed to incriminate him but the answer that he gives is beyond profound many will know the story of when Jesus was questioned about paying the Imperial tax to Caesar but there's a few important details in that story that I think we often miss firstly the opponents sent to trap Jesus are called spies in Luke's gospel but in Mark's gospel we get a

little more insight this was a group of herodians and Pharisees two groups that hated one another due to the tension between Rome and Israel these men set aside their anger for one another and teamed up in an attempt to get Jesus to say something that could incriminate him they asked asked him the question is it right to pay the Imperial tax to Caesar or not this is a closed question with two possible answers if Jesus answered yes it is right to pay the tax the Pharisees could conclude that he isn't the Messiah because he submitted

to Rome instead of opposing them as they expected the Messiah would but if Jesus answered no it's not right to pay the tax the herodians would conclude that he's inciting Rebellion against the Roman Empire and have to kill him it was a l lose situation for Jesus but the answer he gives is unbelievable he's given a Denarius and asked whose image is on the coin Caesar they replied to which Jesus answers give back to Caesar what is Caesar's give back to God what is God's this answer neutralizes the threats from both parties by acknowledging both

Caesar's Authority and God's Authority but not only that Jesus turns the tables and challenges the questioners by saying give back to God what is God's what did Jesus mean by this comment in his rebuttal Jesus used the word image because Caesar's image was in the coin the coin should be returned to Caesar and since God's image is in us we should be returned to Our Father in Heaven that means returning our entire lives to him the tribute to Caesar was an annual event that continued as long as Caesar rained so our returning in obedience to

God of whom we bear His Image should be continuous as long as he reigns as well lately I've been trying to practice meditating on God's word day and night as David said I was consistent in the mornings but struggled a lot at night until I picked up a sleep mask from man to sleep the sponsor of today's video they make the best best sleep masks on the planet that are adjustable breathable and boast 100% blackout zero pressure eye cups I've been using the Manta sleep mask sound every single night since I got it and it's

by far the easiest most immersive and most comfortable way to listen to something before drifting off to sleep the Bluetooth headphones are easy to connect and Raz are thin perfect for Sid sleepers like me every day I look forward to snuggling into bed putting on the sleep mask and playing a Psalm or meditation through the mask it helps me to reenter my focus on God before I sleep and I feel so much more focused and energized the next day there's so many options available so if you want to take your sleep seriously and end every

day with God click the link in the description if you purchase something and you can use my code Bible all capitals to secure 10% off your order remember to use code Bible for 10% off thanks to man to sleep for sponsoring this video John the Baptist was known know as the final and greatest of all prophets Jesus himself said there was no man born of woman who was greater than John but what made johon so great his life was nothing to Marvel at from a worldly standard he lived in the wilderness alone ate locusts and

honey to survive and wore the skin of dead camels as clothes but maybe we've missed something about John's story something very significant Jon's life was very similar to the other prophets of old they were called by God not just to predict the future but to live out the words they received as a picture to their hearers Isaiah preached God's word naked for 3 and 1 half years as a prophecy showing how Israel would be taken into Exile Ezekiel was told to act out a Siege on a brick with the label Jerusalem on it symbolizing Jerusalem's

coming judgment John the Baptist being the final prophet in a line of men acting out strange signs is no different but in his case John's entire life was one enormous Parable John taught repentance for the Forgiveness of sins but he didn't just teach it his entire life symbolized it he led a life that embodied a repentant Spirit his home in the wilderness symbolized the rejection of his sinful secular society an essential aspect of repentance he turned away from his old life in town and lived a life devoted to God's word his filthy clothes and impoverished

diet symbolized his sacrifice of comfort for the the mission God had for him this Parable was so Dynamic and impacting that anyone who wanted to be baptized by John had to physically travel Into the Wilderness leaving behind their comfort and security I don't think this was a coincidence God gave John two gifts to embody the message he preached the Wilderness symbolizing repentance and baptism symbolizing the washing of sins and forgiveness in Christ the time of Elijah was undoubtedly one of Israel's darkest eras King Ahab and his domineering wife Jezebel killed many of the Lord's prophets

erected monuments to ball the false god and rejected the word of the Lord but there's a hidden meaning at the start of First Kings 17 that has to do with the false god in question B was a hugely influential Pagan God during Elijah's time he was brought into Israel from sidon the birthplace of Jezebel and together the monarchs hired 4 50 prophets to facilitate the spread of the word of B this alongside the slaughtering of God's prophets by Jezebel made life a little challenging for Elijah but God had big plans to shake the nation of

Israel by confronting the god they had committed adultery in First Kings 17:1 Elijah meets with King Ahab and decrees as the Lord the god of Israel lives whom I serve there will be neither Jew nor rain in the next few years except at my word the next three chapters follow the back and forth drama between Ahab and Elijah but I was always puzzled why God decided to use a famine to punish Israel why didn't he just use enemy Nations disease or any number of the plagues he used in Egypt why was it specifically a famine

interestingly enough God was doing something incredible and something he'd done before by declaring that no rain was to fall on the land except at his word Elijah was directly challenging ball who was known as the god of fertility and the god of Rain by decreeing a famine he started the competition between the Jewish god Yahweh and the sidonian god Bal a contest that would culminate in one of the most epic moments in Biblical history every day that the famine continued proved to the people the powerlessness of Bal and the incompetence of Ahab it was said

that in times of drought Bal was on a Voyage Through the underworld and when he returned storms would burst forth and restore the land this makes Elijah's taunt during the climactic standoff on Mount Carmel so much more humiliating ultimately God proved in an undeniable way that he is the only true and living God by utterly humiliating the false god his people clung to during the time of King Ahab I've always wondered why Peter in the first chapter of Acts thought it necessary to replace Judas es scariot amongst the 12 disciples he quotes Two Old Testament

verses the first states that his place should be deserted but the second one says may another take his place of leadership seems a bit contradictory to me and why was that verse applied to this situation I read Psalm 109 where Peter's argument stems from and I found something very interesting I couldn't find this idea anywhere on the internet but I believe it's possible that Psalm 109 is Jesus speaking through David like Psalm 22 and he's speaking about Judas there's a few verses that correlate to jesus' feelings at the crucifixion verse four says in return for

my friendship they accuse me echoing the Pharisees accusations in John and verse 28 says while they curse may you bless echoing Jesus forgiving words in Luke but the psalm addresses someone specifically I think it may be referring to Judas for two reasons the first is Peter's use of the psalm to appoint a replacement for Judas a seemingly random scripture plucked out of nowhere otherwise the second is verse 16 for he never thought of doing a kindness but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the Brokenhearted according to John 12: 4-6 we know that

Judas didn't care about the poor in fact he used to help himself to the disciples money as he was the treasurer what do you guys think of the theory that Jesus may have spoken about Judas in Psalm 109 there's a new testament story where a woman was bleeding for 12 years she spent all she had on treatments from various doctors but never down to cure when she heard about Jesus and his healing powers she rushed into the crowd that was following him this story seems to be a lovely story of restoration but there's something much

deeper going on below the surface according to Jewish law any woman who had a discharge of blood was deemed unclean and anyone who touched her was made unclean as well Luke says that the crowds were pushing against Jesus so before touching Jesus himself she would have un undoubtedly bumped shoulders with dozens of members of the crowd making everyone she touched unclean although this may have been somewhat minor for the members of the crowd it was deeply significant for jesus' status as Messiah according to the Jewish law this woman understood that if she touched Jesus as

an unclean woman he would become unclean because of her she would have understood that this was an enormous risk but it's possible that she actually knew knew exactly what she was doing numbers 15 introduces a law regarding tassels strings that were attached to the corner of their garments the purpose was to remind the people to obey the Lord's commands and consecrate themselves to him but that's not all the tassels were also known as wings and in the final book of the Old Testament the picture starts to take shape Malachi 4:2 says for you who fear

my name the son of righteousness will shine with healing in his wings it's possible that the woman grasped jesus' wings in faith knowing the healing power they contained instead of the unclean woman making Jesus and the crowd unclean the exact reverse happened the cleanliness of Jesus instead made her clean this is a glimpse of Jesus fulfilling the Old Testament law making the children of Israel clean through his life giving power and not being brought into uncleanliness and sin by the world he [Music] inhabited how many of those deeper meanings did you know comment down below

any interesting stories you found while reading the scriptures I want to personally thank the YouTube members for your generous support of the ministry I've been so blown away by the response from you guys and your willingness to trust God in your giving if anyone is interested in becoming a member please click the join button or click the link in the description thanks guys God bless [Music]