7 unexpected Bible verses to make you ask questions

No right answers allowed

Photo by Jessica Delp on Unsplash

From the surprisingly sexual, to the intriguingly mysterious the Bible is full of fascinating verses. These often go forgotten or are learned by heart and used as proof texts. Both approaches are mistakes. In my view we should spend time in Scripture, remembering it, learning it and wrestling with it. Using it as a battering ram to crush the spirit or hope of others, or to deny their own discovery of the divine is like using a hammer to split open a skull. It is wrong, and it wasn’t made for that in the first place.

Here are seven Bible verses to make you ponder. I recommend going and reading them in the context of their chapters and wider stories in Scripture. Discuss them with a friend, read a commentary, or learn them by heart. Some of them are funny, some are sexual, some seem to reveal a deep truth, and some hide mysteries so deep no scholar has reached its depths or summited its heights. All are worth thinking about as we explore what it means to have a faith in a world full of brokenness; in no place more evident than the church. There is a small thought after each verse followed by some questions you could think about. We will go through them in the order they are found in the Bible as we have it today, from the NIV.

Songs of Songs 4:1

How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.

Song of Songs is love poetry between two people. This verse is a male complimenting a female on her looks. However, I wouldn’t recommend telling your beloved their hair is like a flock of goats. It didn’t go down well in my house. Verse 2 is equally good, as is the whole chapter. The book of Song of Songs as a whole, found in the heart of the Bible, demonstrates the value God gives to sex.

Questions to Ponder

How has sex been treated in your experience of faith? Is it seen as a blessing? Is it viewed as impure? What would you suggest is a healthy way to think about sex in a Christian context?