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Believe It or Not

Bible stories you simply can’t miss. Click on the titles to learn all about these mind-boggling moments.

Featured Fascinating Fact of the Week

Crippled Man Jumps!: X
One day this poor crippled guy was sitting in the temple gate begging. When he asked Peter and John for money, Peter said, "In the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth, walk!" Peter grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and immediately the man began walking and jumping. Now, miracle number one was that his legs were made whole. Miracle two was that the guy was over forty years old and had never walked! Bet some of his jumps were pretty wild. Five thousand people saw him jumping and became Christians. (See Acts 3:1-4:4.)

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Up, Win–Down, Lose: X
When the Israelites camped at Rephidim, some mad nomads called Amalekites attacked. Moses stood on a hill, watching the battle, giving his troops the "high ten" by holding his staff up in both hands. At first the Israelites were winning, but whenever Moses became tired and lowered his hands, the nomads began winning. All day long, up, down, up, down. Win, lose, win, lose. Aaron and Hur finally got the connection and held up Moses' hands till sunset. And the Israelites won. (See Exodus 17:8-16.) They were just starting to do battle for God, and this win helped them see that God was fighting for them.
Swatting Jordan with a Cloak: X
One day Elijah and Elisha had to cross the Jordan River, so "Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground." Then Elijah was taken to heaven and Elisha had the cloak. How did he get back across the river? Simple. He struck the same river with the same cloak and it divided again. (See 2 Kings 2:8, 13-14.) It was about timepeople let that river know who was boss. Sure, Gortex can keep the rain off your back, but it can never repel water like Elijah's cloak did.
You Just Won a Forty-Year Supply!: X
About three million Israelites were in the desert for forty years, and during that time they ate manna three times a day—not including snacks. That's a lot of manna! Every person ate one omer (two quarts) of manna per day (Exodus 16:21-22). So how much manna did that crew chow down in forty years? To get a ballpark figure, multiply three million people times forty years times 365 days times two quarts, and you get nearly ninety billion quarts of manna (87,600,000,000 to be exact). Let's hear a big old burp!
Take Away the Bulls!: X
In Lystra Paul and Barnabas met another man who had been lame from birth. Paul said, "Stand up on your feet!" and again the man jumped up and began to walk. The crowds were so blown away that they thought Paul and Barnabas were gods. They brought bulls to sacrifice to them. (See Acts 14:8-18.) Now, that was weird.
Jailbirds Fly the Coop: X
Jesus had trained the twelve apostles to lead the church, but Caiaphas, the high priest, chucked them in jail. If Caiaphas had killed them, that would have been a huge blow to God's plan. But that night an angel came along, unlocked the jail, and let the apostles out. The next morning, Caiaphas sent officers to bring the apostles to the Council meeting. The guards outside the prison cell opened the door and—to everyone's stunned amazement—the prison was empty! (See Acts 5:17-23.)
Into the Water, into the Fire, Out of the Kid: X
A vicious demon once possessed a young boy and constantly threw him into the water or the fire, trying to kill him. When Jesus showed up, the boy fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Gross! Jesus commanded the demon to leave and the spirit shrieked, convulsed the boy violently, and came out. Problem was, the boy looked so much like a corpse that people thought he'd died. ("Umm, killing him was not what we had in mind, Lord.") Relax. The boy was still alive. Jesus helped him to his feet. (See Mark 9:14-29.)