My Five Favorite Bible Stories

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We all grow up with a list of favorite Bible stories. It is hard to decide on just a few, but it is fun to write them down and see what your favorite Bible stories are. Maybe this would be better titled “Five of My Favorite Bible Stories” though the list could include many others.

Baby Moses

Moses, the great leader of Israel, was miraculously spared by God shortly after his birth. The pharaoh of Egypt was concerned that the Israelite slaves were becoming too numerous. He made a law that all the male babies born to a Jew had to be killed. When Moses was born the midwife who delivered him could not kill the little boy. Moses’ mother and older sister made a small boat for him and placed him in the river so that he would be hidden. They prayed that he would be found by a family who could care for him.

The daughter of the pharaoh was at the river to wash when she found the little baby in his boat. She took Moses home with her and raised him as her own son. Before Moses stood before Pharaoh demanding that he release God’s people, Moses grew up in that same palace under the education and protection of the Egyptian leader.

Esther

The story of Esther shows God’s providential care of His people. Decisions are often made based on what we think the outcome of an event will be; however, Esther and her uncle Mordecai made their decisions on what was right and trusted God to work out the details.

Esther was chosen by the king to be his new queen. He did not know that she was a Jew. When her uncle Mordecai learned of a plot to rid the land of all the Jews he asked Esther to talk to the king and request his help in preventing their extermination. Though Esther did not have the authority to make this request of the king, she trusted that God would grant favor in the king’s sight and give her freedom to request his assistance.

The king did have mercy on Esther and her people. He intentionally wanted to help, but some of his help came by way of him making unintentional decisions. The king asked his servant Haman to honor Mordecai for a good deed he had done in the past. The king did not know that it was Haman who hated Mordecai and was calling for the extermination of the Jews and the new queen. When the king asked Haman to honor Mordecai, it infuriated him even more.

The end of the story is that instead of driving out the Jews, the king had Haman executed on the gallows that were build to hang Mordecai. God’s hand of protection was with Esther and her family.

David and Goliath

Though David was just a young lad when he was anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel, he was a boy who trusted in God. He grew up as a shepherd tending his father’s flocks. God used David’s experiences as a shepherd to know that God would give protection and guidance in his life.

When visiting his brothers on the battlefield David saw the giant Goliath mocking God’s people and blaspheming the name of the Lord. David boldly stood up and said that he would engage the giant in a one-on-one battle. His older brothers told him that he was a prideful naughty boy and only wanted to show off before everyone. But David had no concern for his own advancement. He was only interested in teaching the giant and his army that God was not to be mocked.

David went before king Saul to tell him that he would fight Goliath. Saul did not know if the boy would be able to fight the giant, but no one else stepped forward to volunteer. David explained to the king how that God had protected him in the past, and that he had confidence God would do it again.

Saul offered his armor to David, but David refused. David only took a sling and 5 stones with him to the battlefield. After his first stone sunk into the forehead of the giant, David went and cut the head off the giant’s enormous body with Goliath’s own sword.

David used his past experiences with the protection of God to step forward and trust the Lord for further protection.

Daniel

Towards the end of the book of Daniel we read the story of Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den. He was an old man by this time. It is estimated he may have been as old as 80 when this took place.

Wicked men in the kingdom were jealous of the position and power that Daniel had with the king and in the government. They convinced the king to enact a law that said people could only pray to the king for a period of 3 days to show their love and respect for him. The king signed the law.

These men knew that Daniel had a habit of praying daily to God. After the law was signed they waited at Daniel’s open window so that they could catch him praying. He was arrested and brought to the king. His punishment was to be thrown into a pit full of lions.

Though the king was saddened that his friend Daniel had broken a law, Daniel assured the king that God would be glorified. He knew that God would either protect him or use his death to show the people that God has ultimate control. Daniel bravely and submissively accepted his punishment.

The Bible says that Daniel rested peacefully that night among the lions. The king, however, did not get much sleep because he was concerned for his friend. The next morning the king came to the lion’s den and called down to see if Daniel survived the night. Daniel said that he passed the night with God’s protection.

The king turned the punishment on the men who had wickedly tried to kill Daniel. They were thrown into the den of lions. The Bible says that they were consumed by the hungry lions before they even hit the ground.

God protected Daniel because he sought to honor the Lord.

Jesus Feeds 5000

A group of people had followed Jesus into the wilderness to hear Him teach. After they had been together all day the disciples knew that the people would be hungry and needed to eat. Jesus asked them where they could possibly get that much food. One of the disciples answered and said that there was no store near them, but even if there were, they did not have enough money to buy bread for everyone.

Another disciple brought a little boy to Jesus and said that the boy had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. While that was good food, it certainly wasn’t enough for all the people.

Jesus told them to make everyone sit down. Jesus took the bread and fish and blessed it and divided it with the disciples. They gave everyone as much food as they wanted to eat. When they gathered the excess bread back together it filled 12 baskets. There was plenty for the people to eat with much more left over.

We are taught to trust God with the little you have. He can do miraculous things with your talents, time and life that you may not be able to comprehend.

What are your favorite Bible stories?

Resources:

The Holy Bible, King James Version

Photo Credit: www.visualbiblealive.com 
V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

Tagged as: Daniel, David, Esther, Favorite Bible Stories, Jesus, Moses