Bible Events That Happened During the Night Quiz

Answer: Egypt

Egypt was devastated by a punishing series of plagues unleashed by God with the tenth and final plague being the death of the first born. Details about the deadly plague can be found in Exodus 11:1-10 and Exodus 12:29-42.

The firstborn in every Egyptian household died during the plague, with the same fate handed out to their livestock. Miraculously, the Israelites were spared the misery and suffering.

According to Exodus 12:29, the mass slaughter took place late at midnight.

Scripture states that God unleashed ten plagues on Egypt to convince the Pharaoh to give permission to the Israelites to leave the country and travel to Canaan, known as the Promised Land. In the process, the Israelites became fully aware of the mighty power of God as well as His deep love for them.

Answer: Jacob

It boggles the mind, but according to Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob was involved in a wrestling match that lasted all night with God. At the end of the marathon struggle, Jacob ended up with a new name -- Israel. Genesis 32:28, in the NKJV, quotes God telling Jacob of his new name, "for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." Using the KJV, NKJV and the NIV, this is the first mention of Israel in Scripture.

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Israel is translated as 'Prince with God'.

Answer: Samuel

Samuel was a young boy in the care of Eli, a judge of Israel and high priest, when he hard a voice call out his name four times during the night, as per 1 Samuel 3:1-21.

According to the passage, the first three times when Samuel heard the voice call out his name, he thought it was Eli calling him. However, on the fourth occasion, Samuel became fully aware it was actually God calling out his name. Scripture goes on to state Samuel was told about God's disgust for the corrupt practices of Eli's sons and that there would be divine retribution.

The chapter, in the NKJV, concludes by stating Samuel grew and "the LORD was with him" and "all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the LORD."

Answer: Saul

Saul is the correct answer. According to Scripture, the king of Israel consulted with an unnamed female medium in En Dor who was successful in bringing up Samuel, the last judge of Israel. As result, Saul was able to communicate the with man who had installed him as king.

According to Scripture, Saul was deeply troubled because the Philistine army had "gathered together" and was threatening the very existence of Israel. In addition, God had stopped communicating with Saul, largely because of his wickedness.

However, Saul's worries and fears would grow even more after his late-night conversation with Samuel. 1 Samuel 28:15-20 tells of the conversation between the two men, with Samuel informing Saul that Israel would suffer a stinging military defeat against the Philistines, and that he and his sons would die in the battle.

And sure enough, that's exactly what happened as 1 Samuel 31 provides details about the defeat of the Israelites and the deaths of Saul and his sons.

Answer: David and Abishai

David and Abishai sneaked into the camp of King Saul and his soldiers late one night while they were sleeping, as per 1 Samuel 26:5-12. According to Scripture, a spear was stuck in the ground by Saul's head, making it a perfect opportunity for David to kill Saul, the king who had been devoting practically all of his life attempting to kill him. It seems Saul suffered from an enormous case of jealously and had come to the view his life would only be complete if he removed David from the scene.

1 Samuel 26:8 tells of Abishai urging David to kill Saul while he was sleeping. David, in Verse 11, refused to take Saul's life, pointing out to Abishai, "The LORD forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the LORD'S anointed," as per Verse 11.

The passage goes on to tell of David taking the spear and a jug of water by Saul's head and making his getaway with Abishai.

Answer: Gideon

Gideon led three hundred soldiers to a spectacular victory over the Midianite army when they attacked late at night. Scripture states Gideon and his soldiers blew trumpets and shouted "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!" The actions induced fear in the "whole army" of the Midianites and they fled.

Scripture goes on to tell of the Israelites pursuing the Midianites and capturing and killing two of their princes -- Oreb and Zeeb.

See Judges 7:1-25 for details.

Answer: Judas Iscariot

Scripture tells of Judas Iscariot, one of the original Twelve Disciples, leading "a great multitude with swords and clubs" to arrest Jesus late at night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:14-16 states Judas went to the chief chief priests and agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. After his betrayal, Judas was filled with remorse and returned the money to the chief priests before committing suicide.

Scripture goes on to tell of Jesus being crucified only to rise from the dead three days later, just like He said He would.

Answer: Paul

An angel told Paul at night no lives would be lost on the ship he was on, even though it was being severely battered for days on end by a raging storm on the Mediterranean Sea. Acts 27:37 reports there were two hundred and seventy-six people on the ship.

Verses 21 to 24 tell of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, informing the crew and passengers that the unnamed angel had told him not to be fearful of the storm for there would be no loss of life, although the ship would be lost.

Sure enough, Scripture goes on to tell of the severely battered ship running aground off the coast of Malta with everyone making it to shore safely.

Answer: Peter

According to Scripture, Peter was set free from prison by an angel who visited him late at night. This even though four squads of four soldiers were assigned by Herod to watch guard over Peter for each of the four watches during the night.

See Acts 12:3-19 for details.

This was actually Peter's second jailbreak. The first one is reported in Acts 5:17-29. In the first jailbreak, Scripture states Peter had been jailed with the other apostles for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Answer: Nicodemus

It is not known how late at night it was when Nicodemus visited Jesus, as Scripture is short on details. Regardless, it has to be the best known night-time meeting in the Protestant Bible.

It was during the meeting Jesus told Nicodemus that unless he is born again, he will not see the kingdom of God, as per John 3:3. Near the end of His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus is quoted as saying in John 3:16 in the NKJV: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."