Gates in the Old and New Testaments -- #1 Quiz

Answer: Lot

Genesis 19:1 tells of Lot being approached by two angels one evening while he was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Scripture goes on to tell of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with only Lot and his two unnamed daughters surviving. Initially, Lot's unnamed wife fled Sodom with her husband and daughters, but when she looked back on the destruction of the community, contrary to divine instructions, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Answer: Rahab

Rahab is the correct answer. She was a prostitute in Jericho who gave safe haven to two Isrealite spies who were assigned by Joshua to scout the city.

When the king of Jericho caught wind of two Israelite spies visiting Rahab, he sent a group of men to investigate.

Scripture tells of Rahab being asked to "bring out the men who have come to you," and her lying to save the lives of the spies. Rahab's devious response is recorded in Joshua 2:4-5 In the NKJV: "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them."

The fact of the matter is the two spies were hidden beneath flax on the roof of Rahab's house.

Scripture goes on to tell of the men pursuing the Israelite spies by the road to Jordan "and as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate."

Answer: Samson

Judges 16:1-3 tells of Samson visiting Gaza where he had a tryst with a prostitute. When word had spread Samson was at the house of the unnamed prostitute, his adversaries surrounded the place and laid in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. It was their plan to kill him in the morning.

However, their plan met with dismal failure. Scripture tells of Samson arising at midnight and taking "hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts" and pulled them up, putting them on his shoulders and walking off to the top of a hill facing Hebron.

No further details are given in Scripture.

It was shortly after this incident Samson would have a love affair with Delilah, a Philistine woman who would eventually betray him.

Answer: Ruth

Ruth is the correct answer. The fourth chapter of Ruth tells of Boaz purchasing a field which had been owned by Naomi's late husband Elimelech. By purchasing the land, Boaz was promising to take care of Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth. Similar to Naomi, Ruth was a widow.

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, official and legal business typically took place at the gate of a city in Biblical times.

Scripture goes on to tell of Boaz marrying Ruth and the two becoming parents of Obed, who would become the grandfather of David.

Answer: Eli

Eli was 98 years old and "his eyes were so dim that he could not see" when he fell off his seat and died after breaking his neck. Eli, who was also the high priest of Israel, was startled and apparently disorientated when a messenger told him the ark of God had been captured by the Philistines and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, had died on the battlefield.

According to 1 Samuel 4:18, Eli was seated by the side of the city's gate when he learned the tragic news. The deaths of Eli's two sons is seen as divine retribution, as they were evil and corrupt.

Answer: David

David was on the run and fled to Gath as King Saul was devoting all his waking hours to trying to kill the young man who had slain Goliath. However, when David arrived in Gath, a Philistine city, his reputation preceded him. When he was spotted, word quickly spread that he was a Israelite warrior who was held in extremely high esteem in Israel.

As a result, David feared the people of Gath would want to remove him from the scene. So to save his life, David pretended to be a madman.

1 Samuel 21:13 in the NKJV states David "changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard."

The ruse apparently worked as Scripture goes on to tell of David departing from Gath and escaping to the cave of Adullam.

Answer: Joab

Joab was sneaky and cunning and Abner found this out when it was too late. According to Scripture, Israel was involved in a civil war with one side supporting Saul's son Ishbosheth as king and the other side supporting David as king. Abner had been commander of Ishobsheth's army and in a dramatic about-face, defected to David's camp.

However, when he crossed lines, Joab, the commander of David's army, killed Abner to even an old score. According to Scripture, Joab told Abner he wanted to speak to him privately and took him aside in the gate to speak and then fatally stabbed him in the stomach.

According to Scripture, Joab took the action as Abner had killed Asahel, Joab's brother. For details about Abner killing Asahel, see 2 Samuel 2:12-32.

Answer: David

Scripture tells of David sitting between two gates when he received news about the death of his rebellious son Absalom. In a nutshell, Israel was involved in a bloody civil war with one side supporting David as king and the other side supporting Absalom as king. The war came to sudden end, however, when Joab killed Absalom.

After learning of Absalom's death, Scripture states David was "deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept."

Answer: Elijah

Scripture tells of Elijah receiving divine instructions to go to Zarephath where he encountered an unnamed widow who was gathering sticks by a gate of the city. After asking the widow for some water, Elijah also asked her for a "morsel of bread". The woman indicated there would be no problem in providing him with water but it was a different matter when it came to bread.

In 1 Kings 17:12, the widow is quoted as telling Elijah: "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

Scripture goes on to tell of Elijah miraculously producing food for the widow and her unnamed son. Later, the son would die, with Elijah miraculously raising the boy from the dead, as per 1 Kings 17:8-24.

Answer: Jesus

The statement, of course, was made by Jesus. Christ made the statement as part of His Sermon on the Mount, with details of His sermon appearing in Matthew 5, 6 and 7.

To put the verse in context, here's how it reads with Verse 14: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."