And God Asked... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Job

God gave Satan permission to test Job's faith and Satan took away everything Job loved - his children, his animals, his health and his wealth. Job's faith did not waver but he did protest to God regarding his suffering and demanded answers. Rather than answer him directly, God answered Job's questions with questions of his own.

Job 38:1-4 (NIV)
1: Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2: "Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
3: Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
4: Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand".

Answer: Abraham

Abram (Abraham) was 75 years old and Sarai (Sarah) was 65 when God first promised them a child and a great nation. The promise was reaffirmed when Abraham was 99 and Sarah was 90, and Isaac was born the following year.

Genesis 18:13-14 (NIV)
13: Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?'
14: Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

Answer: Isaiah

Isaiah chapter 6 describes the prophet Isaiah's vision of God on a throne and his commission as a prophet. God asked for a volunteer to preach to the people of Israel, knowing they would not listen and Isaiah did not hesitate to accept the challenge.

Isaiah 6:8 (NIV) - Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Answer: Adam and Eve

Genesis 3 describes how the "Fall of Man" led to sin and suffering entering the world. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit from a specific tree in the garden but a serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. After she and Adam ate it, they experienced guilt and shame. God subsequently pronounced the consequences on humanity and banished them from Eden.

Genesis: 3:8-13 (NIV)
8: Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9: But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10: He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11: And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12: The man said, "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it".
13: Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate".

Answer: Moses

In Exodus 4, Moses was worried that the Israelites would not believe God sent him so God turns Moses' staff into a serpent and back into a staff. God was teaching Moses to overcome his fear and trust in His protection.

Exodus 4:1-5 (NIV)
1: Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"
2: Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff", he replied.
3: The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground". Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4: Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail". So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5: "This", said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - has appeared to you".

Answer: Ezekiel

Ezekiel was a prophet living in exile in Babylon. Ezekiel chapter 37 tells the story of the Valley of Dry Bones. God asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones live?" Ezekiel answers that only God knows. The bones represent the people of Israel in exile who feel that their nation is dead. God tells Ezekiel to preach to the bones.

Ezekiel 37:1-4 (NIV)
1: The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2: He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.
3: He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know."
4: Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!'"

Answer: Cain

Cain was the oldest son of Adam and Eve and therefore the first child born on earth. He had a younger brother, Abel. As adults, both brothers brought offerings to God. God favoured Abel's gift, but not Cain's because Abel brought his best sheep, but Cain only brought a small portion from his harvest. This made Cain angry and jealous and as a result, in a moment of anger, Cain killed his brother Abel. He became the world's first murderer.

Genesis 4:6-12 (NIV)
6: Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7: If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."
8: Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9: Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10: The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
11: Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12: When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Answer: Samuel

God became displeased with Saul so God instructed the prophet Samuel to fill a horn with oil and go to Bethlehem to find a new king among the sons of Jesse. Jesse showed Samuel seven of his sons. Samuel asked if he had any other sons. Jesse replied that his youngest son, David, was out in the fields taking care of the sheep. Samuel asked Jesse to send for him and the Lord indicated that David was the chosen one, so Samuel annointed him with the oil he had brought with him.

1 Samuel 16:1-3 (NIV)
1: The Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
2: But Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me." The Lord said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' 3: Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate."

Answer: Cyrus

In Isaiah chapter 46, Isaiah prophesies the rise of Cyrus the Great of Persia. Verses 1 to 10 relate God's words to Cyrus. Cyrus united different tribes and grew a small kingdom into a powerful empire stretching from modern-day Turkey all the way to India. When he conquered the city of Babylon in 539 BC, he freed the Jewish people who had been held captive there and helped them rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.

The reference to the potter and the clay is a metaphor. God is the potter and His people are the clay. God is saying that His people should not question His plans.

Isaiah 45: 1,9
1: "This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:...
9: "Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'The potter has no hands'?

Answer: Jonah

God planned to completely destroy the city of Nineveh because of the wickedness of its people. However, after the prophet Jonah warned them, the king and the people repented, so God relented and spared them. Jonah asked God to take his life because he was angry that God showed mercy and forgiveness to the Ninevites instead of destroying them. As a prophet from Israel, Jonah hated the people of Nineveh, who were the enemies of his people. He felt that death was preferable to seeing his enemies receive God's grace.

Jonah 4:1-4 (NIV):

1: But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.
2: He prayed to the Lord, "Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
3: Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4: But the Lord replied, "Is it right for you to be angry?"