Biblical Oddities #18 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Ezekiel

Ezekiel had a vision in which he saw a valley filled with dry bones. Details can be found in 37:1-14.

In the passage, Ezekiel states he visited the valley when "the hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD".

Ezekiel received divine instructions to prophesy and miraculously the bones came to life.

Ezekiel 37:7-10, in the NKJV, states: "So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the LORD God: 'Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live'. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army."

And people say the Bible is boring!

Answer: Moses

According to Exodus 34:28, Moses didn't eat food or drink water for 40 days and 40 nights.

At the time, he was with the LORD on Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments.

Answer: Elijah

According to Scripture, Elijah the prophet was miraculously fed by ravens while in hiding at Brook Cherith from King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel.

1 Kings 17:6 in the NKJV states: "the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening."

Elijah went into hiding after he scored a one-sided victory over 450 prophets of Baal in a showdown on Mount Carmel. As part of the showdown, Elijah and the 450 prophets called on a higher power to ignite a sacrificial offering.

Elijah called on God and the prophets called on Baal.

Ahab and Jezebel, ardent supporters of Baal, were determined to remove Elijah from the scene following the events on Carmel.

Answer: Jashobeam

When it came to dealing with Israel's enemies, Jashobeam was an unbeatable killing machine. According to 1 Chronicles 11:11, the chief of David's Mighty Men, "raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter."

He was the son of a the son of a Hachmonite. No further details are given.

According to 1 Chronicles 11:20, Abishai also killed 300 men with his spear.

Answer: Jared

The second oldest person in the Bible is Jared, living to the ripe old age of 962 years, as per Genesis 5:20.

Methuselah is the oldest person in the Bible, living to be 969 years. The third oldest person in the Bible is Noah who died at the age of 950 years.

Answer: Epaphroditus

Epaphroditus was a tireless worker in the early church who worked alongside Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. In Philippians 2:30, Paul writes this about Epaphroditus in the NKJV: "...for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life."

Paul also describes Epaphroditus as a "brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier".

Answer: One

Matthew, also known as Levi, wrote one book in the New Testament. He wrote the Gospel of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament.

Before becoming one of the original twelve disciples, Matthew was a tax collector. In Biblical times in Israel, tax collectors were despised as they were seen as traitors working for the Romans.

Answer: Three

The three named tentmakers in the New Testament are Paul, Priscilla and Aquila.

Acts 18:1-3 in the NKJV states: "After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them."

No details are given, however, about their tentmaking activities.

Answer: Two

According to Scripture, an unnamed boy gave Jesus two small fish and five barley loaves which were used by Christ to feed 5,000 men.

Details can be found in John 6:1-14.

It is believed Jesus actually fed 15,000 people on that occasion as the figure of 5,000 people being fed does not include women and children.

After everyone was fed, Scripture tells of the disciples collecting twelves baskets of food left over.

Answer: Nine

The consensus is nine different men in the New Testament are called Simon.

They include:

1.) Simon Peter, one of the original twelve disciples. He is also called Simon, Cephas, or Peter.
2.) Simon the Zealot, who, similar to Simon Peter, was one of the original twelve disciples;
3.) Simon, described as a brother of Jesus, as per Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3;
4.) Simon of Cyrene who carried Christ's cross to Golgotha, as per Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26;
5.) Simon the Leper at whose house Jesus attended a dinner in Bethany, as per Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9);
6.) Simon the Pharisee at whose house Jesus' feet were anointed with perfume by a "sinful woman", as per Luke 7:36-50;
7.) Simon Iscariot was the father of Judas Iscariot, one of the original twelve disciples, who betrayed Jesus, as per John 6:71 and John 13:2, 26;
8.) Simon the Sorcerer wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit from Peter and John, as per Acts 8:9-24;
9.) Simon the Tanner was a man who lived near the sea in in Joppa and hosted Peter, as per Acts 9:43 and Acts 10:5-6.