Biblical Oddities #20 - Have You Met Your Match? Quiz

Answer: Jeremiah

Jeremiah was incarcerated a number of times with at least five prison experiences recorded in the Old Testament. His crime? He was guilty of prophesying Jerusalem would be conquered by the Babylonians and the people taken captive because they had turned their backs to God.

The leaders of the day detested Jeremiah's prophesies and imprisoned him on multiple occasions. The imprisonments made absolutely no difference because Jeremiah's prophesies came true and the people of Jerusalem were taken captive.

Answer: Esther

Esther 8:3 in the NKJV tells of Esther falling at the feet of King Ahasuerus imploring him "with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite." (In the NIV the king is known as Xerxes.)

Haman had a diabolical scheme to have all the Jews in the vast Persian empire ruled by Ahasuerus annihilated.

Esther, the Jewish queen, was successful in preventing the annihilation of the Jewish people and Haman ended up being executed.

Answer: Hannah

Hannah would end up weeping when her husband's other wife Peninnah would belittle her for being childless. Peninnah, meanwhile, had no problems in conceiving as Scripture indicates she was the mother of a number of children, but the exact number is not given.

Scripture tells of Hannah fervently praying to God to be able to conceive and miraculously giving birth to Samuel, a noted prophet in the Old Testament.

Hannah and Peninnah were both married to Elkanah.

For more information about Hannah, see the first chapter of 1 Samuel.

Answer: Er

The first named person to be struck dead by divine retribution is Er, the son of Judah and husband of Tamar. According to Genesis 38:7, Er was struck dead as he was "wicked in the sight of the LORD". No details, however, are given.

When it comes to an individual dying as a result of divine retribution, Lot's wife would be the first to die in such a way. However, she is not named. In Genesis 19:26, it states she became a pillar of salt.

It should be also pointed out all the people who perished in the Great Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah died as a result of divine retribution. However, no one individual is named. Er's death took place after the Great Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Answer: Ananias

The first person struck dead in the New Testament in a case of divine retribution is Ananias. Details appear in Acts 5:1-10.

According to the passage, Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a parcel of land and claimed they were donating all the money to the early church. However, secretly they were keeping some of the money for themselves.

When Ananias told Peter all the money was being presented to the church, he was struck dead, as per Verse 5.

About three hours later, Sapphira appeared on the scene, not knowing her husband had died, and reaffirmed they had presented all the proceeds to the church. She too was struck dead.

Answer: Widow's son at Zarephath

According to Scripture, the first person raised from the dead was a widow's son at Zarephath, as per 1 Kings 17:17-24. No name is given for the widow or her son. The boy was brought back to life by Elijah a prophet of God.

The second person to be raised from the dead, according to the Old Testament, was a woman's son at Schumen. The prophet Elisha brought the unnamed boy back to life. Details appear in 2 Kings 4:32-35.

Answer: Widow's son at Nain

The first person raised from the dead in the New Testament was the widow's son at Nain. The widow and her son are not named.

According to Luke 7:11-17, Jesus raised the widow's son after He encountered a funeral procession leaving Nain. It was the first incident of Jesus raising a person from the dead.

Meanwhile, Luke 8:40-56 provides details about Jesus raising Jairus' 12-year-old daughter from the dead.

The third person Christ rose from the dead was Lazarus, as per John 11.

Answer: Twelve

After Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish, the twelve disciples were called upon to collect the food that was left over.

Incredibly, they collected twelve baskets of food. In other words, the disciples would've collected on average, a basket each.

I remember a country pastor preaching a message on this fact many years ago, pointing out it was almost as if God had a sense of humour with each disciple collecting a basket of left over food. The pastor also pointed out the baskets used to collect the food would've been quite large, not like the small ones we see today in supermarkets containing tomatoes or peaches.

It should be pointed out that the 5,000 people Jesus fed with the pittance of food includes only men. With women and children included in the figure, it's possible Jesus fed 15,000 people with five loaves and two fish.

For details about the twelve baskets of food being collected, see Matthew 14:13:21.

Answer: Seven

In Revelation 1:11, John is instructed to address letters to seven churches. He received the divine instructions in a vision while being in exile on the island of Patmos.

The seven churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

Revelation is the last book of the New Testament and tradition holds it was written by John, one of the original twelve disciples.

Answer: Three

According to accounts in the Old Testament, the Jordan River was miraculously parted three times. Involved in the miraculous partings of the river were Joshua, Elijah and Elisha.

Joshua 3:9-17 tell of God parting the Jordan River so Joshua and all the Israelites could cross into Canaan on dry ground.

2 Kings 2:8 tells of Elijah striking the Jordan River with his cloak and the waters parting.

Meanwhile, 2 Kings 2:13-14 tell of Elisha striking the Jordan River with Elijah's cloak and the waters parting once again.