Behind the Scenes Look at Spies in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Canaan

According to Scripture, Moses, was following divine instructions when he sent spies into Canaan before the Israelites took possession.

Numbers 13:1-15 explains things this way in the NKJV: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.' So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

"Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi."

The spying expedition took place after the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for forty years after their mass exodus from Egypt.

Answer: 10

According to Scripture, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan, the Promised Land, and only two returned with a favorable report. In other words, ten spies returned with an unfavorable report.

The two spies who filed a favorable report about the Israelites taking over the land of Canaan were Joshua and Caleb. The names of the ten remaining spies can be found in Numbers 13:1-15 and in the answer section of Question No. 1.

The ten dissenting spies were impressed with the land of Canaan, describing it as a land of milk and honey, but stated they didn't think the Israelites were capable of scoring a military victory over the inhabitants.

Here's how Numbers 13:26-33 explains things in the NKJV:

"Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: 'We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.'

"Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, 'Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.'

"But the men who had gone up with him said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.' And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, 'The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight'."

Numbers 14:26:38 goes on to tell of the ten spies being killed by divine retribution, with the lives of Caleb and Joshua being spared.

Answer: No names are given

According to Scripture, Joshua sent two spies into the Promised Land with expressed orders to take a good look at Jericho. (Details can be found in Joshua 2.) The two spies, who are not named, are best remembered for taking refuge in the house of Rahab, a prostitute. Because Rahab gave the two spies a safe haven, Scripture states the Israelites spared her life, as well as the lives of her family, when they conquered Jericho.

Answer: Elisha

The king of Syria, according to Scripture, wanted to find out the whereabouts of Elisha, a well-known prophet of God in the Old Testament.

2 Kings 6:8-13 explains things this way in the NKJV:

"Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, 'My camp will be in such and such a place.' And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, 'Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.' Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.

"Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, 'Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?' And one of his servants said, 'None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.'

"So he said, 'Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.' And it was told him, saying, 'Surely he is in Dothan'."

Scripture goes on to tell of the king ordering his army to go to Dothan in a futile attempt to capture Elisha.

Verse 18 tells of the Syrian army preparing to attack and Elisha praying to the LORD, "Strike this army with blindness." And sure enough, Elisha's prayers were answered and the Syrians were struck with blindness. Elisha in turn led the blind soldiers to Samaria where they were all captured.

Just prior to all this, Elisha's servant had become terrified after seeing the enemy surrounding them. So Elisha prayed that his eyes would be opened and he would see a mountain full of horses and chariots of fire protecting them. In other words, you could say it's an open-and-shut case of eyes being closed and opened in Scripture.

Answer: Joseph

Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, is the correct answer. According to Scripture, after becoming a slave, Joseph miraculously rose to become the second most powerful man in Egypt. When Joseph had attained his position of power, his brothers would travel from Canaan to Egypt to buy food as they were hit by a severe drought. Apparently to test his long-lost brothers, Joseph accused them of being spies.

Genesis 42:7-11 explains things this way in the NKJV:

"Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, 'Where do you come from?' And they said, 'From the land of Canaan to buy food.'

"So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, 'You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!'

"And they said to him, 'No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies'."

Later, Joseph would reveal his true identity to his brothers and they would end up moving to Egypt along with their families and their father, Jacob.

Answer: David's servants

According to Scripture, Hanun, the king of Ammon, accused David's servants of being spies. Scripture states David sent his servants to Ammon to express condolences on the death of Hanun's father. However, Hanun treated David's servants crudely, convinced they were sent to Anmmon for the express purpose of spying.

2 Samuel 10:1-4, in the NKJV, tells of the humiliating treatment of David's servants: "It happened after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. Then David said, 'I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.'

"So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David's servants came into the land of the people of Ammon. And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, 'Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not rather sent his servants to you to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?'

"Therefore Hanun took David's servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away."

Scripture goes on to tell of Israel engaging in war against Ammon and its ally Syria with the Israelite army scoring a decisive victory.

Answer: Micah

Micah is the correct answer. According to Judges 17:1-4, Micah took "two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image."

Meanwhile, the 18th chapter of Judges tells of five spies from the tribe of Dan ending up in Micah's house and stealing the idol.

There are at least four different men in the Old Testament named Micah and the Micah in the account found in Judges 17 and 18 is not to be confused with the prophet of God of the same name. One of the books in the Old Testament bears the name of the prophet of God known as Micah.

Answer: Absalom

Absalom was the young man who sent spies throughout Israel to announce that when the trumpet sounds, people should proclaim "Absalom reigns." 2 Samuel 15:10, in the NKJV, states, "Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, 'As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, 'Absalom reigns in Hebron!'"

Absalom's action would be the precursor of a bloody civil war when he staged a coup in an attempt to topple his father David and become king of Israel.

The war would end with forces loyal to David coming out victorious, and the death of Absalom.

Answer: Herod

The correct answer is Herod. Matthew 2:1-12 tells of the Wise Men arriving from the east to pay tribute to Jesus. Herod was ruthless and when he heard a new-born baby by the name of Jesus would become king of the Jews, he wanted the infant killed to maintain his hold on power.

According to Scripture, Herod thought he could trick the Wise Men who had followed a star from the east into informing him about where Jesus could be found. Matthew 2:7-8, in the NKJV, states: "Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, 'Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also'."

However, Verse 12 goes on to state the Wise Men were "divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod" and they departed for their own country another way.

Answer: True

True. According to Scripture, the chief priests and the scribes sent men to spy on Jesus with the aim of being able to accuse Him of a charge such as blasphemy.

Luke 20:19-20 in the NKJV states: "And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people -- for they knew He had spoken this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor."

Shortly afterwards, Jesus would be arrested, humiliated, tortured and crucified only to rise from the dead three days later, according to accounts in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.