Fishermen, Fire, and Foreordained Quiz

Answer: formless

There is much discussion in scholarly circles on the creation story as presented in Genesis. Tradition says that Moses was the author of the book, and he wrote it the creation account as an explanation to the Jewish people on how things came to be, and why some things are as they are (difficulty in labour, working the earth hard, the origin of sin, etc.). For this reason (among others), the discussion centers on whether it is a literal account or not.

2 Timothy 3:16 says "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." Literal account or not, the story would seem to have been God-inspired for Moses to have written it... make up your own mind on the subject.

Answer: Flood

Genesis 7:1,4 - "The Lord then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation... Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."

Genesis 6 explained that The Lord saw (because of the original sin in the Garden of Eden) how wicked the people of the earth had become, with evil in their hearts. But He found favour with Noah, and chose him (and his family) to survive the coming destruction. After the floodwaters receded 150 days later (Genesis 7:24), The Lord sent the rainbow as a promise to never destroy the world by a flood again.

Answer: Ishmael

Genesis 16:1-2 - "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said."

Genesis 16:15-16 - "So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael."

Hagar had run away from Sarai, who had despised her when she came to be with child. Resigned to dying, an angel of The Lord came to Hagar and promised her that through her son Ishmael, she would have more descendants than could be counted.

The verse quoted in the question (Genesis 16:12) was wart of what the angel said to Hagar.

Answer: Fire

Exodus 1:7 - "The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.""

So God called Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. When Pharaoh would not listen, Moses warned of plagues to come by God's power... and it took ten plagues to convince Pharaoh.

Here were the ten plagues (Exodus 7-11):

1) The plague of blood (all the water in the Nile changed to blood)
2) The plague of frogs
3) The plague of gnats
4) The plague of flies
5) The plague on livestock (all Egyptian livestock died; Israelite livestock did not)
6) The plague of boils
7) The plague of hail
8) The plague of locusts
9) The plague of darkness (for three days no one could see anything - except the Israelites)
10) The plague on the firstborn (everyone who did not line their door-frame with lamb's blood (as ordered by Moses), their firstborn son died)

Answer: Furnace

Daniel 3:1,4-6 - "King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.""

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to do as commanded, and the king ordered them thrown into the furnace. They were tied up and cast in, and the fire was so hot that the guards tasked with the job died in the process. But when the king checked on the three men, he saw them walking around unbound, along with a mysterious fourth person that looked "like a son of the gods." (v.25)

Answer: The Feast of Purim

The Jews were living in captivity, under the rule of Persian King Xerxes I, and under threat of persecution and destruction at the behest of Haman (a nobleman honoured and elevated by Xerxes). Queen Esther, scared for her own life and the lives of her people, nevertheless made a petition to King Xerxes for help.

Esther 9:23-27 - "So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king's attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be impaled on poles. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed.

Answer: A resin from Boswellia trees

The term 'frankincense' comes from the old French words 'franc encens', which translates as 'high quality incense'. The aromatic resin is found in four species of the Boswellia genus, found primarily in tropical regions of Asia and Africa. It is used in perfumery and aromatherapy.

Answer: Simon (Peter), Andrew, James (the Greater), and John

Matthew 4:18-22 - "As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."

The only other apostle whose profession was named was Matthew, who was a tax collector. While the remaining disciples do not have their former jobs listed, many of them were from the same region of Galilee. Chances are at least one of the others was also a fisherman, or a labourer of some kind.

Answer: Fig

The story of Jesus cursing the fig tree in the book of Mark comes immediately after his recounting of Palm Sunday (Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem).

Mark 11:12-14 - "The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.

No explanation was given by Jesus at the time, but that evening, when they passed the tree again, Peter noticed it:

Mark 11:20-23 - "In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!
"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.""

Answer: Felix

Paul had been in Jerusalem for a week when a plot was launched against him:

Acts 21:27,28 - "When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, shouting, "Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place."

Roman soldiers came and broke up the disturbance, putting Paul in chains. When they realized that he was a Roman citizen, the situation was (eventually) brought before the Felix, the ruling governor of Judah. Felix, however, wouldn't make a decision on the matter:

Acts 24:22-27 - "Then Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceedings. "When Lysias the commander comes," he said, "I will decide your case." He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.
Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you." At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.
When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison."