Sink Your Teeth Into a Sweet and Sour Quiz

Answer: Gold dust from a golden calf Moses destroyed

Scripture states Moses was in a rage when he saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf they made while he was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God. According to Exodus 32:20, Moses took the golden calf and burned it in a fire and then ground the residue into a powder and then scattered the powder on the peoples' water supply. Then he ordered the people to drink the water laced with powder from the golden calf to teach them a lesson, Scripture states.

For more details, see Exodus 32:1-35.

Answer: Moses

After receiving instructions from the LORD, Moses threw a piece of wood into the bitter waters of Marah and it was made drinkable. (The KJV and the NKJV state the LORD showed Moses a tree and he threw it into the waters.)

According to Scripture, the incident took place shortly after the LORD parted the Red Sea, enabling the Israelites to make a safe exodus from Egypt. Exodus 15:22 states the people were in the wilderness for three days and were overcome with thirst. To their displeasure, when they found water at Marah they were unable to drink it due to its bitterness.

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Marah means 'Bitter'.

After drinking the water Moses purified at Marah, Verse 27 tells of the Isrealites making their way to Elim where there were "twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees".

Answer: Elisha

2 Kings 4:38-41 tells of an undisclosed number of prophets sitting down to eat stew when it was quickly discovered the food was poisonous. Or as Verse 40 states in the NKJV, the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "There is death in the pot."

According to Verse 41, Elisha remedied the deadly situation by adding some flour to the pot and "there was nothing harmful". It seems the problem with the stew was created when one of the prophets gathered some gourds from a wild vine and they were added to the stew, although no one knew exactly what they were adding, as per Verse 39.

Answer: Samson

Samson posed a riddle after he found honey in the carcass of a lion, as per Judges 14:5-20. Samson was walking along when he was attacked by a lion, and according to Scripture, the spirit of the LORD came upon him and he killed the beast with his bare hands. Later, Samson would go back to the scene of where he killed the lion and to his surprise, he saw a swarm of bees and a deposit of honey inside the animal's carcass. Scripture tells of Samson scooping up some honey and eating it and giving some to his parents to eat as well.

Shortly afterwards, Samson would marry an unnamed Philistine woman (this was before Delilah) and he posed the riddle at a week-long reception. Judges 14:14, in the NKJV, says the riddle went this way: "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet." If anyone successfully answered the riddle, Samson said he would give them thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. If they were unsuccessful in answering the riddle, they would give Samson thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.

No one could answer the riddle until Samson's new wife got him to tell her the answer and she quickly told others. (The answer was "what is sweeter than honey and what is stronger than a lion.")

Scripture goes on to tell of Samson having the spirit of the LORD come upon him once again and he went to Ashkelon where he killed thirty men and took their apparel and "gave the changes of clothing to those who had explained his riddle."

The chapter ends with Samson being extremely angry and giving his new wife to his best man, who is also not named.

Answer: Proverbs

Proverbs 20:17 in the NKJV states, "bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel." (The NIV states, "food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouthful of gravel.")

Proverbs is a collection of witty sayings and is popular with Jews and Christians alike. It is believed Solomon wrote most of the Proverbs, but Agur wrote Chapter 30 and Lemuel wrote 31:1-9.

Answer: Nehemiah and Ezra

Nehemiah and Ezra told the repentant people of Israel to "eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared," as per Nehemiah 8:10. According to Ezra 8:9, Nehemiah was the governor and Ezra was the priest and scribe at the time.

Much of Chapter 8 tells of the Israelites gathering as one to hear Ezra read from the Book of the Law from the morning to midday. Scripture indicates the people pledged to be obedient to God's Word.

Answer: Jesus

Jesus, of course, is the correct answer. He made the statement to His disciples after His resurrection and just prior to His ascension to Heaven. Mark 16:17-18, in the NKJV, quotes Jesus as saying: "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Mark 16:19 goes on to state Jesus was received up into Heaven "and sat down at the right hand of God."

Answer: John the Baptist

According to Matthew 3:4, John the Baptist was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Scripture states he was "a voice in the wilderness" sent to prepare the way for Jesus -- "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." (See John 1:29)

Answer: John

John, the writer of Revelation, is the correct answer. John writes in Revelation of having a vision while in exile on the windswept island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, Revelation 10 tells of John seeing an angel with a little book which he was requested to eat. In Revelation 10:10, in the NKJV, John writes, "Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter."

Revelation is the last book of the New Testament. Tradition holds the writer was John, one of the Twelve Disciples. Some modern day theologians, however, dispute this belief.

Answer: A star

John of Patmos, in his vision, tells of "a great star... burning like a torch" plummeting into the water of the earth, making one-third of it bitter. Revelation 8:11 states the name of the star is Wormwood. "A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter," Verse 11 also states.

Details about one third of the water being made bitter can be found in Revelation 8:10-11.