And Finally -- Bringing up the Rear in Bible Quiz

Answer: Deuteronomy

The correct answer is Deuteronomy. The book largely explains the law of God revealed at Mount Sinai to a second generation of Israelites. Jews and Christians both traditionally credit Moses with writing the book but some scholars dispute this belief. Deuteronomy consists of 34 chapters and is seen by many as the last will of Moses.

Answer: Malachi

Malachi is the correct answer. In addition to being the last book of the Minor Prophets, it's also the last book of the Christian Old Testament.

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible state Malachi means 'My Messenger'. The notes go on to state "the final book of the Old Testament is about the error of forgetting about the love of God."

(According to Wikipedia, the Septuagint of the Eastern churches has the Minor Prophets appearing before, instead of after, the 'Major Prophets. There is also a slightly different order of twelve books in the Septuagint, but Malachi is the last one. According to Wikipedia, the books appear in this order: Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.)

Answer: Revelation

Revelation, written by John of Patmos, is the last book of the New Testament. It's a complex book and there are no shortage of views about what the book is 'really saying'. In my opinion, the book is a tale of two cities -- Babylon the Fallen and the New Jerusalem. According to Revelation, Babylon faces a horrific future while residents of the New Jerusalem will have a glorious future.

The traditional belief is the writer of the book was John, the brother of James, and one of the Twelve Disciples.

Some scholars, however, dispute this belief.

Answer: Amen

Amen is the correct answer. The word appears at the end of Revelation 22:21. The verse in question, in the NKJV, states: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

Incidentally, the word Amen appears nine different times in Revelation in the NIV and eight times in the NKJV.

Answer: Philemon

Out of the thirteen books Paul is traditionally credited with writing, Philemon is the last one in the order they appear in the New Testament. Paul wrote the book after he converted Onesimus, a runaway slave to Christianity. The book is a passionate appeal to the slave's master Philemon to accept Onesimus back as an equal in Christ. Philemon lived in Colosse while Paul was in Rome at the time of the writing of the letter to Philemon. According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, a slave who ran away from his master could face the death penalty under Roman law.

Answer: Benjamin

Benajmin was the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons. According to Scripture, his mother was Rachel, who was also the mother of Joseph. Genesis 35:16-18 states Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. She named him Ben-Oni just before she died, but Jacob renamed the infant Benjamin. According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Ben-Oni means Son of My Sorrow while Benjamin means Son of the Right Hand.

Answer: Samuel

The last judge of Israel was Samuel. After his rule, the Israelites were led by Saul, the first king of the nation. Samuel, of course, is a major character in the Old Testament with two books named after him -- 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Samuel was the son of Elkanah and Hannah. The account of Samuel anointing Saul as king is found in the 10th chapter of 1 Samuel.

Answer: Rehoboam

Rehoboam was not only the last king of a united Israelite nation, but also the first king of Judah, after the ten northern tribes broke away. He was the son of Solomon and Naamah and it's abundantly apparent he didn't have his father's expertise for making wise decisions. Scripture reports he got off to a bad start when he ignored the advice of his father's advisers and followed the advice of young men he had grown up with, as per 1 Kings 12. And from there things got worse.

The ten northern tribes broke away and before long Rehoboam was left ruling over a much smaller domain than his father Solomon and his grandfather David. According to 1 Kings 14:21, Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king and he reigned for seventeen turbulent years.

He was succeeded by his son Abijah.

Answer: Hoshea

Hoshea was the last king of the northern 10 tribes of Israel. Details about his reign are told in the 17th chapter of 2 Kings. According to Scripture, he was the son of Elah and reigned nine years. Scripture reports Hoshea "did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him." His reign ended when the Assyrians conquered Israel and took its people into captivity.

Answer: Zedekiah

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. Details about his reign are reported in the 24th and 25th chapter of 2 Kings. According to Scripture, Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, reigning 11 years. His reign came to an end when Judah was conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Scripture reports Zedekiah was captured in the Plains of Jericho and then faced a horrible fate. 2 Kings 25:6-7 in the NKJV states: "So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him.

Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon."