Do Not Be Afraid! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Acts

The Apostle Paul traveled far and wide to spread the news of Jesus Christ after his conversion. In this passage, he arrived in Corinth and was joined by Silas and Timothy soon afterwards. Although they were not initially well-received by the Jewish community in Corinth, God spoke to Paul in a dream to reassure him.

Acts 18:9-11
"And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them."

Answer: Proverbs

The passage that this comes from is in the second half of Proverbs 3, which has the added (non-scriptural) subheading of 'Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,' which begins in verse 13 and goes to the end of the chapter (v.35). In the middle, the author (perhaps Solomon?) exhorts his son:

Proverbs 3:21-27
"My son, do not lose sight of these-
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,
for the Lord will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being caught.
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to do it."

Answer: 1 Samuel

1 Samuel 28 tells of King Saul seeking out a medium to try to contact the recently deceased prophet Samuel. Doing so was against his own, established laws, so he goes to the woman in disguise. Even so, he had to assure her that no harm would come to her.

1 Samuel 28:11-14
Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman said to Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You are Saul." The king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up out of the earth." He said to her, "What is his appearance?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe." And Saul knew that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground and paid homage."

Answer: Matthew

The miracle of Jesus walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee is recounted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John. This particular verse comes from Matthew, although there are nearly identical ones found in the other two books.

After feeding the 5,000, Jesus sent his disciples away by boat to cross the Galilee, while he went up the mountain to pray by himself. Sometime in the middle of the night, he made his way out to join them in the boat, miraculously walking across the surface of the water to do so.

Matthew 14:25-27
"And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.""

Answer: 2 Kings

The book of 2 Kings begins with a recounting of how King Ahaziah, laying sick and dying, thought to seek information on his future from Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. The prophet Elijah was sent to give Ahaziah the message that because he had done so (instead of seeking the God of Israel), that he would surely die.

The king sent men against Elijah in response to this message, and twice the Lord sent fire to kill the officers and troops that came. When the third officer arrived with his men, he came with a different approach:

2 Kings 1:13-15
"Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, "O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight." Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he arose and went down with him to the king."

Answer: Joshua

In the first half of Joshua 10, five Amorite kings joined forces to strike at the Gibeonites, which had allied itself with the Israelites after Joshua had conquered Jericho and Ai. But the Israelites came to defend their new allies and drive out the Amorites, and God took an active hand by sending a vicious hailstorm, then holding the sun still in the sky until the battle was over and the Amorites were defeated and the five kings were all captured. And then Joshua used their execution as a lesson to his military leaders that the Lord would be with them against all adversaries.

Joshua 10:22-26
"Then Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me from the cave." And they did so, and brought those five kings out to him from the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, "Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings." Then they came near and put their feet on their necks. And Joshua said to them, "Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." And afterward Joshua struck them and put them to death, and he hanged them on five trees. And they hung on the trees until evening.

Answer: Genesis

Near the end of the book of Genesis, after the story of Joseph reuniting with his brothers during the years of famine in Egypt, Joseph's father Jacob (Israel) finally learned that his son, thought long dead, was actually alive and well, and essentially ruling Egypt as the Pharaoh's second-in-command. Although extremely old at this point, Jacob wanted to go to Egypt to see Joseph, and his journey began in Chapter 46.

Genesis 46:1-4
"So Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes."

Answer: Luke

This is part of 'The Annunciation,' in which the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to foretell the birth of Jesus Christ through her as God's chosen vessel. The complete passage is Luke 1:26-38, but I will show just the verses immediately surrounding the quote in question.

Luke 1:28-31
"And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus."

Answer: Jeremiah

This is from the opening of the book of Jeremiah, who was a prophet of the Lord, first called to served during the reign of Josiah, the king of Judah. In this passage we see Jeremiah's call and empowerment, despite his initial protests.

Jeremiah 1:4-10
"Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."

Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." But the Lord said to me,

"Do not say, 'I am only a youth';
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord."

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

"Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.""

Answer: 2 Chronicles

Hezekiah, the 13th king of Judah, was a king who did right in the eyes of the Lord, and for this reason he prospered, and so did the kingdom under his reign. But prosperity breeds jealousy, and soon Judah found itself the target of neighbouring Assyria. When the King Sennacherib invaded, Hezekiah fortified Jerusalem and encouraged the people.

2 Chronicles 32:5-8
"He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it,and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah."