A Bible Quiz Dealing With a Grave Matter -- #3

Answer: Abraham

Abraham paid Ephron four hundred shekels of silver for land in Canaan to bury his dead, according to Genesis 23:15-16. Verse 17 goes on to state the field of Ephron was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre.

Scripture states a cave was on the land and Abraham used it to bury his wife Sarah. Others buried in the cave were Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, as per Genesis 25:9, 35:29 and 49:30-31.

Answer: Jacob and Esau

Isaac was buried by his two sons, Jacob and Esau, as per Genesis 35:27-29. According to the passage, Isaac was one hundred and eighty years old when he died. Verse 27 in the NKJV states his death took place "at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt."

Isaac was the only child of Abraham and Sarah.

Answer: Elisha

Elisha is the correct answer. The mindboggling story of an unnamed dead man being brought back to life when his body touched the hallowed bones of the prophet of God is told in 2 Kings 13:20-21. Scripture states the man's body was deposited in a cave housing the remains of Elisha and when the man's body touched Elisha's bones, the man was revived and stood on his feet again. With only two verses devoted to the amazing story, Scripture is short on details.

2 Kings 13:20-21, in the NKJV Bible, states: "Elisha died and was buried. Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. Once, while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet." No further details are given.

Answer: Nahum

Nahum is the correct answer with Nahum 1:1-15 being a lamentation against the people of Nineveh. In Verse 14, Nahum quotes God as proclaiming:
"Your name shall be perpetuated no longer.
Out of the house of your gods
I will cut off the carved image and the molded image.
I will dig your grave,
For you are vile."

Nahum is the second of two books in the Old Testament that centers on Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. The second book is Jonah. Not much is known about Nahum, the prophet. However, Nahum 1:1 states he was from Elkosh, a town in Judah.

Answer: Moses

Just prior to the miraculous parting of the Red Sea, the Israelites were filled with fear. According to the Exodus 14, the Egyptian army was in hot pursuit and the Israelites feared the worse. Due to their lack of faith, they sarcastically asked Moses if he had taken them into the wilderness to die because there were no graves in Egypt. This after the LORD had unleashed ten punishing plagues on Egypt to convince the Pharaoh to give permission to the Israelites to leave the country and travel to Canaan, known as the Promised Land.

Shortly after the question was asked of Moses, Scripture tells of God parting the Red Sea enabling the Israelites to make their exodus out of Egypt. When the Egyptian army attempted to pursue the Israelites, Scripture tells of the Red Sea suddenly being no longer parted. As a result, the Egyptian army was wiped out in one fell swoop.

Answer: Unnamed devout men

Unnamed devout men buried Stephen, according to Acts 8:2. (The NIV describes them as Godly men.) Stephen was the first martyr in the early church. He was accused of blasphemy, found guilty at a trial which amounted to a kangaroo court, and then put to death by stoning.

According to Acts 8:1, Saul, who later became known as Paul, consented to the death of Stephen. Verse 3 goes on to state Saul "made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison."

Answer: Mary Magadelene

Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the empty tomb as well as the first person to see Christ after His resurrection, as per John 20:11-18. Mary must've been completely astonished when she saw Jesus, even though He had told His followers many times He would die and rise from the dead three days later.

In Verse 17 Christ gives Mary Magdalene the assignment to tell others about His resurrection. The following verse tells of Mary informing the disciples about the miraculous news.

Answer: The Pharisees

In Matthew 23:27-29, Jesus proclaims the Pharisees were like whitewashed tombs because outwardly they appeared to be perfect, Godly men, but inwardly they were "full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness."

The Pharisees were bitter adversaries of Jesus as many of them regarded Him as a madman. Christ, however, saw through their hypocrisy and had harsh words for them.

Eventually, the Pharisees would be successful in having Jesus arrested and turned over to the Romans to be crucified. However, three days later Christ would arise from the dead, as per the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Answer: Peter

According to the Gospel of Luke, Peter was the only one of the Twelve Disciples to actually investigate Christ's empty tomb. Luke 12:10 tells of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James "and the other women with them" informing the disciples that Christ's tomb was empty and He had risen from the dead. According to Verse 11, the women's words "seemed to them like idle tales and they did not believe them."

Verse 12 goes on to tell of Peter swinging into action and running to the tomb. When he arrived at the tomb, Peter stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying by themselves and he departed, "marveling to himself at what had happened."

John 20 has a slightly different account stating Peter and the "disciple Jesus loved" were involved in a footrace to the empty tomb with Peter losing the race.

John 20:6-8 gives this account int he NKJV: "Then Simon Peter came, following him [the disciple Jesus loved], and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed."

Tradition holds the disciple Jesus loved was John, one of the original Twelve Disciples.

I feel I must add a personal observation. Just because Luke and John have two slightly different accounts does not mean one, or both, of the passages are inaccurate. Both are accurate, in my opinion. It's simply a case of John adding more details to his account than Luke. After all, it only stands to reason John would have more details because he was directly involved in the story.

Answer: John the Baptist

John the Baptist was buried by his disciples after he was beheaded by Herod, as per Matthew 14:11-12. No names are given for John's disciples. However, according to John 6:8, Andrew, one of the Twelve Disciples, was originally a disciple of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was beheaded simply because he had infuriated Herod and his wife Herodias when he denounced their marriage. According to Mark 6:17, Herodias had been previously married to Philip, Herod's brother.