A Prophetic Point of View Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jonah

According to Genesis 10:8-11 (NASB for all), Nimrod was a mighty hunter who built Nineveh along with several other cities. 'A fisherman who became bait or human sushi' would be Jonah who was swallowed by a whale. Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh to warn the people to repent but Jonah did not want to go because, as he explained later, he knew God would have mercy if the people repented and that is exactly what happened, the people repented and God relented.

There are several interesting facts surrounding the story of Jonah according to rabbinical teaching. First, it has been hypothesized that Jonah was the son of the woman of Zarephath that Elijah was sent to live with (I Kings 17). In this story the son dies and is raised from the dead by Elijah (vv. 17-24). Although interesting this is clearly unlikely as Elijah was a prophet during the days of Ahab (middle 9th century BCE) and Jonah served almost 100 years later during the time of Jeroboam II (middle 8th century BCE). Second, according to Jewish tradition the reason Jonah fled from the Lord instead of immediately going to Nineveh was because he did not want to be seen as a false prophet if the people repented and the calamity that he proclaimed did not therefore materialize. This is an interesting take on his motivation and actually makes sense. If a prophet prophesizes something and it does not happen then is he truly a prophet? On the other hand, what is the purpose of prophecy except to get people to change their ways and if they do this then have you not accomplished your mission?

In Christian tradition, Jonah plays an important role and was even used by Jesus as a prophecy of his death and resurrection. As Jonah spent three days in the belly of the whale so the Christ must die, be buried, and rise again after three days. Jonah is also important because he foreshadows God's love for the Gentiles as well as the Jews in that one of His prophets was sent to a Gentile nation even back in Old Testament times.

Answer: Elijah

Ray Stevens released "Ahab the Arab" in 1962 and among its lyrics are:
"Let me tell you about Ahab the Arab
The sheik of the burning sand"
and
"He'd jump on his camel named Clyde, and ride".
The 1938 Bette Davis movie was "Jezebel". Ahab and Jezebel were opposed by the prophet Elijah. The phrase 'sowed the wind' is a reference to Hosea 8:7 which states, "For they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind." Because Elijah never died but was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot in a whirlwind, it could be said he sowed the wind and therefore reaped the whirlwind. He is one of two men in the Old Testament/Tanakh to never taste physical death, the other being Enoch.

Elijah figures prominently in both Judaism and Christianity because of his relationship with the coming of the Messiah. According to Malachi 4:5-6 (3:23-24 in Hebrew), The Lord will send Elijah back to earth just before 'the great and terrible day of the Lord' (NASB and so throughout). In Jewish tradition a cup is set for Elijah during the Passover Seder in recognition of his return and the coming of the Messiah. Jesus Himself maintained that John the Baptist was Elijah for those who believe (Matthew 11:14; Mark 9:11-13) although John himself told the Jews he was not Elijah (John 1:21). This apparent discrepancy can be cleared up by looking at what the angel told John the Baptist's father, Zecharias, about what his son would be. In Luke 1:17 the angel states to Zecharias, "And it is he (John) who will go as a forerunner before Him (Jesus) in the spirit and power of Elijah." This notwithstanding, many Christian groups believe that the true Elijah will still return to earth before the second coming of Christ and in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy in Malachi.

Answer: Miriam

Exodus 2 (NASB) tells the story of Moses and how he was put into the Nile to hopefully save his life. His sister, Miriam stood watch and saw the daughter of Pharaoh come and take the baby home. Miriam arranged for Moses' mother to care for him and thus he was cast into the water and came back to his family. Miriam is considered one of the seven prophetesses of the Tanakh according to Jewish tradition. The others are Sarah, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Esther.

Jewish tradition also maintains that because of her righteousness, a spring of water followed the Israelites as they travelled through the wilderness for forty years. It is called Miriam's well and because of this a tradition developed among some Jews of setting a glass of water next to Elijah's glass at the Passover Seder. This is based on the text of Numbers 20:1-2 where the Israelites no longer had water after Miriam died and grumbled against Moses. At this point Moses struck the rock according to God's command and water burst forth for the people. Interestingly, according to Paul in I Corinthians 10:4 the rock from which the water came was the preincarnate Christ and it was He who followed the Israelites throughout the desert to provide them water. This does not preclude Miriam's death from being the reason that the water ceased or the reason the water was there in the first place, but it does add another interesting element to the story. Whether or not Miriam's death was a mere coincidence for the water ending or the cause is unclear from the Biblical account.

Answer: Balaam

Eddie Murphy was the voice of Donkey in the "Shrek" movies and the donkey is the mascot of the Democratic Party in America. Dr. Doolittle could talk to the animals. So where do all these clues lead? To the prophet Balaam who had a donkey talk to him in Numbers 22 (NASB) and following.

Balaam had been summoned by Balak the King of Moab to curse Israel but on his way the angel of the Lord stood in his path. The donkey could see the angel but Balaam could not. The donkey would not go on and saved Balaam's life by not trying to pass by the angel but Balaam beat the donkey for not going forward. Then God let the donkey talk and opened Balaam's eyes so he could see and Balaam realized he had almost died. Although Balaam was not able to curse Israel like Balak wanted, he did tell the Midianites how to get the Israelites to sin and thus bring down the wrath of God on themselves. For this he was later killed when Moses commanded the people to take vengeance on Midian.

Jewish rabbinical tradition has two views of Balaam, one more positive and one more negative. Some see him as the greatest Gentile prophet, greater even than Job, while others see him as a false prophet. The New Testament viewed him as an example of a false prophet (II Peter 2:15, Jude 11, and Revelation 2:14 NASB). When one looks at the evidence as provided in Numbers, it is clear that Balaam knew that God was on Israel's side and yet he still aided Israel's enemies in how to possibly defeat them or at least cause trouble. By taking these actions he chose to align himself against Yahweh and His chosen people and his death sentence would therefore be justified.

Answer: Hosea

Jim Nabors played Gomer Pyle on "The Andy Griffith Show" and then later on his own spin-off, and Hosea married a prostitute named Gomer. Hosea's marriage to Gomer was a living example of God's love for Israel, the Northern Kingdom in this case after the split, even though Israel continued to stray from devotion to God. Hosea redeemed Gomer even after she ran off and slept with other men. His message to the nation was clear that unless they changed their ways, bad things would happen to them as a nation but even then God would still love them and never completely forsake them. The book of Hosea is seen as a book of contrasts in that for every dire prediction Hosea gives, he also gives a hopeful statement of God's continuing love. Hosea is seen as the first prophet to use marriage as a metaphor for God's relationship with Israel and, to Christians, clearly foreshadows the relationship between Christ and the church that would come about in the New Testament. Christ Himself also quotes Hosea (Matthew 9:13; 12:7 NASB).

As is the case with most prophecy, although many if not most scholars take Hosea's marriage to Gomer as a statement of fact, some see it as merely allegorical.

Answer: Job

Job is one of the seven Gentile prophets recognized by Jewish tradition in the Tanakh. The others are Balaam, Beor (Balaam's father), and Job's four friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu). The main problem faced in the Book of Job is why a righteous man would be allowed to suffer by a righteous God if the righteous man has done nothing wrong. Job is told by his wife to curse God and die but Job never turns his back on God. For this profession of faith in God no matter what he faces, Job is considered a prophet of the highest magnitude. At the end of the book Job's faithfulness is rewarded and God restores his fortunes.

The story of Job has proven to be a source of great controversy both within the Jewish and Christian communities as well as in the philosophical world beyond. Noted psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote "Answer to Job" which takes a psychological look at Job. Noted author and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis tackled the subject in "The Problem of Pain". Dominican priest Gustavo Gutierrez delved into the issue from the point of view of liberation theology in "On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent". Rabbi Harold Kushner offers a contemporary take on Job in "When Bad Things Happen to Good People".

Answer: Seer

The word seer is used somewhat interchangeably with prophet in the Old Testament/Tanakh and there is some question as to whether there is a relevant distinction between the words. According to I Samuel 9:9 (NASB for all) the word prophet replaced the word seer at about that time in the history of Israel. And yet the word seer continued to be used throughout both I and II Samuel and I and II Chronicles as well as once in Amos. There are passages where both are mentioned and would therefore imply a differentiation between the two words. One of the most significant of these would be I Chronicles 29:29 where Samuel and Gad are designated as seers and Nathan as a prophet. Another verse draws a distinction between Iddo the seer and Shemaiah the prophet (II Chronicles 12:15). But Iddo the seer was also called the prophet Iddo (II Chronicles 13:22). In another place Gad is called both a prophet and a seer (II Samuel 24:11). Whether or not there is a distinction or should be a distinction between the two terms is unclear.

The word seer appears 22 times in most English translations. It appears as if an unofficial office of seer grew up to advise the king as the monarchy took hold in Israel. II Sam. 24:11 says that the prophet Gad was David's seer. I Chronicles 21:9 also identifies Gad as David's seer. I Chronicles 25:5 calls Heman the king's seer. The final person designated as a king's seer is Jeduthun (II Chronicles 35:15). The list of men designated as seers whether they were the king's seer or not is Samuel, Zadok the priest (II Samuel 15:27), Gad, Heman, Iddo, Hanani, Asaph, Jeduthun, and Amos.

Not much is known about Iddo the seer from the Biblical account but it does appear he was rather prominent in his day. Although not much is left of his writings, at the time there were volumes containing the visions of Iddo the seer (II Chronicles 9:29), the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer (II Chronicles 12:15), and the treatise of the prophet Iddo (II Chronicles 13:22).

Answer: Samuel

The reference to Lazarus is a reference to the fact that after Samuel died his ghost was called up by the witch of Endor on behalf of King Saul. The Ewoks lived on the forest moon of Endor in the Star Wars universe but they are just a red herring in this case.

When Saul fell out of favor with God, he sought out the witch of Endor, a medium who could contact the dead (I Samuel 28 NASB and so throughout). There is some debate within the Jewish and Christian communities about exactly what is meant by this story but the text itself is quite clear. It was Samuel who appeared to Saul after he had died and was summoned by the witch. Samuel did not give Saul the answer he had hoped for and predicted that the next day Saul and his sons would die in battle and go to be with Samuel.

Some rabbis consider Samuel to have been at least the equal of Moses and Aaron and possibly even higher than them, especially considering the fact that God visited him in his room rather than having him climb Mount Sinai. He was a Nazarite dedicated from before his birth to the service of God. In Christian traditions his birth and life parallels both John the Baptist and Jesus. Both Samuel and John were conceived after their mothers visited the holy place of the Lord and both were dedicated before their births to the service of the Lord as Nazarites. The similarities to Jesus will be discussed in the next paragraph.

Samuel's mother was Hannah and she was barren but she prayed earnestly to the Lord and dedicated whatever child she would have to his service. She conceived and bore Samuel. When he was old enough, she took to Shiloh to the high priest Eli and left him there to serve the Lord. I Samuel 2:1-10 records her song which is considered prophetic in Jewish tradition and is seen as mirroring the Magnificat of Mary in the New Testament by Christians. Both births were considered miraculous. Hannah's story is read during Rosh Hashanah each year.

Answer: Abigail

According to Jewish tradition the four great beauties of the Tanakh were Sarah, Rahab, Abigail, and Esther. As the story goes David sent some of his men to Abigail's husband to ask for food and supplies because they had protected Nabal's herds while they were in the field with David's men but Nabal rebuffed the idea. David then prepared to exact his revenge upon Nabal's inhospitality but Nabal's servants told Abigail what Nabal had done and how well David's men had treated them while they were in the countryside. Abigail prepared food and then went out to meet David as he came to kill Nabal. David relented because of Abigail's intervention. During their conversation Abigail prophesied about David's future ascension to the throne. Abigail told Nabal what had happened and from the text it would appear he had a heart attack and died ten days later. David then took Abigail as his wife and was not responsible for the blood of Nabal because God is the one who took him and not David.

In rabbinical tradition, Abigail's behavior is contrasted with that of Bathsheba. Being as beautiful as she was, Abigail captured David's attention immediately but did not allow anything to come of it because she was still married to Nabal. Contrast this with Bathsheba who gave in to David's advances. Bathsheba is seen as passively allowing David to sin while Abigail actively prevented him from sinning. Beyond this, Abigail kept David from shedding blood while Bathsheba's conduct and resulting pregnancy led directly to the murder of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite. Abigail waited for God and therefore legitimately became David's wife whereas David's taking of Bathsheba led to his condemnation by the prophet Nathan. Purely from this perspective, one wonders why then it was through Bathsheba's lineage that the royal line continued through Solomon and why Christ's lineage was also traced back through Bathsheba's other son Nathan?

Answer: Nathan

Nathan's Famous is a chain of fast food restaurants that specializes in hot dogs and holds a hot-dog eating contest each year at its original location on Coney Island since the 1970s. Nathan is also the name of the prophet sent by God to confront David about his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah the Hittite (II Samuel 11 and 12 NASB for all).

Nathan first appears in II Samuel 7 when David wanted to build a temple for the Lord. At first Nathan approved but then God came to him in a dream and told him David must not do it but David's son would. This is also the first time that the eternal reign of the house of David was prophesied. Nathan next appeared in the above mentioned story regarding Bathsheba. It is interesting to note that although Nathan was the one who condemned the affair and all that came from it, he is also the one who helped Bathsheba secure the throne for Solomon instead of Adonijah (I Kings 1). David and Bathsheba also had another son besides Solomon and he was named Nathan, presumably after the prophet. It is through him that Mary's lineage is given in Luke.