A Quick Look at Hands in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Isaac

Isaac is the correct answer. The story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac is one of the best known stories in the Old Testament. Scripture reports God commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac to a mountain in the region of Moriah and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.

Just as Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, Scripture reports an angel of the LORD called out and told him to spare his son because it was evident Abraham feared God. After the angel called out, Abraham spotted a ram in the thicket and used it as his sacrificial offering.

The story is told in the 22nd chapter of Genesis. Many Christians compare this episode to God's sacrifice of His own son, Jesus in the New Testament.

Answer: Solomon

Construction of a temple for the LORD was the crowning achievement for Solomon when he served as king of Israel. Details about the project can be found in Chapters 5 through 8 in 1 Kings. Solomon's father David wanted to build such a temple, but according to 1 Kings 5:3, he was unable to realize his dream because "of the wars which were fought against him on every side."

According to 1 Kings 6:1, construction started "in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel."

It took twenty years to build the temple as well as the royal palace, as per 1 Kings 9:10.

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, Solomon constructed the temple on Mount Moriah, north of the ancient City of David. The temple was built according to plans David received from the LORD and passed on to Solomon. (1 Chronicles 28:11-13, 19).

Answer: Jeroboam

The account of Jeroboam stretching out his hand and ordering the arrest of a man of God only to have his hand withered "so that he could not pull it back to himself," is told in 1 Kings 13.

The unnamed man of God denounced Jeroboam for creating his own deviant religion, and the king responded by ordering the prophet's arrest. However, to Jeroboam's horror, his hand became miraculously withered.

Scripture goes on to tell of Jeroboam begging for mercy and the man of God restoring the king's hand to be as it was before he ordered the arrest.

Answer: Mordecai

Mordecai, the cousin of Queen Esther, saved the life of King Ahasuerus, who is also known as Xerxes in the NIV Bible. Details of Mordecai's actions can be found in Esther 2:21-23.

The Book of Esther tells of Mordecai and Esther working together to prevent Haman from carrying out a scheme to kill all the Jews in the massive area ruled by Ahasuerus.

Answer: Luke

The verse in question is the first verse of the Gospel of Luke, written by Luke, a worker and physician in the early church. The Gospel is based on a detailed letter Luke wrote to a man called Theophilus. The Book of Acts, also written by Luke, is the second part of Luke's writings to Theophilus.

There is no conclusive proof as to who Theopilus actually was. Some believe he was a prominent official in the Roman government, while others believe he was a lawyer who represented Paul in his trial before Felix. Some believe Theophilus is a collective name for Christians in general, but this view is disputed by others because the Gospel of Luke describes Theophilus as "most excellent," a term for a specific person and not a collective body.

Answer: Ephesus

According to Scripture, Paul was in Ephesus when he laid his hands on a group of new believers and they started speaking with tongues and prophesied.

The account is found in Acts 19. Verses 1 to 4 tell of Paul meeting the group, who were baptized into the baptism of John the Baptist, but were not aware of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesus was a Greek city on the Aegean Sea in present-day Turkey. The Book of Ephesians was written by Paul and addressed to believers in Ephesus.

Answer: Peter

According to Scripture, Peter was set free from prison by an angel.

It's a remarkable story told in Acts 12:3-19. According to Verse 4, four squads of four soldiers were assigned to watch guard over Peter for each of the four watches during the night. It's abundantly apparent Herod wasn't taking any chances and was doing everything possible to prevent an escape by Peter.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, when an angel of the Lord appeared and the chains fell off Peter's hands and he was ushered out of prison.

When Peter made his escape from prison, he headed to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark. Acts 12:12 states "many" had gathered at the house and were praying for Peter's release.

Answer: Malta

Miraculously, nothing happened after Paul was bitten by a viper. The snake bite happened after Paul and his party made their way to shore in Malta after surviving a shipwreck.

According to Acts 28:2-3, the islanders built a fire and welcomed Paul's group. Verse 3 states that Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. However, Scripture states the snake bite had no impact on Paul, much to the amazement of the islanders.

Scripture goes on to tell of Paul's party staying on the island for some time and in the process, Paul performed a number of miraculous healings, and many came to believe in a resurrected Jesus Christ.

Answer: Paul

Paul is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Agabus, known as a prophet, took Paul's belt and found his hands and feet to illustrate what would happen to Paul should he go to Jerusalem.

Details are reported in Acts 21:8-13. Sure enough, the chapter goes on to tell of Paul being severely beaten and arrested. And true to the prediction of Agabus, Paul would be eventually turned over the Gentiles and be executed in Rome.

Agabus is also mentioned in Acts 11:28. The verse states that he addressed a group of people "and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar."

Paul's suffering was immense. He was lashed no less than 195 times, three times he was beaten and once he was stoned, as per 2 Corinthians 11:24-25. Scripture goes on to tell of more of his suffering.

Answer: Thomas

Thomas, of course, is remembered for having major doubts about initial reports from others about seeing the resurrected Christ after the crucifixion. His doubts, however, disappeared forever, when, according to John 20:24-29, Jesus appeared before Thomas and the other disciples while they were meeting in a locked room.

Thomas had said he would only believe reports about the resurrection if he could see Jesus in person and examine His wounds. Scripture tells of Jesus appearing before Thomas and inviting the disciple to put his finger into the wounds caused by nails hammered into His hands and to put his hand into His side where a spear had been plunged during the crucifixion.

After seeing Jesus and being able to touch His wounds, Thomas is quoted as exclaiming, 'My Lord and my God!'