Bible Accounts: Back from the Dead! Quiz

Answer: 12:00 PM

Elisha often passed the woman's house while going through Shunem. When she perceived he was a holy man, she practiced hospitality towards him, so by Elisha's intervention the woman, though her husband was elderly, was able to conceive and bear a son. The child was born the following spring. When he died, the woman accused Elisha of deceiving her, but after the boy's revival she fell at his feet in homage.

Question submitted by falseplayer.

Answer: Fell from a third-floor window

Eutychus fell asleep during Paul's sermon and thus fell out of the window. When the people saw Eutychus brought back to life, they were "not a little comforted" according to verse 12. Let this be a lesson to us all: if the preacher is long-winded, don't take a balcony seat!

Question submitted by rredman95.

Answer: Peter

This is a wonderful story because Peter put everyone out of the room and knelt and prayed. Many Bible stories tell of miracles, but this one makes clear that the power came through intercessory prayer to God. The story can be found in Acts 9:36-42, about the raising of Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek). Afterward, Peter "gave her his hand, and lifted her up." Isn't that a nice line?

Question submitted by Allison03.

Answer: "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."

Luke 8:40 (NKJV) says that the crowd ridiculed Jesus, because they knew the 12-year old child was dead. Her name was not given in any of the three synoptic gospels that tell the story. When Jesus brought the child back to life, He said, "Little girl, arise." Then Luke's gospel says that her spirit returned to her and she arose. In the other gospels, we see the father frantic because his only child was dying, and indeed he was told before he returned home that she had died. It is interesting that in Matthew 9, the father knew of the death before he asked Jesus for help. In Mark 5 and Luke 8, he asked for help and when Jesus and he were going to his home, he was told of the death. Would the father have to have had more faith in one case over the other? I imagine his grief, in either case. All of the three versions of the story have it that the child lived. She was one of three persons revived from death by Jesus, as told in the Bible.

Question submitted by Allison03.

Answer: On a funeral bier

The pall bearers were carrying the man on a bier, and Jesus touched the bier and said to rise. And of course, he did, according to the story. A widow is dependent on her family to care for her, and since this was an only son, she not only was grieved for his loss out of love, we presume, but also knew that she was not going to be in a good situation in terms of survival without him. But Jesus told her not to cry, and brought the young man back to life. "They were all filled with awe and praised God." (Luke 7:16)

Question submitted by Allison03.

Answer: Lazarus of Bethany

Lazarus was the last person raised from the dead by Jesus, before the Crucifixion. When Lazarus died (the first time), the apostles knew that going to the family then was hazardous, as Bethany was very close to Jerusalem. "So then he told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.' Then Thomas ... said to the rest of the disciples, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.'" (From John Chapter 11.) Thomas sure was plain-spoken, wasn't he? In fact, the raising of Lazarus scared the Pharisees, who then called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. The result was that it was decided that they would arrest Jesus.

Question submitted by Allison03.

Answer: Elisha

We don't know the names of the burial party nor the name of the dead man, but they had to make a quick exit when they saw a band of Moabites. The band wasn't carrying musical instruments, either. This account is found in 2 Kings 13 v 21:
"And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet".

Question submitted by watchkeeper.

Answer: Elijah laid the child down, stretched himself over the child's body three times, and asked God to "let this child's soul come into him again".

The account in First Kings is the second miracle recorded in the chapter. Elijah also was able to sustain the widow and her son with a supernatural supply of oil, the flow of which was only stopped when all the vessels in the widow's dwelling were full. Again, this is a story of God's provision and grace.

Question submitted by rredman95.

Answer: Paul

This passage is very interesting. The people of Lystra thought that Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus, since the two disciples had cured a lame man. The crowd was ready to make sacrifices to them as gods. Then Paul and Barnabas yelled that they were human and there was one true God. The crowd was still wanting to sacrifice to them. "Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead." (Acts 14:19) The other disciples gathered around and Paul revived. Now, I don't count this as "raising from the dead" because the Bible does not say Paul was dead. The mathematician in me wants to say "3 in the Old Testament, 3 raisings by Jesus (not counting the saints walking after resurrection of Jesus), and only 2 raised afterward?" Ah, well. Dead or just "thought dead," it goes in our "raised" theme. It took a group of believers to gather and pray to God for his healing, and he was certainly healed. He went from "thought dead" to getting up and returning to the city.

Question submitted by Allison03.

Answer: No

There are no names given for them, but it is generally assumed that these were Old Testament figures.

Matthew 27:50-54 in the King James Version say:

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, 'Truly this was the Son of God.'"

It's interesting that while they didn't actually walk around until after His resurrection, the event is included in a narrative that mentions actions that happened immediately after His death. Jesus claimed to be equal with the Old Testament God and Jewish leaders didn't agree with Him, which led to His crucifixion in the first place. Amazingly enough, Roman soldiers--the very ones who killed Him--acknowledged Him as a deity because of these events.

Question submitted by Ceduh.