Bible People and One Bad Decision They Made Quiz

Answer: Ate forbidden fruit

Adam and Eve were guilty of eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. According to Scripture, God expressly forbid the couple to eat the fruit. However, a serpent convinced Eve there would be no harm if she ate the forbidden fruit. After Eve tasted the forbidden fruit, Adam, her husband, did likewise. Scripture goes on to tell of God driving Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.

Answer: Hagar

Sarah's handmaiden was Hagar. According to Genesis 16:3, Sarah gave permission to her husband Abraham to sleep with Hagar to produce a child as Sarah was barren at the time. The union between Abraham and Hagar would result in the birth of Ishmael, generally perceived as the father of the Arab nation.

However, Sarah would end up deeply regretting her decision to allow Abraham to sleep with Hagar. Going by Scripture, Sarah and Hagar seldom got along and were bitter adversaries. However, their dislike for each other would intensify after the birth of Ishmael.

According to Scripture, Hagar started to deeply despise Sarah for whatever reason. I suppose she felt superior because she could produce a child for Abraham while Sarah was unable. So she made a point of constantly trying to make Sarah feel small and insignificant.

It seems things snowballed, with Sarah attempting to get even by being unduly harsh on Hagar. A number of years later, Abraham opted to abandon Hagar and Ishmael, sending them off with some food and water into the desert. (It appears the breaking point was Ishmael's 'scoffing', as per Genesis 21:9.) With the two women separated, the turmoil between them would finally come to an end.

Answer: Looking back on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Lot's unnamed wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back on the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, contrary to divine instructions.

One of the best known stories in the Old Testament involves the LORD bringing down brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah because of its wickedness, with Lot and his family fleeing. However, Genesis 19:26 states Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she looked back. Genesis 19:15-17 tells of angels visiting Lot and advising him of the coming destruction and to flee with his wife and two daughters and not to look back.

Genesis 19:17 quotes one of the angels as saying: "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."

Answer: His daughter

According to Scripture, Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and his daughter ended up losing her life as a result. Scripture states Jephthah was commander of the Israelite army which was engaged in a heated battle with the Ammonites when he made his vow.

Judges 11:30-31 tell of his vow, with Jephthah proclaiming to the LORD, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering."

Scripture goes on to tell of the Israelites scoring a decisive military victory of the Ammonites. However, to Jepthhah's horror, when he returned home from war, the first person he saw was his only child, a daughter, who met him with timbrels and dancing. Immediately, he tore his clothes.

Scripture goes on to tell of Jephthah telling his daughter he had made a vow with the LORD "and I cannot go back on it."

Judges 11:36 tells of his unnamed daughter being fully understanding and accepting of the situation. The verses quote her as saying, "My father, if you have given your word to the LORD, do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, because the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the people of Ammon."

She then asked for two months alone in the mountains so she could "bewail" her virginity. Jephthah granted the request and after two months, his obedient daughter returned and he fulfilled his vow.

Scripture goes on to state it became a custom in Israel that the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah.

It should be pointed out some people interpret the passage differently, stating Jephthah's actions did not cause his daughter to lose her life, but resulted in her remaining a virgin for the rest of her life. They point to the last four words in Verse 39 in the NKJV which state "she knew no man".

Answer: Nathan

The account of Nathan confronting David is found in the twelfth chapter of 2 Samuel. He used a parable to make David aware of the seriousness of his sinning when he had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba and then made arrangements for the murder of her husband, Uriah. Nathan than made the pronouncement that the child who would be born as a result of the adulterous affair would die, and sure enough it came to pass.

Incidentally, it was Nathan who told an elderly and frail David of the plot of Adonijah to become king.

The end result is that Solomon became king, as per 1 Kings 1:8-45.

Answer: Following the advice of his younger friends, disregarding the advice of older people

Rehoboam's father Solomon ruled over Israel during its golden era. However, when Rehoboam became king everything fell apart and the country split into two entities -- Israel and Judea. Rehoboam made an extremely bad decision shortly after he became king when he ignored the advice of his father's advisers and followed the advice of young men he had grown up with, as per 1 Kings 12. And from there things got worse.

The ten northern tribes broke away, and before long Rehoboam was left ruling over a much smaller domain than his father Solomon and his grandfather David. According to 1 Kings 14:21, Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king and he reigned for seventeen turbulent years.

He was succeeded by his son Abijah.

Answer: Vashti

Vashti refused a request of the king to appear before a banquet and show her beauty, and this proved to be a fatal blunder. The king opted to depose of her after consulting with his wise men. The feeling was if she wasn't deposed, other women in the kingdom would be disobedient to their husbands.

Vashti stood on her principles regardless of the consequences. She was the first women's libber. In my opinion, she should be looked upon as a heroine in Scripture. After all, her disobedience played a role in saving the Israelites from mass genocide because, after she was deposed, Esther ascended to the throne. If Vashti hadn't taken a defiant stand, it was unlikely Esther would have become queen.

After Vashti is deposed, she is never again mentioned in Scripture. Her decision not to follow the orders of the king could very well have resulted in her living a life of squalor and destitution.

Answer: Withheld money from the early church and lied about it

Ananias and his wife Sapphira are briefly mentioned in Scripture with Acts 5:1-11 telling of their one bad decision. The husband-wife team were stuck dead after selling their property and withholding part of the money from going to the Lord's work. The passage states they were struck dead after they met separately with Peter and both claimed they had turned over the entire proceeds from the sale of their property.

The sin that caused Ananias and Sapphira to be struck dead wasn't necessarily keeping some of the money for themselves. The sin was lying to God and the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5:11 tells of "great fear" coming upon members of the early church after the deaths of the couple.

Answer: His wife

Pilate's wife was troubled by a dream she had about Jesus and passed the information onto her husband. Matthew 27:19 in the NKJV states: "While he [Pilate] was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, 'Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.'" She made the request just prior to her husband giving in to the crowd and ordering the execution of Jesus.

The world would never be the same.

Answer: 30

Judas agreed to betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver, according to Matthew 26:15. The Gospel of John points out Judas had a number of flaws such as stealing money from the money bag used for Christ's ministry and putting on fronts. A classic case of Judas putting on a front is found in John 12. According to the chapter, Judas became upset when he saw Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, anointing Jesus with the perfume, or costly oil. The passage goes on to state that Judas claimed the perfume should have been sold and given to the poor. However, John, the writer of the Gospel, states in Verse 6 that Judas didn't care about the poor and was putting on a false front.

Despite his flaws, Judas made one dreadful decision, and that was to betray Christ. As he led a major delegation to where Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, Judas kissed Him, indicating He was the One who was to be arrested. It was the most infamous kiss in history.

Details of Judas Iscariot agreeing to betray Christ are documented in Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11 and Luke 22:3-6. The actual betrayal is reported in Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-51, Luke 22:47-53 and John 18:1-11.

Matthew 27:5 tells of Judas committing suicide by hanging himself.

Whenever a list of names of the Twelve Disciples appears in Scripture, Judas Iscariot is last.