Bible People and Their Confessions Quiz

Answer: David

David, of course, is the correct answer. Scripture tells of David committing adultery with Bathsheba while her soldier husband Uriah was away in battle. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David attempted to cover up the fact he was the father. However, when none of his schemes would work, David set things in motion for Uriah to be killed in battle. Scripture states David told Joab, the Israelite army commander, to place Uriah at the very front of the line and stage an attack on the enemy. The other soldiers following Uriah were given orders to suddenly retreat, resulting in Uriah's death.

Later, Nathan the prophet became aware of David's actions and confronted him about the matter. Scripture tells of David confessing his guilt and shame to Nathan.

Answer: Achan

After Achan stole accursed things during the miraculous victory the Israelites scored over the inhabitants of Jericho, God turned His back on Joshua and his soldiers and they suffered a stinging defeat at Ai. Later, it was determined God had become angry because of accursed things in the Israelite camp. Scripture states the accursed things had been stolen by Achan and he had hid them in the earth in his tent.

Verse 20 tells of Achan confessing his guilt to Joshua, admitting he had sinned before God. Shortly after his confession, Achan was condemned to death by public stoning.

See Joshua 7:1-26 for details.

Answer: Judah

Judah found himself in a corner and had no choice but to confess to a gathering he was guilty of impregnating his daughter-in-law Tamar. The highly unusual story of Judah and Tamar is found in Genesis 38:1-30.

It's one of those long stories. Judah had a tryst with who he thought was a prostitute but in actuality, it was Tamar. According to Scripture, Tamar had her head covered during the affair.

Three months later, when Judah learned Tamar was pregnant, he was livid. In fact, Judah was so angry he said she should be brought out and burned alive for her sin.

Judah, however, had to do some serious backpedalling when Tamar was able to prove he was the man who had impregnated her.

As a result, Judah made a confession to a gathering of people, stating in verse 26 in the NKJV: "She has been more righteous than I."

Scripture goes on to tell of Tamar giving birth to twin boys -- Perez and Zerah.

Answer: Shimei

Scripture tells of Shimei, the son of Gera, confessing his serious error and begging for forgiveness from King David. Scripture tells of Shimei being bitterly opposed to David during his flight before Absalom during a bloody civil war.

2 Samuel 16:5-14 tells of Shimei hurling stones and insults at David. After the death of Absalom and David's victory in the civil war, Shimei had some serious confessing to do.

2 Samuel 19:19-20, in the NKJV, tells of Shimei's confession to David: "Do not let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember what wrong your servant did on the day that my lord the king left Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart. For I, your servant, know that I have sinned. Therefore here I am, the first to come today of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king."

While others wanted Shimei executed, David saw things differently, and showed mercy. In Verse 23, he tells Shimei, "You shall not die."

Answer: Saul

Saul, the first king of Israel, is the correct answer. 1 Samuel 15:20-35 tells of the Israelites battling the Amalekites with Saul receiving divine instructions to "utterly destroy" the enemy and not take any of their possessions.

In the passage, Saul confessed to Samuel he did not obey the voice of the LORD
and did not intervene when the people "took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed". Saul also confessed to Samuel he spared the life of Agag, king of Amalekites.

The passage goes on to tell of Samuel proclaiming Saul was no longer fit to rule over Israel and his reign was coming to an abrupt end. Shortly afterwards, Saul was severely wounded in battle and ended up committing suicide.

Answer: David

2 Samuel 24 tells of David pouring out his heart to God, confessing the error of his ways. Problems arose for David when he opted to conduct a census of the people of Israel without God's approval.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with conducting a census. After all, God had instructed the Israelites to conduct an extensive numbering of the people in the time of Moses. However, what appears to have caused problems for David is that he conducted the census to determine the military strength at his disposal. In other words, David was putting his trust in his military and not in God.

2 Samuel 24:10 tells of David confessing his sin to God. The verse, in the NKJV, states: "I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O LORD, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly."

Answer: Ezra

Ezra, of course, is the correct answer. Out of the four options, he is the only one who wrote a book in the Old Testament. Ezra 10:1-6 tells of Ezra weeping and confessing to the LORD the shortcomings of the people as many of them had married foreign wives and were no longer full heartedly serving God. In fact, Scripture indicates many of the Israelites involved in improper marriages were worshipping false gods.

According to the passage, while Ezra bowed before God and issued his confession, "a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly."

Answer: The Prodigal Son

The correct answer is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The well-known parable appears in Luke 15:11-32. As told by Jesus, the parable makes reference to a young man who left his father and moved to a foreign country where he squandered all of his money on a wild lifestyle.

When his money ran out, the young man found himself on the brink of starvation and moved back to his father, hoping he would be at least employed as a hired hand.

The parable quotes the son returning to his father and confessing, "I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."

The father, however, welcomed his son with open arms and held a lavish feast to welcome him back into his household.

Answer: A tax collector

In the parable commonly known as 'The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector', Jesus identifies the tax collector as the one who beat his chest and confessed to God he was a sinner. The parable is found in Luke 18:9-14.

According to the passage, the Pharisee and the tax collector went into the temple to pray with the Pharisee being extremely proud of his actions. In the parable in the NKJV, the Pharisee is quoted as saying: "God, I thank You that I am not like other men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess."

The tax collector, however, was extremely contrite, and "would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven." After beating his chest, the tax collector confessed, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!"

Jesus ends the parable by saying the tax collector was justified rather than the Pharisee, for "everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Answer: Judas Iscariot

Matthew 27:3-9 tells of Judas Iscariot becoming remorseful after he betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver paid to him by the Pharisees. The passage tells of Judas returning the silver to the chief priests and elders and confessing, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."

The passage goes on to tell of Judas departing from the temple and hanging himself.

Scripture states the Pharisees used the thirty pieces of silver returned by Judas to purchase a plot of land to bury strangers. According to Verse 9 and 10, purchase of the burial land was fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy by Jeremiah.