Chew on This Quiz: Hunger in the Bible

Answer: Esau

Esau, according to Scripture, sold his birthright for a pot of stew to his slightly younger twin brother, Jacob.

Here's how Genesis 25:29-34 explains things in the NKJV: "Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, 'Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.' Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, 'Sell me your birthright as of this day.' And Esau said, 'Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?' Then Jacob said, 'Swear to me as of this day.' So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright."

Esau and Jacob were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. According to Scripture, Isaac favored Esau while Rebekah favored Jacob.

Answer: The Israelites

The Israelites is the correct answer, as per Exodus 16. In Exodus 16:4, in the NKJV, the LORD is quoted as telling Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not."

Verses 31 to 35 go on to tell of the Israelites calling the bread from heaven 'manna'. The manna tasted like wafers made with honey and they ate it for forty years. Here's how the verses read: "And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. Then Moses said, 'This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 'Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.' And Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.' As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan."

Answer: Elijah

Elijah was fed by ravens for an extended period of time while he was in hiding and didn't have to go hungry, according to Scripture. Elijah was told by the LORD to go into hiding after he confronted Ahab, king of Israel and Scripture states God commanded ravens to feed Elijah daily. Details can be found in 1 Kings 17:1-6.

Verse 6 states ravens brought Elijah "bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening" to his hiding place, which was by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.

Even though Elijah was the most wanted man in Israel, at least in the eyes of King Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel, the prophet of God never went hungry even though he was in hiding.

Answer: David and his men

David and his men ate holy bread when they became hungry, according to Scripture. 1 Samuel 21:2-6, in the NKJV, explains things this way:
"So David said to Ahimelech the priest, 'The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, 'Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.' And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found'.

"And the priest answered David and said, 'There is no common bread on hand; but there is holy bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.' Then David answered the priest, and said to him, 'Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day'.

"So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the LORD, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away."

Jesus makes mention of this event while addressing the Pharisees in Mark 2:25. According to Mark, the Pharisees were upset with Jesus and His disciples because they plucked some heads of grain on the Sabbath, an illegal activity in their eyes.

Mark 2:23-27 gives this account of the interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees: "Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' But He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?' And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath'."

Answer: Ebed-Melech

Ebed-Melech likely saved Jeremiah's life when he pointed out to King Zedekiah the prophet of God was in danger of dying from starvation. (In the KJV, Ebed-Melech's name is spelled Ebedmelech and in the NIV it appears as Ebed-Melek.)

Jeremiah 38:7-10 in the NKJV explains things this way:

"Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, Ebed-Melech went out of the king's house and spoke to the king, saying: 'My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.' Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies'."

Answer: Solomon

Solomon is the correct answer. Proverbs 25, in the NKJV Study Bible, is sub-titled 'Further Wise Sayings of Solomon'.

To put things in context, here's how Proverbs 25:20-24, reads in the NKJV.

"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the Lord will reward you.
The north wind brings forth rain,
And a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.
It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman."

Proverbs 25:21 is also quoted by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, in Romans 12:20.

Solomon is credited with writing a major portion of Proverbs, as well as all of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. On top of this, he is also credited with writing two of the Psalms.

Answer: Paul

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wrote the verse. To put the verse in context, here's how Philippians 4:10-13 reads in the NKJV: "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

The letter Philippians was written by Paul to believers in the early church in Philippi, a city in eastern Macedonia.

Answer: The Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the one of the most popular parables in the Bible. It appears in Luke 11:15-31. The parable is perhaps rivaled only by the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

In a nutshell, the Parable of the Prodigal Son tells of a young unnamed man leaving his father's house and traveling to an unnamed foreign country where he spent all his money on prodigal living. Before long, the man found himself so destitute he ended up landing a job feeding pigs, a job detestable for a Jew. Making matters worse, Verse 16 states the man became so hungry "he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate."

The parable goes on to tell of the man deciding to return to his father's house and serve as a hired hand. However, to his amazement his father welcomed him with open arms. In Verse 32, the father is quoted as saying there was cause to celebrate his son's return because he was "dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."

Many Christians liken the parable to the fact God is always open to welcome back to the fold those who have made major mistakes in their lives.

Answer: Peter

According to Acts 10:10-13, Peter was hungry when he had a vision of a large sheet descending from heaven with all types of beasts and birds.

Peter's vision in which he hears a voice telling him to "rise...kill and eat" convinced him the Gentiles must hear the Gospel message.

Here's how Acts 10:9-16 reads in the NKJV:
"The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance and saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, 'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'

"But Peter said, 'Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.'

"And a voice spoke to him again the second time, 'What God has cleansed you must not call common.' This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again."

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible offer this explanation of the passage:

"While his host was preparing the noon meal, Peter fell into a trance during which he was commanded to kill and eat all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds. The problem was that the animals were mixed: clean and unclean beasts were gathered together (see Leviticus 11). Jewish people were taught from childhood never to touch or to eat any animal that was unclean. However, here Peter was being commanded by God to do just that. Three times God corrected Peter's resistance with the words, 'what God has cleansed you must not call common.' Food may have been his first consideration, but Peter would soon understand the greater message. The vision was a sign from heaven that Jews were no longer to call Gentiles unclean. From that point on, these two groups would be on equal footing before the Father. God was breaking down Peter's prejudices."

Scripture goes on to tell that while Peter was considering the vision, three men approached him asking him to go to the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, to provide instruction to Gentile believers. (Cornelius had his own vision in which he was told to seek out Peter to provide instruction.)

Scripture concludes with Peter going to the household of Cornelius with a number of Gentiles being baptized.

With Gentiles being freely admitted into the early church, the world would never be the same again.

Answer: Jesus

According to Matthew 4:2, Jesus fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights and then was tempted by Satan. Despite Satan's temptations, Jesus stood firm, Scripture indicates.

Matthew 4:1-11 gives this account in the NKJV:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'

"But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'.'

"Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
'He shall give His angels charge over you,'
and,
'In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'

"Jesus said to him, 'It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God'.'

"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve'.'

"Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him."

It's interesting to note the number forty is a recurring theme in the Christian Bible. For example, Scripture tells of it raining for forty days and forty nights, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for forty years and Jesus fasting for forty days and nights.