Come and Dine With Me in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Mephibosheth

Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, had a special place in David's heart. According to Scripture Mephibosheth was "lame in both feet," and in Biblical times such a condition would relegate one to being a helpless beggar. However, David and Mephibosheth's father were the best of friends.

This, even though Jonathan's father Saul devoted much of his latter life trying to kill David. As a result, David made sure Mephibosheth was taken care of long after Jonathan and Saul had died. 2 Samuel 9:7 states that David restored to Mephibosheth all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul and he ensured he would "always dine at his table with him."

Answer: Job

According to Scripture, Job had seven sons and three daughters and they loved to dine. Job 1:4, in the NKJV, states this about Job's offspring: "And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them."

Scripture goes on to state that Job was such a righteous man he would offer burnt offerings to God every time his sons held feasts, in case they had sinned.

Answer: Belshazzar

According to Daniel 5:5, the fingers on a disembodied hand started writing a message on the wall after King Belshazzar hosted a lavish banquet in which he, his wives and his concubines drank from goblets taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem. Scripture states the king's gathering drank the wine from the sacred goblets and "praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone." When the king brought in the prophet Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall, no punches were pulled. Daniel told the king "God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end".

The fifth chapter of Daniel concludes with these two verses from the NKJV Bible: "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old." (The NIV states Belshazzar was king of the Babylonians.)

Answer: Vashti

Vashti was deposed as queen when she failed to show up at a gala banquet hosted by Ahasuerus, king of Persia. (In the NIV, Ahasuerus is referred to as Xerxes.) According to Esther 1:3-4, Ahausuerus held a feast for all his officials and servants at which "he showed the kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all." Verse 5 goes on to state the one hundred and eighty days were followed by yet another feast "lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king's palace."

At the same time, Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace, according to Verse 9.

Scripture states that while the king "was merry with wine" he requested Vashti to come before him wearing her royal crown "in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials." When Vashti refused to obey Ahasuerus' orders, he became "furious, and his anger burned within him."

Scripture goes on to tell of Vashti being deposed as queen and Esther becoming her replacement.

Answer: The king and Haman

According to Esther 5:4, Esther invited King Ahasuerus (known as King Xerxes in the NIV) and Haman to a banquet, with Esther 7:1 telling of the two men showing up. The seventh chapter of Esther goes on to tell of Esther making the king aware of Haman's diabolical plan to kill all the Jews in the Persian empire.

Esther and her cousin Mordecai had been working together to make sure the genocide never took place. When Esther made her announcement to the king, Haman knew his fate was sealed.

Esther 7:7-10, in the NKJV, states: "Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, 'Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?'

"As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, 'Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.' Then the king said, 'Hang him on it!'

"So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided."

Answer: Parable of the Prodigal Son

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the correct answer. The parable tells of a man's younger son moving to a foreign country and, after spending all his money on a wild lifestyle, ending up destitute. In fact, Scripture states he was so hungry he longed to eat the food he fed to pigs (an almost unimaginable plight for a Jew who regard pigs as unclean).

After having sober second thoughts, the prodigal son opted to return to his father, thinking it would be better to be a hired hand for his father than to face his current fate. On his return, the son was pleasantly surprised to see his father welcoming him back with open arms and then throwing a gala banquet to mark the occasion.

According to Scripture, the older son was disappointed, largely because he had been obedient to his father and apparently had never been the center of attention such as his younger brother was receiving.

Luke 15:25-31 explains things this way in the NKJV:
"Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found'."

Notes in the NKJV study Bible state the father's compassion "illustrates the immediate acceptance of a sinner who turns to God."

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the most popular in the Bible. It is perhaps rivaled only by the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Answer: Tax collectors and sinners

The Pharisees were indignant when Jesus dined with people described as tax collectors and sinners in the NKJV.

Matthew 9:10-12 is just one of a number of passages in which the Pharisees expressed indignation at Jesus over the people He associated with. In this case, Jesus was associating with the outcasts at a banquet.

The verses in the NKJV state: "Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'

"When Jesus heard that, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

Tax collectors were despised in Israel because they were seen as traitors who worked for the Romans. What's more, most of them charged an extra amount of taxes and pocketed the difference.

Meanwhile, the 'sinners' who Jesus associated with were not ordinary sinners.

"The Pharisees along with others could readily admit that everyone is, after all, a sinner and in need of God's mercy and forgiveness," states the Christian Resource Institute's Website. "But the sinners associated with tax collectors were in a special class. These were people who deliberately and persistently transgressed the requirements of the law. Also in this group of sinners might be prostitutes who made their living by their ill-gotten gains. These were individuals who sold themselves to a life of sin in deliberate disregard of the law of God."

Answer: Matthew

Matthew, also known as Levi, is the correct answer. Details of the banquet are recounted in Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:15-17 and Luke 5:27-32.

Luke 5:27-29 in the NKJV states: "After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house."

As stated in the answer to Question No. 7, the Pharisees were indignant that Jesus would dine with tax collectors and sinners.

Although Matthew is credited with writing the first Gospel that bears his name, I find it fascinating there isn't a single quote from him in the New Testament.

Answer: An upper room

The Last Supper, according to Scripture, took place in an upper room in an undisclosed location. The feast coincided with the Passover and took place just before the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus.

There is no smoking gun, but many theologians believe the upper room was in a building owned by the parents of John Mark, believed to be the writer of the Gospel of Mark.

According to notes in the NKJV Study Bible, two memorial meals were observed when Jesus and His disciples gathered in the upper room.

"First, they ate the regular Passover commemoration meal, during which time Jesus predicted His betrayal by one of the disciples," the notes state. "Second, after Judas had left (John 13:30), Jesus observed the Last Supper, which anticipates the imminent breaking of His body and shedding of His blood."

Details about Jesus and His disciples marking the Passover can be found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13.

Answer: Revelation

The verse in question is from Revelation 3:20 and quotes Christ. To put the verse in context, here's how Revelation 3:19-21 reads in the NKJV: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."

Revelation was written by John while in exile on the windswept island of Patmos. Tradition holds the writer was the brother of James and one of the original Twelve Disciples. However, some modern-day theologians dispute this fact.