Divinity, Donkeys and Descendants Quiz

Answer: Dan

Dan was the fifth son of Jacob (Israel) through Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid. Rachel was Jacob's first love, as described in the book of Genesis, but was unable to have children until she finally gave Jacob his 11th and 12th boys (Joseph and Benjamin), dying in childbirth when Benjamin was born.

Genesis 30:1-6 - "When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or I'll die!'

"Jacob became angry with her and said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?'

"Then she said, 'Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.'

"So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, and she became pregnant and bore him a son. Then Rachel said, 'God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.' Because of this she named him Dan."

Answer: Joseph

Joseph had dreams at the age of 17 that got him in trouble with his family, but eventually their message came to fruition in such a way that it saved their family.

Genesis 37:5-11 - "Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, 'Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.'

"His brothers said to him, 'Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?' And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

"Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. 'Listen,' he said, 'I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.'

"When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, 'What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?' His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind."

After being sold into slavery by his brothers and subsequently rising to a powerful position in Egypt, Joseph's dreams came true when he was reunited with his family and they bowed to him.

Genesis 42:6 - "Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the person who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph's brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground."

Answer: Deborah

Deborah was the only female judge recorded in the Bible. Not only was she all the things listed in the question, but she was also a warrior and leader of men.

Judges 4:4-7 - "Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'""

Answer: Delilah

Judges 16:4-6 - "Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, 'See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.'

"So Delilah said to Samson, 'Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.'"

Delilah asked Samson his secret on four separate occasions, and he lied to her the first three times. Amazingly, even though she tried each of the things that Samson said would make him weak, Samson still stayed with her and (apparently) trusted her enough to eventually give her the real answer. Of course, at that point, things went badly:

Judges 16:21 - "Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison."

Answer: David

Acts 13:22 summarized it: "After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.'"

The text in the question came from 1 Samuel 13:14. Rather than wait for Samuel, as he was told, Saul went ahead and made a burnt offering to the Lord himself, in direct disobedience to how the Lord had laid it out in the law.

1 Samuel 13:8-14 - "He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. So he said, 'Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.' And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

"'What have you done?' asked Samuel.

"Saul replied, 'When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, "Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor." So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.'

"'You have done a foolish thing,' Samuel said. 'You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command."

Answer: Daniel

With the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar undertook his assimilation efforts, including the removal of a large part of the population to Babylon. Among them were members of the nobility. Not only were they removed from their land, but many were also given Babylonian names and required to follow the rules of Babylonian culture.

Daniel 1:3-4,6-7 - "Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility - young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. ... Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego."

Answer: Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem

There is no actual mention of a donkey in the biblical narrative surrounding Jesus' birth. Luke 2:4-5 - "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child."

The narrative in Matthew doesn't even mention why they went to Bethlehem, much less how. The only mention of it is in chapter 2 after the fact of Jesus' birth.

As for the other stories...

Balaam's donkey spoke to him in Numbers 22:27-28 - "When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?""

The Good Samaritan put the injured man on his donkey in the parable found in Luke 10:25-37. Here is verse 34 - "He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him."

The Sunday before his trial and crucifixion, Jesus entered Jerusalem to a great fanfare, as told in John 12:12-19. Here are the first four verses - "The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, 'Hosanna!' 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Blessed is the king of Israel!' Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: 'Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.'"

Answer: The Decapolis

Up until this point in Jesus' early ministry, He had told those who had received his miracles to keep the news quiet. This was one of the first (recorded) times that he blatantly said to spread the word.

The Decapolis was a region with ten cities ('deca'polis), a center of Greek and Roman culture. They were located mostly in present-day Jordan. According to the records of Pliny the Elder, they were Gerasa, Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, Capitolias, Canatha, Raphana and Damascus.

Mark 5:18-20 - "As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."

Answer: Damascus

After Saul's conversion, he was renamed Paul, and he continued to exhibit a fervor in how he approached things in life. Paul's zealous persecution of Christians turned into a zealous proclamation of all things Christian. Paul is credited with having written Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Galatians, Philippians and 1 Thessalonians.

Saul's conversion experience is related in Acts 9:1-6 - "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'

"'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked.

"'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 'Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'"

Answer: deliver us from the evil one

Matthew 6:7-13 gives the whole prayer, as Jesus taught his disciples how to pray:

"And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"This, then, is how you should pray:

"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one."