Eden, Earthquakes and Egyptians Quiz

Answer: Euphrates

The location of the Garden of Eden is one of those places that has been sought for centuries, along the same lines as the resting place of Noah's Ark, or the fabled lost city of Atlantis. Of the four rivers named in the Genesis passage, one of them is not the original name (the Tigris is *believed* to be the modern-day version of the Hiddekel, which is the name given in the original Hebrew), and the other two no longer exist.

And, even if one could locate the Garden of Eden, there is also this to consider:

Genesis 3:24 - "After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

Answer: Esau

Esau was Isaac's son and Abraham's grandson, the twin of Jacob (who later became Israel). When they were born, they were described in Genesis 25:24-26 - "When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them."

Eliphaz was one of Abraham's great-grandson, actually the son of Esau. Genesis 36:10 - "These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath."

Er and Elon were both great-great-grandsons of Abraham, both through Jacob. Er was a son of Judah (who was Jacob's fourth son by Leah), while Elon was a son of Zebulun (who was Jacob's sixth son by Leah).

Answer: Moses

Moses had been adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and raised as part of Pharaoh's family. After seeing a Hebrew slave being badly beaten, Moses killed the Egyptian overseer, then fled to Midian.

Putting the quote from the question into context here is Genesis 2:15-17 - "When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock."

It was one of those daughters, Zipporah, that Moses ended up marrying.

Answer: Elijah

Elijah was a prophet of God whose story can be found in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. His first appearance is in 1 Kings 17 when he came to King Ahab to warn him that God would punish his (and Queen Jezebel's) reign with a catastrophically severe drought. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, as told in 2 Kings 2:11 - "As they [Elijah and Elisha] were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."

Ezra is the 15th book of the Old Testament (between 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah). It was originally considered one manuscript with the book of Nehemiah, but the two were separated in the Middle Ages, and have remained so. It tells the story of the return from Babylonian captivity and the reestablishment of Torah law by the decree of Cyrus I. Ezra was known alternately as a priest, and 'Ezra the Scribe'.

Esther is the 17th book of the Old Testament (between Nehemiah and Job). It tells of the Jewish girl who married Xerxes I of Persia and convinced him to save her people from the machinations of Haman, a prominent member of Xerxes' court who had a personal grudge against the Jews.

Ezekiel is the 26th book of the Old Testament (between Lamentations and Daniel). In the book, Ezekiel prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and visions of the Millennial Temple.

Answer: Solomon

As it says right at the beginning of Ecclesiastes, in verse one: "The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem."

Ecclesiastes, in the Jewish tradition, is grouped together with Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon), the Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, and the Book of Esther to make 'The Five Scrolls', or 'The Five Megillot'. In some communities, Ecclesiastes is publically read on the Sabbath of Sukkot.

To summarize it in a *very* small nutshell, 'the Teacher' tells of how meaningless life is, and how nothing new can be found under the sun. In the end, he concludes in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 -

"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil."

Answer: David and Goliath

As momentous as the events of David's defeat of Goliath and the subsequent routing of the Philistine army were, there was no earthquake involved (as detailed in 1 Samuel 17). As far as the 'E' theme goes, though, David's oldest brother was named Eliab, and the Philistines were chased to the gates of Ekron.

Korah (and a number of other men) rebelled against Moses in Numbers 16. In verses 31 and 32, their punishment was meted out: "As soon as he [Moses] finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions."

When Christ was crucified at Calvary, more than just an earthquake occurred, as seen in Matthew 27:51-53 - "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people."

The apostle Paul and his companion Silas were in prison in Philippi when an earthquake freed them from their captivity. Acts 16:25-26 - "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose."

Answer: Ethiopia

The passage telling of the Ethiopian eunuch is found in Acts 8:26-40. The eunuch was an important person in Ethiopia, as can be seen in verses 27-28: "So he [Philip] started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.

This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet."

Answer: Revelation

There are thirteen books (epistles) that have been ascribed to Paul: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. A further eight are considered 'general' or 'catholic' epistles: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude.

Accounting for the above 21 books, that leaves only six unaccounted for: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Revelation. The first four of those, of course, are the Gospels (accounts of Christ's life), Acts is a essentially a history of the early church, and Revelation is just that, John's revelation given to him of the end times.

Answer: Eunice

The only mention of Eunice given in the Bible is the one from 2 Timothy 1:5 - "I have been reminded of your [Timothy's] sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also."

Elisheba was the wife of Aaron (Moses' brother), Ephrath was the wife of Caleb, and Elisabeth was the wife of Zacharias (and the mother of John the Baptist).

Answer: The study of the End Times

Eschatology is formed of the Greek words 'eschatos', meaning 'last', and (of course) 'logos', meaning 'word'. Essentially, any -ology refers to what we say about something. Eschatology, then, means literally, 'what we say about the last things'.

The study of knowledge is called epistemiology, with the root word being 'episteme', which, as you have guessed, translates as 'knowledge'.

The study of sin is called hamartiology. The root word is 'hamartia', which translates as 'sin', or 'missing the mark'.

Aetiology, or the study of origins, includes any and all Creation stories. 'Aitia' translates as 'cause' or 'reason'.