Exodus Journey Quiz | Old Testament / Tanakh

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. How old was Moses when he led the Israelites out of Egypt?

Answer: Eighty

"And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old when they spake unto Pharaoh" (Exodus 7:7). There is ongoing debate about various ages quoted in the Bible or numbers of years for different events. It needs to be remembered the Bible has had many translations since the original and various words can only be translated as approximations of the original.

2. What was the eighth plague sent down upon the Egyptians in an attempt to make the Pharaoh let the Israelites go?

Answer: Locusts

The plagues were, in order,(1) Waters into blood (2) frogs (3) lice (4) flies (5) dead cattle (6) boils and blains (7) hail and fire (8) locusts (9) three days darkness (10) death of all first born. Scientists today attempt to explain all biblical events, including the plagues, as naturally occurring events. It's great fun watching them at it.

3. How many years in all were the Israelites in the land of Egypt before they were released?

Answer: 430

"Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years" (Exodus 12:40). The main reason for the reluctance in "letting the Israelites go" was the massive economic drain this would have meant for the country.

The Israelites had gone willingly to live in Egypt all those years ago and were a vital contributing factor to the economy of the nation.

4. Whose bones did Moses take with him when the Israelites finally left Egypt?

Answer: Joseph

"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him..." (Exodus 13:19). Joseph wished to be buried with his people, and as he was such a great figure in the history of the Israelites, his wish was honoured. (All together now - everybody sing: "Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones!")

5. So off they all trotted into the wilderness of Shur, and the Israelites began to complain, and they basically didn't stop complaining for the next forty years or so. Where did Moses, after praying to the Lord, first provide sweet tasting water for those ingrates?

Answer: Marah

"And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which, when he had cast into the waters (at Marah), the waters were made sweet..." (Exodus 15:25). According to the Bible, every time there was a dire physical need for the people, Moses prayed to the Lord for his guidance on what to do to meet this demand - and performed each particular miracle after honouring and acknowledging the name of God.

This occurs several times during their long journey.

6. A couple of months had passed by now and a lot more whinging from the Israelites because they missed the flesh pots of Egypt. Then the Lord provided, via Moses, bread from heaven - and what meat?

Answer: Quail

"And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp..." (Exodus 16:13). With the quails and manna the Lord provided, this was done only if the Israelites gathered what they needed within specified time periods. And of course the Israelites disobeyed, giving cause for the Lord to be displeased.

However, with great sufferance, He continued to provide manna for them during their entire trip to the Promised Land.

7. By the time the Israelites reached Horeb (with non-stop complaining along the way), they ran into a local Arab tribe, called the Amalek, who challenged them - possibly for the water which Moses provided at this spot. A mighty battle ensued, with the Israelites only winning if poor 80 year old Moses kept his arms aloft holding onto the rod of God. Which two men stood beside the gallant old fellow and helped support him when he grew exhausted?

Answer: Aaron and Hur

"But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun" (Exodus 17:12).

The basis to this event was to show the people that only with God at the centre of their lives would they succeed. If they turned away - symbolised by poor old Moses dropping his weary arms - events would go poorly for them. If they stayed true - his arms upright - they would succeed.

8. Onto Sinai, a journey which had only taken them three months so far (beefing all the while). Here the Lord promised them they would be his people, treasured above all other people on earth, IF they kept their covenant with him. But oh no, not for those dills. While Moses was up on the mount for only forty days, getting the ten commandments (and a whole lot of other instructions and laws from the Lord - interesting if you ever get round to reading them all), those idiots build what - and began to worship it instead of God?

Answer: A golden calf

The worship of calves, bulls, whatever, had been a recurring theme for pagan peoples throughout history from as far away as Egypt to India. It came with great wrongdoing, sin, lust, child sacrifice, eating of entrails of victims and other delectable depravities such as naked dancing round the dopey statues blah, blah, blah.

It's no wonder then that both the Lord and Moses were furious with the Israelites. Only Moses' pleading for mercy for them saved their necks that time.

9. Ploughing on through Leviticus and Numbers which deal with laws and history (it's a bit heavy going), and with only a relatively short time having passed, the Israelites had reached Paran and about to enter the Promised Land, but oh those idiots! They began to doubt that this would be so, their hearts became full of fear at the idea of any battle that lay ahead for possession of the land, and they began to plan once more to return to Egypt. This is where the Lord lost patience with them once and for all and condemned them to wandering for years in the wilderness until everyone over what age had died?

Answer: Twenty years

God, in his anger, said, "Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me" (Numbers 14:29). In other words, only their children, and those who had remained faithful (count those particular ones on one hand) would enter the Promised Land.

This was indeed to be the case.

10. And so forty more years passed where they foolishly condemned themselves to wandering around the Sinai peninsula in the one small area. A journey of only a few months had taken them indeed a lifetime. And after all those years of leading that mob of recalcitrant donkeys, who was finally forbidden to enter the Promised Land himself because he had forgotten to give the Lord credit when carrying out one of the miracles?

Answer: Moses

This occurs in the last book of the Pentateuch, that of Deuteronomy. I always feel a little bit sorry for Moses for that, but he was given a mighty job to do, and given almighty skills to do so, and though it was just the once he had failed to acknowledge the source of his power, that once, was once too much. Joshua, his faithful aide for all that long trek, would be the leader who would eventually lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Moses was allowed however, to go up to a mountain which overlooked all the Promised Land, to see the culmination of his forty years of leadership.

Source: Author Creedy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LeoDaVinci before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Exodus Journey Trivia Quiz

Come aboard the good ship "Pentateuch" - the first five books of the Bible written by Moses - and follow the Israelites as they journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. King James version is your Passport.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>