Hundreds And Thousands In The Bible Quiz

Answer: oil and wheat

This story is often referred to as "The Unjust Steward". In the story, the dishonest steward, who is either too lazy or unwilling to actually perform manual labor and too proud to beg from others, is commended for his actions by his master!

"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."
(Luke 16:8-9)

While it may strike one as odd that the master commended the steward, it must be taken into consideration the context of the "commendation". He was NOT being praised; quite the converse. He was notably a shrewd fellow, and as such was destined to reap a reward from his peers, rather than from the good master whose trust he had abused.

This story was a stinging rebuke from Jesus to the Pharisees, who in the previous chapter had murmured against Him for daring to associate Himself with sinners.

Answer: Nabal

Nabal, whose flocks David had previously helped to protect against traveling marauders was a foolish man. Ironically, (or perhaps not), even his name meant "fool".

After rebuffing David's request for help, his wife, who realized the ridiculous and dangerous position her husband had placed himself in by offending David, responded much more kindly. David had already sent out four hundred men besides himself to deal with the ingratitude of Nabal, but his wife, Abigail, acted quickly to avert total disaster.

Nabal then got drunk and threw himself a grand old party. When he awoke, his wife informed him of just how close he had come to being slain. Within ten days of his extreme foolishness, God struck him dead in his tracks. Later, David took Abigail as one of his wives. Read the entire story in 1 Samuel 25.

Answer: The Sea of Galilee

In order to find out that the body of water spoken of is the Sea of Galilee, one must read the third chapter of Mark for the setting of the events that occurred later.

Mark 5:12-13 relays the tail-end of the story of a man called Legion and his encounter with Christ this way:

"And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea."

In Matthew, a similar story is related, but in it there are two men mentioned and the number of pigs are not revealed as they are in the book of Mark.

Answer: a small child

A little child, with child-like faith was the individual that Jesus chose to use as an example of the greatest in the kingdom, as we see beginning in the 18th chapter of Matthew:

"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

How think ye? if a man have an HUNDRED sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

Answer: Job

Most of us are familiar with the story of Job, a man who lost almost literally everything that he had, yet remained loyal to God throughout all his trials.

Job 42:10-17 tells us that Job first prayed for his friends; then God rewarded him.

"And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had FOURTEEN THOUSAND sheep, and SIX THOUSAND camels, and A THOUSAND yoke of oxen, and A THOUSAND she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch. And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days."

Answer: Achan

Achan was responsible for the initial military defeat of his people, due to his greed and disobedience to God's command involving a previous victory for the Israelites. After Achan's sin was dealt with, the Israelites went on to victory. For a more complete view of the events leading up to their eventual success at Ai, read the 7th and 8th chapters of Joshua.

Answer: Leviticus and Deuteronomy

According to scriptures found in both Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy 33, we read of a small number of people putting a much larger number to flight. This may be viewed metaphorically or even literally, based on the approach taken. The implication seems to be that by following the guidance of God, one may be able to accomplish the seemingly impossible through actions of faith.

As the number of true believers in God increases, so does the power that He bestows upon them, but likewise so does the number of their enemies that end up retreating from them increases. THAT increase, however, is exponential in nature as explained below:

In Leviticus 26:6-9, the scripture states:

"And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. AND FIVE OF YOU SHALL CHASE AN HUNDRED, AND AN HUNDRED OF YOU SHALL PUT TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you."

and in Deuteronomy 32:29-30

"O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! HOW SHOULD ONE CHASE A THOUSAND, AND TWO PUT TEN THOUSAND TO FLIGHT, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?"

I believe that this is the reason that Jesus, in speaking to His disciples, stated in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

I understand this to mean that the power (from God) that they wield collectively is MUCH greater than that of their enemy, the devil.

Answer: ...with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

The passage in Mark 10:28-31 read this way: "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life."

The promise that Jesus made to them implied that they would be blessed beyond any personal sacrifices that they had made, BUT, it came with a "stinger". Notice the scripture that says, "with persecutions". All to often we tend to overlook the "negative" aspects of following Christ. Being a Christian is NOT promised to be easy, nor is it promised that as such, those who follow Christ's teachings will be understood. Persecutions go with the territory of a Christian's life, just as blessings do. The next statement does take a bit of the "sting" out of the "stinger", though. It states that those who follow Christ for His name's sake are promised the wonderful gift of eternal life.

Answer: Psalm 68

Psalm 68:17 uses a metaphor to demonstrate God's might and strength as it states that God's "chariots" number 20,000. This thought refers back to the first verse of the chapter, in which the Psalmist David writes, "Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him."

This scripture is very close to that found in the book of Numbers, which had been authored by Moses. In the 35th and 36th verses of Numbers 10, Moses had written, "And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel."

Answer: a rear guard action for an army on the move

A "rereward" was the rearward guard for any army on the move. This was implemented to ensure that no enemy crept up behind the main body of soldiers and thwarted any surprise attack from the rear.

During this particular action, David and his men were actually fighting with the Philistine army against the Israelites and King Saul. Achish was one of the Philistine leaders who trusted David because of his lack of deceptive methods and his dealings of fairness with the Philistines while they battled against Saul. Later, David became King of Israel, and would at this time have continued supporting Saul, if only Saul had not tried to kill him and if he had not cast David away from the nation of Israel.