Israel, Isaiah and Immortality Quiz

Answer: Ishmael

Despite having been promised a son, Sarai had not yet borne a child for her husband Abram, so she devised a scheme. She had an Egyptian slave as a handmaid, and she offered her to her husband to lay with to produce an heir. Out of this union came Ishmael.

As you might expect, this 'arrangement' didn't go as well as planned, as jealousy rose its ugly head. Verses 5 and 6 of Genesis 16 describe the result: "Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me."
"Your slave is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her."

While she was on the run and suffering, God spoke to Hagar and promised that through her son would she would have too many descendants to count, and then He described how her son would one day be.

Answer: Ichabod

Even though Ishmael was the eldest of Abraham's sons, Isaac was the firstborn 'legitimate' son, being his only son with his first wife, Sarah. After Sarah's death, Abraham married Keturah, and had six more sons: Zimram, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Ichabod was the son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli, the high priest of Shiloh and second last Judge of Israel.

Answer: Issachar

Isaac's son Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) had sons by four different women. They became the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes. In birth order, they were:

With first wife Leah:
1) Reuben
2) Simeon
3) Levi
4) Judah
With Rachel's handmaid Bilhah:
5) Dan
6) Naphtali
With Leah's handmaid Zilpah:
7) Gad
8) Asher
With Leah again:
9) Issachar
10) Zebulun
With second wife Rachel:
11) Joseph
12) Benjamin

Answer: idols

There are many verses in the bible that warn against the making and worship of idols. The second of the ten commandments, while it doesn't use the word 'idol', speaks very plainly:

Exodus 20:4-6 - "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

Answer: False

You are correct, that was Elijah, not Isaiah.

The book of Isaiah is the 22nd book in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is the first of the five books called the Major Prophets, and, according to Isaiah 1:1, is about "The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah."

In essence, Isaiah's mission was to call God's nation back to faithfulness and to declare the coming Messiah.

Answer: God with us

In the New Testament in the book of Matthew, Isaiah's prophecy comes true with the birth of Jesus. Joseph is informed of the impending birth by an angel in verses 20 and 21 of chapter 1: "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.""

And immediately following this passage in verses 22 and 23 is the explanation of the link back to Isaiah, this time with the definition of 'Immanuel': "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us")."

Answer: Proverbs

The verse is found in Proverbs 27:17, and it speaks of relationship and accountability. A person can become better, and help someone else be better, by being in a healthy relationship and holding each other accountable for their choices in life. But as the verse implies, it takes two. You cannot become sharpened iron by yourself.

Answer: Iscariot

Judas Iscariot is so named in the bible to distinguish him from the other disciple of the same name, who was a son of James. Where Judas was almost always referred to as Judas Iscariot or Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, the other Judas had a number of different names, being known as Judas, Jude, or Thaddeus.

The origin of the name 'Iscariot' has had a few different theories by biblical scholars, but the most widely accepted is that it is simply a Greek rendering of a word meaning "the man from Kerioth".

Answer: intercedes

According to Dictionary.com, to intercede is to act or interpose in behalf of someone in difficulty or trouble, as by pleading or petition. As part of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit helps us to communicate with God when we don't know what to say.

Answer: immortality

The Christian belief is in eternity, where God has always been, and will always be. In the Old Testament, before the arrival of Jesus Christ, the path to immortality was through righteousness. Which is why there was a system of sacrifice in Judaism -- the sacrifice of a blemish-free animal was the symbolic expiation of the sins of the people.

In the New Testament, Jesus was seen as that blemish-free sacrifice, once and for all, that allows those who believe to dwell with Him for eternity.