Israel in the New Testament Trivia Quiz

Answer: Matthew

The New Testament first mentions the word and people of Israel in Matthew 2. The magi or wise men asked, "Where is he who has been born King of the Jews?" This question angered King Herod, who then asked the priests and scribes where the Messiah was to be born. Their response was an allusion to an Old Testament prophecy in Micah 5:2.

Matthew 2:5-6, New American Standard version:
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"

Answer: Zacharias

Zacharias said this to his son, John, who later became the Baptist, or, if you prefer, the Baptizer. (Zacharias and John, as well as most New Testament characters actually, were Jews, after all, not Baptists.)

Zacharias originally mocked the idea that his wife Elizabeth, who was old and had been infertile, would give birth to a prophet of the Lord, so God punished him by making him mute. However, after John was born, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed that his son would prepare the way for the Lord. Christians believe that John was a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1.

Answer: Sheep

In context, a Gentile, a Canaanite woman, asked Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus initially refused her and said that He had been sent only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." He compared the Jewish people to children and the Gentiles to dogs. The woman, however, persisted and said that even the dogs get the crumbs that the children let fall to the ground. Jesus then declared that she had great faith and healed her daughter.

Amazingly, a study published in "American Journal of Human Genetics" in 2017 found that modern Lebanese people are descendants of ancient Canaanites.

Answer: The twelve disciples

He said this to the twelve disciples or apostles, with the instructions, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (verses 5-6).

Some people use this verse to argue for preterism, the belief that Jesus already returned. Most Christians, however, seem to believe in a future return of Jesus. My belief is that 1) the twelve will be resurrected and preach in Israel again, or 2) that the "you" applies to more preachers than just the twelve.

Answer: Simeon

Simeon was at the Temple when the baby Jesus was presented and circumcised. He told Mary that the child would result in the rise and the fall of many in the land of Israel.

The Jews, including Simeon, were looking for a political kingdom of God, in which the nation of Israel would be the center. Not only would Israel be restored, physically and spiritually, but the other nations, like Egypt, the Gentiles, would be blessed too and there would be universal peace. God seemed to promise such in the Old Testament, but 2,000 years has gone by and there is no kingdom like that, and yet, Christians say that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.

There are different views and eschatology regarding the relationship between the church and Israel, such as:

Amillennialism and postmillennialism = The Jews are NO longer considered God's Chosen People but are replaced by "spiritual Jews," and the church inherits all of the blessings and promises that God originally promised Israel because most of the Jews rejected and crucified Jesus; the kingdom of God is now and only spiritual; prophecies about the Jewish nation are allegorized to be about the Christian church. However, the natural/original Israel still receives the curses according to the Old Covenant; just not blessings.

Historic premillennialism = Jews may or may not be considered God's Chosen People in this view; it depends. Some people who hold to this view prefer the title "addition theology" rather than "replacement theology" because they believe in a coming kingdom in which Jews will be included, but since Gentiles are believed to be grafted-into Israel, then the literal kingdom of God will go through the church instead of just the Jewish nation.

Dispensational premillennialism = The Jews are still considered to be God's Chosen People and Nation. The church and Israel are different; God will keep His promises to national Israel after the rapture of the church.

When it comes to the relationship between the Jewish nation and the church, much of the debate lies in Romans 9-11. Many people interpret the tree to be Israel. The Jews or the natural branches are broken-off, while the wild branches of a wild tree are grafted-in. Since they interpret the tree as Israel, some people believe that the church replaces the nation. Jews can be grafted back in, but they, according to the replacement view, must join the church. National Israel has no elect calling or future. Dispensationalists or those who reject replacement theology see things differently. The tree might be Israel, but Paul clearly refers to the Jews as "Israel," which suggests that the broken-off branches are still Israel as well. Dispensationalists argue that Paul never explicitly calls the church "Israel;" in fact he calls the Christians "Gentiles," indicating their status as being of different nations, so they are never called "the new Jews," and as a result, "the Israel of God" is the remnant of national Israel who accept Jesus according to the dispensationalist view. Dispensationalists point-out that the church partakes of the Root of the tree, with the Root being God, and thus the church is grafted-into Christ as the Body of Christ. (Non-dispensationalists don't deny that Paul calls the church "the Body of Christ" or even that believers are said to be "In Christ" but they seem to argue that Jesus is "the true Israel," too.)

Answer: false

No, actually, the apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wrote this in 2 Corinthians 11. Although his ministry was to the non-Jews, he himself was a Jew. In Galatians 2:7, Paul said that he was entrusted as the apostle to the uncircumcised (Gentiles), just as Peter and the others had been apostles to the circumcised (Jews).

While the word "Israel" appears in the New Testament about 75 times, the word "Jews" appears about 161 times. "Hebrews" appears 3 times and "Israelites" two times. The New Testament uses "Jew," "Hebrew," and "Israelite" interchangeably.

Answer: Romans

It is Romans 11:26. Throughout Romans chapters 9-11, Paul discusses how many Jews rejected Jesus, and even in the Old Testament, such as the time of Moses, the Israelites acted wickedly, but according to Paul, God has always had a faithful remnant of Israel, past, present, and future.

He writes that the hearts of many Jews are only hardened against the Christian message for the sake of the Gentiles, but there will be a time when a remnant of Israel will accept Jesus as the Messiah. This prophecy seems to correlate with prophecies about the remnant of Israel in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Revelation, etc.

Answer: James

James wrote to members of the twelve tribes of Israel in the diaspora who accepted Jesus, so Messianic Jews. Interestingly as well, some versions of the Bible, such as the ASV and the CJB, translate the word used in James 2:2 as "synagogue." Other translations use "assembly," "congregation," or "church." The NASB uses "assembly."

Answer: Dan

"And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed" (Revelation 7:4-8, New American Standard Bible).

The Bible doesn't explain why Dan was left out. People can only speculate.

Answer: The wilderness

In Revelation 12, the dragon (Satan) persecuted "the woman" and tried to kill her child (the Messiah) so she fled to the wilderness, where God protected her.

The prophecy is interesting and some believe that it was already fulfilled (perhaps with the slaughtering of the innocents, when King Herod attempted to kill the baby Jesus by killing Hebrew male babies in the land. Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt for safety.) It also speaks of Satan falling to Earth with his fallen angels. Again, this seems like it already happened, when Satan fell from Heaven before creation of the world.

However, many Christians believe that most of Revelation refers to future events. Verse 17 says that the dragon went to make war with the "rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." Some believe that "her other children" are Christians in general (the church) but dispensationalists believe that these are specifically Messianic Jews: tribulation saints who will accept Jesus as their Messiah/King after the rapture of the church/Body of Christ.

Regarding the identity of the woman, some take a totally literal approach and insist that it must be Mary, because she gave birth to Jesus. It's worth noting that Mary herself was a Jew/Israelite of the tribe of Judah, but nowhere in Scripture is she identified with all twelve tribes. Without trying to disparage other views, the belief that she is national, ethnic and/or cultural Israel is arguably more Biblical than the beliefs that she is only Mary or the Christian church. The church didn't give birth to Jesus; rather, Jesus, in a way, gave birth to His church. Even non-dispensationalists agree that God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, literal Israel, to bring the Savior into the world and Jesus said that "salvation is of the Jews" in the Gospel of John. Furthermore, those who believe that she is the church interpret it this way because they believe that the church is "the NEW Israel" or "the SPIRITUAL Israel" because national Israel is cursed for rejecting Jesus, so replacement theology/superccesionism, OR (because the theologies differ slightly) covenant theology, the belief that the church IS Israel and always has been, so according to such, Old Covenant national Israel was God's church at the time and the New Covenant Israel is the Christian church. In other words, they agree with us dispensationalists (separation theologians) that the woman is Israel, ironically--they just interpret "Israel" to include Gentile Christians instead of Messianic Jews alone. Regardless of one's views about eschatology, we DO find in Scripture that in Genesis 37, Joseph, one of Israel's (Jacob's) sons, had a dream in which his mother and father were called the sun and the moon and his brothers were called stars. While he had eleven brothers, if you add him, you have twelve stars, or twelve tribes of Israel. In addition, national Israel is frequently called a woman or the wife of God in the Old Testament and Hosea 2:14-15 discusses Israel and actually states that God will allure her in the wilderness.