Jesus, Jerusalem and Judges Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jacob

Genesis 25:26 - "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."

Born with the name Jacob, God changed his name was changed to Israel and his twelve sons became the foundation of the nation and Tribes of Israel. As a young man, his father Isaac sent him to find a wife from the family of his mother's brother Laban, rather than take a wife from amongst the Canaanites. While en route, Jacob had a dream of angels and of God, who told him of the future of his family:

Genesis 28:10-15 - "Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: 'I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.'"

Answer: False

Joseph's father was Jacob (see previous question), who had children from two wives and his wives' handmaids. Joseph was the firstborn of two children by Rachel, Jacob's second (and favourite) wife, but the 11th of Jacob's (male) children. Joseph's younger brother was Benjamin, and Rachel died while giving birth to him.

Genesis 35:16-18 - "Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty. And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't despair, for you have another son." As she breathed her last-for she was dying-she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin."

Joseph and Benjamin were favoured among Jacob's children, and it was due to his older brothers' jealousy that Joseph found himself sold into slavery... but it was almost worse than that:

Genesis 37:19-22 - "'Here comes that dreamer!' they said to each other. 'Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.'

When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. 'Let's not take his life,' he said. 'Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him.' Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father."

Answer: Jair

There were twelve Judges of Israel: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, and Samson.

Not much is known of Jair apart from a short mention in Judges 10:3-5, which states, "He [Tola] was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon."

But after his time as leader, Israel went through an 18-year period of doing 'evil in the eyes of the Lord', looking to the gods of the Canaanite tribes.

Answer: Jebusites

The conquering of the land of Canaan that was begun by Joshua would take some time to complete, according to biblical records. David was the second king of Israel (after Saul) and the place that would one day become the Jewish holy city and the location of God's temple was a Canaanite stronghold.

1 Chronicles 11:4-9 - "David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites who lived there said to David, 'You will not get in here.' Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion-which is the City of David.

David had said, 'Whoever leads the attack on the Jebusites will become commander-in-chief.' Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and so he received the command.

David then took up residence in the fortress, and so it was called the City of David. He built up the city around it, from the terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city. And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him."

Answer: Judah

The division of the United Kingdom of Israel resulted when the northern tribes refused to accept Rehoboam (Solomon's son) as king. The Tribe of Judah was the only tribe to remain loyal to David's line, at first, but the Tribe of Benjamin followed soon after. The city of Jerusalem was within the borders of the Kingdom of Judah.

1 Kings 12:13-17 - "The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice of the young men and said, 'My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.' So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the Lord, to fulfill the word the Lord had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king:

'What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse's son?
To your tents, Israel!
Look after your own house, David!'

So the Israelites went home. But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them."

Answer: Jeremiah

Jeremiah was called to be a prophet by the Lord, as described in Jeremiah 1:4-8 - "The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'

'Alas, Sovereign Lord,' I said, 'I do not know how to speak; I am too young.'

But the Lord said to me, 'Do not say, "I am too young." You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the Lord."

At the end of the Book of Jeremiah, the final destruction of Jerusalem is described (Jeremiah 52:12-14) - "On the tenth day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem."

According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah is credited with writing the Books of 1 and 2 Kings, Jeremiah, and Lamentations.

Answer: Joppa

You've probably heard the story. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, which was a great Assyrian city, to tell them of God's displeasure. But Jonah did not want the Ninevites to potentially repent, because he didn't believe they deserved it. Instead, he tried to run from God by taking a ship bound for Tarshish (to the west, possibly Carthage or Tarsessos (in modern-day Spain).

God had a different plan, however, and He sent a storm that would only be calmed when Jonah was thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a big fish, where he spent three days before repenting and agreeing to do as God asked and go to Nineveh.

To Jonah's dismay, the Ninevites listened to his words, and did just what Jonah had been afraid of. Jonah 3:10 - "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened."

Answer: He was beheaded.

John the Baptist was very clear on his feelings regarding how other people should behave, often calling out the Pharisees and Sadducees for their hypocrisy, and telling everyone else to repent for their sins. One specific such person was King Herod, and the tale of John's imprisonment and death was a direct result of his speaking out.

Mark 6:17-24 - "For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.' So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, 'Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you.' And he promised her with an oath, 'Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.'

She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?'

'The head of John the Baptist,' she answered."

Answer: John

John 3:16 summarizes the message of the Gospels (and, essentially, the entirety of the Christian faith). In the Jewish traditions of the Old Testament, the only way the chosen people of God (the Israelites) could be cleansed of their sins in God's eyes was for the High Priest to offer blood sacrifices (of perfect, spotless animals). But this would have to be done time and time again.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was meant to be the final such sacrifice, once and for all, as explained in Hebrews 7:27 - "Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself."

Answer: Jairus

Of Jesus' disciples, the ones that began with 'J' were James (the Greater), James (the Lesser), John, Jude (Thaddeus), and Judas (the Iscariot).

Jairus was a synagogue leader who came to see Jesus when his daughter fell ill. Jesus went with Jairus to go heal his daughter, but before they could get to Jairus' house, a messenger came to say that the girl had died.

Luke 8:51-56 describes what happened next:

"When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said. 'She is not dead but asleep.'

They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, 'My child, get up!' Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened."