Long Road to Ruin Quiz | The Bible

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. As he slept on his boat, Jonah's ship was going the opposite direction from where God wanted it to go. Eventually, Jonah was swallowed by a big fish and spit out where he needed to go. Which city, who turned from their evil ways, was saved by God?

Answer: Nineveh

God commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh to save the people from destruction, but Jonah rebelled, and went the other direction, toward Tarshish. However, Jonah was eventually forced to travel to Nineveh. According to Jonah 3:10, the Ninevites repented and were saved, and not destroyed. However, though they repented and were saved this time, the Ninevites again went back to their evil ways, and would thus be destroyed later. The destruction of the city was foretold in Zephaniah 2:13-15. This prophesy was fulfilled when Nabopolassar and Cyaxares besieged and captured Nineveh. The Medes and Persians destroyed Nineveh, making it "a ruin heap". To this day, Nineveh is a desolate waste.

The city was built by Nimrod, who also built the city of Nimrud.

2. Rahab was faithful, but unfortunately, not all others were. Rahab hid two spies in her home, and as a reward, her home and her family would not be destroyed with the rest of the city, provided she left a red rope hanging out the window. What city's walls fell completely down, everywhere except for where Rahab and her family lived?

Answer: Jericho

Each day for six days, soldiers traveled around the walls of Jericho, and on the seventh day, they traveled around the walls seven times, all the while blowing their horns. As soon as they finished their seventh rotation, Jericho fell to the ground! All except, of course, Rahab's home.

She and her family, though she was a prostitute, were saved by God, and they were not destroyed with the rest of the city. The fall of Jericho can be read in Joshua 5:13-6:20.

3. One night, this city had a party. The people were confident that their city's walls would keep them safe, so they carelessly left the doors open. This left the perfect opening for Cyrus to seize the city. His men diverted the Euphrates river so they could walk across, and that night they ambushed the entire city and destroyed it. In which city did this occur?

Answer: Babylon

According to Isaiah 44:27, God dried up the waters for Cyrus to ambush the city. Chapter 45 of Isaiah, in verses 1-3, we can read of the prophesy Babylon's doors being left open.

It was on October 5, 539 BCE that the prophesy was fulfilled. The Medes and the Persians, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, attacked Babylon. That night, the Babylonians were having a party, and left the doors open. This gave Cyrus his window of opportunity to seize the city and kill Belshazzar.

The party where the doors were left open can be read about in Daniel chapter 5.

Babylon is thought to be the later name of Babel. Both "Babylon" and "Babel" mean "confusion", since Babel was the city where God confused the languages.

4. Though it was not exactly a city, Samson did destroy an entire temple single-handedly. His hair had just been cut, which was believed to render him powerless, and he was tied up. With his last fit of rage, Samson used his strength, and destroyed the temple, killing himself along with several thousand Philistines. Which God's "house" did Samson destroy?

Answer: Dagon

Samson destroyed the city by bracing himself against two pillars. The grabbed the pillars, and broke them, causing the entire House of Dagon to collapse. It killed more Philistines than he had killed in his entire lifetime, which was countless thousands, but it also killed himself in the process.

According to Judges 16:4-21, Samson's hair was not the source of his power, but it was what his hair represented that gave him his power: namely, his faithfulness to God. Though, according to verse 22, his hair had started to grow back, thus giving him his strength back. With his hair grown back, in verse 28, Samson asked God for the strength so he could avenge himself. In verses 29 and 30, Samson used his strength to bend the pillars of the House of Dagon, thus destroying it, himself, and the thousands of Philistines within the walls.

5. Three hundred ninety years after the kingdom was divided in 997 BCE, this city was destroyed in 607 BCE. The city fell in the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign. What city was this?

Answer: Jerusalem

Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE, and suffered from 70 years of desolation, which began around October 1, 607 BCE, and ended in 537 BCE. Zedekiah was the ruler when the city was destroyed. During the ninth year of his reign, in 609 BCE, the city was under siege, and two years later, in 607 BCE, the city was destroyed. The account can be read at 2 Kings 25:1-10.

6. Under the rule of King Jehoshaphat, Judah destroyed many cities. Suffering a humiliating defeat, eventually three cities started destroying themselves! Which of these was not one of the three cities who turned on each other?

Answer: Uz

Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, attacked Moab, destroying many Moabite cities along the way. Moab's defeat was humiliating. Eventually, though, Moab, Seir, and Ammon began attacking each other, instead of the enemy tribe of Judah. The three cities destroyed themselves, making Jehoshaphat's win much easier.

You can read of Moab, Seir, and Ammon attacking each other in 2 Chronicles 20:22,23.

7. Edom was destroyed because of all the wickedness it contained. According to the Bible, Edom was to be uninhabited for all time. It was therefore called the "territory of wickedness". What was Edom's most prominent city, one of many to have been destroyed?

Answer: Bozrah

Bozrah was the most prominent city of Edom. Teman was an Edomite sheik, a descendant of Esau, the one who built Edom. Elath was a small city in Edom, and was usually mentioned alongside Ezion-geber. Kadesh-barnea was another small city in Edom. All three cities were among those destroyed, since all of Edom was destroyed.

Jeremiah 49:12,13 tells of the desolation of Edom, as well as its main city, Bozrah.

8. This Phoenician city was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his army. Nebuchadnezzar had seized the city for 13 years, and according to the scriptures, his soldiers were "made bald" from their chafing helmets, and their shoulders were "rubbed bare" from carrying so many materials. What city was this?

Answer: Tyre

Though Nebuchadnezzar seized and partly destroyed Tyre, according to the "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures", this was not all that was in store for Tyre. Nearly 200 years later, in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great finished the destruction of Tyre. When Tyre refused to let Alexander the Great in through the gates, Alexander, full of rage, ordered his army to destroy Tyre and cast the island nation into the sea.

Tyre is destroyed in Ezekiel 26:7-12.

9. Two cities were destroyed with fire and sulfur. The men of the two cities wanted to rape Lot's guests, and because of the wickedness found in the two cities, God destroyed them. Which of these is one of the two cities?

Answer: Gomorrah

Gomorrah was a bad city, according to the Scriptures, so it was destroyed by God along with nearby Sodom. Lot and his family had to flee Sodom, leaving behind all they had ever known. Lot's wife, however, looked back at the city with a longing for the wickedness they were leaving behind, so she was turned to a pillar of salt.

Lot's wife looked back, and turned to a pillar of salt, in Genesis 19:26.

10. One of a pair of ruined cities, and the one where Lot and his family resided, was destroyed with fire and sulfur. What was this city, whose men wanted to rape Lot's angelic guests?

Answer: Sodom

Lot and his family lived in the Sodom half of the Sodom-and-Gomorrah dual city. God instructed Lot, his wife, and his two daughters to flee to the nearby city of Zoar to escape the destruction of the city. Lot's wife was not so lucky, but Lot and his daughters remained faithful and fled the cities and were saved. (Genesis 19:15-25)

Source: Author salami_swami

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
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Long Road to Ruin Trivia Quiz

It wouldn't be worth taking a long road to ruin, would it? These cities mentioned in the Bible have all been destroyed: left in ruins. I have used the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

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