Set Fire to the Rain Trivia Quiz

Answer: The great flood

The account of the great flood begins with God's warnings to Noah in Genesis 6, with the rains falling in chapter 7, flooding the earth because of the wickedness in the world.

Genesis 7:17-23 describes it: "For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished-birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."

Answer: Sodom

Lot lived in Sodom, as evidenced by the opening of Genesis 19: "The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground."

When the time came for Lot and his family to flee, the two angels rushed them out of the city, warning them to get to the town of Zoar, which would be spared, and to not look back. Then came the destruction, as recounted in verses 24 to 26:

"Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the Lord out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities - and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt."

Answer: Moses

The scene with the burning bush takes place many, many years after the great flood of Genesis 7. Now, God had chosen the Israelites as his people, who had been in Egypt for hundreds of years. Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt, had murdered an Egyptian overseer, and fled, beginning a new life. The story picks up at the beginning of Exodus 3 (v. 1-6), with God calling on Moses to do His bidding:

"Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight-why the bush does not burn up.'

"When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!'

"And Moses said, 'Here I am.'

"'Do not come any closer,' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."

Answer: God did ALL of these things to the Egyptians

Exodus 14: 19-28 reads, "Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

"The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, 'Let's get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.'

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.' Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen - the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived."

Answer: The ground opened up and swallowed them

Moses and Aaron tried to intercede on behalf of the 250 men led astray by Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and the Lord instructed everyone to move away from the tents of the three men. Moses explained to everyone what was about to happen:

Numbers 16:28-33 - "Then Moses said, 'This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things and that it was not my idea: If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.'

"As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community."

It didn't end there:

Numbers 16:34,35 - "At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, 'The earth is going to swallow us too!'

"And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense."

Answer: True

Not only did God stop the sun and the moon in the sky, he also preceded that by sending large hailstones down on the fleeing Amorite army. Check it out:

Joshua 10:11-14 - "As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

"On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:

"'Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.'
So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

"as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

"The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!"

Answer: With a thunderstorm

Returning the Ark had not been a peace offering by the Philistines as much as it had been an effort to turn away God's potential wrath. You'd think that trying to attack and destroy the Israelites again would be a poor choice to keep God's anger under wraps. Samuel's prayers for deliverance from the Philistine army were effective:

1 Samuel 7:7-11 - "When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, 'Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.' Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel's behalf, and the Lord answered him.

"While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar."

Answer: Baal

The story of Elijah's duel with the prophets of Baal is found in 1 Kings 18. It began with the challenge (verses 22 to 24):

"Then Elijah said to them, 'I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal's prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire - he is God.'

"Then all the people said, 'What you say is good.'"

The 450 prophets of Baal tried their best, to no avail. Elijah even taunted them about it, but they could not get a response from their god. Then Elijah took his turn, even going so far as to douse the altar and sacrifice three times with jugs of water. Then he called upon the Lord (verses 36 to 38):

"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: 'Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.'

"Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench."

Answer: whirlwind

As a reward for his service to the Lord, God took Elijah directly into heaven without waiting for the end of his natural life. His successor Elisha was with him when it happened, and he assumed the mantle of power that Elijah had before him, as seen in the verses preceding and following the verse in the question above:

2 Kings 2:9,10 - "When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, 'Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?'

"'Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,' Elisha replied.

"'You have asked a difficult thing,' Elijah said, 'yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours-otherwise, it will not.'"

Then Elijah was taken up into heaven, and the results for Elisha were as follows:

2 Kings 2:13-15 - "Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. 'Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?' he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

"The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, 'The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.'"

Answer: Slew 185,000 soldiers

Isaiah passed along the word of the Lord as regarded the defense of Jerusalem:

2 Kings 19:32-24 - "'Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

"'He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.
By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,
declares the Lord.
I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.'"

Sure enough, when Sennacherib made an attempt, this is what happened:

2 Kings 19:35,36 - "That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning - there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there."