Shaking Things Up: A Quiz About Earthquakes

Answer: Mount Sinai

Prior to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Scripture states Mount Sinai became engulfed in smoke when the LORD descended upon it in fire. Exodus 19:18-19 states the mountain "was completely in smoke" and "the whole mountain quaked greatly". It must have been a spectacular as well as terrifying sight.

Scriptures goes on to tell of the LORD calling Moses to the top of the mountain and then proceeding to give him the Ten Commandments for the Israelites to follow.

(In some places in the Bible, Mount Sinai is referred to as Mount Horeb.)

Answer: Elijah

1 Kings 19:11-16 tells of Elijah, a prophet of God, experiencing something completely out of the ordinary. Scripture states Elijah experienced a major wind storm, followed by an earthquake and a massive fire when he heard "a still small voice". The voice was that of God giving Elijah divine instructions. One of the instructions was to anoint Elisha as a prophet to replace himself.

Details are not given in Scripture about the earthquake and the fire, but one gets the impression they were without equal, at least going by details pertaining to the windstorm. In 1 Kings 19:12 the windstorm is described as being "great" and "strong". In fact, it was so powerful it "tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces," Scripture states.

Answer: Amos

Amos is the correct answer. Amos 1:1 starts in the NKJV with this introduction: "The words of Amos, who was among the sheepbreeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake."

The earthquake during Uzziah's reign is also mention in Zechariah 14:5, but according to notes in the NKJV Study Bible it cannot be dated precisely.

For the record, Zechariah 14:5 states: "Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee
as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah."

Answer: Jonathan

Jonathan, the son of Saul, led an attack against the Philistines at Michamsh when an earthquake happened, according to Scripture.

1 Samuel 14:15 in the NKJV states: "And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling."

Scripture goes on to tell of Jonathan leading his soldiers to a resounding victory over the Philistines, arch enemies of the Jews.

Answer: Korah

Korah is the correct answer, as per Numbers 16:1-34. While there is no specific mention of an earthquake in the passage, it stands to reason such an event took place as Scripture states "the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods."

Scripture states Korah, along with his associates, suffered such a fate for their stubborn refusal to follow Moses' leadership.

Answer: Revelation

The verse in question is found in Revelation 16:18, the last book of the Christian Bible.

Chapter 16 of Revelation tells of angels pouring out seven bowls of wrath on the world. The great earthquake as "had not occurred since men were on earth" is reported in the pouring of the seventh bowl of wrath.

Incidentally, using the NKJV, the word earthquake appears eleven different times with five of the appearances in Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible.

Answer: John

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus states earthquakes and famines would be just two of the signs of the end of the age. However, there is no mention of this in the Gospel of John.

References to earthquakes being a sign of the end of the age appear in Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11.

Mark 13:8, for example, states in the NKJV: "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows."

Using the NKJV, the word earthquake appears five times in the first three Gospels, but cannot be found in John.

Answer: Paul and Silas

After being stripped, beaten, flogged and thrown into prison in Philippi, Scripture states Paul and Silas were singing hymns and praying when a earthquake took place.

According to Scripture, when the earthquake struck, "immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed." While the other prisoners took advantage of the situation and made a run for it, Paul and Silas stayed put. Rather than fleeing the prison, Scripture states Paul and Silas seized the opportunity to convert the jailer to Christianity. Acts 16:34 states the jailer's entire household came to believe in God.

Chapter 16 of Acts concludes by stating Paul and Silas visited the house of Lydia before departing from Philippi.

Answer: All of these.

According to Matthew 27:51-54, there was an earthquake when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary with the rocks splitting. As if this wasn't enough, some spectacular things happened.

The verses tell of the veil, or curtain, of the temple being torn in two "from top to bottom" with graves being opened and "many bodies" coming back to life and appearing to the citizens of Jerusalem. Scripture also states an unnamed centurion and those with him at the crucifixion site proclaimed "Truly this was the Son of God!" when they saw had happened.

It's interesting to note the centurion was not the ONLY person at the crucifixion site who proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God. According to Verse 54, those who were with the centurion also made such a declaration.

Answer: Matthew

Matthew 28:2 states there was a "great earthquake" when women went to the tomb of Jesus and found the stone rolled away from the entrance and the tomb empty. The verse in the NKJV states, "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,and came and rolled back the stone from the door."

No further details are given about the earthquake. Scripture goes on to state the angel informed the women Jesus "is not here; for He is risen, as He said." The women were instructed to tell the disciples about Christ's resurrection and to announce "He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him."