Tents -- Ten Trivial Tidbits to Tackle Today Quiz

Answer: Lot

Lot is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Lot and Abram, who would later become known as Abraham, lived together, but there was strife between their herdsmen. So they opted to go their separate ways.

Genesis 13:10-13, in the NKJV, tells what happened next: "And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD."

Scripture goes on to tell of the LORD destroying Sodom and Gomorrah because of its wickedness.

Answer: Isaac

Isaac is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Abraham sent his servant to Nahor in Mesopotamia to find a bride for his son Isaac. (In the NIV, it states he sent the servant to Aram Naharaim rather than Mesopotamia.) Genesis 24 tells of the servant selecting Rebekah and taking her back with him to Canaan be Isaac's bride.

Genesis 24:62-67 in the NKJV tells what happened after Isaac and Rebekah first met: "Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, 'Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?'

"The servant said, 'It is my master'. So she took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

Answer: Rachel

Rachel, the daughter of Laban and the wife of Jacob, is the correct answer. The unusual story is told in the 31st chapter of Genesis. Verse 19 tells of Rachel stealing the household gods after her husband Jacob had a quarrel with her father Laban. Verses 33-35, in the NIV Bible, tells what happened when Laban went looking for his missing items: "So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah's tent, he entered Rachel's tent. Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing. Rachel said to her father, 'Don't be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I'm having my period.' So he searched but could not find the household gods."

Going strictly by Scripture, Rachel was the first female thief in the Bible.

Answer: Ham

According to Scripture, after the Great Flood Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard and ended up becoming drunk. When Ham saw his drunken father sleeping naked in his tent, he went told his two other brothers, Shem and Japheth. The two brothers responded by going backwards into their father's tent to cover his nakedness.

Genesis 9:20-23 explains things this way in the NKJV: "And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness."

Scripture goes on to tell of Noah arising and announcing a curse for the offspring of Canaan and blessings for Shem and Japheth.

Answer: Moses

Moses received his father-in-law Jethro in his tent, according to Exodus 18:7. Jethro was the father of Moses' wife Zipporah. Moses and Zipporah were the parents of two boys -- Gershom and Eliezer, as per Exouds 18:3-4.

According to Scripture, Jethro visited with Moses while the Israelites were encamped in the wilderness after their exodus out of Egypt. Exodus 18:1 states Jethro had heard "all that God had done for Moses and for Israel."

Answer: Gideon

Gideon is the correct answer. According to Judges 7:13, a man had a dream about a loaf of barley bread tumbling into the camp of the Midianites and toppling a tent. No name is given for the man who had the dream, although Scripture reports the man provided details to Gideon. According to Judges 7, Gideon was preparing to attack the Midianites with only three hundred soldiers, even though his adversaries were "as numerous as locusts and their camels were without number."

Gideon had concerns his attack would not be successful even though the LORD told him to take only three hundred men with him.

Judges 7:9-11, in the NKJV, tells of the LORD giving the following command to Gideon: "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp."

Verses 13 and 14 tell what happened next: "And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, 'I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.' Then his companion answered and said, 'This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.'"

The chapter goes on to tell of Gideon attacking the camp and the Midianites fleeing in fear.

Answer: Absalom

The correct answer is Absalom, the son of David, who staged a bloody coup against his father. Apparently to serve as a vivid illustration to the people of Jerusalem that he was in charge, Absalom pitched a tent on the roof of the palace and slept with David's concubines. Ahithopel, a key adviser to David who crossed over to join forces with Absalom during the coup, came up with the idea.

2 Samuel 16:20-22 in the NKJV states: "Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, 'Give advice as to what we should do.' And Ahithophel said to Absalom, 'Go in to your father's concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.' So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel."

No further details are given in Scripture about the incident.

Scripture goes on to tell of Absalom being killed by Joab in a bloody civil war and Ahithophel committing suicide.

Answer: Balaam

The correct answer is Balaam. Numbers 24:1-2 in the KJV states: "And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him."

(In the NKJV and the NIV, it states Balaam saw Isreal encamped and does not use the word 'tents'.)

Numbers 24:3-10 goes on to tell of an oracle delivered by Balaam. The oracle,in the NKJV, states:
"The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
The utterance of the man whose eyes are opened,
The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
'How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens by the riverside,
Like aloes planted by the LORD,
Like cedars beside the waters.
He shall pour water from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters.
His king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
God brings him out of Egypt;
He has strength like a wild ox;
He shall consume the nations, his enemies;
He shall break their bones
And pierce them with his arrows.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
Blessed is he who blesses you,
And cursed is he who curses you'."

Balaam, of course, is perhaps best known for having a donkey speak to him, as per Numbers 22:22-40.

Answer: Jael

Jael took a tent peg and hammered it through the head of Canaanite leader Sisera while he slept, according to Scripture. Sisera hid in the tent of Heber and after he fell asleep, Heber's wife Jael killed him by driving a tent peg through his skull. Jael's actions are celebrated in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:24-27). Sisera had sought refuge in the tent after the stinging defeat of his army by the Israelites under the leadership of Deborah and Barak.

Answer: Barnabas

According to Scripture, Aquila and his wife Priscilla were tentmakers, also an occupation of Paul. However, there is no mention in Scripture about Barnabas' occupation before he became a key worker in the early church. So the correct answer to this question has to be Barnabas.

Aquila, Priscilla and Paul are mentioned in passing reference as tentmakers and no specific details are given. Acts 18:1-3, in the NKJV Bible, states: "After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers."