The Midnight Hour in the Bible Quiz

Answer: Death of the firstborn

The tenth and final plague unleashed on Egypt involved the death of the firstborn. No one, except the Hebrews, were exempt. Exodus 12:29 in the NKJV states, "And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock."

After the plague of the firstborn, the Pharaoh granted permission to the Israelites to leave the country and journey to Canaan, known as the Promised Land.

Answer: Samson

Samson, a judge of Israel noted for his immense strength, is the correct answer. Judges 16:1-3 tells of Samson visiting an unnamed harlot in Gaza and when others caught wind of the incident, they surrounded the place and waited to kill him in the morning.

Verse 3 tells of Samson saving his life by suddenly leaving the harlot's house at midnight and departing the city in grand fashion. The verse in the NKJV states: "And Samson lay low till midnight; then he arose at midnight, took hold of the doors of the gate of the city and the two gateposts, pulled them up, bar and all, put them on his shoulders, and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron."

Scripture goes on to tell of Samson falling in love with Delilah, a Philistine woman from the Valley of Sorek.

Answer: Boaz

Boaz was sleeping and then became "startled" at midnight when he realized there was a woman lying at his feet, as per Ruth 3:8 in the NKJV. The woman Boaz found lying at his feet at midnight was none other than Ruth.

Scripture goes on to tell of Boaz and Ruth becoming husband and wife and the parents of a bouncing baby boy, Obed. Ruth 4:17 states Obed became the father of Jesse who became the father of David.

Answer: True

True. Psalm 119 has one hundred and seventy-six verses, more than any other chapter in the Old Testament using versions such as the KJV, NKJV and NIV. According to various Bible commentaries, Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem with its one hundred and seventy-six verses divided evenly into twenty-two stanzas of eight verses each.

No one knows who wrote Psalm 119, but some scholars believe Ezra the priest is the author.

Answer: Jesus

Matthew 25:6 is part of a passage quoting Jesus in which He tells the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. The parable runs from Matthew 25:1-13.

The parable tells of ten young women waiting for the bridegroom who came at midnight. However, only five of the women had oil in their lamps to greet the bridegroom, while the other five did not have any oil. According to the parable, the bridegroom came while the five maidens who were without oil went out to buy oil for their lamps.

In the parable, Jesus makes the statement in Verse 13 in the NKJV: "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming."

Answer: rooster

The missing word from Mark 13:35 in the NKJV is rooster. (The NIV also uses the word rooster, while the KJV makes reference to the 'cock crowing.') The verse is part of a passage in which Jesus states no one knows the day, or the hour, when the Son of Man will return.

Answer: Luke

The parable commonly referred to as 'The Parable of the Persistent Friend' is found in only the Gospel of Luke. The account is contained in Luke 11:5-8. In the parable, an unnamed man is able to borrow three loaves from a friend at midnight largely because of his persistence.

After telling the parable, Jesus makes the famous declaration in Verse 9 in the NKJV: "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Answer: Paul

According to Acts 20:7-12, Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, broke bread and spoke until midnight in Troas. The passage states that, while Paul preached on and on, Eutychus fell asleep in a third storey window and tumbled to the ground. When Paul and those assembled went downstairs, they found Eutychus dead as a result of his fall. Miraculously, Paul was able to bring the young man back to life.

With Eutychus alive once again, Scripture states Paul went back upstairs and after breaking bread, he preached until daybreak.

Answer: Philippi

Paul and Silas were in Philippi, a city in Greece, when an earthquake occurred at midnight while they were singing hymns to God. According to Acts 16:22-23 in the NKJV, the two men had been ruthlessly beaten with rods "and when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison."

Verse 26 states, "the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed." While the rest of the prisoners made a break for freedom, Paul and Silas stayed put and used the occasion to convert the jailer to Christianity.

Answer: Acts

The account of Paul and two hundred seventy-five people being on a storm tossed ship on the Adriatic Sea for no less than fourteen days is found in Acts 27. Verse 27 of the chapter, in the NKJV, tells of it being midnight when the people on the ship realized there would soon be an end to their ordeal: "Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land."

Shortly afterwards, their ship would run aground off the coast of Malta and everyone on board would make it safely to dry land.