They Saw It With Their Own Eyes Quiz

Answer: Jacob

Jacob is the one who saw the amazing sight while camped at Bethel. According to Scripture, he saw angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder from heaven. (Genesis 28:10-19) Scripture states he was on his way from Beersheba to Haran at the time. Bethel was west of Ai.

Genesis 28:10-15, in the NKJV, tells of Jacob's vision at Bethel: "Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: 'I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.'"

Scripture goes on to tell of Jacob awaking from his sleep and stating 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.' The passage also describes Jacob as being afraid and stating 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!'"

Answer: Elisha

According to Scripture, Elisha was walking with Elijah when he saw him suddenly taken up to heaven, as per 2 Kings 2:11-13.

The NKJV Bible records Elijah being taken upward this way: "Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!' So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces."

Scripture states Enoch was taken to heaven in a similar fashion. Genesis 5:21-24 in the NKJV Bible, states: "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him."

In other words, Enoch did not die, but was taken away by God, similar to Elijah. Incidentally, Hebrews 11:5, in the New Testament, has this to say about Enoch and his departure: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him'; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

Answer: David

David, according to Scripture, was on his palace rooftop when he spotted Bathsheba, a beautiful young woman, bathing. Her bath took place in 2 Samuel 11:2. She would go on to have an adulterous affair with David and then end up becoming his wife after she became pregnant. Later, Bathsheba would become the Queen Mother when her son Solomon assumed the throne.

As a result, she would be the most powerful woman in the land.

Answer: Belshazzar

According to the fifth chapter of Daniel, King Belshazzar saw something that no one ever before had seen. Belshazzar saw the fingers on an disembodied hand writing a message on the palace wall after he hosted a lavish banquet in which he, his wives and his concubines drank from goblets taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem.

Scripture states the king's gathering drank the wine from the sacred goblets and "praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone."

When the king brought in the prophet Daniel to interpret the writing on the wall, no punches were pulled. Daniel told the king "God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end". The fifth chapter of Daniel concludes with these two verses from the NKJV Bible: "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old."

Answer: John

Revelation, written by John of Patmos, is the last book of the New Testament. It's a complex book and there is no shortage of views about what the book is 'really saying'.

In Revelation, John reports extensively about a revelation from God in which he sees a number of amazing things, including a beast with the number 666.

Revelation 13 starts off this way in the NKJV: "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast."

Revelation 13:18 goes on to state: "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."

The traditional belief is that the writer of the book was John, the brother of James, and one of the Twelve Disciples. Some modern-day scholars, however, dispute this belief.

Answer: Stephen

Stephen was the first martyr in the early church and according to Acts 6 and 7 he was put on trial for his rock-solid belief in a resurrected Jesus Christ.
During his appearance before the Sanhedrin, Stephen declared "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

Stephen's sharing of his vision would quickly lead to his execution. Scripture tells of members of the Sanhedrin going ballistic over the comment about his vision with the end result the "stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him."

According to Acts 7:59-60, in the NKJV Bible, while they were stoning Stephen, he "cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not charge them with this sin.'"

The statement "do not charge them with this sin" echoes closely what Jesus said when He was being crucified. Luke 23:34 quotes Jesus as saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

Incidentally, according to Acts 8:1, Stephen's execution was overseen by Saul, who would later become known as Paul and serve as the main apostle to the Gentiles.

Answer: Simeon

Simeon is the correct answer. According to Scripture, Simeon was "just and devout" and although he was elderly, he had been told by the Holy Spirit he would not die until he saw the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.

For Simeon, it must've been an exhilarating sight when he saw Jesus as an infant.

Luke 2: 25-33 explains things this way in the NKJV: "And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
'Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.'
And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, 'Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed'."

Answer: Peter, James and John

Peter, James and John saw a spectacular sight on Mount Transfiguration. According to Scripture the three disciples, known for being part of Christ's inner circle, saw Moses and Elijah join Jesus on the mountina.

The events on Mount Transfiguration are recorded in the seventeenth chapter of Matthew, the ninth chapter of Mark and the ninth chapter of Luke.

Matthew 17:1-8, in the NKJV Bible, tells how things unfolded: "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, 'Arise, and do not be afraid.' When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only."

Answer: Paul

Paul, who was known as Saul at the time, was apparently shaken to the core when he was traveling to Damascus and saw the Lord Jesus Christ appear in the midst of a brilliant and blinding light. Paul was a ruthless persecutor of members of the early church and according to Scripture he was heading to Damascus to arrest Christians.

Here he had been vehemently disagreeing with those who believed Jesus Christ was Lord and to his complete amazement, Jesus was there in front of him!

Incidentally, Scripture reports Paul's traveling companions heard the Lord Jesus Christ's voice, but they didn't see anything. As a result, they were rendered speechless.

Here's how Acts 9:1-9, in the NKJKV, recounts Paul's dramatic encounter:
"Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

"As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'

"And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?'

"Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

"So he, trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, what do You want me to do?'

"Then the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.'

"And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank."

Scripture goes on to tell of Ananias baptizing Paul and how he became an unstoppable force in the early church.

Answer: Mary Magdalene

The first person to see Jesus after His resurrection was Mary Magdalene, as per John 20:11-18. She must've been completely astonished when she saw Jesus, even though He had told His followers many times He would die and rise from the dead three days later.

It's interesting to note that while Mary, after seeing Jesus, grabbed hold of Him in amazement, He basically told her in Verse 17 to depart and get on with the job of telling others about His resurrection. In the KJV, Jesus is quoted as telling Mary "touch Me not," while in the NKJV, he is quoted as saying "cling to Me not." (In the NIV, Christ is quoted as saying "do not hold on to Me.")

The 20th chapter of John is the only place in Scripture where Jesus is quoted as talking to Mary and the message is clear: "Touch Me not." In other words, in Scripture there is not even a glimpse of a possibility of a special relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

To put things in context, here's how John 20:16-18, reads in the NKJV: "Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him, 'Rabboni!' (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her."

Mark 16:9, as well as Luke 8:2, state Jesus had driven seven demons out of Mary. However, no details are given with the verses simply stating the demons had been driven out previously.