Unscramble the letters -- JEREMIAH Quiz

Answer: ram

The correct answer is 'ram'. The story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac is one of the best known stories in the Old Testament. Scripture reports God commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac to a mountain in the region of Moriah and to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Just as Abraham was preparing to sacrifice Isaac, Scripture reports an angel of the LORD called out and told him to spare his son because it was evident Abraham feared God.

After the angel called out, Abraham spotted a ram in the thicket and used it as his sacrificial offering.

The story is told in the 22nd chapter of Genesis. Many Christians compare this episode to God's sacrifice of His own son, Jesus, in the New Testament.

Answer: Ham

The middle son's name was Ham. According to the seventh chapter of Genesis, Noah and his wife, and their three sons and their wives, survived a massive flood that covered the world when they took refuge in a gigantic ark.
Ham was the father of Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan, as per Genesis 10:6.

Answer: hair

Yes, Absalom, the son of David and Maacah, is the one who died an unusual death when his hair became entangled in tree branches while he was riding on a donkey. The donkey kept traveling forward and, when he was left suspended, Joab plunged three javelins into his heart.

In a nutshell, Absalom was attempting to overthrow his father as king when a heated battle erupted between forces loyal to the two men. According to 2 Samuel 18, the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim and 20,000 men were killed.

After Absalom was left hanging in mid-air, Joab, one of David's three military commanders, ruthlessly killed him. Even though Absalom was attempting to overthrow David and kill him in the process, Scripture reports David was deeply shaken by the death.

Answer: harem

The correct answer, of course, is 'harem'. Hadassah is the original name of Queen Esther, as per Esther 2:7. The passage in the NIV Bible states: "Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died."

She would end up being a member of the harem of king who is known as Xexres in the NIV Bible and Ahasuerus in the KJV and NKJV. According to Esther 1:1, Xerxes/Ahasuerus ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.

The book of Esther begins with the account of the king dumping Queen Vashti during the third year of his reign. It would put things in motion for Esther to become queen and play a pivotal role in preventing the extermination of Jews in the immense area ruled by Ahasuerus/Xerxes. Of course, when the king appointed Esther queen, he did not know she was a Jew. The annual Jewish festival of Purim recalls the deliverance.

Answer: mare

It might not be a romantic term in today's English, but the beautiful woman in Song of Solomon 1:9 is likened to a mare. However, she's no ordinary mare. She's described as a mare among the Pharaoh's chariot horses. In other words, only the top horses in the world would qualify to be a chariot horse in the Pharaoh's army, so this is no ordinary mare.

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible state in Solomon's time, the horse was the companion of kings. "Solomon loved horses, particularly from Egypt," the notes state. "Eventually he had a stable of 12,000 horses with 1,200 chariots."

Rather than mare, the NKJV uses the word 'filly'. Meanwhile, the KJV uses the term 'company of horses'.

Answer: hire

The correct word is 'hire'. The verse quotes Jesus telling his disciples the Parable of the Workers of the Vineyard. The parable runs from Matthew 20:1 through to verse 16 and concludes with this gem: "So the last will be first and the first will be last. For many are called, but few are chosen."

Incidentally, the word 'hire' is also used in the KJV and the NKJV.

Answer: aim

The missing word in the quote is 'aim'. The statement was made by Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. It's interesting to note that in 2 Timothy 4:7, near the end of his struggles, Paul writes "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith".

Many theologians believe Paul was executed shortly after writing 2 Timothy. Timothy, of course, was a young worker in the early church who Paul often referred to as "his son" in Scripture.

Answer: ear

The missing word in the quote is 'ear'. The statement was made by Jesus while giving instructions to the Twelve Disciples to go to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" telling them the "kingdom of heaven is at hand." The 10th chapter of Matthew is devoted to the instructions Jesus gave His disciples.

Incidentally, the word 'ear' is also used in the KJV and the NKJV.

Answer: jeer

The missing word is 'jeer'. The speaker is Job who was responding to his friends who had arrived in an attempt to comfort him after his world was turned upside down and inside out.

The friends who attempted to comfort Job were Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. A fourth friend, Elihu, appears in the 32nd chapter of Job. Their conversations with Job comprise a major portion of the book.

And while the friends had intended to comfort Job, it appears they only succeeded in making things worse with their pointing of fingers. Job, however, refused to point fingers at God for his predicament. The book ends with Job's fortunes changing dramatically for the better. Job 42:12, in the NIV, states: "The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters."

Answer: harm

The correct word is 'harm'. Time and again the Israelites are told in the Old Testament no harm will come to them if they keep their trust in the LORD. (In the New Testament, Jesus often tells His listeners not to worry.)

The book of Jeremiah is part of the Major Prophets section of the Old Testament with the others being Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

Notes in the NKJV Study Bible have this to say: "The book of Jeremiah, perhaps more vividly than any other book of the Bible, reveals the inner struggles of a prophet of God."

The notes go on to state: "Yet despite his anguish, Jeremiah fulfilled his ministry of proclaiming God's judgment against the people of Judah for their idolatry, their unfaithfulness to the covenant and their obstinate disobedience of His will. Long acknowledged as one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Jeremiah serves to this day as an example of someone who remained faithful to the word of God despite countless hardships."