Quiz

BIBLE CHALLENGES by Garry D Reed

BIBLE MATHS

1 How many days old was Jesus when presented at the Temple? Add this to the age of Anna the prophet. Both are in Luke 2.

2 Add the number of lepers mentioned in Luke 17.

3 Add the total of this calculation: the number of apostles (see Matthew 10) multiplied by the number of sons of Jacob (see Genesis 35).

4 Subtract the number of churches in Revelation 2 and 3.

5 Subtract the square root of this calculation: the day on which ‘all the creatures that move along the ground’ were created (see Genesis 1) multiplied by the number of stone water jars at the wedding at Cana (see John 2).

6 Subtract the number of Egyptian plagues (see Exodus 7–11).

7 Multiply the number of years that King David reigned by his age when he was crowned (see 2 Samuel 5). Divide this answer by the number of commandments God gave to Moses. Add the result to your running total.

8 Subtract the number of years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness (see Joshua 5).

9 Multiply the number of times Naaman, commander of the Syrian army, immersed himself in the River Jordan (see 2 Kings 5) by the total number of times the priests marched around Jericho (see Joshua 6). Add this to your current total.

10 Add the number of people killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them (See Luke 13).

11 Your total should be a three-digit number. The hundreds digit is the chapter in Acts; the tens and units give the verse. What is the significant first word of this verse in the New International Version and the Good News Bible? (It is the fourth word in the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version.)

WHO AM I?

Identify these Old Testament characters from the clues

1 A prophet with a book of the Bible named after him. His name means ‘dove’. Michael Hurd composed a popular musical about him called _____-Man Jazz. He had a whale of a time.

2 A prophet who, for a while, had leprosy. As a child she helped her mother hide her baby brother, Moses. During the Exodus she sang to the Israelites after Pharaoh’s army was destroyed in the Sea of Reeds.

3 Jacob and Rachel’s first son. In Genesis 37 we might well read about his watery, sinking feeling. He was successively a wealthy farmer’s son, incarcerated, a slave, a servant, a prisoner and a government minister.

4 Regarded as the founder of the Jewish nation, revered by Muslims and Christians. He grew up in the prosperous town of Ur in Mesopotamia. He was married to Sarah and his nephew was Lot.

5 A prophet who denounced the Israelites for their idolatry but showed that God loved them nonetheless. His name means ‘he saves’. A Gowans and Larsson musical is named after him.

6 He was joint high priest in King David’s reign and crowned Solomon as the next king of Israel. In 1727 Handel composed an anthem for King George II with this priest’s name, and it has been sung at the coronation of every British monarch since. 7 This woman saved her husband, Nabal, from King David’s fury. After Nabal’s death she married David. On one occasion she cooked 200 cakes of pressed figs. Her name featured in a 1977 Mike Leigh play, _____’s Party.

8 A Philistine who stood about 3m tall. His name means ‘soothsayer’ or ‘exile’. An anagram of his name, ‘goal hit’, is appropriate as during his last battle he was hit in the forehead.

9 The grandson of Ruth and Boaz. His name means ‘king’ or ‘God’s gift’. He was a wealthy resident of Bethlehem and was father of David, the future king of Israel.

10 One of the Bible’s most mysterious people, he is reported as being ‘without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life’ (Hebrews 7:3). He was king of Salem (Jerusalem), a priest and he blessed Abraham.

11 A woman whose husband was also her half-brother. Add an additional ‘a’ to her name and you get an anagram of a desert. In old age she became the mother of Isaac.

12 Originally with little self-confidence, this man followed heavenly guidance with signs of a wet, then dry, fleece to encourage him to lead his warriors. A Christian association takes his name – they are most recognised for distributing Bibles free of charge.