Jan 139 min read

Finding Faith ... in the Bible as more than just a book full of scriptures

Our oldest dog Gus Gus takes a rest in the snow last winter on a day we played in the backyard.

Quick ... how many times does the word "snow" appear in the Bible? ... Imagine the theme from Final Jeopardy playing in your head while you think about it?

I'll make it easier. Let's go multiple choice: Is it 24 times, five times, never or 12 times? ... Cue the Final Jeopardy music again!

Do you have it? ... Here comes the answer!

... 24 times!

Mind blown? ... Mine was when I uncovered this little gem about the scriptures.

The word "snow" appears 24 times in the Bible, a collection of books written by nomadic people living in a desert land and a bunch of Greeks who lived in the Mediterranean. I mean, what did they all know about snow!

As I sit hear today, and Mother Nature wallops us with dangerous sub-zero temperatures and blowing snow that makes driving tricky at best ... (In fact, the National Weather Service today issued its first blizzard warning of the year for our region.) ... I was reminded of this curious fact that I included on a fun Bible trivia quiz I developed for our youth group students back in late November.

On that night, our confirmation students joined our older youth group students and their families in our church kitchen for a large group baking night to prepare for an upcoming bake sale fundraiser.

I thought we could make an entertaining evening out of a little friendly competition between parents and their kiddos. So I created a two round Bible trivia quiz, one part fill in the blanks and the second part multiple choice.

While the kids and parents measured ingredients, mixed up dough and talked bake sale strategy, I interspersed the conversation with trivia questions back and forth from one team to the other. Our parents eventually edged the students to win the trivia challenge, but only after a competitive two hour battle. It truly was a neck-and-neck race the entire night.

I don't know that the parents and kids had as much fun with the game as I did creating and hosting it, but at one point it was fulfilling to me to see the kids racing through the church to ask members of our church women's group who were upstairs decorating for Christmas what the books of the Old and New Testament were.

While the youth group parents probably had a fair argument that this was unfair, the kids weren't actually breaking the rules. Before the game had started, I had stipulated they could use any tools currently in the church building with the exception of their phones. I tip my cap to them for being clever enough to figure out their were other adults around whom they were not competing with! Not off limits according to my rules!

Some six weeks later after that night, I doubt that the kids and the parents remember any of the Bible trivia. After all, no one was concentrating like this was information they needed to retain for an upcoming test. But a small part of my pastor's heart hopes that the entertaining exercise inspired someone in the group ... (Yes, even one!) ... to think of the Bible a little differently.

Yes, the Bible is full of wise scriptures about how to live our lives in relationship with God and our neighbors. But it's also simultaneously a collection of literature that is entertaining, funny, witty, inspirational, educational, historical and often ... just a plain good read!

It is also true that there is a lot of the Bible that can put a person to sleep! Even pastors! ... The never-ending and also repetitive descriptions of how the tabernacle should be built, and what it should be built of is enough to want to make anyone snooze.

But there also are dozens of books in the Bible that tell wonderful stories about amazingly complex human beings who were both fallible like us, but also at times who could be brilliant, clever, endearing, compassionate, kind, loving, artistic and so much more! There are love stories and war stories and stories that will both crush your spirits and grow your very soul!

As faithful people, I think far too often we reserve the reading of the Bible for the times we are in worship, when the travesty is that the Bible has so much more to offer to us!

Anyway, that was was the intent of Pastor D's "Bible Jeopardy(ish)! Trivia Challenge." ... I hope someone walked away that night with a greater appreciation for just how amazing our Bible is!

And for those of you interested in taking the challenge yourself, I've posted both rounds of the trivia quiz below, first the fill in the blank sections and second the trivia questions grouped by category. You'll find the answers below the questions, but I encourage you to play along first before looking!

And don't forget to report back to me your final score!

LYO Bible Jeopardy! … ish!

Rules:

No cheating by scrolling to the bottom of the post! Or by Googling answers!
Score 10 points for each fill in the blank answer you get correct.
Score 10 points for each multiple choice answer you get correct.
NOTE: Quiz based on the protestant version of the Bible, with a respectful nod to those who read other versions!

Round 1:

How many books of the Old Testament can you name? (Clue: The first letter of each book is given. The number of spaces after tell you how long the book title is.)

G______ E_____ L________ N______ D__________ J_____ J_____ R___ I S_____

II S_____ I K____ II K____ I C_________ II C_________ E___ N______ E_____ J__

P_____ P_______ E___________ S____ I_____ J_______ L___________ E______ D_____. H____ J___ A___ O______ J____ M____ N____ H_______ Z________ H_____ Z________ M______

How many books of the New Testament can you name? (Clue: The first letter of each book is given. The number of spaces after tell you how long the book title is.)

M______ M___ L___ J___ A___ R_____ I C__________ II C__________ G________ E_______ P__________ C_________ I T____________ II T____________ I T______

II T______ T____ P_______ H______ J____ I P____ II P____ I J___ II J___ III J___

J___ R_________

How many of Jesus’ disciples can you name?

P____ A_____ J____ J___ P_____ B__________ T_____ M______ J____ T________

S___ J____ M_______

How many of the 10 Commandments can you name?

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Round 2:

The Life of Jesus:

How many days and nights did Jesus go into the wilderness? Was it 22, 40, 365 or 12?
Where did Jesus grow up after returning from Egypt? Was it Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem or Lower East Side?
When did Jesus rise from the dead?
Which disciple betrayed Jesus?
What did Jesus turn into wine?
With what food did Jesus feed the 5,000th? Was it bread and wine, wine and fish, fish and bread, none of those?
In which biblical city was Jesus born?
Who was Jesus’ human mother?
Jesus famously walked on this substance. Which was it? Clouds, the air, water or a frozen lake?

The Old Testament:

After Noah got off the boat, what sign did God give to showed his promise to never flood the world again? Was it a dove, an olive branch, a rainbow or a fire in a bush?
Noah sent two birds from the ark — what were they? (Bonus: Which did he send first?) Dove and a sparrow, dove and a pelican, dove and a raven, sparrow and an eagle?
What piece of clothing made Joseph's brothers jealous? Was it a coat, shoes, belt or special headpiece?
God told Moses not to come any closer to the burning bush until he did what? Was it listen to an angel, take off his sandals, acknowledge God as the One True God or sacrifice his son Isaac?
What kind of animal encouraged Adam and Eve to take a bite of the apple?
Where did Adam and Eve originally live?
What did God use to create Eve?
Where was Moses born?
When Moses and the Israelites were fleeing from Pharaoh's army out of Egypt, what did God do to help them escape? Struck Pharaoh's army with lightning, gave Moses and the Israelites wings, parted the Red Sea for the Israelites, none of those.

Bible Trivia:

How many times does the Bible mention the word "snow?" Is it 24 times, five times, never or 12 times?
In what languages were most of the Old Testament and New Testament given in? Are they both in Greek, Greek and Latin, Latin and Hebrew or Hebrew and Greek?
What is the name commonly given to the first five books of the Old Testament? Is it the Pentateuch, the Doxology, the Apocrypha or the Septuagint?
What is the common name of the first four books in the New Testament?
What does the word gospel mean?
Which Old Testament character received the 10 Commandments from God?
True or False: Does Jesus cry in the Bible?
What was the famous meal called in which Jesus ate with his disciples before he was arrested?
True or false: Every Bible contains the same number of books?

Famous People in the Bible:

What instrument did David play?
Who was swallowed up in the belly of the big fish?
Aaron is the brother of what famous Israelite leader?
Who baptized Jesus?
How many times did Peter deny Jesus? 5 times, 1 time, 3 times or 7 times?
What did Joseph -- Jesus’ father -- do for work?
Who were the first man and woman God created? Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sara, none of those.
Who fought the giant named Goliath?
Which famous Old Testament character was thrown into a lion’s den?

Final bonus question:

How many days did God take to create the world?

Answers:

How many books of the Old Testament can you name?

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH,

I SAMUEL, II SAMUEL, I KINGS, II KINGS, I CHRONICLES, II CHRONICLES, EZRA, NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, SONGS, ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH, HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI

How many books of the New Testament can you name?

MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, ACTS, ROMANS, I CORINTHIANS, II CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, I THESSALONIANS,

II THESSALONIANS, I TIMOTHY, II TIMOTHY, TITUS, PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES,

I PETER, II PETER, I JOHN, II JOHN, III JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

How many of Jesus’ disciples can you name?

PETER, ANDREW, JAMES, JOHN, PHILIP, BARTHOLOMEW, THOMAS, MATTHEW, JAMES, THADDAEUS, SIMON, JUDAS, MATTHIAS

How many books of the 10 Commandments can you name?

You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall make no idols.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
Keep the Sabbath day holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.