25 questions...
1. What does it mean when Jesus is called "the Firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1:15)?
2. What is chaff (e.g. Job 21:18; Ps. 1:4; 35:5)?
3. What does the Egyptian god "Re" have to do with the ninth plague in Exodus 10:21-23?
4. Why did God command the Israelites not to "boil a young goat in its mother's milk" (Ex. 34:26)?
5. How did Greek mythology affect the region of Caesarea Philippi and how does this affect our understanding of Matthew 16:18?
6. Who were the Scythians (Col. 3:11)?
7. Why is the topography of the Mount of Olives important to the return of Christ (Zech.14:4)?
8. What were the names and what is the significance of the two cups Jesus took when He instituted the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:17, 20)?
9. Why is the plain of Meggido perfect for the last battle of the Tribulation (Rev. 16:16)?
10. Why was Saul of Tarsus renamed "Paul" and not another name (Acts 13:9)?
11. Why doesn't the Bible condemn slavery (Col. 3:22-23)?
12. How do Jewish marriage customs relate to John 14:2-3?
13. How do the writings of Plato give us the key to understanding 1 Corinthians 12-14?
14. How do the water supplies of Hierapolis and Colossae affect the meaning of Revelation 3:15-16?
15. What do the Platonic and Epicurean views of dualism have to do with Colossians 2:20-23 and 3:5-10?
16. Why is it important that Paul, in the original Greek, uses the grammatical middle voice to say that "tongues will cease," but uses the passive voice concerning the end of prophecy and knowledge (1 Cor. 13:8)?
17. Why did Elijah choose Mount Carmel to be the location for his showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19)?
18. Why was Jonah angry when God spared the Ninevites (Jon. 4:1-2)?
19. What does the "pleroma" in ancient Greek philosophy have to do with the fullness of Christ (Col. 2:8-9)?
20. Why did King Belshazzar give Daniel the third highest position in the kingdom and not the second (Dan. 5:29)?
21. What does the phrase "gird up your loins" mean (e.g. 2 Kings 9:1; Jer. 1:17)?
22. Why did people throw dust on their heads in mourning (e.g. Lam. 2:10; Ezek. 27:30; Rev. 18:19)?
23. Why did Jesus say that a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho when Jericho is northeast of Jerusalem (Luke 10:30)?
24. What is important about the location of Samaria in John 4:4?
25. Why was John "reclining on Jesus' bosom" (John 13:23)?
Done? Good! Ok, here's what all these questions have in common: not one of these questions can be answered from an English Bible! In order to answer these questions you have to go outside the English biblical text. Moreover, only two of these questions can be answered from the biblical text in its original languages (#10 & #16); all the other questions cannot be answered from the Bible at all. This quiz was designed to show how important it is to know grammatical and historical contexts when interpreting the Bible. If we do not seek to understand how the original recipients would have understood God's Word to them, then we will be hopelessly lost in our interpretation. And without properly understanding how the original recipients would have understood God's Word we will not properly apply God's Word to our own lives. And without properly applying God's Word to our lives we cannot properly please, nor glorify the Lord.
"I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways.
I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your Word" (Ps. 119:15-16).
Nehemiah Ryan © 2014
