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1. While living in Egypt and after hearing that Herod had died, where did Joseph want to move to but was afraid to do so? Where did he move his family to instead?


• Most likely Bethlehem, since he was from there and had family there. From Matthew 2:19-23: "After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead.” So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene."


2. What is the longest verse in the Bible?


• 2. Esther 8:9 is the longest verse in the Bible.


3. Which Bible verse is in the middle of the Bible? (The middle verse)


• Psalm 103:1-2 being the 15551st and 15552nd verses is in the middle of the 31102 verses of the Bible.


4. 4. The Jews built a golden calf to worship twice (and the second time they built two golden calves). When was the second time?


• During the time of Jeroboam (soon after the kingdom split after the death of Solomon): I Kings 12:25-29: "25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.


5. What is the shortest verse in the NT in Greek?


• Everyone knows that the shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). But is it? In Greek, John 11:35 is ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς: three words instead of two (and sixteen characters). There is a two-word verse that is shorter in Greek: 1 Thess. 5:16, Πάντοτε χαίρετε, “Rejoice always,” is only fourteen characters. The next verse, 1 Thess. 5:17, is also two words but it contains twenty-two characters: ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε (“Pray unceasingly”).


6. Two psalms are exactly alike, which two are they?


• 14 and 53


7. Was Abraham an only child, twin, or one of triplets?


• Abraham was a triplet: Genesis 11:26


8. How many "second" books are in the NT (like II Corinthians)? In the OT?



• NT: 5: II Corinthians, II Thessalonians, II Timothy, II Peter, II John.

  OT: 3: II Samuel, II Kings, II Chronicles



9. The Gospels mention 7 nature miracles (or signs) that Jesus performed. A nature miracle or sign is a miracle that does not involve healing or casting out a demon but in altering nature, such as turning water into wine. (I have asked this to many classes and only a couple of answered all 7. Before you click the answer, try to count them out and see if you can get all seven.)


• 1. 1. Turning water into wine
  2. 2. Walking on water
  3. 3. Calming the storm
  4. 4. Feeding of the 5000 (also 4000)
  5. 5. Peter asked Jesus about paying the Temple tax. Jesus told him to go fishing and look in the mouth of the first fish he caught, which contained the Temple tax for them both.
  6. 6. Killing the fig tree
  7. 7. The miraculous catch of fish when Jesus told the Apostles to cast their nets on the other side of the boat.


10. What was the first miracle of Jesus? (Not turning the water into wine)



• Tracing the timeline of Jesus' early days provides the answer:

  Jesus’ baptism is listed at the end of Luke 3, and Luke 4 describes the following

  • --the testing of Jesus by Satan,
  • --Jesus speaking in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth (the men of his hometown trying to kill him by throwing him off a cliff, which he walked away from),
  • --his travel to Capernaum where he taught in the synagogue and cast out a demon from a man
  • --Jesus next went to Peter’s home and healed his mother-in-law.
  • --many people came to Jesus to be healed and have demons cast out.
  
  

  At this point, Jesus had not begun collecting his followers yet, although he had performed many miracles.

  Now look at John 2, when Jesus went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It was here that Jesus turned water into wine, but first noticed that John 2:2 states that “Jesus and his disciples” attended. Therefore, at the wedding, Jesus had already started collecting followers, which means that the wedding took place after the events in Luke 4, where Jesus had already been healing people and casting out demons.

  Jesus turned water into wine at the marriage feast and verse 11 states, “This was the “first of the signs." The Greek word here means "signs" and not "miracles." Therefore, John refers to this as a sign and not a miracle.

  It appears that this was not the first miracle Jesus performed. Luke mentions many other miracles that Jesus did before he began collecting his disciples/Apostles, which he had at the wedding. But it was the first sign. What is the difference between a miracle and a sign? A miracle involved healing, raising from the dead, or casting out a demon, basically something happening to a person. It was representative of God acting through a person and many people performed miracles. But a sign involved nature being altered, such as turning water to wine or walking on water. A sign is where God makes a statement, such as when Joshua stopped the Jordan River from flowing so the Jews could cross. That as more than just a miracle but a sign that God was with the Jews. One exception to this defintion would be in John 4:43-54, where Jesus healed a royal officials son from a great distance. John referred to that as Jesus's second sign. But this was more than a "regular" healing since Jesus was not standing next to the person but was far away.

  Therefore, turning the water into wine was the first sign of Jesus because he showed his divinity by this action. That is actually what John 2:11 states: “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory.” It was probably a sign (or nature miracle) and not a "regular" miracle, with his first miracle being when he cast a demon out of a man (Luke 4:33-37) and the first healing miracle when he healed Peter’s mother-in-law in Luke 4:38, 39.




©2024 Mark Nickens