As I wrote recently, Christmas in America in the 21st century seemingly has less and less to do with Jesus.
I know people have been saying that since I was a kid – which was a long time ago. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t true then nor that it isn’t true now.
This holiday, which, in many ways, remains the biggest of the year for Americans, is losing any even traditional, tenuous connection it ever had to Jesus, the Savior of the world, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.
Just as America itself becomes hyper-secularized, so does its biggest holiday.
If you watch TV commercials, you can’t for a minute forget there’s a holiday coming up. You hear about a holiday. It’s just seldom named. You see Santa and elves and trees and stars and glitter, but no Jesus.
So, since I have just authored a new book about Jesus, or Yeshua, as He was known by His friends and enemies alike in the first century, I got the idea to prepare a Christmas Bible literacy test for believers – in part, to help keep those of us who care about such things, with our eyes and ears on “the reason for the season.”
Here’s the quiz: (Don’t cheat, but the answers are found at the very bottom of this column.)
- Where in the Bible do we first learn the town in which the Savior will be born?
- What other famous king of Israel was born in Bethlehem, and where in the Bible is this first explained?
- Jesus has many names in the Bible, such as the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah. What is the name associated with Him that has to do with water, and where is it first found?
- Where did Joseph and Mary live prior to moving to Bethlehem, and where do we learn the reason for their urgent move to Bethlehem?
- From whom did Mary learn that she would carry the child who would become the Messiah of Israel?
- How were Jesus and John the Baptist related?
- Where in the Bible does this famous verse appear? “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
- Besides Mary, who are the two most famous women of the Bible mentioned in Jesus’ ancestry in Matthew’s genealogy of the Savior?
- What does the angel Gabriel tell Mary about the destiny of her son?
- To where did Joseph, Mary and Jesus move directly from Bethlehem and why?
How did you do?
Did you need help?
Were these trick questions?
Were they difficult?
Are they important things for believers to know?
My point in raising them is to encourage you this Christmas season – and throughout the New Year – to spend more time with the Bible, getting to understand who Jesus was and is and why He came.
I would also encourage you to read my new book, “The Restitution of All Things: Israel, Christians and the End of the Age,” to better understand Jesus’ all-important role in the future of the Earth and mankind. Use it as a Bible study tool.
Blessings for this season and the New Year.
Answers to quiz:
- Bethlehem – Micah 5:2
- David – 1 Samuel 17:12
- Jeremiah 17:13 – “fountain of living waters”
- Nazareth – Luke 2
- The angel Gabriel – Luke 1
- They were cousins – Luke 1
- Isaiah 9:6-7
- Ruth and Rahab – Matthew 1
- “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33)
- Egypt – Because King Herod sought to kill the future king (Matthew 2:13-14)
Media wishing to interview Joseph Farah, please contact [email protected].
|
