04 - The One and Only God

Question 1

Where is the “land of deep valleys and rich pastures” set between?

Answer 1

Between Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Question 2

For around how many years did herdsman tend to their flocks in the land of deep valleys and rich pastures?

Answer 2

For thousands of years.

Question 3

What did the herdsman in this land plant?

Answer 3

They planted vines and cereals.

Question 4

What did the people of the deep valleys and rich pastures do in the evenings?

Answer 4

They sang songs.

Question 5

What was a con of this land being between two countries?

Answer 5

It was constantly being invaded.

Question 6

Did the fortresses and towns that the people built help them defend against the Babylonians or the Egyptians?

Answer 6

No. “They built themselves towns and fortresses, to no avail” (1).

Question 7

What was special about this country between Mesopotamia and Egypt that shaped history?

Answer 7

It’s religion.

Question 8

How many gods did the herdsman in the country between Mesopotamia and Egypt worship?

Answer 8

Only one.

Question 9

What is it called when you only believe in one god?

Answer 9

Monotheistic.

Question 10

What were the songs of the herdsman about?

Answer 10

The deeds and battles of their god, who was better and stronger and more exalted than all the other gods.

Question 11

What is said that the herdsman’s god never abandoned?

Answer 11

It’s people

Question 12

Who were these herdsman?

Answer 12

The Jews.

Question 13

What in the text is said to be the songs of the Jewish god’s deeds?

Answer 13

The Old Testament of the Bible.

Question 14

Where will you find so many stories about ancient times so vividly told that you can find nowhere else?

Answer 14

The Bible.

Question 15

Where can you find the place where Abraham came from?

Answer 15

The Book of Genesis, in chapter eleven.

Question 16

Where did Abraham come from?

Answer 16

The city of Ur.

Question 17

What time might Abraham being alive for?

Answer 17

The rule of Hammurabi.

Question 18

What time was king Hammurabi around?

Answer 18

1700 BC.

Question 19

Where does some of Hammurabi’s laws turn up again?

Answer 19

The Bible.

Question 20

What is the story of the Tower of Babel?

Answer 20

The people of Babylon tried to build a tower that could reach heaven. God became angry at their pride and made the workers all speak different languages, which made it impossible to continue building the tower because no-one could understand each other.

Question 21

Where is the story of Noah and the Flood set?

Answer 21

In Mesopotamia.

Question 22

What supports the claim that the story of the Flood is set in Mesopotamia?

Answer 22

“A number of clay tablets have been dug up, inscribed with cuneiform script telling a story very similar to the one in the Bible” (2).

Question 23

What were one of Abraham of Ur’s decedents?

Answer 23

Joseph.

Question 24

Who was the father of Joseph?

Answer 24

Jacob.

Question 25

What did Joseph's brothers do with him?

Answer 25

Josephs brothers took him into Egypt and sold him.

Question 26

About how old may the pyramids been when Joseph was alive?

Answer 26

Over a thousand years old.

Question 27

Where did Joseph's brothers and their children settle?

Answer 27

In Egypt.

Question 28

Who led the Jews, or the children of Israel, out of Egypt?

Answer 28

Moses.

Question 29

Around when did Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt?

Answer 29

1250 BC.

Question 30

What did Moses and the Jews want to win back?

Answer 30

The promised land.

Question 31

What is the promised land?

Answer 31

"The land in which [the Jew's] ancestors had lived since the time of Abraham" (2).

Question 32

After what did the Jews finally succeed and win back the promised land?

Answer 32

Long, cruel, and bloody battles.

Question 33

What was the capital of the kingdom of the Jews?

Answer 33

Jerusalem.

Question 34

Who was the Jew's first king?

Answer 34

King Saul.

Question 35

Who did King Saul fight against?

Answer 35

The Philistines.

Question 36

What happened to King Saul while he was fighting the Philistines?

Answer 36

He died on the battlefield.

Question 37

Who were the next kings after Saul?

Answer 37

King David and King Solomon.

Question 38

Who was a wise and just king who ruled over Israel?

Answer 38

King Solomon.

Question 39

When did King Solomon rule?

Answer 39

Soon after 1000 BC. or 700 years after King Hammurabi and 2100 years after King Menes.

Question 40

Who built the first temple of Jerusalem?

Answer 40

King Solomon.

Question 41

Who were the architects who built Jerusalem's first temple?

Answer 41

Foreign artisans from neighboring lands.

Question 42

How was the Jewish god depicted?

Answer 42

Not in imagery, but in the Ten Commandments written on tablets, is where their god represented himself.

Question 43

After Solomon's reign, how did things go for the Jews?

Answer 43

Things went less well.

Question 44

What happened to the Kingdom of the Jews after Solomon's reign?

Answer 44

The kingdom split in two.

Question 45

After the kingdom of the Jews was split, what were the two kingdom's who split from it called?

Answer 45

The kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.

Question 46

What happened to the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC?

Answer 46

It was invaded.

Question 47

Who invaded the kingdom of Israel in 722 BC?

Answer 47

The Assyrians.

Question 48

What was suffering to the Jewish people and their religion?

Answer 48

"Suffering was God's way of punishing them and testing their faith" (3).

Question 49

When King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, what happened to Jerusalem?

Answer 49

The king of Babylon destroyed the city of Jerusalem on his way to invade Egypt.

Question 50

When did the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem?

Answer 50

586 BC.

Question 51

What happened to the Jews after Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC?

Answer 51

The Babylonians "put out the eyes of King Zedekiah, and led the Jews in captivity to Babylon" (3).

Question 52

How long did the Jews remain in Babylon after Jerusalem fell?

Answer 52

for nearly 50 years.

Question 53

What happened to the Babylonian empire in 538 BC?

Answer 53

It was destroyed by its Persian neighbor.

Question 54

What did the Jews do after Babylon fell in 538 BC?

Answer 54

They returned to their homeland and kept themselves apart from their neighboring countries.

Question 55

What did the Jews write after they returned to their homeland and kept themselves apart from their neighbors?

Answer 55

The Old Testament.