When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

• Luke 22:45

In reading this verse, I may have discovered my sleep deprivation problem.  I am not crying myself to sleep.  After the Last Supper, the disciples went with Jesus to the garden where they fell asleep, exhausted from sorrow.  In other words, they cried themselves to sleep.  Since my Dad literally beat crying out of me, or it seemed that he tried hard to toughen me up, my wife says that the only times that my eyes get moist are the wrong times.  She thinks there is something really “W-R-O-N-G” with me.  She might be right.  I can easily display all other emotions.  If I cry at her funeral, she will not physically be there to see it.  I wonder if God will give her a glimpse so that she knows that I shed a tear at the RIGHT time.  All that is for naught if I pass away first.

But all that said because I am exhausted.  I needed to do some major blog writing and the only free day that I have in the near future is a point where I would be overdue to write a quiz.  The entire time in Tennessee I got poor sleep, averaging between 3-4 hours of sleep each night for the past three weeks, some days much less than two hours.  This cannot last much longer.  So, I asked myself, “What does the Bible say about being ‘exhausted’?”  The only reference to “exhausted” in the NIV New Testament is listed above.  I looked up “tired,” but I stuck to the word “exhausted” alone.  So, this is a major hint.  Do not go looking in the New Testament.

All the questions in this quiz have to do with the word “exhausted.”  There are 13 verses that have the word “exhausted” in them in the NIV.  Should that be a sign that we should not focus on exhaustion since Jesus is our source of strength?

The Questions:

	Question
1	Who did Jael, Heber’s wife, kill by driving a tent peg through his temple?  And what was the murdered man doing in Heber’s tent?
2	What did Gideon’s army of three hundred cross while exhausted, yet continuing their pursuit?  And who were they in pursuit of?  And who refused to provide bread for Gideon’s army?
3	Who dipped his staff into the honeycomb for refreshment?  Who was the Israelite army fighting?  After realizing how exhausted they were, what rule did the army violate?  What was the result of that sin?
4	Where did the exhausted troops fail to continue when David and his army pursued the Amalekites?  What did the victorious army of David wish to do with those who were exhausted?  And what did David actually do?
5	Who met David as he left Jerusalem, fleeing his own son Absalom?  Who had this person served?  Where was this person’s master and why?  How did David reward this person?
6	Who cursed David along the route, escaping Absalom, and why did David not have him put to death?  Oh, the cursing as they travelled might have added to the exhaustion when they reached their destination.
7	When Shobi son of Nahash and Makir son of Ammiel provided provisions for David and his family at Mahanaim, what were at least two of those provisions, besides the bedding, bowls, and articles of pottery?  We are talking food supplies here.
8	When David went out again, late in life, to battle the Philistines, who became exhausted? Who saved the exhausted man?  And what did David’s men decide had to be done going forward?
9	Jeremiah pronounced a curse on Babylon for sending the people of Judah into exile.  When the Babylonian soldiers become exhausted, where will they be and what will they do?
10	In the vision that exhausts Daniel for several days, what animal had two horns and what animal started out with only one horn?

This quiz could have been expanded with other words meaning exhaustion, but you get the point.  God is our strength.  God even provides others to bring provisions when we need them.  I remember the couple who survived Hurricane Katrina.  Days passed and they became so afraid that they never ventured from their home, not hearing a person’s voice or the chirping of birds.  They decided to kill themselves, but as the sun came up on a new day, they heard a knock on the door.  A crew from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance entered their home and began ripping up carpet and mucking out the wet insulation and sheet rock.  When the couple asked why these people were there, the leader showed them the signed work order.  They were simply following the “couple’s” instructions, but the workers were from out of town and the street signs had been blown away by the storm.  The couple, who had vowed to commit suicide that day, realized that the work order was for a home three blocks away.  The workers had gone to the “wrong” house.  Yes, God still works miracles today, and above all, He provides Hope.  With that Hope, the exhausted couple had the strength to continue on, praising God in the process.

Bible References:

1. Judges 4:17-22 (word mentioned in Judges 4:21)
2. Judges 8:1-31 (word mentioned in Judges 8:4 and again in Judges 8:15)
3. 1 Samuel 14:24-48 (word mentioned in 1 Samuel 14:31)
4. 1 Samuel 30:1-31 (word mentioned in 1 Samuel 30:10 and again in 1 Samuel 30:21)
5. 2 Samuel 16:1-4 (word mentioned in 2 Samuel 16:2)
6. 2 Samuel 16:5-14 (word mentioned in 2 Samuel 16:14)
7. 2 Samuel 17:27-29 (word mentioned in 2 Samuel 17:29)
8. 2 Samuel 21:15-17 (word mentioned in 2 Samuel 21:15)
9. Jeremiah 51:27-32 (word mentioned in Jeremiah 51:30)
10. Daniel 8:1-27 (word mentioned in Daniel 8:27)

I thought of this topic due to my physical exhaustion.  With the research and trying to create satisfactory questions, I have become even more tired, but it seems to be a “good” tired.  And to think, only ten questions, sort of, since every question was a multiple part question.  I really doubt if I could have done well on this one if taking it cold.

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The Answers:

1. Sisera, the commander of the army of king Jabin, the Canaanite.  He hid in Heber’s tent because he had an agreement with the Heber family and was hiding from Barak who had been assigned as the Israelite army commander under Deborah, the judge.  If you only read the sentence where “exhausted” is mentioned (Judges 4:21), you might think that Jael had killed her husband, but reading the story in context, that confusion over who “he” is can be cleared up.
2. The Jordan River, in pursuit of the Midianite army, under the leadership of Oreb and Zeeb.  The Midianite kings were Zebah and Zalmunna.  The city of Sukkoth refused to provide bread since kings Zebah and Zalmunna had not already been captured.  Gideon pressed on without physical sustenance because God sustained his army.  Then Gideon punished those in Sukkoth.
3. Jonathan dipped his staff into the honey, but in 1 Samuel 14:24, his father, king Saul, said that anyone who ate before evening would be cursed.  After eating the honey, Jonathan led the men in defeating the Philistines.  When Jonathan saw that the men were exhausted and they could have continued the fight if it were not for his father’s oath, his men stopped to eat of the spoils of war – the cattle and sheep.  Yet, they ate meat with blood in it – against Levitical law.  When they stopped to offer sacrifices for their sin and to inquire of God whether the sin had been properly atoned, they cut off the pursuit, allowing the remnants of their enemy’s army to escape.
4. It was in the Besor Valley, where one third of David’s army became exhausted, unable to continue.  When the Amalakites were defeated, those who fought in the battle refused to share the spoils of war with those who stayed behind in the Besor Valley, but David considered their role of protecting the supplies and the supply route that he declared that all should share equally.  Note:  This is a very important story with regard to modern warfare.  You never want to outrun your supply lines.  The enemy could cut off the advancing troops and surround them, causing the army that thought they were being victorious to be drawn into a trap.
5. Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth (Saul’s grandson) greeted David with donkeys loaded down with provisions due to the exhaustion of David’s family and loyal soldiers.  Mephibosheth had travelled to Jerusalem, thinking that he would be made king, the only living heir of king Saul.  David then granted Ziba with all Mephibosheth’s possessions.
6. Shimei, son of Gera and in the same clan as Saul, cursed David.  Abishai, son of Zeruiah, wished to chop off his head, but David, whose own son wanted David dead, told Abishai to do nothing, for who knows if God had not told Shimei to shout the curses.
7. brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery.  They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows’ milk for David and his people to eat.  For they said, “The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness” (2 Samuel 17:28-29).  Okay, since the Promised Land is a land of milk and honey, you might stretch the cheese made of cow’s milk for that to fit, but you can see the variety and groupings of food.
8. David became exhausted and a Philistine was about to kill him.  Abishai, who had been admonished in the story regarding question 6 killed the Philistine.  David’s men realized David was too old to continue fighting and they agreed that David should stay back from the fight, not wanting to snuff out “the lamp of Israel.”
9. The soldiers of Babylon will quit fighting, but they will remain in their stronghold until their enemy burns down their dwellings and breaks the bars of their gates.
10. In Daniel’s vision the mighty ram, representing the Medes, had two horns, and the goat, representing the Greeks, had one horn.  God used Babylon to punish the land of Judah in the manner foretold in Deuteronomy.  But evil does not go unpunished.  The prophecy of Jeremiah mentioned in question 9, prophesies the destruction of Babylon by the Medes.  Yet, the Medes are then destroyed by Greece, as prophesied by Daniel in this Scripture, even including that Greece will not be strong, hitting that Greece will also fall.  Do not worship God, the source of all power and strength, and you will not last long.  This should be broadcast as a prophecy against the entire world in these troubling times.

I am so exhausted, since this quiz was a little more effort than I thought when I started.  So, whether you did well or poorly, join me in hoping that I make it through the night, Ray Stevens style.

But how do we really make it through any night?  Without God, we have great difficulty making it past our next few steps.  And if you are exhausted, maybe you just haven’t seen what the power of God can do.  Maybe Danny Gokey is right, you just Haven’t Seen It Yet.

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.