You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

• Leviticus 18:4-5

“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.

• Joshua 23:6

“As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.

• 1 Kings 6:12

Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them.

• 2 Kings 10:6

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands.

• 2 Chronicles 14:2-4

This quiz is about the word “obey”.

It is sadly inspired by a boy who will soon be nine-years-old and should know better.  I asked him if he could spell behave. He is about to go into the third grade.  I thought he might be successful.  He hesitated about halfway through, but he spelled the word.  I left the room, but as I was leaving, his teenaged big brother asked him what “behave” meant.  He said, “Whatever an adult tells you to do, do NOT do it.”  That explained a lot.  He had been doing the opposite of what he was told for nearly a week.  His parents will have a rough road ahead.  The kid is cute.  He has big eyes, and he knows how to use them.  In other words, he saw that movie where Puss ‘n Boots makes big eyes even bigger and everyone’s heart turns into silly putty.  I am sure he used that on his teachers when he did not do his homework.  My late wife spoiled him because she loved noise and this little one could make more noise than a freight train.  That is until asked a question.  Then you get the big eyes trick and stone silence.

But I can see how he gets it.  You say to him, “Why do you misbehave?  Why do you do the opposite of everything you are ever told?”  And his selective hearing hears, “Behave.  Do the opposite of everything you are ever told!”

With his screwed-up idea of behaving, every time he read “obey me” in the Bible, he would refuse to do so.  After all, you need to behave when you are in the presence of God.

Oh dear, this is going to get messy.  And me making a big deal out of it while they were here made his parents question whether we could coexist under the same roof.  Ah, more peaceful, quiet time in Pennsylvania.

But then another inspiration was the Bible Study two days ago, where God tells the people of Judah that troubles are coming, and all you had to have done to avoid them was “Obey me.”

The questions are in biblical order.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of obey (obeyed) in the NIV, who does God say will bless all nations on the earth because he obeyed?
2	Who is the person who says, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him…?”  The first time the negative is used in conjunction with the word obey in the NIV.
3	Before God gives them the Ten Commandments, he gives them special instructions about a ceremony to be performed every year when they reach the Promised Land, what instructions must they obey?
4	When it came to encamping and setting out (continuing their journey to the Promised Land), at least in one thing, the Israelites obeyed the Lord, but how did God communicate the command to set out?
5	In the first nine verses of the book of Joshua, the Lord tells Joshua to obey the Law of Moses and the people should have it on their lips, but God commands Joshua to be two things three different times during these verses.  What two things will serve him well in battle?
6	Who said in his farewell address that if they obey God’s commands, good!  But if they do not obey, God’s hand will be against them?
7	After Jesus calms a storm at sea, the disciples are afraid for these two things obey Jesus.  What two things?
8	There are eight times in the Bible where it is said that we are to honor our father and mother.  The Ten Commandments are spelled out twice in the Old Testament.  Jesus repeats the commandment five times in the synoptic gospels.  And Paul tells the church at Ephesus that children should do what before he repeats the commandment?
9	James speaks of putting a bit in a horse’s mouth to make it obey and a small rudder on a ship can steer the ship, but what body part is small, but it can be a fire, a world of evil?
10	In the last use of obey (obeys) in the NIV, who are those people who find the love of God complete within them?

A lot of people may play backyard lawyer with the commandment to honor your mother and father, but the Apostle Paul ties down one aspect.  It ties into our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father.

Some people want to place conditions on the commandments.  God did not make the Ten Commandments and then say, obey them when they are convenient.  In honoring our parents, we may be asked to honor parents who are lousy parents.  We all sin.  As parents, we make mistakes.  My mother never loved me, but I honored her.  I respected her.  And not because this commandment was the first to have a promise attached to it.  My Dad dished out almost all the punishment, and a lot of it hurt me physically, but I honored him.  I still miss him and love him, regardless of whether that punishment was fair or not.

And when I suffer the built-in punishment of many of the sins against God, I do not blame God for the pain.  I look inwardly and see how I can listen to God better, obey God more closely, and keep my eyes on Jesus.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of obey (obeyed) in the NIV, who does God say will bless all nations on the earth because he obeyed?	Genesis 22:18
2	Who is the person who says, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him…?”  The first time the negative is used in conjunction with the word obey in the NIV.	Exodus 5:2
3	Before God gives them the Ten Commandments, he gives them special instructions about a ceremony to be performed every year when they reach the Promised Land, what instructions must they obey?	Exodus 12:24
4	When it came to encamping and setting out (continuing their journey to the Promised Land), at least in one thing, the Israelites obeyed the Lord, but how did God communicate the command to set out?	Numbers 9:15-23
5	In the first nine verses of the book of Joshua, the Lord tells Joshua to obey the Law of Moses and the people should have it on their lips, but God commands Joshua to be two things three different times during these verses.  What two things will serve him well in battle?	Joshua 1:1-9
6	Who said in his farewell address that if they obey God’s commands, good!  But if they do not obey, God’s hand will be against them?	1 Samuel 12:14-15
7	After Jesus calms a storm at sea, the disciples are afraid for these two things obey Jesus.  What two things?	Matthew 8:23-27
8	There are eight times in the Bible where it is said that we are to honor our father and mother.  The Ten Commandments are spelled out twice in the Old Testament.  Jesus repeats the commandment five times in the synoptic gospels.  And Paul tells the church at Ephesus that children should do what before he repeats the commandment?	Ephesians 6:1
9	James speaks of putting a bit in a horse’s mouth to make it obey and a small rudder on a ship can steer the ship, but what body part is small, but it can be a fire, a world of evil?	James 3:3-6
10	In the last use of obey (obeys) in the NIV, who are those people who find the love of God complete within them?	1 John 2:5

In the NIV, Ephesians 5:22 says “Wives, submit …”  In some previous translations, the word was translated into English as “Obey.”  We could probably have quizzes on “submit” or “subject” (both as a noun and a verb).

The meaning of these words is similar, but the Apostle Paul was meaning to do this in love.  People gloss over the prior suggestion by Paul that both spouses should submit in love to each other.  The battle is only over wives submitting, obeying, etc.  And in a perfect world, it would work.  When sin reigns, nothing works.

I do not wish to sound legalistic by having a quiz on obeying, but if we love God, we will love His Commandments.  We aren’t perfect in following them but following them must be our desire.

   …

   …

   …

The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of obey (obeyed) in the NIV, who does God say will bless all nations on the earth because he obeyed?	Genesis 22:18	Abraham
2	Who is the person who says, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him…?”  The first time the negative is used in conjunction with the word obey in the NIV.	Exodus 5:2	Pharoah, you might add “and let Israel go” in place of the ellipsis.
3	Before God gives them the Ten Commandments, he gives them special instructions about a ceremony to be performed every year when they reach the Promised Land, what instructions must they obey?	Exodus 12:24	Celebration of the Passover
4	When it came to encamping and setting out (continuing their journey to the Promised Land), at least in one thing, the Israelites obeyed the Lord, but how did God communicate the command to set out?	Numbers 9:15-23	There was a cloud over the tabernacle, and when the cloud lifted, the Israelites set out on their journey.
5	In the first nine verses of the book of Joshua, the Lord tells Joshua to obey the Law of Moses and the people should have it on their lips, but God commands Joshua to be two things three different times during these verses.  What two things will serve him well in battle?	Joshua 1:1-9	Be strong and courageous. In verses 6, 7, and 9.
6	Who said in his farewell address that if they obey God’s commands, good!  But if they do not obey, God’s hand will be against them?	1 Samuel 12:14-15	Samuel
7	After Jesus calms a storm at sea, the disciples are afraid for these two things obey Jesus.  What two things?	Matthew 8:23-27	The wind and the waves
8	There are eight times in the Bible where it is said that we are to honor our father and mother.  The Ten Commandments are spelled out twice in the Old Testament.  Jesus repeats the commandment five times in the synoptic gospels.  And Paul tells the church at Ephesus that children should do what before he repeats the commandment?	Ephesians 6:1	Obey their parents.
9	James speaks of putting a bit in a horse’s mouth to make it obey and a small rudder on a ship can steer the ship, but what body part is small, but it can be a fire, a world of evil?	James 3:3-6	The tongue
10	In the last use of obey (obeys) in the NIV, who are those people who find the love of God complete within them?	1 John 2:5	Anyone who obeys God’s Word.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, … We seem to not obey a lot.  We depend on God’s Mercy.  Here are Keith & Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Sandra McCracken  singing Lord Have Mercy.

And here is David and Nicole Binion, featuring MDSN, singing Yes (Obedience). 

And here is Bria Jean singing Teach Me to Obey.  Yep, even God has to teach us that one.

And here is something that I had earlier this week, Trust and Obey.  It is sung by the Vagle Brothers.  With truth, we have a foundation that we can stand upon.  We must then only trust and obey.

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.