Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.

• Deuteronomy 28:53

Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

• 2 Kings 13:4

You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt; you heard their cry at the Red Sea.

• Nehemiah 9:9

I still dread all my sufferings, for I know you will not hold me innocent.

• Job 9:28

This quiz is about the word “suffering”.  I have been reminded of a false prophet of sorts.  I wrote about this before, right after it happened, but with my wife passed on, the emotions and pain are still raw.  This person came into my son’s house.  My wife was in her night clothes without her hair on.  She was horribly embarrassed.  This person made a big show out of pretending to perform faith healing on my wife and then the person said, that if you suffered, you were not a Christian.  Christians did not suffer, according to this false prophet.

My wife, being horribly embarrassed in front of people well dressed, just coming in from a social event.  She had just wanted to go to bed, but our son was playing a video game where my wife was to sleep.  These images are etched in my mind, but I have to let it go.  I must forgive, but it is very hard to do.  How would you like someone telling you that you were going to Hell, 3-4 months before you died?

Once my wife got over the embarrassment from people who entered the house, uninvited, well past the time when anyone civilized would know you were not to go visiting people, she gave it little thought.  Having dementia along with everything else has its benefits, I guess.

These questions, like most of these quizzes is about verses with the word “Suffering.”  I might use “sufferings” but no other variants like “suffer”.  I have seventy-two verses to choose from.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the first person to complain about suffering in the book of Genesis, and for what reason?
2	Who named his second son a name because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering?
3	Who expressed concern for the suffering of his people, seeing them cry out because of their slave drivers?
4	If someone suspects their wife of infidelity, they are to drink what, and, if they were unfaithful, they will suffer a miscarriage?
5	What caused the children of the people to remain shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, because of what unfaithfulness?
6	The author of Hebrews tells the readers to remember those who have been mistreated as you yourselves were suffering, but what other group were they to remember?
7	The book of James starts off by saying that we should count it all Joy when facing trials.  James does not mention the word suffering until near the end of the epistle when he mentions what group of people who showed patience in the face of suffering?
8	What book of the New Testament mentions suffering seven times, referring to our suffering and Christ’s suffering, and mentions suffering in all five chapters of this epistle?
9	The Apostle John speaks of being a companion in suffering because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, but what suffering was he enduring at that moment?
10	In looking for two answers, a church suffers due to a woman who is introducing adultery within the church.  What church, and what was the woman called, probably not her real name?

We all suffer, but some of our suffering is due to our own sins.  I have written a few times recently about how many sins carry its own punishment.  The drunk’s hangover might be the first to come to mind.  But how many times have we looked at someone and said something like “How dare they do that?!”  But then, we hear someone a day later say the same thing about us?  Oh, really?  You haven’t?  Maybe they were not talking loud enough for you to hear.

They say whatever goes around comes around.  And I am not talking about the Justin Timberlake song.  But the phrase means that if we treat others badly, eventually someone will come along to treat us badly.  Even Jesus told Peter in the Garden that he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.

But can we believe everything that the “friends” of Job were saying?

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the first person to complain about suffering in the book of Genesis, and for what reason?	Genesis 16:5
2	Who named his second son a name because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering?	Genesis 41:52
3	Who expressed concern for the suffering of his people, seeing them cry out because of their slave drivers?	Exodus 3:7
4	If someone suspects their wife of infidelity, they are to drink what and, if they were unfaithful, they will suffer a miscarriage?	Numbers 5:11-22
5	What caused the children of the people to remain shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, because of what unfaithfulness?	Numbers 14:33
6	The author of Hebrews tells the readers to remember those who have been mistreated as you yourselves were suffering, but what other group were they to remember?	Hebrews 13:3
7	The book of James starts off by saying that we should count it all Joy when facing trials.  James does not mention the word suffering until near the end when he mentions what group of people who showed patience in the face of suffering?	James 5:10
8	What book of the New Testament mentions suffering seven times, referring to our suffering and Christ’s suffering, and mentions suffering in all five chapters of this epistle?	N/A
9	The Apostle John speaks of being a companion in suffering because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, but what suffering was he enduring at that moment?	Revelation 1:9
10	In looking for two answers, a church suffers due to a woman who is introducing adultery within the church.  What church, and what was the woman called, probably not her real name?	Revelation 2:22

Now to discuss the pop religion that was spoken by Job’s friends.  We could say that good people suffer, and sometimes it is not their sin that is the reason for their suffering, but have you read the book of Job?  Satan goes to God twice.  God grants him permission to test the faith of His servant Job.  People read the first two chapters, and then they flip a switch in their brains and they cannot see the falsity in the proclamations made by Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite.  Not the mention Elihu later in the book.

Please, I told you not to mention him.

When I was out of work for exactly a year, almost all of it in 1994, I was given the same treatment that Job received.  “You need to confess your sins!”  “You have unrepentant sin in your life.”  “You must not really be a Christian for suffering this long…”

Really?  God was allowing me to be tested.  My faith in God never wavered, but the faith in myself took a big hit and that might have led to some interviews going badly.  Oddly, the interview that got a job was when my flight was delayed due to a blizzard, and I went into the interview with about 2-3 hours of sleep.  And my next, and last, successful interview was when I had decided at the dinner the night before, that I did not wish to work for that company, and I purposefully tried to ruin the interview – getting the job and working there roughly half my career.  God knew things that I did not know.  With that in mind, I guess I was my own enemy in interviews.

And a big final hint.  The first five questions cover the first six references to suffering in the NIV.  The last five questions cover the last twelve references to suffering in the NIV.  Note that one question refers to seven references in one book and one of the references noted by the search engine was for a heading (not part of the inspired Word of God, but useful in finding what you might be looking for).

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is the first person to complain about suffering in the book of Genesis, and for what reason?	Genesis 16:5	Sarai complained to Abram about how Hagar, a slave girl, had gotten pregnant while Sarai remained barren.
2	Who named his second son a name because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering?	Genesis 41:52	Joseph who named his second son Ephraim
3	Who expressed concern for the suffering of his people, seeing them cry out because of their slave drivers?	Exodus 3:7	The Lord God
4	If someone suspects their wife of infidelity, they are to drink what and, if they were unfaithful, they will suffer a miscarriage?	Numbers 5:11-22	The bitter drink that brings a curse, but if the wife has not been unfaithful, she will have no ill effect.
5	What caused the children of the people to remain shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, because of what unfaithfulness?	Numbers 14:33	The people heard the report of the ten faithless spies and refused to go into the Promised land.
6	The author of Hebrews tells the readers to remember those who have been mistreated as you yourselves were suffering, but what other group were they to remember?	Hebrews 13:3	Those in prison
7	The book of James starts off by saying that we should count it all Joy when facing trials.  James does not mention the word suffering until near the end when he mentions what group of people who showed patience in the face of suffering?	James 5:10	The prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
8	What book of the New Testament mentions suffering seven times, referring to our suffering and Christ’s suffering, and mentions suffering in all five chapters of this epistle?	N/A	1 Peter
9	The Apostle John speaks of being a companion in suffering because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, but what suffering was he enduring at that moment?	Revelation 1:9	He was exiled on the isle of Patmos.
10	In looking for two answers, a church suffers due to a woman who is introducing adultery within the church.  What church, and what was the woman called, probably not her real name?	Revelation 2:22	The church at Thyatira was being led astray by a woman known as “Jezebel.”  This is that last reference to :suffering” in the NIV, although the seals, trumpets, and bowls had not yet been discussed.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, … You may be wondering where the phrase “Suffering Succotash” comes from.  In the cartoon classics, Looney Tunes featured a cat, Sylvester.  Mel Blanc, the voice of the original cast of characters gave Sylvester a lisp.  Thus, any non-sensical expletive with many uses of the letter “S” became a line for Sylvester to say.

And here is Zach Williams singing The Struggle.

And here is Unspoken singing God Help Me.

And here is Son of Suffering.  It is sung by Matt Redman.  The video uses scenes from The Chosen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj1y4_FA4_8

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.