“The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”

• Ezekiel 48:35

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.

• Matthew 27:55

If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

• Mark 8:3

This quiz is about the word “distance.”  I will tie in the title in the break between the questions and the biblical references.

Each question is about a bible verse containing the word “distance.”  All the questions are in biblical order, and all come from the Old Testament.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “distance” what is Abraham preparing to do when he sees his destination off in the distance, taking wood for an altar and leaving his servants behind, with only his boy Isaac going with him?  Bonus for naming the mountain that is “in the distance.”
2	Jacob left Bethel and was still a distance from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor.  She had difficulty in delivery, dying before reaching Ephrath.  To whom did she give birth? Bonus for what she named him and what his name became.
3	Even though these two brothers greeted each other with open arms and smiles, although Jacob feared the reunion due to him basically stealing everything from his older brother, who was it that moved some distance away to let Jacob have the sole occupancy of the land promised to Abraham? Bonus for what nation he fathered.
4	Who is the son of Jacob who was seen by his brothers from some distance away and they plotted to kill the son who was a dreamer and had a fancy coat?
5	Who was the baby boy placed in the Nile River in a papyrus basket and who was his older sister who stayed some distance away to see what would happen?
6	After God had given the Ten Commandments to Moses, the people asked Moses to tell them what God had said.  They stayed a distance away, in fear of God.  What manifestations gave them such fear at that moment?
7	Moses would pitch a tent that was called the “tent of meeting.”  Where was this tent pitched?
8	A specific distance is mentioned, 2,000 cubits.  Joshua instructs the tribes they are to move out once they see this thing.  They are to follow it, but they must stay at least 2,000 cubits behind.  What are they to follow when they marched toward the Jordan River and the Promised Land beyond?
9	Who saw their friend from a distance and could hardly recognize him, due to all of his ailments?  These three friends tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
10	Fill in the blank from the prophet Isaiah: So justice is driven back,     and _____ stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets,     honesty cannot enter.

My sons and I loved watching The Smurfs on Saturday morning, well until it wasn’t that “cool” to watch that cartoon.  In one episode, they left on a long journey.  I am thinking the animators wanted to take a day off or they were behind schedule in production.  The scenery would change, but the same smurfs walking along the path in the same order.  Over and over and over again, including some of the scenes.  The smurfs would ask, “Is it much further Papa Smurf?”  The reply would be, several times over, “Not far now!”  After several of these “Not far now” answers, they would ask, “Is it much further, Papa Smurf?” and Papa Smurf will say, “Yes, it is!!!”

The boys loved that!  Soon after seeing the episode, we went to my parent’s home for a holiday of some sort.  They started asking me if it was much further, even calling me Papa Smurf.  They would even wait 2-3 minutes before they asked the question again.  It might take thirty minutes before we got around to the “Yes, it is!!!”

Then, my wife wanted in on the joke, but she asked the wrong question.  It worked great for the “Not far now” answer, but her question made no sense if I said “Yes, it is!!”

Because she got it wrong, messing up the joke, the boys thought that was the best joke ever.

But when the boys were a little older, her answer to questions like that was “five more minutes.”  That worked until they could tell time.  Before that point, they had no idea what five minutes meant, but the answer calmed them down, and usually for a lot longer than five minutes.  We were still hours from our destination.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “distance” what is Abraham preparing to do when he sees his destination off in the distance, taking wood for an altar and leaving his servants behind, with only his boy Isaac going with him?  Bonus for naming the mountain that is “in the distance.”	Genesis 22:4
2	Jacob left Bethel and was still a distance from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor.  She had difficulty in delivery, dying before reaching Ephrath.  To whom did she give birth? Bonus for what she named him and what his name became.	Genesis 35:16-20
3	Even though these two brothers greeted each other with open arms and smiles, although Jacob feared the reunion due to him basically stealing everything from his older brother, who was it that moved some distance away to let Jacob have the sole occupancy of the land promised to Abraham? Bonus for what nation he fathered.	Genesis 36:6
4	Who is the son of Jacob who was seen by his brothers from some distance away and they plotted to kill the son who was a dreamer and had a fancy coat?	Genesis 37:14-18
5	Who was the baby boy placed in the Nile River in a papyrus basket and who was his older sister who stayed some distance away to see what would happen?	Exodus 2:4, Exodus 15
6	After God had given the Ten Commandments to Moses, the people asked Moses to tell them what God had said.  They stayed a distance away, in fear of God.  What manifestations gave them such fear at that moment?	Exodus 20:18
7	Moses would pitch a tent that was called the “tent of meeting.”  Where was this tent pitched?	Exodus 33:7
8	A specific distance is mentioned, 2,000 cubits.  Joshua instructs the tribes they are to move out once they see this thing.  They are to follow it, but they must stay at least 2,000 cubits behind.  What are they to follow when they marched toward the Jordan River and the Promised Land beyond?	Joshua 3:4
9	Who saw their friend from a distance and could hardly recognize him, due to all of his ailments?  These three friends tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.	Job 2:12
10	Fill in the blank from the prophet Isaiah: So justice is driven back,     and _____ stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets,     honesty cannot enter.	Isaiah 59:14

Distance in miles is not mentioned in the Bible until the New Testament (NIV).  The Romans used a distance of one thousand paces, mille passum.  Since an average pace was about five Roman feet long, this would be about 4850 modern feet, since Roman feet were shorter than our feet are today.  But the distance was changed to 5280 feet to account for eight furlongs (each 660 feet).  The furlong was the accepted distance that a team of oxen could plow in a day.  Thus, they changed the length of the “mile” to match eight furlongs.

I wonder if the Bible translators have taken that 400 feet difference into account?  Mile is mentioned four times.  Jesus told us to go the second mile in Matthew 5.  Emmaus is seven miles from Jerusalem.  John is a little vague in his distances with the disciples rowing 3-4 miles before seeing Jesus walk on the water and Bethany is less than two miles from Jerusalem.

In each of these cases, does a distance of 400 feet really matter?  To the story, not at all.  To those walking to Emmaus, the error is about half a mile, but if I had an extra half mile to talk to Jesus face to face, I would not mind it at all.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “distance” what is Abraham preparing to do when he sees his destination off in the distance, taking wood for an altar and leaving his servants behind, with only his boy Isaac going with him?  Bonus for naming the mountain that is “in the distance.”	Genesis 22:4	God was testing Abraham by having him prepare to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.
2	Jacob left Bethel and was still a distance from Ephrath when Rachel went into labor.  She had difficulty in delivery, dying before reaching Ephrath.  To whom did she give birth? Bonus for what she named him and what his name became.	Genesis 35:16-20	Ben-Oni was the name she gave Benjamin, but Jacob changed the name after she died.
3	Even though these two brothers greeted each other with open arms and smiles, although Jacob feared the reunion due to him basically stealing everything from his older brother, who was it that moved some distance away to let Jacob have the sole occupancy of the land promised to Abraham? Bonus for what nation he fathered.	Genesis 36:6	Esau, who was the father of the Edomites
4	Who is the son of Jacob who was seen by his brothers from some distance away and they plotted to kill the son who was a dreamer and had a fancy coat?	Genesis 37:14-18	Joseph
5	Who was the baby boy placed in the Nile River in a papyrus basket and who was his older sister who stayed some distance away to see what would happen?	Exodus 2:4, Exodus 15	Moses was placed in the basket and Miriam, not known by name until Exodus 15, was his older sister.
6	After God had given the Ten Commandments to Moses, the people asked Moses to tell them what God had said.  They stayed a distance away, in fear of God.  What manifestations gave them such fear at that moment?	Exodus 20:18	Thunder, Lightning, a trumpet blast, and the mountain covered in smoke.
7	Moses would pitch a tent that was called the “tent of meeting.”  Where was this tent pitched?	Exodus 33:7	“Some distance” outside the camp.  In Numbers, when the people were counted and organized, the tent of meeting was at the center with each tribe’s camp “a distance from” the tent of meeting in all directions from it.
8	A specific distance is mentioned, 2,000 cubits.  Joshua instructs the tribes they are to move out once they see this thing.  They are to follow it, but they must stay at least 2,000 cubits behind.  What are they to follow when they marched toward the Jordan River and the Promised Land beyond?	Joshua 3:4	The Ark of the Covenant
9	Who saw their friend from a distance and could hardly recognize him, due to all of his ailments?  These three friends tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.	Job 2:12	Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite OR simply Job’s three friends
10	Fill in the blank from the prophet Isaiah: So justice is driven back,     and _____ stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets,     honesty cannot enter.	Isaiah 59:14	Righteousness

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, … Here is Connie Hall singing When I’ve Gone the Last Mile of the Way.

And here is Rhonda Vincent singing a Bluegrass Gospel song, a capella, When I Travel my Last Mile.

And here is Half a Mile singing Psalm 95: Come Let Us.

And here is Jesus at a Distance.  It is sung by Casting Crowns.

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.