In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping.

• Isaiah 15:3

My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

• Psalm 22:15

Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,

• Daniel 4:29

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

• Matthew 8:8

This quiz is about the word “roof.”  It appears 46 times in the NIV, mostly in the Old Testament.

As I did once before, the scriptures above inspired the first four questions in the quiz.  This is followed by one question that has four Bible references.  Only the last five questions are in biblical order.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In Isaiah 15:3, it says that the people will wail on their roofs.  In what nation, a nation bordering Israel?
2	In Psalm 22, it starts with words Jesus said from the cross, but when the psalmist speaks of his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, what act described in the following verse seems like the crucifixion?
3	The king had a dream.  The dream was interpreted.  Then a year later, according to Daniel 4:29, the king bragged about his kingdom and the dream came to pass.  Who was the king and what happened?
4	When Jesus heard what the centurion said in Matthew 8:8, what did Jesus say about this Roman and what happened?
5	In Proverbs, the word “roof” is mentioned four times, twice in the corner of the roof and twice with the dripping of a leaky roof, but all four ties in comparison to what?
6	What is the first reference to the word “roof” in the Bible?  In other words, on what did God command a roof to be built?
7	Who did Rahab hide on the roof under stalks of flax?
8	Who visited Samuel and talked on his roof, apparently sleeping on the roof overnight?
9	When friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof into the house where Jesus was preaching, what did Jesus tell the man which caused a great uproar?
10	Where had Peter gone to pray when the sheet with all the animals was brought to him in a dream?

When I wrote this, I had not written very much for a few days.  I was comfortably ahead of schedule, but roofers came to replace the roof.  The landlady was there to oversee the work, and I spent a lot of time talking with her.  Two major tasks got scheduled beyond the roof, and a scrap man came and got a few large items.  With those gone and a few other things thrown into the dumpster with the roofing debris, I have a lot more room in which to clean house and sort out things that I want to give away.

But in the process of the heat wave and disconnecting the air conditioning where I sleep in order for the roofers to finish everything, I got extremely hot, which set off some bad side effects.  I simply want to sleep all day and all night, totally drained of all energy.  Then, again, the second shingles booster may have an effect also.

So, hopefully, I am going to get back into the writing groove soon without anyone noticing any gaps.  I have faith that God will keep me on track.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In Isaiah 15:3, it says that the people will wail on their roofs.  In what nation, a nation bordering Israel?	Isaiah 15:1-3
2	In Psalm 22, it starts with words Jesus said from the cross, but when the psalmist speaks of his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, what act described in the following verse seems like the crucifixion?	Psalm 22:16
3	The king had a dream.  The dream was interpreted.  Then a year later, according to Daniel 4:29, the king bragged about his kingdom and the dream came to pass.  Who was the king and what happened?	Daniel 4:31-33
4	When Jesus heard what the centurion said in Matthew 8:8, what did Jesus say about this Roman and what happened?	Matthew 8:10-13
5	In Proverbs, the word “roof” is mentioned four times, twice in the corner of the roof and twice with the dripping of a leaky roof, but all four ties in comparison to what?	Proverbs 19:13; 21:9; 25:24; 27:15
6	What is the first reference to the word “roof” in the Bible?  In other words, on what did God command a roof to be built?	Genesis 14:16
7	Who did Rahab hide on the roof under stalks of flax?	Joshua 2:6
8	Who visited Samuel and talked on his roof, apparently sleeping on the roof overnight?	1 Samuel 9:25-26
9	When friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof into the house where Jesus was preaching, what did Jesus tell the man which caused a great uproar?	Luke 5:20-21
10	Where had Peter gone to pray when the sheet with all the animals was brought to him in a dream?	Acts 10:9

The construction of homes in biblical times involved flat roofs.  Bathsheba was spied upon by King David, taking a bath on her roof.  The roof had a means of guarding people from accidentally falling off, just as our safety rules have today.  In biblical times, the roof was the cool place, above the hustle and bustle down below, where a nice breeze might refresh the body.  The lyrics to the song, Up on the Roof, were just as true in biblical times as they are today.  But in many places, there are not many buildings with flat roofs.

Thinking of flat roofs and roofers that shunned safety precautions, I was in charge of roof refinishing at a government facility back over forty years ago.  Management wanted rubber roofs.  My neck was on the line each time one of the roofers was not tied off, anything above eight feet, which meant every roof.  The roofers were fearless and fought the rules at 14ft, and even up to 40ft.  But one of the roofs was 150ft above ground level and on one side of that roof, there was no ledge for that 150ft drop.  In fact, they were doing maintenance and had floor panels removed.  If someone fell, it would be 170ft before they hit equipment, even further to a wire mesh floor.  Management said I had to watch each bit of flashing being installed at that level.  The lucky roofer who installed the flashing around the edge between the roof and the outside wall, was tied off, so that he could not physically fall from the roof.  While at 40ft or even 100ft above the ground, they complained about the harnesses and rope tethers, but on this occasion, he carefully crawled on his hands and knees to get close enough to the edge to see where to nail the flashing.  It was as if he was hugging the roof, not quite trusting the roof to keep him from falling.

I mused to the supervisor of the crew, “So, they do have their limits!”

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In Isaiah 15:3, it says that the people will wail on their roofs.  In what nation, a nation bordering Israel?	Isaiah 15:1-3	Moab
2	In Psalm 22, it starts with words Jesus said from the cross, but when the psalmist speaks of his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, what act described in the following verse seems like the crucifixion?	Psalm 22:16	Piercing his hands and feet
3	The king had a dream.  The dream was interpreted.  Then a year later, according to Daniel 4:29, the king bragged about his kingdom and the dream came to pass.  Who was the king and what happened?	Daniel 4:31-33	Nebuchadnezzar was reduced to a feral beast, eating grass, his hair grew like feathers and his nails like the claws of a bird … until he proclaimed that God was sovereign over all kingdoms.
4	When Jesus heard what the centurion said in Matthew 8:8, what did Jesus say about this Roman and what happened?	Matthew 8:10-13	Jesus said that He had seen no one in Israel with faith as strong as the centurion.  He told this Roman to go home, that his servant had been healed.
5	In Proverbs, the word “roof” is mentioned four times, twice in the corner of the roof and twice with the dripping of a leaky roof, but all four ties in comparison to what?	Proverbs 19:13; 21:9; 25:24; 27:15	A quarrelsome wife, but give Solomon a break.  With 700 wives and 300 concubines, what are the odds that he ever had a day when a few of them were not quarrelsome?
6	What is the first reference to the word “roof” in the Bible?  In other words, on what did God command a roof to be built?	Genesis 14:16	Noah’s Ark
7	Who did Rahab hide on the roof under stalks of flax?	Joshua 2:6	Joshua’s spies that had spied on Jericho
8	Who visited Samuel and talked on his roof, apparently sleeping on the roof overnight?	1 Samuel 9:25-26	Saul before being anointed king.
9	When friends lowered a paralyzed man through the roof into the house where Jesus was preaching, what did Jesus tell the man which caused a great uproar?	Luke 5:20-21	“Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
10	Where had Peter gone to pray when the sheet with all the animals was brought to him in a dream?	Acts 10:9	Up on the roof  (while staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa).

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, … Here are The Drifters singing Up on the Roof.  Did you expect anything else?

Here is Jesus Culture singing Rooftops.

And here is Chris Tomlin singing Tin Roof.

But maybe you heard Up On the Roof and you were thinking of James Taylor.  Okay, I hear your cries, so let’s start this song session with the same song, although they hardly Sound like the same song.

And maybe when we go up on the roof, we can find time, away from the rat race below, maybe we can seek God.

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.