When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.

• 1 Samuel 5:23

Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only;

• Philippians 4:15

This quiz is about the word “early.”  I had a quiz in May of 2022, A Few Minutes Late Quiz.  I was basically falling on my sword because my wife had said she was not feeling well, and I could go teach the Sunday school class and not worry about helping her get ready and into the SUV.  I relaxed my frantic list of things to do on that Sunday morning with that little extra time, and was deeply into reading e-mails and checking the blogsite status when I should have gotten my shoes on and run out the door.  I scrambled to get to church a few minutes late.  It has taken me over a year to look at the flip side, being early, but in many of these cases, the word is used in the context of early in the morning.

Although there are several references to “early” in the New Testament, these questions, in biblical order, are all from the Old Testament.  We might get to the ladies who went to the tomb early in the morning another time.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “early” in the NIV, a man offers to take two other men into his home.  After the two men insist on staying in the square, the man convinces them to come home with him, and then later the man protects the other two by not allowing the towns people to have sex with them.  Who is the man, whose wife later became a pillar of salt?
2	Even though it was a three-day journey just to see the mountain God had told Abraham about, he left early in the morning with Isaac, two servants, and enough firewood to make an offering to the Lord.  What had Abraham been told to sacrifice on that mountain?
3	When the seven daughters of Reuel came back early from watering the flock, the daughters said their reason for an early return was that an Egyptian had rescued them from the other shepherds and drew water from the well and watered the flock.  Who was the “Egyptian?”
4	When Moses told the Israelites that they would not enter into the Promised Land due to their lack of belief, what did the Israelites do early the next morning?
5	Joshua called for the priests to carry the ark, the seven priests with trumpets to blow their trumpets, and the army to follow them.  They did this early in the morning for six days, marching around the city.  What city was destroyed on the seventh day?
6	Who asked for a sign from God and early the next morning he rung out a fleece, that had a bowl full of dew in it, while the ground was dry?
7	What woman, a wife of Elkanah, wept bitterly (so bitterly that Eli the priest thought she was drunk) and she prayed that her barren womb would produce a child, even promising to dedicate the child to God if she could conceive?  And then early the next morning she returned to Ramah and slept with her husband, and God remembered her.
8	When an evil king of Israel died and his evil son took over as king, the king of Moab refused to pay tribute as he had done with the previous king.  The new king of Israel, joining forces with King Jehoshaphat of Judah, inquired of Elisha as to their success.  But what odd phenomenon occurred making the Moabite king think the two nations had destroyed each other?
9	Before Job was tested by God, he would awake early the next morning after the family had feasted to do what for each of his children in case one of those children had sinned the night before?
10	Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, who (a prophet) was told by the Lord to go into the courtyard and tell everyone that unless they repent, what happened to Shiloh will happen to Jerusalem?  The people who heard this said that the prophet must die.

I have written about how my mother felt that if we were not fifteen minutes early, we were late.  A former football coach for the New York Giants would fine players for being less than fifteen minutes early to a meeting.  Doctors today will remind their patients that they need to be fifteen minutes early to ensure the paperwork gets filled out before being called back to see the doctor.

The Bible does not talk about fifteen minutes early.  Their means of telling time was not that precise.

But the courtesy of being roughly fifteen minutes early does a lot of things.

I had an employer who said that your worktime starts after you have cleared your inbox, your computer is not just on, but you have uploaded the first file to work on, and you have had your second cup of coffee.  Not drinking coffee, I violated the last one.  Their definition of the start of the workday could be enforceable, while forcing everyone to be to work fifteen minutes early without pay would not be enforceable.

But the employer’s point was that too much productivity was being lost chatting at the coffee maker, reading junk mail that was dumped into the inbox, and waiting for the old-style computers of that day to spend five minutes warming up.  Whether you drink coffee or not, it takes fifteen minutes just clearing the cobwebs from your sleepy head, talking to the person in the next office about the crazy driver who cut you off in traffic, and arranging your desk for the first task of the day to start.  Add coffee to that, and it will take you much longer.

By the way, a maintenance foreman and I arrived 30-45 minutes early everyday to avoid the heavy traffic.  Since I did not drink coffee, I turned on all the lights in common areas (break room, classrooms, hallways, computer-based training rooms, and the copier room) while the foreman made at least two pots of coffee before anyone else showed up.  One day my boss was early due to someone insisting on starting a meeting as the day was supposed to start and he was ill-prepared.  As I flipped the lights on to the break room, I heard him yell from the other entrance to the room, “Where are the light switches?  Where is the coffee?  Don’t these things just … appear … before I get here in the morning?”  Maybe they do these days, having everything on a timer, but not back then.  I looked at the foreman who looked at me and the foreman made some motions suggesting that the boss was crazy.  He might have been right about that, but my boss was my boss.

While an instructional designer / developer will call some of those starting activities part of the task called “Start the task,” they are only accounted for once.  For a task that takes all week to complete, you do not have the luxury in time management to take equal time each day trying to figure out where in the task you ended when you went home yesterday.

Yes, I know, if you went to one school who had a big rivalry with another equal school, you might poke fun at the graduate of the other school by saying, “Okay, I know where you went to school.  Since it is Monday, it may take you a few hours just relearning how to do your job.  Contact me when you are ready to do some real work.”

For those people who forget how to do their job over the weekend, maybe an hour or two early on Monday might be necessary.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “early” in the NIV, a man offers to take two other men into his home.  After the two men insist on staying in the square, the man convinces them to come home with him, and then later the man protects the other two by not allowing the towns people to have sex with them.  Who is the man, whose wife later became a pillar of salt?	Genesis 19:2
2	Even though it was a three-day journey just to see the mountain God had told Abraham about, he left early in the morning with Isaac, two servants, and enough firewood to make an offering to the Lord.  What had Abraham been told to sacrifice on that mountain?	Genesis 22:3
3	When the seven daughters of Reuel came back early from watering the flock, the daughters said their reason for an early return was that an Egyptian had rescued them from the other shepherds and drew water from the well and watered the flock.  Who was the “Egyptian?”	Exodus 2:18
4	When Moses told the Israelites that they would not enter into the Promised Land due to their lack of belief, what did the Israelites do early the next morning?	Numbers 14:40
5	Joshua called for the priests to carry the ark, the seven priests with trumpets to blow their trumpets, and the army to follow them.  They did this early in the morning for six days, marching around the city.  What city was destroyed on the seventh day?	Joshua 6:12
6	Who asked for a sign from God and early the next morning he rung out a fleece, that had a bowl full of dew in it, while the ground was dry?	Judges 6:38
7	What woman, a wife of Elkanah, wept bitterly (so bitterly that Eli the priest thought she was drunk) and she prayed that her barren womb would produce a child, even promising to dedicate the child to God if she could conceive?  And then early the next morning she returned to Ramah and slept with her husband, and God remembered her.	1 Samuel 1:19
8	When an evil king of Israel died and his evil son took over as king, the king of Moab refused to pay tribute as he had done with the previous king.  The new king of Israel, joining forces with King Jehoshaphat of Judah, inquired of Elisha as to their success.  But what odd phenomenon occurred making the Moabite king think the two nations had destroyed each other?	2 Kings 3:22
9	Before Job was tested by God, he would awake early the next morning after the family had feasted to do what for each of his children in case one of those children had sinned the night before?	Job 1:5
10	Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, who (a prophet) was told by the Lord to go into the courtyard and tell everyone that unless they repent, what happened to Shiloh will happen to Jerusalem?  The people who heard this said that the prophet must die.	The chapter is 26, and verses 1 through 8.

I have one of those smart heart watches.  I get a daily sleep report.  Two things are almost always given in my sleep report.  One is that I fall asleep too late at night.  According to my watch, that sends a report to my phone, if you fall asleep after 10pm, your immune system will be destroyed, and you will age more rapidly.  Wow! Like those things can tell time!  I know, sure!!  Benjamin Franklin once said, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”  But Benjamin Franklin did not have the audacity to specifically pick a time of day.  I am retired, and most days of the week have no specific schedule.  If there is a night football game on, I usually go to bed before halftime – register this under the heading of “Why watch the game at all, if you turn off the TV that early?” – and I still do not go to sleep until after 10pm.  I get the nagging report even if I fall asleep at 10:01pm.  I think I age more reading the phone’s nagging report than I do for that one minute of lost sleep, especially when I fell asleep at 8:30pm and then awoke at 9:45pm and then rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.  Oh!?  Since you did not count that hour of sleep for reasons only the computer programmer might know, I still get the nagging report?

The other nagging report is that I awake too easily.  I should become more relaxed.  I should exercise more, and I should establish better living habits.  First, how can I relax when the phone nags me about waking up too easily.  Second, what are better living habits, anyway?!?!  And even if I have exercised all day long, I will awaken easily at night because the CPAP mask leaks.  The CPAP water reservoir runs out of water, if I fill it in the first place.  Or I simply need to roll over.  And note, if I do not use the water reservoir on the CPAP, my mouth will get dry during the night, and that will awaken me.

The second report has nothing to do with being early, but I usually get both each day.

I still contend that those maladies of a poor immune system and aging cannot tell time.  But when my wife was alive, she would fuss at me for going to bed far too early.  I had to get a good night sleep so that I could function properly when the alarm went off at 5:20am and we had to leave the house at 6:30am to take her to kidney dialysis.  She fussed at me for going to bed too early, but she secretly knew why I did so.  I never told her the reason.  It would have hurt her feelings.

But then, after I dropped her off at dialysis, I got to take photos of the sunrise, like the one featured above.

But there is a difference in going to bed at 8:30pm or 9:00pm and tossing and turning for an hour or two versus going to bed at 9:59pm and immediately falling asleep.  Yes, I have been guilty of the former almost all my life, regardless of how much exercise I got during the day.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible Reference	Answers
1	In the first use of the word “early” in the NIV, a man offers to take two other men into his home.  After the two men insist on staying in the square, the man convinces them to come home with him, and then later the man protects the other two by not allowing the towns people to have sex with them.  Who is the man, whose wife later became a pillar of salt?	Genesis 19:2	Lot
2	Even though it was a three-day journey just to see the mountain God had told Abraham about, he left early in the morning with Isaac, two servants, and enough firewood to make an offering to the Lord.  What had Abraham been told to sacrifice on that mountain?	Genesis 22:3	Isaac, but God was only testing Abraham’s faith.  A ram was provided by God.
3	When the seven daughters of Reuel came back early from watering the flock, the daughters said their reason for an early return was that an Egyptian had rescued them from the other shepherds and drew water from the well and watered the flock.  Who was the “Egyptian?”	Exodus 2:18	Moses
4	When Moses told the Israelites that they would not enter into the Promised Land due to their lack of belief, what did the Israelites do early the next morning?	Numbers 14:40	They changed their minds and decided to go into the land God had promised although Moses said they would not succeed.
5	Joshua called for the priests to carry the ark, the seven priests with trumpets to blow their trumpets, and the army to follow them.  They did this early in the morning for six days, marching around the city.  What city was destroyed on the seventh day?	Joshua 6:12	Jericho
6	Who asked for a sign from God and early the next morning he rung out a fleece, that had a bowl full of dew in it, while the ground was dry?	Judges 6:38	Gideon
7	What woman, a wife of Elkanah, wept bitterly (so bitterly that Eli the priest thought she was drunk) and she prayed that her barren womb would produce a child, even promising to dedicate the child to God if she could conceive?  And then early the next morning she returned to Ramah and slept with her husband, and God remembered her.	1 Samuel 1:19	Hannah, who gave birth to Samuel
8	When an evil king of Israel died and his evil son took over as king, the king of Moab refused to pay tribute as he had done with the previous king.  The new king of Israel, joining forces with King Jehoshaphat of Judah, inquired of Elisha as to their success.  But what odd phenomenon occurred making the Moabite king think the two nations had destroyed each other?	2 Kings 3:22	The Moabites arrived near a lake very early in the morning and as the water on the lake refracted the light from the rising sun, the water looked red.  The Moabites thought Israel and Judah had killed each other, and when they went in for the plunder, the Moabite army was routed.
9	Before Job was tested by God, he would awake early the next morning after the family had feasted to do what for each of his children in case one of those children had sinned the night before?	Job 1:5	Sacrifice a burnt offering
10	Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, who (a prophet) was told by the Lord to go into the courtyard and tell everyone that unless they repent, what happened to Shiloh will happen to Jerusalem?  The people who heard this said that the prophet must die.	The chapter is 26, and verses 1 through 8.	Jeremiah

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, … Here is Celtic Worship featuring Steph Macleod singing Be Thou my Vision (c560).  I asked Youtube for Christian hymns with “Early” in the lyrics.  That usually works and I get some songs or hymns that I never heard before, as well as some I was already thinking of.  This time, I got songs and hymns in the early church.  So, I went with it.  I watched the David Wesley video “Evolution of Worship Music” and went with four of the first five that he sings acapella.

For a twist on the theme, here is Tommy Bailey, Keith & Kristyn Getty with A Mighty Fortress is Our God (1529).

And here is Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (1668) sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

And here is Carl Ellis accompanied by over 200 bagpipes with Amazing Grace.  This performance was at the Berlin Tattoo.

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.