When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, “What shall I do about my son?”’

• 1 Samuel 10:2

The king got up in the night and said to his officers, “I will tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving; so they have left the camp to hide in the countryside, thinking, ‘They will surely come out, and then we will take them alive and get into the city.’”

• 2 Kings 7:12

After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.

• 2 Chronicles 32:1

“I know full well what you are thinking, the schemes by which you would wrong me.

• Job 21:27

“This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!

• Jeremiah 37:9

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves,

• Mark 2:6

I was thinking about thinking about the same time that I needed to think about a quiz topic, and I thought of writing a quiz about thinking, called the Thinking Man’s Quiz.  Ah, using thinking four times in one sentence along with think and thought.  I thunk up a great sentence there.

To those not used to backwoods Southern speech, we occasionally would say how we “thunk” the idea up, all on our own – as a response to a compliment about how we had used good thinking.  Saying “thunked” is going way too far into the backwoods.  In my thoughts at this moment, I can hear my sister, a retired speech therapist, saying, “You idiot.”  I will have more on thinking in the next post this afternoon.

These questions deal with the word “thinking”.  They are in biblical order, half in each testament.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who was asked if he was thinking of killing the person asking, as he had killed the Egyptian?
2	When the Israelites refused to take over the Promised Land, Moses chastised them.  Then they got their weapons and what were they thinking?
3	Those that are thinking they will be safe while persisting to go their own way will bring what?
4	Sanballat sent a message to have a meeting, but this was a ruse to harm Nehemiah.  Then Sanballat sent another message to strike fear in the workers. What was Sanballat and his allies thinking?
5	After a period of feasting, Job would go out early the next morning to offer sacrifices to the Lord, thinking what?
6	In Mark 2, What were the teachers of the law thinking when Jesus asked them, “Why are you thinking these things?” in the story of the paralyzed man?
7	When Mary and Joseph were thinking Jesus was among their company and they traveled a day, they asked their relatives and could not find Him.  Where was Jesus? Bonus: How old was Jesus?
8	He asked, “Why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”  And who was it who was thinking that the man was the gardener when she pleaded that if He had moved the body …?
9	What was the vision that Peter was thinking about when the Lord said that three men were at the front door looking for him?  This was when Peter was staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa.
10	A group from Antioch and Iconium went to Lystra and won the crowd.  Who did they stone and what were they thinking as they dragged him out of the town?

In question 6, Jesus asked the teachers of the law what they were thinking.  Let that soak in.  He did not ask what they were grumbling about amongst each other.  Jesus knew what was in their hearts.  He could hear their thoughts.

As a lawyer will tell you, “Do not ask a question in court that you do not know the answer.”

Jesus knew what they were thinking.  Jesus knows what we are thinking.  The idea of doing something in the shadows so that you do not get caught is foolish.  God already knows when we were thinking of doing it.

Why do we pray silently to God, knowing that God hears us, but then a rogue thought enters our mind and we dwell upon it, thinking that we are innocent.  The rogue thought might be a test of faith or a temptation, but dwelling upon that thought is turning our attention away from God.

Lord, forgive me for dwelling upon evil thoughts.  Amen.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who was asked if he was thinking of killing the person asking, as he had killed the Egyptian?	Exodus 2:14
2	When the Israelites refused to take over the Promised Land, Moses chastised them.  Then they got their weapons and what were they thinking?	Deuteronomy 1:41
3	Those that are thinking they will be safe while persisting to go their own way will bring what?	Deuteronomy 29:19
4	Sanballat sent a message to have a meeting, but this was a ruse to harm Nehemiah.  Then Sanballat sent another message to strike fear in the workers. What was Sanballat and his allies thinking?	Nehemiah 6:9
5	After a period of feasting, Job would go out early the next morning to offer sacrifices to the Lord, thinking what?	Job 1:5
6	In Mark 2, What were the teachers of the law thinking when Jesus asked them, “Why are you thinking these things?” in the story of the paralyzed man?	Mark 2:8
7	When Mary and Joseph were thinking Jesus was among their company and they traveled a day, they asked their relatives and could not find Him.  Where was Jesus? Bonus: How old was Jesus?	Luke 2:41-48
8	He asked, “Why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”  And who was it who was thinking that the man was the gardener when she pleaded that if He had moved the body …?	John 20:15
9	What was the vision that Peter was thinking about when the Lord said that three men were at the front door looking for him?  This was when Peter was staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa.	Acts 10:19
10	A group from Antioch and Iconium went to Lystra and won the crowd.  Who did they stone and what were they thinking as they dragged him out of the town?	Acts 14:19

Let us think about thinking.  The media do not state facts anymore.  They tell us the facts that match their narrative, and they give us the analysis of those facts to make it seem that their narrative has been proven.

From the media, we never hear the courtroom drama.  We never hear the facts that the media suppressed.  We never hear the other side of the story.

How can we equip ourselves to sit in a jury unless we hear both sides of the story and make our own determination.  We are being taught by the media to simply listen to them and do not think.

I had a friend who thought half of the people that voted against his preferred political party would vote like he did if they thought about the issues.  I shrugged.  I had no desire to enter a political argument, but then someone who voted the opposite of my friend entered his office and my friend wanted to prove his point.  He asked them ten questions, the top ten points of the political platform.  This person answered every question in favor of the party they voted against.  So, then the eleventh question was, “Why do you vote that way?”  And the answer in this case was that their parents had told them to vote that way.  Other people say they think about it, but they vote for the popular candidate, but is that popularity due to the propaganda promoted by the media?  When we do not think before we vote, we are part of the problem.

But in saying that, God is in control, not a political party or a standing president or prime minister.  If our reliance is not on God, we are not on solid ground.

   …

   …

   …

The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who was asked if he was thinking of killing the person asking, as he had killed the Egyptian?	Exodus 2:14	Moses
2	When the Israelites refused to take over the Promised Land, Moses chastised them.  Then they got their weapons and what were they thinking?	Deuteronomy 1:41	They were thinking it would be easy to go into the hill country to take the land, but due to their lack of faith, the Lord would not go with them.
3	Those that are thinking they will be safe while persisting to go their own way will bring what?	Deuteronomy 29:19	They will bring disaster to the wet ground as well as the dry.
4	Sanballat sent a message to have a meeting, but this was a ruse to harm Nehemiah.  Then Sanballat sent another message to strike fear in the workers. What was Sanballat and his allies thinking?	Nehemiah 6:9	Sanballat and the others were thinking the tactic would weaken the builders of the wall, but Nehemiah prayed for more strength.
5	After a period of feasting, Job would go out early the next morning to offer sacrifices to the Lord, thinking what?	Job 1:5	Thinking that one of his children may have sinned and cursed God during the feasting.
6	In Mark 2, What were the teachers of the law thinking when Jesus asked them, “Why are you thinking these things?” in the story of the paralyzed man?	Mark 2:8	The teachers of the law were thinking that Jesus had blasphemed when He said that the paralyzed man’s sin were forgiven.
7	When Mary and Joseph were thinking Jesus was among their company and they traveled a day, they asked their relatives and could not find Him.  Where was Jesus? Bonus: How old was Jesus?	Luke 2:41-48	In the temple, amazing everyone with His understanding and answers.  Jesus was twelve.
8	He asked, “Why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”  And who was it who was thinking that the man was the gardener when she pleaded that if He had moved the body …?	John 20:15	Mary Magdalene
9	What was the vision that Peter was thinking about when the Lord said that three men were at the front door looking for him?  This was when Peter was staying with Simon the tanner in Joppa.	Acts 10:19	Three times a sheet filled with unclean animals descended from heaven and Peter was told to kill and eat.  Peter could not say what God had made pure was impure.
10	A group from Antioch and Iconium went to Lystra and won the crowd.  Who did they stone and what were they thinking as they dragged him out of the town?	Acts 14:19	They stoned Paul.  They dragged his body out of town thinking he was dead.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Songs of Wisdom singing The Grace Will Carry You.

Here is Josie Buchanan singing Whatever Your Plan Is.  Surrendering to God is not surrendering our thoughts.  It is the culmination of the soundest reasoning on earth.

Here is Jeremy Camp singing Anxious Heart.

There may be something about overthinking in this world.  A lot of people over think the gift given us by Jesus.  It is not too good to be true.  It is Truth itself.

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.