But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

• Galatians 5:22-23

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

• Genesis 15:24

that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

• Genesis 26:29

“‘I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

• Leviticus 26:6

Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him.

• Numbers 25:12

From the Desert of Kedemoth I sent messengers to Sihon king of Heshbon offering peace and saying,

• Deuteronomy 2:26

When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace.

• Deuteronomy 20:10

But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

• Judges 6:23

Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

• 1 Samuel 1:17

Last week we started the quizzes on the fruits of the Spirit.

All the verses in this quiz have the word “peace” or some derivative thereof, like peacefully.

The questions are in biblical order.  All questions are from the Old Testament.  There were many wars in the Old Testament, but somehow going through a just war helps us appreciate the peace when it comes.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Joseph told his brothers that the one who had the cup in his sack of grain would have to stay in Egypt, but the rest could live in peace.  Who had the cup in his sack?
2	In the Aaronic or Priestly blessing, the priest blesses the people with several things and the last asking the Lord to give them peace.  Name one of the other blessings.
3	King Sihon at Heshbon stood in the way of the Israelites reaching the Jordan River, and all Moses asked was for the Israelites to pass along the road in peace.  But what happened?
4	In Deuteronomy 20, the Lord establishes the practice of waging war against cities in the Promised Land.  What happens if they accept the offer of peace?
5	Who were the only group of people to accept the offer of peace, as mentioned in question 4?
6	When God tells Gideon that no one will die, and to have Peace, what does Gideon build and what was it called?
7	The Philistines were attacking and the Israelites asked Samuel to ask the Lord for help.  Samuel offered a ram as a burnt offering.  What cause panic among the Philistines so that they retreated, giving up the land they had taken from the Israelites?
8	When the elders of the town saw Samuel come toward them, they asked if Samuel had come in peace.  What had Samuel come to do?
9	Who told Joab at Abel Beth Maakah that the people of the city were the peaceful and faithful of Israel?  And as a bonus, what was given to Joab to ensure a continued peace?
10	Who did Solomon tell Benaiah to kill and place the guilt of bloodshed upon while blessing the line of David with peace?  Solomon mentions the murders of Abner and Amasa as specific murders by this man.

I served in the military during peacetime.

I read multiple articles on the subject, but one estimate was that of the 250 years since 1776, the USA has not been in active combat for 180 to 264 months, or 15 to 22 years.  The 48 months that I served on active duty was roughly 20 to 25% of all the months that the USA has been at peace in its entire history.

That is God’s blessing.  I was assigned to a position in Europe that was essentially a suicide mission.  If the Russians had invaded Western Europe during those years, it might not have ended well for me.

But still, I was there during the Cold War.  We went on countless alerts.  I went on a variety of missions that walked out the scenarios if we were to go to war.  We did not dwell on it, but we as active-duty military were aware of why we were there in Germany.  And our families knew.  It was an unsteady peace, a peace that was not exactly peaceful.

One of the things that I look at when looking at prophecies is the promise of peace.  When God promises the people of Israel that they will have no fear of their neighbors, those are End Times prophecies.

When mankind promises us peace, it is most often a lie or, in some limited cases, it is a cease in active conflict between the two warring sides.  When I was in the military, the people in North Korea would fire a rifle at South Korea, randomly, usually not hitting anyone.  That may still be going on.  Much of the “peace” in the world today is an uneasy peace.

When God promises us peace, He fulfills His promise.  When you take away the sin nature from everyone, and you take sin and death and throw them into the lake of fire, you have true peace.  You never have to look over your shoulder to see if the other side will attack.  You never have to go on exercises to prove your readiness.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Joseph told his brothers that the one who had the cup in his sack of grain would have to stay in Egypt, but the rest could live in peace.  Who had the cup in his sack?	Genesis 44:17
2	In the Aaronic or Priestly blessing, the priest blesses the people with several things and the last asking the Lord to give them peace.  Name one of the other blessings.	Numbers 6:24-26
3	King Sihon at Heshbon stood in the way of the Israelites reaching the Jordan River, and all Moses asked was for the Israelites to pass along the road in peace.  But what happened?	Deuteronomy 2:26
4	In Deuteronomy 20, the Lord establishes the practice of waging war against cities in the Promised Land.  What happens if they accept the offer of peace?	Deuteronomy 20:10-11
5	Who were the only group of people to accept the offer of peace, as mentioned in question 4?	Joshua 11:19
6	When God tells Gideon that no one will die, and to have Peace, what does Gideon build and what was it called?	Judges 6:23-24
7	The Philistines were attacking and the Israelites asked Samuel to ask the Lord for help.  Samuel offered a ram as a burnt offering.  What cause panic among the Philistines so that they retreated, giving up the land they had taken from the Israelites?	1 Samuel 7:9-14
8	When the elders of the town saw Samuel come toward them, they asked if Samuel had come in peace.  What had Samuel come to do?	1 Samuel 16:4
9	Who told Joab at Abel Beth Maakah that the people of the city were the peaceful and faithful of Israel?  And as a bonus, what was given to Joab to ensure a continued peace?	2 Samuel 20:19
10	Who did Solomon tell Benaiah to kill and place the guilt of bloodshed upon while blessing the line of David with peace?  Solomon mentions the murders of Abner and Amasa as specific murders by this man.	1 Kings 2:30-33

It is interesting that only one city accepted the provisions of the peace that the Israelites offered.  The rest went into battle to keep their freedom.  But then, did they really have freedom, with armed forces on all sides?

Our freedoms that we enjoy came at a price.  And far too often we ignore God and the soldier as a result.

We can read the beginning and ending of the book of Job to see how God tests our faith.  We are not promised a peaceful life with no struggles.  The Bible is filled with warning that suffering must be expected in this life.

But the book of Job is focused on one person.  Doesn’t God do the same thing to nations?

How often did God rescue the Israelites just to have them turn their backs on God?

Telling a nation to repent is not hate speech, it is like the man at the edge of the cliff begging people to turn around.  How much more loving can we be than to try to keep our neighbors from making the same mistake that the country has made in past generations?

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Joseph told his brothers that the one who had the cup in his sack of grain would have to stay in Egypt, but the rest could live in peace.  Who had the cup in his sack?	Genesis 44:17	Benjamin
2	In the Aaronic or Priestly blessing, the priest blesses the people with several things and the last asking the Lord to give them peace.  Name one of the other blessings.	Numbers 6:24-26	“‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
3	King Sihon at Heshbon stood in the way of the Israelites reaching the Jordan River, and all Moses asked was for the Israelites to pass along the road in peace.  But what happened?	Deuteronomy 2:26	King Sihon brought his army to fight the Israelites.  The Amorites were destroyed, King Sihon, his sons, and the entire army.
4	In Deuteronomy 20, the Lord establishes the practice of waging war against cities in the Promised Land.  What happens if they accept the offer of peace?	Deuteronomy 20:10-11	The people will become subject to forced labor.  Otherwise, the men will be destroyed.  The women, children, and livestock can be taken as plunder unless otherwise instructed.
5	Who were the only group of people to accept the offer of peace, as mentioned in question 4?	Joshua 11:19	The Hivites who lived in the city of Gibeon.  From this point on, they are referred to as Gibeonites.
6	When God tells Gideon that no one will die, and to have Peace, what does Gideon build and what was it called?	Judges 6:23-24	An altar called the Lord of Peace.
7	The Philistines were attacking and the Israelites asked Samuel to ask the Lord for help.  Samuel offered a ram as a burnt offering.  What cause panic among the Philistines so that they retreated, giving up the land they had taken from the Israelites?	1 Samuel 7:9-14	God brought thunder throughout the Philistine camp.
8	When the elders of the town saw Samuel come toward them, they asked if Samuel had come in peace.  What had Samuel come to do?	1 Samuel 16:4	Samuel had come to anoint a son of Jesse to be king after Saul, with God choosing David.
9	Who told Joab at Abel Beth Maakah that the people of the city were the peaceful and faithful of Israel?  And as a bonus, what was given to Joab to ensure a continued peace?	2 Samuel 20:19	An unnamed wise woman, who learning that Joab only wanted the traitorous Sheba, tossed the traitor’s head over the wall of the city.
10	Who did Solomon tell Benaiah to kill and place the guilt of bloodshed upon while blessing the line of David with peace?  Solomon mentions the murders of Abner and Amasa as specific murders by this man.	1 Kings 2:30-33	Joab

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well…  Here is Peace like a River (in my soul) sung by “Listening Kids”.  The world may not be at peace everywhere, but we can have peace, love, and joy, like a river in our soul.

Here is Lauren Daigle with Peace Be Still.  Notice the lyrics.  The singer speaks of not being afraid.  One of the things was a storm.  One of the questions in the quiz dealt with God giving the Israelites the battle by instilling fear in the enemy due to thunder.  The lightning is the deadly thing, but the thunder, just a noise, can bring fear into people even when they sit comfortably in a well-protected house.  In World War I they called the disorder “Shell Shock.”  They call it PTSD these days, but shell shock was a descriptive term for that war.  You stayed in your bunker as the shells fell and exploded.  You never knew when the shelling might stop or when the next shell would defeat your defenses and cause your own bunker to crash down upon you.  And the shelling coming to a halt might be a bad sign that the enemy may attack while you were still hunkered down waiting for the next shell to fall.  The fear was so palpable that you could taste it.

Here is Celtic Worship, singing Prince of Peace.

Peace is a Fruit of the Spirit.  It is ours for the taking.  God is offering us Peace in our soul.  And when we have His Joy, His Hope, His Love, and His Peace, we want to tell everyone.

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.