Saturday, February 6, 2010

Trivia questions also available on Sugardoodle.Net

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Friday, February 5, 2010

Trivia questions for OT lessons 11 to 20

OT lesson 11:
Q: How many daughters did Jacob have?
A: Only one, Dinah, the daughter of Leah.


OT lesson 12 (or whichever lesson is on Easter Sunday): 
Q: How is the date of Easter determined?
A: Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after MAR-20, the traditional date of the Spring, or Vernal, Equinox which usually falls on March 20, 21 or 22 according to our present calendar). Easter Sunday can fall on any date from March 23 to April 26th. The year-to-year sequence is so complicated that it takes 5.7 million years to repeat.  

Q: Why is “Easter” called “Easter”?
A: The name Easter comes from the Norse (or perhaps Saxon) goddess Eastre whose festival was observed at the vernal equinox. In 325 A.D. the Council of Nicea determined that Easter among Christians should be celebrated the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the vernal equinox.


OT lesson 13:
Q: Why do portraits/statues of Moses often show him with horns on his head? 
A: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, the book of Exodus tells us that the “skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29-30). Early Latin editions of the Old Testament mistranslated the word “ray of light” for the word “horn”. Thus many early painters and sculptors showed Moses with horns, or later, rays of light which resembled horns. Horns are also the OT symbol of power – priesthood. Hence the horn containing oil for anointing kings; oxen being the symbol of Joseph’s tribe (they have two horns) – although  Moses was a Levite.


OT lesson 14:
Q: Which of the following happened at about the same time as the Exodus from Egypt?

(a) Trojan War (b) Construction of the Great Pyramids (c) Construction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon (d) Great Wall of China [Ensign timeline has Exodus at about 1375BC; the Bible Dictionary from my 1979 LDS Bible has the Exodus in 1491 (note that my 1989 edition doesn’t have dates for Moses and the Exodus); most scholars today date the Exodus to about 1250BC)

Answer is (a) – Trojan War

  • The Great Pyramids are believed to be the oldest man-made structures on earth, dating to before the flood. Estimated to have been built about 2550 BC

  • The Hanging Gardens of Babylon date to about 600 BC. Some have estimated them to be at the same time as the Tower of Babel.

  • Great Wall of China – 200 BC

OT lesson 15: 
Q: What is the Israelite Feast of the Trumpets (instituted in Leviticus 23:24-28), and what does it have to do with the restoration of the Gospel?

A: The Feast of the Trumpets is what we know today as Rosh Hashanah, or Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah begins the Jewish high holy days – days of introspection and repentance – which culminate ten days later on Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement.

Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith on Sept. 22, 1823, and again each Sept. 22 for the next 4 years. Sept. 22 is a significant date because it is the autumnal equinox, the date when days and nights are of equal length. In 1827, the year Joseph Smith received the plates, the Feast of the Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, fell on Sept. 22.  That evening Jews all over the world would have been in synagogues praying that God would remember His covenant people and that He would restore lost truths. Surely Moroni’s turning over the gold plates to Joseph Smith was a fulfillment of these Jewish prayers and traditions.

One of the most important observances of The Feast of the Trumpets is the sounding of the trump in the synagogue. In this case, the trump is a shofar, a ram's horn, which is blown somewhat like a trumpet. In fact, it would have been sounded 100 times. Remember that one of the most prominent modern-day symbols of the restoration of the gospel. It is atop nearly every temple: Moroni with a trump in his hands sounding the “everlasting gospel”.

OT lesson 16: 
Q: What is the Jewish mourning tradition “keri’ah”?

A: When hearing of the death of an immediate relative, or at the funeral home prior to the funeral service, it is customary to tear one’s clothing as a sign of mourning. This is based upon instances of biblical characters rending their garments in anguish upon the death of a loved one.
  • Reuben, upon hearing that his brother Joseph was not in the pit where he had been left, presumed that his brother had been killed, and tore his garments: Genesis 37:29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
  • Jacob, upon hearing of the presumed death of his son Joseph, tore his garments: Genesis 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
  • Job did so upon hearing of the deaths of his children in Job 1:20: Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

  • David also tore his clothing upon hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. We’ll read this reference later in the lesson.

Today it is customary to pin a black ribbon to one's garments and to tear the ribbon instead of one's clothing. For a mother or father, the left side of the shirt is ripped because it is considered a deeper loss for the parent who brought the deceased into the world and are considered closest to you in feelings. For other family members, the right side of the shirt is torn.


OT lesson 17: 
Q: What is a “Mezuzah”? What is a “Tefillin”?

A: God and Moses wanted the Israelites to never forget certain things, so He had them write these ideas out on pieces of parchment, encase them in a mezuzah or in a tefillin, also called phylacteries. The Mezuzah, which means “doorpost” is a small case which contains the rolled-up piece of parchment on which are written two scripture passages which both come from our reading today. They also placed the parchments in little leather tubes, and bound them across their foreheads (called frontlets), between their eyes, around their necks, on their arms, and on their fingers, so that no matter where they went and no matter what they were doing, they were always reminded to do the things which God wanted them to do. Orthodox Jews today wear phylacteries. The purpose was to help them remember.


Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. 

Deuteronomy 11:13-21 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; 17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

These scriptures are written on the parchment with special ink, by a highly trained and certified scribe. The text is written in a single column on 22 scored lines. Every letter must be properly written, for even one letter written incorrectly invalidates the Mezuzah.

There should a mezuzah at the entrance to every Jewish home and on the doorpost of the main rooms within the home. Every time a Jew passes through a door with a mezuzah on it, he or she touches it and then kisses the fingers that touched it, expressing love and respect for God and his commandments, and as a reminder of the specific commandments contained in it.

It is also customary to place mezuzah at the entrances to synagogues and public buildings, including all government offices in Israel. In Israel a mezuzah must be put up immediately when a house is occupied by a Jew --- outside Israel after the householder has lived in the house for 30 days. If the house is later sold to Jews, the mezuzah must be left on the doorposts. Today the mezuzah represents one of Judaism's most widely observed ceremonial commandments – and its origin is part of today’s lesson.

God instituted another means of “remembering” among the Israelites through the custom of wearing a “teffilin”, or phylacteries. There were certain ideas that God wanted the Israelites never to forget, and so He had them write these ideas out on pieces of parchment, encase them in little leather tubes, and then bind them across their foreheads, between their eyes, around their necks, on their arms, and on their fingers, so that no matter where they went and no matter what they were doing, they were always reminded to do the things which God wanted them to do.


OT lesson 18:
Q: What do the 12 oxen on which temple baptismal fonts rest represent? Why oxen? Why not something more aesthetically appealing? Why the number twelve?

A: Moses pronounced a blessing on all twelve tribes of Israel (see Deut. 33). One of the most significant of these blessings was given to the family of Joseph. With prophetic foresight, Moses was inspired to bless the descendants of Joseph with the responsibility to gather Israel in the latter days.

Deut. 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [wild ox; see footnote 17b]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

This prophecy of Moses describes the covenant responsibility and latter-day destiny of Joseph's descendants. The house of Israel was to be gathered in the last days before the second coming of Christ (see Article of Faith 10). Ephraim is described as the “watchmen upon the mount,” the tribe designated to lift a warning voice to gather Israel where they would declare the word of the Lord.

When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, each tribe carried before it a banner with a unique and identifiable symbol on it. The symbol for the tribe of Joseph was the wild ox. With its two great horns, the wild ox came to symbolize power and strength. That power is the priesthood which has been restored in these latter days through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

The twelve oxen which uphold the temple baptismal font represent the twelve tribes of scattered Israel. They are placed facing outward in every direction of the compass: north, south, east, and west. The symbolism here as it relates to the mission of the tribe of Joseph is profound. The priesthood keys necessary for the gathering of Israel were delivered to them by Moses himself in the Kirtland Temple (see D&C 110:11). With that authority and power, modern Israel is to build temples and carry the blessings of the restored Gospel (the Lord's covenant renewed in these latter days) to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

It is also worth noting that the name Joseph in the Hebrew is Asaph, which means "he who gathers," "he who causes to return," or most appropriately, "God gathereth." By divine design, the ancient patriarch who saved Israel from death by famine in the worldly Egypt (Joseph in Egypt; see 1 Nephi 5:14; Genesis 41:56-57), the tribe in Israel who would save Israel from spiritual death in the latter days (the descendants of Joseph; see Deut. 33:17), and the great prophet of the Restoration (Joseph Smith; see D&C 135:3) were all given the name that most appropriately describes their role and divine calling in God's plan for the salvation of all mankind.

The temple font resting on the shoulders of twelve oxen is an ancient, and perfect representation of what is now occurring. Covenant Israel (the oxen) is shouldering the responsibility to build temples and carry the blessings of the restored Gospel to scattered Israel, wherever they may be found – four corners of the earth.


OT lesson 19: 
Q: Who is known as the “Mormon Samson”? 

A: Orrin Porter Rockwell, sometime bodyguard to Joseph Smith and one of Church history’s most colorful characters; Joseph Smith told Rockwell that as long as he remained loyal and true to his faith, he need fear no enemy: "Cut not thy hair and no bullet or blade can harm thee!"; he was also a distant relative to the Smiths and one of the Church’s earliest members, baptized on the same day that Joseph’s parents were in 1830; he also played an important role in the exodus to Salt Lake City; also described as an “Indian fighter, herdsman, guerrilla, mail rider, innkeeper, lawman, army scout, temple worker, barroom brawler, and missionary, most feared gunman of the frontier”. When he died in 1878, the Salt Lake Tribune editorialized that he "participated in at least a hundred murders . . . ." He has remained in the eyes of the public one of the best known of the early Mormon settlers of Utah.


OT lesson 20: 
Q: What is a Leverite marriage? 

A: A Hebrew man dying without a son to continue both his name and his life was considered a particularly terrible tragedy. A brother or cousin could inherit the deceased's property by marrying his widow and offering her a chance to produce a son with genes as close as possible to those of her husband.  Monogamy was the ideal but polygamy was acceptable; thus a prior marriage was not a hindrance, but the kinsman would need both the resources and the desire to support a new wife.

It was the widow who initiated the proceeding, not the kinsman. The marriage not only gave the widow the opportunity to have children but it also meant food and shelter. The widow first had to claim her right to what was called a Levirate Marriage.  There was an order of precedence with the oldest brother of the deceased first in line. If he refused, then the second brother could accept. Then came the opportunity of other male relatives in their turn. The widow made the decision to marry under this law, but then had to accept the first man on the list who said yes.  We will see the Levirite marriage custom play out in lesson 20 which includes the story of Ruth.