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Perfect Timing

The days and months pass quickly as another new year approaches, but we can always trust God's perfect timing. "You are my God," King David wrote. "My times are in your hands." Test your knowledge of God's perfect timing of these biblical events.

1. What was the total number of years that Jacob worked for his father-in-law in order to marry Rachel?

A. 7
B. 14
C. 15
D. 21

2. The woman who touched Jesus' hem was healed of a discharge she had suffered from for how many years?

A. 5
B. 12
C. 15
D. 20

3. How many months of beauty treatments did Esther undergo before it was her turn to go in to King Xerxes?

A. 3
B. 6
C. 12
D. 18

4. How many days and nights did it rain during Noah's flood?

A. 40
B. 50
C. 60
D. 70

5. Lazarus was in the tomb for how many days before Jesus raised him from the dead?

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

6. How many days was the apostle Paul blind after his Damascus road experience?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 5
D. 7

7. How many days did it take Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem's walls?

A. 36
B. 40
C. 52
D. 60

Answers on page 90

1. B. 14 years (Gen. 29:20, 27). Jacob agreed to work 7 years to pay the bride price for Rachel "but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her." After her father deceived him with Leah, Jacob then worked another 7 years for Rachel.

2. B. 12 years (Mark 5:25). By law, an unclean discharge banned the woman from the Temple and forbade physical contact with other people (Lev. 15:25). But the Jews believed that the Messiah's prayer shawl had healing in its "wings" or tassels (Mal. 4:2; Num 15: 38-39). The woman believed Jesus was the Messiah and was healed.

3. C. 12 months (Esther 2:12). Esther completed six months with oil of myrrh and six months with perfume and cosmetics. Myrrh inhibits bacteria and makes a good deodorant; perfume masks body odors. Archaeologists have found cosmetics including eye paint, kohl eye-liner, rouge, powder, and lipstick in Egyptian sites as early as 1400 b.c.

4. A. 40 days (Gen. 7:12) God sealed Noah and his family inside the ark for seven days before the rain started (v. 10). The rain lasted 40 days, but the earth was flooded for 150 days. Altogether, Noah and the animals remained inside the ark for more than one year (compare 7:11 and 8:13-15).

5. D. 4 days (John 11:17). The Jewish seven days of mourning included three "days of weeping" and four "days of lamentation." The deceased's spirit was thought to hover nearby for three days waiting to return, but on the fourth day decay set in and all hope was lost.

6. B. 3 days (Acts 9:9). The prophets equated spiritual error with blindness and said the Messiah would open the eyes of the blind (Isa. 6:9-10, 29:9, 10, 35:5). Paul's healing by Ananias, a Christian, helped him finally "see" the truth about Jesus.

7. C. 52 days (Neh. 6:15). In spite of opposition and threats from his enemies, Nehemiah completed the walls?in ruins for 150 years?in less than two months. He prayed, posted guards, and armed his workers to get the job done.

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