JAMB Christian Religious Knowledge 2015
Questions & Answers

1) Distractor check: Students may incorrectly guess that the physical quality of the grain or the birth order dictated the divine choice. 2) Reasoning to the answer: According to Genesis 4:4–5 and Hebrews 11:4, Abel’s offering was accepted due to his faith and righteousness, while Cain’s was rejected because of his sinful heart and lack of faith (1 John 3:12). 3) Common mistake: Focusing on the material nature of the sacrifice rather than the spiritual condition of the offerer's heart.

1) Distractor check: Lot's personal hospitality or wealth might seem like adequate reasons for divine rescue to a casual reader. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Genesis 19:29 highlights that God spared Lot due to Abraham’s intercession for the righteous in Sodom (Genesis 18:23–32). 3) Common mistake: Crediting Lot's individual merits instead of the intercessory prayers offered by Abraham.

1) Distractor check: Options like reconciling with Esau or wrestling with God are major milestones in Jacob's life that happen at different locations. 2) Reasoning to the answer: In Genesis 28:16–19, Jacob named Luz 'Bethel' (House of God) after dreaming of a ladder with angels, signifying God’s presence. 3) Common mistake: Mixing up the dream of the heavenly ladder with the later nocturnal wrestling match at Peniel.

1) Distractor check: Disobeying orders at the Red Sea or unauthorized temple service might be confused with Miriam's specific insubordination. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Numbers 12:1–10 records Miriam’s leprosy as punishment for criticizing Moses’ Cushite wife and challenging his prophetic authority. 3) Common mistake: Forgetting that her punishment stemmed from direct challenges to prophetic leadership rather than general grumbling about the journey.

1) Distractor check: Students might assume the daily bread was a direct symbol of Abrahamic covenants or a punishment rather than a trial. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Exodus 16:4–5 states that manna was a test of obedience, requiring the Israelites to gather only daily portions, fostering trust in God. 3) Common mistake: Viewing the provision merely as a physical meal rather than a spiritual discipline testing daily reliance.

1) Distractor check: Jephthah or Ehud might be selected by students confusing the various judges and their unique military campaigns. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Judges 7:2–7 shows God reduced Gideon’s army to 300 to demonstrate divine power in defeating the Midianites. 3) Common mistake: Attributing the numerical reduction strategy to the wrong Old Testament deliverer.

1) Distractor check: Building unauthorized structures or losing battles to the Philistines are common royal failures in the narrative, but they are not the primary cause here. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 1 Samuel 15:22–23 explains Saul’s rejection for disobeying God by sparing Agag and keeping Amalekite spoil. 3) Common mistake: Confusing partial obedience with complete adherence to divine commands.

1) Distractor check: Baal worship was a frequent sin for the couple, leading some to falsely link it to this specific property dispute. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 1 Kings 21:5–16 details Ahab and Jezebel’s coveting, false accusation, and murder to acquire Naboth’s vineyard. 3) Common mistake: Blurring general idolatry with the specific judicial murder committed to steal land.

1) Distractor check: Jeremiah and Isaiah also prophesied during periods of national crisis, making them tempting guesses for visionary imagery. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Ezekiel 37:1–14’s vision of dry bones represents God’s promise to restore Israel from Babylonian exile. 3) Common mistake: Attributing symbolic prophetic actions to contemporaries like Jeremiah who used different objects like yokes.

1) Distractor check: Famine or kingdom division are classic biblical consequences, but a specific major geopolitical doom was decreed for this king's actions. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 2 Kings 21:10–15 states Manasseh’s idolatry prompted God’s decree of Judah’s exile to Babylon. 3) Common mistake: Underestimating the severity of cumulative royal sin on the fate of the entire nation.

1) Distractor check: Students might think it was meant to test faith or confuse the enemy army rather than bring about a specific royal demise. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 1 Kings 22:20–23 reveals God sent a lying spirit to mislead Ahab’s prophets, leading to his death in battle. 3) Common mistake: Overlooking the judicial nature of deception used to fulfill a specific prophetic doom.

1) Distractor check: Annual harvest celebrations or decennial priestly rotations are plausible-sounding religious ordinances, but they miss the core interval and purpose. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Leviticus 25:8–13 outlines the Year of Jubilee, every 50 years, to restore land and free slaves, promoting social justice. 3) Common mistake: Confusing the seventh-year Sabbath with the fiftieth-year Jubilee cycle.

1) Distractor check: Jeroboam or Jehu are prominent northern monarchs who could easily be misidentified as the casualty of this chaotic engagement. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 1 Kings 22:34–35 records Ahab’s death by a random arrow at Ramoth-Gilead, fulfilling Micaiah’s prophecy. 3) Common mistake: Assuming royal armor protects a ruler from prophesied random calamities.

1) Distractor check: Creation or priesthood establishment are foundational theological concepts, but they are tied to different observances. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Exodus 12:11–14 establishes the Passover as a memorial of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. 3) Common mistake: Mistaking the historic national liberation festival for a cosmic or priestly institution.

1) Distractor check: Testing prophetic obedience or promoting cross-national reconciliation are themes found elsewhere, but not the core allegory here. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Hosea 1:2–3 shows Hosea’s marriage to Gomer symbolized Israel’s spiritual adultery against God. 3) Common mistake: Reading the marital command as a literal domestic instruction rather than a prophetic enactment.

1) Distractor check: The fall of Samaria relates to the northern kingdom, while temple destruction happened later, tempting incorrect chronological guesses. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 2 Kings 24:10–16 marks the exile’s start with Jehoiachin’s deportation in 597 BC. 3) Common mistake: Equating the final destruction of Jerusalem's temple with the initial wave of deportations.

1) Distractor check: Rebuilding walls or fighting political oppressors were concerns of other eras, like Nehemiah's time. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Malachi 3:1–7 urges Israel to repent of unfaithfulness in worship, tithes, and obedience. 3) Common mistake: Confusing post-exilic prophetic calls to ethical worship with physical construction projects.

1) Distractor check: Unauthorized altar fires or treasury theft are famous priestly sins, but a different boundary was crossed during the transport of sacred objects. 2) Reasoning to the answer: 2 Samuel 6:6–7 states Uzzah died for touching the Ark, violating God’s holiness command. 3) Common mistake: Believing good intentions override explicit directives regarding holy objects.

1) Distractor check: Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah address different geopolitical entities and impending divine judgments. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Obadiah 1:10–14 condemns Edom’s violence and gloating over Israel’s calamity. 3) Common mistake: Attributing prophecies concerning neighboring nations to generic minor prophets.

1) Distractor check: Agricultural success or the burden of the Mosaic law are metaphorical possibilities that students often mix up with geopolitical submission. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Jeremiah 27:2–11 shows Jeremiah wearing a yoke to symbolize Judah’s submission to Babylon’s rule. 3) Common mistake: Interpreting prophetic object lessons as agricultural symbols rather than political prophecies.