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This icebreaker puzzle of ‘Bible Bites’ is a guessing game based on characters and stories from the Old Testament and could be used to kick off a Bible-based event with the children and adults at your church.

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On your marks

We live in the age of the sound bite and the eye-catching headline, offering us short, snappy pieces of clever wordplay that sum up a news story, a company’s ethos or a firm’s product. Have you ever wondered what some famous Bible stories might sound like reduced to such headlines or sound bites? This icebreaker puzzle of ‘Bible Bites’ is a guessing game based on characters and stories from the Old Testament and could be used to kick off a Bible-based event with the children and adults at your church.

Get set

You will need to enlarge the Bible Bites below on to A4 or A3 card and then put them up around the room. Groups could work as teams with the pen and paper within a pre-arranged time it to identify each hidden Bible character or story. Some may be a little obscure (and strained?) but hopefully fun, others are very obvious!

Go!

Explain the idea of the sound bite or catchy headline using some topical examples from the news or successful advertising. Can the groups work out which Old Testament Bible story or character the following refer to?

  1. A seven-day wonder
  2. The designer’s ten-plates
  3. Hair today, strong tomorrow
  4. Sinai’ed, sea-led and delivered
  5. One bite sinks all
  6. Mane lion closures
  7. Murder he wrote
  8. Drop the dud, donkey
  9. A dream come true
  10. Walls, I scream at
  11. Having a whale of a time!
  12. Keep taking the tablets
  13. We never clothe
  14. No smoke with outer fire
  15. Company afloat after liquidation

A simpler approach to the same game is to have two or more sets of questions and answers copied and given to the teams to pair up correctly. Include a few false answers to confuse and test them!

Why not have a tie-breaker up your sleeve to occupy those teams that finish quickly – for example, can they think up some relevant New Testament sound bites about the life of the apostle Peter?

Here are the answers:

  1. Creation
  2. The 10 Commandments
  3. Samson’s story
  4. The Exodus story (in reverse!)
  5. The Fall from Genesis 3
  6. Daniel in the lion’s den
  7. The story of Cain and Abel
  8. The story of Balaam and his ass
  9. Joseph’s story
  10. Joshua and the walls of Jericho
  11. Jonah’s story
  12. The 10 Commandments (again!)
  13. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
  14. Moses and the burning bush
  15. Noah and the ark

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