What Is Real Jeopardy?

(3 Minute Read)

My wife and I enjoy watching the television quiz show Jeopardy! from time to time, especially when it has a champion in the midst of a run of wins.

Last spring we especially enjoyed watching James Holzhauer, nicknamed Jeopardy James, who set many records as he won 32 games in a row and over $2.4 million.

Recently Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) tournament began on Tuesday, January 7, 2020. The game show’s top three all-time money winners competed in a multi-night tournament for a winner’s prize of $1 million. The second-place and third-place contestants each received $250,000.

The contestants in the Jeopardy! GOAT tournament were these three men:
Ken Jennings (45) owns the longest Jeopardy! winning streak with 74 wins in 2004.
Brad Rutter (41) is the top all-time Jeopardy! money winner.
James Holzhauer (35) has the second-longest Jeopardy! winning streak with 32 wins in 2019. He holds the most Jeopardy! records (20) including the top 15 single-day Jeopardy! winnings.

Tournament host Alex Trebek said, “Based on their previous performances, these three are already the ‘greatest,’ but you can’t help wondering: who is the best of the best?”

The Jeopardy! GOAT tournament consisted of a series of nightly matches. Each night’s match was two back-to-back half-hour games. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games won the night’s match. Play continued night after night (except Friday and Monday) until one player won three matches. Thus the tournament could last anywhere from three to seven nights.

The GOAT tournament lasted four nights. Ken Jennings won the tournament by winning the first, third, and fourth matches. James Holzhauer won the second match and came in second on the other three. Brad Rutter did not win any matches, placing third each night.

James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter congratulate winner Ken Jennings
(Picture compliments of USA TODAY.)

The Jeopardy! Cachet

Long-time host Alex Trebek is highly respected and beloved. He has delivered dignity, courtesy, and humor to the Jeopardy! stage. Much attention has been focused on him in the last year due to his announced diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Regarding his Jeopardy! legacy, Trebek hopes that he has been “an influence for not underestimating the benefits of knowledge on life. Even though you are not going to use it in a practical way in daily life … it becomes part of you and enriches you, and makes you a better human being.”
(Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek doesn’t want pity, USA TODAY, January 8, 2020)

As indicated by Trebek’s words, Jeopardy! promotes, honors, and glorifies knowledge.

Those who thirst for knowledge, like Jeopardy! aficionados, should seek out the fount of all knowledge and wisdom.
Attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)

Knowledge is valuable and should be sought. A thirst for knowledge and how to use it (wisdom) is praised in Scripture:
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. (Proverbs 15:14)
The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15)

Where does one start the search for knowledge and wisdom?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

Real Jeopardy

All men know that there is a Creator God, despite atheists protestations to the contrary. They are simply suppressing the truth of God that they inherently know.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1:18-23 NASB)

To answer the title question, real jeopardy is facing the Creator God at the end of life and having to answer for one’s own sins without the help of Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man.
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31 NASB)

I urge all who are not yet ready to face their Creator to avoid jeopardy by committing themselves to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the source of all knowledge and wisdom, is the only mediator between the holy Creator God and sinful man.

Questions to Ponder

1. What great man of history had a “jeopardy contest” with a foreign queen who came to test him with difficult questions? How was it that he answered all her questions; nothing was hidden … which he did not explain?
   (Hint: 1 Kings 10:1-13)
2. What Jeopardy! clue could you write to highlight real jeopardy?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria. Alere Flammam Veritatis.

Read the prequel:
Jeopardy, James, & Jennings

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday January 22, 2020 A.D.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

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