Riddle: Who Am I?

Encouragement
Riddle: Who Am I?​

This riddle was written by a lady in California, in 1890, in response to an offer from a gentleman in Philadelphia, that he would pay anyone $1,000 who could write a puzzle he could not solve. He failed to solve it and paid the money.

A Poem Of Biblical Proportions

Adam, God made out of dust,
But thought it best to make me first.
So I was made sometime before man,
To answer God's most holy plan.

A living being I became,
And Adam gave to me my name.
I, from his presence, then withdrew,
And more of Adam I never knew.

I did my Maker's Law obey,
Nor never went from it astray.
Thousands of miles I go in fear,
But seldom on earth do I appear.

For purpose wise which God did see,
He put a living soul in me.
The soul in me, God had fed,
Until, finally, the soul had fled.

I am the same
As when first made.
Without hands, feet, or face,
I travel on from place to place.

I labor hard by day and night,
To fallen man I give great light.
Thousands of people, young and old,
Will, by my death, great light behold.

No right or wrong can I conceive,
The Scriptures I cannot believe.
Although my name therein is found,
They are, to me, an empty sound.

No fear of death doth trouble me,
Real happiness I'll never see.
To heaven I shall never go,
Nor to hell far below.

Now when, these lines, you slowly read,
Go search your Bible with all speed.
For that my name is written there,
I do, honestly, to you, declare…

"The answer is one word!"

Spoiler: The Answer to the Riddle

The answer is one word. There are five letters in the word, appearing only four times in the Bible.

1. (Genesis 1:21) "And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
2. (Ezekiel 32:2) "Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers."
3. (Job 7:12) "Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?"
4. (Matthew 12:40) "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Riddle: Who Am I?
A Poem Of Biblical Proportions

Adam, God made out of dust, but thought it was best to make me first. So I was made before man to answer God's most holy plan. A living being I became and Adam gave me my name. From his presence I then withdrew and more of Adam I never knew. I did my maker's law obey, not ever went from it astray. Thousands of miles I go in fear, but seldom on the earth appear.

• Whales are in the ocean

For purpose wise which God did see, he put a living soul in me.

• Jonah

A soul from me God did claim and took from me the soul again. So when from me the soul had fled, I was the same as when first made.

• Jonah was freed from the whale

And without hands or feet or soul, I travel on from pole to pole.

• Whales are long-distance travelers

I labor hours by day, by night to follow man to give him light. Thousands of people, young and old, will by my death great light behold.

• Whale oil burns very nicely in many lamps. But the whale must be killed to get the oil.

No right or wrong can I conceive, the scriptures I cannot believe. Although my name therein is found, they are to me an empty sound. No fear of death doth trouble me, real happiness I'll never see. To Heaven I shall never go, or to Hell below.

• Remember this lady wrote this in 1890. I don't know what version of the Bible she used.

Now when these lines you slowly read, so search your Bible with all speed for that my name is there, I do honestly to you declare.

Whale​