A Cliff Hanger Mini- Mystery!

The Adventures of

Cliff Hanger

And A Hitch in Crime

        Mini-Mystery

          By Jeff Fraker

“We’re chasing bank robbers Cliff!” Skip exclaimed. “We don’t have time to pick up hitchhikers!”

“It’s over ninety degrees, Kid!” Cliff replied. “There’s no shade and this road hardly ever has traffic.”

“Yeah—I guess it is the right thing to do.” The teenager conceded.

        The hitchhiker smiled and flicked a half smoked cigarette away as he climbed into

        Cliff’s car.

“I really appreciate this!” he said as he swabbed his face with his handkerchief. “I sure picked the wrong stretch of road to thumb on a hot day like today!”

The stranger took a chocolate bar from his faded green duffle bag, snapped off a piece and offered it to the two adventurers.

“You seem to be in a hurry” he noted, “What brings you this no-mans land?”

“We’re chasing bank robbers in a blue sedan!” Skip replied.

“In a—“ the hitchhiker gasped. “Hey! A blue sedan with three guys in it just about ran me over a few minutes ago! I ought to remember it—theirs was the first car I’ve seen on this road for two hours! But you’re going the wrong way!”

Cliff shot a glance in the rear view mirror. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Those guys turned off at the intersection a little ways beyond where you picked me up!”

Cliff quickly stopped the car.

“Sure—“ the hitchhiker said. “They’re headed east, not north!”

Cliff turned the car around in the narrow road and launched into the opposite direction.

“We’ll never catch them now.” Skip sighed.

“Skip—have I ever told you about the Gibeonites?” Cliff asked, with a hint of a smile. “Back when Joshua was the leader of the Israelites, God told him to take control of the Promised Land by wiping out the wicked people who inhabited the land. One by one, Israel defeated the nations by God’s mighty power. One day, some travelers approached Joshua. ‘We are from a distant country and we have heard of your great victories and we wish to make a peace treaty with you.’ Joshua examined the strangers and noted that their clothes were worn and their bread was stale. By all appearances these men had indeed traveled many miles. So without praying about it, Joshua agreed to spare the nation of Gibeon.”

A wrinkle streaked Skip’s brow.

“I don’t get it. What does--?” he began.

        
        Cliff continued: “It wasn’t until later that Joshua discovered the men had deceived him!   

         The men’s homeland was actually just over the hillside! They had dressed in
         old clothes and used old food to appear as if they were not from the area that Israel was             to conquer! 

         Their trick fooled Joshua into sparing them!”

“Say,” the hitchhiker blurted “you can let me out here since you are going another direction!”

“Sorry,” Cliff said seriously, “you’re coming back to town to tell us where the rest of your gang is really going!”

          What made Cliff suspect that the hitchhiker was in on the robbery?

The answer is below-

Answer:

The hitchhiker had been left behind to misdirect anyone in pursuit of the band robbers. Cliff realized that, if the man had been on the road for two hours in the hot sun as he claimed, the chocolate bar would have been a melted mess and a piece could not have been snapped off. Unlike the Gibeonites, the robbers’ trick did not succeed! Read about the misleading deed of the Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 9! Read the Bible daily, it could start you on the greatest adventure of your life!

A Cliff Hanger Mini- Mystery!

            “You and your companion have trespassed on the land of my people, Cliff Hanger.  For  that… “Proclaimed the stern faced native chief, “you will be put to death!”

            “But we didn’t know!“ exclaimed Skip.  “We—“

            The Chief’s raised hand cut the teen’s words short.

            “Our law—“ continued the native leader, “allows you to make one final statement which will determine how you will die.  If the statement you make is false, you will be thrown into a pit of deadly snakes—if the statement is true, you will be shot with poisoned arrows.”

            “Some choice!” Skip scoffed.

            The regal native turned to leave.  “We will await your statement over here.”  As their captors moved aside, Skip turned to Cliff anxiously.

            “It’s a no win situation, Cliff!  What do we do?” 

            To the young sidekick’s surprise there was a slight smile on Cliff Hanger’s face.  “Do you remember when the priests were trying to trip up Jesus with their questions?” The tall adventurer began.  “They asked him a question that if Jesus answered truthfully, his enemies could have him put to death.”

            Skip shook his head vigorously.  “But Jesus would never lie—so he was in a no win situation too!”

            “Right Skip, and since Jesus knew this, he told the priest that he would answer their question if they answered a question that Jesus himself would ask.”

            Skip’s eyes narrowed as he tried to remember the story as Cliff continued.  “Jesus asked them, ‘Was John the Baptist’s baptisms from heaven or was it merely the work of a man?’”

            Skip lit up.  “Oh yeah!” he recalled.  “The priest knew that if they said John’s power was from Heaven, then Jesus would ask why the priest refused to believe John.”

            “And-” Cliff added, “If they dared to say it was merely human work then the many believers of John, who were gathered around, would start a riot.”

            “So the priest said they couldn’t answer because they didn’t know.”

            “And Jesus responded ‘Then I won’t answer your question.’  Jesus used his enemies own trap to turn it around on them and put them in a no win situation.” 

Skip nodded, “But how does that help us to escape our enemies?”

“Think about the Chief’s question while I go and have a talk with him.” Cliff replied. He patted his young friend on the shoulder and made his way to the small crowd of natives nearby.

Within 5 minutes Cliff returned with a broad grin across his face.  “Gather your things, kid, we are free to go!”

Skip’s mouth gaped wide.  “But—how?”

“Simple,” Cliff answered with a sly wink, “I followed the Chief’s instructions.  But more importantly—I followed Jesus’ example.”

            What is the one statement that Cliff could have made to help them out of this seemingly impossible situation? The solution is below this picture of Cliff !

Solution:      

Cliff’s statement was this; “You will throw us in the snake pit.” 

This presented the natives with a problem.  If they threw them in the snake pit that would make Cliff’s statement true, which means they should have been shot with arrows. 

The natives could only shoot the explorers with arrows if Cliff makes a true statement. 

But if they had, that would have made Cliff’s Final statement false. 

Since the natives had no way out of their situation, they were forced to set the adventurers free, just as the Pharisees who were unable to stump Jesus. 

We don’t have to choose the way we die, but God has given us the power to decide where we will go after we die.  We will either go to heaven to live in joy with Jesus or go to Hell to live in horrible pain with the Devil. 

Make sure you’ve chosen Heaven by giving your life to Jesus.

A Cliff Hanger Mini- Mystery

 Hey Gang- Want to match wits with me, Cliff Hanger?
I have told Jeff one of my recent adventures and he has written it down. I think it's a tough one and and some of you smaller folks may have trouble with it, but some of you older kids  might be able to solve the mystery! Give it a shot!

    

    The ADVENTURES of

 Cliff Hanger

   And The Case of the Lisping Bandit

              Mini- mystery

               By Jeff Fraker

“Cliff Hanger!” The Police detective exclaimed when he recognized the tall adventurer. “It’s been ages! What brings you here to the scene of the crime?”

Cliff smiled and shook his old friend’s hand. Both men stepped to the side of the jewelry shop doorway as the last of the investigators carried their equipment out.

“Well. I came to buy a gift for a friend, but it looks as if the store is closed to business!” he answered. “What happened?”

“Some crook made off with an expensive diamond collection!” the burly policeman replied. “Say—you’ve helped out in the past, come on, you can help me interview the two store owners!”

They strolled over to two men waiting behind a glass display case.

The detective consulted his note pad. “Now, which of you is Samuel Dane?”

“I am” the slim, balding man said.

The detective nodded. “Then you were the one who encountered the thief?”

“Yes, he was slightly taller than me—he wore a dark overcoat, a wide brimmed hat, dark glasses and a black scarf covering his face! He rushed in pointing a gun at me!”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing at first! He shoved me aside and grabbed the Hartford diamond collection. Then, as he backed toward the door, he finally spoke!”

The detective leaned forward. “Now think carefully—can you tell me exactly what the thief said?”

“Oh, yes! I remember perfectly! He said: ‘You will be contacted about how to get the collection back.’”

“Hum—a ransom, huh?” The detective noted. “Can you think of anything about him that stood out?”

Dane paused, “No—oh wait! Yes! The thief spoke with a lisp! You know—slurring on his S’s.”

The second man spoke up. “A lisp? There was a man looking at the collection yesterday that spoke with a lisp!”

Again the detective consulted his notes. “And you are Ben Segal—Mr. Dane's partner? What can you tell me about the man you saw yesterday?”

“He was about my height and build—dark hair—I definitely remember his lisp! You remember him, don’t you Samuel?”

“Yesterday? No—No, can’t say that I do!”

“Mr. Segal—“ the detective began, “where were you during the robbery?”

“Having lunch next door,” the jeweler replied.

The detective flipped his pad shut. “We’d better prepare to receive the ransom demands.” He sighed.

Cliff Hanger finally spoke. “Are you gentlemen familiar with Judges Chapter 12?”

The answer was a puzzled “No” from each man. Cliff continued. “We learn in that chapter, that there were two armies at war. Every time the army of Israel captured someone suspected of being of the enemy tribe of Ephraim, they would order the prisoner to say the word ‘Shibboleth’. If the prisoner was from Ephraim, he would always mispronounce the word and say ‘sibboleth’, because no one from Ephraim could pronounce the word correctly.”

“Cliff” the detective said, “what does that have to do with this case?”

Cliff smiled broadly. “Simply that the words we say can tell other a lot about ourselves! In this case—a lisp exposed the guilty party.”

“Please, Cliff—“the policeman said gruffly “we’ve got to prepare a trap for the bandit!”

“That won’t be necessary” Cliff announced. “I know who took the jewels!”

Kids did you catch the clue that exposed the guilty party to Cliff? Who is the lisping thief?

 The answer is below the circle:

Answer:

Cliff noted that Samuel Dane could not have noticed a slurring of S’s, since according to Dane himself the thief’s exact words were; “You will be contacted about how to get the collection back.” There are no S’s to slur in the statement. Dane had seen the real lisping customer the day before and decided to make him the likely suspect. The police later found the jewelry hidden at Dane’s home.

The story of the Lisping Army, found in Judges 12:1-6 is just one of the many fascinating, true stories in the Bible.

Read it today—it could start you on the greatest adventure of your life!