“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.  What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  I know your deeds.  See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.  Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
I am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.  Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

• Revelation 3:7-13

I burned one of the questions with this Scripture quotation.  What is the largest city in the USA named after a Biblical name?  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The following quiz is copied from J. Stephen Lang’s book, The Whimsical Quizzical Bible Trivia Book.  If the question, or part of it, is not in bold/italics, I have edited the question for Biblical accuracy.  I have often modified the questions, answers and Biblical references.  As for the questions, I try to ensure that the question is written so that the answer is the only perfect answer and that it matches what is written in the Bible.  Thus, it should be unquestionably the answer if you need to look up the Biblical reference.

Even though this quiz is “trivia,” since a name of a place in the USA, based on the Bible, means nothing toward biblical understanding, I will still mention the Disclaimer.  Yet, even though this is a trivia quiz, it is not really trivia that many place names in the Bible can be found in the USA.  It points to the Christian roots of our nation that some wish to ignore these days.  Then again, why did one group name their town “Babylon?”

Disclaimer:  Whenever I quote something from this book, I will include this disclaimer.  The Apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture is useful for instruction.  Thus, none of Scripture could be considered “Trivia.”  And if this quiz causes people to look up the answers, that is not trivial at all.

The Questions:

	Question
1	What California city with a biblical name had Clint Eastwood as its mayor?
2	The oldest town in the US with a biblical name is what?
3	The pagan city Babylon lends its name to one US city.  In what state would you find it?
4	In what state would you find a city named after ancient Israel’s pagan neighbor, Moab?
5	What state has a city named after Boaz, the husband of Ruth?
6	What renowned Greek city, mentioned in Acts, lends its name to cities in several states?
7	What state has a city named Solomon?
8	Which state has the city of New Egypt?
9	The New Testament city of Philippi has only one US counterpart.  In what state?
10	The Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Spanish for ‘blood of Christ’) are in what western state?

Since the USA is not mentioned in the Bible, the names on a map of the USA are not spelled out in the Bible, but the Bible references will show one verse or chapter where the biblical name is mentioned.

Bible References:

1. Joshua 12:22, mentioned 29 times, but may refer to two different locations, kingdom and mountain
2. Genesis 14:18, mentioned 4 times.
3. Psalm 137:1, mentioned 315 times.  The first is Genesis 10:10, a place built by Nimrod, son of Cush, son of Ham, son of Noah.  Nimrod built the great cities of Assyria as well, all cousins fighting to be top dog.
4. Numbers 22:1, mentioned 182 times, once as Lot’s son and then as a nation.  Of course, there are many chapters to choose from, but why not choose the story where a donkey speaks?
5. Ruth 2:1, mentioned 27 times.
6. Acts 17:15, mentioned 5 times.  And to resolve the question’s ambiguity, there are 21 states with cities or boroughs with this name.
7. 2 Samuel 12:24, mentioned 272 times.
8. Isaiah 19, Egypt mentioned 674 times.
9. Acts 16:11-15, mentioned 7 times.
10. Ephesians 2:13

For a hint, other than question 6 that may duplicate a state, the states referenced in the answers are not repeated.

I have been making 15 question quizzes lately, but this was laborious.  No, it is more like I made it laborious.  I looked up the places in the USA on an online map system.  When a question said “the only” I made sure that there were no others.  I left the questions or answers alone that talked of “several,” but I mentioned how many in the Bible References or the Answers.  That and the changes in copying the URL for the videos has added to the difficulty.  There are a lot of these place names.  We might return for more in the future.

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The Answers:

1. Carmel
2. Salem, Massachusetts; Salem is mentioned in connection with the priest-king Melchizedek (Genesis 14), and the Israelites later assumed that Salem was the same as Jerusalem.  The name means ‘peace,’ and it has been a popular name on the US map.  (I do not know if the author’s assertion about the Israelites’ assumption is accurate, but there are 40 cities, towns, and one township named Salem in the USA, if you count Winston-Salem, NC.  Eight states have multiple cities named Salem, with Indiana wanting the most “peace,” having four.)
3. New York
4. Utah
5. Alabama
6. Athens
7. Arizona
8. New Jersey; if it was just “Egypt” there would be up to 17 correct answers, one about an hour from where I was born.
9. West Virginia
10. Colorado

Since you did so well, treat yourself a tour of Philadelphia, PA.

Moab, Utah may have been named after the land of Moab due to the similar geology, rather than honoring an ancient pagan kingdom.  The land, near Moab, is carved by wind and water, in Arches National Park.

And let us not thinking of not doing well on this quiz. It was a trivia quiz, but if it prompted you to look up the Scripture references, we may all be winners.

And it is fitting to end with the Scripture for the last question.  The nearness is spiritual, but after we have just travelled all over the US, is it not comforting to know that …

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

• Ephesians 2:13

If you like these Saturday morning Bible quizzes, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Saturday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.