Abraham was the father of Isaac.

The sons of Isaac:

Esau and Israel.

• 1 Chronicles 1:34

The questions in this quiz may seem to be all over the place.  They may seem like totally random questions, but there is a theme.  You may or may not figure it out or it may be painfully obvious.

The Questions:

1. Who was the mother of Jesus?
2. Who was originally named Simon, but once he made a bold statement, aided by the Spirit, about Jesus being the Son of God, his name was changed to this?
3. Who was the woman who laughed when a stranger said that she would produce a son in her advanced years?
4. Who wrote the penultimate book of the New Testament, a book that begins with this person’s name?  (A stretch for the theme, but…)
5. Who was the brother of John and partner in the fishing business with Simon?
6. Who deserted Paul on Paul’s first mission trip and was a cousin of Barnabas?
7. Who was the last son of Israel, born in what we now know as Bethlehem?  Oh, the name of this son was changed to this after the son’s mother died.
8. Who is the archangel mentioned in verse 9 of the Bible book referenced in question 4?
9. Who is the apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament and referred to himself as the apostle to the Gentiles?
10. Who was barren and vowed that if given a son she would dedicate that son to God, becoming Samuel’s mother?
11. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he said to name the child Jesus, but then quoted Isaiah using what different name, meaning God with us?
12. Fill in the blank in this quote.  “For it is by ______ you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.”
13. Who was the third son of Adam and Eve, born after Cain killed Abel?

The featured Scripture is a big hint.  It shows part of a genealogy.

The featured photo is a photograph of my wife’s family, taken in the Menger Hotel, across a side street from the Alamo in downtown San Antonio, Texas.  The family had gathered for the Texas Folklife Festival to sing Dutch songs, along with folk songs from many other countries.

Bible References:

1. Luke 1:26-38
2. Matthew 16:13-20
3. Genesis 18:12
4. n/a
5. Luke 5:10
6. Acts 15:36-41
7. Genesis 35:18
8. As stated in the question, verse 9 of the answer to question 4.
9. His name is the first word of the thirteen books of the Bible that he wrote.  And Romans 11:13
10. 1 Samuel 1:1-20
11. Matthew 1:18-25
12. Ephesians 2:8-9
13. Genesis 4:25

To solve the mystery, the “theme” is that people in the photograph have these names and/or will one day after this photograph was taken have a child by that name.

The stretches are questions 1 and 4.  For question 1, the person with that name is never called that and the spelling is the Dutch spelling, adding an extra name.  She has been known for the Dutch word for sunshine ever since she left the hospital.  As for question 4, the person is female, not male, but she is often called by this name for short.

Also, spelling varies in a few cases.

   …

   …

   …

The Answers:

1. Mary (Margaretha Maria or Margret Mary)
2. Peter
3. Sarah
4. Jude (Judy, but often shortened to “Jude”)
5. James
6. Mark
7. Benjamin
8. Michael
9. Paul
10. Hannah
11. Emmanuel
12. Grace
13. Seth

Of the answers to the questions, all are in the photograph except for questions 10 – 12.  Hannah is the daughter of one of the young girls in the photograph.  And as for one of the boys in the photograph, he has three children whose middle names are Emmanuel, Grace, and Peter (named in part for the Peter in the photograph, and with a first name of a variant of Michael).

And since you did so well, here is a song from the Folklife Festival, possibly the Festival when the photograph was taken.

And as for names, none is greater than the name of Jesus.  And partly, because He Touched Me and I know Jesus is the greatest, Because He Lives.  Just to drop some hints for this medley, but not to spoil who joins the starting singers on stage.

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.