The desert and the parched land will be glad;
    the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
    it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
    the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
    the splendor of our God.

• Isaiah 35:1-2

Below, the first letter of the answers to the questions spell out a couple of words.  You might be able to predict what they are from the Scripture above and the title.

The Questions:

#	Question	1st Letter
1	Who was a disciple who was also called Didymus who told the other disciples that they should accompany Jesus to Jerusalem and die with Him there, but then after Jesus had arose, he doubted?
2	Where did Terah start his journey, taking his entire family, but he stopped at Harran?  Then his son Abram finished the journey.  The place name is usually referred to as being this name of the Chaldeans.
3	Who was a dealer of purple who became the first European convert to Christianity (according to some people’s reckoning) that is recorded in the Bible?  She was from Thyatira in Greece.
4	Who was given their name by God, because the parents laughed when they were told they would have a son at such an old age?
5	Of the regions of Galatia, which is the region where Antioch is located?  To avoid confusion, the book of Acts calls it by this region’s Antioch, since Paul started his journey in Syrian Antioch.  It is near or borders Pamphylia and Phrygia.
*	*********************************	**
6	Who is the Egyptian servant of Sarai who slept with Abram to produce an heir when Abram and Sarai thought they were too old?
7	What is one of the names for God that is not in the NIV (substituted by, and meaning, Lord), but is in the Names of God Bible 5856 times?  The name means Lord and the Jews have not used the word since the 3rd century AD to avoid violating the fourth commandment.  It is often referred to with the four consonants, leaving out the vowels.
8	Who reigned as king of Israel after Omri and was married to Jezebel, having no respect for God’s law regarding foreign women becoming wives?
9	What land was spied upon by twelve spies sent by Moses into the Promised Land?  The place name is named after a grandson of Noah, who was cursed.
10	Who was the prophet who counseled Hezekiah when Hezekiah became ill and near death?  This prophet wrote the longest of the prophetic books.
11	Where did God command Jonah to go and preach?
12	To where did Jonah wish to run away?
13	What people were descendants of the answer to question 9 who had among their generations one particular faithful warrior who had a lovely wife and that wife had an affair with king David?  Tragically this brave warrior was abandoned on the front lines in battle and died.

Okay, so the quiz title is “Spring Bloom.”  And the Scripture mentions the crocus, one of the smallest blooms of the bulb varieties, but it emerges early, usually in late winter, often forcing its way through the snow.

To get bulb flowers to bloom at the proper time, you must plant them in the Fall.  Some can be planted and left alone, but others, especially the tulip, work much better when dug up after the leaves start to turn brown.  This indicates that the bulb has stopped growing for the year.  We used to dig up the tulip bulbs, clean and dry them, and then store them in the refrigerator.  In warmer climates, they may not get the “bloom” trigger if the winter is too warm.  Also, you need to carefully read your map.  If you live in warmer climates, you will have to bury the bulbs deeper.  Most Dutch bulb companies provide a map and a chart for varying bulb depth.

Of course, if you do not wish to wait for six months, you can force the bulbs.  You can refrigerate the bulbs and then plant them in a pot and place the pot in the window.  The bulbs will think that it was a rather short winter and start their spring growth cycle.

Bible References:

#	Question	1st Letter
1	John 11:16, John 20:24-29
2	Genesis 11:28-31
3	Acts 16:11-15
4	Genesis 17:17-19
5	Acts 13:13-14
*	*********************************	**
6	Genesis 16:1-5
7	Leviticus 18:1 (NOG)
8	1 Kings 17:1
9	Numbers 13:1-33
10	2 Kings 20:1-11, Genesis 9:25
11	Jonah 1:2
12	Jonah 1:3
13	Genesis 10:15, 2 Samuel 11:1-27

When I was the cubmaster of a pack in North Augusta, SC, we were chartered to an elementary school’s Parent-Teacher Association, something that the scouting headquarters did not like, but it worked for us.  For a service project, we asked the parents to buy Dutch bulbs.  From those sales, the company that we used gave us 10% more bulbs than were ordered.  One Fall we planted the extra bulbs all over the school grounds.  Underneath the principal’s office, we planted several of the bulbs associated with the second secret word.  In the Spring, my boys sent home a note that I must come by the principal’s office at my earliest convenience.  I had not been sent to the principal’s office in about 25 years.  I nervously went to her office, wondering if my boys had done something horrible or the scouts had damaged something at a meeting.  When I walked in, she was beaming.  She wanted to thank me for all the flowers throughout the school yard, but especially for the kind that she liked the most.  Her window had remained open ever since they bloomed and she smelled the aroma all day, every day.  And it was a great way to introduce a little biology in that we had planted the bulbs several months before and the teachers were encouraged to talk about it.

She would call me into the office only one other time, when one of the boys, supposedly awaiting his part in a skit, went to his homeroom and left the door open upon exiting – nothing damaged, just an open door.  That was less of a joy, but one infraction is not bad for seven years of monthly meetings.

   …

   …

   …

The Answers:

#	Question	1st Letter
1	Thomas	T
2	Ur (of the Chaldeans)	U
3	Lydia	L
4	Isaac	I
5	Pisidia (Pisidian Antioch)	P
*	*********************************	**
6	Hagar	H
7	Yahweh	Y
8	Ahab	A
9	Canaan	C
10	Isaiah	I
11	Nineveh	N
12	Tarshish	T
13	Hittites (of which Uriah was one)	H

Of course, the secret words are Tulip and Hyacinth.

Since I mentioned planting bulbs in a school yard, here is a video from the Keukehof in Holland, preparing to plant on a large scale. And when you first see Mr. Damen pouring bulbs into a mesh bag, notice what type of shoes he is wearing. They do not bend well (at all) thus are not worn in many work settings, but often worn when it gets muddy.

And how do they make the Keukenhof so beautiful and different every year?

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.