Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’

• Jeremiah 33:9

“And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart’s desire, and their sons and daughters as well—

• Ezekiel 24:25

The Ephraimites will become like warriors, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

• Zechariah 10:7

This quiz is about verses containing the word “joy” which contains joy, joyful, or joyfully.  I cannot believe that I have not had a Joy Quiz, or maybe I have…

With Holy Week starting tomorrow, I thought a Joyous quiz might be in order.  Holy Week may have its solemn moments, but the main celebration is Jesus dying to save us from our sins and then rising from the dead to show the Hope in Resurrection.  Now, that is a reason for Joy.

The questions are in biblical order.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who complained to Jacob that if he had known they were leaving, he could have sent them away with joy and singing?  The first reference to Joy in the NIV.
2	What early event in Leviticus led to fire coming out from the presence of the Lord to consume the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar, leading to all the people shouting for joy and falling facedown?
3	In a review of the festivals, which was the only one had the command to be joyful, which might be why Peter made his “silly” suggestion on the Mount of Transfiguration?
4	When David returned from killing Philistines, the women broke into joyful song.  What did they sing which made King Saul very angry?
5	The king sent them away and they were joyful and glad in heart for all the good things God had done for his servant David and Israel.  Who is the king and what was the occasion?
6	When they sang about God being good and His love endures forever, they laid the first stones to rebuild the temple.  Many shouted for joy but what did the older Levite and family heads do?
7	When they celebrated the feast of unleavened bread, they had a joyous celebration.  What was their joy?
8	Which book in the Bible has the most references to Joy, nearly one third of the total in the Old Testament?
9	Where does “joy” fit when seed falls upon rocky ground?
10	In Galatians, there is a list of the fruits of the Spirit.  Can you mention at least three of the nine fruits that are mentioned?

When I performed a one-man comedy show at church, really using the humor of Justin Wilson, Jerry Clower, Ken Davis, and Mark Lowry, while adding some of my own, I also gave my testimony, since it was the 50^th anniversary of me accepting Jesus.

My testimony focused on the lack of Joy in our home.  My father’s dream was that he would have a turkey farm and process the poultry in his own processing plant, the family’s own label.  But we lost the farm when I first started elementary school.  I made a comedy routine out of the first time my mother sat down to watch Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In.  I thought she was having a heart attack, but I was just experiencing the first time, at age sixteen, that I ever remember seeing my mother laugh.

But about the same time that was going on, I was going to a public high school that was on fire for Jesus.  Everyone had Joy except for me.  It took me over a year before I realized that I had to totally surrender to Jesus and accept God’s Will for my life.  It has been a rocky road, but the last two questions point to why I know Jesus is in my heart.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who complained to Jacob that if he had known they were leaving, he could have sent them away with joy and singing?  The first reference to Joy in the NIV.	Genesis 31:27
2	What early event in Leviticus led to fire coming out from the presence of the Lord to consume the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar, leading to all the people shouting for joy and falling facedown?	Leviticus 8-9, joy in 9:24
3	In a review of the festivals, which was the only one had the command to be joyful, which might be why Peter made his “silly” suggestion on the Mount of Transfiguration?	Deuteronomy 16:14-15
4	When David returned from killing Philistines, the women broke into joyful song.  What did they sing which made King Saul very angry?	1 Samuel 18:6-7
5	The king sent them away and they were joyful and glad in heart for all the good things God had done for his servant David and Israel.  Who is the king and what was the occasion?	1 Kings 8:65-66
6	When they sang about God being good and His love endures forever, they laid the first stones to rebuild the temple.  Many shouted for joy but what did the older Levite and family heads do?	Ezra 3:12
7	When they celebrated the feast of unleavened bread, they had a joyous celebration.  What was their joy?	Ezra 6:22
8	Which book in the Bible has the most references to Joy, nearly one third of the total in the Old Testament?	N/A
9	Where does “joy” fit when seed falls upon rocky ground?	Matthew 13:20-21
10	In Galatians, there is a list of the fruits of the Spirit.  Can you mention at least three of the nine fruits that are mentioned?	Galatians 5:22-23

Thinking about testimonies, C. S. Lewis’ testimony is his book Surprised by Joy.  Do not look for any reference to his wife Joy Davidman.  The story of his grief when she died is in A Grief Observed.  Both books are excellent within their individual subjects.

Joy is one of those things that transcends circumstances.  When you watch a comedy act or a stand up comedian, you might be happy.  You might laugh, but do you have Joy?  But you can have Joy in the midst of your greatest sorrows.

James starts his letter with the statement for us to count it great Joy when we face trials.  What?  I suffer and I am supposed to be joyful?  Yes.  God is preparing us.  And He could be testing us.  What do we do when we face a trial?  When we get to the point that we ask, “God, what am I supposed to learn from this one?”  Then, we got a lot closer to God, and that is reason for Joy, even while the trial is ongoing.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who complained to Jacob that if he had known they were leaving, he could have sent them away with joy and singing?  The first reference to Joy in the NIV.	Genesis 31:27	Jacob’s father-in-law, Laban, but he was probably lying about that.
2	What early event in Leviticus led to fire coming out from the presence of the Lord to consume the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar, leading to all the people shouting for joy and falling facedown?	Leviticus 8-9, joy in 9:24	Aaron, and his sons had been ordained and this was the first burnt offering at the Tabernacle.
3	In a review of the festivals, which was the only one had the command to be joyful, which might be why Peter made his “silly” suggestion on the Mount of Transfiguration?	Deuteronomy 16:14-15	The Festival of Tabernacles (Booths), which corresponds to the harvest completion.  Peter wanted to make booths for Jesus, Elijah, and Moses to celebrate and be joyful.
4	When David returned from killing Philistines, the women broke into joyful song.  What did they sing which made King Saul very angry?	1 Samuel 18:6-7	Saul has slain his thousands, David his tens of thousands.
5	The king sent them away and they were joyful and glad in heart for all the good things God had done for his servant David and Israel.  Who is the king and what was the occasion?	1 Kings 8:65-66	Solomon had just dedicated the temple and the burnt offerings were greater than the bronze altar could hold.
6	When they sang about God being good and His love endures forever, they laid the first stones to rebuild the temple.  Many shouted for joy but what did the older Levite and family heads do?	Ezra 3:12	They wept, for they had seen the former temple.
7	When they celebrated the feast of unleavened bread, they had a joyous celebration.  What was their joy?	Ezra 6:22	The Lord filled them with Joy in that the king of Assyria changed his attitude and helped them in their effort to rebuild the house of God.  This celebration follows the decree from Darius to that effect.
8	Which book in the Bible has the most references to Joy, nearly one third of the total in the Old Testament?	N/A	The Psalms.  If you talk about Joy for just a little while, you will want to break into songs.
9	Where does “joy” fit when seed falls upon rocky ground?	Matthew 13:20-21	It is like the person who receives the Good News with joy, but without good roots, it withers when persecution and troubles appear.
10	In Galatians, there is a list of the fruits of the Spirit.  Can you mention at least three of the nine fruits that are mentioned?	Galatians 5:22-23	love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Hymns of Grace singing Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

And here is Hyemi Choi singing Take the Name of Jesus with You.  This hymn has a wonderful echo refrain in the Refrain, but the only recording where they sang it was of poor quality.  This is too beautifully performed to not use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI5BxfMZ46g

And here is the Grace Community Church Congregation and Choir (I think it may be from Sun Valley, CA) singing Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart.  And I have solved the echo refrain conundrum.  The choir is singing the echo refrain, but the men have no volume.  The congregation is not buying into the echo refrain at all, leaving the choir either needing a swift kick where the sun does not shine in order to obtain the volume, or bottled oxygen.  Sorry, I love the echo refrains and when you can barely hear them, I yearn for the days of my youth and the Wednesday Night prayer meetings where the 80 and 90 year old men would drown out the women with their booming voices.

And here is the Vision Quartet singing My God, I Thank Thee.

All these hymns were in my copy of The Hymnbook, printed in 1955.  And they still convey the message of the Gospel.

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.