“I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord Almighty.

• Isaiah 14:23

This quiz is about owls.  Some of the questions are multiple choice, and the list of possibilities is in the Answers column, which is usually empty in most of these quizzes.

Owls are mentioned 27 times in the Bible, but in only 17 verses.  Most of the times owls are mentioned is when there is devastation, usually referring to the exile where nothing but ruins remain.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Are owls mentioned as a clean or unclean animal?
2	How many different species of owl are mentioned in the Bible?
3	In the Scripture associated in the first two questions, the list is in two places, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Four other birds are in the same verses, and only one of those birds changes position in the list.  Which non-owl moves in the list?		The gullAny kind of hawkThe ospreyThe cormorant
4	Of these types of owls, which is mentioned most often?
5	Out of his despair and feeling of being desolate, when Job goes through his final defense, he mentions that he is a companion to the owl and a brother of what four-legged animal?
6	While the answer to question five is coupled with the owl to illustrate desolation in three of the books of prophecy, what “happy” animal is used in Jeremiah?
7	Question 6 mentions three books of prophecy that mention a four-legged animal and an owl, other than Jeremiah.  Can you name two of them?
8	Of the selected birds mentioned in the lists of questions 1 and 2, which is also mentioned with the owls in the book of Isaiah?  Owls nesting and the other bird gathering with its mate.		The eagleThe vultureThe falconThe heron
9	Of the four types of owls available in the provided answers, which is mentioned more often?		Horned OwlLittle OwlGreat OwlWhite Owl
10	Are there any references to an owl in the New Testament?

Picture yourself alone in a desert land.  The people of that land have been sent into exile.  You wander past buildings that are nothing but ruins.  You see rumble in door frames, but the door has long since seen gone.

You might find little sign of any life at all as you walk through this ghost town.  You might think you see something, but when you turn around, what you thought you saw was gone.

And then it gets dark.  You might hear a wolf-like creature howling in the distance.  A little closer, you hear something that resembles laughter.  Then back in the distance you hear a hoot.  Then you hear a screech, as if a woman was screaming, fighting for her life.

Four of the prophetic books of the Old Testament describe the Promised Land in this spooky fashion.  And if my description gave you “the willies,” that is what the prophets were going for, God-inspiring them to do so.  But in spite of the warnings, the people refused to repent and come back to God.

And by the way, there as a couple of hints in this word picture.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Are owls mentioned as a clean or unclean animal?	Leviticus 11:13-19
2	How many different species of owl are mentioned in the Bible?	Leviticus 11:13-19
3	In the Scripture associated in the first two questions, the list is in two places, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Four other birds are in the same verses, and only one of those birds changes position in the list.  Which non-owl moves in the list?	Leviticus 11:13-19 and Deuteronomy 14:15-17	The gull Any kind of hawk The osprey The cormorant
4	Of these types of owls, which is mentioned most often?	Psalm 102:6
5	Out of his despair and feeling of being desolate, when Job goes through his final defense, he mentions that he is a companion to the owl and a brother of what four-legged animal?	Job 30:29
6	While the answer to question five is coupled with the owl to illustrate desolation in three of the books of prophecy, what “happy” animal is used in Jeremiah?	Jeremiah 50:39
7	Question 6 mentions three books of prophecy that mention a four-legged animal and an owl, other than Jeremiah.  Can you name two of them?	N/A
8	Of the selected birds mentioned in the lists of questions 1 and 2, which is also mentioned with the owls in the book of Isaiah?  Owls nesting and the other bird gathering with its mate.	Isaiah 34:15	The eagle The vulture The falcon The heron
9	Of the four types of owls available in the provided answers, which is mentioned more often?	Isaiah 34:11	Horned Owl Little Owl Great Owl White Owl
10	Are there any references to an owl in the New Testament?	N/A

The first question talks about clean animals versus unclean animals.  Scavengers are considered unclean for they eat roadkill, for lack of a better term.  The Israelites were forbidden to eat an animal that was found accidentally killed in such a fashion.

But let’s look at the owl, that eats live rodents, usually.  The waste from an owl is often an incapsulated bit of waste.  When you carve into this waste, you might find a perfectly formed mouse or chipmunk skeleton, none of the bones even broken as far as the naked eye can see, but all the internals of the animal are gone, consumed by the owl.

Would that make the owl clean or unclean?  Or maybe there is a different reason.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Are owls mentioned as a clean or unclean animal?	Leviticus 11:13-19	Unclean
2	How many different species of owl are mentioned in the Bible?	Leviticus 11:13-19	Six: Horned owl, screech owl, little owl, great owl, white owl, and desert owl
3	In the Scripture associated in the first two questions, the list is in two places, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  Four other birds are in the same verses, and only one of those birds changes position in the list.  Which non-owl moves in the list?	Leviticus 11:13-19 and Deuteronomy 14:15-17	The cormorant is in the middle of the Leviticus list and at the end of these birds in the Deuteronomy list.
4	Of these types of owls, which is mentioned most often?	Psalm 102:6	The desert owl.  Whenever the desert owl is mentioned, the screech owl is also mentioned, except in Psalm 102:6
5	Out of his despair and feeling of being desolate, when Job goes through his final defense, he mentions that he is a companion to the owl and a brother of what four-legged animal?	Job 30:29	The jackal
6	While the answer to question five is coupled with the owl to illustrate desolation in three of the books of prophecy, what “happy” animal is used in Jeremiah?	Jeremiah 50:39	The hyena
7	Question 6 mentions three books of prophecy that mention a four-legged animal and an owl, other than Jeremiah.  Can you name two of them?	N/A	Isaiah, Micah, and Zephaniah
8	Of the selected birds mentioned in the lists of questions 1 and 2, which is also mentioned with the owls in the book of Isaiah?  Owls nesting and the other bird gathering with its mate.	Isaiah 34:15	The falcon
9	Of the four types of owls available in the provided answers, which is mentioned more often?	Isaiah 34:11	Great Owl, other than this verse, it is only mentioned in the unclean animals lists like the other three owls on the question’s list.
10	Are there any references to an owl in the New Testament?	N/A	No.  The reference to desert owls and screech owls in Zephaniah 2:14 is the last.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Owl City featuring Britt Nicole singing You’re Not Alone.  Okay, finding Christian songs about owls may be tough, but the band is called Owl City.

And here is Owl City singing Hoe Deep the Father’s Love for us.

And here is Owl City singing Always.

And here is Owl City singing Field Notes.

I may have saved the best for last, but really I went through a lot of cute songs about being young and one I might save for Father’s Day.  And as I wondered if there were any more songs with a Christian theme, I got this one.  I guess, I kept digging until I found my pearl of great price.

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.