So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock.

• Genesis 47:17

Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

• 1 Samuel 17:36

Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
    you hills, like lambs?

• Psalm 114:6

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

• Isaiah 11:6

Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.

• Jeremiah 5:6

All the birds of the sky
    nested in its boughs,
all the animals of the wild
    gave birth under its branches;
all the great nations
    lived in its shade.

• Ezekiel 31:1

The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful.

• Zechariah 6:2-3

This quiz is about an animal that is not mentioned specifically in the Bible, and only a couple of species within that kind are mentioned, almost interchangeably.

The first letter of each answer spells the solution to this mystery word.  This type of animal is spelled three times, and the first letter of the animal is the first letter of the tenth answer.  Thus, the word is a three-letter word.  If you guess the word before answering all the questions, the letter will help answer the remaining questions.  All the answers to the questions are people’s names.

By the nature of this quiz, the questions are not in biblical order.  Of these ten people, four are from the Old Testament.  Questions 2 and 5 have multiple questions, not about the same person, but about different people with that name.  So, you get three chances at the right answer for question 2 and two chances for the right answer to question 5, but in each case, they are very different people.

Sorry, no female answers this time, although I mentioned a couple of wives by name in the questions.

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Of the twelve spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land, two returned with good reports, and they both were allowed into the Promised Land forty years later.  One was Joshua.  Who was the other?
2	There were three prominent people by this name in the Old Testament.  Who was tricked by Abraham who said his wife was his sister?  And Who was tricked by Isaac in the same manner?  And who was a son of Gideon who became a judge, of sorts, after killing all but one of his brothers, but he was defeated when a woman dropped a millstone onto his head?
3	One New Testament writer wrote two books.  Each book was written to the same person, greeting him at the beginning of each book so that he will know the things he was taught.  To whom did the author write?
4	Who was the son of Ham who was cursed when Noah became drunk and naked?
5	Again more than one person by this name…  Who tried to hide part of their profits from Peter, and he and his wife Sapphira both died as a result?  And who was told by God to go to Saul and restore his sight?
6	Who was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared after the resurrection, and he doubted, wanting to see the wounds before he would believe?
7	Who was a Roman centurion who had people call upon Peter so that he could know more about God?  Peter, having seen a vision about what God makes clean cannot be considered unclean, entered his home and the entire household accepted Jesus and began speaking in tongues.
8	Who did Paul stay with in Corinth, since the man was a Jew and he and his wife, Priscilla, were tentmakers.  These two accompanied Paul to Ephesus where they corrected the great orator Apollos, so that he began preaching about Jesus correctly.
9	In whose reign as emperor does Luke say John the Baptist started his ministry?
10	What Persian Emperor was filled with the spirit to have Jews return to Jerusalem and build the temple?  He signed a document to this affect and sent Zerubbabel and the first remnant to Jerusalem, along with the articles of the temple stolen by Nebuchadnezzar.

Question four is rather interesting.  It was extremely taboo to look upon your father when he was naked. Ham did not only look at his father, but he also talked to his brothers about it.  Talking, probably in joking terms, was an even greater afront.  Note that Shem and Japheth backed into the tent to cover their father.

Yet, the curse falls upon Ham’s son.  Nothing is said about what Ham’s son did to have the curse applied to him.  When I was growing up, the teachers interjected Ham’s son in making the discovery and telling his father.  Then the father, Ham, relayed the message to his brothers.  But there is nothing in the Bible that supports that.

Recent scholars point to Leviticus 20:11 where it talks about the sin of maternal incest and that it leads to the uncovering of the father’s nakedness.  These scholars put these ideas together and state that Ham’s son was cursed because he was the incestuous offspring of Noah’s wife and Ham having union.  This may be a case of adding 2 and 2 and getting 5.  It seems a stretch, but the point is that Ham, the major transgressor, would only have one son cursed instead of all his offspring.  Of course, the people that the Israelites conquered in the Promised Land were descendants of this son of Ham.

The point is that God in His holiness made a just decision in this case, but not enough is mentioned to follow the process to the son being cursed.

And speaking of taboos, question 7 speaks of a Roman Centurion inviting Peter into his home.  Peter defends himself before the church counsel in Jerusalem, as a Jew was not supposed to consort with unclean (uncircumcised) people.  But Peter learns that even the uncircumcised can receive the Holy Spirit.  This was a groundbreaking moment for the new church and became a political fireball during the establishment of the rapidly expanding church.  And it all started with a Roman Centurion with a good heart who asked God the right questions.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Of the twelve spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land, two returned with good reports, and they both were allowed into the Promised Land forty years later.  One was Joshua.  Who was the other?	Numbers 13:30
2	There were three prominent people by this name in the Old Testament.  Who was tricked by Abraham who said his wife was his sister?  And Who was tricked by Isaac in the same manner?  And who was a son of Gideon who became a judge, of sorts, after killing all but one of his brothers, but he was defeated when a woman dropped a millstone onto his head?	Genesis 20; Genesis 26; Judges 9
3	One New Testament writer wrote two books.  Each book was written to the same person, greeting him at the beginning of each book so that he will know the things he was taught.  To whom did the author write?	Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1
4	Who was the son of Ham who was cursed when Noah became drunk and naked?	Genesis 9:18-27
5	Again more than one person by this name…  Who tried to hide part of their profits from Peter, and he and his wife Sapphira both died as a result?  And who was told by God to go to Saul and restore his sight?	Acts 5:1-8; Acts 9:10-17
6	Who was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared after the resurrection, and he doubted, wanting to see the wounds before he would believe?	John 20:24-28
7	Who was a Roman centurion who had people call upon Peter so that he could know more about God?  Peter, having seen a vision about what God makes clean cannot be considered unclean, entered his home and the entire household accepted Jesus and began speaking in tongues.	Acts 10
8	Who did Paul stay with in Corinth, since the man was a Jew and he and his wife, Priscilla, were tentmakers.  These two accompanied Paul to Ephesus where they corrected the great orator Apollos, so that he began preaching about Jesus correctly.	Acts 18
9	In whose reign as emperor does Luke say John the Baptist started his ministry?	Luke 3:1
10	What Persian Emperor was filled with the spirit to have Jews return to Jerusalem and build the temple?  He signed a document to this affect and sent Zerubbabel and the first remnant to Jerusalem, along with the articles of the temple stolen by Nebuchadnezzar.	2 Chronicle 26:22-23; Ezra 1:1-8

Question five has intrigued me.  The first person by this name, which either means “protected by the Lord” or “the Lord is gracious” was not protected by the Lord when Peter accused him of not lying to him, but lying to the Holy Spirit.  He died where he stood.  The second was in Damascus.  He was among those Saul had come to kill or arrest.  And then God tells this loyal man of God to heal Saul of blindness.  That took a great deal of courage, and the man lived up to his name by doing as God told him, helping Saul along the way.

In question two, the first two incidents, according to some scholars happened about one hundred years apart.  The fact that the king had the same name was common in those days.  The name may be in this case more of a title, in that you assume that name when you become king.  The third person by that name is in Judges.  A woman dropped a millstone on his head, and he had his armorbearer drive him through with his sword so that it would not be said that a woman had killed him.  But the woman definitely ended his reign as “judge.”

But back to the first two.  If you read through the history books from 2 Samuel through 2 Kings, you see one king or another of Aram.  They are usually named Hadad or Ben-Hadad (meaning son of Hadad), but these names stretch over hundreds of years.  Hadad was one of the sons of Ishmael.  Aram was the land around Damascus.  And most of the kings were named Hadad or Ben-Hadad.  It gets confusing in that they do not identify them with a number, like Henry VIII.

Then I was pulling my hair out in the Bible studies of Ezra and Nehemiah because Cyrus was fairly straight forward, but every historian and every Bible scholar had a different timeline and varying names for some of the kings.  But a couple of scholars speak of Xerxes being like Hadad or the answer to question 2 as being a name that you receive as king.  Artaxerxes being the son of Xerxes, like Hadad and Ben-Hadad.  Not that it answered all my questions, and it does not clear up the muddy water, but it may answer the question of “How did this king reign for more than 100 years?”  He did not.  There were more than one of the kings with that name.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Of the twelve spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land, two returned with good reports, and they both were allowed into the Promised Land forty years later.  One was Joshua.  Who was the other?	Numbers 13:30	Caleb	C
2	There were three prominent people by this name in the Old Testament.  Who was tricked by Abraham who said his wife was his sister?  And Who was tricked by Isaac in the same manner?  And who was a son of Gideon who became a judge, of sorts, after killing all but one of his brothers, but he was defeated when a woman dropped a millstone onto his head?	Genesis 20; Genesis 26; Judges 9	Abimelech (or Abimelek)	A
3	One New Testament writer wrote two books.  Each book was written to the same person, greeting him at the beginning of each book so that he will know the things he was taught.  To whom did the author write?	Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1	Theophilus	T
4	Who was the son of Ham who was cursed when Noah became drunk and naked?	Genesis 9:18-27	Canaan	C
5	Again more than one person by this name…  Who tried to hide part of their profits from Peter, and he and his wife Sapphira both died as a result?  And who was told by God to go to Saul and restore his sight?	Acts 5:1-8; Acts 9:10-17	Ananias	A
6	Who was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared after the resurrection, and he doubted, wanting to see the wounds before he would believe?	John 20:24-28	Thomas	T
7	Who was a Roman centurion who had people call upon Peter so that he could know more about God?  Peter, having seen a vision about what God makes clean cannot be considered unclean, entered his home and the entire household accepted Jesus and began speaking in tongues.	Acts 10	Cornelius	C
8	Who did Paul stay with in Corinth, since the man was a Jew and he and his wife, Priscilla, were tentmakers.  These two accompanied Paul to Ephesus where they corrected the great orator Apollos, so that he began preaching about Jesus correctly.	Acts 18	Aquila	A
9	In whose reign as emperor does Luke say John the Baptist started his ministry?	Luke 3:1	Tiberius	T
10	What Persian Emperor was filled with the spirit to have Jews return to Jerusalem and build the temple?  He signed a document to this affect and sent Zerubbabel and the first remnant to Jerusalem, along with the articles of the temple stolen by Nebuchadnezzar.	2 Chronicle 26:22-23; Ezra 1:1-8	Cyrus the Great	C

The mystery word is “Cat.”  It is strange that “dog” is mentioned in 41 verses of the NIV, and others of that “kind” are also mentioned, like wolf and jackal.  But “cat” is never mentioned.  Two varieties of that “kind” are mentioned, lion and leopard.  And notice the Bible verse from Isaiah above.  So many people say that the lion will lie down with the lamb.  They say that this phenomenon is in the Bible, but they are referencing famous artwork that got the verse wrong.  The wolf and the lamb, yes.  But not the lion and the lamb.  And in most references, only a few, the leopard is mentioned almost as a subset of the lion.  They may have only started recognizing this new breed of felines as a breed of its own during biblical times.

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is CAM Artmade singing Thank You Lord for Making Me.  Sorry, I start out with a kids song, but it was cute.

And while we are on the idea of God making us.  Here is a song from Anne Wilson singing Strong.

But now, here is Clayton Hackle, singing Dogs go to Heaven.  This is a touching song, but other than an assurance of beasts being in Heaven, we have little idea of what God has in store for us.  But whatever happens, it will be better than we can imagine.  I would hate to settle on what I could dream up.

And here is Jordan Frank singing Chasing Butterflies.  Along the same vein as the previous song.

Okay the secret word was “CAT” and I had a couple of songs about dogs.  Then again, dog is mentioned in the Bible, and cat is not.  But as Mark Lowry says during his comedy routine about dogs going to heaven, “I’m sure God has a plan for Fluffy.”

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.