The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

• Exodus 6:19

Makir’s wife Maakah gave birth to a son and named him Peresh. His brother was named Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

• 1 Chronicles 7:16

Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah son of Mika, the son of Zikri, the son of Asaph;

• 1 Chronicles 9:15

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said,

• Jeremiah 38:1

Note: I hope I have not violated any trademarks or copyrights in the title of this quiz.  The title is patterned after Dial M for Murder.  The mystery story by this name has developed a life of its own.  It was first a stage play by James P. Sherwood.  It was then a novel by Frederick Knott.  It then became a movie with Ray Milland, wanting to kill his rich wife, Grace Kelly (before she became a queen).  He wanted her money, but she was also having an affair with Robert Cummings.  Something goes wrong with the plot.  His wife does not die, and most of the story is about how the husband is trying to stay one step ahead of the police during the ensuing investigation.  It was later adapted to the Woke version of the wife having a lesbian relationship on the side, but we don’t need to go there.

But the Mmm Good is close to the Campbell’s Soup trademark of Mmm Mmm Good ™.  And whether it was trademarked or not, I remember an old Andy Griffith commercial for Ritz Crackers where he puts one thing and then another on a cracker, and then he does a prolonged “mmm”, followed by “good cracker.”

Take your pick, but I am probably in trouble.

This quiz is about people or places that begin with “M”.  Note that places often began as a person, as in Egypt was a son of Ham, along with Cush, Put, and Canaan.

The answers to these questions are in alphabetical order instead of biblical order, as an extra hint, as if you really needed it for most of them.  But whether you need an extra hint, the first eight begin with “Ma.”

The Questions:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is a son of Japheth who created a great nation, and under the leadership of a king that is the last three letters of the nation’s name will wage war in the final days?
2	Who starts his book of prophecy with Israel questioning God’s love, yet the prophet says that Esau I have hated and Jacob I have loved?  He is thought to be the last of the prophets chronologically.
3	Who was the evil king of Judah who followed Hezekiah, doing the most abominable things, but repenting late in life?  First bonus: There are four men by this name in the Old Testament, one first mentioned in Genesis, and the other two mentioned briefly in Ezra.  Who are they?
4	Who is also called John, whose mother is one of the bonus answers for question 6, and he wrote one of the gospels, left Paul during his first mission, but became helpful to Paul later on?
5	Who was too busy being a hostess to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching? And she was the sister of Lazarus and another of the bonus answers for question 6.
6	Who was the mother of Jesus?  Bonus: There are five others by this name, although scholars think Miriam might be a better translation.  Naming more than three of the five would be good.
7	Who wrote one of the four gospels and is also known as Levi, a former tax collector?  He became one of the Twelve.
8	Although the only “M” in the original twelve was the #7 answer, who was added to replaced Judas Iscariot, decided by casting lots?
9	Who was the king of Salem and the priest of God most high, who brought bread and wine to Abram after Abram sent 318 trained men to rescue Lot and the king of Sodom?  Abram gave the king of Salem one tenth of the spoils.  Third Bonus: Who is our high priest after the order of this person?
10	Who was a son of Jonathan, son of Saul, who had two lame feet, and being the sole remainder of Saul’s family was given everything Saul had by King David, and he ate at David’s table?  Hint: His name is twelve letters long (most English translations)

I enjoyed this quiz.  Most of the answers should be straightforward.  I am hoping that only the first and last might be a stretch.  You might be thinking, “Oh, yeah, that one, but what was his name?”

It is not much of a hint, because the questions give it away, but two of the answers are women in the Bible, including one of the answers with a bonus question.  In fact, I have thought of using question 6 with its bonus answers as a quiz in and of itself.  I may still put my thinking cap on and pull off ten questions for at least five of the answers, four in the bonus part.

I was watching my favorite television show, Hard Questions, on Cornerstone Television Network, and one of the panelists was a pastor who is not one of the regulars.  I suppose you could say that in the fourth seat of a four-pastor panel, he was a regular in the rotation.  While I didn’t always agree with what he had to say, he was usually the one who had his Bible ready and would read a verse and then give his interpretation to answer the person’s hard question.  But in one answer that he gave, he told a joke as part of his answer that went over my head until I saw that episode a second time.  He said something like, “This answer can be found in at least three of the gospels, but I will be reading from the most important of the four gospels.”  When he said that, the other panelists and the moderator started to snicker.  What went over my head was that the name of the gospel was the pastor’s given name.  Since he wasn’t a regular, I did not have his full name imprinted in my brain.

Bible References:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is a son of Japheth who created a great nation, and under the leadership of a king that is the last three letters of the nation’s name will wage war in the final days?	Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 39:6; Revelation 20:8
2	Who starts his book of prophecy with Israel questioning God’s love, yet the prophet says that Esau I have hated and Jacob I have loved?  He is thought to be the last of the prophets chronologically.	N/A
3	Who was the evil king of Judah who followed Hezekiah, doing the most abominable things, but repenting late in life?  First bonus: There are four men by this name in the Old Testament, one first mentioned in Genesis, and the other two mentioned briefly in Ezra.  Who are they?	2 Kings 21:1-18; Bonus: Genesis 41:51; Ezra 10:30-33
4	Who is also called John, whose mother is one of the bonus answers for question 6, and he wrote one of the gospels, left Paul during his first mission, but became helpful to Paul later on?	Acts 12:12
5	Who was too busy being a hostess to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching? And she was the sister of Lazarus and another of the bonus answers for question 6.	Luke 10:38-42
6	Who was the mother of Jesus?  Bonus: There are five others by this name, although scholars think Miriam might be a better translation.  Naming more than three of the five would be good.	Luke 1:26-38; Bonus: 1) Acts 12:12; 2) Luke 10:38-42; 3) Luke 8:2; 4) Matthew 28:1, Luke 24:10, John 19:25; 5) Romans 16:6
7	Who wrote one of the four gospels and is also known as Levi, a former tax collector?  He became one of the Twelve.	Mark 3:16-19
8	Although the only “M” in the original twelve was the #7 answer, who was added to replaced Judas Iscariot, decided by casting lots?	Acts 1:23-26
9	Who was the king of Salem and the priest of God most high, who brought bread and wine to Abram after Abram sent 318 trained men to rescue Lot and the king of Sodom?  Abram gave the king of Salem one tenth of the spoils.  Third Bonus: Who is our high priest after the order of this person?	Genesis 14:18-20 Bonus: Hebrews 5:5-10
10	Who was a son of Jonathan, son of Saul, who had two lame feet, and being the sole remainder of Saul’s family was given everything Saul had by King David, and he ate at David’s table?  Hint: His name is twelve letters long (most English translations)	2 Samuel 9:1-13

The idea of dialing “M” is probably lost on most people these days.  The letters appear beneath each of the numbers on my cellphone and next to the numbers on the land line, but few advertisements take advantage of the letters.

One lawyer probably paid a good price for his 800 number.  The last five digits of the number is his last name.  He tells the audience to call if they need someone to fight for them and then as he gives the number, he uses the letters of his name, curling up one finger at a time to make a fist.  Cute, but I have never had a need to call.

But the letters were used as extensions in big cities before the days of area codes and then a seven digit number, in the USA.  If the Burrough or subdivision was called “Klondike”, the number would be KL and then a number, 3 for example.  You would dial 5-5-3, since both “K” and “L” are associated with the 5.

Justin Wilson told a story about a phone call that came to a cabin in the farthest reaches of the Louisiana swamps.  It was a cabin where duck hunters would stay and then go beyond the reach of telephone wires (before the days of cellphones) to hunt duck.  The cook was the only one at the cabin.  The operator said this was long distance, and the cook said that everything from that phone was long distance.  Whoever the operator needed, he’d have to take a message and have the person call back.  Everyone was out in the duck blinds.  The operator identified the caller as being from New York and gave the phone number three times: Capitol-2-3459.  Then, he asked the cook if he had that properly written down.  The cook said, “I understand the number, but for the life of me, I cannot understand how to draw a capital two.”

That is such a great joke, but these modern devices have simply ruined it.

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The Answers:

	Question	Bible References	Answers
1	Who is a son of Japheth who created a great nation, and under the leadership of a king that is the last three letters of the nation’s name will wage war in the final days?	Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 39:6; Revelation 20:8	Magog, and its king Gog
2	Who starts his book of prophecy with Israel questioning God’s love, yet the prophet says that Esau I have hated and Jacob I have loved?  He is thought to be the last of the prophets chronologically.	N/A	Malachi
3	Who was the evil king of Judah who followed Hezekiah, doing the most abominable things, but repenting late in life?  First bonus: There are four men by this name in the Old Testament, one first mentioned in Genesis, and the other two mentioned briefly in Ezra.  Who are they?	2 Kings 21:1-18; Bonus: Genesis 41:51; Ezra 10:30-33	Manasseh Bonus: the first is the firstborn of Joseph, becoming one of the tribes of Israel (since Joseph received a double portion).  The other two were members of the remnant in Jerusalem who had married foreign wives.
4	Who is also called John, whose mother is one of the bonus answers for question 6, and he wrote one of the gospels, left Paul during his first mission, but became helpful to Paul later on?	Acts 12:12	Mark
5	Who was too busy being a hostess to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to His teaching? And she was the sister of Lazarus and another of the bonus answers for question 6.	Luke 10:38-42	Martha
6	Who was the mother of Jesus?  Bonus: There are five others by this name, although scholars think Miriam might be a better translation.  Naming more than three of the five would be good.	Luke 1:26-38; Bonus: 1) Acts 12:12; 2) Luke 10:38-42; 3) Luke 8:2; 4) Matthew 28:1, Luke 24:10, John 19:25; 5) Romans 16:6	Mary Bonus: 1) Mother of #4 answer, with the upper room used by the disciples in Acts, maybe even at the Lord’s Supper; 2) The sister of Lazarus and #5 answer; 3) add Magdalene, who had demons exorcised; 4) mother of James and Joses, possibly wife of Clopas, a.k.a. the other Mary; 5) And a woman who worked hard for the Roman church.
7	Who wrote one of the four gospels and is also known as Levi, a former tax collector?  He became one of the Twelve.	Mark 3:16-19	Matthew
8	Although the only “M” in the original twelve was the #7 answer, who was added to replaced Judas Iscariot, decided by casting lots?	Acts 1:23-26	Matthias
9	Who was the king of Salem and the priest of God most high, who brought bread and wine to Abram after Abram sent 318 trained men to rescue Lot and the king of Sodom?  Abram gave the king of Salem one tenth of the spoils.  Third Bonus: Who is our high priest after the order of this person?	Genesis 14:18-20 Bonus: Hebrews 5:5-10	Melchizedek Bonus: Jesus Christ
10	Who was a son of Jonathan, son of Saul, who had two lame feet, and being the sole remainder of Saul’s family was given everything Saul had by King David, and he ate at David’s table?  Hint: His name is twelve letters long (most English translations)	2 Samuel 9:1-13	Mephibosheth, or Meribbaal in the New American Bible and the New Catholic Bible

Whether you did well on this quiz or, ummm, not so well, for the first video, here is Mark Lowry singing Mary, Did You Know?  Guy Penrod and David Phelps help in one chorus, and again at the end.  Mark Lowry wrote the words as a poem for a children’s pageant at his church.  It wasn’t until sometime later that Buddy Greene provided the tune.  Mark Lowry told Kirk Cameron in an interview years later that he came up with a lot more questions, but he couldn’t think of a rhyme.  And when I had the “No B” quiz, I stuck with “B” hymns.  Let’s do that with “M”.

Here is the Gaither Homecoming Crowd singing Majesty.

Here is the Bangalore Men’s Ensemble singing Make Me a Blessings.  In my three trips to India, I never made it to Bangalore.

Here is Fountainview Academy singing Moment by Moment.  I have used Fountainview Academy from Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada before.  This was filmed at Bear Creek, some singers in the creek, near Auburn, CA, between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.  I was amused by the boy near the front, only once does it show his hands to be unclenched in two fists.  But is he doing so out of how much he is putting himself into the song, or is he freezing cold due to being over ankle deep in icy mountain runoff?  If it is the latter, then why aren’t the several girls standing in the water not showing a reaction?  Sorry, my weird side comes out on occasion.

I needed to add a couple.  Here are the Blackwood Brothers singing More about Jesus.

And one more.  Here are the Asidors singing Morning Has Broken.

I had the Cat Stevens LP, before he joined a different faith.  It was a couple of years before I heard this hymn sung in church.  Since he did not pronounce re-creation the way we do in the USA, I didn’t even know it was a hymn.  But I would often play that song to be my morning wake up song, until I met my wife and Johnny Mathis’ love songs seemed more appropriate – which scared my wife the first time the stereo came on after we were married.  Who would ever be frightened by Johnny Mathis waking you up from a deep sleep singing “Chances Are” …?  Okay, she’d worked the 3-11 shift, and I had to get up much earlier than she did.

And did you notice that two of the recordings above use songbirds singing? I liked that addition.

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.