BIBLE QUIZ

Dear Boys and Girls,

Thanksgiving Day has again made its appearance on our calendars. It tells us that the end of another year is rapidly approaching, since it is observed in the month of October in Canada and in the month of November in the United States. However, Thanksgiving Day is also a reminder of the things which have taken place in the past months, for it calls to us to give thanks to the Lord who has provided for us in so many ways. If we were to list them all, where would we begin and where would we stop? In every moment of the day and night there is something of the Lord’s providing hand over us.

Giving of thanks is not only done once a year on Thanksgiving Day, but should be every morning and every evening, at every meal and in every prayer. Each time, even though we may have troubles and difficulties, we must confess with the psalmist that the Lord “hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Perhaps you know in which of the psalms these words are to be found.

However, especially on Thanksgiving Day we may gather in God’s house with the family and congregation and may be together in our homes to recall all the blessings of the Lord. Each blessing is a wonder, since we do not deserve any of them. What reason there then is to acknowledge the God of heaven and earth! But how to do so? We must even ask the Lord to give us a thankful heart, since that too is something which we do not have of ourselves. To say thanks with our lips only is not true thanksgiving.

All these things should make us realize how dependent we are upon the Lord. We are poor and needy in ourselves. Man, who was rich at the time of his creation, became poor and miserable because of sin. It has caused so much sorrow and grief, and separates us from God and His favor. But the Lord invites us to look unto Him and to call upon Him. His servant, John the Baptist, said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” May the Lord give us together what we need to do so.

The first letters of our answers this month spell out eight words found in Psalm 92. Most of the texts speak to us about the reasons for thankfulness and about those persons in the Bible who have given thanks to the Lord for His goodness.

Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in ______.”

After relating what the Lord had done for them, Joshua said to the people, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in ______.”

After writing, “His name is John,” the mouth of Zacharias was opened ______, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

In the prison at Philippi Paul and Silas prayed and ______ praises unto God at midnight.

As Paul travelled to Rome, the brethren came to meet him at ______, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

In Psalm 119 the psalmist said, “It is ______ for me that I have been afflicted.”

As the children of Israel left Egypt, it is said, “It is a night to be much ______ unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt.”

Paul said to King Agrippa, “Having therefore ______ help of God, I continue unto this day.”

The Queen of Sheba said to Solomon, “Blessed be the Lord thy God, which ______ in thee to set thee on His throne.”

Jonah, while in the belly of the fish, said, “I will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of ______.”

Hannah prayed and said, “My ______ rejoiceth in the Lord.”

As Israel took his journey with all that he had to go into Egypt, he came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father ______.

The women said to ______, “Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman.”

When the multitude saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see, they ______ the God of Israel.

Abraham’s servant worshipped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master, who hath not left destitute my master of His mercy and of His ______.”

At the Red Sea Moses and the children of Israel sang, “In the greatness of Thine excellency Thou hast ______ them that rose up against Thee.”

Mary said, “He that is mighty hath done to me ______ things.”

After Joseph died, we read that the children of Israel were fruitful, and ______ abundantly, and waxed exceeding mighty.

The psalmist in Psalm 67 said, “Verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the ______ of my prayer.”

James wrote, “______ good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”

The Lord Jesus took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave ______, and brake them, and gave to His disciples to give to the multitude.

The Lord said to Hezekiah, “I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will ______ thee.”

Joseph called the name of his second son Ephraim, saying, “For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my ______.”

After the loss of possessions and children, Job yet said, “Blessed be the ______ of the Lord.”

In the last chapter of 1 Chronicles David blessed the Lord, saying, “Thine is the ______, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all.”

Peter and the other apostles departed from the presence of the council at Jerusalem, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer ______ for His Name.

Your answers should be sent to

Garret J. Moerdyk

5211 Woodmont Drive

Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001

The answers to the quiz of last month are —

Knowest — 2 Chronicles 6:30

Emmaus — Luke 24:13-25

Edomites — 2 Chronicles 26:18-19

Perfect — 2 Chronicles 25:2

Try — Psalm 139:23

Hezekiah — 2 Kings 20:1-3

youth — 1 Kings 18:7-12

Heard — Joshua 2:11

Eyes — Genesis 3:6

Accepted — Genesis 4:7

Right — Acts 8:21

Trembled — 1 Samuel 4:13

Whole — Psalm 119:10

Integrity — Genesis 20:4-5

Thought — Acts 8:22

Heart — 2 Chronicles 15:12

Abomination — Proverbs 16:5

Lord — Proverbs 21:1

Looketh — 1 Samuel 16:7

Deceitful — Jeremiah 17:9

Imagination — Genesis 6:5

Love — Matthew 22:37

Iniquity — Psalm 66:18

Gladness — Acts 2:44-46

Esau — Genesis 27:41

Number — 1 Chronicles 21:1

Clean — Psalm 51:10

Entered — Luke 22:3-4

Again there are letters to be answered —

Eric Bosch

Your letter will be the first one this time, Eric. It was nice to hear from you and to have you join in answering the Bible quiz. This should arrive before your birthday, so we do hope that you may have a happy birthday, and may also have many more of them. There are many gifts which we might like to have, but the Lord Jesus has said, “One thing is needful.” That is our wish for you.

Karin Bertram

It is always nice to have a few weeks off from school, Karin. But then you are probably also glad to be back at school again. Did Miss Meeuwse arrive safely? Be sure to give her our greetings. We would also like to visit you, but you live so far away from here. Do you live quite near Aline and Mary?

Irene Verhey

Where did your brother work during the holidays, Irene? Did you have to get up early in order to feed his calves? Who takes care of the chickens? I can see that there is a lot to do every day at your house. We must be most thankful if we are healthy and able to do our daily chores. When do you have Thanksgiving Day in New Zealand?

Suzanne Van Den Bosch

In the Bible we read that Miriam was given the task to babysit for little Moses, Suzanne. But those were very different circumstances than with your babysitting task. She must not have been so very old at that time. Do your brother-in-law and sister have quite a few cows to milk?

Aline Bosch

We were glad to hear that your mother was feeling much better again, Aline. It is nice that she has two daughters to help her with all her work in the house. We see how many things a mother does when she is absent for a few days. Perhaps you do lots of things to help her even when she is well.

Jeremy Bertram

It seems that Oma was busy during the school holidays with the visits from grandchildren. Clocks are important in our lives, since almost every day is regulated by the clock. Solomon in his book Ecclesiastes also saw how time entered into every thing which takes place with us, even to the day of death. How carefully we should use the time which the Lord gives us!

Mary Bosch

I wasn’t quite sure what Lower Hutt is, Mary. Is it a city, an island, a park? Perhaps we should have studied our geography better in our school days, and then we would have known. The world is so large, and we know so little, but then to think that the Lord is everywhere and knows every thought of the hearts of each person. You can read how David confessed this before the Lord in Psalm 139.

Many thanks to all the boys and girls for their replies to the Bible quiz. May we often be busy with the Word of God, praying that the Lord Himself may teach us by it. We read of the two disciples that the Lord Jesus opened to them the Scriptures. May He do this for us also.

With love,

Your friend,

“Uncle Garret”

A SPECIAL GIFT

Do you know that God has given you a gift?

Yes, it’s true that God has given us many gifts. God has given us the Bible. That is certainly a special gift. And God has given us a family, a home, food, health, a Christian school, a church to hear about Him, and many more gifts. We try to remember to thank Him for these gifts at Thanksgiving.

But I’m thinking about another gift. It’s a gift we often forget about. Usually we don’t even think about it as a gift at all. We might even think of it as a burden rather than a gift.

I’m thinking about the gift of Sunday.

Sunday? Is Sunday a gift? Why, it seems like we can’t do anything on Sunday! We can’t do homework, we can’t go to the store, we can’t....

But, wait a minute. Too often we think of Sunday as “We can’t” Instead, we should think of it as “We don’t have to.”

First of all, “We don’t have to” work. Just think of it! For six days we have to do our chores. We have to go to school or work, we have to sweep and dust the house, we have to clean our rooms. But for one day we don’t have to work! There is actually a day that we don’t have to work (unless it is absolutely necessary)! Did you ever think of it that way? Instead of thinking “we can’t work,” think of God’s gift as “we don’t have to work!”

Bernie Bakker

Billie Bakker

Jason Bakker

Joshua Bakker

Jeremy Bertram

Karin Bertram

Connie Bos

Melanie Bos

Sara Bos

Stephen Bos

Aline Bosch

Eric Bosch

Mary Bosch

Nathan De Boer

Lisa De Bruin

Brian Den Hertog

John Den Hertog

Maria Derksen

Melissa Derksen

Erik DeVries (2)

Jason DeVries

Gord Eckhardt (2)

Sue Eckhardt (2)

Rachel Ekema

Andrea Engelsma

Nathan Engelsma

Karen Erkelens

Rebecca Erkelens

Susanna Erkelens

Corwin Fluit

LaRissa Fluit

Thane Fluit

Daniel Geuze

Jim Jr. Greendyk

Chris Heikoop

Elena Heikoop

John Heikoop

Michelle Heikoop

Brian Hoogendoorn

Carrie Hoogendoorn

Peter Hoogendoorn

Tori Hoogendoorn

David Hoogerheide

Katharine Hoogerheide

Cristina Hook

Susan Hook

Brenda Hulshof

Cindy Hulshof

Katie Hulshof

Bradley Kamp

Eric Kamp (2)

Virginia Kamp

Frank Kardux

Myrna Kardux

Brian Kleyn

Kerri Kleyn

Alex Klyn

Harold Klyn

Krista Kroesbergen (2)

Joan Lamain

Sara Lamain

William Lamain

Alexandra Marshall

Jennifer Marshall

Joshua Meeuwse

Lynne Meeuwse

Nathan Meeuwse

Nicole Meeuwse

Karen Nyenhuis

Bill Remijn

Heidi Remijn

Sonya Remijn

Daria Rus

Jason Rus

Anne Schelling (2)

Becky Schelling

Ruth Schelling (2)

Marc Slingerland

Marcel Slingerland

Marilyn Slingerland

Marty Slingerland

Timothy Slingerland

Aaron Stubbe

Darrell Stubbe

Heather Stubbe

Kevin Stubbe

Steven Stubbe

Carl Van Brugge (2)

Marinus Van Brugge (2)

Nella Van Brugge

Suzanne Van Den Bosch

Melinda Van Grouw (2)

Nicole Van Ree

Dawn Van Seters

Kristel Van Seters

Doug VAn Strien

Katie Van Strien

Peter Van Strien

Trina Van Tol

Rebecca Van Veldhuizen (2)

Robert Van Veldhuizen (2)

Jason Van Voorst

Larissa Van Voorst

Rachel Van Voorst

Corinna Van Wingerden

Mark Van Wingerden

Marlene Van Wingerden

Paula Van Woudenberg

Diane VandenToorn

Jon VandenToorn

Marsha VandenToorn

Michael VandenToorn

Phillip VandenToorn

Katelyn Vandermale

Keith Vandermale

Kristen Vandermale

Gary VanderWaal

Henk VanderWaal

Louise VanderWaal

Irene Verhey

Michelle Vossebelt

Cindy Ymker

Denise Ymker

Greg Ymker

Mark Ymker

Mike Ymker

Jeff Zevenbergen (2)

Kara Zevenbergen

Kristin Zevenbergen

Most of the week we work or play all day. Most of the time we are too busy to think about God. And when we have the time, we want to do other things. I am that way, too. When we hear our minister remind us to seek God, we think: “But I don’t have any time to read good books! I get up, go to school or work, come home, eat, do my homework, and do a few things around the house that just have to be done! And I’ve been working all day so I need a few minutes to play, just to rest my mind. Then I go to bed. And the next day is the same. There just is no time to think about God!”

But this is wrong. We need to remember and be concerned for our souls. And now we have an “extra” day just to think about Him! We can’t make any excuses to God. No, don’t say we have to go to church and read good books, but we may go to church! God gives us this day especially to get away from the busyness of life and to seek Him! We think we are too busy — many times we make ourselves too busy — so God gives us time just to seek Him!

Sometimes maybe you wish you could go to the store or play baseball or ride your bike on Sunday, just like you can on every other day of the week. But don’t you think we should set one day of the week apart especially to seek for our salvation? God wants us to seek Him every day of the week, but He has especially set Sunday apart for this purpose. Shouldn’t we make use of His special gift?

— SW

THE LIGHT MUST SHINE

On the coast of Normandy, a lighthouse keeper lived with his two children in a lighthouse. One day the lighthouse keeper went to shore for provisions. While he was gone, a storm arose. He was unable to return to the lighthouse.

The time for lighting the lamp came. Mary said to her little brother, “We must light the lamp, Billy.” The two children climbed the long, narrow stairs to the tower where the lamp was kept. Mary pulled up a chair and tried to reach the lamp in the great reflector, but it was too high for her to reach. She went down the stairs and came back with a small lamp in her hand. “I will hold this up,” she said “so the sailors can see a light.” Again, she climbed on to the chair, but the reflector was too high to catch the light.

“Get down,” said Billy, “I know what to do.” Mary jumped down, and Billy climbed on the chair. “Stand on top of me,” he said. Mary stood on the little boy, and then she raised the little lamp high. The reflector caught its light, and the light shone far out across the water. She held the lamp first with one hand, and then with the other, to rest her arms. Then she said to her borther, “Does it hurt you, Billy?” “Of course it hurts,” he said, “but we must keep the light burning!”

Is the light of God’s Word and love in our hearts, and is it shining forth in this dark world, even when it hurts?

— reprinted from Banner of Truth

Garret J. Moerdyk serves as elder in the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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