The Bible, "Messiah"-Style! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Isaiah

"Every valley shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." (Isaiah 40:4)

Following the tenor's contribution, the chorus comes on to sing verse 5, "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." (Isaiah 40:5)

Isaiah is used considerably throughout The Messiah; for purposes of this quiz, I only use each book once.

Answer: Haggai and Malachi

For thus saith the LORD of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: (Haggai 2:6)
and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
"But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire." (Malachi 3:2)

The latter part of the Malachi passage (Malachi 3:1-3) bleeds into the chorus for "And He Shall Purify the Sons of Levi".

Answer: Luke

The most commonly used passage describing the birth of Jesus Christ was used for this series of recitatives.

"There were...shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And...the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying..." (Luke 2:8-13)

This leads into the chorus concluding the passage, singing "Glory to God".

Answer: Zechariah

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is the righteous Saviour and He shall speak peace unto the heathen." (Zechariah 9: parts of v. 9-10) These are the lyrics to an aria with a series of coloratura runs that are achieved by only the best of sopranos.

Answer: Matthew

"Come unto him all ye that labour, that are heavy laden, and he will give you rest. Take his yoke upon you, and learn of him, for he is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29)

Concluding this passage is following chorus, "For His Yoke Is Easy and His Burthen Is Light". Handel uses poetic license and changes both of these to third person.

Answer: John

This passage contains the words of John the Baptist. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

Answer: Psalms

Psalms is the longest book of the Bible at 150 chapters. Chapters that are used as lyrics for this area of the Messiah are the aforementioned Psalm 2 (v. 1-3) and 24 (v. 7-10); chapters 16, 19, 22, 68 and 69 are used as well.

Answer: Revelation

Verse 11 features the phrase, "And He Shall Reign Forever", and verse 19 features both "For the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth" and "King of Kings and Lord of Lords".

Revelation is also used for the finale of The Messiah, "Worthy Is the Lamb That Was Slain" and the ensuing "Amen".

Answer: Job

"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job 19:26)

Job's life and faith is an example of keeping your face toward the heavens no matter what God's divine plan sets before you.

Answer: I Corinthians

"O death, where is thy sting?" and "But thanks be to God" are two choruses that are also from this part of the chapter, specifically verses 51-57. I Corinthians 15 includes Paul's description of the rapture, magnificently put to music by Handel.