Miracle Babies Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sarah

Genesis 16 states that Sarah had borne Abraham no children, so she asked Abraham to have a child with her maid, Hagar. Boy, that was a mistake on Sarah's part. Hagar and Ishmael ended up making her miserable after that.

Sarah had been barren, but on top of that, she was 90 years-old when the LORD promised that she would give birth to a son. She had a hard time believing God's word, but He wanted her to understand that nothing was too difficult for Him. According to Genesis 21, Sarah gave birth to her own miracle baby, Isaac.

Answer: Rebekah

Genesis 25:21 states that Isaac prayed for his wife, Rebekah, because she was barren. God eventually answered his prayer, but Rebekah had to wait 20 years before she could have her twins. Genesis 25:20 says that Isaac was 40 years old when he married her, and verse 26 says that he was 60 when Esau and Jacob were born.

The Bible doesn't give Rebekah's age, but there are some hints. Rebekah was significantly younger than Isaac was. In Genesis 22, God informed Abraham of the birth of Rebekah's *father* at roughly the same time that Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. Unlike her mother-in-law Sarah, Rebekah probably wasn't elderly when she conceived, but it showed the LORD's power anyway.

Answer: Rachel

Rachel was Jacob's beloved wife. In Genesis 30:1, Rachel was so upset that she couldn't have children that she told Jacob to give her children or she was going to die. This angered him, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld you from the fruit of the womb?" (Genesis 30:2, New American Standard Bible).

Genesis 30 goes on to say that God remembered Rachel (she was probably praying) so the LORD did open her womb and she had Joseph. Unfortunately, Genesis 35 states that due to severe labor, Rachel died giving birth to her second child, Benjamin.

Answer: Leah

Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, so he was married to both sisters at the same time. However, he only loved Rachel.

I'll admit, I wasn't aware that she was originally barren. Genesis 29:31 states that when God saw that Jacob didn't love Leah, He opened her womb. I always interpreted that to mean that God felt sorry for Leah, so He allowed her to have more children than Rachel did. While that might be true, in order for Him to open her womb, it must had been closed originally. I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but it took another person pointing out her barrenness before I understood it. The differences between Leah and Rachel, and between Leah and other Biblical barren women, are the facts that she didn't have to endure a lot of time without children and she didn't even have to cry out to God herself. He simply healed her.

Leah went on to have six sons and one daughter.

Answer: Abimelech's wife

Genesis 20 includes a bizarre story about Abraham, Sarah, and a man named Abimelech. Abimelech was already married, but he wanted Sarah to be another wife. Abraham was apparently afraid, so he said that Sarah was his sister and then Abimelech took Sarah. The LORD appeared to Abimelech in a dream and commanded him to let Sarah go, because she was actually Abraham's wife.

Genesis 20:17-18 mention how God caused all of the women in Abimelech's house to be infertile because of Sarah, until Abraham prayed for them, and then God healed Abimelech's wife and female servants.

Answer: Manoah's wife

Judges 13 provides the story of Samson's mother. We aren't given her name; only that she was Manoah's wife. Just like Sarah, Rebekah, etc., she was barren. The angel of the LORD visited her and told her that she would have a son, Samson, who was supposed to be a Nazarite.

Some Christians believe that the angel of the LORD was actually the pre-incarnate Jesus, the second member of the Trinity. According to Judges 13:18, the angel asked Manoah, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" (New American Standard Bible). In verse 22, Manoah exclaimed to his wife, "We will surely die, for we have seen God", which suggests that the "angel" was God Himself.

Answer: The Shunammite woman

2 Kings 4 tells the Shunammite woman's story. She apparently was unable to have children, although verse 14 only says that she had no sons. The verse also states that her husband was old. When Elisha prophecied to her about her son, she didn't believe that it was possible. She accused Elisha of lying to her. The woman did give birth to a son the following year. The boy died when he was a few years old. His mother cried out to Elisha and through God's help, Elisha brought the boy back to life.

The Shunammite woman is not to be confused with the Shulammite woman, from the Song of Solomon.

Answer: Hannah

See 1 Samuel, chapters 1 and 2. Of all the infertile women in the Bible, perhaps nobody wanted a baby more than Hannah did. Hannah had a rival, Peninnah, who had many children. Peninnah was a bully! She was always making fun of Hannah for being barren, and she would belittle Hannah to the point that Hannah would cry and not want to eat. In addition, Hannah was praying for a child, so much so that the priest, Eli, accused her of being drunk.

Hannah promised the LORD that if He gave her a son, she would dedicate his life to the Temple, which is exactly what happened, according to the Scriptures. Not only that, but 1 Samuel 2 includes a joyful song by Hannah. She sings in verse 5, "Even the [once] barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes" (New American Standard Bible). In other words, Hannah had six more children after Samuel and was rewarded for her faith, but God punished the wicked Peninnah.

Answer: Elizabeth

Elizabeth was in a similar situation to Sarah. According to Luke 1, not only was she childless in her younger years, but she also was past child-bearing age when the angel Gabriel announced that she would have John the Baptist. Unlike Sarah, Elizabeth didn't mock the promise of God. Instead, her husband Zacharias did, and he was made mute as a punishment.

Elizabeth and Mary, the mother of Jesus, were relatives.

Answer: Mary

Luke 1 states that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of God in her womb. Verse 34 states that she asked the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" (New American Standard translation). According to the New Testament, Jesus was the ultimate miracle baby!

There is no wonder why she asked Gabriel this question. Mary was a devout Jewish girl. Luke says that she was "bethroted" or "engaged" to Joseph. Under Jewish law, however, the marriage process had stages. Mary was in the stage where she technically was already married (in fact, Matthew 1:19 calls Joseph her husband), but their consummation wouldn't have happened for about a whole year later than when the angel spoke to her. According to one sermon I heard, she probably didn't even *talk to* Joseph much during this bethrothal stage.

Since she was legally married, then she would had been guilty of adultery if she had a relationship with someone else before her consummation (again, Matthew 1:19).

I should note that Catholics believe Mary asked Gabriel "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" because they believe that she took a vow of virginity, so she wasn't expecting to have children even after her marriage. Protestants disagree with the Catholic view.

The New Testament states that Jesus had four brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and several unnamed sisters, but many Catholics believe that these were Jesus's cousins. Protestants believe that they were indeed Mary's biological children, born after Jesus.