Grades K-4 Ask…(3)

Once you said that Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights, but I think you made a mistake. He was in the grave for two nights, wasn’t He?

According to the way we count days and nights, Jesus was in the grave only two nights. But people who lived in Jesus’ day counted nights a bit differently than we do. We think of nights in relationship to the sun. In other words, one night runs from the time the sun sets to the time the sun rises. Bible people thought of nights in terms of time as well. That is, they counted one night to be those hours of darkness between 12:01 a.m. of a particular day and 12:00 midnight of that same day.

So in the case of Jesus, they would count like this: From the time of dusk to midnight on Friday (the day when He was laid in the grave), is night 81. Night #2 includes Saturday’s hours from 12:01 a.m. to dawn and from dusk to midnight. Night #3 would then be Sunday morning’s hours from after midnight to the time Jesus arose.

In this way we must understand what Jesus says in Matthew 12:40, “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

In the Apostles’s Creed what does it mean when it says, “I blieve in the holy catholic church?”

“Catholic” means universal. That means that the true Church (which is God’s people) is all over the world. The church of Rome took this name for herself. So when we think of the word “catholic” today, we often think of the Roman Catholic Church. But that’s not what the Creed has in mind. The Roman Catholic Church didn’t even have this name when this Creed was written.

So when you hear in church, “I believe in the holy catholic church,” you should think to yourself: “That means, I believe in the holy, universal Church, for Cod has His people everywhere in the world.”

By the way, there’s one other word that may be hard for you when you hear the Apostles’s Creed. That is the word quick. It doesn’t mean “fast” or “speedy,” like you might think. Here it is used in a very old way to mean, living. Thus, Jesus will come to judge the quick, that is the living and the dead.

It says in Luke 10:31 that there came dawn a certain priest “by chance.” Do we believe in chance?

No, from Cod’s viewpoint nothing happens by chance. God has known and determined everything from all eternity. There really is no such thing as “luck,” “accident,” or “chance.” Even the hairs of our head are numbered by God (Mt. 10:30).

Forward questions intended for this department to:

Rev. J.R. Beeke, 2115 Romence St. N.E., Grand Rapids, Ml 49503.

Questions will be published anonymously.

From our viewpoint, however, sometimes we speak of things happening by chance or by accident. If you come around a corner in school and bump into your teacher coming around the same corner from the opposite way, you might be very surprised and say: “It was just by chance (or accident) that we happened to meet at the same time.” There’s really nothing wrong with saying this, providing you realize you are speaking from the way you are seeing things and not from the way God sees things.

Bring all your needs to God—also that math or spelling test you may have tomorrow or next week—for God can help you in everything.

When the Bible speaks of things happening by chance (see also Ruth 2:3), it means to talk in this very human way. Certain things seem to us to be by chance, but nothing—not even your coming around that corner and bumping into your teacher — is really accidental or by chance from God’s perspective.

God knows, plans, and sees everything. He is everywhere. Try to remember this when Satan tempts you to do bad things. But also, try to bring all your needs to God —also that math or spelling test you may have tomorrow or next week — for God can help you in everything. Come to Him with all your fears and needs — especially your soul’s needs — remembering that nothing happens by chance with God.

What language did Adam and Eve Speak?

No one knows. But in heaven, they, together with all God’s people, shall speak one language. That is a language of praise to God. Let us pray that you and I may know something of this language while we are on earth, so that we may be prepared for heaven’s language. Heavenly language we sometimes call “the language of Canaan,” since Israel’s earthly land points to God’s people’s heavenly land.

If you have a new heart, does, that mean you are converted?

Yes. These words all mean the same thing: new heart, new birth, born again, regeneration. To be converted is the fruit of receiving a new heart by the saving work of the Holy Spirit.

I hope that you are praying for a new heart every day. Did you know that the Lord has special encouragements in the Bible for you to ask him to be converted? Look up these texts in the Bible (if necessary, ask your Dad or Mom to help you), and you will see that the Lord wants children to come to Him: Proverbs 8:17, 32; Isaiah 54:13; Matthew 18:4-5, 10; Mark 10:13-16; Acts 2:39; 1 John 2:12-13.

Dear children, will you pray this prayer tonight? Dear Lord, I need a new heart because I am a sinner. But Thou hast said in the Bible that children should seek Thee when they are young. Lord, help me to seek Thee and find Thee, especially when I am young. Show me who Thou art and who I am. Please give me a new heart. Let me be converted. Amen.

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