Explain please why in Malachi chapter 4 it refers to the ‘Sun’ of righteousness and not the ‘Son’ of righteousness as the New Testament claims.  Thank you.

Sincerely,
Wordy

Dear Wordy,

Mal 4:2 is using poetic and figurative language to describe what life will be like for christians.  “The sun of righteousness will arise with healing in its wings” isn’t meant to be read literally.  The sun doesn’t have anything to do with morality, and the sun also doesn’t have wings.  The language is metaphorical and should be treated just like we use metaphorical language today.  Malachi 4:2 is saying that when Christ comes, His people will be blessed with warmth to the soul like the sun provides warmth to the body; they will be blessed with liberty like wings are to a bird, and they will have the healing that forgiveness brings the soul.

     Hello, AYP.  I thought after they walked on water, Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat in Matt 14:32.  Why does Mark 6:51 say that only Jesus climbed into the boat?  Help me please before I consider this a contradiction.

Sincerely,
Wanting The Dots To Connect

Dear Wanting The Dots To Connect,

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all are narratives of Christ’s life, but they each tell things from different perspectives.  As you may have noticed, Matthew doesn’t include all the same stories as Luke, and John tells things differently than Mark… the books are designed to give different angles to Jesus’ life here on Earth.  In fact, John said it would be impossible to tell of everything that Jesus said and did on this planet – so they only told us the details that were important for their particular purposes (Jhn 21:25).
This brings us to your question about Jesus walking on water.  Matthew covers the entire story of Jesus walking to His disciples upon the water, but Mark simply sums up that particular occurrence by saying, “He went up to them in the boat” (Mk 6:51).  Mark isn’t contradicting the story of Peter that Matthew tells; he just omitted that section of the story.  In the end, they tell the same story… Matthew was just more detailed.

     Do prophets make good advisors for kings of Israel?

Sincerely,
Seeking Counsel

Dear Seeking Counsel,

Prophets did make good advisors, but today there are no prophets (read “The Lost Art Of Prophecy” for details).  The kings of Israel would inquire of God all the time for all sorts of things.  The first king of Israel, Saul, was upset because God would no longer answer his inquiries when Saul started behaving wickedly (1 Sam 28:6).  King David asked for God’s advice even when it came to battle tactics (2 Sam 5:23).  It was commonplace for the righteous kings to ask God for advice in all sorts of spheres.

     Is there a way to ask God a question and get an answer?

Sincerely,
Quizzical

Dear Quizzical,

God doesn’t answer us by directly speaking to us.  God speaks to us through His Word (Rom 10:17) and His Word says that we should pray without doubting (1 Tim 2:8) and that we should ask in faith (Jas 1:6). God says there are very few things that will cause Him to ignore our prayers.  Read “Whose Prayers Count?” for the list of things that will make God turn His back on your prayers.

God answers our prayers according to His will, not ours – in fact, we should pray that the Lord’s will be done (Jas 4:15).  Having said that, it is perfectly appropriate to keep praying until the answer is clear – God is pleased with the consistently prayerful (1 Thess 5:17).  He wants you to ask over and over – until He gives you an answer.  David prayed vehemently for the life of his child until the child died (2 Sam 12:22-23).  Paul prayed for his sickness to be removed three times until God told him to accept the pain (2 Cor 12:8-9).  Cornelius’ prayers were constantly before the Lord until Peter was sent (Acts 10:4-5).  Even our Lord prayed in the garden repeatedly that He might not have to die on the cross (Matt 26:39).  The key in all these circumstances was that the requests ceased when God answered. Once God made His decision apparent, whether it was yes or no, acceptance began.

God never gets tired of hearing from His children.  Christians are to constantly seek Him in prayer.  The most direct example of this is Christ’s parable of the unjust judge in Lk 18:1-5.  Christ taught that parable so that “men ought always to pray, and not to grow weary”.  God wants to hear from His people.  So don’t stop asking for help; He is listening.

     If the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are considered to be one in the Bible, than why don't we worship the Trinity instead of just one God?

Sincerely,
Multiplying Worship

Dear Multiplying Worship,

There are three members of the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).  Each of the three is fully God and have all the powers of Deity.  Read “The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit” for details on their relationship one to the other.  We worship all three members of the Godhead.  Jesus received worship (Matt 28:9).  We are told to worship through the Holy Spirit (Php 3:3), and we pray to the Father (Lk 11:2).  All members of the Godhead are worthy of praise and glory.