They continue to live. Jesus said so. He quoted God saying, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Then Jesus said, "God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
The scripture says that the patriarchs "NOW desire a heavenly country" (Hebrews 11:16). The dead can't desire. Therefore, their souls were in a place where they were CONSCIOUSLY waiting for the heavenly country.
Lets first look at that passage “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,” and see if it offers any help to Hebrews.
Lets say, Jesus taught that the soul does not die. When he gave the statement “
I am the God of Abraham...”, which is saying, God is the God of the living, not of the dead, as proof of a resurrection. The “I am” referring to “the God of the living,” and the “resurrection,” would become confusing, as is seen in...
[Luke 20:37-38 “But even
Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the
dead are raised (
this is referring to the resurrection), when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (
this would have to be referring to the resurrection) ’
For He is not the God of the dead but
of the living,
for all live to Him.”]
Did you notice that last statement, “for all live to Him.” God sees them as alive, not dead. Not that they really are alive but God sees them as alive, because they will inherit eternal life, and God knows those that are His.
If Jesus, by stating, God is the God of the living, was proof that these souls are alive, then how would that prove of a bodily resurrection. He only proved they are alive, but he still did not give proof of a bodily resurrection. So to prove there is a bodily resurrection, Jesus would have to be referring to the body, when he says God is the God of the living (
as is clearly seen in Luke that this refers to the resurrection), because as we have said in our example, the soul is not resurrected, for it is already living. I hope you can see this passage doesn't make much sense then, if he is referring to the soul.
Then on top of that, it's in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, if it's not until the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, then what are their souls doing now, are they now in marriage, and given in marriage, it comes out with no real sense. All this takes place at the resurrection, this is when we receive eternal life. If I am a soul and spirit in heaven, or wherever it may be, but with no body, then that sounds like to me, I am just like an angel already, with eternal life, spirit and soul.
Should not this [25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven,] be the case the moment they die, not at the resurrection, if our soul is eternal?
So, if what I say is so, then what could Paul mean when he says they are now at the present longing for an heavenly? What could he mean by that, if what I am saying is true. Does it mean they are alive longing? [Hebrews 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they
without us should not be made perfect.] And if they are in heaven with God, why would they be longing for something else? In fact, if they are in heaven, then why are they longing for the heavenly sphere? And if they are not in heaven, yet the Spirit has returned to God, then how are they living?
[But now they
desire (G3713) a better
country, that is, an
heavenly:]
Desire: (G3713 – oregontai - to stretch oneself out in order to touch or grasp something) – is in the Indicative : Mood, which means : The indicative mood is a statement of fact or an actual occurrence from the writer's or speaker's perspective.
Even if the writer is lying, he may state the action
as if it is a fact, and thus the verb would be in the indicative mood.
Sorry, gave the wrong passage, it should have been...
Like [Revelation 16:6 For
they have shed (Indicative : Mood) the blood of saints and prophets, and
thou hast given (Indicative : Mood) them blood to drink; for they are worthy.] Notice it does not say He will give; it says He hast given, where it is stated as fact, as if He has given, but at the time of writing had not yet happened.
God is the only one with immortality, and God is Spirit; soul is not Spirit, so to impart immortality to a soul, it would need the presence of the Spirit, who only has life. If you remove Spirit from soul, how can a soul posses life of it's own? One would be saying, life exists outside of God.
We can have the fullness of God's Spirit dwell in us, but we are not that Spirit, we are the soul. If we claim our souls posses life of it's own, outside of God, then we are saying we are God. The same if God removed His Spirit from the body, the body can't live without God's Spirit (breath of life). If we say our soul (the "Us") is Spirit then we are saying we are the God. There is nothing that is mine, even my soul is not mine. At the resurrection, my spiritual body, will give permanent life to my soul (the soul being the me).
1 Timothy 6:16 says only God has immortality, but angels have immortality, does that mean angels are God? Obviously not. What he means is only God possess it, He's the owner.