Is the God of the Dead the same deity as the God of the Living in Mk 12:27?

How do you interpret this text? From your other posts, I know you believe in soul zip, i.e. the soul is not conscious between the time of death and resurrection. I also believe this. But at the time God spoke to Moses about Abraham, Abraham was not THEN living. Was he talking about a future life?

KT

tonychanyt said:

Mk 12:


In this context, Jesus did not assert the existence of the God of the Dead.

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When Jesus said that, He was talking to the Sadducees who believed that people ceased to exist upon physical death including their bodies, souls and spirits. He corrected their false understanding by reminding them of what they should have already known from reading Exodus 3:6 which is that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus was pointing out how God was telling Moses that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob because He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. That means Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive at that time or else God wasn't their God. They were only physically dead, but not spiritually. The souls of dead believers go to be with the Lord in heaven when they physically die. As Paul said "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:8).

By proving that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were alive at that time, Jesus not only was refuting their belief that people cease to exist entirely when they physically die, but that since they are alive spiritually and are in heaven now, there is no reason to think that their bodies won't be resurrected in the future. The resurrection of the dead has to do with the resurrection of people's dead bodies, not their souls and spirits.

tonychanyt said:

Let's check out the broader biblical context. 1P 4:


God will judge the dead. In this special sense, God is the God of the dead too. There is only one true God.

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The context is that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so it's talking about Him being the God of those who belong to Him. He is not the God of the dead and never will be. Jesus did not say that He is not the God of the dead, but one day He will be. He is only the God of those who are spiritually alive and not of those who are spiritually dead in their sins. That's why those who are lost and dead in their sins will spend eternity separated from His presence (2 Thess 1:9).

KevinT said:

How do you interpret this text? From your other posts, I know you believe in soul zip, i.e. the soul is not conscious between the time of death and resurrection. I also believe this.

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That's false doctrine. How do you explain Luke 16:19-31? How do you the explain the conscious souls in heaven referenced in Revelation 6:9-11? How do you explain Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus at His transfiguration? How do you explain Paul saying that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8)?

KevinT said:

But at the time God spoke to Moses about Abraham, Abraham was not THEN living. Was he talking about a future life?

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They WERE living spiritually. Their souls and spirits were not dead. Scripture never teaches such a thing. Only their bodies were dead.

tonychanyt said:

Mk 12:


In this context, Jesus did not assert the existence of the God of the Dead.

Let's check out the broader biblical context. 1P 4:


God will judge the dead. In this special sense, God is the God of the dead too. There is only one true God.

Click to expand...

Really gives weight that the dead are in fact really dead and are dormant in the grave. Someday all will be resurrected from earthly death ... some resurrected to eternal life ... some resurrected to the 2nd death (eternal death).

If humans are inherently "immortal" ie immortal soul ... then nobody is actually dead and never will be.

Entire bible is about life or death ... we aren't supposed to be confused about it.

Jesus overcame the 2nd death.