Isaiah 14:4-11
Easy-to-Read Version
A Song About the King of Babylon
4 At that time you will begin to sing this song about the king of Babylon:
The king was cruel when he ruled us,
but now his rule is finished.
5 The Lord breaks the scepter of evil rulers;
he takes away their power.
6 In anger, the king of Babylon beat the people.
He never stopped beating them.
He was an evil ruler who ruled in anger.
He never stopped hurting people.
7 But now, the whole country rests and is quiet.
Now the people begin to celebrate.
8 You were an evil king,
and now you are finished.
Even the pine trees are happy.
The cedar trees of Lebanon rejoice.
They say, “The king chopped us down,
but now the king has fallen,
and he will never stand again.”
9 The place of death is excited
that you are coming.
Sheol is waking the spirits
of all the leaders of the earth for you.
Sheol is making the kings stand up
from their thrones to meet you.
10 They will make fun of you, saying,
“Now you are as dead as we are.
Now you are just like us.”
11 Your pride has been sent down to Sheol.
The music from your harps announces the coming of your proud spirit.
Maggots will be the bed you lie on,
and other worms will cover your body like a blanket.
A Born Again is Alive in Spirit, when our flesh body dies, our spirit will never die for it’s in Christ,God is our Spiritual Father, he brought our spirit Alive in Jesus Name..
Therefore God is the God of the Living,.,not the dead.
We will have glorified bodies just like Jesus..
..do you understand that a Born Again can never die in spirit, that they are Saints and joint heirs with Christ..our spirit is reborn, not our intellect or posting scripture..we have a living testimony who indwells our spirit?
What does it mean that God is not the God of the dead (Matthew 22:32)?
ANSWER
Mathew 22:32 concludes an exchange Jesus had with the
Sadducees concerning the resurrection of the dead, best understood when read with the prior verse: “But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (verses 31–32).
The Sadducees denied the resurrection and only accepted the
Pentateuch—the first five books of the Old Testament—as inspired texts. Therefore, Jesus tackled their misconception on the resurrection by citing
Exodus 3:6a: “Then he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’
” God made this statement long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob died, but the present tense indicated that those three men were still alive. It’s not that God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God still is their God, because they still exist.
In
Matthew 22, Jesus asserts that God is not the God of the dead because life persists beyond death. In contrast to the Sadducees’ liberal position, life doesn’t cease in this world. Therefore—like the faithful patriarchs—
God’s children have eternal life. Jesus, in one decisive statement, refutes the Sadducees and proclaims the hopeful truth of believers today: death is a defeated enemy, and there is a resurrection of the dead.
Old Testament saints expressed trust in God by believing God’s promises, including the promises pointing to Jesus (see
Genesis 12:1–3;
2 Samuel 7:12–16). New Testament saints, looking back to Christ’s redemptive work, find evidence for their future hope. Jesus, crucified for our sins and
risen again as the Firstborn of those who will rise (
1 Corinthians 15:20), ensures our resurrection as believers.
Despite Jesus’ resurrection, the Sadducees’ ideology persisted, and it was addressed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:22–23: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” The resurrection of the dead is certain, further reaffirming Jesus’ proclamation that God is not the God of the dead.
What about those who are not in Christ? Will they face annihilation, as the Sadducees believed? John 5:28–29 provides clarity: “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” Both the just and the unjust will rise, but only the just will rise to eternal blessedness.
In contemporary society, skeptics often align with the Sadducees, denying an awaited resurrection. Atheists, agnostics, and progressives all persist in their attempts to reject or distort Scripture’s teaching on physical resurrection. But we look to Christ, the New Adam and Prototype of the New Creation, as the unwavering assurance that God’s promise won’t fail.
The Sadducees and the Resurrection
(
Matthew 22:23–33;
Luke 20:27–40)
18Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him:
19“Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man is to marry his brother’s widow and raise up offspring for him.
d 20Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died, leaving no children.
21Then the second one married the widow, but he also died and left no children. And the third did likewise.
22In this way, none of the seven left any children. And last of all, the woman died.
23In the resurrection, then,
e whose wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”
24Jesus said to them, “Aren’t you mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? 25When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
26But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’f? 27He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken
