HOW DO THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD?

[Eddie Ramos]

The majority of people have been taught to take the Bible at face value, yet when they come across difficult to understand passages, they make up the rules of Bible study as they go. All the while ignoring that Jesus (The Word of God) did not speak without parables (Mt 13:34). Well, a passage that challenges the literal doctrinal approach is Matthew 8:22.

Matthew 8:21–22 (KJV 1900)
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

How does someone who is dead bury someone who is dead? Well, when we understand that the Bible is a parable and that God speaks of two types of dead people (the physically dead and the spiritually dead), then we can understand two important things with this passage. One, is that God makes a distinction between the two types of dead people, those who are dead spiritually (meaning they have a dead soul) and those who are dead physically.

The second, is that God doesn't always spell things out for us in the immediate verse, but requires us us to search and compare scripture with scripture in order to put the pieces of the puzzle together in order to see the whole picture. But my question for those who only see the Bible as a literal textbook, how do the dead bury the dead?

[myth-one.com]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #19]

Myth, you don't believe that someone could be spiritually dead?

There are natural bodies and spiritual bodies.

Natural bodies die, while spiritual bodies live forever.

What do you mean by "spiritually dead."

It cannot mean that a spirit has died as that defies the immortality of spirits.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #19]

Myth, you don't believe that someone could be spiritually dead?

There are natural bodies and spiritual bodies.

Natural bodies die, while spiritual bodies live forever.

What do you mean by "spiritually dead."

It cannot mean that a spirit has died as that defies the immortality of spirits.

Spirits are not immortal.
Anyway, it is a common phrase to say that, for example, someone is a spiritual person. That means they are spiritually minded and are interested in God and the Bible, etc. They can also be spiritually dead, in that they aren't interested in knowing about God and acting on that knowledge.

[myth-one.com]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #19]

Myth, you don't believe that someone could be spiritually dead?

There are natural bodies and spiritual bodies.

Natural bodies die, while spiritual bodies live forever.

What do you mean by "spiritually dead."

It cannot mean that a spirit has died as that defies the immortality of spirits.

Spirits are not immortal.

Speaking of those who shall inherit the Kingdom of God in the world to come, Jesus states:

Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels... (Luke 20:36)

If those who inherit the Kingdom of God gain immortal life because they are equal unto the angels, then the spiritual angels are immortal!

Adam & Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever like God and the angels:

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. (Genesis 3:22-23)

[onewithhim]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #19]

Myth, you don't believe that someone could be spiritually dead?

There are natural bodies and spiritual bodies.

Natural bodies die, while spiritual bodies live forever.

What do you mean by "spiritually dead."

It cannot mean that a spirit has died as that defies the immortality of spirits.

Spirits are not immortal.

Speaking of those who shall inherit the Kingdom of God in the world to come, Jesus states:

Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels... (Luke 20:36)

If those who inherit the Kingdom of God gain immortal life because they are equal unto the angels, then the spiritual angels are immortal!

Adam & Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating of the Tree of Life and living forever like God and the angels:

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. (Genesis 3:22-23)

Spirits are not immortal, as we can see from the Devil being in line for destruction. He and his minions will perish in the end because of their hatred toward God. When the angels were created, they were not created immortal. After Jesus died and was resurrected, only he was immortal. (I Timothy 6:16) What Jesus stated about the angels was inferencing the relatively small group of co-rulers with Jesus in heaven who will be like the angels because they will be spirits in the heavenly realm. It is they alone who will be immortal like Jesus.

Adam was made mortal, out of the dust of the earth, in a physical body, to live forever as long as he obeyed God. (Genesis 2:7) His job was to "cultivate and take care of" the earth. (Genesis 2:15) Then He told Adam that he must not touch a certain tree, to show Adam's true feelings about God by his willingness to obey Him. Adam would die only if he disobeyed and took fruit from the tree. So Adam could have lived forever. He would still be here, in fact. That was God's plan for humans and it has not changed. There will be perfect humans in physical bodies, like Adam, who will be taking care of the earth for as long as they are in sinc with their heavenly Father. Jehovah's words went out in the beginning, to perfect Adam, and those words, His purpose, will be fulfilled, albeit some thousands of years later.

"So the word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) So His original purpose for the earth will be fulfilled. He hasn't changed His mind. "...The expression out of my lips I shall not change." (Psalms 89:34) It hasn't changed since Adam was created, a perfect man in a perfect physical body, given the earth "to cultivate and take care of." ("I am Jehovah: I have not changed." (Malachi 3:6)

[myth-one.com]

Spirits are not immortal, as we can see from the Devil being in line for destruction.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)

If the devil is tormented forever, then the devil lives forever. If the devil lives forever, then he is immortal.

[onewithhim]

Spirits are not immortal, as we can see from the Devil being in line for destruction.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)

If the devil is tormented forever, then the devil lives forever. If the devil lives forever, then he is immortal.

The Devil is not tortured literally, he is kept from doing any more harm because he will be dead. "Torment" here means a cutting off of life and the ability to do evil works, like a jailor captures someone and that person cannot do anything anymore. "Torment" here means "jailed." The Devil won't be able to carry on with his usual deeds. He will be dead.

[myth-one.com]

Spirits are not immortal, as we can see from the Devil being in line for destruction.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)

If the devil is tormented forever, then the devil lives forever. If the devil lives forever, then he is immortal.

The Devil is not tortured literally, . . .

Whatever is being done to the devil lasts for ever and ever.

So the devil is an immortal spirit.

[Capbook]

[Replying to myth-one.com in post #19]

Myth, you don't believe that someone could be spiritually dead?

There are natural bodies and spiritual bodies.

Natural bodies die, while spiritual bodies live forever.

What do you mean by "spiritually dead."

It cannot mean that a spirit has died as that defies the immortality of spirits.

Spiritually dead according to Clarke are those men that lived in sin.

Men who live in sin are dead to God. Leave the spiritually dead to bury their natural dead. (Adam Clarke's Commentary)