Dear Friends, so let's discuss this issue.
So, as we know, the Sadducees denied (1) the Resurrection, and that (2) there were Angels and (3) Spirits, i.e. human souls/saints in Heaven. This we read in Acts 23:8: "(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)" Now, St. Paul of course was a Pharisee and very strongly refutes the idea there is no Resurrection in his Epistles.
Also, it is clear the Lord Jesus strongly rejected the false opinion of the Sadducees too, that there was no Resurrection, or that there were no Angels etc. For e.g. as we know, in Mat 18:10, He taught: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." So, firstly, the Lord clearly teaches that there are Angels. He also calls them "their Angels", i.e. the Angels of the children, and this is the Biblical basis for the belief that each child, by God's Grace and Mercy, is given an Angel Guardian. The passage suggests the Angel helps obtain God's Protection for the child, and thus those who despise them etc will be punished by God; hence the "take heed that you do not ... for" etc.
Next in Luke 20, the Lord Jesus disproves the Sadducees opinion from the very 5 Books of Moses, or Pentateuch, the only books of the Bible that they accepted: "37But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” The Lord Jesus, the very God of Abraham, is here explaining what He Himself said in the Burning Bush. God said He is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, and this was in the time of Moses. Therefore, since He is the God of the living, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were living in the time of Moses. That is the explanation the Lord Jesus is giving to the Sadducees to show them even Moses supported this Truth.
And this is also confirmed by the fact that Elijah and Moses appeared to the Apostles (Mat 17:3), that Abraham is shown in Paradise in the incident of the Rich Man and Lazarus etc (Luk 16:23). It is clear that, even before Christ, the OT saints were already in a place of rest.
Thoughts on all this, dear friends?
God Bless.
So, as we know, the Sadducees denied (1) the Resurrection, and that (2) there were Angels and (3) Spirits, i.e. human souls/saints in Heaven. This we read in Acts 23:8: "(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)" Now, St. Paul of course was a Pharisee and very strongly refutes the idea there is no Resurrection in his Epistles.
Also, it is clear the Lord Jesus strongly rejected the false opinion of the Sadducees too, that there was no Resurrection, or that there were no Angels etc. For e.g. as we know, in Mat 18:10, He taught: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." So, firstly, the Lord clearly teaches that there are Angels. He also calls them "their Angels", i.e. the Angels of the children, and this is the Biblical basis for the belief that each child, by God's Grace and Mercy, is given an Angel Guardian. The passage suggests the Angel helps obtain God's Protection for the child, and thus those who despise them etc will be punished by God; hence the "take heed that you do not ... for" etc.
Next in Luke 20, the Lord Jesus disproves the Sadducees opinion from the very 5 Books of Moses, or Pentateuch, the only books of the Bible that they accepted: "37But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ 38For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” The Lord Jesus, the very God of Abraham, is here explaining what He Himself said in the Burning Bush. God said He is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, and this was in the time of Moses. Therefore, since He is the God of the living, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were living in the time of Moses. That is the explanation the Lord Jesus is giving to the Sadducees to show them even Moses supported this Truth.
And this is also confirmed by the fact that Elijah and Moses appeared to the Apostles (Mat 17:3), that Abraham is shown in Paradise in the incident of the Rich Man and Lazarus etc (Luk 16:23). It is clear that, even before Christ, the OT saints were already in a place of rest.
Thoughts on all this, dear friends?
God Bless.
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