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CREMATION

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

CREMATION SIMULATION
The Coffin is empty  (1 1/2 min.)

The earliest reference to burial in the Bible is Genesis 23:19. Sarah died, and Abraham needed a place to bury her. He purchased a field in Machpelah that had a cave and buried Sarah there. Archeological evidence shows people often used caves as tombs. These tombs often had a shelf and a box for bones. When people died, their families placed their bodies on the shelf and closed the tomb's entrance.

When the next member of the family died, the family opened the tomb, placed the bones of the previously deceased in the box and placed the recently deceased on the shelf. This custom lasted at least until Jesus' time, because Jesus was buried in this fashion, although his followers placed his body in a tomb no one had used (Matthew 27:57-60). You might remember back a few years ago there was a story on the news about a box found that professed to be the bones of "Jesus son of Joseph".

While Greeks and Romans sometimes practiced cremation, Jews and early Christians did not. A few Bible passages describe burning a person in fire as a form of punishment (Leviticus 20:14; 21:9; Joshua 7:25). It is my opinion that this would have no bearing on cremation, since these punishments were for living people. The people of Jabesh-Gilead removed the bodies of Saul and his sons from a city wall and burned them (1 Samuel 31:12), but they did this to remove the shame of the bodies being exposed to the elements. Again this would have not bearing on Cremation.

The Jewish Mishna forbids cremation. Jewish burials took place on the day of death. I would argue that since this was the way the Jews handled dead bodies and Jesus was buried in this way, All New Testament saints were buried this way, then the Christian dead should be buried, not cremated.

Cremation: Is It Christian Or Pagan?

The purpose of this lesson is to take a brief and concise, but in-depth, look at this subject. We will see what the Bible has to say about it, and then, as a Christian, you can decide what to do regarding this sensitive matter.

The first point I would like to make is that cremation does not affect salvation as many people are cremated without the knowledge of it happening to their remains. I do emphatically state, however, that no properly informed Christian should or would choose cremation.

I would ask the question, why would a Christian choose to have his or her body burned to ashes after death? In I Corinthians 6:19-20, it states: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Why would a Christian want to burn to ashes the temple that God lived in?

We also understand that God refers to the body at the time of death as a seed to be planted. In I Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-44, we read, "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up ? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." ... " So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Thus, the body is to be sown, or planted, in the ground and not burned to ashes.

We also know that the Lord Jesus Christ, was buried, and He is our great example in all things. When Jesus blessed the woman who had anointed Him shortly before He was crucified, He said the following words, which are found in Mark 14:8-9: "She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her."

The burial of Jesus was a part of the Gospel itself. The Gospel, or good news, is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Good News does not say, ..."His death, cremation and resurrection.

We also know that when Moses died, God himself buried him. In Deuteronomy 34:5-6 we read the following words: "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day." In this case, God himself did the burying, and He did not cremate Moses!

Fire has always been a sign of the judgment of Almighty God! We know that God rained fire on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the pervasive wickedness in those cities. We read of this in Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. These cities and their inhabitants were incinerated, or cremated, by the wrath of Almighty God.

We also read of God's anger and consternation against Moab because of their cremation activity. In Amos 2:1 we read, "Thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime."

We can certainly conclude that voluntary cremation is not the appoint Biblical way of disposing of our bodies. We also know that cremation was introduced by pagans!

In these last days before the return of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, we know that many false religions would arise and deceive many. We read of this in Matthew, chapter 24; Luke, chapter 21; and Mark, chapter 13. Do you see the connection of all of this with fire? It is no wonder that the spirit of cremation and burning is becoming so popular.

The spirit of cremation is in defiance to the plan of the Almighty God, the Creator. After Adam and Eve sinned and death became a part of existence, God told them in Genesis 3:19, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Ecclesiastes 12:7 states likewise, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

Christians should know better than to purposely select to have their bodies burned! If you didn't know it before, you do now! Because that's what the Bible says.......