Is Cremation Biblical?

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Dr. Irwin "Rocky" Freeman

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Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you for coming to be with us this morning. I trust these mornings will be a blessing to you and that we'll be covering some topics that I think that are pertinent and also
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I think that are of interest. There's not a lot of information available on many subjects that you and I would have questions about.
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However, the Word of God has not left us in darkness and the things that God has revealed on certain critical and crucial issues and things that even are controversial are enough to suffice for those who really truly want to follow the
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Lord. And I thank you for coming and I trust that these mornings will be of benefit to you as we go through the
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Word of God. In recent days, one of the questions that has been asked of me on so many occasions is the subject of the
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Christian and death. And consequently, involving death as the interment of the body or what shall a
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Christian do? Can a Christian just go and follow the leadership or the directorship or the counsel or guidance of those who are in the mortuary business?
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Or does one have some guides or guidelines to follow as a Bible -believing, evangelical,
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God -honoring Christian? And the subject that has been broached with me on more than one occasion and especially in the last several months, probably more than any time in my ministry, although I have confronted it on many occasions and tried to encourage
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God's people, and that is the subject of cremation. It is something that is on the minds of many
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Christian people for many reasons. Godly people, good people, people who want to serve God, people who want to love the
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Lord, and people who want God's blessings upon their lives. These people are searching for and looking for answers for the things that confront them, and they want to be obedient to the
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Lord, and they want to do what God wants them to do. And so I'm not intending to do an exhaustive survey of the origins nor the practice and the history of cremation.
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We don't have the time to go into how it all came about and how it step -by -step followed along from the very first time that we have a record of it and then as it progressed through history.
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We don't have a time to do that. Also, we do not have the time, of course, to go into exactly, and neither is it necessary,
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I feel, of how it is practiced and what is done when the body is cremated and so forth.
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We don't have a time to cover the entire history of cremation. But from all available records, as far as you and I are concerned, it seems to have been primarily or mainly introduced to the
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Western world at least, that's what we're interested in, by the Greeks in about 1000 BC. Now this is about the time of King David, and the
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Greeks were beginning to sweep parts of the world, and as it came towards the Western world, that's when it seemed to start drifting towards this part of the earth.
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Now it became somewhat of a status symbol very early, particularly for military heroes. Now Hollywood and the media, and you see the magazines, the stories, the novels, the writers, and so forth, have really built upon this, and that all the heroes of the day, and they were cremated, put on a funeral pyre, and their bodies were set aflame, hoping that the smoke would be symbolic of, or was actually, their souls that were going into the heavenly realm, or into their heavenly realm.
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Now, about 100 years after Jesus Christ ascended back to heaven,
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Acts chapter 1, verses 10, 11, and 12, you'll recall where it said, While I stand you here gazing, this same
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Jesus that you saw go, shall in like manner come again. From that particular moment, as the
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Christian faith began to spread, you'll recall that Jesus gave the disciples the command to go about to all the world and preach the gospel, proclaim the truth, and you begin in Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and then you would go into Samaria, and then you go into the uttermost parts of the world.
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And so the gospel began to move across the world as the Apostle Paul came to know the Lord in Acts chapter 9, and as it began to move across, cremation seems to have, more or less, ceased in the
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West. It was a blockage. Now, when I'm talking about the West, I'm talking about from the Middle East, back this way, and in the
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East, we're talking about Greece, we're talking about China, we're talking about Japan, we're talking about the Far East, and so, as far as the
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West is concerned, it seems to have ceased in the West. But the practice was revived in a more,
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I might use the word, modernized form in the 19th century. It came back on the scene very quickly, but it was more modernized, and it was more, if you want to use the word, civilized, or more palatable or acceptable by the public.
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In the 1870s, there was a revival of interest in cremation, both in the United Kingdom and in the
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United States, even though it was not talked about much, there was an interest being kindled. But it was not, in fact, ruled to be a legal procedure in Great Britain until 1884, so that was 14 years later, even though there was a great interest in it, it was being done, but it was not a fact of law, and was not ruled to be legal in Britain, or Great Britain, until 1884.
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Now, the arguments used in reviving the practice, as it began to come back out on the scene in those parts of the world, were what we call inter alia.
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Those of land conservation, they said, we don't have enough land, we're running out of land, and you remember that back in the 1870s now, when we're talking about, they didn't have enough land, and also the hygienic disposal of bodies, because of the bubonic plague, because of the varying diseases, typhoid, or excuse me, typhus, and typhoid fever, all the varying diseases that would come from a body not being able to be properly disposed of, were of great concerns for the people of those days.
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Obviously, they didn't have the medical procedures, they did not have the medicines that we have, and so there was a hygienic reason for it, as well as the land conservation, that they didn't have the land available to bury the people.
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So, we need to understand that, but we also need to understand that it has a non -Christian and a heathenish origin, and that has to be made especially note of in your mind and mine.
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It did not come from godly people trying to serve God, it came from a non -Christian, and anything that is non -Christian essentially is opposed to Christianity, it would be anti -Christian, and has a very pagan and heathenish origin.
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And so what I'm saying is, cremation also, one of the primary factors in understanding cremation, in some of its underlying motivation, regardless of the person who does it, regardless of the person who wants it done, or the one who provides the service, it does not matter about their personal motivation, whether it's financial, or whether they have good motives as far as they are concerned in their mind, but the underlying motive of the act of cremation, and I believe from its pagan origin, really strikes at the heart of the vital doctrine of the resurrection, so profoundly proclaimed from beginning to end in the word of God.
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And the Bible says in Romans chapter 8, you'll recall, that the whole earth groans under the curse of sin, awaiting the redemption of the body.
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The body of God's people is vitally involved in God's redemption of the planet
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Earth, and also in God's redemption for the personality. God did not just die in the
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Lord Jesus Christ as he came on the cross, did not suffer, bleed, and die, and give his life just for the spirit, nor just for the soul, but for body, soul, and spirit, or spirit, soul, and body.
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Now, I would just very quickly give you my position on this, and my position simply is that cremation is not for a
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God -honoring, Bible -believing Christian. It cannot be. The practice of cremation, though, has grown phenomenally in this century.
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In Japan, it is almost universal. They don't have many forms of, I mean, in Japan, you go, that's, it's almost, you might say, 99, 44, 100 percent in the country of Japan.
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Great growth can be seen even in this country since World War II, and I believe that is due in no doubt to the falling away from, if you want to use the word religion, our godly values, family values,
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Christian values for sure, and the general belief in materialism of the age in which you and I live.
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The more rampant materialism has come, the more predominant cremation has gone. And so one follows the other.
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As people get their minds away from God, away from eternity, away from eternal values, away from accountability to the
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Lord, away from answering to God, away from biblical principles and biblical standards, then obviously they have gone the way of cremation, and so it has grown in practice.
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It's noteworthy to me how cremation has risen in broad proportion as the cause of vital godliness has diminished.
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As godliness diminishes, then so cremation has grown. Now I understand that there are, of course, some financial inducements.
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They've no doubt assisted this process. Obviously money is important to all of us, somehow more than others.
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There are those who don't have much money, and today the funeral is extremely expensive, and it's gotten that way progressively.
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And as prices go up, and as inflation goes up, the cost of living goes up, then all products go up.
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And so in the funeral business, on the mortuary business, obviously those things have gone up as well, the making of the caskets and the services that are rendered and so forth.
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And so what I'm saying though, as in many other things it does not matter, Christians, if they stick to their beliefs, if they stand upon their convictions, and if they stand upon convictions that are based upon the word of the living
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God, they always have to swim against the tide of worldly practices, fashions, and customs.
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The worldly practices that are thrown before us, we are not able to do. And so as the world goes that way, and even our friends and associates and neighbors go that way, we have to swim against that tide because it's constantly pushing against us.
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Also the fashions of the world, the way the world dresses, the way the world wants to appeal to the flesh, and to draw attention to the flesh, and to the way they look on the outside, not so concerned about how they look on the inside.
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And then the customs, the way people do things, you know, some people can't have a meal without having a drink, some people can't have a meal afterwards without afterwards having a cocktail and a cigarette or a cigar or smoking a pipe, and they can't even go out.
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To most people, having a good time is drinking. Even high school proms, they have to go out, they have to party, and they want to have their drinks, and they want to have their all -night carousels, and they don't believe that they can have any fun or any recreation or enjoyment or amusement without those things.
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So Christian people, as well as young and old alike, have to swim against those tides, and you are aware of that.
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But I want us to look, not necessarily at that, but at what we can glean from the holy scriptures on this subject.
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Is there any guideline, or are there guidelines in the word of God for you and me to follow?
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Now, you and I know from the very beginning that the practice of burning the body has a pagan origin, and it was abhorrent, it was hated by the
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God of Israel in Old Testament times, and it's very clear and very lucid concerning that.
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But oftentimes in the scriptures, burning carries a mark of contempt. Anything that was burned, essentially, other than at the great tabernacle in the wilderness and the temple of God where the offerings were sacrificed, but most other just normal burnings had a mark of contempt.
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And it sometimes carries the thought of removing rubbish and unwanted material, and sometimes there's judgment and desolation.
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Let's look at a few other scriptures, if we might. The first one I would direct your attention to is Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 22.
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And it says this, and I'm just going to pick this out, it's talking about apostasy and judgment, and you know this was in the
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Song of Moses, and this is where Moses comes before the Lord, and he's talking about the wiseness of God and the foolishness of the people.
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And here's what it says in verse 22 of chapter 32, Deuteronomy. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest, and the word here in the
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King James, of course, is the word hell. However, it is the word translated from the
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Hebrew, shul. And it means the same, but yet you understand that there was a place in the
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Old Testament called shul, and it just meant the grave, or it meant where everyone went who died.
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If you wanted to say a person was righteous, you would say Abraham's bosom. If you say they were unrighteous, then you would say they went to shul.
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Same thing in the New Testament, and I know you're aware of that, but pretend someone's not familiar. In the New Testament, it has the word
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Hades. Hades was a place where people went who died. But if you said they were a bad person or did not know
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God, you'd say they went to Hades also. But if they were a godly person, you'd say they went to paradise.
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Paradise and Abraham's bosom were one in the same location. Now, we also know that the lake of fire is actually what we mean when we say hell, and people will not be consigned there until the great white throne judgment.
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Now, we know that Paul, the apostle, was caught up to the third heaven, and he said he was caught up to paradise, indicating that when the
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Lord ascended, after he first descended, according to Ephesians, that he led captivity captive.
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So he entered paradise, and so now, absent from the body, present with the Lord. So we go immediately into the presence of the
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Lord. Now, that's that word here, for a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest shul, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundation of the mountain.
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So we see that a fire is kindled in God's anger, and he's going to burn it to the lowest hell and the lowest point, and he will consume the earth with all of her increase.
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And so we see this burning as a judgment and as that which is opposed to God.
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Now, if you'll turn with me to the book of Exodus, chapter 12, verse 10, you'll recall regarding the manna.
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Now, this is the Passover. This is when God's about to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, and you'll look at verse 10.
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He says, this is talking about the manna and all the things, the animal that they had, and what they were doing with it, and he says in verse 10, and you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, and that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.
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And speaking about that animal and the herbs and all the things that they had with it, nothing was to remain.
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It was to be consumed with fire. Now, turn with me please to 1 Kings, chapter 15.
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1 Kings, chapter 15, verse 13. Now, 1 Kings 15, we'll recall, this is a story when
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Asa succeeds Abijah, or Abijah, and this is a record of the kings, and so in 1
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Kings 15, verse 13, it says, and also Maaka, his mother, even her he removed from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove, and Asa destroyed her idol and burned it by the brook
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Kidron. Now, you remember Asa was a godly king, so what he did was, he comes along and he tears down the idol, and notice he burned it by the
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Kidron, or the brook Kidron, or the river Kidron. And so, the word of God commends the fact that Asa did that which was right in the sight of the
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Lord, and it just simply says in this idol that he destroyed her idol, and he burned it by the brook Kidron.
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So, here again is the judgment. Now, if you will turn with me to the book of Jeremiah, the book of Jeremiah, chapter 21.
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Jeremiah, chapter 21, verse 10.
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Now, here again, you remember this is the prophecy of Jeremiah, and he's talking about the last kings that Israel had, or Judah had, and this is to Zedekiah, and in Jeremiah 21 .10,
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he says, So, here's a judgment that God's going to bring from Babylon upon the city, and he's going to destroy it with fire.
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So, in pronouncing God's judgment upon Jerusalem, he says that God just has set his face against it, and he's going to do evil, not good, and it's going to be given over to the king of Babylon, and what?
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A clear mark of God's judgment, this fire. Now, turn to the last book of the Old Testament, and that's the book of Malachi, and the book of Malachi, or the
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Old Testament, actually closes with chapter 4, verse 1. Now, we know here this is a reference to the coming of the
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Lord, so this goes even beyond New Testament, and comes on out into future time. So, it conveys the same note of judgment, doesn't it?
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For behold, the day comes that shall burn as an oven, same thing Peter says in 2
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Peter chapter 3, the heavens being on fire, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. It says, and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly will be stubble, and the day that comes shall burn them up, saith the
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Lord of hosts. God is going to do this. Now, turn with me to the book of Amos, if you will, the book of Amos.
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Amos, that fearless and faithful prophet, his whole book just talks about judgment on sin, and Amos, you know, dealt with social sins, and the social wrongs of the day.
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And in Amos chapter 2, verse 1, thus saith the Lord, for three transgressions of Moab, and for four
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I will not turn away its punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
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But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
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So here Amos speaks of one cause of God's judgment on Moab, as being the fact that the bones of the king of Edom had been burned into lime.
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It seems that God considered this burning of human bones a serious crime of Moab, and so God is going to put judgment on him.
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Now incidentally, there are many scriptures that not only show us a burning of the body, but also non -burial of the body, as well as the burning, was also a mark of contempt.
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Would you turn with me please, and let's look at that. Deuteronomy chapter 28. Even the non -burial of the body, not only just burning, but the non -burial also is considered contemptible by God.
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In Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse 26, it says, And thy carcass shall be food unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall drive them away.
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Now let me just follow that along, and let's turn to the book of Psalms. If you'll turn to Psalm 79.
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O God, verse 1, the nations are come into thine inheritance, thy holy temple have they defiled.
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They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be food unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
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Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them. We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
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Because the bodies were not able to be buried, then consequently the people were looked upon with scorn and derision.
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Not only that, it seems to imply, does it not, that non -burial is wrong. That God favored the burial.
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Now look at Ecclesiastes chapter 6. The wisest man who ever lived, he's looking at everything under the sun.
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And yet he says, there is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it's coming among men. Now verse 3.
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If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial,
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I say that an untimely birth is better than he. If a man could be a hundred years old and has no burial, then it would be better that he had an untimely birth is better than he.
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One who would be born dead. A stillborn child would be better than that person.
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Now turn to Jeremiah. We're talking about non -burial being as serious with God as cremation or burning of the body.
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In Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 33. And the carcasses of this people shall be food for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall frighten them away.
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Again you have the same concept. Let's follow Jeremiah. Jeremiah this great prophet perhaps.
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The greatest of the Hebrew prophets. In chapter 16 verse 6. He says both the great and the small shall die in this land.
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They shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.
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So here again implies that non -burial is wrong. It's something that is not favorable and looked upon with the favor of God.
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Now over in chapter 25 verse 33. Jeremiah again says. Thus saith the
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Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the farthest parts of the earth.
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And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.
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They shall be refuged upon the ground. So non -burial and refuge and waste are considered the same in this prophet's eyes.
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Speaking under the inspiration of God's spirit. Now let's just conclude this thought with Jeremiah 34 verse 20.
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And I will give them into the hand of the enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. And their dead bodies shall be for food unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
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Now there are other quotations that I can give. Well let's just look at a couple. Let's go back and look at Genesis.
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While we're doing this, because this is why we're here is to study the word. And in Genesis chapter 38.
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There are 50 chapters in Genesis. So we go to chapter 38 of Genesis verse 24.
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It says, And it came to pass, about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter -in -law hath played the harlot.
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And also, behold, she is with child by harlotry. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be born.
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So a harlot was born. Now turn to Leviticus. We have the Levitical law.
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There's no chronology, of course, in Leviticus. But chapter 21. Leviticus chapter 21 verse 9.
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And the daughter of any priest, if she profaned herself for playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
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She brought reproach upon the priesthood. Now both of these passages refer to the burning of harlots. Now two particular
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Old Testament passages that we know of, connect the burning of bodies very clearly with the curse of God.
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So it seems that the burning of the body or the non -burial of the body were looked upon without favor by God.
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Now I want to look at two particular Old Testament passages that definitely connect the burning of bodies with the curse of God.
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Let's go to the book of Joshua. Joshua, that godly young man, leader after Moses.
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Joshua chapter 7. Now you recall this is a very familiar and famous story in chapter 7.
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In chapter 7, this is when Achan, you recall, Achan, we talk about sin in the camp.
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You hear sermons on that topic. Here was Achan. And Achan was a person who kept some of the things that he should not have kept.
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And they were cursed by God when they captured and overtook the people. And because of that,
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Joshua lost the battle at Ai. So this is Achan's sin and taking some of the forbidden spoil out of Jericho.
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And he brought trouble to Israel. Now look at verse 15 and see what God says about it. And it shall be that he who is taken with the accursed thing shall be burned with fire.
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He and all that he has because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has wrought folly in Israel.
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So what we have here is God definitely proclaiming a curse by fire and burning of the body.
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It's not really something good. But burning of the body is related to the curse of God. Look at verse 25.
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And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned them with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
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So the burning of the human bodies and all their possessions was plainly the mark of God's judgment and curse and it was not
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God's favor or blessing that was looked upon. Now there's another one. Let's go back to 1 Kings.
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We're talking about two definite incidents. 1 Kings chapter 13, verse 1.
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And behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
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And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the
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Lord. Behold, a child shall be born into the house of David, Josiah by name. And upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places who burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burned upon thee.
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Now continue with me. One more verse. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the
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Lord has spoken. Behold, the altar shall be torn down and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.
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Now turn to 2 Kings chapter 23. 2 Kings chapter 23, verse 15.
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Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made
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Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the idol.
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So here we have this. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it.
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According to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, he proclaimed these words. Then he said,
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What marker is that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, who came from Judah, and proclaimed these things, that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel.
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And he said, Let him alone. Let no man move his bones. So they led his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet, who came out of Samaria.
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So what you have there, is a remarkable case, where the prophet prophesied, over 300 years before it happened, that King Josiah would burn human bones, he names the king by name, upon this idolatrous altar, that was erected by Jeroboam in Bethel.
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And so it did come to pass, and the altar was polluted, and broken down, because God ordered it.
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Now it's noteworthy, that the burning of human bones, upon this altar, was a particular means of polluting it.
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It was polluted, because they had human bones, burned upon it. Again showing the curse of God.
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Now beloved, these Old Testament passages, show that the burning in general, was particularly, a mark of both
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God's judgment, and His curse. Now, this is the Old Testament, and it lays for us the foundation, of that which comes in the
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New Testament. And we understand that. Now it shows us, that the burning in general, and particularly, was a mark of God's judgment, on this particular incident.
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Now what does the New Testament, have to say on the subject? Does the New Testament give us any help?
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Does it continue along? Well we find that the thought of judgment, and of the frown of God, is continued on.
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In Matthew 13, verse 30. If you will turn to me to that. Matthew 13, verse 30.
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We're going to have to move along here, our time is going to get away from us. Matthew 13, verse 30.
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It says, Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers,
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Gather together first the tares, bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.
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So he's going to gather the tares, and he's going to burn them. Now go to Luke, chapter 3. Matthew, Mark, Luke, chapter 3, verse 17.
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Luke 3, 17. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his granary, but the chafe he will burn with fire unquenchable.
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John the Baptist says concerning Christ, that he will gather the wheat into his garner, into safety, but the chafe, he will burn with fire unquenchable.
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Now turn on to the gospel according to John, chapter 15. John, chapter 15, this great chapter on abiding in me, the vine and the branches, it's familiar to you.
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But in chapter 15, verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as a branch, is withered.
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And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
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And so again we see what's happening in the word of God. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 6, verse 8.
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Hebrews 6, verse 8. But that which bears thorns and briars is rejected, and is near unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.
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So what I'm saying to you, dear friends, is that there is no particular scripture that directly says thou shalt not have thy body burnt or cremated.
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But there is a profound rate of scriptural evidence against such, and where the tender fear of God is in the heart of the believer, sure that rate of evidence will not be ignored, nor can it be forgotten.
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Now I want us to turn to the positive scriptural evidence. These are truths and concepts, but let's look at some positive scriptural evidence in favor of the burial of the body.
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It has been remarked that all the nations believing in the resurrection of the body have been very careful to preserve the remains of the deceased as long as possible, as in the case of the ancient
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Egyptians and the ancient Jewish people, God's chosen people. Both of them believed in the resurrection of the body, and so consequently they preserved the body.
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It's also been observed by many that the simplest burial procedures have been among people who make clear distinctions between spirit and body, such as Christians and Jews.
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Those who make a clear distinction between the body and just don't believe that the body is all there is, that there's no soul, there's just a mind and a body, such as modern humanists, that you're just a mind and a body, and there's no spiritual entity, and when the body dies, everything ceases to exist, that's it.
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But those who distinguish between the spirit and the body, the Word of God is sharper than a two -edged sword, it's able to go down and separate the soul from the spirit, so we have a body, soul, and spirit, and those who believe in the separation of the spirit and the body, that they're two separate entities, also observe the burial procedures, and they've been that way for years.
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Now look at what the Scriptures have to say. We don't have to go very far in the
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Word of God before we find a scriptural example of burial. In fact, in the book of Genesis, the very first book in the
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Bible, which lays the foundation for all doctrines in the Scriptures, essentially the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 23 is virtually, as you look at it, is devoted to the subject.
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You'll recall, and I'm not going to read the whole passage, but Sarah had died in what was virtually a foreign land.
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But what care Abraham gave to disposing of his wife's body? So we find that Sarah was 107 and 20 years old, and these were the years of the life of Sarah.
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So Sarah is 127 years old, Abraham is 137, and Isaac is 37 at this time.
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And she died in Kiriath Barber, the same as Hebron, in the land of Canaan.
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And Abraham came to mourn for her. Now when you go down, verse 4, it says, I'm a stranger and a sojourner, give me a possession of a burying place with you.
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And so you go down and find that Abraham, goes down verse 9, that he may give me the cave of Bachpelah, which he has, which is in the end of the field.
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For as much money as it's worth, he shall give it to me for possession of a burying place among you. And even today, the caves of Machpelah, where Abraham and all the patriarchs, that's where they are buried.
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And so you find that he gave great care, and he went to buy this cave of Machpelah, and the field of Ephron.
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He's going to buy the whole thing. Now he would not accept it as a gift, but he wanted to pay the fair price.
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Can you not detect the smile of the Lord on Abraham's project? In giving him favor in the sight of the children of Heth?
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Surely you have to see that. As he goes and he pleads for a very desired piece of land and area, and so here he does it, and you can see the hand of God working in it.
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So Abraham was able to bury his Sarah there. And he had a properly acquired burying place for future use for himself.
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Now we do well to notice and remember who Abraham was. He is counted as the father of all who believe.
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He believed God, and it was counted him for righteousness. Is that not what the Scripture says? Does it not also say that he staggered not at the promise, but was strong in faith?
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The writing of Hebrews tells us this. Now is not his example therefore an especially worthy one for us to follow if he is the father of the faithful?
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But let's go on. Turn to Genesis chapter 25 verse 8.
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So we have this happening, and then it says, The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth, there was
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Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. So Abraham is buried near Sarah, and he's buried by his sons
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Isaac and Ishmael exactly where he had buried her. Again you see the hand of God working in this.
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Now turn with me to Genesis chapter 35. Genesis chapter 35 verse 29.
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And Isaac died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days. And his son
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Esau and Jacob buried him. And so here Isaac was 180 years of age, and he dies.
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And his son Esau and Jacob, they buried him. Now if you go to Genesis chapter 49, you say, well where did they bury him?
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Genesis 49 verse 31. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
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There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there are buried Leah. So what you have is,
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Abraham and Sarah, Isaac is buried right there in the cave of Mechpelah, and Rebekah's wife, and there are buried
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Leah. And so you have them being buried exactly in the same location. Rebekah and Leah also buried there.
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Now Rachel has been buried at Bethlehem. Rachel is buried on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem just before you get in to Bethlehem, a mile or so.
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And it's a beautiful sarcophagus, a beautiful tomb there, and it's very holy and sacred to the
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Jewish people. Now look at Genesis chapter 47, back up just a tad, verse 29.
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Genesis 47 verse 29. And the time drew near that Israel must die.
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Now this of course is the case of Jacob. And he called his son Joseph and said unto him, If now
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I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand unto my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me, bury me not,
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I pray thee, in Egypt. He's wanting a promise from him. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.
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And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me, and he swore unto him, and Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.
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So it's given to us in Scripture a little more detail than the others. And what tremendous care
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Jacob gave to the matter of his own burial. Even getting his son Joseph to promise to carry his body out of Egypt and to bury him with his fathers in the burying place built by Abraham.
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Now look at Genesis 49 again. Verse 29. 49 verse 29.
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And he charged them and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephraim the
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Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which
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Abraham bought with the field of Ephraim the Hittite, for a possession of a burying place.
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There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there
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I buried Leah. The purchase of the field of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
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And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed and died and was gathered to his people.
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So we find Jacob commanding his sons to the effect that just before he died and the following chapters shows how dutifully they carried out his wishes.
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Now finally look at chapter 50. Verse 24 to 26. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
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I die, and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
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And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here.
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So Joseph died being 110 years old. He was 110 and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt and he was carried out.
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Now, Joseph prophesied that God would bring the Israelites out of Egypt in this passage.
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And when that had happened, they were to carry up his bones with him. We find this commandment was not forgotten.
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In Exodus 13 verse 19 it says Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.
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And eventually they buried him in Shechem in the land of Canaan. You find that in Joshua chapter 24 verse 32.
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Now, I've given all this to you to show the care that the ancient patriarchs took in this matter.
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Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. These were the Lord's people. Now while not without their sins and mistakes, and they certainly made them, they sought, as is evident in their lives, to walk in the fear of the
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Lord. It was a constant thing with them. Nor was it a question of the disposing of their bodies, a matter of utter indifference, just whatever comes or whatever the custom of the day or whatever someone suggested.
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No, you see very clearly that they made appropriate and reasonable provisions for their burials.
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And their children meticulously carried out their wishes. How we need to have children and young people understand they're to carry out the wishes of their parents and not their own conveniences.
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These patriarchs set us a good example in this whole matter. And the Old Testament abounds with all kinds of other examples.
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In Numbers chapter 20 verse 1, the children of Israel buried Moses' sister Miriam and then his brother
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Aaron in Deuteronomy 10 verse 6. But what an exceptional case was that of Moses himself, where according to the
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Scriptures, Deuteronomy 34 verses 5 and 6, God buried him himself.
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And this should tell us something. And let's just kind of glance through these real quickly.
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In Numbers chapter 20, I got a glance from some of you wanting to look at the Scriptures as I just passed by them.
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It says, chapter 20, Numbers verse 1, Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zing in the first month.
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And the people abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there and was buried there.
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So we find her being buried there. Then when you come to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 10 verse 6, it says,
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And the children of Israel took their journey from Bereoth Ben -Hayakin to Mosara, there
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Aaron died, and there he was buried. And Eliezer, his son, ministered in the priest's office in his stead.
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So we have Aaron, and he is buried there. And then of course, we come to that famous passage that's so familiar to you in Deuteronomy 34 verse 5.
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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 Beth -peor.
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But no man knows of his sepulcher unto this day. And Moses was 120 years old when he died, and his eye was not dimmed, nor his natural force abated.
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And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
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God himself buries Moses in a grave that has never been found since. Now you and I do well, beloved friends, and we all do as Christian people to make a special note in our minds of the course that divine wisdom took in dealing with Moses.
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There was a burial. There was not cremation. There was a burial by God himself. Now in 2
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Samuel chapter 3, you'll find in David's time, they see the funeral of Abner at whose grave the king wept.
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And when you go to 2 Samuel chapter 3, you know Abner was the commander -in -chief of David.
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And in verse 3, it says, Tear your clothes and gird you with sackcloth and mourn before Abner.
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And King David himself followed the funeral bier. And verse 32, And they buried Abner in Abron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept.
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So we see the funeral of him, and we see that David saw to it and had him buried.
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Now in 2 Samuel 21, even though he was an enemy of God, and certainly an enemy of King David, in 2
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Samuel 21, where we have the Lord, we see that David took the bones of Saul and he buried the bones of Saul.
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And it was during this final campaign and David took and saw that this occurred.
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You find in 2 Samuel chapter 21, verse 13, And he brought up from there the bones of Saul, the bones of Jonathan, his son, and they gathered the bones of those who were hanged.
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And the bones of Saul and Jonathan, his son, buried they in the country of Benjamin and Zillah, in the sepulchre of Kish, his father.
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And they performed all that the king commanded, and after that God was entreated for the land. So what we have here is
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David making sure that the bones of Saul and his sons were buried. Now later on in 1
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Kings, if you look at 1 Kings chapter 14, the prophecy of Ahijah in 1
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Kings 14, we have this prophecy of Ahijah concerning Jeroboam's son
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Abijah is quite interesting. In these passages you find that Jeroboam's young son
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Abijah, and you find in him only of all of Jeroboam's house, it says some good thing toward the
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Lord God of Israel. He was the only one that really honored and served the Lord by that whole household.
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He died and was buried amidst much mourning. And one noticeable and to me a relevant feature in the book of Kings is in chapter 13 verse 29.
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1 Kings chapter 13 verse 29 says, The prophet took up the carcass of the man of God, laid it upon their ass, and brought it back.
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And the old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. And he laid his carcass in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying,
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Alas, my brother. And it came to pass after he had buried him that he spoke to his son, saying,
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When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulcher in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
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For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.
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And so here we have the care that the old prophet took over the body of the disobedient prophet and his charge to his sons concerning his own body.
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And then finally, if you want to very quickly look at 2 Chronicles, that's on towards the
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New Testament, albeit, in 2 Chronicles chapter 34. In 2 Chronicles chapter 34, verse 27, please.
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2 Chronicles 34, verse 27 and 28. 34, 27, and 28.
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Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and humblest thyself before me, and didst tear thy clothes and weep before me,
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I have even heard thee also sayeth the Lord, Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace.
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Neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same.
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So they brought the king word again. Now look at chapter 35, verse 24.
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His servants, therefore, took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers, and all
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Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. So the case of the God to King Josiah is interesting and profitable for us to consider.
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Thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, it says, not to a funeral pyre to be cremated.
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Is there not here some stamp of approval on peaceful burial for those who know
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God and love God and honor God? I think so. I think so. Now, back to the
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New Testament. Turn to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew 14, verse 12.
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And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. After John the
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Baptist had been beheaded, his disciples came, got the body, took it and buried it, and then they go and relay this message to Jesus, a blessed example of loving care for their master's body.
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Here, John the Baptist was in a dungeon, and he's beheaded, yet they go and get the body and bring it back out of the dungeon, instead of just letting it be disposed of in any way, perhaps burned, cremated, and then they bury it properly, and they come and tell
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Jesus. Now, also, you go to the book of Acts, chapter 8. When I say chapter 8 of Acts, most of you are familiar with that particular passage of Scripture, and immediately you'll recall that in chapter 7, we have the story of Stephen, and then also chapter 8, we have part of Philip's ministry, but in 8, verse 2, it starts off by saying,
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And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
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So devout godly men, that's what the word devout means, godly men, they lamented over him, but they made sure that Stephen had a burial.
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Now, when you turn to Acts, chapter 5, these children of God, even though they were disobedient, Ananias and Sapphira, in chapter 5, all the way through verses 1 through 10.
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Look at verse 10. You know the story of how they told God they were going to do one thing and didn't do it? Look at verse 10.
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Then fell she down immediately at his feet, and died. And the young man came in, found her dead, carried her forth, buried her by her husband.
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And so, here they are both buried, even though they come under the solemn judgment of God, they were buried.
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Now, with all these biblical examples before us, it cannot really be doubted if we really believe the word of God, that the whole tenor of scripture teaching is in favor of burial, not cremation, not burning, but of burial.
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Now, there is every scripture warrant from the abounding examples you and I have looked at that believers should be buried.
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But now let's turn to a more profound example, that of Jesus Christ himself. Turn me to the book of Mark.
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Sometimes I am amazed at the convenience of Christianity. People say, well,
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I know what the Bible says, but, my this and but that, and yet claim to follow the
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Bible and love the Bible. Our Lord himself was buried, as you and I know. He spoke of it beforehand, showing that he expected it to be so.
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In chapter 14, verse 8, She hath done you, this is whenever you remember Mary poured that alabaster box of ointment, and she opened it, and poured this very precious ointment upon him.
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And it says, She hath done what she could, she has come beforehand to anoint my body for the burial.
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The King James here talks about for the burying, for the burial. The woman poured ointment on his head, and the
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Lord just simply said, she's done all that she could. And she's come beforehand to anoint my body for the burial.
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Now, all four of the gospel evangelists give an account of the burial of Christ. That's how strategic and important it is.
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Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19. Now, John gives us the extra detail that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were joined together in that sacred duty.
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You recall that Joseph very boldly asked Pilate for Christ's body, and then
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Nicodemus brought a hundred pounds of spices for the burial, according to Jewish custom.
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So Christ was buried in Joseph's own new tomb that had never been used.
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And so this grave was to be a place of a glorious wonder, was it not?
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Here Christ burst the bands of death and arose to live. What a sweet hope there is for the believer, for the
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Christian. John 14, 19, Because I live, you shall live also.
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Because I live, you shall live also. So one day, the graves of all believers will be opened, their bodies raised to an endless life by that same power.
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It has been said, My flesh shall slumber in the ground till the trumpet's joyful sound, then burst the chains with sweet surprise, and in my
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Savior's image rise. Surely this thought that Jesus Christ, our
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Lord, was buried and sanctified the grave is a sweet one for the
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Christian, for the believer, for the Bible believer, one who's really been born again. And shall we then seek to follow him in all of our lives?
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And then at last, forsake his sacred example and have our bodies cremated instead of following him in that example as well?
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With our Lord having gone before us in the grave, shall we yield to worldly counsels, worldly guidance, worldly influence, or the wishes of unbelieving friends or even non -Christian relatives who know nothing of the
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Bible, who only look to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible with the least amount of pain possible, and the least amount of anything else, or treat the whole matter as a matter of indifference, as just a point of life, and death is a part of life, let's just go ahead and have the funeral and get it over with.
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Now I draw attention, beloved friends, to this compelling argument because of the way that cremation is creeping in to the professing
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Christian church. As I said at the very beginning, I have been utterly astounded and amazed at how many times people have asked me questions, good people, and I'm not being critical of them because they were searching for answers, but as I began to examine it to see how many people in churches are having themselves or others cremated and have no twinge of conscience, and whenever you speak to them about it, or if they ask about it and you give them something about it, well then, they are resentful and they rebel against it.
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Now, what I'm saying is it's an insidious evil, and believers need to take steps to ensure that their executors, those who would take over our estates, they are in no doubt concerning our beliefs and our wishes.
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Now, there's a related point I want to make in the man of Christ example, and that's his baptism. This ordinance sets forth a burial and rising again with him.
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Romans 6, verse 4 says, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, we also should walk in newness of life.
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Again, in Colossians 2, verse 12, buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God.
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Now, at the very outset, you recall, of the ministry of Christ, he submitted himself to this ordinance in Matthew 3, verse 15.
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So in this way, he set forth the end of his ministry, his death, his burial, and the resurrection.
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And the whole significance of the ordinance of baptism depends on burial, deadness to sin, the resurrection, walking in newness of life, and it sets forth the ultimate burial and rising again of our bodies through faith in it and union with Christ.
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What I'm saying is it not only speaks of our death to the past life and rising to new life, but I'm suggesting to you that it also shows the ultimate physical burying if we go through what the world calls death and the rising again of our bodies to walk in the eternal life and union with Christ.
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Now, let's just suppose that everyone had to be cremated and there was no such thing as burial as we know it.
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Do you see how much the figure loses and how its significance is dimmed about this truth?
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Baptism would mean very little if everybody was cremated. Is there not special reason, therefore, for baptized believers to follow
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Christ's example to be buried in sure and certain hope of resurrection in and through their risen
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Lord? I think so. Well, let me give you a couple other arguments, please, and let's draw it to a close. What a sublime chapter is 1
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Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15, what a glorious hope it sets before the child of God.
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That great chapter on the resurrection. It is in it Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, uses a most interesting figure to describe burial and resurrection.
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He uses the fact of a seed sown in the earth. In verse 35, in 1535, he says,
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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 made alive, except it die.
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And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that the body that shall be, but a bare grain. It may chance of wheat or of some other grain.
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But God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased him, and to every seed its own body.
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All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of fish, and of birds.
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There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
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And he goes on, and he just describes about a seed being sown in the ground along with the other things. How many of us have stood at the graveside and thought of this particular truth?
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Often our friends are brought down to the grave in much weakness, and we have sorrowed to see them, but a shadow of their former selves went in their prime.
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Then death comes. They are taken to the grave, and they are sown in corruption. It has been sown a natural body, but, beloved, make no mistake, it will be raised.
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As you and I sow seeds in our gardens and witness the miracle, as God gives the increase, the wheat comes up, all the flowers come up, all the vegetables come up.
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So in a higher sense will this miracle of resurrection bring forth fruits to God.
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But what happens to this beautiful figure at the cremation service? Where is the sowing of the seed when the coffin glides off by mechanical means through self -closing doors?
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And the thought comes to mind that the body there will soon be burnt to ashes in an oven and put in a small urn or container.
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How contrary to the divine figure of God's word of sowing a seed. What a solemn loss there is compared with a burial teaching implicit in what the apostle
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Paul says. And Paul is able to complete his holy argument on the resurrection with that profound and triumphant exclamation in verse 55,
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O grave, where is thy victory? Not, O urn, or O box, or O bookend, or nothing in the matter, where he says,
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O grave, where is thy victory? Not long in the ground the dying grain is hid or lies forlorn, but soon revives and springs again and comes to standing corn.
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So waking from the womb of the earth where Christ has lain before and bursting to a better birth, we rise to die no more.
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I must add that Jesus himself uses the same figure of a seed dying in the ground and then bringing it forth fruit in speaking in John 12, 24 of that which lay ahead of him in his death and glorious resurrection.
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He even says the same thing himself that except a seed go down into the ground. He said,
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Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone.
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But if it die, it brings forth much fruit. Now dear friends, we said he has to go down into the ground and die.
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Secondly, let's look at Genesis chapter 1. In Genesis 1, verse 26, it's familiar.
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God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
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So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them.
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So man was made in the image of God. Now although man has sinned, the basic point remains. In 1
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Corinthians 11, verse 7, Paul speaks of man being the image and the glory of God. In James 3, verse 9, he speaks of man being made after the similitude of God.
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Can it be right to take that which Scripture teaches to have been created in God's image and consign it to flames?
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Surely to ask the question is at the same time to answer it with a firm no. But let me also say we are reminded of 1
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Corinthians 6, verse 19 and 20. What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the
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Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price.
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Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. So what
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I'm saying is we're not our own. While this passage does have to do with our conduct in life, it might be rightly applied to the question before us of what happens to our bodies when they die.
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The Lord's people are not their own. They are bought with a price. Therefore let us follow the Scriptural teaching and the very example of our
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Lord in being buried and not cremated. I remember the Scripture of Christ that I read.
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It says, This wondrous man of whom we tell is true almighty God. He bought our souls from death and hell the price his own heart's blood.
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The more a believer is enabled by the Holy Spirit to meditate on and feel in his heart the union and oneness with Christ, the less he will wish in any way to deviate from Christ's example.
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There is a profound sacredness in not being one's own but belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ.
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I pray that you'll seriously consider the truths that we've covered and that they'll be an encouragement to you and to all who hear this truth.
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May God bless you. Father, I pray that you'll bless the teaching of thy word. I thank you for your precious people.
01:01:35
Lord, again and again I see that in your sweet people there is more love in their heart than they even themselves know they have.
01:01:42
So Father, teach and guide and use us and keep us in the path that we need to go that we please and honor you in all things because of Christ in whose name we pray.