BURYING THE DEAD
Just recently I buried my mother in 2015 and my father in 2016. I always feel that preservation of the body (bones) after death is important, but I was not completely sure of it. So I started to look at the Bible to find at least some clues about it, in order to know if the preservation of the bones important or not.
We know from the Bible that the resurrection from the dead will occur in the future, and actually already happened in the past (2Kings 4.32-37) (2kings 13.21), but it was a temporary resurrections not leading to complete immortality.
Because our soul (spirit) is immortal and need no resurrection, so the resurrection must be done in the body, and this means that the bones of the body must be preserved for the Day of Resurrection. Long ago, I thought that on the Day of Resurrection GOD will give us a completely new immortal body, but under close examination of Bible’s passages I came to conclusion that we actually need our own body (bones) for such event.
Isaiah 26.19
19.Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise...
After this verse I found that and Ezekiel also wrote something really amazing describing his vision of dry bones. When Ezekiel commanded to dry bones to come together, they formed human bodies covered with flesh, but no life-giving spirit from GOD was in them, they had been just corpses. But when Ezekiel call for the spirit of life, when the life-giving spirit from GOD entered them and they are all came to life, literally, from their graves (Ezekiel 37.1-14).
Daniel 12.1-3
2.Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake…
Hosea 6.2
2.He will revive us after two days, He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.
Resurrection of the dead out of their graves also happened and during crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 27.52-53
52.The tombs also were opened and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53.After His resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.
John 5.28
28.Do not be astonished at this, the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice,
1Corinthians 15.52
52.in moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
All these passages clearly shown that the resurrection of the dead happens in the bodies (bones) of those who had been buried.
And not only bones of the dead can come to life, but some bones of the holy men of GOD can also give life to those who become dead. In this case it was the bones of Elisha that gave life to a dead man (2kings 13.21).
Can the Lord resurrect a person from the ashes of cremation, I am sure He can, no problem with that, but according to verses above, the proper way is to be resurrected from your own bones. And this is of course means, that the burial and preservation of the bones is very important for the resurrection of our body into immortality.
So the question will be, is the resurrected body will be completely different new immortal body or it will be old but completely renewed immortal body? To answer this question it is better to look in what kind of body Jesus Christ was resurrected. In His appearance to His disciples after His death He appeared to them in His old body that contained the wounds of the cross and of the spear. And He appeared in this renewed immortal body not only for the sake of those who did not believe in His resurrection from the dead, but also to show that He has full and complete power over the death, and that His body regenerated and His Spirit returned back to His original body which is cannot die and be destroyed anymore.
So exactly the same process will be and for the bodies (bones) of those who died and buried, their body will regenerate to a renewed immortal body and the spirit of the dead will enter their own bodies it in order to give the body new immortal life, as it was shown in Ezekiel 37.1-14, and with Jesus.
So, what the Bible said about cremation? Practically nothing, but in one place a cremation of the body was condemned (Amos 2.1).
But in another place of the Bible it was not condemned, because the bones of the priests of Baal was burned on their own altars (2Chronicles 34.5).
So according to all these messages and many other which I did not write here, the preservation of the body (bones) plays important part in the resurrection of immortal renewed body. I also understand very well that not everyone can afford a burial today, it was cost me a little fortune, but I do not mind, as long as my parents have a chance for resurrection from the dead. I also save some money for my own burial, but because no one left to bury me, I will place my burial into the hands of the Lord.
I also found very interesting commentaries from the Torah about burial of the dead, which is supports all my findings concerning this issue.
BURYING THE DEAD
The Torah. A Modern Commentary. Edited by W. Gunther Plaut.
“Quick burial of the deceased was a matter of great concern in the ancient Near East except in Egypt, where embalming was practiced. The natural process of decomposition was accelerated by the warm climate, and an abundance of birds and other animals that would feed on the cadavers demanded an early burial. One of the curses with which a wayward Israel is threatened is precisely this: “Your carcasses shall become food for all the birds of the sky and all the beasts of the earth, with none to frighten them off” (Deuteronomy 28.26) (Jeremiah 22.19).
The sight of unburied bodies was considered an offense not only against human dignity but against GOD Himself. Even a criminal who had been impaled (or hanged) was to be interred before sunset “for an impaled body is an affront to GOD: you shall not defile the land that the Lord your GOD is giving you to possess” (Deuteronomy 21.23).
In the Biblical conception of afterlife there was room to believe that in death one could be united with the past, especially if one would be buried in the ancestral plot. The acquisition of such a site usually or frequently a cave, was therefore of prime concern for Abraham after his wife’s death, and the Hittites from whom he purchased Machpelah were well aware of his need and exacted an exorbitant price from him (Genesis 23.15).
Jacob, though he lived in Egypt for 17 years and died there, was conveyed back to the cave of Machpelah, and Joseph implored his family not to leave his bones behind when the people would depart from Egypt (Genesis 50.25). Such burial assured the dead that they would “sleep with their fathers” and “be gathered to their kin” (1Kings 11.43) (Genesis 25.8).
The Bible neither reports nor requires a distinct ritual for interment; the only prescription is contained in Deuteronomy 21.23; expressed negatively, it commands not to leave the hanged person overnight, positively, to bury him the same day.
Coffins were not used, though in later centuries important personages were placed in stone sarcophag (Current practice in Israel prescribes burial in shrouds, without the use of coffins).
The custom of burning the dead (cremation) was not acceptable as a proper way of disposing of the dead. The story of Saul’s death provides an important exception, for the burning of his mutilated body by his followers was done to forestall further indignities, and the remains were buried thereafter (1Samuel 31.12-13; the account in 1Chrinicles 10.12 omits the burning). To be sure, one of the means of execution prescribed by the Torah was burning the condemned, but it is likely that, once death had occurred, the body was buried and, at most, only the entrails were consumed by fire.
In sum, the Bible reflects a deep-rooted respect for the human body, which even in death must be treated with care and consideration. To do so was to honor GOD in Whose Image humanity had been created.”
Just recently I buried my mother in 2015 and my father in 2016. I always feel that preservation of the body (bones) after death is important, but I was not completely sure of it. So I started to look at the Bible to find at least some clues about it, in order to know if the preservation of the bones important or not.
We know from the Bible that the resurrection from the dead will occur in the future, and actually already happened in the past (2Kings 4.32-37) (2kings 13.21), but it was a temporary resurrections not leading to complete immortality.
Because our soul (spirit) is immortal and need no resurrection, so the resurrection must be done in the body, and this means that the bones of the body must be preserved for the Day of Resurrection. Long ago, I thought that on the Day of Resurrection GOD will give us a completely new immortal body, but under close examination of Bible’s passages I came to conclusion that we actually need our own body (bones) for such event.
Isaiah 26.19
19.Your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise...
After this verse I found that and Ezekiel also wrote something really amazing describing his vision of dry bones. When Ezekiel commanded to dry bones to come together, they formed human bodies covered with flesh, but no life-giving spirit from GOD was in them, they had been just corpses. But when Ezekiel call for the spirit of life, when the life-giving spirit from GOD entered them and they are all came to life, literally, from their graves (Ezekiel 37.1-14).
Daniel 12.1-3
2.Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake…
Hosea 6.2
2.He will revive us after two days, He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.
Resurrection of the dead out of their graves also happened and during crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 27.52-53
52.The tombs also were opened and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53.After His resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.
John 5.28
28.Do not be astonished at this, the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice,
1Corinthians 15.52
52.in moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
All these passages clearly shown that the resurrection of the dead happens in the bodies (bones) of those who had been buried.
And not only bones of the dead can come to life, but some bones of the holy men of GOD can also give life to those who become dead. In this case it was the bones of Elisha that gave life to a dead man (2kings 13.21).
Can the Lord resurrect a person from the ashes of cremation, I am sure He can, no problem with that, but according to verses above, the proper way is to be resurrected from your own bones. And this is of course means, that the burial and preservation of the bones is very important for the resurrection of our body into immortality.
So the question will be, is the resurrected body will be completely different new immortal body or it will be old but completely renewed immortal body? To answer this question it is better to look in what kind of body Jesus Christ was resurrected. In His appearance to His disciples after His death He appeared to them in His old body that contained the wounds of the cross and of the spear. And He appeared in this renewed immortal body not only for the sake of those who did not believe in His resurrection from the dead, but also to show that He has full and complete power over the death, and that His body regenerated and His Spirit returned back to His original body which is cannot die and be destroyed anymore.
So exactly the same process will be and for the bodies (bones) of those who died and buried, their body will regenerate to a renewed immortal body and the spirit of the dead will enter their own bodies it in order to give the body new immortal life, as it was shown in Ezekiel 37.1-14, and with Jesus.
So, what the Bible said about cremation? Practically nothing, but in one place a cremation of the body was condemned (Amos 2.1).
But in another place of the Bible it was not condemned, because the bones of the priests of Baal was burned on their own altars (2Chronicles 34.5).
So according to all these messages and many other which I did not write here, the preservation of the body (bones) plays important part in the resurrection of immortal renewed body. I also understand very well that not everyone can afford a burial today, it was cost me a little fortune, but I do not mind, as long as my parents have a chance for resurrection from the dead. I also save some money for my own burial, but because no one left to bury me, I will place my burial into the hands of the Lord.
I also found very interesting commentaries from the Torah about burial of the dead, which is supports all my findings concerning this issue.
BURYING THE DEAD
The Torah. A Modern Commentary. Edited by W. Gunther Plaut.
“Quick burial of the deceased was a matter of great concern in the ancient Near East except in Egypt, where embalming was practiced. The natural process of decomposition was accelerated by the warm climate, and an abundance of birds and other animals that would feed on the cadavers demanded an early burial. One of the curses with which a wayward Israel is threatened is precisely this: “Your carcasses shall become food for all the birds of the sky and all the beasts of the earth, with none to frighten them off” (Deuteronomy 28.26) (Jeremiah 22.19).
The sight of unburied bodies was considered an offense not only against human dignity but against GOD Himself. Even a criminal who had been impaled (or hanged) was to be interred before sunset “for an impaled body is an affront to GOD: you shall not defile the land that the Lord your GOD is giving you to possess” (Deuteronomy 21.23).
In the Biblical conception of afterlife there was room to believe that in death one could be united with the past, especially if one would be buried in the ancestral plot. The acquisition of such a site usually or frequently a cave, was therefore of prime concern for Abraham after his wife’s death, and the Hittites from whom he purchased Machpelah were well aware of his need and exacted an exorbitant price from him (Genesis 23.15).
Jacob, though he lived in Egypt for 17 years and died there, was conveyed back to the cave of Machpelah, and Joseph implored his family not to leave his bones behind when the people would depart from Egypt (Genesis 50.25). Such burial assured the dead that they would “sleep with their fathers” and “be gathered to their kin” (1Kings 11.43) (Genesis 25.8).
The Bible neither reports nor requires a distinct ritual for interment; the only prescription is contained in Deuteronomy 21.23; expressed negatively, it commands not to leave the hanged person overnight, positively, to bury him the same day.
Coffins were not used, though in later centuries important personages were placed in stone sarcophag (Current practice in Israel prescribes burial in shrouds, without the use of coffins).
The custom of burning the dead (cremation) was not acceptable as a proper way of disposing of the dead. The story of Saul’s death provides an important exception, for the burning of his mutilated body by his followers was done to forestall further indignities, and the remains were buried thereafter (1Samuel 31.12-13; the account in 1Chrinicles 10.12 omits the burning). To be sure, one of the means of execution prescribed by the Torah was burning the condemned, but it is likely that, once death had occurred, the body was buried and, at most, only the entrails were consumed by fire.
In sum, the Bible reflects a deep-rooted respect for the human body, which even in death must be treated with care and consideration. To do so was to honor GOD in Whose Image humanity had been created.”
