BURIAL OR CREMATION? FFT#6

Increasing numbers of people have been turning to cremation to reduce the cost of burial. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the average cost of a traditional funeral in the United States was $4,600 in 1996. In contrast, “cremation costs between $500 and $2,000,” says the Chicago Sun-Times, “depending on the type of container chosen for the cremation itself and the urn that will hold the ashes.” Also, cremation does not require a cemetery plot and marker, which can add another 40 percent to the cost of a traditional burial. The paper said that in the United States in 1997, cremation was used in 23.6 percent of all deaths, and the figure is expected to reach 42 percent over the next ten years.

From ashes to ashes and dust to dust, for as it was in the beginning so shall it be in the end. We are nothing but dust and ashes (Genesis  2:7, 18:27).

In the Bible,

When Joseph was in Egypt he recommended to his people to take after his death his bones with them when they leave to another place.

Abraham recommended his fellows to be buried beside his wife Sara in the cavern.

Jesus after crucifixion was buried in a doom reserved for a wealthy person.

So, i think cremation is not good at all.

There's no excaping the Judgement Day, in that day the dead will be judged (Revelation 20:12). If their bones are broken up and scattered, God will reassemble them just as he did in the Valley of dry brones (Ezekiel 37). And likewise, even those that have been consumed with fire, God will reassemble them and they too will be judged.

But that doesn't mean cremation was not acceptable in bible view. True that in bible times many wicked people were burned and it seems like those people,being wicked, didn't have a respectful burial.

For instance Saul, who fought against God's anointed king, David. Saul died in the hands of the Philistines and received a disrespectful treatment of their body so Israelites after hearing this took their bodies and burned them but interestingly, including Jonathan's body, David's dear friend. David thanked those Israelites who burned their bodies (2 Samuel 2:4-6).  Cremation of their bodies didn't disturb David.

The Bible clearly teaches that Jehovah God will bring back to life many who now sleep in death.

“The sea gave up those dead in it, and death and Hades gave up those dead in them.” (Revelation 20:13)

To accomplish this, it makes no difference to Almighty God whether a person’s body is buried, burned, lost at sea, eaten by wild animals, or even vaporized by an atomic explosion.