#31
Not many people are aware of what the human body is made of.
We have got flesh, blood, and bones, but where does it come from?
As the embryo develops in the womb, it feeds on the mother’s bloodstream, and when it is born, breast milk provides the necessary vitamins, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and minerals. The baby grows and slowly gets used to solid food. As you see, food is the source to build the human body.
Where does food come from?
It is easy to understand that vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains come from the ground: you only need to add sunlight, rain, and seeds. The plant absorbs the inorganic minerals from the soil: via the roots converts them into organic minerals through complex chemical processes. There will be a trunk, leaves, flowers of the plant, possibly producing edible fruit or seeds.
How about the meals of animal source?
The origin of beefsteak is nothing more than the pasture where the cow lived. As the cow chews the cud, transforms the grass into high-quality protein and fat. The cow builds up its body out of the grass.
Your body comes from nothing but the soil, land, and dirt!
“My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.”
Psalm 119:25
You were made from the dust of the ground!
There are plenty of references to this in the Bible, yet few acknowledge it. And this is the truth: dust you are and to dust shall you return. The word of the Creator has shown the right path for millennia, now it’s your turn to understand!
“And YAHUAH ELOHIYM formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Genesis 3:19
“And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.”
Job 7:21
“Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?”
Job 10:9
“If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.”
Job 34:14-15
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
Psalm 103:13-14
“Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.”
Psalm 104:29-30
“For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”
Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
Verses Compiled by: billkochman.com
Resurrection
Burial is a very important part of the Creator’s plan for humanity. As we have discussed in Course #26, the resurrection and eternal life are the rewards of the righteous.
The body in death becomes a seed sown on this earth. In every saint’s body, there is the DNA signature of that individual person by which they will be raised in perfect form, yet without the adamic nature, at the resurrection. Apostle Paul made this bold declaration in his first letter to the people of Corinth. His words proclaim the mystery of death and the hope of our new body.
“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But ELOHIYM giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.”
I Corinthians 15:35-38
Our resurrection is not a copycat event in which all of us have similar appearing bodies. Each resurrected body will be unique, exactly like we are all unique in this life. The seed of the present body contains the nucleus for the new body. ELOHIYM in the resurrection does not create new bodies but recreates us from the seed sown in death and burial. Paul continues the thought above, saying,
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body… And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”
I Corinthians 15:42-44, 49
In death, we sow the seed of our earthly life in complete assurance of the coming resurrection. No wonder the writer of Ecclesiastes stated unequivocally the following words,
“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; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.”
Ecclesiastes 6:3
This is the Creator’s ideal. It is clearly His plan and method.
The Fatal Path of Cremation
He/she who is born dies. The world has come to consider it appropriate to burn the dead at 900 degrees Celsius for several hours. When the soft parts of the body are burned, nothing remains but the bones. It is transferred to a bone grinder which produces homogeneous white ash which is about 2.4 kg. Today more than half of the funerals are cremations in Western countries. We live in a world that has deteriorated to the core. In the following lines, we will discuss why cremation is a frantic method.
The late Wim Malgo of Midnight Call wrote a small booklet on The Fatal Path of Cremation. He quoted Doctor Karl Ludwig Scheich as saying the following:
“It is the nucleolus of the cell, that concentration of the cell’s protoplasmic yolk, which, as a sort of central organs, like a brain, a soul of the cell, and also like the yolk of the egg, must be regarded as the essential element of these microscopically-small life units. These life units of the cell – the nucleoli – remain alive under all conditions, and in them, there is no death, only a spore-like preserving, awaiting, until they, in the miraculous cycle of life, restore their minute, immortal energies to life through rhythmic transfer. Digestion, fermentation, caustic acids, or lyes cannot destroy their almost crystallized life.
Only fire dissolves them!
But this is not part of the Creator’s plan. Cell death by burning is the most unnatural thing there is… Every nucleolus, which is freely dissolved in the soil, carries within it something of the spiritual and physical ‘I-nature’ of that decayed body from which it came. There exists, therefore, a cycle of life, the immortality of bodily organization, and herein lie the reasons for why we declare that a cremation is an act of human boldness. It unwisely meddles with the above-described cycle of life, and, with clumsy, unknowing hands, frustrates the methodical construction and promotion of living creatures to ever-increasing higher achievements.” (Miracles of the Soul, Dr. Karl Ludwig Scheich.)
Fantastic is the only word I can imagine for such a scientific miracle. Our Creator had it all planned in the beginning and the resurrection DNA or seed/cell/germ was implanted in the very creation of each living soul. It can be no wonder that cremation was unnamed in all of Scripture as the method for the death of His own saints.
Abraham was Commanded for Burial
Abraham is the “Father of Faith,” so named by Scripture. God spoke to him and clearly commanded:
“And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.”
Genesis 15:15
Yahuah Himself buried Moses on the top of Mt Nebo. The Scriptures give details of numerous burials of those who were God’s servants. This is the only method ever followed in Holy Scripture. Moses gave a clear description of the burial of the dead.
The New Testament Supports Burial as ELOHIYM’s Clear Command
Scripture always teaches by example as the first method for declaring truth. Burial is seen throughout the New Testament with the death and burial of Jesus Christ at the center. Lazarus was buried and Jesus raised him from the dead. If Martha and Mary had cremated him, Jesus would not have resurrected him. His resurrection was the natural body, which was to die again in his proper season.
“Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?… And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”
John 11:39-40,43
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the center of all truth. The Old Testament exists to purposefully and methodically bring us to the fullness of time when the Son of ELOHIYM would be incarnated in a sinless human body. His death, burial, and resurrection are the redemptive acts in which all redemption is complete.
His bodily resurrection from death is the firstfruits of our resurrection. There will be no departing from this truth when that glorious moment arrives for each of the saints to be resurrected. Our body will be raised exactly as was His body. We will be like Him for we will see Him as He is. We shall also be known as we were represented in our bodies in this life.
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
I Corinthians 13:12
Death, burial, and resurrection are YAHUAH’s clear pattern; and to depart from the same is barbaric and heathen.
Water Baptism is Lost in Cremation
The act of baptism has no meaning if there is no burial. You cannot show a resurrection from a cremation because there is nothing left to resurrect. Maybe, if you only believe in sprinkling, then you could call it just a type, but Scripture cannot be so ignored and still retain meaning.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
I Corinthians 6:19
The entire majestic acts of redemption, water baptism, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the promised resurrection of this very body make cremation unthinkable. How the church world treats those spiritual truths so cheaply is hard to grasp.
The Bible Condemns Cremation
The Scripture does not speak volumes about cremation because it does not need to do so. When you have the truth presented in great abundance, the need to condemn the opposite is not required. Yet, the Scripture shows Elohiym’s disfavor.
Often in Scripture, the wicked were judged by fire and complete obliteration. It was always reserved for great acts of blasphemy and sin. It appeared that symbolism for a curse was the cremation of the body. We are dealing in those cases with people who had no hope of a saintly resurrection.
The Death of the Wicked
The resurrection of the godless and wicked persons is a resurrection unto damnation. So, cremation fits the death of the unjust perfectly. ELOHIYM also commanded that certain blasphemous or extremely wicked persons be burnt with fire.
Cremation must be reserved exclusively for the wicked in our midst. It should be expected that individuals that have rejected the Creator and His Word would desire to show their rebellion against the sacredness of life by choosing cremation. It becomes the last act of defiance and determination to escape responsibility to Him.
Source: www.pawcreek.org/cremation/
Cremating bodies
In modern cremations, a blast of flame rains down on the corpse’s chest in a specially designed chamber. The chamber allows for an extremely high internal temperature of 870–980° Celsius (1,598–1,796° Fahrenheit) to be reached and maintained.
At this temperature, skin ripples and burns away, fat sizzles, and organs shrink. Skin and muscle turn to carbon quickly, carbon that rapidly combines with oxygen in the air to create carbon dioxide. Only pieces of bone, surgical enhancements (like hip and joint replacements), and debris is left after an hour or so of exposure.
The most common “movement” observed in the heating of a corpse is a contraction of the arm muscles at around 670 °C. This contraction creates a pose similar to a boxer protecting their chest and occurs at the lower cremation temperatures observed in a pyre and sometimes as a body cools.
This “pugilistic pose” also features the corpse’s fingers balled into a fist and a slightly tilted head. The movements could be viewed by pyre watchers as the act of a corpse sitting up, especially when combined with other body parts separating and falling away as the flames consume the body.
Cremation is the process of reducing a dead body to the tiniest bits of bone resembling ash that involves exposing the body to flame and intense heat followed by pulverization of bone fragments. It leaves behind an average of 2.4 kg of remains referred to as ashes or cremains.
They are then put in a grinder, which is much like a big food processor or blender, and are ground into the “ASHES” which is what the family gets back.
Source: gizmodo.com/cremation
Who Are Funerals For, Anyway?
Source: www.chabad.org/Cremation-or-Burial.htm
“It is a strange question, I know, but one that will determine many of the choices made at the time of death—and our entire understanding of this crucial spiritual transition point. If one believes that funerals are for the living, than do whatever the living want to do. Bury, cremate, leave the body for the vultures, mummify it, put it on a flaming boat down the river, throw it in the garbage, put in under your floorboards, cannibalize it, or do one of the many things that societies throughout the ages have done or do to the bodies of their loved ones.
But what if funerals are (primarily) for the dead? Consider this:
Each of us has a “part of G‑d,” so to speak, inside of us. It is the neshamah, the soul. It is pure, untainted, and closely connected to its source, the source of all knowledge—G‑d Himself. Deep down, when we get in touch with our soul, we access this source of knowledge. We sense what is true, what is right and what is holy. But it is not easy to access that deep source of knowledge. Our souls are kept prisoner in our bodies. The body is not an enemy, of course, as it enables us to help others and fix the world. But it does limit the soul. Base desires, ego, fears and confusion make it extremely difficult for “me” to know what is really going on, what is really important and what path I should follow.
Things change when the body dies. The soul is released. It is immediately closer to G‑d, the true source of knowledge. The “me” suddenly has much clearer access to Him. Still, the soul does not leave its body immediately. Could a loving wife immediately leave her husband after decades of loving togetherness? The soul stays close by, “ascending on high” slowly, stage by stage.
Immediately after death, in the very first stage of its ascent, the soul’s main concern is that “its” body—its partner over many decades—receive a proper burial. The soul cries out in pain if its body is treated disrespectfully, and screams in unimaginable horror if its beloved body, a holy vessel, is put to the flame. When the body is alive, the body feels pain. When the body can no longer feel pain—i.e., when it dies—the soul feels its partner’s “physical” pain at a highly spiritual level.
Cremation Misconceptions
- Cremation is better for the environment. Actually, it isn’t. Cremation uses a tremendous amount of fuels, and releases toxins—including mercury—into the air. Because of cremation’s negative environmental impact and modern burial’s problematic practices, environmentalists favor “green burial,” with no embalming or metal caskets.
- There isn’t enough land for cemeteries. Actually, there is. Living in urban centers and paying high rents, it is understandable why we feel that there isn’t any land available. But the numbers show just the opposite. Even if every American death was followed by burial, it would take over 10,000 years just to use up one percent of America’s landmass! And, presumably, few if any cemeteries would survive that long anyway. Burials take up very little land, and there is plenty available—usually within an hour or two of urban centers.
- No one will visit the grave anyway, so why have one? Actually, although visiting a grave is both important and beautiful, it has absolutely nothing to do with the obligation to bury. At the end of the Torah, G‑d Himself buries Moses and hides the location forever (in order to avoid it becoming a place of idol worship). Although no one will ever visit his place of eternal rest, G‑d chose burial over the multitude of options available.
- Decomposition is disgusting. Actually, while decomposition is hardly a sight to behold, cremation hardly seems any better. Despite the advertisements, the process is neither quick nor clean. An average body burns in the oven for 1.5–2 hours, with bigger bodies lasting even longer. During the process, the body moves back and forth, crackles and sizzles. The brain bubbles. Think of the stench of burning hair and flesh. Once the oven (a.k.a. retort, chamber or incinerator) has finished its gruesome task, the remains are not yet “ashes.” What is left in the oven are actually dry bone fragments. They are manually swept out and placed into a machine where they are ground up (a.k.a. pulverized, cremulated or processed) for about 20 minutes, in order to fit the remains into a small urn. The point is not whether burial or cremation is more disgusting. The point is that cremation is not pleasant—it is a loud, violent, repulsive and artificial process. On the other hand, decomposition, while not pretty, is a biological process, and the natural way of every living being.
- Cremation is cheaper. Actually, this piece of conventional wisdom is sometimes true. When all the hidden costs are added in, Sheri Richardson Stahl, director of Island Funeral Home in Beaufort, S.C., explained that “plenty of times, cremations are just as expensive as burials.” Unless “Direct Cremation” is chosen. In these cases, a cremation company is contacted online or by telephone. They pick up the body and deliver to the family a small can of cremated remains. Costs are often between $1,000 and $2,000. Including the plot, no burial will be that cheap, and direct cremations are becoming more common.”
As we have seen, burial is better for the environment. But the reasons are much deeper.
The soul needs burial, as described above. Cremation causes it tremendous pain, more than we can imagine.
Also, the body deserves burial.
Source: www.chabad.org/Cremation-or-Burial.htm
Hell and the Eternal Lake of Fire
Cremation is too close to hell for a believer to ever choose such a treatment of the divinely created body. YAHUAH Himself created Hell and the Lake of Fire for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It was never intended for man or woman. It is their choice, not His choice. The unregenerate person that refuses ELOHIYM and chooses self, will be cast into the
“lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”
Revelation 21:8
Conclusion
There is no kinship between a human act of the destruction of the body and the beauty of God’s great creation and plan. The Bible does not teach, “dust to dust and ashes to ashes.” The latter part was somehow added, maybe by someone who believed in cremation. Dust to dust is what our God has decreed. “… For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19). That is not just an idle statement, but a clear declaration. It is not “cinders to cinders,” but “dust to dust.”
Source: www.pawcreek.org/cremation/
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