Dec 13

Leviticus 10:1-2
Memorise Amos 2:1-2
“there went out fire from the LORD”

Cremation is also a sign of judgment. In the Old Testament, cremation was done to dishonour or punish those who had sinned against God. Achan for his sin of idolatry was punished by fire. God said, “And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel… And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones” (Joshua 7:15, 25).

Fire is a symbol of God’s judgment. When the wicked priests—Nadab and Abihu—offered strange fire before God which He commanded them not, “there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:1-2). God destroyed the homosexual cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone and fire (Genesis 19:24). The nation of Moab too faced God’s fiery judgment, “For three transgressions of Moab and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: But I will send a fire upon Moab” (Amos 2:1-2).

In the New Testament, we find the same teaching that fire and burning point to God’s judgment and disapproval. In Acts 19:18-19, the newly converted believers renounced their heathen past by burning all their books on witchcraft and sorcery. The Apostle Peter prophesied that God would destroy the whole universe one day by fire, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto the fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7). At the judgment of the great white throne, all the fallen angels and all the finally impenitent will be cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Revelation 20:14-15).

As believers, we do not have to face the eternal judgment of fire, so why

would we cremate our physical bodies?

Thought: Cremation is always cast in a negative light in Scripture.
Prayer: Lord, I want to follow the way of Scripture.