Discipleship | A People for His Name

Hebrews 11:22 and the Case against Cremation

December 21, 2015

In my last post, I treated three reasons why cremation is unbiblical. A striking statement about Joseph in Hebrews 11 provides additional conclusive evidence for the case against cremation.

Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

As he neared death, Joseph communicated his full assurance that God would fulfill His promises to His people about bringing them out of Egypt and into the land that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 50:24). Joseph then made the Israelites take an oath that they would carry his bones with them out from Egypt (Gen. 50:25).

By giving this charge to his own, Joseph displayed that he valued highly what would become of his bones after he had died. Not only did he not want his body to be cremated so that it would be reduced to ashes, but also he cared about where his remains would be buried.

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried in the Promised Land into which he was certain that God would one day lead His people. Was Joseph’s desire concerning his bones simply a manifestation of a cultural practice of his time or was it a display of something far greater?

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, he obeyed Joseph’s charge by taking his bones with them (Exod. 13:19). The children of Israel later finally fully fulfilled the wishes of Joseph when they buried his bones in a parcel of ground in Shechem, which parcel “became the inheritance of the children of Joseph (Josh. 24:32).

The OT Scriptural record of Joseph’s charge and the Israelites full obedience to that charge shows that God has wanted all His people who have ever received His Word to know what Joseph ordained concerning his bones and what ultimately happened to them. Does this Scriptural record merely relate the fulfillment of self-chosen instructions given by a powerful Israelite leader who was following the cultural customs of his time or is the record intended by God to communicate something of far greater importance?

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

The writer of Hebrews explicitly commends Joseph to NT believers as one who “obtained a good report through faith” (Heb. 11:39). Considering all that Scripture reveals about Joseph that is commendable, it is highly instructive that the explicit commendation given concerning Joseph in this key NT passage concerns the very charge that we read of twice in preceding Scripture:

Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

God thus highlights that Joseph’s giving the charge that he did concerning his bones was the exemplary manifestation of his faith in God that God wants to call to the attention of all Christians! God’s commendation of Joseph’s believing desires that his bones be buried in the Promised Land shows that what he did was not just a record of a powerful Israelite following his own wishes in keeping with a cultural custom of his people and time.

Conclusion

Joseph wanted his bones to be buried—not cremated, and his wanting to do so was a vital expression of his faith in the promises of God. All Christians must likewise display their faith in God by seeking to have their bodies buried when they die.

The Scriptural record concerning Joseph’s charge about his bones powerfully argues against any legitimacy of cremation for God’s people. Christians must not cremate their own!

In Discipleship, Exposition, Theology

Three Reasons Why Cremation is Unbiblical

December 14, 2015

Many biblical facts show why cremation is unbiblical. This post examines three reasons why cremation is unbiblical.

No OT support for cremation instead of burial

The OT does not record a single instance of God’s people cremating one of their own instead of burying him. Although it does have one passage that relates when some Israelites burned the bodies of some of their people when they died, a close examination of that account shows that it does not support cremation at all.

First Samuel 31 records the tragic end of the lives of king Saul and his three sons. When the Philistines decapitated them and fastened their bodies to a wall (1 Sam. 31:7-10), some inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what had taken place and valiantly acted to attend properly to their bodies:

1Sa 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;

¹² All the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Bethshan, and came to Jabesh, and burnt them there.

Scripture provides no explanation for why these men burned the bodies of Saul and his sons. Regardless of why they did so, they did not cremate their bodies instead of burying them, as the next verse plainly states:

¹³ And they took their bones, and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

This key statement reveals that the men did not burn the bodies of Saul and his sons until they became ashes and then dispose of the ashes in whatever way they thought was acceptable. Rather, they burned the bodies in a way that preserved their bones, and then they buried them.

First Samuel 31 does not provide any support for Christians cremating a loved one instead of burying him. In fact, it shows that cremating a dead Christian is not at all either a biblically acceptable form of burial or a biblically acceptable substitute for burial.

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

Amos 2 relates God’s declaration of His fierce wrath upon the Moabites for what they did to the bones of the king of Edom:

Amo 2:1 Thus saith the LORD; 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:

² 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:

³ And I will cut off the judge from the midst thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, saith the LORD.

Because the Moabites burned the bones of the king of Edom to lime, God was going to judge them fiercely. C.F. Keil explains,

The burning of the bones of the king of Edom is not burning while he was still alive, but the burning of his corpse into lime, i. e. so completely that the bones turned into powder like lime . . . This is the only thing blamed, not his having put him to death (Keil-Delitzsch, 10:250).

This passage reveals God’s wrath on those who desecrated a man’s body after he had died by burning his bones until they became a powder. Based on this passage, Christians must not think that the Bible does not have anything to say against cremation.

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

The NT does not record a single instance of Christians cremating anyone after he had died. Furthermore, the account of the death of John the Baptist strengthens the case against cremation in a telling way.

Mark 6 records the horrific death of John the Baptist at the hands of wicked king Herod. Having had John beheaded, Herod had his head brought in a platter to the daughter of Herodias, who then gave it to her mother (Mark 6:27-28).

The disciples of John responded to the tragic murder of John by properly attending to his body:

Mar 6:29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

A comparison of the accounts of the deaths of King Saul and John the Baptist reveals that the disciples of John did not first burn his decapitated body—they buried his body in a tomb. Any possible support that a believer could try to make for cremation from the account in First Samuel 31 is invalidated by this parallel account in Mark 6.

The disciples of John—who through progressive revelation knew even more about the ways of God than the people of Jabesh Gilead did in their earlier time—did not employ any kind of burning in dealing with the decapitated body of John the Baptist. Mark 6 compared with First Samuel 31 shows that there is no New Testament support for God’s people even in an extreme circumstance to use some form of cremation prior to or in place of burial.

Conclusion

Cremation is not a biblically acceptable form of burial nor is it a biblically acceptable substitute for burial. Christians should not cremate their own.

Rather, they should do everything that they can legitimately do to see that their loved ones and other believers receive a proper burial as the fitting ending to their lives.

Ezekiel 39: A Test Case for Certain Notions about Cremation versus Burial

In Discipleship, Exposition, Interpretation, Theology

Ten Key Notions That the Bible Does Not Teach about Music

December 12, 2015

What the Bible teaches about music is a very important subject that is an issue of much controversy among many believers today. A careful, thorough examination of Scripture shows that it does not teach ten key notions that many people believe about music:

1. God created all music.

2. God created all musical styles or genres.

3. All musical styles or genres are inherently amoral, neutral, or good.

4. All musical styles or genres are inherently good and fit for human use, including for divine worship.

5. God has called Christians to “redeem” certain musical styles or genres by using them to accompany Christian words.

6. Secular testimonies about evil spirits and music are inherently unreliable.

7. Music can only be sensual if it has sensual lyrics.

8. God does not care about the instrumental music that is used to worship Him—He only cares about the words that are sung to Him.

9. Believers with conservative musical positions have the burden of proof concerning musical styles or genres that they say are unacceptable for Christian use, especially for divine worship.

10. For a musical style or genre to be unacceptable to God, Scripture must explicitly say that He does not accept it.

For detailed, biblical explanations of how the Bible does not teach these notions, see the articles referred to here.

In CCM, Music, Theology

What Does the Bible Say to God’s People about Global Warming?

November 30, 2015

God’s people properly believe that the Bible is the word of God, that whatever the Bible says is so, and that whatever it says about any subject is vital information about that subject. What does the Bible say to such people about global warming?

Scripture has two passages that speak directly about global warming consisting of devastating worldwide increases in temperature resulting from God’s judgments coming on the earth: Revelation 16:8-9 and 2 Peter 3:7-12.

Rev 16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. ⁹ And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

⁸ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

¹¹ Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

¹² Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

For us as God’s people who believe the Bible properly, these passages provide the most important information about global warming to which we need to give urgent attention. Strikingly, both passages directly speak to us about God’s desire that human beings repent of their sins (Rev. 16:9; 2 Pet. 3:9) so that they will not be consumed by the devastating global warming that God will bring about in the future!

As God gives us as believers opportunities to engage people on the subject of global warming, we should graciously set before them what the word of God has to say about the fearful global warming that will truly destroy the present heavens and the earth! We should then appeal to them to repent and believe the gospel of God and His Christ.

Furthermore, we who are believers should allow these passages to challenge us continually to be all that God wants us to be in view of the devastating global warming that surely is going to come to all the world. Let us truly be people who live our lives “in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet. 3:11) as we continue “looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet. 3:12).

In Exhortation, Theology

A Sacrifice of Praise – 2015

November 26, 2015

I praise the Lord for many things that He has done for me in 2015 and for His many blessings to me so far this year! The following summarizes the Lord’s blessings upon me in some key areas.

Bible Reading

I read the Bible through in English this year and am on target for finishing reading through the NT in Spanish by the end of the year. I also read the book of Revelation through sixteen times from mid-April to July!

Preaching

The Lord blessed me with four opportunities to preach in February 2015 at Iglesia Bautista de La Fe in Greenville, SC. Although I have prayed for and would have loved to have had many more opportunities to preach, the Lord thus far has not seen fit to give me any more preaching opportunities this year.

Teaching

This summer, I taught an adult Sunday school class for 8 weeks at my church, Beginnings at the End: Creation, Fall, and Redemption in the Book of Revelation. The series featured a thorough comparative analysis of Genesis 1-4 with the book of Revelation.

Guitar for Ministry

I had a number of opportunities to use the guitar in ministering to brethren this year. Along with a cellist and a violist, I played for three openers for the regular Sunday services at my church.

I accompanied a special for our Neighborhood Bible Class ministry on one Sunday this year. I also accompanied people singing specials on five Sundays in our Spanish ministry, and I ministered an offertory with a cellist on another Sunday.

I have had the privilege this year of teaching how to use the guitar in ministry on numerous occasions to some brethren from two Spanish churches. All of my students have made encouraging progress!

Spanish Ministry

The Lord has blessed me by allowing me to participate in the Spanish ministry of my church every other week this year, including giving a testimony in January about reading through the Bible in Spanish in 2014, praying for the offering in the service on several Sundays, and playing the guitar for specials six times. I also participated in evangelizing Spanish-speaking people on many occasions this year through our church’s regular neighborhood evangelism program.

The Lord has enabled me to produce several articles in Spanish this year. I have also produced some additional music resources in Spanish.

Blog Posts

This year, I have posted 84 times on my blog so far, bringing the total number of posts to 808 since February of 2011. I am very thankful for the Lord’s opening this ministry avenue to me and allowing me to continue in it!

Other Blessings

I got to participate in our church’s Good News ministry twice this year. In July, I helped each night with registration for our Neighborhood Bible Class ministry. On one Sunday, I did the Scripture reading for the morning service.

The Lord has blessed me with full-time work this entire year, including the privilege of giving a devotional every week at the beginning of our work day on Mondays. He has blessed me with several new guitar students this year, including my first online student!

Finally, although I have not progressed as much as I would have liked, I praise God for the substantial progress that He has allowed me to make this year in reading, speaking, and understanding spoken Spanish. I am especially thankful that I was able this year to make it through all the numerous free Spanish lessons at duolingo.com.

Blessed be the Lord who has continued His infinite goodness to me in 2015!

In Ministry, Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Preaching, Spanish, Sunday School

Audio of “Por el Amor de Su nombre”

November 22, 2015

This morning, three of us (2 guitarists and a cellist) accompanied the singing of the Spanish hymn, “Por el Amor de Su nombre.” This glorious song is the Spanish translation of Chris Anderson’s hymn, “For the Sake of His Name.”

With permission from Chris, here is a recording of our ministry this morning:

You can download the sheet music for this hymn here.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Music Ministry, Spanish

Guitar Music and Audio for “Oh, aldehuela de Belén”

November 17, 2015

Using MuseScore2, an excellent free music notation software, I produced a free PDF of the guitar music for Oh, aldehuela de Belén.

This PDF provides the melody, the first stanza, and the guitar chords to play this Christmas hymn in the key of F. It also provides the chord diagrams for every chord in the song for the first time that you play the chord in the song.

You can practice playing the melody and practice playing the chords along with the melody with this audio of the song:

In Guitar Music, Spanish

Using NT Greek to Learn Spanish: The Use of “Acaso” in a Question

October 27, 2015

I have been studying NT Greek for many years now. In the past several years, I have been learning Spanish so that I can preach and teach in Spanish churches.

I recently got the idea of using my understanding of NT Greek to help me learn more Spanish. This approach has proven to be helpful for understanding certain uses of Spanish words that I was not able to figure out using my Spanish dictionary or grammar books.

**The Use of acaso in a question**

By looking at the Greek for several passages that in my Spanish Bibles begin with acaso used with an indicative verb in a question, I was able to figure out that this use of acaso signifies a question that expects a negative answer.

For example, Matthew 7:16 reads as follows in the Reina Valera Revised 1960 (R60) and in Scribner’s 1894 Greek New Testament (SCR):

^R60Mat 7:16 Por sus frutos los conoceréis. ¿Acaso se recogen uvas de los espinos, o higos de los abrojos?

^SCRMat 7:16 ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς· μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν σταφυλὴν, ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα;

In this verse, ¿Acaso se recogen . . .? is the Spanish rendering of μήτι συλλέγουσιν . . . ; In the Shorter Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, this verse is directly cited in the entry for μήτι:

μήτι interrogative particle in questions that expect a negative answer, often left untranslated, but cf. μήτι συλλέγουσιν surely they do not gather . . . do they? Mt. 7:16;

I think a literal translation of the R60 of Matthew 7:16 would be something along these lines: “By their fruits you will know them. (Surely) grapes are not gathered from hawthorns, are they? Or, figs from burs of a plant?” and the expected answer to both questions is “No.”

John 7:48 provides another example of this use of acaso in a question:

^R60Joh 7:48 ¿Acaso ha creído en él alguno de los gobernantes, o de los fariseos?

^SCRJoh 7:48 μή τις ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσεν εἰς αὐτόν, ἢ ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων;

Based on the Greek of this verse, I would translate the R60 as follows: “Not any from the rulers or the Pharisees have believed in Him, have they?” Again, the expected answer is “No.”

James 3:11 also features acaso in a question to signify that a negative answer is expected:

^R60Jam 3:11 ¿Acaso alguna fuente echa por una misma abertura agua dulce y amarga?

^SCRJam 3:11 μήτι ἡ πηγὴ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς ὀπῆς βρύει τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ πικρόν;

My translation of the Spanish of this verse: “(Surely) a fountain is not putting forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter water, is it? No.”

These three examples show how understanding NT Greek can help with learning Spanish!

In Biblical Greek, Spanish

Biblical Bases for Morning and Evening Corporate Worship

October 21, 2015

Scripture provides at least 11 passages that give devoted believers a solid biblical basis to hold that God desires that His people today would worship Him corporately in the morning and the evening on the Lord’s Day. These passages may be divided into three major groups.

Offering Sacrifices

Exo 29:39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:

Lev 6:20 This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

1Ch 16:40 To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;

2Ch 2:4 Behold, I build an house to the name of the LORD my God, to dedicate it to him, and to burn before him sweet incense, and for the continual shewbread, and for the burnt offerings morning and evening, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the solemn feasts of the LORD our God. This is an ordinance for ever to Israel.

2Ch 13:11 And they burn unto the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the shewbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the LORD our God; but ye have forsaken him.

2Ch 31:3 He appointed also the king’s portion of his substance for the burnt offerings, to wit, for the morning and evening burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, and for the new moons, and for the set feasts, as it is written in the law of the LORD.

Ezr 3:3 And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

Singing, Giving Thanks, Praising, and Playing Musical Instruments

1Ch 9:33 And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.

Psa 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

² To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

³ Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

⁴ For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

Proclaiming and Serving

Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Rev 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.

Application

These passages shows that Scripture repeatedly testifies to the importance of divine worship taking place both in the morning and in the evening. Based on this evidence, it is inconceivable that God doesn’t care whether His people today in their local churches worship Him corporately only once on the Lord’s Day versus worshiping Him both in the morning and in the evening on the Lord’s Day.

God has given us these passages (as well as other passages) to provide a pattern for His people to worship Him both in the morning and in the evening on His special day, the Lord’s Day. Churches should have both morning and evening worship services on the Lord’s Day!

One other passage also attests to the importance of morning and evening worship of God by presenting how a king of Judah perverted divine worship by having that worship offered on a copy of a pagan altar that he had made:

2Ki 16:15 And king Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

In Discipleship, Theology

Does Frequency of Corporate Worship Matter to God?

October 15, 2015

A young guy and a young girl meet and fall head-over-heels in love with each other. They are both free to spend time with each other on Saturday mornings and evenings every week. One of them wants to be with the other both times but the other thinks that it’s enough to see the other once on each Saturday, either in the morning or in the evening.

What would we think about the difference between these two? Would we not think that the one who wants to be with the other both times has a greater desire to spend time with and be together with the other person than the one who only wants to be together once even though they could be together both in the morning and in the evening?

God loves His own with a perfect and infinite love and delights in communing with them and desires that they worship Him. Does God care when some groups of believers meet morning and evening on the Lord’s Day because they want to meet together to worship Him as much as they can but other groups of believers think that meeting together once on the Lord’s Day is enough?

Does frequency of corporate worship matter to God?

In Discipleship, Theology

Archives For Discipleship

Joseph’s Charge to the Israelites Prior to His Death

Israel’s Obedience to Joseph’s Charge

Divine Commendation of Joseph’s Charge

Conclusion

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No OT support for cremation instead of burial

God’s condemnation of people who completely burned the bones of a person

No evidence of Christians ever cremating their own

Conclusion

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Bible Reading

Preaching

Teaching

Guitar for Ministry

Spanish Ministry

Blog Posts

Other Blessings

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The Use of acaso in a question

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Offering Sacrifices

Singing, Giving Thanks, Praising, and Playing Musical Instruments

Proclaiming and Serving

Application

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**The Use of acaso in a question**