What does a Biblical funeral look like?

[Ron Amnsn]

Recently I attended an SDA funeral at the local church. It was a hope-filled service and the church was full, with many people from the Christian homeschooling community and the Messianic community as well as the SDA members.  It was obvious that our friend had touched the lives of many. 

 

As you know, all sorts of thoughts go through your mind at a funeral.  I noticed a few things about our North American funeral traditions that seem contrary to the Bible.  

 

I'll start out with the one that stood out most for me -- the way that human death is brought inside Christian churches. 

 

In the Bible, people who had contact with a dead person, a human bone, or a grave could not enter even the courtyard of God's temple or sanctuary until a week later, after being cleansed. (Numbers 19:11, etc.)  However, Christians bring the dead person bodily right into the "sanctuary" of the church.  Many churches in Europe contain graves and bones within the church itself. Why? 

 

Doesn't that make it rather obvious that we do not intend for these churches to be holy at all?

 

In the Bible, it is not "sinful" to be "unclean", yet unclean things were to be kept separate from holy things. For the most part, the people who are Biblically "unclean" have been affected by the results of sin such as death, disease, or painful childbirth. It is not sinful to be affected by the results of sin.  It only becomes sinful if you bring the unclean things into proximity with holy things, defiling them.

 

Why did God make such a clear separation between human death and the things that were holy? 

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

was the body of Jesus "unclean" as He lay in the tomb?

[Ron Amnsn]

was the body of Jesus "unclean" as He lay in the tomb?

Why wouldn't he be?

[Gregory Matthews]

A Seventh-day Adventist Church today is not in any sense a temple in the manner that such existed in the time of Israel. 

 

A SDA Church today does not have a Most Holy place which is entered by the pastor only once a year.

 

The people in the time of Christ were only allowed to enter the courtyard outside of the temple.  Only the priests entered the actual temple itself.  We allow people to enter a SDA Church today and to not keep them out.

[Ron Amnsn]

A Seventh-day Adventist Church today is not in any sense a temple in the manner that such existed in the time of Israel.

 

I wasn't trying to pick on SDA churches.  I agree.  There is very little correlation between Christian churches and the Temple of God.  Jesus was zealous for the Temple (John 2:17 quoting Psalm 69:9). Jesus never sent his disciples into all the world to build church buildings.

 

So why do we use the words that referred to the holy Temple of God when we speak about the church buildings?  We use words like "sanctuary" and "God's house" and "altar"; children are admonished not to run and play in the main hall of the church because it is "holy"; some of the church buildings have been named "Temple".  Doesn't that diminish the value of the real things of God?  It's a lot like the "santa effect" where we talk about something as if it is real and then the children grow up and discover that it's a fake and they begin to wonder if (or assume that) all the other religious things we've taught them are phoney too.

 

The Christian groups that call their churches just "meeting houses" and "halls" seem to be more concerned about keeping clear the distinction between common things and the holy things of God. 

 

But even if we acknowledge that  our church is just a meeting house, why do we bring the dead people inside?  Are there any instances in the Bible where God's people brought dead bodies into a community building?

Edited November 22, 2014 by Ron Amnsn

[Gregory Matthews]

The answer to your question is a resounding NO!

 

But the reason is that churches, as they exist today, did not exist in the time of  Christ.  So,  Dead were not brought into them.

[Gail]

The churches that we know did not exist in the time of Jesus but there were synagogues a-plenty. Jewish people would travel to Jerusalem twice or three times a year but many villages had their own synagogues.

[Gregory Matthews]

Yes, Gail and our churches of today do not function in any way as did those synagogues.

[Ron Amnsn]

The answer to your question is a resounding NO!

 

But the reason is that churches, as they exist today, did not exist in the time of  Christ.  So,  Dead were not brought into them.

 

Yes, Gail and our churches of today do not function in any way as did those synagogues.

 

So according to what Gregory says, our church buildings of today have no Biblical precedent. That makes it sound like our church buildings could be based more on Catholic tradition than on Scripture.

 

From what Gregory says, our funerals of today also have no Biblical precedent -- at least the practice of bringing dead bodies into places of worship. Where did we get that practice?  Sounds like something the pagans would do. (1 Chron 10:8-10)

 

Do we simply accept our own non-Biblical traditions and practices because we are comfortable with them?  Or do we put them to the test of Scripture?

 

Peter wrote, "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” (1Peter 1:15-16)  Here Peter uses passages from Leviticus as valid reasons for the believers to be holy in all their behavior.  Few Christians have bothered to look up in the Old Testament the passages that Peter refers to.  Let's at least scan through those:

 

 

 ‘Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean. ‘For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’ ”

This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten. (Leviticus 11: 43-47)

 

“Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.

‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the LORD your God.

‘Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods; I am the LORD your God.

‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted.

‘It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire.

‘So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is an offense; it will not be accepted.

‘Everyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from his people. (Leviticus 19:2-8)

 

‘You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am the LORD your God.

‘You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.

‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

‘If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

‘If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

‘If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

‘If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst.

‘If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal.

‘If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

‘If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt.

‘If there is a man who lies with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

‘You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they will bear their guilt.

‘If there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless.

‘If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out.

‘Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them.

‘Hence I have said to you, “You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.

‘You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean.

‘Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. (Leviticus 20:7-26)

 

By quoting Leviticus, Peter has made a very strong New Testament case for Sabbathkeeping and for distinguishing between clean and unclean, foods.  But as you can see in the passages above, being holy is not just about foods and Sabbath. By the way, eating something unclean made a person unclean only until evening -- there was no other specified consequence.

 

Later in his epistle Peter tells the believers that they, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. (1 Peter 2:5)  To those Christians who have set aside the portions of God's word that describe what a holy priesthood looks like and what acceptable sacrifices look like, Peter seems to be talking in vague generalities. But Peter had not set aside those portions of Scripture -- his letter specifically makes the point that the word of God endures forever.  Quoting from various passages of the Old Testament, Peter tells the believers in verse 9 that they are "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own posession".  According to Scripture, the priests (Peter says the believers are holy priests) were not to defile themselves by coming near any dead people, except for very immediate relatives.  So are the believers priests or are they not priests?  If we are priests, which non-Biblical source are we relying on instead of the "It is written" of Scripture to tell us how holy priests are to be holy?

 

The apostle Paul says,

 

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

      “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

       “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord.

       “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be

       sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 

(2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 NASB.  The phrases in ALL CAPS are the phrases that the NASB has capitalized to indicate they are direct quotations from the Old Testament.)

 

The phrase "do not touch what is unclean" which Paul quotes from the Old Testament is a condition of the promises that Paul is urging the believers to lay hold of.  Then Paul repeats in his own words, "let us cleanse ourselves from everything that could defile the body" (NET Bible).  Where would the believers learn what defiles the body?  They would learn that from the Old Testament Scriptures, which Paul endorsed fully, and which were the only Scriptures that were available at that time.

 

Christians seem to be fond of criticizing the Jews for their non-Biblical practices and traditions, and that is valid when the Jewish traditions contradict Scripture. But Christians have our own non-Biblical traditions, and the Jews notice that. The apostle Paul tells us that one of the reasons that the Gentiles have come to salvation is to make the Jews jealous. (Romans 11:11)  Unfortunately, there is very little about most Christians that would make Jews jealous.  Our funeral practices especially reveal how profane we are when compared to the teachings of Scripture.  For that reason alone we should seriously consider abandoning our non-Biblical traditions, so that we might have a chance of provoking the Jews to jealousy, and so we will not misrepresent their Messiah who lived totally in accordance with the Old Testament.

[Aliensanctuary]

...we should seriously consider abandoning our non-Biblical traditions...

 

Indeed, our religions of today do not rightly represent the Kingdom of YHVH as presented to humans in the days of Moses, the tabernacle, and the sacrificial service. This system was no Earthly contrivance, but rather, represented what actually occurs in the Kingdom of YHVH, wherever it is located in the cosmos. An act of worship at that time was to prostrate oneself before the LORD in a demonstration of subservience to Him, and this act will be repeated by his servants once again. Our "worship" services today bear no resemblance to the Kingdom of YHVH, and all these church service practices will be discarded when His Kingdom arrives.

[Gregory Matthews]

Well, Ron & Alien  I trust that you both have taken steps to prevent from happening at your death any of the practices to which you object.

 

Perhaps it would be instructional to your faithful subjects here if you would share your personal experiences in setting in place your desires for what will happen at your death.

[Gregory Matthews]

For those who might want to learn more about Jewish funeral practices, I suggest that they might click on the following:

 

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ancientburial.html

 

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/367834/jewish/The-Components-of-a-Jewish-Funeral.htm

 

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/367843/jewish/The-Taharah.htm

 

http://www.jewfaq.org/death.htm

 

http://jewish-funeral-home.com/Jewish-burial-customs.html

 

Of course, one might say that none of the above are Biblical, or perhaps they might say that some of the above are Biblical.  I leave that to each to decide.

[Gregory Matthews]

Most anything can be  done, if the proper civil paperwork is completed. 

 

Funerals are less for the departed than they are for the people left behind.  In one sense they are  to help them to deal with their sense of loss.

 

Yes, generally, with the proper paperwork, people can be buried on personal property.  However, be aware that if the proper paperwork is not completed major problems can arise.

 

Be also aware that even with the proper work the burial of a human on personal property can complicate the later sale of the property.  One who plans to do that should consider whether or not the owner of that property will live forever, never die, and never have either a desire or a need to sell  the property.

 

In most places the deceased can be buried without embalming and cremation can take place without such.  Also, in most places there are organizations that will facilitate burial at very low costs and limited involvement of others in a manner that meets legal requirements.

 

In short, you can make your plans, but to refrain from further complicating the lives of the people who remain behind your plans should be  informed and carefully laid.

 

NOTE:  As one who has been involved in many funerals, and who was once a cemetery manager, I have personally witnessed the problems that occurred when people made irrational, uninformed decisions and did not understand the consequences of the decisions that they were making.

[Aliensanctuary]

 

Perhaps it would be instructional to your faithful subjects here if you would share your personal experiences in setting in place your desires for what will happen at your death

 

To all my faithful subjects,

 

It will be cremation for me, with no funeral due to the much, much lower cost. Perhaps my faithful survivors will have a conventional memorial service for me at a church, maybe somewhere else, maybe not at all. Perhaps my ashes can be placed in some place of honor, stored in the attic or basement, scattered to the wind, or flushed down the toilet. I won't really care, since I'll be dead.

 

 Signed,

 

Your Majesty

[Gregory Matthews]

[Ron Amnsn]

I like the plans Burt has put in place. If such things were allowed in BC, I'd do something similar.

 

After reading about Jewish funerals last week, I think I'd like a Jewish casket (or no casket) and a prompt  burial.  But is that what a Biblical furneral looks like?

 

How many people went to the funeral of Aaron or the funeral of Moses?  Those were services that God himself planned and presided at.

 

Jesus purposely didn't go to the burial of his friend Lazarus.  And Jesus interrupted the burial procession of the widow's son.

 

What kind of funeral was there for the most significant death in the Bible, the death of the Son of God?

[Gail]

I scanned through the thread regarding the handling of the dead in Bible times and did not see the custom that the families were charged with the funeral process EXCEPT for the case of the high priest. His family was not allowed that provision.

I'm not sure where I can find a source for that. Would have to look that up