In MATTHEW 11:29-30, Jesus commands us to learn of Him because He is meek and lowly in heart, and I quote, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Being meek and lowly in heart, is to be humble and submissive before God and to be modest and moderate. And in PHILIPPIANS 4:5, Christians are advised to let their moderation be known to all men for the Lord is at hand. Jesus, in His meekness, chose to ride upon an ass, rather than a horse, in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The yoke and burden of Jesus is exemplified by His humility, and total submission to the will of His Father, and moderation in whatever He did. Even one of His disciples, Joseph of Arimathea, took upon himself the easy yoke and the light burden of burying Jesus, his Master, in a very simple way, even though he was a rich man, as written in MATTHEW 27:57-60.
Satan’s yoke and burden in burial, is not easy, and it is not light. To bury, actually means, by dictionary definition, to hide in the ground or to cover. And this was exactly what God did in burying Moses, check DEUTERONOMY 34:5-6, and exactly what that rich Disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, did to the body of Jesus. The sentimental reverence and unnecessary honour given to dead bodies by believers in Christ, is known as NECROLATRY, which is a branch of IDOLATRY. And the judgment of God upon idolaters, in this case, necrolaters, is written in REVELATION 21:8.

Unfortunately all over the world today, especially in Nigeria, “dead” bodies have become the object of worship and of admiration, even more than the living, so much so that, there are always controversies, about who must bury, where to bury and how to bury, and most times, violence and threat to lives.
One begins to wonder why so-called believers in Christ strive over dead bodies as unbelievers. There is a particular religious sect, who are not even Christians, and who bury their loved ones, no matter how highly placed in the society, according to the doctrine of God. It is a big shame that those who profess to know Christ, and even majority of our ‘Ministers of God’, encourage their members to give their loved ones a so-called “befitting” burial. It is unfortunate that many church leaders today, have not been transformed by the renewing of their minds, to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, concerning burials and so, they conform to the world contrary to God’s command in ROMANS 12:2. We must understand that Man is made of soul, spirit and body, BUT THE SOUL AND SPIRIT THAT ARE DEPARTED INTO ETERNITY, EITHER INTO HELL OR INTO HEAVEN MAKE UP THE INNER MAN WHILE THE BODY RETURNS TO THE DUST TO UNDERGO DECAY!

The major concern of true Christians, therefore, should be the eternal destination of the soul and spirit of their loved ones, whether they are in hell like the rich man, or they are in heaven, like Lazarus. Above all, they should also be concerned about the eternal destination of their own soul and spirit, when they depart from this world! The conveyance of “corpses” from one place to another for burial, especially to one’s native land, is all VANITY. It is Satan’s heavy yoke and burden, and it is the tradition in most tribes, which also transgresses the commandment of God, written in MATTHEW 15:3. The body of Jesus was NOT conveyed to Bethlehem, where He was born, but He was buried outside Bethlehem. It is shocking to know that some believers in Christ, who are destitute of the truth, even make a “will”, requesting that their “corpses” after death, be taken to their villages for burial. Jesus Christ never made a “will” that His body be taken to Bethlehem, His birth-place. The place where the dead body of a loved one is buried, does not in any way, change the eternal destination of the soul and spirit of that loved one, either in heaven or in hell, because as it is written in HEBREWS 9:27, it is appointed unto men, once to die, but after this, the judgment.

What is worrisome, is a violent situation in which most parents, even believers in Christ, demand for the corpses of their deceased daughters or sons, who were already married before the demise of anyone of them. Whereas in MATTHEW 19:5, Jesus said, the man, having left father and mother, shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh; likewise the wife, as written in PSALM 45:10. It is therefore the divine right of the husband to decide how the late wife should be buried and where to bury her; and the divine right of the wife to decide how the late husband should be buried and where to bury him. In GENESIS 23:14, it is recorded that Abraham buried his wife, without any strife from whatever quarters. And the only money spent in burying his wife, was the price paid for the land, where he buried his wife. It did not incur any heavy financial burden.
More worrisome is the psychological and in most cases physical trauma, inflicted upon widows and the fatherless children by family members especially of deceased husbands. This is a transgression of the commandment of God, as written in EXODUS 22:22-24, and I quote, “YE SHALL NOT AFFLICT ANY WIDOW, OR FATHERLESS CHILD. IF THOU AFFLICT THEM IN ANY WISE, AND THEY CRY AT ALL UNTO ME, I WILL SURELY HEAR THEIR CRY; AND MY WRATH SHALL WAX HOT, AND I WILL KILL YOU WITH THE SWORD; AND YOUR WIVES SHALL BE WIDOWS, AND YOUR CHILDREN FATHERLESS.” The commandment of God to all believers in Christ in JAMES 1:27, is that they should visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. Believers in Christ should stand on the word of truth, to condemn the wicked and merciless tradition of the land, whereby heavy financial burdens are laid upon bereaved families.

In ECCLESIASTES 3:20, it is written that the sons of men and beasts, all go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. This means that the corpse of any man, which is dust, is not different from the corpse of the beasts, which is also dust, going into the dust. But the whole world is being deceived by the devil to honour “dust”, thereby seducing the whole world, especially Christians into committing the sin of NECROLATRY, such as the laying of “wreaths” at gravesides, the procession round a “coffin” containing “dust”, the unbiblical ceremonial rite of “dust to dust”, “ashes to ashes” at the graveside, the kissing of coffins and the paying of pilgrimages to the sepulchres of the dead. God, in His wisdom, had to bury Moses by HIMSELF, the sepulcher of which is not known to the children of Israel, to this day, just to deliver them from committing the sin of Necrolatry, and of paying yearly pilgrimages to the sepulcher of Moses.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, thus saith the LORD.

CHRISTIAN GOSPEL CHURCH
(The Truth Centre).