Jos 7:24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
Jos 7:25 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.
Jos 7:26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
There was an incidence here where Achan of the tribe of Judah and his family were burned instead of being buried, but it was because they were wicked.
1Sa 31:10 And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Bethshan.
1Sa 31:11 And when the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead heard of that which the Philistines had done to Saul;
1Sa 31:12 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.
Saul and his three sons were burned with fire but probably because the Jews did not want them to be a public display to the Philistines who had them and the Jews stole the bodies from them.
But it seemed to be always burial that was used to dispose of the body, and burning a body may be something they did if the people were wicked.
But people that are cremated today it is not the same situation.
But burning a body would be a better way, and not taking up space of land.
And it would not seem like a person cannot have a glorified body because they were cremated, for the body decays in the grave, and Paul said we put off the fleshy body and receive a spiritual body, not the physical body changes in to a spiritual body.
And it does not appear that it is forbidden to cremate a body, or is it.
But why would burial be the way they disposed of the body, and not cremation.
The Bible said cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree.
Could it be that a person that is burned to dispose of the body was a cursed thing to them, or a curse to the dead that was burned, but being buried was a sign of respect to not damage the body.
I do not know but there has to be a reason they buried people but did not burn them.
Also other nations that were heathen would burn their dead as some sort of heathen ritual.
But a saint would not be cremated because of an occult ritual.
That is probably the point why is the reason they want to be cremated.
Hindu cremation was known as early as 1900 B.C. In Hinduism cremation is based on the belief that a human being is made up of five elements of nature which need to be returned to their source at death. Four of these elements—fire, earth, water and air—belong to the body and by cremation, they are returned to their earthly sphere.
Burning the dead was a common practice among ancient Greeks and Romans as far back as 1000 B.C.
From the medieval age until the 19th century, burning at the stake was reserved by the church for those they condemned as heretics and witches.
It seems like burning a body has to do a lot with false religions, and people that are considered wicked as the case of burning witches at the stake, and Achan and his family being burned for being wicked.
But many people do it because of cost, and not taking up land space.
I do not know, but burial is the way they did it in the Old Testament so I do not know if that is the way it is supposed to always be done or not, for does God have a reason why it must be burial.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Gen 3:19 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.
Does it have to be a natural process which we decay that is right before God.
The Catholic Church was against cremation until 1963 when the Pope lifted the ban which is weird since they have practices like the heathen, and interpret the Bible according to paganism and the occult.
I never really thought about it until this post.