BURYING OUR DEAD
[p. 331] BURYING OUR DEAD
Genesis 47: 29 - 31; Genesis 49: 28 - 32
I had in mind, dear brethren, to speak a little as to faith, for aside from it what we are about to do, in burying our dead, would only be on a common level; faith takes us out of that, and whilst we are engaged in this service of burying our dead, we are in spirit in the land of the living. Faith takes us there and the power of God through faith sustains us there. So that the Lord in speaking of the dead in Christ, said, “But concerning the dead that they rise, have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the section of the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living”, Mark 12: 26, 27. It is faith that brings us into that realm whilst outwardly having to do with one that has died.
That our sister is dead is a solemn fact. Of the one who wrote these pages it is said, “Moses my servant is dead”, Joshua 1: 2. Let there be no mistake about that! Having lived one hundred and twenty years he died, and Jehovah said of him, “Moses my servant is dead”. Faith accepts that; and in this passage in Genesis 47 it is said, “And the days of Israel approached that he should die” (verse 29). This not an allusion to an accident. The time drew nigh when Israel — the spiritual designation of Jacob — must die. So that the dates of the home-going of the saints are in the divine calendar, as it were, and each of those who are thus in it must die. The record is anticipatively kept. There are no accidents in the realm of faith. This solemn matter of death came into the world in the path of sin: “as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death and thus death passed upon [p. 332] all men, for that all have sinned”, Romans 5: 12. That is a great generality.
But while some of the Lord’s people die, all live to God; we are alive on the principle of faith, and as each one’s day to fall asleep comes, it will not be a moment before or after in the divine account. It is a fixed matter with God. Death as an element has come in and is taken account of as assisting those who have faith, those who believe. The first one who died had faith, that is Abel. The first death was that of a believer; but faith takes us out of death, out of the penalty of death. What is so touching in regard to this line of thought is, that the beloved Son of God died — the day came when He must die, not that he was not immune personally, for He was. Death had no claim over Him, but according to the appointment of the divine will He must die, and that fact changes the whole position, because if Jesus enters into death, He deals with it, abolishes it — all of which He has done. So that we look at the one who dies as like Moses. “Moses my servant is dead”, says Jehovah. Were He to speak now He would say that our sister is dead, as the Lord said, “Lazarus has died”. We accept that; it is the will of God; it is no accident; it is according to the divine calendar.
The day arrived when Israel must die — and he died; but not until everything was settled. Every matter was settled in the position of responsibility, so that chapter 49 tells us that in dying he blessed. The twelve tribes come into view; and so it is with a parent like our sister-she has died. The twelve tribes are not looked upon as dead, they are blessed — every one of them (chapter 49: 28). That is to say, we are in the presence of the living in burying our dead out of our sight. We need not enlarge on how important it is, and how it changes the whole position. The unbelief that our hearts are prone to,
[p. 333] brings the burial of a saint down to the common level; whereas faith lifts us into the realm of the living. “Moses my servant is dead”, but then the Lord Jesus says that he lives; and he came out on the mount of transfiguration to speak to Jesus. It was a matter of the power of God to do that, but it shows how God looks at things, and what His power means. Faith lays hold of this power, and thus we accept the fact of death according to divine appointment. The Son of God has died. It is an actual fact that He died. The day came when He must die. There was no obligation attaching to Him personally, as I said. It was vicarious. Nevertheless, in the divine appointment, He must die. He must die vicariously for the will of God and the blessing of man. No death was ever more real than that of the Son of God. He lay in the heart of the earth; “thus shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights”, Matthew 12: 40. He actually died, but He is risen, and that is the ground on which we are here today. We understand He is risen from among the dead, “who is at the right hand of God, gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subjected to him”, 1 Peter 3: 22. So that now it is a question of everything and everyone who is His; and for everyone who dies in faith the Lord Jesus will come, according to the sure word of the Spirit through the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17. For us it is only a matter of days or years, or perhaps hours. You see the position-how clear it is. How real death and resurrection are! There is nothing more real than the resurrection. There is a risen Man in heaven in whose hands everything and every person is. The matter is all settled; the day of the resurrection of the saints is on the calendar too. Faith lays hold of this, we christians are going on to that glorious end.
[p. 334] Now, I want to point out how particular Jacob was as to burial and as to where it was to be. He enjoined his son Joseph that he should be buried with his fathers. Joseph says, “I will do as thou hast said” (chapter 47: 30). That was not enough for Jacob, he says, “Swear unto me” (verse 31); not that he would doubt his beloved son, but the matter was so important that he required an oath. You might say, What does it matter where he is buried? but the Spirit of God recording it means that it really does matter. You say, What is the difference? The difference lies in the fact that at this time Jacob was speaking and thinking in faith. It is only as men and women think and speak in faith that their words have any value. The word faith is scarcely found in the Old Testament; but the thing is there, that is the point. When we understand the thing we can put a name on it. A writer in the New Testament said, “By faith Jacob when dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped on the top of his staff”, Hebrews 11: 21. He did these things by faith. These verses are on that platform in the New Testament. Jacob is thinking and speaking in faith and he is saying, I am to be buried with those who are to live — “in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite to Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite along with the field for a possession of a sepulchre” (chapter 49: 30). Ordinary graveyards cannot be designated in that way; believers and unbelievers are buried side by side today, but it was not so then. This graveyard was not secured for unbelievers. When the Lord Jesus comes to this graveyard in the field of Machpelah, they will all come out, every one of them. It will not be so in any graveyard in this country at “the first resurrection”, some will not come out and some [p. 335] will, for the unbelieving dead will not be raised until a thousand years after the dead in Christ are raised (Revelation 20). The principle of the cave of Machpelah is that it is the burying ground of those that believe. Jacob would ordinarily trust Joseph but here he makes him swear. It is so important that we should understand that as believers die they are buried in the light of the fact that they are to be raised; the Lord Jesus will come to where we are placed and we shall all come out.
In chapter 49, Jacob charged all his sons as to his burial: “he charged them and said to them, I am gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is opposite to Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite along with the field for a possession of a sepulchre” (verses 29, 30). The title-deeds of this burying place are marked out very clearly. This is a spiritual account of a graveyard. All the intelligences of heaven would understand what this means, that this graveyard is secured on the principle of redemption. From whom it is bought, who bought it, and finally the persons buried there, are plainly stated. Look at their names: “There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebecca his wife; and there I buried Leah” (verse 31). It is all a spiritual matter, and intended by the Spirit of God for such an occasion as is before us today. It is a question of the living, that we bury in the light of the resurrection, knowing that for God all believers live. Where our sister has gone is as clearly marked out in heaven as the cave of Machpelah was; she is with Christ, until He comes to claim her in the body, taking her out of “Machpelah” to be with Himself in a body like His own, for ever. Her [p. 336] death, too, is through His instrumentality; note that word; “those who have fallen asleep through Jesus”. He has had to say as to the closing of her eyes, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”, Psalm 116: 15. Whatever the infidel mind might think, God will mark the spot and will know where to come where our sister is buried — she will be buried among the living, as I said. The Lord will know where to come, and will call each saint by name as He said, “Lazarus, come forth”, John 11: 43. “All who are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall go forth”, John 5: 28.
I hope these thoughts will be a comfort to our bereaved brother and his family, also to us all. We are bound in the strongest links, and share in united sympathy with them in this matter of burial and resurrection. It is a question of the divine calendar, so to speak, when we die and when we arise. As to our sister and all who have died in Christ, when the voice of the Son of God shall be heard they “shall go forth ... to resurrection of life”, John 5: 29.