Reincarnation From The Bible

Reincarnation

Rev 9-Jul-09

Legend: My words are in bold blue, [my entries], Christ' words are in red, Words in black are KJV text lifted from scripture. Caps and/or underlining are my personal added emphasis. Numbers, preceded with the letters "H" or "G", represent the reference to the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Reincarnation has become a rather popular idea these days and it is a very tantalizing though for me. As in scripture, some truths start with a slight hint of revealed truths and then become developed over time. (Like the concept of life beyond the grave for example. The faith of Abraham; that God could bring back Isaac from the dead when he was about to offer Isaac in sacrifice, and then revealing itself to the point of our Christian salvation.) Even though scripture does not state outright that reincarnation is a valid process, The statement of Jesus about John the Baptist can be very convincing. Ref: Matt 11:13-14 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. [The return of Elijah as prophesized in Mal 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD", therefore if reincarnation were not a fact, and Elijah was not John The Baptist, prophesized to return, then this would appear to make Jesus’ statement untrue or at least a bad translation. I accept this verse as written here.] Mark 9:13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. Matt 17:11 - 12 (KJV) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. I accept this as reincarnation and if these verses are the correct translations of Jesus’ words, scripture can not be broken. Whereas reincarnation may not be clearly defined in scripture, it would seem to answer many questions that arise in our search for truth regarding Salvation or what exactly happens after a person suffers physical death. Here is the verse that seemingly denies this idea of reincarnation. Scripture reads: Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: I interpret this to mean that when an individual dies, they are judged as to whether they join the great multitude who have washed their robes clean in the blood of The

Lamb (Rev 7:9), or not. Those in Heaven are simply awaiting the final Judgment Day. If they are not among this group, they must continue life through some type of purgatory or go to hell that they may be saved eventually. [For it is not His (God’s) will that any should be lost.] It is doubtful to me that Purgatory and hell are synonymous terms. However, IMHO, this life on this Earth is our purgatory, or it could be our Hell also for some. 2 Pet 3:9 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. [Prov 23:13-14 “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell”. [To me, this is the very reason that we are here.] Here are some other thoughts I have in favor of reincarnation. Jer 1:4 - 5 (KJV) Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. [Therefore, he may have preexisted conception.] Luke 13:1-5 There were present at that season some that told him (Jesus) of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or: Matt 26:52 (KJV) Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.[I accept these statements of Jesus literally, meaning that to fulfill this dying an accidental or unpredictable death, or having the character to war against others, they who do not repent, would have to live multi-lifetimes for these statements to hold true and for true justice to be served. Otherwise these above mentioned persons that did not repent would never die of old age which in reality happens all the time.] Gal 6:7 (KJV) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. [God’s justice would truly be served if reincarnation brought a soul, with certain defects or unpaid debts yet to be paid, back into life, IMHO.]

It must be said that at least some Jews have believed that David was coming back. How many false messiahs have been followed throughout history? Ref: Jer 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.] Mark 6:15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. [This verse indicates that reincarnation was not a foreign though in Jesus' time.] Revelation 1:7 (KJV) Behold, he (Jesus) cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. [Therefore, those that pierced him, who lived during the time of Jesus, 2000 years ago, will be still living here on Earth at the fulfillment of this prophecy.] Life before birth was not a problem for the Jews. Ref: Rev 16:4-6 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. [Since they are the ones who killed the saints and prophets, they must have lived during their times; even thousands of years before.] This next quote is, IMHO, a future event for the return of two prophets. Rev 11:3-4 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. [I think this may be talking about Elijah and Moses living during the last 1260 years before the end of this world. How would they come into this world unless they be reincarnated?] Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. Read the first part of Isaiah from 1:1 - 2:5. When it is talking about "the last days" this has to be the sixth and seventh days. In that it has not come to past as yet. In that we are on the eve of the sixth day, this prophecy must be about ready to happen.

Throughout the OT, when the people were being reproached for their ancestor's sins, the speakers addressed them as if they themselves were the guilty ones. The children seem to be being punished for the sin of their ancestors. However, if reincarnation was the norm rather than the exception, then would they themselves (their souls) be also their own ancestors and therefore guilty of the sins of the ancestors. These sins would be inherent to their souls, not the flesh, but the spirits in ones soul. Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; Ezek 37:21 - 24 (KJV) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. [The word “shepherd” has to be referring to Jesus, as he will be the King of Kings, even David’s king. See Rev 17:14 & Rev 19:13-16. As to the King of Kings role, I understand this, as translated in the KJV, as hinting rather strongly that this is the role that Jesus will have. IMHO, it would be that David will be the King of the children of Israel and Jesus will be the King of kings, after the resurrection but look at this next few verses. Psa 89:20-27 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also I will

make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth. If one were to read this verse too quickly, or without proper attention to the words, this could trap one into thinking that Jesus might be the reincarnation of David. This is however ridiculous and contrary to scripture. Nonetheless, there are many readers of the bible that take God’s words much too lightly. In the case of this quote, the word “horn” is the word that one might trip over, thinking that this horn is referring to David’s possessions rather than to his offspring. This is made clear by Luke in Lk 1:68-69 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;] If one should search scripture to find supporting evidence for reincarnation, most references found are rather vague and one must stretch their imagination a bit to make it fit. In a sense, I often call this "stretching" cheating. The fact that we are working with something of a spiritual nature, dictates that all arguments must be in harmony with the Holy Spirit from God or they are not valid. The same rule applies to when something is read from scripture that contradicts other scripture: "Truth can not contradict truth", as Pope John Paul II puts it. However, there are some verses that indicate to me the separation or in a sense the "transmigration" of the soul is the norm. One example of this is seen in the death of Jesus. His soul left the body for three days before his soul returned to His body. See also 1 Kings 17:21-22. Granted that these verses do not stipulate that reincarnation and transmigration are in fact true, but the spirit in me is urging me to accept this idea. The idea behind reincarnation is to propose an explanation on the "How" God achieves his end results. We are told that at the resurrection, we will be given a new body, thus indicating that the old body was destroyed after physical death. Paul says: 1 Cor 15:37-38 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1 Cor 15:50-51 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, The story of Saul and the witch at Endor tell of the calling up of Samuel starting at 1 Samuel 28:7 which gives a vision of Samuel after his death. The death of Rachael, Jacob's wife, speaks of her soul separating from her body at death also. Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. The story of Elijah and the widow woman found starting at 1 Ki 17:9 tells how Elijah prayed for the son of the woman in this manner: 1 Ki 17:21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. 1 Ki 17:22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. So we have a clear picture of the soul apart from the body after death. Saint Luke, with his parable of Lazarus and the rich man paints a good picture of life after death also. This story also hints at reincarnation in the following sense. When the rich man finds himself in hell, his words indicate that he is not all that rotten because he expresses compassion for his 7 brothers. Nonetheless, due to the fact that all things are possible with God, as stated at the end of the parable, when the rich man hurts enough in his torment, I think there is a good possibility that he may eventually call out to God for help. Having Abraham for a father indicates that he had at least heard of God. I personally believe that God in his merciful ways would respond and maybe even grant him another chance. If this were a true story, and the rich man lived, say 2000 years ago, what would be gained by having him (the rich man) sitting on death row for 3000 years awaiting execution on the Judgment Day. Surely a person on death row for that length of time would have some time to think a bit and who knows, perhaps even repent. You can bet that there are plenty of preachers and priests along side of him to inform him of God's word. I'm sure that God's arm is long enough even to bring the rich man back for another chance to convert. Reincarnation would surely offer him another chance. On the other hand, watching a condemned man suffer for that long with absolutely no chance for forgiveness, doesn't sound very merciful to me. There are probably just as rotten or worse people on the earth even today. Jesus taught that nothing is impossible for those who believe. Why couldn't I, a believer, be able to request another chance at life for a loved one who died and that I was convinced that they may have died in sin or may not have had an opportunity

such as I have had to know Jesus Christ. Reincarnation might not be a bad idea. Here in Italy where they do not have the death penalty, convicted murderers are often let out of jail and some, only to kill again. This is in spite of Gods commandment as: Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. [If reincarnation were the rule rather that the exception, this commandment would make perfect sense to me and carrying out God's sentence on these murderers would be in harmony with God's will. I'm sure God is strongly against man who interferes with his relationship with each and every living soul .] Here then is how I understand this matter up to this point in my life: When God says something, It should not be questioned as to it's trustworthiness. Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Well then, what about us? As sons of Adam we sometimes sin from time to time to protect our interests. What then about the son of man? What is this "son of man"? Obviously it is that which is born from man, right or wrong? This "son of man" is that part of man that was born again, born of the spirit, but it is also that hidden man of the heart. It is this entity in man that must develop to the point of causing repentance, for they are in a sense defective or in error; they have missed the mark. When we think of "man/human", we must try to see them as a composite individual made up of two major entities; the physical earthly body and the invisible soul. The domineering part should be the soul because it is the seat of our intellect and our emotions. The physical part becomes the dominant influence only during those moments when the body, brain included, react to the material physical sensors. This is why the soul must be given the proper spiritual food so that it may take control over the physical man. At times, these two separate entities seem to be at odds with one another in that each attempt to follow it's own rules, according to their particular nature. So the Physical person attempts to follow carnal laws and the soul following the spiritual laws which can be very different from each other. The meeting place for these two individual entities is the mind and it is here that most decisions are made that cause us to react in a certain manner. Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. This idea of seeing the real man, the soul, as the controller of the person can help us to understand how it is that we are born in sin. Most people will automatically question the idea that a newly born baby has sinned in the sense that most people understand sin. Yet scripture says that all man has sin. The same concept would apply to the soul also unless we understand the soul as having a prior existence.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [In that all have sinned, this would indicate that a new born child is under condemnation for sins and must make the conversion just like everyone else, to be saved. However, if one of the parents are Christians, their children are holy, and under grace of the believing parent. So, if a child dies before they have the opportunity to hear the words and then repent, this would seem unfair for that child unless they still have a future chance at conversion ahead of them.] When we begin to see the soul as the real person, it becomes easier to understand life outside of our physical bodies which indicates not only life after death but life before birth also. Ref: Eph 1:4 "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: etc". If he chose us before the foundation of the world, we must therefore have been programmed as spirits as He Himself is spirit. When or if we can accept this further development in our thinking, the bible becomes much clearer when we speak of life in general. This brings us to the point of the reincarnation of our souls. Let's make a case where a person, let's call him "John Doe", and this person dies and his physical brain dies with him. He, as John Doe is no more. However, his soul, which is the real person in my opinion, that was housed in John Doe's physical body, is still alive. This soul retains certain impressions of past experiences and continues life’s journey towards Salvation. Exactly where these souls are located is not important but we know that they are not all in Heaven. The bible teaches that if they are not taken to Heaven, they go to Hell. Because of the harshness of this implication, and the misunderstanding of "Hell", the Church fathers invented a purgatory. According to modern Catholic teaching, that person must go through purgatory to get purified. Purgatory, as an "in between" cleansing/perfecting station, is not scriptural either. IMHO this life on this earth is our purgatory and can be our hell. As it is presently, most people searching scripture for the answers regarding Salvation or Election, find it difficult to agree on these matters. The way in which a person perceives God and man has a strong influence on how one might see life after death or even life before birth. Both of these teachings are in line with Christian Scripture. The study that I did on the nature of God has revealed to me that He (God) is composed of two separate entities, These two entities can be better expressed analogously as the invisible, as His intellect, or “el”, and the visible, His body, “The Universe”. His person is also expressed in some poetry and referring to God as "Elowahh". Because scripture says that God is "All and in all" he should not be seen in your mind as an image of man or any four footed creature. It must be the other way around; man is made in Gods image, not God in mans image. Knowing

some things of God helps us understand something about man; God being invisible for example. The Soul of man is the same. The soul of man is that invisible part that resides in a human body that we associate with man and call them a living soul. However, the human person possesses both a heavenly, along with an earthly, physical component. Normally, when a person dies, his soul departs from the body and both components go their separate ways, IMHO. The body returns to the dust and the soul with its spirit returns to God if it had been born of the spirit; otherwise, it ends up in hell or for me, a real possibility could be to be recycled for further purification. The above may be a little oversimplified but none-the-less, I think that this fits under the spirit of Christianity. I find it extremely difficult to accept that a soul has only one shot or opportunity in our short life span, out of an eternity, for making their conversion towards salvation. The fact that our God is all-merciful and it is his will that none should be lost, I'm sure that his arm is long enough to even bring "The rich man" (Parable of Lazarus and the rich man, starting at Lu 16:20) from out of his place of torment. To me, the only way to be completely fair about final judgment under The Christ, would be to give everyone the same general, relative opportunities and life experiences. The child who is born of a rich family is under a terrible handicap and can hardly be said to have the same life experiences as the kid from the other side of the tracks. Today, a person born in downtown Muslim Country has a relatively slim chance of knowing Jesus. And what about the person who gets run over by a truck and dies at a young age before making his conversion? According to some teachings, they are among the lost souls. Take a hypothetical case where a thousand years ago a person died being under sin. Surely he was sentenced to spend some time in hell for purification purposes. I believe that God's plan for man to achieve salvation spans a total of seven thousand years from the time of Adam until Judgment Day. Therefore, if a person died in sin, why would God not give that person another chance rather that just leaving them in their lost state, doing nothing, waiting on death row awaiting execution which may be another 1250 years down the road. If man's life span is limited to 120 years, there would be sufficient time for man to live 50, 100, 250 or more lifetimes during God's seven thousand year time frame for man on this earth. If all were allowed to live multiple life cycles, one as rich, one as poor, for example, then could they all be judged more fairly, in my way of thinking. In other words, the experience for a soul of a Muslim child who dies at a very young age can not be compared to a soul of a "dirty old man" of a Christian community who dies at the age of 85. If after many opportunities the person continues in his rebellious ways and refuses to undergo repentance, then let him die the second death, the death of his soul. To me this would be true justice. The spirit indicates very strongly to me that reincarnation may be a key for understanding many of the mysteries presently hidden from Christians up to this day. I have no problems fitting this in with the spirit of our Christian scriptures. Its quite obvious that this idea could provoke some thought, and that a lot more thought must be given to this idea but if you think about it, it makes some sense. If reincarnation was the rule rather than the exception, and the person is reincarnated back into the same general environment or family that they themselves raised, then

would people themselves be truly responsible for the present state they find themselves in. To me this would be true justice. This sounds like I am saying that we are our own great, great, grandpa, as the song goes, but it could be something like that. Is there anything wrong in that? If it were true, then could some people be their own grandpa; as the song goes. This also goes to say that "It is not so important as to where you are in life's cycle, as it is in which direction one is going". Throughout the OT when the people were being reproached for their sins and those of their ancestor's, the speakers addresses them as if they themselves were the guilty ones. The children seem to be being punished for the sin of their fathers. This would not be the case if reincarnation were a valid process for each individual would be punished for their own past sins. Here is something from Paul: 2 Thess 1:5 - 10 (KJV) Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. [I find it difficult to accept that only those people of the last generation will be punished in this manner when all preceding generations of evil doers deserve the same treatment. However, if reincarnation were the rule, then those alive at the end of days would be those evil doers of every past generation, who had refused to repent since their beginning of life on this Earth. IMHO, this makes perfect sense and represents perfect judgment also. It must be noted here, that Salvation depends on “obeying the Gospel” as stated here above, then must everybody be given the chance to at least hear that they may choose to believe or not. As it is now as in the past, the Christian message is not preached to the Islamic people yet, as it should be; as just one example.] Deu 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

If the Christian community could somehow accept this idea of reincarnation, this could serve to bridge the gap between many Asian people who otherwise are excluded from Christianity. If this following verse were to be taken literally, reincarnation or a purgatory better be available or almost everybody would be lost for very few in my opinion are "born of God" in our world today. 1 John 3:8-9 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. The supreme law for Salvation, IMHO, is that one is saved by faith. Therefore knowledge and understanding are secondary byproducts of that faith. If one is convinced using reincarnation as supporting information for their belief in Christianity, this concept has little to do with their salvation. The problem as I see it is: If a person is counting on reincarnation to help them out of a tough spot, by refusing to repent, and simply hoping for another chance, reincarnation per se is not presently a valid Christian teaching, and therefore not an option for mankind, even if it would be standard business for God. If this concept became something more than just a simple hypothesis, a supposition maybe, then this is my proposition. Otherwise, "faith", or it's properties would be weakened, IMHO. Psa 30:9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? [This is an excellent argument to give reason for reincarnation.] Psa 85:6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? The concept, using the potter's vessel as man's body, hints at reincarnation. Jer 18:1-6 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Lam 5:21-22 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us. Why would this process be useful? Ezek 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. Mat 22:31-32 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. [When a person dies, his body is dead; his soul that occupied that body is alive and part of the living.] In that certain animals have souls, coupled with the idea that the animals are not guilty of sinning, unless reincarnation were part of the process, the New World yet to come would be vastly over populated with beasts and maybe even certain insects to make any real sense. Reincarnation would therefore serve as a population control for the future world, complete with animal life forms. Why shouldn’t we have the lion and the lamb lie down together, God created these wonderful creatures also to live, not just to die. IMHO! May God bless you with understanding.

simply "Christian" BAW