Apostle Paul
wrote: It is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment” (Heb.
9:27). This is the only quotation in the bible that most bible scholars use to oppose
the teaching of reincarnation and there is no other quotation else where in the
bible to buttress this point.
Meaning
every person dies once and faces judgment. However, Apostle Paul does not
disagree on reincarnation based on the fact that he being a Jew and former
member of Judaism believed in reincarnation like every other Jew. Evidently,
some thought that Jesus was the Prophet Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the Prophets
of the Old Testament scriptures reborn. Jesus also does not disagree on
reincarnation but rather confirmed it, who mentioned of the old man Simeon to
be Abraham who dedicated him in the temple of Jerusalem who would not see dead
until he had seen the Savior in Luke
Chapter 2 and John chapter 8. Also mentioned of John the Baptist to be the
Prophet Elijah on several occasion. Mat chapter
11 and Chapter 17.
In the book
of Revelation, the two witnesses were to be reborn on earth and there is no
scripture that backup the fact that they will descend from the sky rather there
shall be born again into this world as Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enough to
die a natural dead because they shall be born again with mortal body as they
cannot return from heaven with immortal body to die according to some theologians ( Rev. 11:1-3).
Also in the
book of Revelation chapter 17 reveals
that one of the Seven Roman Kings that
had ruled would reborn again to rule for a short while making the Eighth king like the two witnesses as biblical prophecies fulfilled in similarities and not quite exactly as written in the bible in coded manner which confuse bible scholas. For example Judas was regarded as the son of perdition like the Antichrist but was born by a woman (John 17: 23). Therefore reincarnation has a very strong foundation in
the bible.
The old testament scriptures do not reflect judgment immediately after
dead but rather believe that if one
commits sin in the former world will get the result in the next world as
alternative to the Day of Judgment. Evidently, a man who was born blind was
believed by others as a result of either the sin his parent had committed or
the sin the man had committed in the former world (John 9:1-2).
So reincarnation becomes one of the Jewish
traditional believe which Jesus also confirmed in his teachings.
Also in the Old
Testament, the prophets reveal the re-birth of King Solomon the chosen Son of
God from the house of David and no one else. Therefore, Prophet Micah revealed that “ His origin is of
old from ancient days” referring to the rebirth of King Solomon in the New
Testament as Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. (Micah chapter 5 RSV).
Then Prophet
Isaiah revealed that he will be the very
Prince of Peace meaning of “Solomon” as God told King David. `(1 Chronicles
chapter 22 and Isaiah chapter 9).
Also, the Apostles point of view of judgment is
based on the fact that the day of judgment was very close as Jesus was to come
very soon and most of them will be alive to see him return which he told them.
Considering the remaining numbers of years, he would return based on the
prophecy of Daniel – which was about Seven years later after his ascension into
heaven based on the prophecy of Daniel of the 490 years after the 483 years had
been fulfilled during his dead and resurrection; they were very sure of the day
of judgment and there will be no time for one to be reborn to complete any
assignment as an adult. So the day of judgment become the main focal point
which was based on the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Evidently,
Apostle Paul never mentioned in any of his Epistles or letters about hell fire
existing after dead including the Apostles. They believed that hell fire will
exist when Jesus returns to separate the goats from the sheep and are counting the days of his return at that
generation not taken into consideration,
the story of the rich man and Lazarus
narrated by Christ based on dream land
as both of them will resurrect on the day of judgment when Jesus returns to
face the reality.
In another
development, without reincarnation, it will contradict with the teachings of resurrection
of the dead on the Day of Judgment; which means, if everybody dies and goes to heaven or hell,
there will be no more resurrection because already the dead are in heaven or in
hell receiving their punishment already and Jesus will not come to resurrect them. So Jesus will not come back again
because one day we all shall die and joint them and the whole world will become
a grave yard because God who had stopped creation, will no longer create
another new human beings to replace us while we are with our ancestors either in heaven or in
hell.
Jesus is
coming back to resurrect both the sinners and the righteous on the day of
judgment and this judgment is once and not twice. This is the judgment the
Apostles were referring to.
Beginning
from the old testament scriptures, the dead are referred to as those who are asleep but to wake up on the day of judgment as
stated in the book of Daniel chapter 12:1-3. Jesus said “ Our friend Lazarus is asleep – I shall go and wake him up from his sleep” (.John 11: 11); while
sleeping, some dream of being in heaven
others in hell as a dream land but shall
wake up again when Jesus returns to face the reality including we that are still alive.
Therefore it is
reincarnation that bridges the gap between the dead and the day of
judgment pending when Jesus returns
based on the fact that nobody dies and remain in heaven or in hell forever. We
all must come and go on several occasions pending on the Day of Judgment and depending
on our assignments since God had already stop creation and rested on the Seventh day according to the book of Genesis.
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