The Prophetic Telegraph - No.103
PRE-EXISTENCE
(PART FOUR)
AN ANALYSIS OF SCRIPTURAL TEXTS
Bible Dictionaries all
refer to John 9:1-3 as the only "intimation" of pre-existence. It
reads as follows:-
And as Jesus passed
by he saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him saying,
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
Jesus answered, "Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the
works of God might be manifest in him."
It is argued that the
statements are based on the O.T. passage about sins being transmitted to the
third and fourth generation. But the reading of the passage seems not to allow
for that. We feel that Jesus would have given a wholly different answer had
that been the case. And even the disciples' question would have been phrased
differently. Without the possibility of pre-existence, Jesus might have
answered them, "How can a man be a sinner before he is born?"
But no. He gave credence to the fact that the blind man had not been
responsible for his condition BEFORE HIS BIRTH. This leaves us with
pre-existence as the only possibility.
Note that the Pharisees
said to the man later, "You were altogether born in sins!"
(v.34) That is how they judged him. Deprived of eyes by the judgment of God for
sins committed before birth. It is our present understanding that this man
agreed to be born without eyes whilst he was in his pre-existent state, so
that, as Jesus put it, he might have the works of God manifested in him. That
seems to be the plain straightforward interpretation of the Lord's words. We
shall now show that there are quite a number of Bible references that can be
better understood in terms of pre-existence even if they do not teach it
explicitly.
John 1:4 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of
men."
1 John 1:9 "He was the very light that lightens every man
coming into the world."
Strange words! Almost
inexplicable, unless they speak about an existence prior to being born into
this world. In that state of pre-existence, when all were spirits, Jesus was
our life, and He was our light, illuminating our spiritual minds, and making
known to us the ways and the will of the Father. This is brought out so much
more clearly in 2 Esdras 7:21, which we have saved until now specifically to
put alongside these verses in John's Gospel.
"God has given clear instructions for all
men when they come into this world, telling them how to attain life and how to
escape punishment."
Remember the lesson that Er
learned? Admittedly it comes from Plato, but where did all this knowledge come
from in the first place? Is it not true that Greek mythology contains a great
deal of truth, corrupted maybe, but nevertheless still sufficiently apparent to
be identified when compared with Scripture?
Malachi 3:1 "Behold I will send my messenger and he shall
prepare the way before me." [This is quoted in Matt. 11:10]
If he was "sent",
where was he sent from? It's not good enough to pass by these words and refuse
to stop to consider what they mean, especially as we read in John 1:6
'There was a man SENT FROM GOD."
Furthermore, the Hebrew
word for "messenger" is MALAK, usually translated ANGEL.
In Matt.11:10 the word messenger is ANGELOS. Here is the clear
intimation that John the Baptist was of angelic origin, and that SOME of the
pre-existent spirits were marked out beforehand for special duties, presumably
based on their grasp of God's ways, and their demonstrated trust to Him in that
sphere of existence.
Now, if this last contention
be true, we are immediately able to understand some otherwise difficult verses.
Take for example Romans 8:29
"Whom He foreknew these also He
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son."
A more literal translation
might be,
"Whom He knew beforehand, these also He
marked out beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son."
Another text in this same
genre is Ephesians 1:4.
"Chosen in Him before the foundation of
the world."
And 2 Tim.1:9
"The calling - - that was given us in
Christ Jesus before age-times."
And Titus 1:2
"The promise of eternal life which God
promised before age-times."
A promise is usually made
to people who actually EXIST, rather than to TRADUCIANIST CREATIONS seen down
the vistas of time. Maybe Romans
"FROM Him, and THROUGH Him, and TO Him are
all things,"
We come from God, as created
spirits in the beginning of the world, we come down into the
"valley of the shadow of death" in this world, and finally go back to
God when our life-span is over. As Solomon declared in Ecc: 12:7 "The
spirit returns to God who gave it." In all these verses there is
a clear allusion to pre-existence, and a denial that we only exist from the
moment of our physical birth.
An example of a WRONG
choice is found in Matt.26:24, and Mark 14:21. Jesus spoke about Judas Iscariot
in this wise, "It was better for that man if he had not been
born." These words are pregnant with meaning. Looking behind the
scenes, Judas had wanted to live on the earth and become a disciple of Christ.
It seems that he had been warned that his attitude was wrong, and that the
outcome would not be as he would wish. But his insistence had been allowed.
Hence Jesus knew of this and chose him accordingly, realising that Judas's
presence on the earth had been allowed by His Father, even if the outcome was a
final betrayal. The Lord conveyed this understanding to us many years ago,
before we ever got wind of "pre-existence.
So what was it like at the
beginning, when God created us all as pre-existent spirits? Some indication is
given by the Lord Himself, in His address to Job. (38:7) Speaking about
creation, He refers to the time when
"The morning stars sang together, and all
the sons of God shouted for joy."
The expression "Sons
of God" refers to created beings in a heavenly dimension, and is usually
considered to be indicative of angelic beings. But if all the angelic beings
are in reality pre-existent spirits, who will all come to earth in succession,
then a clearer picture emerges. Betty Eadie says that she was shown this scene
again, and in the re-enactment she rejoiced as God created the world. How
amazing! What a privilege! And perhaps it was given to her to pass on to us, to
enable us to "recollect" and "remember"
something that lies deeply within our minds, but has been blocked off when we
passed through the "river of forgetfulness." In
Psalm 82:6 there is another allusion to this.
"I have said, you are gods [Elohim]. All
of you are sons of the Most High [Elyon]. But you shall die like men, and fall
like one of the princes."
Also Psalm 82:1
"God stands in the congregation of EL, He
judges among the Elohim."
Once again, these are
strange verses if not properly discerned as applying to all the "sons of
God" created at the beginning. In this last verse we are informed of the
progress of these spirits, God being Judge in their midst. Hence there is
learning, as we have read in John 1:9, that Jesus was the light that
lightens every man coming into the world, and judgment based on right and
wrong choices made during that learning programme. Another tremendously
interesting allusion to this early scene is found in Proverbs 8:31. Wisdom has
been speaking, and she is none other than the Person of the Holy Spirit. Before
the creation of the world, She says that Her "delights were with
the sons of men." Strange words indeed, if there were no
"sons of men" at that stage, but if we were all there to witness
God's great fiat of creation, then there is no problem, just the grounds for
much rejoicing even now, though we cannot in this present scene actually
remember it. Maybe in the spirit we can "feel" a sense of
"rightness" as the thought is transmitted. We should be interested to
know whether others have this sense, knowing that it will probably be
completely new to most who read these words.
We are convinced that the
Apostle Paul was speaking of these matters when he wrote to the Corinthians.
(See 1 Cor.2:7-8) He had, said that his preaching was not with enticing
Words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power.
But
"We speak wisdom amongst those who are
mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the leaders of this age, who are
being brought to naught, but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery [a sacred
secret], the HIDDEN WISDOM which God marked out beforehand, before the ages,
for our glory."
And now to some of the more
personal allusions. First of Jer.1:5
"Before I formed you in the belly I knew
you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you and ordained you
a prophet to the nations."
God's choice was based upon
His foreknowledge of this man, and although Jeremiah had lost all recollection
of it, the Lord graciously brought it back to his mind. A similar fact is found
in Isaiah 49:1
"The Lord has called me from the womb;
from the bowels of my mother has He made mention of my name."
And the author of Psalm
71:5-6 [thought by some to be Jeremiah]
"By Thee have I been sustained from the
womb; Thou art He who took me out of my mother's bowels."
And we have already
investigated the background of John the Baptist, as God's angelic messenger. He
was filled with the spirit from his mother's womb, and when Mary spoke to
Elisabeth about her own conception, "the babe leaped in her
womb", (Luke
Another interesting
situation is developed in Genesis 25:22-23. Rebekah is worried about the strong
movements in her womb during the later stages of pregnancy, and is told
"Two nations are in your womb, and the
elder shall serve the younger."
Paul spoke about this in
Romans 9:11-13.
"The children being not yet born, neither
having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand - - it was said to her 'the elder shall serve the younger'.' As it
is written, 'Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."'
These were not identical
twins, but sparring partners. It seems that God's purpose was stated beforehand
concerning Jacob, But Esau struggled to obtain the blessing and purpose of God
instead, asking permission to be born on earth as Jacob's twin. This was
obviously allowed, and gave rise to God's judgment even before their birth that
He hated the outlook and purpose of Esau's mind, but loved that of Jacob, even
though he would show some pretty negative tendencies in his early life.
Paul spoke in this wise, "God
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace."
(Gal.1:15) In this case, Paul's pre-existent frame of mind must have been
pleasing to the Lord, but in his early earthly life, he allowed all manner of
negative tendencies to grow, until he became the opposite of what he set out to
be before birth. Hence the intervention of the Lord on the
Finally in this analysis we
might refer to Romans 1:19-20.
"That which is known of God is manifest in
them, for God has shown it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without
excuse."
To whom was Paul referring?
Are these words more applicable to a pre-existent state? If so, then it may
help us to evaluate their meaning and perceive what the Apostle was driving at.
But as with several of the texts chosen in this part of the study, although we
have presented the information as though we are firmly convinced of the truth
of pre-existence, we are still in the stage of learning, and would be most
grateful for a measure of feedback from our readers. We confess that we are
finding the issue most exciting, and the more we study it, the more real it
seems to become. We have now investigated various sources from the secular to
the religious to the Scriptures, and found an amazing quantity of allusion to
pre-existence. Quite possibly there is much more. We hope that our readers will
supply other sources from their own reading. May the Holy Spirit of God be our
Guide in all such matters as these, that we may be built up on the Truth,
according to the One whose name is TRUTH.