9: Is there any biblical proof of universal reincarnation?

There is no explicit proof of universal reincarnation. Again, God clearly did not want reincarnation to be emphasized as it is not emphasized in His Word. However, I will repeat the main verses that I think suggest universal reincarnation:

1.     1 Samuel 2:6

⁶ “The Lord brings death and makes alive;    he brings down to the grave and raises up.”

This Old Testament reference to God bring death and making alive, bringing down to the grave and rising up, may refer to the cyclical nature of reincarnation that God designed for His own good and loving purposes.

2.     Hebrews 11:13-16

 ^“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

This suggests that those who still desire earthly things over God have the opportunity to return to earth, but those who desire God first like those in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11 do not need to reincarnate.

3.     Job 1:20-21

^“Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’”

Job talks of reincarnation, being born again in a mother’s womb, as if it is a fact of life. This suggests universal reincarnation.

4.     Isaiah 26:17-19

“Like a pregnant woman/who writhes and cries out in her pangs/when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord/ we were pregnant, we writhed/but we have given birth to wind/We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth/and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen/Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise/ You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!/For your dew is a dew of light/ and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

The earth giving birth to dead could be referring to reincarnation. Similar to 1 Samuel 2:6, Isaiah seems to be referring to something the Lord generally does a fact of life: the dead live, their bodies rise, the earth gives birth to the dead. Perhaps, reincarnation has been taking place and will continue to take place.

Conclusion

While these verses are interesting, and my personal opinion is that universal reincarnation is likely, no explicit doctrine of universal reincarnation can be formed over them. Nor can such a doctrine be formed simply because John the Baptist and Jesus were clearly reincarnated. Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Romans 11:33 says, Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” God has left universal reincarnation, and if it exists exactly what that looks like, intentionally obscure.

What is not obscure is the following: God is just, righteous, all loving, and will save all people. God will make each of us exactly like Christ. Exactly how He does that in every case He has not disclosed to us in His wisdom.

Yet while universal reincarnation is obscure, God is clear that in the case of Jesus, he did have past lives as David and Adam. This revelation is remarkable, as it shows God’s incredible love and grace for the author of our sin, Adam, and it shows how Christians are more like Christ than they ever imagined. This revelation shines light on 1 John 3:2, ^“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Notably, we are like him because we see Christ more clearly, not because we are so different (not that we will not be). Perhaps John was pointing to the reality of Jesus’ sinful past that he courageously overcome so we could overcome each of ours.