Another passage of Scripture appealed to by believers in reincarnation is Romans 9:11-13: “When [Esau and Jacob] had not yet been born nor had practiced anything good or vile, in order that the purpose of God respecting the choosing might continue dependent, not upon works, but upon the One who calls, it was said to [Rebekah]: ‘The older will be the slave of the younger.’ Just as it is written [at Malachi 1:2, 3]: ‘I loved Jacob, but Esau I hated.’” Does this passage not show that God’s choosing was based on what Jacob and Esau had done during lives prior to their being born to Rebekah?

As to the apostle Paul’s quotation from Malachi about God’s ‘loving Jacob’ and ‘hating Esau,’ this, too, relates to Jehovah’s view of them based on their genetic makeup. While recorded by Malachi many centuries after their lifetime, the statement confirmed what God had indicated about the boys before their birth.