Nothing??? John 9:1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was BORN blind?” Sigh... they accepted sin before birth. Jacob and Esau were trying to murder each other, trying to crush each other to pieces in the womb over the rights of the first born...pretty obvious sin and knowledge they shouldn't have had if your "created on earth " bias is correct, eh?
The only thing that was said was that the man had not sinned which is true for the parents who had not chosen to sin in their lives and also for the blind man if he had not existed before conception. If what you are saying is correct Jesus might just as well have said of the blind man that he was blind
because of sins he had committed in a previous existence. The same could be said of people born with other infirmities, sickness, disabilities, of people who live with chronic pain and of infants who die in childbirth, that they were being punished for some sin they committed in some previous life that they cannot possibly remember much less repent of. This leads to a degradation of the concept of innocence. The Hindu's belief in reincarnation has also led to a great deficit in compassion in Indian culture. The Law of Karma has been a major justification for the Caste System. If the poor are born to a less privileged caste then it is because they committed sins in a previous existence and need to learn something.
When Jesus taught on the afterlife He never alluded to souls being in some pre-birth state of existence nor did He reference a soul entering a new body. In the parables He speaks of the choices men make in a single not multiple lifetimes. When the King judges the servants it is for the deeds done in their body (
2 Corinthians 5:10) not the deeds done in many bodies or the deeds done
while not in a body Since we only die once (
Hebrews 9:27) this life the only theater in which we choose what the outcome will be.
Not only did Jesus
not explicitly teach preexistence, the Apostles did not either. Only a couple of ECFs believed it, but in the following centuries the idea was universally rejected as heretical. You cannot construct a doctrine based upon what you think a text is hinting at. Truth is established upon what is explicitly said and in a number of passages. The lack of historical corroboration provides additional evidence that if it was ever taught it was never mainstream. For that matter it is still not mainstream.
Now you have made some inaccurate statements about Esau and Jacob. The most obvious one is that they were "trying to murder each other" while they were
still in the womb. To understand this verse one does not need to resort to the
comical idea of the twins planning and attempting fetuscide while still in their mother's womb. Seriously, you think fetuses can conceptualize on that level? Their brains are simply not developed enough unless you now posit that they can "think" independently of their physical brain. I think the evidence is on my side in that regard. To be able to understand the issues related to their birth order they would have had to possess a considerable degree of knowledge. I was in upper grade school before I learned what the law of primogeniture was. Those two had quite an education. No doubt that is why Jacob was holding Esau's heel when Esau first emerged from the birth canal.
He was trying to pull him back in so HE could be first out. Pre-natal sibling rivalry!
Here is what I think. When Rebecca felt the unusual movement of the twins inside her and asked God about it the Lord attached a prophecy to that physical event. The event itself would serve to impress upon the memories of everyone the
content of the prophecy (which was the most important thing). Had she just regarded it as especially vigorous pre-natal activity the prophecy might never have been remembered. As it was everyone, including Isaac, knew that the
order of inheritance was supposed to be reversed.