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NASB | Romans 9:13 Just as it is written, "JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 9:13 As it is written and forever remains written, "JACOB I LOVED (chose, protected, blessed), BUT ESAU I HATED (held in disregard compared to Jacob)." [Mal 1:2, 3] |
Subject: Why does God love Jacob but reject Esau? |
Bible Note: Yellow Jasmine, thank you for your gracious response. I believe it unwise for Christians to dwell excessively on the subject of God's divine election, which no human being is endowed with sufficient mental capacity or spiritul insight to understand fully. But the message of the gospel as encapsulated in John 3:16 is clear enough for a child to understand. ..... Since you are a new Christian, I feel impelled to post an additional note on the subject of Jacob and Esau. As a preamble to my remarks, I'd like to call your attention to what the same Apostle (Pau) said in the same letter in which the famous line "Esau I have hated" appears (Romans 9:13). In Romans 8:31,32, Paul speaks of God's eternal love in these words, "If God be for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" ..... Now to consider the matter of hating Esau. Quoting Malachi, Paul says, "It is written, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.'" Jesus used the same word that is translated 'hate' in a similiar way when he cautioned that a man must hate his father and mother if he would come to Christ (Luke 14:26). Was Jesus encouraging hate in the usual sense of the word. No, obviously that was not His intent at all. He was employing what is known as the hyperbole of antithesis in order to make the graphic and indelible impression upon the minds of His hearers that the love of a man for His Lord ought to dwarf his love of family to such a great extent that the latter would seem like hate by comparison. .... God did not hate Esau in the conventional sense of the word any more than Jesus taught a man to hate his parents. Hate is a relative term as used in both examples here. God did not hate Esau when He prospered and favored him (Genesis 27:38-40). God's favor and blessing upon Jacob was so much more extensive, however, that by comparison Esau would appear to be hated. Note the similiarity in the way 'hate' is used in situation of the man hating his parents in Jesus' discourse and God's hating of Esau. So in all probability the verse in Romans should be understood to mean that God chose Jacob to fulfill his elective purpose. And it naturally follows that when from two, one is chosen the other is not. The other is rejected. I believe that this is the sense in which we should view this word 'hated.' The divine rationale for this action is simply the elective purpose of God in Israel..... So, such is my understanding of this difficult verse. I hope it serves to help you in some small way. Blessings in Christ and may your walk with Him bring glory to His name and joy and the peace that passes understanding to your heart. You are a new Christian, a new creation in Christ. In Him you now have eternal life. That's something to shout about, isn't it? As the old folk hymn declares, so should we all "go tell it on the mountain!" --Hank |