‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated’…… God
It’s such an ugly word. Should be banned from the Christian vocabulary. Words are thought capsules that we throw at each other. They have spiritual blessing or toxicity. Dang, Gosh darn, Fudge, Golly Gee, and hate all have a spiritual toxicity to them. Except for I HATE LIVER AND LIMA BEANS! That okey, other than that, no!
This week has taught me exactly how the word ‘hate’ is toxic. I am trying to erase it from my vocabulary. Yet God used it, a lot. Not just hating sin, but hating people. He said He hated Esau, for example in Malachi.
Malachi 1:2-3 ‘I have loved you says the Lord. But you ask, how have you loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? The Lord says, yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals’.
Malachi 1:3 is again quoted in Romans
Romans 9:10-13, ‘not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose in election might stand; not by works but by him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger. Just as it is written: Jacob I loved; but Esau I hated.
Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau? If God is love ( 1 John 4:8), how could he hate anyone?
When studying the Bible, it is critically important to always study the context of a particular Bible verse or passage. In these instances, the prophet Malachi and the apostle Paul are using the name Esau to refer to the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau. Also, many teach that Esau was the forefather of the antiChrist. Herodes is in the evil chain, and it is underscored by the fact that Jesus wouldn’t dignify Herodes by saying one word to him. Jesus completely ignored him, even though Herodes could have saved His life.
Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Esau and Jacob. God chose Jacob (who he later renamed Israel) to be the father of his chosen people, the Israelites. God rejected Esau (who was also called Edom) and did not choose him to be the father of his people. Esau and his descendants, the Edomites, were in many ways blessed by God, as the Muslims are, but lost. (Genesis 33:9).
In context, God’s loving of Jacob and hating Esau has nothing to do with the human emotions of Love and hate (as we know them). It has everything to do with God choosing one man and his descendants and rejecting another man and his descendants.
God chose Abraham out of all the men in the world. The Bible very well could say, Isaac I loved, and Ishmael I hated (which is true, loving the Jews and hating the Muslims. Romans chapter 9 makes it abundantly clear that loving Jacob and hating Esau was entirely related to which of them God chose.
Centuries after Jacob and Esau died, the Israelites and Edomites became bitter enemies. The Edomites often aided Israel’s enemies in attacks on Israel. Esau’s descendants brought God’s curse upon themselves. Remember, God made the concept of time only for us. He doesn’t need it. Chuck Smith said that ‘God sees time as the rose bowl parade, while seeing all of the parade in one glance from the goodyear blimp’. He sees the majorettes at the same instance as the last people in the parade straggling behind. He chooses, or elects people who He see’s finishing well. It’s really their decision to stick to it.
God
saw the fickleness of guys like Pharoah, Herodes and Esau, in the future, so He didn’t elect them. He chose you and me from the foundations of the earth, at the same time as the crucification of Christ. Because God knows the future and doesn’t act otherwise.
Genesis 27:29 tells Israel. ‘May Nations serve you and enemies bow down to you. lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.’ God doesn’t hate like we hate.
Heard a preacher say ‘I hate everyone who God hates.’ Well, God loves everyone, just not equally.” He should have said ‘I love less every one that God doesn’t love so much. The American word hate is not God’s Hebrew word for hate.
Don’t use the word hate. It’s making people hate Jesus and the Bible because they will always assume that you are hating them. Love them into the kingdom. Don’t use reactionary worlds like hate. Talk about love not hate.
God is love!! 1John 4:8
Hatred, anger, racism, bigotry and unforgiveness doesn’t hurt anyone but the carrier. A great example here!! No one is to blame for the firing of Jimmy Kimmel and the rest of Charlie’s mockers, except for themselves. Negativity, gossip and insults always come back to bite you. Proverbs says it best.
Proverbs 26:8 ‘Like one who binds a stone to a sling!‘