{"id":571,"date":"2012-01-10T12:51:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T20:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/?p=571"},"modified":"2013-09-01T22:52:26","modified_gmt":"2013-09-02T05:52:26","slug":"jacob-i-loved-esau-i-hated-by-george-sarris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/jacob-i-loved-esau-i-hated-by-george-sarris\/","title":{"rendered":"“Jacob I Loved-Esau I Hated” by George Sarris"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

God blessed me with good parents, and I will be forever grateful to Him for that.<\/p>\n

They were certainly not perfect \u2013 they had the same weaknesses and shortcomings, and made many of the same mistakes as other parents.\u00a0 But, I always knew that they loved me. I always knew that they wanted the best for me. And, no matter how much I messed up, I always knew they would never give up on me or abandon me.<\/p>\n

My parents didn\u2019t treat me and my brother the same because we were different. We had different personalities. We had different interests. We had different skills and abilities. At times, when my mom would make something special for my brother, I would tease her by saying,\u00a0\u201cYou always did love Brian more than me!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I could say that because she and I both knew that it was definitely NOT true! \u00a0She didn\u2019t love my brother more than me. She and my dad loved us both with the same quality of love \u2013 a love that always had our ultimate best interests in mind. \u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

There are very few things that I can think of that would be more disheartening than believing that my parents would have favored one of us over the other. And, yet, that is what many Christians believe about God \u2013 that He shows favoritism \u2013 that He deliberately chooses to extend His love and grace to some of those He created while intentionally withholding it from the rest.<\/p>\n

Does God Have Favorites?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Scripture specifically says in several places that God is fair and impartial, and encourages us to act in like manner toward our fellow man, our traditional understanding of how God deals with mankind would have us believe that He definitely shows favoritism.<\/p>\n

The Westminster Confession of Faith, for example, specifically teaches that God has purposely chosen some of His creatures for salvation while ordaining others to endless suffering.\u00a0 In Chapter III, Article III, Of God\u2019s Eternal Decree, it says<\/p>\n

By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory,\u00a0some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the most often quoted passages in the Bible to support this view is found in Romans 9:10-13 where Paul explains that God \u201chated\u201d Esau.<\/p>\n

. . . Rebekah\u2019s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad \u2013 in order thatGod\u2019s purpose in election<\/strong>\u00a0might stand: not by works but by him who calls \u2013 she was told, \u2018The older will serve the younger.\u2019 Just as it is written: \u2018Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later in the chapter, Paul seems to justify God\u2019s prerogative to choose some to be saved and some to be condemned by saying that God is the Potter who has\u00a0\u201c. . . the right to make out of the same lump of clay\u00a0some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Then Paul asks,\u00a0\u201cWhat if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the\u00a0objects of his wrath \u2013 prepared for destruction?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t these passages clearly imply that God hates and rejects some people \u2013 Esau at least \u2013 and that He prepares some people for wrath and eternal damnation?<\/p>\n

The Purpose of Election<\/strong><\/p>\n

To gain a proper understanding of what Paul is intending to say, it is important to look at the context. The common view of this passage is that God has sovereignly chosen some for salvation and others for perdition. But, that is not Paul\u2019s argument here. The passage is, indeed, referring to God\u2019s sovereign purpose in election, but Paul is\u00a0not referring to election to salvation<\/strong>. Rather, he is referring to\u00a0God\u2019s election to service<\/strong>of those He has chosen to be His instruments.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s purpose in chapters 9-11 is to show how God is merciful to both Jews and Gentiles, and can justly incorporate Gentiles into His plan. He starts by telling his readers that God\u2019s plan has always been to choose some for service, but not others. God chose Isaac, not Ishmael. He chose Jacob, not Esau. He chose them for a special purpose. But, that choice does\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0mean that the ones God did\u00a0not<\/strong>\u00a0choose are irrevocably rejected and destined for eternal suffering in Hell. It simply means that they were not part of the covenant community that God chose to use to fulfill His promise to Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed.<\/p>\n

The comment Paul quotes about Jacob and Esau is from Malachi 1:2-3 and actually refers to their descendants \u2013 the nation of Israel and the Edomites \u2013 not to Jacob and Esau themselves. God is not talking about literally \u201chating\u201d Esau. The true intent of His comment is in accordance with the Hebrew use of extreme statements to make a point. Jesus Himself illustrated this clearly in Luke 14:26 when He said,<\/p>\n

If anyone comes to me and does not\u00a0hate<\/strong>\u00a0his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters \u2013 yes, even his own life \u2013 he cannot be my disciple.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus obviously did not mean that we should literally \u201chate\u201d our parents, wives, siblings, and children because that would require us to violate the clear Biblical commands to honor our parents, love our wives and children, and love our neighbors as ourselves. He meant that parental, spousal and brotherly love must take second place to love for Him.<\/p>\n

Similarly in the passages in Malachi and Romans, God explains that contrary to the established cultural conventions of the day relating to the inheritance rights of the firstborn son, Esau must take second place to Jacob. Paul\u2019s point is that Scripture foretold that the promise to Abraham would pass through Isaac to Jacob, not Esau. Even though Ishmael and Esau were descendants of Abraham, they were not the chosen instruments through whom God would work to redeem the world.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Mercy<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Romans 9:14-15, Paul asks if God can do this without breaking His promise to Abraham. Is it \u201cunjust\u201d for God to go around cultural conventions to use the descendants of Jacob instead of the descendants of Esau to fulfill His promise? Of course not!\u00a0 God has always been selective. But, His purpose has always been the same \u2013 to show mercy and compassion.<\/p>\n

What then shall we say?\u00a0 Is God unjust?\u00a0 Not at all!\u00a0 For he says to Moses, \u2018I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion<\/strong>.\u2019 It does not, therefore, depend on man\u2019s desire or effort, but on\u00a0God\u2019s mercy<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paul goes on to explain that God made Pharaoh\u2019s heart \u201cfirm\u201d in order to proclaim His power and make His name known in all the earth. Then he tells us that God is a Potter who fashions out of the same lump of clay \u2013 in this case the natural descendants of Abraham \u2013 some vessels for honorable use and some for common use.<\/p>\n

Ishmael, Esau, and most of the natural descendants of Abraham that made up the Jews of Paul\u2019s day were not chosen to experience the\u00a0honor<\/strong>\u00a0of serving as God\u2019s chosen vessels to bring about the fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. That honor went to a remnant of the Jews and the believing Gentiles in accordance with what God has always purposed. But,\u00a0\u201ccommon\u201d use does not in any way imply that those vessels are eternally rejected and cursed<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0They were simply not vessels chosen for that special, \u201chonorable\u201d purpose.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cobjects of wrath\u201d that Paul refers to in verse 22 are those God bore with patiently in order to make them objects of His mercy.\u00a0 As he said in Ephesians 2:3,<\/p>\n

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest,\u00a0we were by nature<\/strong>\u00a0objects of wrath<\/strong>. But because of his great love for us,\u00a0God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ<\/strong>\u00a0even when we were dead in transgressions . . .<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paul himself was once an object of wrath who later became an object of mercy. Assuming that you are now \u201cin Christ,\u201d so were you.\u00a0 And so was I.<\/p>\n

Paul sums up his argument in Romans 9-11 by telling his readers,<\/p>\n

God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have\u00a0mercy on them all<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Who Does God Love . . . Really?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pharisees prided themselves on their knowledge of the Law. But, in their zeal to defend the holiness of God, they completely missed the main point of what God was doing in the world. Jesus told them to<\/p>\n

. . . go and learn what this means:\u00a0\u00a0\u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice.\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Does God love you more than your neighbor? Even worse, does He love your neighbor more than you? No! His love and mercy ultimately extend to all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Used by permission by George W. Sarris: \u00a0http:<\/a>\/\/blogs.christianpost.com\/engaging-the-culture\/jacob-i-loved-esau-i-hated-8030\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God blessed me with good parents, and I will be forever grateful to Him for that. They were certainly not perfect \u2013 they had the same weaknesses and shortcomings, and…<\/p>\n

Read More“Jacob I Loved-Esau I Hated” by George Sarris<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1,97],"tags":[33,15,34,31],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-george-sarris","category-evangelical-universalism","category-universalism-and-calvinism","tag-election","tag-george-sarris","tag-jacob-and-esau","tag-universalism","excerpt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions\/573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}