Introduction In this paper, I would like to examine Romans 9 in light of its immediate context and other Scriptures. This is necessary because this chapter is a favorite of Calvinists, who use it …
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Verses 10-13
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Here the word “election” is introduced with the story of Rebecca’s two sons, Jacob and Esau. Paul took care to say that both sons were born of “one man…our father Isaac.” This means that both Jacob and Esau were physical descendants of Abraham. Esau was the eldest; nevertheless God elected Jacob as the one through whom would come the Savior. Please note that the election did not elect Jacob the man to salvation, but it did elect the nation of Jacob to bring the promised Seed–Jesus Christ.
Therefore, this passage does not say that the man Jacob was eternally saved, or that the man Esau was eternally damned.
Neither does it say that every descendant of Jacob would be saved, or every descendant of Esau would be damned. It simply tells us that God elected that Jesus would be born through Jacob’s descendants rather than Esau’s, proving that God can choose whomever He wants through whom to do His will. God proved that He was not bound by the traditions of men to choose the eldest son (and Isaac’s favorite son), but He has authority to choose whomever He wishes according to His own will.
Remembering what Paul taught in the previous section, the right application of the example of the election of Jacob is this: Being physically descended from Abraham does not automatically entitle one to God’s favor. This was a vain hope that many Jews in Paul’s day were holding onto. They believed that being a physical “son of Abraham” made them automatically right with God. This is why John the Baptist said to the unrepentant Jews:
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matt. 3:8-10)
God has indeed raised up children to Abraham from the living stones who are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. (Eph. 2:19-20)
Just as God–choosing not to be bound by the traditions of men–chose Jacob over Esau through whom to bring the Savior, He was choosing to accept Gentiles as children of Abraham. It was not “the works of the law” done by the cultural Jew that would save, but God had chosen to save all who met His conditions of repentance and faith (Acts 20:21).
Jacob Have I Loved, But Esau Have I Hated
We have come now to the oft quoted phrase, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” This sentence deserves extra attention, lest one mistakenly see in it a great injustice on God’s part. Paul was quoting Old Testament Scriptures, and we must visit those verses if we want to understand the context.
“I have loved you,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the LORD. “ Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for the jackals of the wilderness.” Even though Edom has said, “ We have been impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the LORD of hosts:“ They may build, but I will throw down; they shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, and the people against whom the LORD will have indignation forever.” (Mal. 1:2-4)
First, it should be clear that the Lord was speaking of 2 nations — Israel and Edom (Esau’s descendants). God was not speaking of the two men Jacob and Esau; both men were long dead. Nor is God saying He chose one race for salvation and another race for damnation. However, God DID choose (elect) one nation through whom to bring the Savior into the world (this had nothing to do with personal salvation.) In this Malachi passage, God is reminding backslidden Israel how much He has loved them and favored them as a nation. He sovereignly chose this nation to be used by Him to bless the whole world, and yet the nation (as a whole) had turned against Him!
When God says He hated Esau (the nation), we ought to keep in mind that Jesus also taught this:
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26)
Did Jesus mean that we should literally walk in hatred toward our earthly family members?–No. For we are called to love both our brethren in Christ and our enemies, doing good to all. Obviously Jesus meant that we must esteem (and fear) other people so much less than we esteem Him; we are to love Him with ALL our heart, soul, mind and strength. We cannot be the servants of God while we are trying to please men. In this case, “hate” can mean “to love less by comparison.” In the same way, God did not bless the nation of Esau in the same way He blessed the nation of Israel. In the Malachi passage, God was calling the nation of Israel to account–for to whom much is given, much is required. He had blessed them exceedingly, and they had repaid Him evil for His good.
It is quite true that God had punished the nation of Esau (Edom) by laying waste his mountains. Did God do this for no reason?
The history of the nation of Edom is important to study. Esau himself, though he despised his birthright and thus became an example of one who gives up the spiritual blessings of God for carnal indulgence, did not necessarily die an ungodly man (as many assume). Though he was angry with Jacob and wanted to kill him at one time, when Jacob came seeking forgiveness of Esau, Esau readily forgave him. There is no indication that Esau or his immediate descendants caused any trouble for Jacob’s family (the nation of Israel) for some time. In fact, the house of Esau was under God’s protection at one time:
And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. (Deut 2:4-5)
Furthermore, it is written that God did for national Esau just exactly what He also did for national Israel–that is, He uprooted and destroyed a wicked nation before him and enabled him to take possession of the land.
But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. (Deut. 2:21-22)
The Israelites were specifically commanded not to despise the Edomites (house of Esau).
You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. (Deut. 23:7)
It appears that just as Israel apostasized from following the Lord, the house of Esau did the same. At one time, they apparently had wisdom and counsel:
Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished?” (Jer. 49:7)
God tells us exactly why Edom was judged and destroyed. It was not an arbitrary act on God’s part. Edom reaped what Edom sowed:
The pride of your heart has deceived you…For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. In the day that you stood on the other side—in the day that strangers carried captive his forces, when foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem—even you were as one of them. But you should not have gazed on the day of your brother in the day of his captivity;nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; nor should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress. You should not have entered the gate of My people in the day of their calamity. Indeed, you should not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor laidhands on their substance in the day of their calamity. You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut off those among them who escaped; nor should you have delivered up those among them who remained in the day of distress. For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; as you have done, it shall be done to you; your reprisal shall return upon your own head. (Obadiah 3, 10-15)
Edom [shall be] a desolate wilderness, because of violence against the people of Judah, for they have shed innocent blood in their land. (Joel 3:19)
For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, Because he pursued his brother with the sword, And cast off all pity; His anger tore perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever. (Amos 1:11)
So we see that the nation of Edom/Esau was destroyed by God for SIN. Esau was not “hated” by God–either as a man or a nation–due to some unchangeable “election to damnation” before time began.
Remember: while God elected Israel as the nation through which Messiah Jesus would come, He is no respecter of persons–but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him (Acts 10:35). When Israel was punished by Babylon and Assyria, this did not mean every Israelite lost salvation. There were those in Israel who were faithful to God. Likewise, any persons who lived in the nation of Edom–that feared Him and worked righteousness–were also accepted by Him.
The Example of Pharaoh
Verses 17-18
For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
Here, Paul mentions Pharaoh, whom God hardened
. Why did God choose to harden him? What Paul did not mention here is that Pharaoh also hardened HIMSELF repeatedly against the Lord. God–the Potter–absolutely has the right to harden a man in his chosen rebellion! He will not strive with man forever. This is why we are warned not to reject truth, or God shall send us a strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:9-11)! And this is why we are told to walk in the light while the light is with us, lest darkness overtake us (John 12:35).
Though the Calvinist reads into this passage that God arbitrarily hardened Pharaoh–not desiring or allowing him space to repent–this cannot be true.
For Scripture says,
“the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11) and that God is
“not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Thus, grace appeared to Pharaoh, for God was not willing that Pharaoh should perish. But Pharaoh resisted grace (as some of the Jews resisted the Holy Spirit–Acts 7:51) until God became his enemy and fought against him. For he that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy (Prov. 29:1). Nehemiah 9:10 explains why God used Pharaoh in the way that He did:
You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
It was because of Pharaoh’s pride and persecution of the Israelites, coupled with Pharaoh’s hardening of his own heart against God’s command, that led to God’s fighting against him for his own destruction. God had the right to use even Pharaoh’s rebellion in order to show His own power and make His name great in all the earth.
Once again, remember that Paul’s theme in Rom. 9 is his countrymen after the flesh–the Israelites who do not believe on Christ, and in fact persecuted the followers of Christ. If these Jews reject the truth, does not God have the right to harden them in their chosen rebellion, and use even their rebellion to make His name great in all the earth, meanwhile saving the Gentiles who repent and believe? Indeed, He does. As Paul and Barnabas testified so boldly before some of the Jews who rejected the gospel:
God’s Right to Save Whom He Wills, Independent of Man’s Tradition.
Read on.
J.
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