Keep in mind that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. (Rom. 9:13)
John wrote:
God loved them both - John 3:16. Maybe a good word study on "hate" would help.
John, do you reconcile these passages together in your mind, or do you just dismiss Romans 9:13 because you like reading John 3:16 better? There is a great lesson here about God's attitude toward the world, for while he so loved the whole world that he gave his only begotten son, many rejected his son and this led to God's hatred of them. In like manner, this is what happened with Esau, as an illustration to us of God's attitude toward a profane person.
The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. "I have loved you," says the LORD. But you say, "How have You loved us?" "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the LORD. "Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness." Though Edom says, "We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins"; thus says the LORD of hosts, "They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the LORD is indignant forever."
(Malachi 1:1-4)
Esau, by the way, was the father of the Arabs who even today try to return and build up the ruins, but God tears them down.
Peace be with you. David Miller.
p.s. Do you really want a word study of "hate"? I would be glad to post every verse that uses the Greek word for hate in Romans 9:13 and to post some lexicon definitions, if you are really interested. It is not hard for me to do, but I don't want to bore people if they don't really care.
---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org
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