I have loved you, saith the LORD.
Yet ye say,
Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother?
saith the LORD:
yet I loved Jacob,
And I hated Esau,
and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
for the dragons of the wilderness.
Malachi 1:2-3
The point that the prophet is trying to make to Israelites that had difficulty in hearing the truth about God was that the heritage of Jacob/Israel would not fall apart or fade away. The investment of Jesus was permanent and irrevocable. Esau, the older brother of Jacob, cannot be traced to any significant spiritual accomplishment in later history. Jesus, the Son of Man/Son of God, (Jesus is God) is derived from the physical and spiritual heritage of Israel.
Calvin and his calvinists like to take the New Testament reading of these verses and stretch them out of proportion to prop up their silly imagination about the ways of God. In Romans 9:13, Paul used this passage to reflect on the ability of God to be involved in the workings of His creation in order to bring about the things He has guaranteed. The calvinist interpretation of Romans 9 tries to prove that God chooses them, the calvinist "elect," individually without the involvement of Jesus (Jesus IS God) through His life, death, resurrection or current administrative position in the kingdom of God. In their foolishness, the calvinist skips lightly over the major biblical truth in Romans 9:11 that makes Augustine and Calvin both liars. Jacob and Esau, in the womb of Rebecca, were not sinners. "Original sin" doesn't work that way. According to the description of Paul, God called to Jacob and Esau (Jesus is GOD) and Jacob answered. As a result, he was rewarded with the favor of being God's servant (servant = elect) in having Jesus as part of his heritage.
The rest is history.
The Bible does not say anywhere that Esau was worthless, reprobate trash. Only one of the two children could carry the line from Abraham and Isaac down through the ages of biological procreation to wind up at the selection of Judah's righteous son, Joseph and the girl he had chosen, Mary. The other child had to be rejected for the task. Apparently, Esau was glad to be relieved of the hard work involved. No one can now find any of his heritage who would be able to describe what the sons of Esau stood for. Perhaps they are all productive, wonderful, God-fearing folks who trust Jesus as their personal savior...a way of establishing a new spiritual heritage for anyone on this side of the cross.
Meanwhile, Jesus commands every follower to exercise a certain brand of hatred in order to be a disciple (Luke 14:26). How strange a salvation that commands us to hate a brother and love our brothers in order to be included in eternal life. All of us are capable of understanding this paradox when we use common sense to sort out the priorities. Many people stumble on this truth because of their personal, narcissistic agendas.
Jesus-who is God-still calls to the heart of every human, asking for permission to come in. No one is exempt because anyone can be His servant (elect = servant) in some way.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
Yet ye say,
Wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother?
saith the LORD:
yet I loved Jacob,
And I hated Esau,
and laid his mountains and his heritage waste
for the dragons of the wilderness.
Malachi 1:2-3
The point that the prophet is trying to make to Israelites that had difficulty in hearing the truth about God was that the heritage of Jacob/Israel would not fall apart or fade away. The investment of Jesus was permanent and irrevocable. Esau, the older brother of Jacob, cannot be traced to any significant spiritual accomplishment in later history. Jesus, the Son of Man/Son of God, (Jesus is God) is derived from the physical and spiritual heritage of Israel.
Calvin and his calvinists like to take the New Testament reading of these verses and stretch them out of proportion to prop up their silly imagination about the ways of God. In Romans 9:13, Paul used this passage to reflect on the ability of God to be involved in the workings of His creation in order to bring about the things He has guaranteed. The calvinist interpretation of Romans 9 tries to prove that God chooses them, the calvinist "elect," individually without the involvement of Jesus (Jesus IS God) through His life, death, resurrection or current administrative position in the kingdom of God. In their foolishness, the calvinist skips lightly over the major biblical truth in Romans 9:11 that makes Augustine and Calvin both liars. Jacob and Esau, in the womb of Rebecca, were not sinners. "Original sin" doesn't work that way. According to the description of Paul, God called to Jacob and Esau (Jesus is GOD) and Jacob answered. As a result, he was rewarded with the favor of being God's servant (servant = elect) in having Jesus as part of his heritage.
The rest is history.
The Bible does not say anywhere that Esau was worthless, reprobate trash. Only one of the two children could carry the line from Abraham and Isaac down through the ages of biological procreation to wind up at the selection of Judah's righteous son, Joseph and the girl he had chosen, Mary. The other child had to be rejected for the task. Apparently, Esau was glad to be relieved of the hard work involved. No one can now find any of his heritage who would be able to describe what the sons of Esau stood for. Perhaps they are all productive, wonderful, God-fearing folks who trust Jesus as their personal savior...a way of establishing a new spiritual heritage for anyone on this side of the cross.
Meanwhile, Jesus commands every follower to exercise a certain brand of hatred in order to be a disciple (Luke 14:26). How strange a salvation that commands us to hate a brother and love our brothers in order to be included in eternal life. All of us are capable of understanding this paradox when we use common sense to sort out the priorities. Many people stumble on this truth because of their personal, narcissistic agendas.
Jesus-who is God-still calls to the heart of every human, asking for permission to come in. No one is exempt because anyone can be His servant (elect = servant) in some way.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
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