Romans 9:6 ¶ Not as though
the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because
they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall
thy seed be called. 8 That is, They
which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:
but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At
this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to
election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve
the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Notice here that it is important to keep God’s foreknowledge in
mind of who would obey Him and who would not. Lest we fall into Calvinism
unnecessarily we must understand that this references the election of Israel
through Jacob, not an individual sinner elect from before the world began to
salvation unless you believe every Jew was saved in the Old Testament and none
went to Hell. Paul makes it clear here that only those who obeyed God were the
true Israel, a very small number most likely indeed. Paul equates the unsaved,
the children of the flesh, with those of Israel who did not believe in
obedience and those who receive Christ as being like Israel’s children of promise
through Isaac.
Verse 13 has its Old Testament moorings;
Malachi 1:2 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, 3 And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and
his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Remember how the word hated is used in other passages as despised
or loved less than someone else. Compare and contrast the following passages.
Genesis 29:30 And he went
in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with
him yet seven other years. 31 ¶ And when
the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
Matthew 10:37 He that
loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Luke 14:26 If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
As we saw how Esau himself came out pretty well in his life in
Genesis we see here how this refers to the people of Israel and Esau’s heritage.
This is not about an eternal decree condemning Esau to Hell.
God’s decree, if you want to call it that, was that the
inheritance of Abraham would come through Isaac, the child of promise, not
Ishmael and Jacob not Esau. This is about God calling, electing a people to
Himself not about why you are saved and your neighbor is not. Even the chosen
nation didn’t act too much better than their enemies with regard to God. But,
the people of Israel were chosen, elected to be a nation set apart by God for
God even though many of them individually died in their sins against Him and
most certainly went to everlasting shame and torment.
Psalm 86:13 For great is
thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
Daniel 12:2 And many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Luke 16:22 And it came to
pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:
the rich man also died, and was buried; 23
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
That election means that God is not finished with Israel.
Romans 11:1 ¶ I say then,
Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the
seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2
God hath not cast away his
people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of
Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and
digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I
have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the
image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this
present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
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