God hated Esau, even before he was born.
Gods “hatred” of Esau wasn’t an emotion as we know it.
It was in reference to Gods choosing one over the other.
Esau was the father of the Edomites
Jacob the father of Israel
He chose the nation of Israel, to fulfill his mission. Thus he loved Jacob
In contrast, Edom was not chosen.
And yet God still blessed Edom.
“God hated Esau, even before he was born.”
Comes from Malachi, not Genesis. References the descendents of Esau, not Esau himself. God knew what Esau would become before he was born, and He knew Esau would not have much of a heart for God. Doesn’t mean God forced him to become that way.
Might want to think about corporate predestination:
It means *esteem less*.
Here, in the Greek
http://biblehub.com/romans/9-13.htm
http://biblehub.com/greek/3404.htm
miseó: to hate
Original Word: μισέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: miseó
Phonetic Spelling: (mis-eh'-o)
Short Definition: I hate, detest
Definition: I hate, detest, love less, esteem less.
HELPS Word-studies
3404 miséō – properly, to detest (on a comparative basis); hence, denounce; to love someone or something less than someone (something) else, i.e. to renounce one choice in favor of another.
Lk 14:26: "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (3404 /miséō, 'love less' than the Lord) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (NASU).
[Note the comparative meaning of 3404 (miséō) which centers in moral choice, elevating one value over another.]
The verses that say that some are predestined to be saved can also mean that those God foreknew would believe and accept His offer of salvation when offered to them, He decided to save instead of sending to hell for their sin as they rightly deserve.
There are too many passages in Scripture where God tells us to choose.
Too many places where God commands or calls unbelievers and rebellious to repent and come to Him.
Places where it says that His will is that ALL come to repentance.
Love is not love if it compelled and foreordained and we are just puppets playing out the bit piece that God in His sovereignty ordained for us to do.
Do I believe in FREE will?
No. We have a will but it is not totally free. We are either slaves to sin or salves to God. We cannot come to Him unless He draws us, for sure, but if God MADE people to believe, then it is not love freely given.
I think He allows many to be born and die knowing that they will never be saved, but I do not believe for a minute that He created them just for that purpose.
The verse doesn’t mean that “God hated Esau, even before he was born.”
The literal rendering, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated,” suggests an attitude of divine hostility that is not implied in Paul’s statement. In Semitic usage “hate” means to love less; cf. Lk 14:26 with Mt 10:37. Israel’s unbelief reflects the mystery of the divine election that is always operative within it. Mere natural descent from Abraham does not ensure the full possession of the divine gifts; it is God’s sovereign prerogative to bestow this fullness upon, or to withhold it from, whomsoever he wishes; cf. Mt 3:9; Jn 8:39. The choice of Jacob over Esau is a case in point.
but He only hated Esau because he knew Esau,of his own free will, would reject Him
In terms of ‘The Elect’ (Which the bible states over and over again- concerning those that are ‘predestined to be saved’)- I read a good possible explanation once that went along the lines of:
God looks into the future and see who, of their own free will, choose to accept Him, and these God ‘elects’ to be saved. He doesn’t elect to save those that will reject Him (hence free will). The free will act of the person in seeking God causes God to select/elect them for His mercy
If a person is made to be willing to accept God, then salvation is forced and unresistable, and there is no chance for free will
“Whom he foreknew, he predestined.”
In the above verse- those whom God ‘foreknows’ are those He foreknew would ‘believe on His son’- Those are the ones He ‘predestines’. He doesn’t hate people that haven’t first determined to reject Him- His foreknowledge of their rejection of Him is the reason for the ‘hate’. (The bible is full of examples of God hating people or towns or nations- and that is because they were determined to reject the salvation of Christ)