Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tough Answer #1 & Tough Question #2
Did God hate unborn baby Esau?

In Romans 9:10-13, Paul quoted Malachi 1:2-4:
"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."

If God had based his hatred on His foreseen wickedness of Esau, why did he plainly say, "for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil" (Romans 9:11)? The text indicates that no good or evil deed determined His hatred. In fact, Paul further emphasizes that this is his point by saying this was done "that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls."

In Romans 3:10-11, Paul already stated:
As it is written:

"There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.

In Romans 8:7-8, Paul said:
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

In Ephesians 2:1-3, he said:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

While the majority of us accept to the doctrine of original sin or total depravity, we don't acknowledge the implications. Theologically, you could say we're all born Evil Dead. But, wait a minute, God is love, right?
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:7-8

Once again, look at the context: Beloved. He's speaking to the elect. But look at Psalm 5:5
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.

Psalm 11:5
The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

If we are born dead in trespasses and sins, then what does that say about God's attitude toward us? That's right. There should be nothing but hatred for us. Put together, original sin and God's hatred of the wicked suggests that God should have hated both Jacob and Esau. But look at what comes next in 1 John 4.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (v. 9-11)

That's the miraculous statement in this passage. In spite of what God foreknows of Jacob, He chose to love him! So, if God chose to love Jacob and hate Esau, did Esau ever really have a chance? What if Esau wanted to repent? The writer of Hebrews said:
Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. (12:14-17)

Ouch! Well, this actually leads into my next question:

Could Pharaoh have repented?
 
  posted at 11:43 AM  
  Comments (4)


4 Comments:
At 6:28 PM, Blogger JD said...

Even better, what about Judas. If he would have repented, even though there was a plan for him, could he have been saved?

PAX
JD

 
At 6:53 PM, Blogger Hannah said...

Of course Pharoah COULD have repented, but (obviously this answer is theoretical since I don't have my Bible with me to search for verses.) I think God, knowing all things, after giving Pharoah the oppurtunity to repent each time, hardened Pharoah's heart once he rejected the oppurtunity. It only takes seconds to make a decision....but years of regret can definitely follow. (though i don't pharoah felt much doubt as his heart continued to become harder up to the point of the Red Sea.)
Sorry this is so long. It doesn't take long to fill up a whole page, does it? Next time I'll try to actually get to your question in time to do some Bible searching.

 
At 8:39 PM, Blogger BenA said...

As for the hardening being a judicial response by God in reaction to Pharaoh's actions I submit Exodus 4:21. It occurs before Moses goes back to Egypt. In the sentence following God telling Moses what actions to do in front of Pharaoh He states what He will do to Pharaoh.

"And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go."

Yet Pharaoh is completely responsible for his actions of disobedience. The plagues came upon the Egyptians not God.

To the question could he have repented? Only if God directed his heart as such. We see him wavering at times by saying they can go then seemingly changing his mind. Even at the last after the children of Israel have left he pursues after them.

Isaiah 55:11 "my word...that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

Thus, once again, we see that God's purpose is complete in Pharaoh. In addition to His purpose of election we now also see purpose in His word. It is guaranteed to succeed to the degree in which He desires in the person He sent it.

In the case of the original question, a literal word from God was sent by way of Moses to Pharaoh and it succeeded. The theoretical is removed.

 
At 7:32 PM, Blogger Hannah said...

Well, stated, Ben.

 

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