In Romans 9 Paul quotes Malachi 1:2-3 saying, “As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Calvinists take this to refer to the election on God’s part as either a) damning Esau to Hell and promoting Jacob to Heaven or b) damning the nations that come from Esau all to Hell and promoting the nations that come from Jacob to Heaven. There is another way to look at the hated/loved idea. It is my contention that the use of loved/hated denotes favor over another. Several passages will be looked at and examined, including Matthew 6:24, Matthew 10:37-38, Luke 14:26, Genesis 29:32-33, Deuteronomy 21:15-20 and John 12:25 This post will be two pronged. The first prong will look at how one should interpret the Loved/Hated idiom and the second will examine whether or not Edom was hated by God.
The Love/Hated Idiom
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Must we hate money as to cast it away for all eternity along with all our possessions? No. We are to elevate our devotion to God above our attachment to money. When it comes to God or money, we are to choose God. Money is a mere means, not a end unto itself. If money comes between you and God, get rid of it.
Luke 14:26 and Matthew 10:37-38
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
In order to be a Christian, does one need to hate the rest of their family? Again, I would say no. Instead, following with the love of money from above, one needs to prioritize God over their family. Your number one allegiance needs to be to God, not family ties. These two verses really show how this loved/hated idiom should be viewed.
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Does this verse advocate suicide? To really hate one’s life, that can be the only conclusion if one is to really truly hate one’s life. No, once again, one is not to hate one’s life, but instead, one is to give one’s life to God and hold God’s priorities over one’s own priorities.
And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
Here one sees an example of the relationship between those in the loved/hated idiom. There is reference not to damnation, but preference.
If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the hated, then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.
Once again, the wife that is said to be unloved, or hated is not actually hated in the sense that one would normally attach to the word. Instead, it speaks of the favor of one wife over the other by the husband.
God’s Hatred of Esau and Edom
How did God view Esau and Edom? One sees that from the start of the covenant with Abram, God decides to pass the primary covenant thru the people and therefore nations that He wishes, often in stark contrast to how normal entitlements were passed. However, God does not forget, nor withhold compassion for those that are not selected with the special favor of inheriting the task of bringing Christ into the world and being the example of God’s Holiness to the world. One sees in Genesis 21:13 and 21-17-18 that God provides and loves the people that were rejected in terms of carrying the covenant. In Genesis 36 God is multiplying Esau’s possessions so much that Esau has to move away into a land that God gives him.
The specific point of contention here is the land. Hank notes that the land is now cursed as a judgment on Edom. Is this judgment decided beforehand? No. As a matter of fact one sees the opposite in Deuteronomy 2:4-6, where God tells the Israelites not to mess with the Edomites because he has given them their own land. It was only after Edom’s actions did God pronouncing judgment on them, just like He did with Israel.
How is one to understand God’s hate? The most important distinction what needs to be made is a understanding of Reese notes that “[t]he human emotion of ‘hate’ is un-Christ-like and sinful when there are elements of malice, vindictiveness, or bitterness involved in it. Such attributes are foreign to God’s ‘hate’ and so many have preferred to explain it in terms of ‘loved less.’”
So, what is really going on in Malachi? Notice first that the main focus of the book is on Israel, not Edom. God”s love for Israel is questioned in verse 2 of chapter one. Malachi reassures Israel that it is still loved by God and the point is made that Israel is favored (loved) over its sibling nation Edom, which God favors less (hated). In God”s judgment on the nation that He favored less, there is terrible devastation to the land that the LORD lovingly gave to other son of Isaac (see below). This is done so that the people may know that God is not just the God of Israel, but of the whole world (Malachi 1.5).
The punishment of Edom is held in contrast with the punishment that the LORD will lay upon Israel. Israel has disobeyed the covenant and is going to be punished for it. That comparison is that Edom has strayed from God and is going to be punished and so will the favored nation, Israel. There is constant reference to the LORD”s favor of Israel and the other nations knowing that the favor is for Israel. Because of this favor, the LORD spares the land and despite the judgments, the land will grow fruit again. Notice the parallel: God loves Israel more and Edom less; God punishes Edom more and Israel less. Therefore one cannot take the mere punishments of Edom as a sign of the LORD”s hate of the whole nation and the damnation of each and every person within that nation, for the same thing happened to Israel, who is loved (more) by God. Only the level of punishment differs, which is in accord with God loving Israel more and Edom less.
Conclusion
It has been demonstrated that one can easily take the “love/hated” idiom to indicate a “loved more/loved less” relationship between two parties and that which does the loving. It has also been demonstrated that such an interpretation fits with what one sees in the book of Malachi. Therefore, it is also reasonable to utilize this interpretation of the love/hated idiom as it is applied to the nations of Jacob and Esau in Romans 9.
