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Why did God hate esau? Is it true nothing can separate us from God's love? Even our own sin? Help me understand please.

Romans 8:29-30

Romans 9:13
Malachai 1:3

2007-07-24 13:21:42 · 18 answers · asked by zz 2 in Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

18 answers

You cant take one verse out of Scripture and build a whole Bible around it.

When it says that God hated Esau, it actually means than Esau hated God. God is love.

2007-07-24 13:26:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 2

If the bible says God hated Esau, then He hated Esau just as God hates sin. God hated Esau so that election might stand. Before Esau and Jacob were formed in the womb God hated Esau and loved Jacob this is call predestination.
Those that cannot be seperated from the love of God are those who have put their trust in His son.

2007-07-24 13:36:48 · answer #2 · answered by austin 2 · 0 2

Good question!
God did not say He hated Esau in the same sense that we usually say we hate someone. Much like when Jesus said that if we are to follow Him, we must hate our father and mother. Our first reaction to this would be, "What the heck? I thought I was supposed to honor my father and mother!?!" This is where it helps to be able to look at the original language of the text (I don't know Greek but I know several people who do, and I am determined to learn someday). In both of these cases, the word "hate" is a comparison. God is saying that compared to the favor that was bestowed on Jacob (in choosing him as the promised line, rather than Esau), Jacob was SO blessed, and SO loved, that Esau's life LOOKED despised! Was this because God literally despised Esau? No. It was because God chose one line, and through that line, "all the nations of the world would be blessed." Similarly, when Jesus said that those who follow Him must hate their father and mother, it is a comparison. Our LOVE for Christ should be SO Strong and SO deep that our love for our families LOOKS like hatred! Because the hate is so strong? No. Because our love for Christ is that much stronger. Does this make sense? If not, try checking out an expositor's commentary on the passage. It might explain it better.

2007-07-24 13:31:23 · answer #3 · answered by HollywoodHousewife♥ 3 · 0 2

This is a very good question.

God's love and God's grace are two important factors when understanding these verses. You need to take them in context and understand the circumstances that led the Lord to say these things. He wasn't referring to Esau specifically but a nation that was from Esau's seed. Jacob's seed was God's chosen people, that's why He loved them.

2007-07-24 13:30:50 · answer #4 · answered by stpolycarp77 6 · 0 2

"When it says that God hated Esau, it actually means than Esau hated God. God is love. "

Typical Xtian "logic".

" esau was not of God he stole his brothers birthright "

Now, it's not "logic" but outright falsehood. 8-\

BTW, Why not go back to the story of Jacob's deception in Genesis, by means of which he stole Esau's birthright? Or does it strike to close to home for the tap dancing Xtians who would say anything to justify their fairy tale? Those, for whom the Bible means just what they want it to mean - today...?

2007-07-24 13:38:49 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

I don’t know why God used the word "hate." Maybe it had more cultural significance a few thousand years ago. Maybe the choice of words was to produce an emphasis or contrast. In Luke 14:26, God uses the word "hate" to contrast what our love should be toward Him. Here He says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brother and sisters –yes, even his own life –he cannot be my disciple." Obviously, God is not saying we should actually hate our parents. He was only making a contrast of how great our love for God should be in comparison to our love for our family.

There are a couple of other verses that use the word "hate" for comparison. Matthew 6:24 says, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." John 12:25 says, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

2007-07-24 13:39:06 · answer #6 · answered by dreamdress2 6 · 0 2

One of the definitions of 'sin' is: separation from God.
God's 'hatred' is different from man's 'hatred'. Since God is Love, he cannot 'hate' in the worldly sense, therefore God's perfect 'hatred' is to remove Himself from someone, and leave them to their own judgment. This is where Esau stumbled, in that he did not honor both of his parents fully. This story served to illustrate the result of failure to respect one's mother and father, one of the most important of the ten commandments, and one of the only two of these commandments that are positive, and not negative. He chose wives for himself that tormented his mother Rebekka, instead of letting his marriage be arranged by his parents. He was competitive and antisocial, uncooperative, stubborn, aggressive, and vengeful, lived to please himself, and therefore he was easily misled and exploited (a lot like 'Yosemite Sam'). When a person lives proudly in this manner long enough, God has no alternative but to leave them to themselves and fall, and be humbled, or die fighting. However this type of person CAN make a good military leader if trained adequately from youth. This is why both Rebekka and Jacob feared him so, and repeatedly tricked him, and bought him off.
The Edomites, descendants of Esau, were the other tribe that was offered entrance to the Lord's Tabernacle, but only after repentance and demonstrating their sincerity after repeated trials and tribulatory tests: to the 'third and fourth generations'.
Incidentally, one of God's eternal enemies is descended from Esau: Amalek (Gen 36:12), about whom God has sworn to have war with forever! This line of people will never be forgiven...

2007-07-24 14:50:01 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 2

spiker said 'When it says that God hated Esau, it actually means than Esau hated God. God is love.'


.. which begs me to ask

if the bible can mean anything you want it to mean ... doesn't it mean nothing at all?

2007-07-24 13:29:58 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2 0

It is thought that the passage that refers to God hating Esau but loving Jacob was in actuality referring to the nations of Israel and Edom rather than to the individual brothers. God chose Jacob to continue the family line of the faithful because he knew his heart was for God. But, he did not exclude Esau from knowing and loving him. Keep in mind the kind of God we worship. He is sovereign; he is not arbitrary. And, in all things he works for our good. He is trustworthy; he will save all who believe in him.

2007-07-24 13:29:01 · answer #9 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 0 3

God did not hate Esau, he just sent him down another path to his future.

2007-07-24 13:28:24 · answer #10 · answered by Eye of Innocence 7 · 0 3

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