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“Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid” (Romans 9:13-14).
Verses like this are sometimes hard for us to understand, and as a result, some people have dared to accuse God of being unfair. But when did the Lord say that He had hated Esau? It was not at the beginning of his life, but rather long after Esau had rebelled against God, despised his birthright, and exhibited hatred against his brother Jacob. It is not until the end of the Old Testament that God says that He had hated Esau.
God had a right to make Jacob the more prominent one of the two brothers, and to give him a larger blessing than Esau. If Esau had accepted this, he too could have been blessed by God, and enjoyed a relationship with Him. But his subsequent life showed that he had no interest in the Lord, and his bad attitude towards Jacob came out time after time.
Let us each take care not to question God’s dealings with us. If He wishes to give someone else more than He gives us, that is God’s right. But He will honor us too, if we use what He has given to us, for Him.
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