With respect to the natural privileges and the pre-eminence which was given to Jacob and denied to Esau, as the representatives of their respective seeds, it would not stand true that they were not all Israel who were of Israel. 1. 1887. Cf. Their local habitation had many advantages; they were blessed in “the fatness of the earth and the dew of heaven,” and were sheltered within the munition of rocks; and, had they been willing to be good, they might have had a constant flow of prosperity. It is as much against the nature of God to punish one eternally who hath not deserved it as it is to deny Himself and act anything foolishly, and unbecoming His other perfections which render Him majestical and adorable. Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever.’ Here the Prophet first speaks of Esau personally as Jacob’s brother, which clearly indicates the meaning attached by the Apostle to the quotation. And this difference of dealing is not accidental; it rests on a difference of feeling in God Himself. When the Savior was first announced, Genesis 3:15, mankind were divided into two classes, the one to be saved, the other to be lost. Jacob is everywhere spoken of as the servant of God, highly honored by many Divine communications. Now we know who those are on whom God is everlastingly resolved to show mercy, viz., those who believe in His Son (2 Corinthians 1:19-20). Men, however, are averse to this. The Scriptures must be explained in a forced manner; and while they say that God hates sinners, they are made to say that He does not hate them. BibliographyWhedon, Daniel. Watson.). Where is God? Broadman Press 1932,33. "That," Spurgeon replied, "is not my difficulty, madam. You can get heaven only on another ground, viz: the ground of free grace. Having thus asserted that such is God’s manner of acting towards men, which, being established, ought to stop every mouth, the Apostle at once shuts the door against all impious reasonings on the subject, and indignantly demands of any one who should dare to controvert this view of the subject, — Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? This omnipotent principle is not my Saviour; I need as my Saviour the living God who loves me, and whom I may love in return--the God who looked on me when I was lost, and loved me when I was worthless--who saved me from hell and made me His child. 1871-8. That the terms love and hatred are here to be understood in their full and proper import, is evident from the question put in the 14th verse, and answered in the 15th, 16th, and 17th verses, with the conclusion drawn in the 18th. It was otherwise with Edom. Though the predictions respecting Jacob and Esau had reference to their posterity, and were fulfilled in them, it is the unconditional choice of the one individual, rather than the other, on which the apostle reasons. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tsk/romans-9.html. In speaking of Jacob and Esau, either as men or nations, neither Genesis nor Malachi nor St. Paul have eternal salvation in view; the matter in question is the part they play regarded from the theocratic standpoint, as is proved by the word δουλεύειν, to serve. It might be thought that there was a natural reason for preferring the child of Sarah, as being Abraham's true and first wife, both to the child of Hagar, Sarah's maid, and to the children of Keturah, his second wife. Each approach comes with its own difficulties. Had they succeeded, they would have congratulated themselves on their skill, and that feeling of jubilation would have effectually silenced the voice of conscience speaking within. If he thought lightly of “the birthright” at one time, he was very earnest about it at another. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tbi/romans-9.html. ), As John Bunyan says, all the flowers in God’s garden are double; there is no single mercy: nay, they are not only double flowers, but they are manifold flowers. ,31/10:1-3), "It is rather odd that this chapter should be used to prove salvation by election when, so far as it bears on election at all, it is wholly an effort to justify God in casting off an elect people (Jews that refused to believe) and choosing an non-elect people (believing Gentiles)". For one thing, "the elder shall serve the younger", refers to the status of their descendants (the nations that would issue from Jacob and Esau- 1 Chronicles 18:12-13). Had it been so, he must have included himself, and also those Jews whom, in the 24th verse, he says God had called. It means that God’s purpose in redemption is independent of man. Cranfield, 2:480. {a} Quicquid dehinc scripturarum est, huius est commentarius. "Commentary on Romans 9:13". All rights reserved. Where, then, is the solution of the verdict, “Jacob have I loved,” etc.? Is there unrighteousness with God? Copyright © Broadman Press 1932,33, Renewal 1960. Certain it is that these Jews were not excluded from preventing grace, for they were called of God by the apostles, yea, and by Christ Himself, and this by means so efficacious that our Saviour affirmeth that even the men of Tyre and Sidon might or would have been converted by them (Matthew 11:21). "Commentary on Romans 9:13". This proves that these occurrences were expressly ordained by Divine wisdom to be ‘a shadow of things to come.’ All this, too, we may collect from those types and figures of the Old Testament, which would have been wholly inconclusive, unless, by a particular destination of the providence of God, they had been really instituted to prefigure future events. Again, as a still more striking proof that the word of promise discriminated a particular seed, and addressed not the children of the flesh universally, the Apostle instances the cases of Jacob and Esau. That this is Paul’s meaning is evident from what immediately follows. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group. BibliographyGill, John. We are told of his disinterestedness, frankness, and generosity; while we are reminded that Jacob was a cool, selfish, designing man, who was always watching to take advantage of his brother’s simplicity, and who ungenerously and unjustly robbed his elder brother of the blessing and the birthright. Because opposed to all our notions of Divine perfection, whether derived from revelation, conscience, or reason. On the theory that man comes to Christ of his own will, what do you with texts which say that he is dead? This God grants. Therefore the emphatical import of the apostle’s expression, “I will have mercy on whom I have” (now or at present) “mercy,” respects the same species, not the same persons of men; being as if He had said, To that sort or kind of men to whom at this day I show mercy (viz., in pardoning their sin and justifying their persons, meaning believers), I will show the like mercy at all times hereafter to the world’s end. 13. But when we take account of God"s prevision of the power of faith, and of its final triumph in that man and people (the foreknowing of Romans 8:29), it will be seen—as follows otherwise from the divine essence itself—that neither is the prerogative bestowed on Jacob arbitrary. Romans 9:13 Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. III. It is the first petitioner’s suit, and the first believer’s article, the contemplation of Enoch, the confidence of Abraham, the burden of the prophetic songs, and the glory of all the apostles, the plea of the penitent, the ecstasies of the reconciled, the believer’s hosanna, the angel’s hallelujah. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Compare also Edom in Malachi 1:4, synonymous with Esau in Malachi 1:3; and Israel, Malachi 1:5, synonymous with Jacob, Malachi 1:2. Romans 9: 6-13 Children of the Promise - Tony Garland Romans 9:6-13: Why God’s Word Cannot Fail - Steven Cole Romans 9:6-13 Is Israel's Unbelief Inconsistent with God's Plan? When the riches of both of them were more than that they might dwell together,’ ‘Esau,’ it is said, ‘took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance which he had got in the land of Canaan, and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob, Genesis 36:6. The administration of God is full of goodness; but goodness in the Divine administration is employed according to law. what is said of the wise men of Teman, Jeremiah 49:7, and the very respectable personage Eliphaz (notwithstanding his error) in the Book of Job. There was nothing in Jacob that could make God love him, but much that might have made God hate him it was because God was infinitely gracious, and because He was sovereign in His dispensation of this grace. BibliographyCalvin, John. This wasn"t true concerning the individuals Jacob and Esau. If, again, Esau, as some insist, were the better character, why was Jacob preferred to him? He requires them not to fear or worship Him so much for His power as His goodness. If the Christian is not to seek personal vengeance, it does not take away the government’s authority to punish wrongdoers. 1. All of them are so in their natural state, as considered in themselves, and all of them continue to be so, unless delivered from that state by the distinguishing grace of God. It is mercy that takes us out of the womb, feeds us in the days of our pilgrimage, furnishes us with spiritual provision, closes our eyes in peace, and translates us to a secure resting-place. ‘Few and evil have the years of my life been,’ were the words he addressed to Pharaoh; and we cannot doubt that many a time in his later life he looked back to his own sinful act towards his father and brother, and repented bitterly of the faithlessness which had led him to seek by unlawful means that blessing which God had promised should be his, and which would undoubtedly have come to him by the order of God’s providence, if he had been willing to wait the appointed time. (T. love of God towards Jacob and abhorrence of Esau.” Thus, that utterance agrees with this. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cgt/romans-9.html. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ain/romans-9.html. "Commentary on Romans 9:13". A preacher might get at this very challenging text from one of two directions. And then, just as Israel personally represents, first, his natural seed, the Jews; and, second, the visible Jewish Church; and, third, his spiritual seed, by faith, Jew or Gentile, so does Esau represent, not only Edom external, but also the Edom spiritual, and reprobate by unfaith, whether descended from Esau or not, who, as such, are the just objects of divine hate. But there are some men like that. But he himself has not done so; he has been content with referring to the biblical facts, setting forth thereby the great truth of God"s liberty. The Prophet likewise declares the dealing of God towards their posterity, but the part here referred to applies to the progenitors themselves. So the Spirit makes a revelation of truth to the soul, whereby it seeth things in a different light, and then the will cheerfully bows that neck which once was stiff as iron. BibliographyAbbott, John S. C. & Abbott, Jacob. It is the public spring for all the thirsty, the common hospital for all the needy. So that the meaning of the words, “I will have mercy on whom,” etc., is as if God should have said, I will justify, adopt, and glorify persons under what qualifications soever I Myself please, and will not be ordered or taught by men what I have to do, or what becometh Me to do, in this kind. Malachi, as Genesis, refers to the nations. As there were in Israel many Edomites, profane hearts, there may also have been many Israelites, spiritual hearts in Edom. Then how is it with ourselves? A friend sets before us a certain truth in a new light, pleads with us, and our hearts are changed towards it. II. On this whole matter read verse 22. A retributive justice too. Man’s will has its proper place in the matter of salvation (Revelation 22:17). Saves any without the co-operation of their own will. That had been the main occupation of his life, III. ‘The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies,’ Nahum 1:2. Paul said that Gentiles had been excluded from the "covenants of promise" (Ephesians 2:12), but that didn"t mean they were automatically excluded from salvation. BibliographyBengel, Johann Albrecht. It has been said as a paradox that ‘there is nothing so disappointing as failure, except success.’ The study of the character of Jacob illustrates the truth of the paradox, for we find that at the outset of his career he was eminently successful in accomplishing what he desired, whereas, when he was an old man, we see him overwhelmed with grief, saying, in anguish of spirit, ‘I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning.’ The sad thought in his history is that we can trace a direct connection between his sorrows in later life and the successes of his early youth. {a}. Undoubtedly God was under no more obligation to save any of the human race than He was to save the fallen angels. There is not a prayer, nor any recognition of the fatherhood or the sovereignty of the Almighty. Jacob was justly the object of God’s love before he was born, because he was viewed in Christ as righteous. BibliographyHaldane, Robert. It relates, in the first view, to themselves personally, the elder being made subservient to the younger by selling his birthright. Surrender to Christ and live before the black flag of death and doom takes its place. Hatred in itself is not sinful. The world is very much made up of “Esaus” and “Jacobs.” Some lead very correct lives. No clearer illustration shows that works had nothing to do with God's choice of whom He would use for His purpose. In maintaining, then, the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, it is by no means necessary to vindicate the conduct of Jacob towards his brother. Thus Meyer says, "God does not act unjustly in his sovereign choice; since he claims for himself in the Scripture the liberty to favor or to harden, whom he will.". If the eternal condition of Abraham and of Judas be determined in the Scriptures, so also is that of Jacob and Esau; and no meaning, which, from whatever motive, any man may affix to the whole tenor of Scripture respecting them, will alter their condition. (J. Lyth, D.D. If the Apostle’s argument thus far had not plainly set forth that freedom, the objection of Romans 9:14 could not have been raised. a. The election thus obtain life, and the rest are blinded by the God of this world. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/romans-9.html. ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I slay my brother Jacob.’. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/romans-9.html. The work of a man in obtaining his salvation is compared to husbandry, building, battle, racing; all laborious occupations. Jacob and his descendants had proved to be objects of GOD’S love, Esau and his descendants, the Edomites, objects of GOD’S hate. To apply these verses to the eternal salvation to two individuals doesn"t fit the context. The declarations of God by the Prophet in the above quoted passage are fully substantiated throughout the Scriptures, both in regard to His loving Jacob and hating Esau personally; and likewise in regard to the indignation which He manifested against Esau’s descendants. One is born in a palace, while another draws his first breath in a hovel. ‘Once when teaching a class of boys at a reformatory school I asked them, “When did you feel worse, on the day when you knew that you had stolen, or on the day when the policeman caught you?” They answered in a chorus, “The day I was caught, sir.” The crime was nothing. Are independent of human will and action (verse 16). Afterwards, in the denunciation, Esau’s descendants are spoken of under the name of Edom, when the singular is changed for the plural, and the past time for the future and the present. Each part of the whole process of salvation is attributed to God’s will. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Vv. Is there unrighteousness with God? As we look at Romans chapter 9, remember one thing—observation, interpretation, application. 1865-1868. The conjunction as may be understood in two ways: either in the sense that God"s love to Jacob and His hatred to Esau were the cause of the subjection of the latter to the former; or it may be thought that Paul quotes this saying of Malachi as demonstrating by a striking fact in the later history of the two peoples the truth of the relation expressed in Romans 9:12. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/romans-9.html. Favours some to the disadvantage of others. BibliographyVincent, Marvin R. DD. I have adverted to it more fully, because, as formerly observed, it brings a palpable charge of falsehood and dishonesty against the inspired writers, representing them as quoting the language of the Holy Spirit in a meaning which He did not intend to convey, and as confirmatory of their own doctrine, when they knew that what they advanced was merely a fanciful accommodation of words. as long as your hand can draw there are fresh “linked sweetnesses” of love still to come. The child of God comes out, and grace prevails. 2. I therefore chose you for my people, that I might show the same kindness to the seed of Jacob; but I rejected the Edomites, the progeny of Esau. 1. [Note: Mounce, p199. On the other hand, God did not love Esau. Respect both mercy and justice (verse 17). So in our life, standing down on a low level of Christian experience, we do not understand God’s dealings. 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