Often times Romans Chapter 9 will come up as a point of
conversation related to important theological questions. This is true of the debate of free will
verses divine election. I have over the
year gravitated toward a more natural (i.e. let the Bible be it’s own commentary)
approach to this passage. Part of the
reason for this is that the whole chapter is a string of quotes from the Old Testament. Paul using these quotes is intentional. I firmly believe that to understand Romans
Chapter 9 it is important to understand the context of the various Old
Testament passages that Paul is quoting here.
I am going to explore over the next several posts the context of the various
quotes to see how they can help us understand this very important passage in Scripture.
As it is written: I have loved Jacob, but I have hated
Esau.
This verse is a quote. It is not from Genesis though. That
turns out to be an especially important clue as to what Paul is trying to
communicate here.
The quote is from Malachi 1:3
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. Yet you ask, “How
have you loved us?” “Wasn’t Esau Jacob’s brother?” This is the Lord’s
declaration. “Even so, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau. I turned his mountains
into a wasteland, and gave his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
You see this reference was to the nations of Israel and
Edomites.
So, when God says he loves Jacob in this quote he is saying
that he loves the nation of Israel. That is the plain interpretation of this
passage. God has blessed and preserved the nation of Israel. He has blessed
them as stewards of the Laws of God. In them is the seed of salvation. That is
why God loves Jacob.
In that context then when God says “Esau I have hated” it is
referencing that the Edomites have been diminished and removed as a nation.
Continuing on in Malachi 1:4 “Though Edom says, “We have been devastated,
but we will rebuild the ruins,” the Lord of Armies says this: “They may build,
but I will demolish. They will be called a wicked country and the people the
Lord has cursed forever.” God has cursed them as a nation because the have
become a “Wicked country.”
In Amos 1:11 “The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing
Edom for three crimes, even four, because he pursued his brother with the sword.
He stifled his compassion, his anger tore at him continually, and he harbored
his rage incessantly.”
So, we see that God is righteous and did not arbitrarily
hate Esau.
It is important that we understand scripture in the context
of the whole of scripture. When we isolate passages (especially passages that
are quotations) we can end up with a wrong interpretation. In this case we end
up thinking God arbitrarily hated an individual without cause before he was
born. That would not be an accurate statement in light of the passage that Paul
was quoting. It turns God into a monster. It is more likely that Paul is
talking about the election of the nation of Israel to be the stewards of God
promise and the election of Edom for destruction because at every point they
fought against the purposes of God.
God bless you,
~BJ
No comments:
Post a Comment