God's Sovereign Election

January 10th, 2025
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 9:10-13 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Moving from God’s promise given to Abraham concerning a perpetual line of descendants through his wife Sarah and their son Isaac (9:7-9), Paul moved to the second generation of the promise through Isaac and his wife Rebekah in vv. 10-13. Though Abraham’s progeny contains a legitimate posterity through Isaac, it also has an illegitimate posterity through the Egyptian woman named Hagar (Gen. 16), the line of Ishmael. Though Isaac and Rebekah’s progeny also had two sons, these were legitimate twins: Jacob and Esau—grandsons of Abraham.

Of course Rebekah became the wife of Isaac, and since God’s promise was with Isaac, God blessed Isaac’s progeny. Although initially barren, Rebekah became pregnant with twins after Isaac prayed for her womb to be opened (Gen. 25:21). Jacob and Esau both became patriarchs of their respective nations, the nation of Israel and the nation of Edom (aka, the Idumaeans).

While Rebekah was pregnant she experienced great pains in her womb, causing her to cry out to God who explained to her that her unborn boys represented two future nations. The pains she experienced were precursors to the division that would eventually exist between their respective nations (Gen. 25:22-23). Even before the twins were born God did a curious thing: He chose one son over the other to fulfill His promises made to Abraham, choosing Jacob and rejecting Esau. Commenting on this, the prophet Malachi wrote that God “loved Jacob but hated Esau” (1:2-3)—before either child breathed a breath. God did this in order that His “purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls” (v. 11). This reveals that one’s national heritage and good works have nothing to do with God’s freedom to sovereignly elect those whom He chooses for salvation.

God’s hatred for Esau before he was ever born must be understood in context. Emotional hatred is not in view in Malachi’s prophecy, for he wrote more than 1,500 years after their deaths while looking back at their respective nations. This means that God’s hatred is not total but comparative, giving more to one than the other (cf. Matt. 6:24; Luke 14:26; John 12:25). Jacob was chosen for divine blessing by God’s grace and given far more than Esau who was later left to divine judgment. Though firstborn, Esau never actually served Jacob, but his descendants did (cf. 1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:14; 1 Kings 11:15-16; 22:47; 2 Kings 14:7). It was God’s plan, therefore, and not man’s works, that was the basis for His choosing one over the other.

Some might argue that Paul was building a case for fatalism in the case of Esau or that Jacob was a robot of sorts in that he had no choice in being saved by God. But Paul is actually making the point that the exclusion of so many Jews from salvation did not denote failure on God’s part to uphold His promises to the remnant of Israel. God kept His promise to the promised “seed” of Abraham, not to all of his offspring. So Abraham’s true seed is not physical per se but by God’s choice through his offspring. All those who trust in Christ, Abraham’s Seed, are his offspring.

Food for Thought

God has chosen some for salvation from both Jews and Gentiles. His choosing Jacob over Esau proves that God elects the recipients of salvation apart from personal merit or any effort on their part. Thus, salvation is due to God’s choice, God’s election and predestination. So when God opens the eyes of the spiritually blind, He is being true to His word. All to His glory!