JACOB HAVE I LOVED, BUT ESAU HAVE I HATED! [Rom 9:13] – THE TEXT MEANS WHAT IT SAYS! C.H. Spurgeon “Scriptural statement of the fact, that some men are chosen, other men are left,—the great fact that is declared in this text, — Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. It is a terrible text, and I will be honest with it if I can. One man says the word hate does not mean hate; it means love less:—Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I loved less. It may be so: but I dont believe it is. At any rate, it says hate here; and until you give me another version of the Bible, I shall keep to this one. I believe that the term is correctly and properly translated; that the word hate is not stronger than the original; but even if it be a little stronger, it is nearer the mark than the other translation which is offered to us in those meaningless words, love less. I like to take it and let it stand just as it is. The fact is, God loved Jacob, and he did not love Esau; he did choose Jacob, but he did not choose Esau; he did bless Jacob, but he never blessed Esau; his mercy followed Jacob all the way of his life, even to the last, but his mercy never followed Esau; he permitted him still to go on in his sins, and to prove that dreadful truth, Esau have I hated. Others, in order to get rid of this ugly text, say, it does not mean Esau and Jacob; it means the nation; it means Jacobs children and Esaus children; it means the children of Israel and Edom. I should like to know where the difference lies. Is the difficulty removed by extending it? Some of the Wesleyan brethren say, that there is a national election; God has chosen one nation and not another. They turn round and tell us it is unjust in God to choose one man and not another. Now, we ask them by everything reasonable, is it not equally unjust of God to choose one nation and leave another? The argument which they imagine overthrows us overthrows them also. There never was a more foolish subterfuge than that of trying to bring out national election. What is the election of a nation but the election of so many units, of so many people? And it is tantamount to the same thing as the particular election of individuals. In thinking, men cannot see clearly that if—which we do not for a moment believe—that if there be any injustice in God choosing one man and not another, how much more must there be injustice in his choosing one nation and not another. No! the difficulty cannot be got rid of thus, but is greatly increased by this foolish wresting of Gods Word. Besides, here is the proof that that is not correct; read the verse preceding it. It does not say anything at all about nations, it says, For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger,—referring to the children, not to the nations. Of course the threatening was afterwards fulfilled in the position of the two nations; Edom was made to serve Israel. But this text means just what it says; it does not mean nations, but it means the persons mentioned. Jacob,—that is the man whose name was Jacob— Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Take care my dear friends, how any of you meddle with Gods Word. I have heard of folks altering passages they did not like. It will not do, you know, you cannot alter them; they are really just the same. Our only power with the Word of God is simply to let it stand as it is, and to endeavour by Gods grace to accommodate ourselves to that. We must never try to make the Bible bow to us, in fact we cannot, for the truths of divine revelation are as sure and fast as the throne of God. If a man wants to enjoy a delightful prospect, and a mighty mountain lies in his path, does he commence cutting away at its base, in the vain hope that ultimately it will become a level plain before him? No, on the contrary, he diligently uses it for the accomplishment of his purpose by ascending it, well knowing this to be the only means of obtaining the end in view. So must we do; we cannot bring down the truths of God to our poor finite understandings; the mountain will never fall before us, but we can seek strength to rise higher and higher in our perception of divine things, and in this way only may we hope to obtain the blessing”. Read the full sermon - spurgeon.org/sermons/0239.htm
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 18:04:03 +0000
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