JACOB AND ESAU

MALACHI 1:2

A. "WAS NOT ESAU JACOB'S BROTHER? SAITH THE LORD, YET I LOVED JACOB AND I HATED ESAU"
  1. This is one of the great paradoxes of the Bible:
    1. A plain statement by God that He loved Jacob and hated Esau
    2. We read this statement by God and wonder
  2. Our difficulty is:
    1. That we single out a statement like that of our text without weighing it in the light of other statements in the Bible that would explain and justify the Lord's attitude
    2. Here is where the skeptic misses the point; he does not bother to learn the reason for God's statements in the Bible
B. JACOB AND ESAU
  1. The history of those two men:
    1. They were the two sons of Isaac; Esau was the older and Jacob was the younger; they were twins - Gen. 25:21-24
    2. The parents were partial - Isaac loved Esau and Rebekah loved Jacob
    3. Esau became a field's man and Jacob lived in tents
  2. The two men were different in their approach to life:
    1. Esau was not interested either in his birthright or in serving the God of his father; he was a profane person - an infidel at heart - compare Gen. 25:32 with Heb. 2:16
    2. Jacob was interested in both the birthright and also in the faith of his fathers - compare Gen. 25:31; 32:9-12
  3. This brings us to the question - is God a respecter of persons:
    1. The Bible assures us that God does not respect the person of any man - Acts 10:34-35; Job 34:19; Rom. 2:11
    2. god stated to Cain the basis of divine favors - "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? - Gen. 4:7
    3. Esau represented the people that live without God in this world; all they care for is to satisfy the temporal wants of today
C. WHY DID GOD LOVE JACOB?
  1. Some reasons why the Lord did not:
    1. The Lord did not approve of some of the mean ways that Jacob had - always attempting to get the better of others - compare Gen. 25:31 with chapters 30; 31-43; 31:1-12
    2. The name "Jacob" means a supplanter of deceiver - just keep in mind how he deceived his father - his mother being party to it - Gen. 27:6-28
  2. Let us note a number of reasons why the Lord loved Jacob:
    1. God loved Jacob for his spiritual sensibility
    2. In spite of all his ugly defects, Jacob had faith in the God of his fathers. to him the promises and blessings of God were worth more than all else in this world
    3. He was a man of faith and prayer - Gen. 32:9-30; 35:1-9
    4. God loved Jacob for his moral possibilities. A careful study of the life of Jacob reveals that he ever sought to influence his family to serve the God of his fathers
    5. God loved Jacob for his fitness to fulfill the purpose of God
    6. We know that God's supreme purpose is to redeem a lost world - Jacob represents those who accept God's plan for salvation
  3. All these qualities were missing in the character of Esau:
    1. He mixed with the idolatrous Canaanites - married contrary to his parent's wishes
    2. We have no record that he ever took the name of God upon his lips
    3. We have no record that he ever spoke about God's promises to the fathers
    4. All he seemed to care for was to satisfy his carnal nature
  4. These, dear friends, are some of the reasons why God loved Jacob and hated Esau:
    1. He loved the penitent attitude of Jacob
    2. And despised the infidelity of Esau; so the attitude of God is based upon he life the brothers lived


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