Romans 9, Predestination & Total Depravity
A Critique of Reformed Theology
Romans 9 - God's Choice
Paul states that, “…so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand…it was said to her, (Rebekah) ‘the older will serve the younger.’” What was God’s purpose? The salvation of Jacob and reprobation of Esau? It doesn’t say. MY OPINION is that it had to do with God’s purpose to bring forth the Christ. God chose that Christ would come from Jacob (Israel) not Esau (Edom). Therefore He said, “The older (nation) will serve the younger (nation)”. God’s purpose in “choosing” Jacob/Israel was not a choice concerning the salvation of an individual but was a choice as to whose descendants would bring forth Jesus, the bruiser of the serpent’s head, the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. As Paul says, it is Israel “…from whom is the Christ…” It could be (my opinion) that the birthright had to do with God’s purpose according to His choice - whose line (God’s choice) the Christ (God’s purpose) was to come from. It was the manner of the ancients to define the genealogy through the first-born son.
In Luke we see that Jesus’ genealogy is traced from Joseph up, through Jacob, not Esau, though he was first-born, to Abraham, and on to Adam; and, by reference to Matt. 1, that the genealogy is traced down from Abraham, through Jacob, not Esau, to Christ. I’m suggesting that Esau, being the first-born, or the elder son, had the right by birth, that is to say, he had the birthright to be listed in the genealogy, which was the lineage of Christ. But because he sold his birthright to Jacob, he forfeited his right to be named in the ancestral line of the Christ. When he desired to obtain the blessing that goes with the birthright, there was no repentance for it, though he sought it with tears. That’s my opinion of the nature of God’s choice spoken of in Romans 9 in relation to Jacob (Israel) and Esau (Edom). It has to do with which descendant line Christ would come from, not the individual salvation or reprobation of the twins themselves. As such, God’s choice as to whom Christ was descended from is irrespective of whether either of the twins had done good or evil. They both did evil. As the Bible plainly shows, there is all kinds of evil in Christ’s ancestry. The issue of who Christ is descended from is quite apart from any good or evil in that ancestry, which is Paul’s point when he says, “…before either of them had done good or evil…so that God’s choice would stand …” At any rate, the distinction, “the older [nation] will serve the younger [nation]” is NOT the same thing as “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated.”
Calvinists will say something like, “‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’ There is a distinction among men made here (twins at that) and that distinction was made before either were born, or had done good or evil.”
Read the passages, both Romans 9 and Genesis 25, and you will see that the distinction that was made before the twins were born was that “the older [nation] will serve the younger [nation].” This distinction was not concerning the twins themselves but was a distinction made concerning their descendant nations. The “loved” and “hated” distinction was NOT made before the twins were born. THAT distinction was made centuries later in Malachi and concerns the NATIONS of Israel and Edom. CENTURIES of good and evil acts were done BEFORE that statement was made. Paul, in Romans 9, is consistent with this. “…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…it was said to her, ‘the older will serve the younger.’” THAT is the decree that was made before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad. It does NOT say, “…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…it was said to her, “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated.”
The POINT Paul is making in using the passage from Malachi is that the “love/hate” distinction CAME LATER and is an illustration that the older (nation) did indeed serve the younger (nation). “Just as it is written…” (Paraphrase: Just as Malachi wrote, centuries later, that the older nation has served the younger nation in fulfillment of the prophecy to Rebekah) “… Jacob (Israel) I loved, but Esau (Edom) I hated.” The loving and hating was not in existence at the time it was said, “The older will serve the younger.” NONE of these passages concern Jacob and Esau as individuals, but as nations. Paul is speaking of God’s elective purposes and consequent conditional dealings with nations and peoples in Romans 9 – not individual believers and unbelievers. The election being spoken of has nothing to do with individual salvation. When Malachi says, “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated” he is speaking of Israel and Edom. When Paul quotes Malachi, he is speaking of exactly the same thing, Israel and Edom.
Calvinists speak of a distinguishing love that God has for His “chosen according to grace” people and use Romans 9 as an illustration of a distinguishing love of individuals that originates in eternity past based on nothing but God’s sovereign, immutable decree. But where is that in Romans 9? Nowhere does it say that God loving Jacob and hating Esau is the result of a predetermined distinction made in eternity past based on nothing but God’s sovereign will. Neither does Romans 9 in any way concern the individual salvation of Jacob and the reprobation of Esau. As I pointed out, the distinction that was made before the twins were born was that the older nation would serve the younger nation, that is, the descendants of the older twin would serve the descendants of the younger twin. Remember that the issue is - who is it that is named as Abraham’s descendants? The love/hate distinction came later, centuries later, and concerns Israel and Edom, not Jacob and Esau, and was the result of, that is, conditional to, according to Obadiah and Ezekiel, the behavior of Edom in relation to Israel’s desolation. Calvinists insist on the presupposition that Paul is using Jacob and Esau as illustrations of God’s predetermination of individuals to salvation or reprobation by immutable decree in eternity past, and so must eisegete the idea of a distinguishing love and hate for the individual twins from before birth. To say that these passages (Romans 9, Malachi 1 and Genesis 25:23) are specifically speaking of Jacob and Esau as individuals is to disregard the immediate context of ALL 3 passages. It would also be failing to recognize the fact that according to Genesis, Esau (the individual) never served Jacob (the individual). If the prophecy (the older will serve the younger) to Rebekah concerned the individuals, or if Paul is applying that prophecy to the individuals, then that prophecy is FALSE and/or Paul’s application is FALSE because, according to Genesis, Esau never served Jacob. Jacob served Esau. Jacob called Esau, “My lord” and when speaking to Esau referred to himself as “your servant.”
The 2 OT passages in question both refer explicitly to Jacob and Esau as descendant nations, not individuals. Therefore, the election, and the loving and hating, being spoken of in Romans 9 is concerning nations, not individuals, even as the text in Genesis is concerning nations, and even as the text in Malachi is concerning nations. The distinction made before the birth of the twins was that “the older (nation) will serve the younger (nation)”. It does not say that this distinction was made in eternity past before the foundation of the world. It was made AFTER the twins were conceived and before they were born. (“Two nations are in your womb”) “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated” was NOT a predetermined election but was conditionally based on Edom’s actions at a later time. That is the basis the SCRIPTURES give for God’s hatred of Edom. God’s hatred of Edom was not prophesied before the fact in either Genesis or Malachi. In Genesis, it’s the servitude of Edom to Judah and Edom’s revolt against Judah that is prophesied before the fact. Notice the statement in Malachi is in the past tense – God’s hatred of Edom had already happened. Neither of these things has to do with individual salvation but concern the nations of Israel and Edom.