"As it is written, Jacob have I (God) loved, but Esau have I hated." (Romans 9:13)
"And I (God) hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." (Malachi 1:3)
If you know the almighty God at all, you will as well know that there is no hatred in Him, no partiality at all, He is just and fair to all His creatures. That is why it is so surprising and disturbing to hear Him clearly declare His hatred for the man called Esau, even before he was born.
It might be understandable to hate someone who has offended you, but hating someone before his birth is very perturbing, and unjustifiable. Questions are bound to be asked as to why God made such a critical statement at such a time. Does God really hates people? And if God be the same throughout all ages, could there still be people who like Esau are hated by God, even in our today world? Are you worried you might be one of such people? Hmm, you need not worry too much, come with me, as I share my little understanding on this matter with you.
For many years, I also have been wondering why God publicly declared that he hated Esau, and afterwards commanded us to love our neighbors, isn't He supposed to be our perfect example? Why is He asking something He is not doing? These series of questions was what led me into a brief study of the life of the man hated by God. What sort of man was he? Was his life a hard one as one would expect it to be for a man that is not enjoying God's favour? Did he suffer all his days? The answer to all these questions is no. His life wasn't that miserable, because God was with him and settled him early, even much earlier than the man Jacob, who was loved by God.
The man hated by God got married first (And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: (Genesis 26:34)
Esau was given a country of his own, while his brother Jacob, who happened to be God's favorite was led into slavery for 430 years (And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. (Joshua 24:4)
The place where God gave unto Esau was already occupied by the Horims, but God helped the man he hated to destroy that nation and take up their land: ("The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them" (Deuteronomy 2:12)
When Esau met Jacob, many years after he had carted away with his blessings, he could boldly say to him, "I have enough" (Genesis 33:9 "And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.")
And eventually, when the beloved of God, that is Jacob, was coming out of Egypt, God warned them strictly not to meddle with Esau or covet his land, because He would never give it to them. (Deuteronomy 2:5 "Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.")
After discovering all these and many more, my only surviving question about this matter is this: "O God, is this how you hate? Is this what you called hatred?". What God called hatred was just the fact that Esau was not privileged to be a servant of His, he was never predestined to serve Jehovah, and that's what God called hatred.
In the real sense, no one is hated by God, not even you, with whatever hardships that are around your life. God is love and He loves you even today. Even when He 'hates', He still helps, this should put a smile on your face. Cheer up! There is hope for you. God bless you real good.
Thanks for reading my post. May you encouraged to live a good life.