“As it is written, ‘Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.'” Romans 9:13.
Welsh asked “How did God manifest his love toward Jacob, and how did he manifest his hatred or wrath toward Esau?” I found the contrast very helpful; it reveals the true nature of God as a father and how he works in the lives of his children.
If you look at Esau’s life, God fulfilled every promise he made regarding him. God granted Esau immense earthly success, wealth, land, and nationhood:
“Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you shall live…” Genesis 27:39, 40.
Esau accumulated incredible wealth and vast herds: “Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters… all his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together…” Genesis 36:6, 7.
God blessed Esau with power, and he became a great leader of a great nation. In fact, God specifically protected Esau’s land and explicitly forbade Israel from interfering with it: “Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession” Deuteronomy 2:5. Long before Israel ever had a king, Esau’s descendants had already built an established kingdom with rulers and chieftains:
“These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel…” Genesis 36:31–43.
So, how was God’s wrath or rejection manifested toward Esau despite all this prosperity? God never disciplined Esau. He let Esau be Esau. He never intervened in Esau’s life to change his heart, nor did he work to make Esau holy. He simply cut the rope and allowed Esau to live exactly as Esau wanted to live: prosperous in the world, yet abandoned to his own desires.
Now, how did God manifest his love toward Jacob? By intervening, disciplining, and refining him. He would not allow Jacob to remain as he was, a deceiver whose very name meant “supplanter” (Genesis 27:36). Instead, God brought Jacob through years of trials until he wrestled him at Penuel and gave him a new name and identity: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have power with God and with men, and have prevailed” Genesis 32:28.
If you look at the life of Jacob, you see the trials he suffered and the grueling experiences he went through. When he finally re-entered the Promised Land, he entered in limping. Why? Because God fought with him, broke his self-reliance, and redeemed him: “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine'” (Isaiah 43:1).
Here is what you need to understand: the goal of God in your life is not earthly prosperity, health, wealth, or “your best life now.” If you belong to him as a child, God’s goal is to make you holy and to conform you to the image of Christ. He will cleanse you from your filthiness, he will cleanse you from your idols, and he will be deeply zealous in doing so. He will permit whatever trial or discipline is necessary to shape you into the image of his Son.
The primary way God demonstrates his fatherly love is through discipline. If he does not love you as a son, he leaves you alone to enjoy temporary worldly ease: “For whom the Lord loves he chastens [corrects], and scourges every son whom he receives” Hebrews 12:6.
Is God actively pruning, correcting, and shaping you today, or is he leaving you to your own devices?
