p. 2 | 3431 - "Hated" and "Loved" by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 16, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 19.

3431 — "Hated" and "Loved"

By Editor

Please explain Rom. 9:12-14. Was it God who said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated"?

It was the Lord who said it through the prophet. See Mal. 1:2, 3. But "hate" is not used in the sense of holding ill will or malice toward Esau, but in the sense of loving less. For instance in Prov. 13: 24 we read, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son;" which simply means that he does not love his son as much as he ought, or he would train his son for eternity, instead of easily indulging him now. Compare Matt. 10: 37 with Luke 14: 26. The "hate" of Luke means loving less than God. See also John 12: 25, "He that hateth his life;" that is, loves it less than he loves God. God preferred Jacob to Esau, because of the characters of the two men.