This is a hard saying. It is especially hard because it is what God said (Malachi 1: 1-3a). Just hearing the word “hate” conjures up thoughts of someone being despised, disdained, or rejected. By hating someone we cause them to know and feel the wrath of our ill-feeling toward them. We see the contrast between love and hate, in that the one who is loved is favored and the one who is hated is refused.
In the case of Jacob and his brother Esau, neither of them had much to do with the reason for being loved and hated (Romans 9:10-13). What led to the saying “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated” is the acts of their mother. She tricked her husband Isaac into thinking that the meal he was eating came from the hunt and cooking of Jacob, while Esau was still preparing his father’s meal (Genesis 27: 5-29). We must ask: what wrong did Esau do to be told he was hated?
In an attempt to understand it, I believe we must consider that the word “hate “ does not have the same ugly meaning with God as it is meant when spoken by humans. The Webster’s Dictionary defines hate as intense hostility and extreme dislike. But in the Hebrew sense, (the language spoken by God on Earth to a specific people), there are several ways to look at the word “Yarah-hate.” It can mean “to point out as if by aiming the finger.” It can also mean “to teach and inform.” As such, if someone is told they are hated in the Hebrew sense, it can be viewed as positive because it is an expression which caused the person to whom the word hate is addressed to learn something. In the saying “…Esau have I hated,” Esau was being taught something about himself, and perhaps, something about God. Esau was being directed by the aiming of the finger of God to discover fact or truth.
On the other hand, “Yarah or hate” can also carry the idea of “cast out or throw.” The Bible does not say that Esau was cast out. God did cast others out from His presence. We find a mention of this is Revelation 12:9: “And the great dragon was thrown down…, and his angels were thrown down with him.” If there is any indication that God disliked anyone, it will be Satan and his angels. But Esau was not disliked. The reason then, why Esau was hated is still unclear. Did he take too long preparing the meal for his father (Genesis 27:30-31). Did Esau have some dislike for his brother Jacob, since he was the oldest son and was next in line to inherit his father’s best possessions? (Genesis 27:41a). Esau hated Jacob. This hatred fueled Esau’s desire to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41b). Esau’s hatred had consumed him. As James chapter 1:15 points out “Then, desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin….” Esau did not mince his words. Esau said something which only his mother heard regarding what Esau intended to do with his brother after Isaac’s death (Genesis 27:41b-42). Whatever the reason for Esau being hated, the father did so, but he still loved Esau. Therefore, Esau was not hated in the western understanding of “hate.” He was hated as a way of correcting his rugged ways and character. Esau’s character was dominated by wrongful thoughts and desires (Genesis 4: 7a; James 1:14-15).
Now we can conclude, that Esau was not hated, that is, looked at with malice. God is always love. God cannot hate to hurt, to kill, and to destroy. What a lesson: God uses a word, hate, an idea seen by others as unpleasant, but God uses it to give life improvement. Even when God says “Esau have I hated,” God is aiming Esau’s heart and mind in the direction of self understanding. By saying Esau have I hated, God was teaching Esau that He hated the smearing of Esau’s heart, but God still loved Esau. God hated Esau’s malicious intentions, but God still loved him. Esau had to learn that his hatred for Jacob provoked him to want to kill Jacob. But he also learned that God’s hatred for Esau moved God to secure his life.
In the end, or along life’s journey, Esau would say: “… I have enough (blessings), my brother…” (Genesis 33:9). The lesson was clear for Esau. As one saying goes, “the life you live is the lesson you teach.” Hate is conquered only by God’s love!
