Hi there,
Ok so, we have this verse, where it looks like God is separating wheat from chaff (Malachi), but actually upon reflection, it is not clear that God is playing favourites, so much as extending a distinction - that brings contrast. The key point of fact, is that God does not say "I despised Esau" nor "Have I not set Jacob completely apart?", rather He welcomes them as brothers, under His Wing. The subtext is that "[God] loved Jacob far more, than [He] hated Esau". God is not putting a burden on Esau, that Esau can't carry; nor does God love Jacob with a love that is too little to do anything with - in this sense, they both remain brothers! That is how God's yoke works: He brings you together with those of your kind, that you may support one another, how ever you are burdened!
The verse that supports this subtext of lots of love and little hate, is "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (old testament, quoted in the new). God is not saying "See that you crucify my love" to Jacob, nor "Keep in mind, how much I hate you" to Esau - that is not how God works. We must remember that God desires a relationship, with us; God does not grow in love with us, while giving us a relationship that is unfair - we aren't married to the world, but those God has drawn out of the world, to be with God, regardless of how He feels about them. There is a mystery in this: does God love Jacob with the Love that was meant for Esau? No! For God preserves Esau and does not destroy him. Does God ask Jacob to improve on His Love, while He loves others with him, the same way? No! God abounds in Love for Jacob, in ways that could never have been possible, even if all He did was love Esau less.
So there is a calling here, to walk in the freedom, that God has given us. It may be that God refrains from giving us, things that would destroy us - like a brother, who despised God's love for us, or a brother who was conceited about how much love he got. As God has said "I have created the Artisan and the Destroyer" (old testament, from memory); the more Esau is hated, the more he is comforted that a life of ownership, is no life at all; the more Jacob is loved, the more he sets about working to possess that love, to give place to that love and to desire the fruit of that love - if even then you could put a limit on how great that love was. God's power grows in this; not out of a rush to do His Will, as madness comes to find its root in (there is madness there, but we need not feed it).
This power of God's, to shape those He has a relationship with, is something you can't find anywhere else in Creation. The Devil creates an artifice, that he uses for everyone, a cookie-cutter relationship, that only diminishes with time. If we resist him (the Devil), we come to realise that those in our lives, also have different relationships to God, that we can't account for, without God. We grow to appreciate Him. We also grow to appreciate others, because we know there is a difference, that God has set out, even from before we were created. These relationships become something we can feed, and nourish, that they become the fullest examples of the Power of God and the outstretched hand of His Love. Yes! We can praise Him, as no other!
I hope this has been of some blessing.
God bless.
Ok so, we have this verse, where it looks like God is separating wheat from chaff (Malachi), but actually upon reflection, it is not clear that God is playing favourites, so much as extending a distinction - that brings contrast. The key point of fact, is that God does not say "I despised Esau" nor "Have I not set Jacob completely apart?", rather He welcomes them as brothers, under His Wing. The subtext is that "[God] loved Jacob far more, than [He] hated Esau". God is not putting a burden on Esau, that Esau can't carry; nor does God love Jacob with a love that is too little to do anything with - in this sense, they both remain brothers! That is how God's yoke works: He brings you together with those of your kind, that you may support one another, how ever you are burdened!
The verse that supports this subtext of lots of love and little hate, is "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (old testament, quoted in the new). God is not saying "See that you crucify my love" to Jacob, nor "Keep in mind, how much I hate you" to Esau - that is not how God works. We must remember that God desires a relationship, with us; God does not grow in love with us, while giving us a relationship that is unfair - we aren't married to the world, but those God has drawn out of the world, to be with God, regardless of how He feels about them. There is a mystery in this: does God love Jacob with the Love that was meant for Esau? No! For God preserves Esau and does not destroy him. Does God ask Jacob to improve on His Love, while He loves others with him, the same way? No! God abounds in Love for Jacob, in ways that could never have been possible, even if all He did was love Esau less.
So there is a calling here, to walk in the freedom, that God has given us. It may be that God refrains from giving us, things that would destroy us - like a brother, who despised God's love for us, or a brother who was conceited about how much love he got. As God has said "I have created the Artisan and the Destroyer" (old testament, from memory); the more Esau is hated, the more he is comforted that a life of ownership, is no life at all; the more Jacob is loved, the more he sets about working to possess that love, to give place to that love and to desire the fruit of that love - if even then you could put a limit on how great that love was. God's power grows in this; not out of a rush to do His Will, as madness comes to find its root in (there is madness there, but we need not feed it).
This power of God's, to shape those He has a relationship with, is something you can't find anywhere else in Creation. The Devil creates an artifice, that he uses for everyone, a cookie-cutter relationship, that only diminishes with time. If we resist him (the Devil), we come to realise that those in our lives, also have different relationships to God, that we can't account for, without God. We grow to appreciate Him. We also grow to appreciate others, because we know there is a difference, that God has set out, even from before we were created. These relationships become something we can feed, and nourish, that they become the fullest examples of the Power of God and the outstretched hand of His Love. Yes! We can praise Him, as no other!
I hope this has been of some blessing.
God bless.
