[Rebekah] was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Romans 9:12-13 ESV
This is ultimately about the election of Israel over all other nations, not about the salvation of individual people.
Both Esau and Jacob were children of promise. God prophesied that Esau would serve Jacob, but the birthright was still Esau’s to lose. He gave it up because he despised it, and then Isaac confirmed Esau's choice when he blessed Jacob, even if he believed he was blessing Esau.
Not even God is allowed to break his promises once made, so the blessing of Isaac on Jacob was made even more unbreakable by the three-fold word of God, Esau, and Isaac. The transfer of the blessing from Esau to Jacob required the cooperation of everyone involved: Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob.
From this week’s Torah portion – Miqqeitz
B’reishyth 41 14-38
Then Pharaoh sent and called Yoseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. And he shaved and changed his garments, and came to Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said to Yoseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. Now I myself have heard it said of you that you understand a dream, to interpret it.”
And Yoseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me, let Elohim answer Pharaoh with peace.”
And Pharaoh said to Yoseph, “See, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river and saw seven cows coming up out of the river, beautiful looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds, then saw seven other cows coming up after them, poor and very ugly and lean of flesh, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Mitsrayim.
“And the lean of flesh and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.
“Yet when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke.
“Also, I looked in my dream and saw seven heads coming up on one stalk, complete and excellent, then saw seven heads, withered, lean, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.
“And the lean heads swallowed the seven excellent heads. And I spoke to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
And Yoseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do: “The seven excellent cows are seven years, and the seven excellent heads are seven years – it is one dream.
“And the seven lean and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads scorched by the east wind are seven years of scarcity of food.
“This is the word which I spoke to Pharaoh: Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
“See, seven years of great plenty are coming in all the land of Mitsrayim, but after them seven years of scarcity of food shall arise and all the plenty be forgotten in the land of Mitsrayim. And the scarcity of food shall destroy the land, and the plenty shall not be remembered in the land, because of the scarcity of food following, for it is very severe.
“And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the word is established by Elohim, and Elohim is hastening to do it.
“And now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Mitsrayim.
“Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, to take up one-fifth of the land of Mitsrayim in the seven years of plenty.
“And let them gather all the food of those excellent years that are coming, and store up grain under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
“And the food shall be for a store for the land for the seven years of scarcity of food which shall be in the land of Mitsrayim, and do not let the land be cut off by the scarcity of food.”
And the word was excellent in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?”
...when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls...
Romans 9:10-11
“God’s purpose of election” in this context has nothing to do with the eternal salvation of either Jacob or Esau. It is about who God is choosing for a specific mission in this world, as a pattern for a higher spiritual reality, and for who would be the progenitor of the one who would enable the eternal salvation of all who would believe in him.
https://rumble.com/v53cw0l-wha....t-does-the-election-
How does God use our disobedience to bring us to repentance and restoration to relationship with him?
https://tube.ttn.place/v/4V5vkx
For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Romans 9:9 ESV
It was impossible for Sarah to conceive a child, yet God made it happen. There is no question that Isaac was the genetic offspring of Abraham and Sarah, but he was also a child solely of promise. For obvious reasons, Abraham and Sarah both had to accept God’s offer of a child. Without their cooperation, Isaac could not have been born. Their involvement was necessary at every step in the process.
This fact should undermine the confidence of Calvinists in their interpretation of this passage, but it seems to go completely unnoticed.
Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
Romans 9:7 ESV
Not all of Abraham's or Isaac's children inherited the Covenant. Although all of Jacob's children inherited the covenant, the precedent has been established and some of his more remote descendants can be cut off.
The true children of Abraham are by promise and divine intervention, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t include his natural children. Isaac was the natural son of Abraham and Sarah, even if his conception was miraculous. Salvation and judgment both are to the Jew first, and only then to the gentile.
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
Romans 9:6 ESV
Paul says “But it is not as though the word of God has failed” in reference to his dismay at the unbelief of his Jewish kinsmen.
Since God promises that the nation of Israel will one day be restored, does their current unbelief mean that God’s promise has failed? No, every tree needs to be pruned before it branches out and blossoms. The nation itself will remain forever, but individual branches will be pruned. Which branches is not for us to say.
Paul and John said that the Law defines sin, so how is it possible for people who have never known the Law to be guilty of sin? Actually, all people know enough of the Law to be guilty of breaking it. The Law is in our DNA and all people know most of it without ever having to be told.
https://rumble.com/v3gn8g8-rom....ans-212-and-the-law-