Ro 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
First, Paul is not talking about unconditional election to salvation here. He was talking about earthly blessings and the superiority of Jacob over Esau because of the blessing he received from God.
Notice that Paul began with the words: "As it is written." He was saying something in verse 12 that he now supports in verse 13. What did he say in verse 12?
Ro 9:12 it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger."
13 As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."
Jacob was loved by God in the sense that he received a superior blessing over Esau. The result of the blessing is that Jacob would be served by Esau.
You remember Esau forsook and sold his birthright. That birthright carried the blessing of the firstborn son, a superior blessing. Esau did not value spiritual things. He was a picture of an unbeliever. Jacob, on the other hand, valued spiritual things and so he sought the firstborn right blessing from Esau. Jacob was a picture of a believer.
Jacob was the one who received the blessing of the Promise Land. He received the blessing of becoming the line through whom the Messiah would come. On the other hand, Esau received the desert lands, a wasteland.
Mal 1:2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" Says the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved;
3 But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness."
Esau and his descendants proved to be unbelievers generally. They persecuted Israel, their brother and they rejoiced upon the destruction of Israel.
God promised that whoever blesses Abraham and his descendants will be blessed, whoever curses Abraham and his descendants will be cursed. Edom in hating Jacob cursed himself.
Second, Jacob and Esau here represent the nations Israel and Edom. When God uttered these words, He did not utter it in eternity past, He did not say it during the lives of Jacob and Esau. On the contrary, He said it long after Jacob and Esau died.
Between Genesis and Malachi 1:2-3 are hundreds of years. The words: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated" were uttered in Malachi to Israelites and not personally to Jacob and Esau when they were alive. Jacob and Esau never heard of this proclamation personally.
"Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated" is found in Malachi and not found in Genesis. Many times in the Bible, Jacob means the nation Israel and Edom means the nation Edom.
If you read Genesis, Esau, the person, never served the person Jacob. Why? Because God meant the nation Edom, and not the person of Esau, to serve the nation Jacob or Israel.
"The older shall serve the younger" is a prophecy of what will happen to the nations that will come out of Jacob and Esau.
Ge 25:23 And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger."
In the future, in the millennium, the nation of Edom would serve Israel. This verse is not talking about unconditional election at all.
Third, God does hate those who rebel against Him, but He loves them enough that He wants them to repent and be saved (see John 3:16).
