Here is a typical example of the teaching our Lord gave in the parable of the wheat and the tares. Let’s have a look at the situation regarding the birth of the twins, Jacob and Esau.
Genesis 25:21-26 “Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren; and the Lord was entreated of him and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within the womb; and she said, ‘If it be so, why am I like this?’ And she went to enquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.’ And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold there were twins in her womb, and the first came out red, all over like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. And after that his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel. And his name was called Jacob.”
Jacob and Esau were NOT identical twins. Their physical appearance differed remarkably. But the Lord also said that they would be “two manner of people.” And so they were; very different of manner and custom. Esau’s history showed him to be cunning, deceitful, vengeful, and careless of his primogeniture. Jacob on the other hand was said to be an upright man, but easily led by his mother into a trick that rebounded on him for years.
Paul had something to say about the twins which is very important to our theme. “The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him who calls, it was said to her, ‘The elder shall serve the younger.’ As it is written [in Malachi 1:2-3] ‘Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.’ What then shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.” (Romans 9:11-14)
The love that God had for Jacob, and the hatred towards Esau, related to days prior to their human birth. As Paul pointed out, some may conclude that God is unrighteous. By ordinary human standards this looks very much like favouritism. “God forbid!” cried Paul. This is an example of “election,” a subject that is rarely understood, and handled in an abominable way by Calvinists, who virtually uphold that God was selecting individuals for His grace by a roll of the dice.
But no. Here is an example of a grain of “wheat” being “sown” into Rebekah’s womb by the Lord, and a “tare” being sown alongside it. God’s purpose lay in the life of Jacob. Esau was put there to try to eliminate God’s purpose, by first of all arranging that he would be the firstborn, and therefore could lay claim to the parental blessing, and failing this, that Jacob would destroy his own credibility by trickery. But it didn’t work. God used Esau to further His own purposes, rather than allow him to undermine and destroy Jacob.
The only way to understand the life history of these twins is to acknowledge pre-existence.
