Hi Indiana Bob:
I think Isaiah 55:8-9 goes along perfectly with your post: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts".
People should consider that when we talk about God's hatred of sinners, and we attribute personal, human emotional psychology to God's words, we are lowering Him to our level. We are making our thoughts His thoughts, and our ways, His ways, and thereby attributing our feelings, which proceed from our human heart - which the Bible says is "deceitful above all things, and desperately weak" (Jeremiah 17:9) - to a God who is not flesh, but Spirit. Babylon is a perfect example of this. They have ripped the "hate" scriptures from the Bible and have lowered them to a human level. And because they blaspheme the Word of God by proclaiming His thoughts to be as low as theirs, their lives are filled with anger and loathing. The "hate" scriptures, therefore, have become idols in their hearts to be smashed at the appearing of the Lord. In regarding God's love of His creation, or His apparent lack of love for it, this scripture concerning Jacob and Esau will usually be mentioned:
Rom 9:13
"As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated".
There you have it. Case closed, right? Hardly. Let's see if this verse is really about God hating a sinner...
Rom 9:10-13
"And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; For 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 that calleth; It was said unto her (Rebecca), The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated".
This is not about God hating a sinner. He had made a decision about Esau and Jacob without them "having done any good or evil." Within these scriptures you can see clues about what God really means by "hating Esau." God is using "linguistic hyperbole" to illustrate His choice before either son had been born, and before either had done good or evil. God made a choice, and by action, He loved Jacob (by choosing him) and hated Esau (by not choosing him). This verse has nothing to do with human hatred from a deeply flawed heart. Read it in the Contemporary English Version:
Gen 25:29-34
"One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, when Esau came home hungry and said, "I'm starving to death! Give me some of that red stew right now!" That's how Esau got the name "Edom." Jacob replied, "Sell me your rights as the first-born son." "I'm about to die," Esau answered. "What good will those rights do me?" But Jacob said, "Promise me your birthrights, here and now!" And that's what Esau did. Jacob then gave Esau some bread and some of the bean stew, and when Esau had finished eating and drinking, he just got up and left, showing how little he thought of his rights as the first-born".
Prophecy fulfilled. Esau had no idea that he was making a choice to fulfill God's will. He probably just thought he was making a choice to fill his stomach. Nevertheless, he sold his birthright. Here is how the King James renders that last verse:
Gen 25:34
"Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright".
Esau hated his birthright. Or, did he? If Esau despised his birthright, he had a funny way of showing it when he went to his father. Esau said, "My brother deserves the name Jacob, because he has already cheated me twice. The first time he cheated me out of my rights as the first-born son, and now he has cheated me out of my blessing." Then Esau asked his father, "Don't you still have any blessing left for me?" (Gen 27:36).
Does that sound like a man who hated his own birthright? If Esau despised his birthright, he sure had a strange way of showing it by grieving and sorely wanting it. The fact is, Esau did hate his birthright, in the sense that he chose Jacob's stew over it. It had nothing to do with emotion. Clearly, God "loved" Jacob and "hated" Esau and we just witnessed how. Jacob stole Esau's rights and blessing. Then he ran far away, because Esau was angry with Jacob and swore to kill him. One day though, the Lord said to Jacob: "Jacob, go back to your relatives in the land of your ancestors, and I will bless you." (Gen 31:3) Esau, having been tipped off, amassed troops and waited to strike and kill Jacob. But watch what happened:
Gen 33:1-12
"Later that day Jacob met Esau coming with his four hundred men. So Jacob had his children walk with their mothers. The two servant women, Zilpah and Bilhah, together with their children went first, followed by Leah and her children, then by Rachel and Joseph. Jacob himself walked in front of them all, bowing to the ground seven times as he came near his brother. But Esau ran toward Jacob and hugged and kissed him! Then the two brothers started crying! When Esau noticed the women and children he asked, "Whose children are these?" Jacob answered, "These are the ones the LORD has been kind enough to give to me, your servant." Then the two servant women and their children came and bowed down to Esau. Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down; finally, Joseph and Rachel also came and bowed down. Esau asked Jacob, "What did you mean by these herds I met along the road?" "Master," Jacob answered, "I sent them so that you would be friendly to me." "But, brother, I already have plenty," Esau replied. "Keep them for yourself." "No!" Jacob said. "Please accept these gifts as a sign of your friendship for me. When you welcomed me and I saw your face, it was like seeing the face of God. Please accept these gifts I brought to you. God has been good to me, and I have everything I need." Jacob kept insisting until Esau accepted the gifts. "Let's get ready to travel," Esau said. "I'll go along with you."
Remember friends. God hated Esau. God HATED him. He had a passionate gut wrenching emotional revulsion for Esau, right? The fact is, He sent Jacob back to him, promising Jacob a blessing. And what a blessing Jacob received: HE BOWED TO ESAU SEVEN TIMES AND WAS REUNITED WITH HIM. That's quite an interesting hatred the Lord has. His ways are not our ways, but are higher than our ways. His thoughts are not like our thoughts, but are higher. Even his so-called "hate" is "love" compared to our weak human emotional hatred. It is very easy for Him to melt the human heart with His "hatred", just as He did with Saul of Tarsus.
God says many things in the Bible that shock the carnal mind. Make no mistake, "to revere the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Proverbs 1:7) But if you see the things He says within your own psychology, and fail to understand how ancient people communicated, you will not understand His prophecy. And many in Babylon go so far as to label God's anger with sinners as "Holy Hatred." If they are indeed marrying the word "holy" with their human emotional hatred, which proceeds from a deeply flawed, dark, and desperately weak heart, they blaspheme Him!
May the Lord Bless.