Tag: love

Love and Hatred

Posted on by jovial_cynic

“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
But you say, “How have You loved us?”
“Was Esau not Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and given his inheritance to the jackals of the wilderness.”
Malachi 1:2-3 (NASB)

In Malachi 1, (and later in Romans), there’s this perplexing passage about God “hating” Esau, the brother of Jacob.

We wrestle with this text, because we are forced to ask: “am I Jacob in this passage? Or am I Esau? What does God think of me?”

The answer seems to matter, as the notion of being “hated by God” is heavy. It’s an impossible burden.

But perhaps we have a clue about the deeper meaning in Genesis 29.

Three times before we get to Jacob’s feelings about Leah, the text tells us that Jacob LOVED Rachel. We know he loves her.

Now the Lord saw that Leah was [a]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children.
Genesis 29:31 (NASB)

[a] Lit hated

But when we get to Leah, it doesn’t merely tell us that Leah was “unloved.” In Hebrew, it says she was HATED.

It’s in this place of hatred that God opened Leah’s womb so she could be… fruitful. Blessed. So she could live out her purpose of mothering of the nation of God’s people. She is the mother of Judah, from which Salvation enters the world.

So when the text tells us that Esau is hated… perhaps we are meant to remember Leah.

Though hatred brings us to a place of desolation and barrenness, perhaps God is telling us about redemption. About healing.

Perhaps God will make all things new.

The Word “Love”

Posted on by jovial_cynic

וַיֶּאֱהַ֥ב יַעֲקֹ֖ב אֶת־רָחֵ֑ל וַיֹּ֗אמֶר אֶֽעֱבׇדְךָ֙ שֶׁ֣בַע שָׁנִ֔ים בְּרָחֵ֥ל בִּתְּךָ֖ הַקְּטַנָּֽה׃

Jacob loved Rachel; so he answered, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Genesis 29:18 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS 2006)

Don’t get caught up with this word “love.”

The first two times the word shows up in Genesis, it’s about the love a father has for his son, and the love a man has for his wife.

The next four times it shows up, it’s about how much Isaac loves venison.

When we read that Jacob “loves” Rachel, we don’t need to assume that this is a reflection of the love God has for us.

Rebekah’s Distress

Posted on by jovial_cynic

But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of יהוה,
Genesis 25:23 (The Contemporary Torah, JPS, 2006)

The Hebrew word used to express Rebekah’s distress in Genesis 25:22 is of uncertain meaning. It’s אָנֹכִי (anokhi), and it carries a sense of “why me?” and “it shouldn’t be this way,” but it also carries a meaning of existential crisis: “Why do I exist?”

At this point in the story, she doesn’t know that she’s having twins. She’ll learn about this in the next verse, where she’s told about the two nations that will emerge from her: one that God will love, and one that God will hate.

There are layers to the meaning.

If you believe God loves Jacob and hates Esau, the individuals, you’ll describe a God whose dedication to you is arbitrary: Maybe God will love you, and maybe not.

If Jacob and Esau are viewed as nations, the text describes a God who sees race and bloodlines. This is also abitrary and… racist? Does God love some nations and hate others, regardless of their actions?

But there’s another view.

Jacob/Esau are an echo:

Consider –

Abel/Cain
Isaac/Ishmael
(Perhaps Abraham/Nahor, the idolator?)

These are stories about brothers, one of which walks by the Spirit and trusts God, vs the other who walks by the Flesh and trusts works. But we’ve already learned that the flesh is cursed to die. Works will not work.

This is not merely a story about the people. These are parables.

This parable is about Rebekah’s internal and existential crisis: Why do I exist? Why me? Why is this happening?

This is the struggle in all of us: to walk by the Spirit or to walk by the Flesh. How will it end? Which “child” inside of us wins?

“The older will serve the younger.”

This is our hope.

As Yourself

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The command from Jesus isn’t to “love your neighbor.” It’s “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Do you understand this? It means to value their life and dignity as your very own. It means to view their life as worth your life. It means to be willing to trade your life for theirs.

It means you’d lay down your life for theirs so they can to truly live.

See how He Loves Us

Posted on by jovial_cynic
This is how I read the scriptures:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:3 (NIV)

See how he loves us!

If I can’t see how He loves us in the passage, I stop and look for it. And I will never stop looking and listening until it all rings and echoes with this singular truth: See how he loves us!