Let us look at how this plays out in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Roman Christians of both Jew and Gentile lineage.

Romans 1:7 (ESV)

"7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:"

The letter is addressed to both Jew and Gentile believers in Rome.

St. Paul further clarified here.

Romans 1:16 (ESV)

"16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

So let's see the power of God for salvation to both Jew and Gentile/Greek believers to the Romans.

Romans Chapter Nine

Romans 9:1-5 (ESV)

"I am speaking the truth in Christ (I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit) 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

Therefore, this portion of the text is addressed to his friends that he is mourning over who have rejected Christ and are fellow Jews like himself as well as to Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians struggling with other Jewish authorities.

At this time the Edomites were even among the Israelites, since 2nd Century BC.

"The Greek name for Edom in the LXX. After the exile { (586 BC)} the name designated the region in Judea from Beth-zur to south of Beer-sheba, an area occupied in part by Edomites (Idumeans). Herod the Great was an Idumean, and people from Idumea came to hear Jesus (Mark 3:8)."

https://www.compellingtruth.org/Edomites.html

Obadiah, the minor prophet is from the region where Edomites lived at the time.

As per the tradition Obadiah was a convert from the land of Edom (Talmud 39).

"The story of Romulus and Remus:

According to the Jewish historians, Romulus, the founder of Rome was from the lineage of Esau. Read the story of Romulus and Remus.

From Edom came forth Idumaea, and Herodian dynasty. "

Edomites also called Idumaeas also connect to Greek ethnicity.

"The early Christians were from the lineage of Edomite (Esau):

According to Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437-1508) a tradition existed that many of the early Christians were Edomites.

One authority who dealt with this matter Ernest L. Martin, 1932-2002.

Martin claimed ("The People That History Forgot", 1993, USA) that most of the Edomites from Edom (southeast of Judah) and many from Tyre went to the West (Italy, etc) where they became Christian.

Martin admittedly had an agenda. He was making an historical-cultural point rather than a racial one.

His book says that Non-Israelite Samaritans (originally from Cutha in Babylon) along with other Middle Eastern peoples (such as the Edomites) migrated en masse to western regions of the Roman Empire.

They became Christian but retained something of their previous practices and influenced early Christianity with their pagan traditions, and pagan festivals."

https://clseducation.org/2016/12/18/esau-the-father-of-rome-greece-and-christianity/

King Herod, though a terrible one, did build the second temple fulfilling Hebrew prophecy. The man Job is said to have been a descendent of Essau. So was Obadiah the Prophet.

So this definitely has nothing to do with Edomites hardening nor physical-Jews hardening. See all the thousands of conversions to Christ in the book of Acts when the Gospel is preached. Most all other early church leaders were Jewishsee the Apostles ethnicity.

St. Paul is in mourning over individuals that he studied with and most likely some of the ones who persecuted the church with him in verses 1-5. He even goes as far as to say that he wishes he were cut off instead.

6-7

"6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring,"

Literally in the Greek "Not all of Israel is Israel."

And what makes up Israel? And some not of Abraham's physical seed in verse 7. So what makes up Israel according to the Apostle? Both Jew and Gentile. To do exegesis here. We have to see Pauline thought earlier in his letter to the Galatians to further solidify that St. Paul is not speaking of the hardening of the Jews or Edomites here. For the Gospel is for the elect form every nation, tribe, and tongue.

Galatians 6:15-16

"15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the ISRAEL OF GOD."

Meaning once again that Jews and Gentiles make up Israel in Pauline thought. And we will get into Romans 11 later.

Paul is also reaching back to this in chapter 2.

Romans 2:28-29

"28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."

The rest of verse 7-11

"but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or badin order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls"

So, hold onto what Paul has already established. Election is about the Israel of God made up of both Jew and Gentile.
And read renowned Hebrew scholar named John Gill and his commentary on Malachi 1 as well because both the Old and New Testaments reach back and forth as does Paul here.

"11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or badin order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls"

God elects from both Jew and Gentile unconditionally and bases his purpose of election on before the Christian is even born…"and had done nothing either good or bad."

12-14

"12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

Did Essau receive the objective blessings of circumcision? Yes. Was he wicked? Yes he was. See below on Micah which stretches back to Genesis, which I will post soon.

But Essau didn't receive the internal blessing of the conenant and didn't bear a sin by the name of Joseph like Jacob did either.

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!"

"The number one objection through the years to double predestination is this is not American equal opportunity God here! We just find 30 different theories outside of scripture to argue against this! This makes God into Hitler!" Wrong.

How dare you question the application of the Holiness and Justice of God! For this is his full character.

"Who is thou oh man who is complaining against God?"

Seems to fit every objection here. The opposition reading their unreformed beliefs into the text, doesn't raise such a fuss if the text of Romans 9 were discussing merely physical-Israel or Edom or whatever they make up in adding or taking away from God's holy Word.

And the Apostle Paul states that there is no injustice with God in a manner of speaking and that there is no injustice with God by no means.

Humans either receive mercy or they receive justice. No one receives injustice. And please raise your hand if you want justice from God in your own life?

Verse 15

{15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."}

God is free. He has freewill! Whom could mean both singular and plural referring to both Jew and Gentile believers making of Israel in the New Covenant.

Verse 16

"16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."

So it doesn't depend upon freewill. Clearly.

17-18

{17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.}

By nature man hardens his own heart like Pharaoh did.

Paul calls the unregenerate "slaves to sin."

But here the Apostle says that it is God who ultimately hardened Pharaoh. And the New Testament always had supremacy in interpreting the Old Testament for us. I can give you several examples as to why this is mandatory.

19-21

{19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?}

You are still likely having the same response to these things and I have experienced this through many years of discussions, which further demonstrates that this exegesis is is absolutely correct. "Why does he still find fault?"

22-24

"22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Not from Jews only but also from Gentiles. Once again, Paul is reminding us that this passage is not about the hardening of the Jews or Edomites or whatever.

And in the following, Paul is now dealing with Jewish believers and skeptics who saw Gentiles and were taught that Gentiles were dogs.
Paul had to keep reiterating this to Jewish believers. For Paul had to even deal with the Apostle Peter and his Jew crowd for refusing to eat at the same table as Gentile converts.
For Israel now is both Jew and Gentile and this is the rock of offense.

{25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

"Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,'
and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
26 "And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,'
there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." 29 And as Isaiah predicted,

"If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah."

Religious leaders of Israel's Unbelief

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."}

Gentiles are true Jews by faith now. Gentiles are apart of the New Testament Israel. In fact, you see Gentiles entering the covenant in the Old Testament in several places.

See my thread on what is a Jew? And what is Israel in the New Covenant?

Lastly, Rebekah was an individual. Hahah. Who is she supposed to represent? Pharaoh was an individual. Who is he supposed to represent?

Read the following two posts for more prolegomena on our interpretation of Romans Nine, Malachi 1, and Genesis. For they reach back and forth for proper understanding.

Grace and Peace,

Joshua Wallace

Now you can read this.

Paul mourning over his fellow religious leader friends.

Roman Chapter 9 (ESV)

I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

What is Israel?

6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son."

10 And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac 11 (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 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."

Peoples rejection of Christ

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

19 You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?" 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

25 As He says also in Hosea:

"I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved."
26 "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
'You are not My people,'
There they shall be called sons of the living God."
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth."
29 And as Isaiah said before:

"Unless the Lord of Saboth had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah."


30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

"Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

Esau's type of Hagar covenant material blessing does not equal that he was one of us.

. For those in the covenant community enjoy certain aspects of the covenant.

Read 1 Corinthians 10. "All drank from the SAME spiritual rock which was Christ."

And there descendants may enjoy this blessing repeated in Acts 2 by St. Peter, " Repent and be baptized in the Lord Jesus. For this promise both to you and your children and to those who were afar off." Meaning God has always brought other outsiders into his lineage.

And the testimony of Essau falling away was evident that he was a militant terrible human. And many of his lineage followed this by attacking the people of God in the Temple, for instance, and several other examples of this.
But this did not mean that all of his lineage were unbelievers. We have evidence for that.

Genesis 25:23 (ESV)

23 And the Lord said to her,

"Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the older shall serve the younger."

Genesis 25:34 ESV)

"…Thus Esau despised his birthright."

Genesis 27:24-29 (ESV)


24 He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am." 25 Then he said, "Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." 27 So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,

"See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven
and of the fatness of the earth
and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother's sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,
and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"

And mysteriously this is how it was done.

Genesis 27:37-41 (ESV)

{37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?" 38 Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

"Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of HEAVEN on high.
40 By your SWORD you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you grow restless
you shall break his yoke from your neck.}

And some of the Edomites were used of the Lord to chasten Jacob's defendants throughout history. We have records of this.

Moreover, Jacob's lineage was received the full covenant blessing for his name was called Israel. He begot Joseph, for instance, to carry on the covenant blessings of the Patriarchs.

Essau's covenant from the authority of Isaac was very similar in many ways to the covenant of Hagar and Ismael.

Genesis 28:9 (ESV)

{ 9 Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.}

When Jacob fears Essay would attack him, Jacob prayed and this is how God answered him and not Essau.

Genesis 32: 12 (ESV)

{12 But you said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"}
This is essentially the same promise God made with his grandfather Abraham or Abram.

And then Jacob gave gifts to appease Essau from attacking him. This has been customary for centuries between enemies.

"Appeasement, in an international context, is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power to avoid conflict." Wiki

This reminded me of when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the French gave a gift of appeasement to Hitler and Mussolini when they signed the Munich Agreement, which gave the Czechoslovak border areas to Germany.

Did Hitler continue his assault afterwards? Yes.

Genesis 33:8-11 (ESV)

{8 Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company[a] that I met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor in the sight of my lord." 9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself." 10 Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand. For I have seen your face, which is like seeing the face of God, and you have accepted me. 11 Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." Thus he urged him, and he took it.}

Jacob was being very generous and tried to appeal to the better angels of Essau's nature.

Then Essau took wives from outside the household of God in chapter 28:1-5, which later was revealed to be a big no no by Moses and the Prophets.

So Essau ended up outside the Jordan river, which inside the Jordan river is called Hebrew.

Genesis 36:8 (ESV)

"8 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.)"


And so you would think that a godly father would remember the appeasement of Jacob and pass that along to his sons. . But Essau didn't. It is likely that his bitterness remained and was imparted into his sons.

This continued on and Essau's descendants were objectively to say, in a manner of speaking, not apart of the true lineage of Jacob until they were largely forced in 2nd Century BC.

Malachi 1:2-5

2 "I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob 3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." 4 If Edom says, "We are shattered but we will rebuild the ruins," the Lord of hosts says, "They may build, but I will tear down, and they will be called 'the wicked country,' and 'the people with whom the Lord is angry forever.'" 5 Your own eyes shall see this, and you shall say, "Great is the Lord beyond the border of Israel!"

So I think it's safe to say that you are wrong about universalism, wrong about the sovereignty of God in election, and wrong with your understanding of how the covenant works. For even Jewish scholars agree that Essau was not one of them. Did other elect Edomites join the covenant and submit to Jacob without compulsion? Yes. And I will provide Job, Obadiah, and King Herod (evil) who fulfilled Old Testament prophesy by building the 2nd Temple.