I have been reading all I could find on Esau. I understand the story (I think). Jacob is of Him who calls and Esau - works. So I understand why God allowed Esau to be born first. Now to what I don't understand. Romans 9 seems to say I shouldn't ask this question. I hope my motives are not rebellious but to learn the truth. Why does God hate Esau? Or is what He is saying is He hates what Esau represents?-Works.

You actually have a very good understanding of this situation!! Esau has everything to do with the works of man to gain the favor of God. Here are a few thoughts that may fill in some blanks.

Jacob I loved, but Esau I hatedRomans 9:13

The interesting thing about the verse Paul quoted is that it wasn't "written" until many, many years AFTER Esau in one of the "prophetic" books of the O.T. (Malachi 1:2-3). At the time of writing it seems that "Esau" was being used not only of the man, but also of the whole godless nation of Edom (his offspring). Now, we have an aversion to say that God hates anybody because we ASSUME that IF God were to hate then it would have to be something similar to what WE have known of hate. But God is not like us, we were made after HIS image. Big difference. When it says God hated Esau it doesn't suggest that He felt our "hateful" feelings or thoughts. His hatred was not stirred up by a bad feeling or experience. His hatred of Esau was toward all the offspring of godlessness. This is the hatred we learn in Christ. We discover that we hate the flesh life. It has nothing in it that fulfills us. We see the rottenness of it. It's nothing like the hate we knew in the world where hate was a cancer that consumned us. This hatred is toward the perversion that attempts to replace the reality. It is toward the rotten corpse that passes itself off as life. It is toward evil that masquerades itself as good. If love of God is one side of the coin, then hatred of godlessness is the other. Our love of God is not a good feeling or a collection of good thoughts about God, but is the result of having the Spirit of God within us; our hatred for that which is not of God likewise is NOT a bad feeling or collection of bad thoughts, it is a reality within us that will not accept the false as being true, the evil as being good. So, for God to hate Esau was NEVER because He used to be a MEAN God before Christ came. hahaha! So, reject that idea. Well, this is far more than you probably wanted to get back, but here it is. :) Love, Jim