And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 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.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 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?” 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? 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, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
(Romans 9:10-24 - ESV)

These scriptures are used as proof that ultimately man has no say in his/her salvation and that God has either elected you or not elected you. And if you happen to not have been on God’s list, then you are out of luck.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the true Biblical perspective on predestination and election and may this be a blessing to all of you who may be reading. Now predestination, election and foreknowledge are all things we read of in the Bible. God predestines, elects and has foreknowledge of how all things will turn out. But how can we reach a solid Biblical conclusion on the conflict that seems to be presented in Romans 9?

Well let’s take a look at the passages above.  Let’s take note that God has the ability to choose the older to serve the younger, has the ability to have as much mercy or as much compassion on a person as He desires and most certainly can prepare vessels of mercy for glory and vessels of wrath for destruction. We serve a sovereign God and when we read in the Bible, we see that there are many instances in which God definitely has His hand in events in order to accomplish His will. But are we just programmed robots that will repent and believe in Jesus Christ no matter what or do we have a part in deciding our fate with our God by actually being able to make a choice. And if this is the case, did Jesus Christ really die for the sins of “the world?”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 - ESV)

This is just one example of multiple scriptures that we will find in the Bible regarding how salvation is available to whoever will repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Does this scripture mention that it is only available to whom God has selected or only available to the preprogrammed? No. It is the responsibility for each person to repent and believe in Jesus Christ and the Lord allows each person the room for that.

Throughout the rest of this article, we are going to see how it was the decisions of Esau and Pharaoh that actually led to their demise and we will also show how this fits with predestination and election.  Let’s start with Esau:

Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.”  Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
(Genesis 25:29-34 - ESV)

The Bible mentions nothing wrong with Esau until this point. And for Esau to despise his birthright was a huge thing in the eyes of God. And Esau was the father of the Edomites, who came as a result of his union with the Hittites and the Ishmaelites. So not only did he sell his birthright for some stew but also intermarried with people who worshiped other gods. Edom became one of Israel’s enemies in the Old Testament and the context of “Jacob I loved, Esau I hated” comes from that context. Now these were choices that Esau made and of course they had tremendous consequences that lasted multiple generations. But understand that Esau and Edom did what they did because of their heart, not because they were programmed to do so. And yet God had a plan for both Esau and the Edomites.

So what about Pharaoh? Did God raise Pharaoh up in order to be glorified through him? Yes He did. But the way it went down was actually a result of the fact that Pharaoh himself closed his heart to the Lord. Let’s revisit Exodus:

Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
(Exodus 7:13 - ESV)

But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
(Exodus 8:15 - ESV)

But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
(Exodus 9:12 - ESV)

But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.
(Exodus 9:34-35 - ESV)

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.
(Exodus 10:20 - ESV)

We have an interesting situation here in Exodus. There are instances in which the scriptures say that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, other instances in which the scriptures say he hardened his own heart and even other scriptures that credit the Lord as hardening Pharaoh's heart. Now let’s examine. God told Moses before they he and Aaron ever went to Pharaoh that He would harden Pharaoh's heart. But in the first few instances of Moses and Aaron’s encounters with Pharaoh, is God given the credit for Pharaoh's hard heart (Exodus 5-7)? No, and in Exodus 8, Pharaoh is credited with hardening his own heart. What is the implication of this? It means that the Lord had revealed Himself to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh made his own choice to reject the Lord. And as you see through the series of verses above, the Lord eventually gave Pharaoh completely over to his hardness of heart after the 8th plague and this continue all the way through the point when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptians were destroyed. No, Pharaoh was not an Israelite by birth and did not grow up knowing the religious customs of the Jews but he had the choice to respond in humility to the Lord’s revelation just like foreigners such as Rahab and Ruth did. And just like we do today.

CLICK HERE TO READ PT. II