You have heard it said
That God loved Jacob best
And Esau was the hated one,
Not having been so blessed.

But God, while loving Jacob,
Loved his brother deeply too.
Their lives were intertwined
Much more closely than they knew.

For the brothers, though they argued
And had squandered many years,
Came together in their older age,
Embracing while in tears.

And Jacob, reconciled,
Was at once completely awed.
For in seeing Esau’s face,
He had seen the face of God.

So, in the deepest plans above
The “hate” and “love” play out
To bring all people to the throne,
To praise with tongues devout.

This “hate” is not the human sort
That sinners often show.
It is the harsher shape of love
From a God whose anger’s slow.

And in His tender, holy eyes
One family fills the earth.
Everyone a Jacob
Or an Esau from their birth.

And just as those two brothers
reunited in the end,
All will meet in heaven
And Christ will all things mend.