Is God Unfair? God’s Sovereign Mercy
Romans 9:10–16 (NLT)
10 This son was our ancestor Isaac. When he married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”
14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! 15 For God said to Moses,
“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”
16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.
Message
This son in verse 10 is Isaac, the son God promised Abraham (Romans 9:9, Genesis 18:10, 14). Isaac married Rebekah, and she was pregnant with twins (Genesis 25:21). Then, Rebekah received a message from God, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” (12b, Genesis 25:23b), before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad (11a). This shows that God chooses people according to His own purpose (11b), but not according to their good or bad works (12a). God loved Jacob, but He rejected Esau (13, Malachi 1:2-3).
Then, was God unfair (14a)? Certainly, He is not unfair (14b). That is, God has not wronged Esau. Because God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” (15, Exodus 33:19) So, it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it (16).
In Jesus’ parable, a landowner paid the same wage to all the workers, even though some had worked all day and others were hired near the end of the day (Matthew 20:11–12). Those who worked all day could think it was unfair, but the landowner has not wronged them. They received a day’s wage as promised (Matthew 20:13). The landowner simply chose to be merciful and generous to those who were hired late (Matthew 20:14). He had the right to do so (Matthew 20:15).
