Does God Hate Sinners? - Romans 9:13

Several months ago the folks who travel around the country letting people know who God hates came to my city. Right out in front of the local high school with enough police protection to guard the president, they held up their signs. One said, "God hates fags", another said, "God hates Obama". I forget who else they said that God hates. I was familiar with their 'ministry', but I wanted to understand where they get this from in Scripture. I managed to get permission to approach the lady in charge. When I asked her about the scriptural basis for their 'ministry' she quoted Romans 9:13, which says,

"Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13

She went on to explain that Esau is a type of all sinners. God doesn't just hate him in particular, He hates all sinners. It wasn't long after that our conversation went sour and she dismissed me as a 'false prophet'. Here is what I would have told her if I had been given the chance.

The word "hate" here in Romans 9:13 does not mean what our word "hate" means today. When we use the word "hate" it entails a desire to hurt someone, or at the very least, a strong desire for bad things to happen to them. But that is not what this word means here and this is confirmed by other Scriptures.

Ezekiel 33:11 indicates that God does not take any pleasure in the death of evil people, rather He desires for them to repent and live.

II Peter 3:9 says that God does not desire "...for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance."

It is true that God was angry with sinners for violating His holiness, and now He is angry with those who reject His Son and His sacrifice for their sins (see John 3:36). But God does not hate sinners as we think of hate. Actually He loves them and wants them to repent and be reconciled to Him (see this post on II Corinthians 5:19).

When God says, "Esau I hated", the best way to translate this is "Esau I have loved less". He chose to love Jacob with a special love and He loves those who put their trust in His Son with the same unconditional, everlasting love (See post on Romans 8:31-39).

Those who reject His Son and His sacrifice, God continues to be angry with them unless they repent, and His righteousness demands that those who die rejecting Christ must be punished eternally away from God's presence. It is very, very sad, but even this consequence is not hate. It is because of, first of all, God's love for righteousness (Hebrews 1:9), and also His great love for us to create a perfect heaven and earth for us to dwell in (Revelation 21, 22).

In short, our God is not, in the modern sense of the word, a God who hates anybody. Rather He loves everyone and desires for them to trust in His Son and live.