God"s special election of one portion of Abraham"s descendants for special blessing is further evident in His choice of Jacob rather than Esau. Someone might say that Isaac was obviously the natural son through whom blessing would come since he was the first son born to Abraham and Sarah. That was not true of Jacob. Furthermore Esau and Jacob both had the same mother as well as the same father, so that was not a factor, as an objector might claim it was in Isaac and Ishmael"s case. Jacob and Esau might have shared the firstborn privilege since they were twins. One conception produced both of them. However, God chose Jacob even though Rebekah bore Esau before Jacob. As in the case of Isaac, God made a choice between them before their birth. Their birth was also supernatural since their mother was barren. God chose Jacob before he had done any deeds or manifested a character worthy of God"s special blessing. The fact that Jacob became a less admirable person in some respects than Esau shows that God"s choice was not due to Jacob but to Himself. [source][source][source]
"Surely, if Paul had assumed that faith was the basis for God"s election, he would have pointed this out when he raised the question in Romans 9:14 about the fairness of God"s election. All he would have needed to say at that point was "of course God is not unjust in choosing Jacob and rejecting Esau, for his choosing took into account the faith of one and the unbelief of the other."" [1][source]