Before the twins, Jacob and Esau, were born, when neither one had yet done anything good or bad, God said to Rebecca about the twins she was to bear, “The older one shall later serve the younger one, contrary to normal custom.” God said this in order that we might clearly understand that what he purposed for people was according to what he himself determined. That is, people’s eternal destiny does not depend on what they do. Instead, their destiny depends on God, the one who chooses them.