Does life seem unfair? Have you ever lost a game to a cheater? Or were passed over for a promotion by someone you consider unethical? Or did someone you just don’t like get something you wanted? There are many reasons we might hold a grudge.
Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, surely felt that way about his twin brother Jacob. The rivalry of these boys began as early as their birth. Esau was born first, but Jacob came right after, holding on to Esau’s heel.[1] The name Jacob can mean “he takes by the heel,” but also it can mean “he cheats.” The twins even had a rivalry over the favor of their parents: “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”[2]
Esau, as the firstborn (barely), was entitled to a double portion of inheritance, but he found that Jacob was still grasping at his heel, as told in Genesis 25:29-34 –
“Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom[3].) Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”
Instead of a double inheritance, desperate Esau got only a meal of stew. There’s more to this story, but the rivalry continued through centuries in a grudge held by Esau’s descendants (the nation of Edom) against Jacob’s descendants (the nation of Israel). The one-chapter Old Testament book of Obadiah is a response to Edom’s schadenfreude[4] over Judah and Israel’s problems.
This short book is worth a read, but it is essentially a condemnation of Edom for their hate of Jacob’s descendants, summarized well in verse 10:
“Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off forever.”
Under God’s judgement for a long-held grudge, the nation of Edom no longer existed by Jesus’ time. Therefore, the message of Obadiah is that, even with all the reasons Esau may have had to justify it, his grudge was unjustified. God’s favor is not a function of whether we deserve it, but a function of His mercy given to those who do not deserve it, and He expects us to treat others with the same love and mercy. While God’s love for us is unconditional and purchased for us by Jesus on the cross, Jesus did say in Matthew 6:14 –
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Mercy is better than any grudge.
[1] Genesis 25:24-26
[2] Genesis 25:28
[3] The words for Edom and red are similar in Hebrew
[4] Enjoyment of someone else’s misfortune.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 