WHAT IF GOD HELD A GRUDGE?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

Genesis 27:41-45

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Has anyone treated you wrong way or violated you to the point where you harbor deep anger toward that person?

If so, then maybe you can relate to Esau and his emotions after Jacob, his younger brother, tricked their father Isaac into getting the all important blessing that Esau was entitled to. We read about those feelings and where they were leading Esau in today’s passage from chapter 27 of the Book of Genesis:

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?" Vv.41-45

Within these verses, we learn how Esau harbored a grudge, a grudge that had him thinking murderous thoughts. And therein lays the danger in allowing ourselves to be consumed by anger, for it can infect us and lead us to the place of revenge and retaliation.

One can almost hear Esau thinking to himself, "He may have thought he got away with this but he’ll have a hard time enjoying the blessing that was rightfully mine if he’s dead." Indeed, Esau was ready to be the judge, jury and executioner of his brother and note he wasn’t putting God into any of this. It was his plan and he was going to carry it out.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we have seen this happen in the bible’s first book. You’ll remember that Cain, jealous of Abel finding favor with God while he did not, lured his brother out into the field and murdered him. With him (Cain) it was jealousy and with Esau it was anger and resentment, but both resulted in the same sinfulness which conjured up deadly ambitions and actions.

In regard to us as believers today, there are several points to ponder as we examine this scripture and matter of begrudging another.

First, only God is the only true judge.

You know, we can be very skilled at pointing fingers at others and the way they live, as if we have no sin within us. Jesus addressed this in John’s Gospel as the prostitute was about to be stoned by saying to her attackers:

"He who hath no sin cast the first stone." 8:7

Well, as you’ll recall, no stones were thrown. No one had the right to throw then and no one has a right to throw today.

So when someone violates us through sinful behavior, we need to allow God to handle it, believing and trusting that He will address it and do so the right way, contrary to what we would do if left to our devices.

The second takeaway for us is this:

With the exception of righteous indignant anger like Jesus displayed when the Gentile’s area of prayer outside the temple was turned into a marketplace, God isn’t the initiator of actions based on resent-driven rage.

How can I say this?

Well, in and of itself, anger is a sinful emotion and the Lord’s not going to endorse sin. Looking at Jesus again, you may remember that He said this about anger in the Gospel of Matthew:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” 5:21-22

When Cain murdered his brother Abel, anger from God not favoring him over his brother led to the killing. Take out the anger and the murder most probably doesn’t happen.

But Cain gave into the sin that was crouching at his door, as God described it, and snuffed out the life of his brother.

Friends, the scriptures tell us that God is love and any action that is not of love is of sin. In the midst of his grudge, Esau willingly planned to murder Jacob and if there was any spiritual partnership in this, it was with the devil, not the Lord.

So rest assured that if we harbor anger in our hearts, we are giving Satan a foothold on our feelings, thoughts, and behavior while rejecting what God desires. To avoid this, we have to deny the enemy, adopt an attitude of love, and allow God to be the judge on whatever matter we’re dealing with and the person who is a sinner just like you are, a sinner who needs the Lord’s grace and mercy like everyone else.

The final thing we are called to do in this scripture passage is consider God and His attitude toward us before we turn on one another.

To that end, we need to ponder two important questions:

What would happen if God decided to hold a grudge on anyone who sinned and violated His word and will, and that includes us?

and

What if His standard was murdering people out of hatred because they disobeyed and disrespected Him?

If God was like that, no one would be alive so thanks be to God that we have a Heavenly Father who is merciful, loving and forgiving. He serves as the role model we need to follow.

So before we begin to harbor ill will and feelings toward someone else, let us turn to our Maker, the One who created us in His own image, modeling our behavior after His. For when we do, we will learn to forgive and show mercy as He has forgiven and shown mercy unto us, over and over and over again.

In the end translation, allowing God to dictate our attitudes and actions is the real antidote for sinful anger which produces sinful grudges and other negative by products. My prayer is that our hearts will reflect His love in the way we treat others.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.