This popular game show first aired on July 12, 1976, and after four decades, was still available in syndication in 2019! Within the first year of its debut, the original version became the number one game show in daytime television, and this popular watch is still currently ranked in the top five game shows of all times. Family Feud is a game pitting two families in a head-to-head battle against each other, both competing for monetary prizes by naming the most popular responses to survey questions. Those feuds led to some hilarious responses and fun entertainment, but real-life family discord often brings tragic results.
The bitter strife between two brothers, Esau and Jacob, began long before their birth, as Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, conceived “And the children struggled together within her.” The family feud continued throughout the sibling’s lives, until it reached a boiling point with Jacob’s ultimate deception, the stealing of Esau’s blessing. “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing,” causing a fearful Jacob to flee his presence and leave the Promised Land. The siblings lived apart, separate lives, no communication, for decades! But fortunately, the tragedy of that contention was settled in their own lifetimes with Jacob’s return to the land of Canaan. Upon that homecoming, “Esau ran to meet him (Jacob), and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.” Peace between the brothers had been restored, but the seeds of that family strife had been deeply planted in the hearts of those who would follow.
That intense discord between Esau and Jacob reappeared in the form of bitter jealousy and hatred between the descendants of their respective nations of people, the Edomites and the Israelites. Centuries later, when Moses sought permission from the King of Edom for the Israelites to pass through their land on the journey to Canaan, the bitterness resurfaced and the reply was harsh, “Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come against thee with the sword.” Years later, when Israel was being invaded by oppressive foreign powers, Edom “rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction” and “laid hands on their substance.” Because Edom reveled in her sister’s demise, the prophet Obadiah was commissioned by God to write Edom’s epitaph. God would punish Edom severely for their treatment of Israel, wiping Edom from the pages of history “as though they had not been.” The house of Esau would be as “stubble;” a nation of people would be erased. What a tragic end to sibling rivalry!
How are your family relationships? Does a strained kinship within your family need mending? Learn a lesson from the tragedy of two brothers whose bitter battle impacted generations to come, eventually leading to the destruction of an entire nation. Instead, let’s mirror the heart of our Savior, Who forgives and forgets so mercifully. Don’t allow those family feuds to bear their ugly fruits.
Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Lord, help us to cautiously guard our family relationships, all of our relationships, not allowing discord to bear its ugly fruits. Help us to be forgiving, kind, and gracious, keeping the lines of communications open and clear. Help us to truly dwell together in unity.