Obediah 18. "The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau; for the Lord has spoken."

The House of Esau is another way of saying Edom, a neighbor of Israel's whose people are related to the Israelites as descendants of Esau, Jacob's first-born twin brother. God frequently talks about punishing Edom, often more so than the other enemies of Israel, because Edom has this blood relationship with the Jews. Earlier in Obadiah, God says "But you should not have gloated over the day of your brother and the day of his misfortune; you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin." (Obadiah 12). Obadiah's prophecy against Edom is ultimately fulfilled, Edom is reduced to "stubble" and ceases to exist.

I have often felt sorry for Esau since he was cheated out of his birthright by Jacob, assisted by their mother Rebekah (Genesis 27). Then, to add insult injury, God chose Jacob to be the father of His people. In fact, God lets on that He meant to incorporate Jacob and Rebekah's deception into His plan -  at the moment of the twins' birth, it was stated that the the elder would serve the younger (Genesis 25:23). Esau was not the best person, to be sure. We are told, for example, that Esau and his Hittite wives made life "bitter for Isaac and Rebekah" (Genesis 26:24-25). But nonetheless, I can see why Esau would have been more than a little disgruntled with his brother in these circumstances.

These kinds of hurts in families can be so deep and so painful, but God's rebuke to Edom here is a reminder that we have to let them go. No matter how badly we have been treated by our family members, we have to move on and wish our brothers and sisters well. God had a plan for Jacob, one that necessitated him getting his father's blessing. It doesn't seem completely fair to me, or, I'm sure, to Esau, but God's ways are not our ways. We have to trust that He knows best and that His plan will ultimately be for the betterment of everyone, even those who seem to have been treated unfairly.

While it can be very difficult, we must let go of hurts and wrongs caused by our family members. We must not resent any member of our family, nor wish them ill, nor revel in their sufferings. We must remember that God loves us all, and wants what is best for us. When we finally see the outcome of His plan, we will be so joyful, there will be no room for resentment. But if we give into the resentment today, we may eventually be destroyed as Edom was, and never get to the joy that God has planned for all of us.