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The Hatfields, McCoys, and Obediah

by Jerry Ousley  
2/21/2009 / Christian Living

I've never completely understood the legendary feud of the Hatfield's and the McCoy's. It seems that the feud had something to do with making and selling moonshine although according to Wikipedia, there were bad feelings towards one of them who joined the Union Army instead of the Confederate Army. He was found murdered in a cave shortly after returning from war with a broken leg. That was never pinned on anyone.

Sometime later there was a dispute over a pig that each family claimed as theirs. Again, according to Wikipedia, the conflict was really over who owned the land the pig was on. Both parties claimed it as theirs. Later there were conflicts over women and other things. This feud got started in 1873 and officially ended in 1891 imagine eighteen years of hating each other. It really only ended when the US Government stepped in and arrested a bunch of them, most receiving life sentences and one being executed by hanging.

I can't imagine hatred for someone to the point that you want to kill them or see them dead. It just doesn't make sense to me. But then there have been many wars fought in this world because of hatred.

The Bible records an ongoing conflict between the descendents of two brothers, Jacob and Esau. The descendents of Jacob became the Israelites and those of Esau were called the Edomites. If you remember, way back in Genesis, Esau, who was a hunter, came in one day so hungry that he thought he was dying. His brother Jacob was fixing a pot of what we could call "split pea soup." It smelled so good to Esau that he wanted a bowl at all costs. Jacob sold him a bowl for his birthright. That was big stuff in those days. It meant that he would not only get the larger portion of inheritance from His father, but also that he would get the family blessing and ultimately be considered the family leader. Esau reasoned that a birthright and a promise of the future was no good to a dying man and so he gave it up.

Even though much later Jacob and Esau worked things out between them, the descendants of Esau always carried a big grudge. The Book of Obadiah is all about that. It is a warning from God to the Edomites for their jealousy and hatred of the Israelites. Hatred for others never works out to the good and will always cause pain, grief, heartache, misery and ultimately judgment.

We'd think that Christians would be past such feelings. In fact, and we've emphasized this many times over the years, according to Jesus our best witness of who we are is marked by our love for each other. But still today there are "feuds" going on even between Christian people and ministries. I've read about ministries that sue each other because one was supposed to have said something against the other. There are supposedly Christian people sitting in churches, both singing the praises of Christ the King, and won't even take a glance at each other.

Folks, this is not Christian love. How can we ever reach someone else for Christ with this kind of display going on? When it comes right down to it what we believe isn't even that important. According to the message of grace, we are saved not because we believe one way or are followers of this guy or that guy, but because of the free gift given by Jesus. It's free to everyone but Him. He paid a high price to give us this free gift. When we take that grace and put it together with hate we get nothing but a twisted mess. If we have been born again according to the Word of God then we're ready for Heaven. What we believe might help us live a better life and get us there on a smoother path, but it doesn't save us.

We'd best be thinking about this. Loving each other sure beats standing before a judge (who could be God Almighty Himself) or swinging from a rope like one of the Hatfield's or McCoy's.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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