The Hedge

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land.” (Job 1:8-11)

Surely all of us can recall instances throughout our lives when we should have greatly suffered or even perished as a result of our bad decisions in life. Yet somehow we avoided calamity. I’ve always thought of such instances as convincing evidence of one of God’s hedges around those who believe in and seek him. The word hedge is found in Scripture twice; once in Job and once in Hosea. The definition is: ‘to hedge or fence up or about.’

A hedge or fence provides two basic forms of protection: It serves to contain livestock to avoid wandering off in pursuit of food and water with little concern for falling victim to dangers. And, a fence also protects what is contained from attack. A thief or predator has to go over or through the fence, which makes attack more difficult. A third initially less obvious but invaluable benefit is provided by an enclosure. It offers those contained a sense of security.

God’s hedge can be seen and sensed in varying forms in our lives. The Ten Commandments and the Laws found in Leviticus were and remain one of God’s first hedges given to all who believe in and honor Him. One might think of these laws as simply a code of conduct, but study will confirm them to be a written definition of what is and what is not loving in both man’s relationship with man and man’s relationship with God. The law was for the Children of Israel a moral and spiritual hedge that protected them from harming themselves and others and helped keep them in God’s grace. They thereby enjoyed a limited sense of security as the strove to stay within the confines of God’s laws. But the law was a very basic and extremely limited form of protection since it required compliance. When Jesus came He revealed that the law actually served to drive home the reality that mankind cannot consistently conform to its confines, and that condemns us to death. As Paul concluded, “The letter (law) kills.” (II Cor. 3:6) We need more protection than the law can provide.

We rarely dwell on it, but we are also blessed with more active and personal hedges, like guardian angels. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.” (Psalm 34:7) God can and does at times intervene to protect us. Sometimes we seek this protection through prayer, but often we receive it without asking simply because God dearly loves us and knows our heart. God’s intervention is found throughout the Bible. And it can be recognized in our lives if we take the time to reflect back.

God’s final magnificent hedge is realized through Jesus’ invitation, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) We are the lost sheep of God – now found by The Good Shepherd, Jesus. “I am the door,” our Shepherd and Savior reveals, (John 10:9) to a kingdom nestled safe within a perfect hedge providing eternal security. Within it we know freedom from all of the evil one’s most powerful weapons against us – the guilt, shame and feelings of being separated from and unworthy of God’s love. By faith in Jesus we enter the Kingdom of God – not by our own merit but cloaked in the righteousness earned by God’s obedient son, Jesus, through his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection. And in doing so we too cross over from death to life and eventually into the presence of God. (John 5:24).

Through our faith in the perfect work of our Savior, the evil one complains about our state, as he did Job’s:

“Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?”