Hedge

Hedge

2/28/15

Many of us know what a hedge looks like and what kind of a barrier a hedge places around an area.  Hedges are a fascinating clump of bushes that provides a variety of resources, including protection.  A hedge continues to grow thicker until it is cut by some invading force in which its barrier becomes breached and the other side exposed.  Physical hedges are not the only barrier forces that are in existence spiritual ones are in place as well and serve in the same capacity as the physical ones.  If this is the case then we must also contend that a spiritual hedge can be forged as well if allowed.  So what happens when this spiritual hedge is breached?  The answer is quite simple, just refer to the physically breached hedge and one will get a pretty good clue.

This topic that God is sharing with us has grown tremendously and will have to be broken up into three parts.  Each part is just as important as the other and is totally relevant to our world and individual lives today.  Get your Bibles out and follow along and watch the news, both with unbiased physical whims and it will not take anyone long to realize what exactly is going on in our world and how fast we are rolling downhill.  Part one of this series will define a hedge and what it means for overall protection.  Part two will deal with God’s removal of this protective hedge and part three will address mankind’s removal of this hedge.

When I was a kid some of the places that I lived in had some hedges that surrounded the houses that I lived in.  At the time I had no inkling of an idea that hedges could prove to be a boundary and that one side represented the neighbor’s yard and the other side indicated our yard.  All I knew was that if you could find an opening big enough I could crawl inside that hedge and sit there and feel like no one on the earth could see me.  It did not take too long for me to find out that if I sat real quiet people that were looking for me could actually stand within a few feet from me and have no idea where I was at.  It was up to me to let them pass bye or for me to inform them of my whereabouts.  And yes, there were times that both cases were played out and I must admit it was kind of fun to sit there and watch people pass bye and not notice anything unusual.

After I believed that the coast was clear I would begin my venture out of the confines of the hedge.  I would crawl out and then stand up and dust myself off.  I would then notice that my clothes were dirty and that I would have small scratches on the parts of my skin that were not covered by my clothes.  I really did not pay too much attention to the scratches for they did not hurt much and were not bleeding, so being a kid I did not think about them again until my mother asked me where I had received them.  I had no clue that I was giving away my hiding place secrets to her and it really did not matter but she understood why I was in there in the first place, so all was okay.

At that time I had no concept of the how important of having a hedge around me was.  The only “protection” I knew about came from my house and my parents and it was through those two entities that I turned to for physical protection.  And until God decided to grab my heart and show me some things about humanity and the coming pains for humanity, I really did not understand the concept of a having a hedge about my life and the life of nations and what having a hedge means for our lives.  I also have to admit that even though Christians have a concept of having a hedge about them, some of their beliefs are actually misconceptions and have voluntarily placed themselves into harm’s way due to these living beliefs.  I must include myself in this particular category since my father preached on this subject for decades and I while I listened to his sermons, I flat missed the truth that he was sharing.

A while back there was a miniseries on television called “Band of Brothers”.  It was a fabulous series and explained a lot about some of the perils that military units endured while fighting for our freedoms and for the freedoms of other nations around the world.  Early in the series these brave men were fighting in Normandy, and one of the obstacles that they had to maneuver around and through were hedgerows, which dotted the landscape as natural barriers; they were so called hedgerows.    These barriers were thick bushes that outlined property and usually measured in squares or rectangles, however that was not always the case.  They defined personal fields or land types and could easily be outlined on a map.  After the occupation of Europe, the German army used these natural protective hedges as protective barriers for various Axis artillery units and instillations, housing complexes and many grouped military and command posts.  

Today we have modern satellite capabilities that can actually look into such hedgerows and identify packages of food that are hidden within these types of barriers. However, during that time the technology to see what was behind these barriers and what was hidden within these barriers was very limited and physically breaching them by military units proved to be even far more difficult.  The Army did come up with some pretty unique ideas of how to advance through these hedgerows but it took its heavy toll on the basic form of military might, the human being, in order to breech such barrier.  While we can see through some of these barriers and identify the hidden contents it is still necessary for some type of penetrating force to be used in order to try and secure the barrier; sometimes this force succeeds and sometimes it does not.

The hedgerows were thoroughly examined for openings and if one was noticed, machine guns and other defensive mechanisms were put in place in order to secure the perimeter.  This type of hiding was very effective and any invading force would find it very difficult to penetrate this natural barrier.  I remember in one of the “Band of Brothers” episodes that it was the job of one unit to advance and to seek out the enemy.  As these men were approaching a hedge row they began to receive incoming fire from the enemy.  As the scene unfolded it was evident that the firing was coming from the hedgerow and while the soldiers could see the fire flashes from the enemy guns coming from within the hedgerows across the fields, it was basically impossible to accurately see where the guns had been placed.  It was an effective tool in the German defensive positioning and with their guns trained on the openings in the hedgerow across the field it was like the Allied soldiers were sitting ducks.  Even though the Allied soldiers knew that behind the opposite hedgerow there was no way that they could determine just how many were waiting for them.

Hedgerows can appear in many different shapes and sizes they do not have to be a manufactured or natural row of bushes.  This country has enjoyed many such hedges in our defined nations, even when our nation was growing.  For a while the Mississippi River was a large natural boundary and served as our national boundary for decades.  It was not until President Thomas Jefferson acquired land through the Louisiana Purchase that our national boundary extended far beyond the Mississippi.  Lakes also define part of our northern border and other bodies of water define our western and southern borders with a land mass completing the southern and northern parts.  All of these natural boundaries form an invisible hedge around our country with a few checkpoints along the edges just for good measure.  But in all honesty how well are these boundaries going to protect us? And how will we be sure that in time that these unguarded boundaries will not be regularly penetrated by people and forces that wish to do us harm?  The answer is simple and clear, we do not.

Another example of a hedge would be something called a perimeter.  This type of example can be closely related to since many of us place one around our hearts for personal protection.  We tend to like to feel comfortable in our choices of who we allow into our personal lives, it also serves as a barrier to an organized living facility, one such as a military base.  With the exception of an isolated artillery shell the base cannot be attacked until the perimeter is breached unless of course an airborne air defense system is in place as well.  In any case the perimeter must be attacked and penetrated before any enemy can advance inside the base.  In many cases natural boundaries can serve as a hedge and in this country there are many who tend to rely upon our natural boundaries as such of a hedge.

It has been apparently clear that many people within this country do not believe that there is a security problem around our borders and that there are just as many people who stand in opposite opinion as well.  It is also clear that many people understand that there are people in other parts of the world that do not see eye-to-eye with our ideologies and their animosities have grown large enough that they wish us physical harm.  As I am writing this article it is during the daytime hours and as I look outside a window I notice that it is cloudy and that I cannot see the blue sky and the sun.  While I cannot see the blue sky and the sun I know they are there above the cloudy barrier which I can see.  The same concept holds true about the other natural barriers that we deem big enough to protect us from those who seek us harm.  It would be the utmost acclamation to believe that our natural boundaries enhanced by the trust of humanity would serve as an impenetrable protective device, but throughout history we have only proven wrong about our choices of protective perimeters. 

For most of my life there has been no question that America has been the formidable country in the world.  We have stood strong for many causes and have defended many countries and regions from invading forces.  No, we have not ascertained every circumstance correctly and we have made many mistakes along the way.  We have, however, had our problems in admitting to some of these mistakes and have even ignored some of them.  Our country has always came to the defense of those who are in trouble and seek to have a better life and it this principle that defines a part of our hedge around us for we have not only introduced those who are seeking physical refuge but we have also introduced these people to God as well.  Sadly, this tide has turned and while we are still allowing many to cross our borders for physical reasons we have voluntarily left out God in this process.

Yes our country has witnessed its share of attacks with a few of these attacks being grand in their execution.  Many of the people have cast doubt about why this occurred and to who were responsible for these acts.  Many arguments and debates have ensued and are continuing to occur each week concerning the matter but one foundational moment has been left out and that is to why the act occurred and why we have not corrected our behavior accordingly.  It is this hedge of protection, you know, the ones that we always believed were impenetrable that have been penetrated and has leveled our playing field to everyone else’s vulnerability.  But, isn’t that what our government wants anyway, equal playing fields on all levels?  Our defensive borders are proving more each day that they are not as reliable and secure that we make them out to be, which means that for some reason we have allowed holes to be cut into our hedge; and we have no idea as to why this has occurred, but it should be clearly evident as we watch them unfold before our eyes.

In the book of Job there is a setting that takes place that is very telling.  Most people know about the story of Job and some even use it against God in order to question His authority and judgment over humanity.  But if a person understands this setting and knows the exact meaning of this setting, then they will also know that God is in control of the situation and that we do have a real hedge around our lives, both a personal hedge and a national one.  Our enemy makes a huge statement here that should ring loud and clear to both our spiritual and physical lives and it deals with the protective hedge that God has around our lives.  Our enemy clearly states that he recognizes that there is a hedge around Job and that as long as this hedge is around him, he cannot do anything to challenge God and His statement about Job.

This is a huge admission from our enemy.  It says that once God places a hedge of protection around something, even Satan himself cannot touch what is being protected and hidden behind it.  It also states that no matter what trial or obstacle our enemy can throw at the hedge, nothing can get through its protective weavings.  To be honest I have no idea what kind of protective wrapping that God has around us and my mind can only configure some type of bush hedge around each of our lives as our protection.  It is also hard for me to imagine that the blood of Jesus can provide this same covering for my spiritual life as well, but whatever the method within the spirit realm God uses, it is effective enough to keep out His immortal arch enemy from damaging His own beloved.  This also begs the question as to why we would readily serve a defeated god or ruler.  When someone in authority admits that his methods, knowledge, and extent cannot penetrate his objective without some other type of intervention, he is a defeated being.  There really is no need in any further definition of our enemy, yet humans give him so much room to operate.

The next logical question that comes to mind would be: what are we in need of protection?  And the answer to that question can be easily given in two words, the world.  The separation from the world has been written in many ways throughout the Bible and in no uncertain language has this message been misleading.  The enemy of God rules the world and thus our enemy rules the world.  Our enemy does not care about you or any part of your family, for it is his utmost desire to separate you from our Creator through worldly practices.  It is this spiritual hedge about our lives that keeps this separation from the world in order and it eases God’s heart to know that His children are living within the confines of that hedge.  It does not matter how our enemy gets through the hedge in order to test us against God and His laws, the fact of the matter is that God is in control of that hedge yet at the same time does not hover over it and not allowing it to be voluntarily removed either.  All sides are in play here and both God and Satan are keenly aware of this; however, there are many humans walking on this rock who do not know this and are systematically bowing to the god of this world thus removing the hedge enough for a tactical attack then all out assault.

One must keep in mind that if our enemy knows that he cannot penetrate this spiritual and holy hedge around us then he must find away to get us to do it or to have God remove its protective branches.  As we will see in the next two parts of this topic there are some fascinating settings that are in play for our lives, and the questions of who has the authority to remove this spiritual hedge about our lives will be answered as well.  The answers may not suit some people but as we all have found out in our life, the truth is not always easy to swallow.  The answers will also provide a vivid picture of what our lives mean to God and how important it is to follow His words of wisdom and eternal life.  And it is always comforting to understand more of how God moves through His original plan or restoration and peace; talk about a placement for furious love.

DLB