God's Ability to Remove Hedges

God’s Ability to Remove Hedges

3/2/15

The second part in the series of Hedges will deal with the ability that God has to remove the hedges around our lives and our nations.  There are reasons as to why this event occurs and as this process is unfolds it is important for us to recognize what is transpiring.  While things may go from smooth sailing to rough shod during Job’s time, we need to remember that God was in control and that He will not allow things to occur without His divine approval.  This portion of the series is a delicate issue but one that has redemptive qualities.  Even though it looks like the advancement of God’s Kingdom and the physical purpose of job’s life had been stopped, it was then that the Kingdom was advancing faster than ever before, to the eternal satisfaction from God and to the eternal dismay of our enemy.

I briefly described the eternal state of our enemy at the end of the first part of the Hedge series and how that his life is solely based upon defeat and how he cannot redeem himself from this status.  One must place this next statement into our forebrains and continually flash it before our eyes; it was Lucifer’s choice to try and make things better for himself, and through this choice of his, was banned from his eternal status forever.  I also have to admit that humans give him some kind of sick sort of hope or diabolical false pleasure by allowing him to influence and dominate our lives; ironically, sometimes with little or no effort on his part.  But that is where our choice comes into play and it is also whether or not we use our hearts and minds in tandem in order to weed through the lies and hate so that we may find the truth.  It was through this fact about Job and of God that preempted God’s choice to Satan.  And it is through these circumstances that job rested upon God’s gifts and praised Him even though his personal world crumbled around him.

The fascinating portion of this story actually occurs before job’s trials begin, with the conversation that Satan and God have concerning Job.  As the conversation proceeds it becomes clear that Satan is frustrated with the fact that while he has free reign over where he can travel and do, he still has to have the permission of God to complete his works.  God actually starts the conversation about Job and offers him up to Satan’s hands, but after a short trial period of questions and answers from Satan God allows him to touch portions of Job’s life.  God actually sets the boundaries of what Satan can and cannot do to Job and his life and Satan cannot do one thing more than what God has authorized. 

There are many interesting facts in this short conversation between God and Satan.  Satan makes nothing but accusations about Job to God and questions Job’s loyalty and love for God because of the riches that God has allowed Job to have.  If Satan knew exactly what was in Job’s heart and what his heart felt towards God, Satan would have never made these accusations about Job for he would have known that job would pass the test.  However, Satan did understand exactly how far he could push Job and he took well advantage of the situation.  God on the other hand knew Job’s heart and knew how spiritually tough he was.  God also knew that Job understood God’s ways and His laws and what it meant to be a servant of God.  It was through this desire of Job that God had full confidence of how Job would act.  God never forced Job to act in any manner while Satan beat his dreams to a pulp, but after Job’s surroundings and life were destroyed and he knelt down to give thanks to God, I imagine the look on Satan’s face was just about the same as the soldier’s who beat Jesus to a pulp right before He was crucified.

God sets the ground rules before any event in Job’s life occurs.  Satan cannot override God’s decision which proves once in for all that Satan is on a leash and cannot do anything without the ability to complete his mission.  This fact will become important when the third portion of this series is shared, for if we choose to remove this hedge, all bets are off and our enemy can have our throats if he wishes.  See, God did not force Job when He removed the hedge about him and God shall not force us when we remove that protective hedge either.  God was in complete control of this hedge removal process about Job.  How much of it was removed and for exactly how long it was removed, we have no clue but the effects of that removal were so severe that it would call into question any human beings senses about why such terrible things would be allowed to occur on one family. 

As we read about Job and the physical conditions that he and his family lived in it is not hard to imagine that he was a wealthy man and basically had every need provided for him.  It is also known that Job must have been a hard worker and did as much as he could to provide for his family, including having adequate protection around his land and maintaining this protective barrier as best that he could at all times.  Job was blessed with a wife, children and numerous animals which encompassed his life to the fullest.  Job also understood who God was and placed Him at the center of his life and from all accounts made it very clear to everyone around him who he served. 

Job Chapter 1 clearly sets the stage for what is about to occur in Job’s life and there are many issues in this part of the story that while occurred many millennia ago apply to our lives today.  Beginning in verse 1 we see that Job is described as a true and just man that stayed away from evil.  This is a telling verse because it states the spiritual condition of Job and it also describes the fact that evil was common around his life; which means people had the opportunity to choose whether or not to accept evil in their lives or not, something for the reader to keep in their forebrains.  Yet our enemy does not see this pattern as one that comes from the heart of Job but because of the conditions that God allows him to live within on a daily basis and is the focus that Satan uses when conversing with God about Job.  Satan can only use what he is familiar with and can control which will be proven in the worldly settings of Job. 

The following few verses outlines exactly how much God had provided Job and how his daily affairs were ran.  From all indications Job ran a smooth and efficient operation and left no corner cut when providing for him, his family, farm and workers; it even records that his workers dines with his family on a regular basis.  From all of the described evidence Job had everything that was needed in order to run a successful business and to top it all off Job chose God as his guide for his life and treated everyone around him accordingly.  If one wishes to put this into perspective, look at all of the surrounding conditions that western society has enjoyed for many decades and one can get the sense of how Job might have lived.  Isn’t it wonderful to know that Job had enough confidence in God to endure these heinous acts by our enemy; yet isn’t even greater to know that God had eternal confidence in Job to push back the kingdom of darkness.

According to the next few verses it becomes clear that everything in Job’s world is consistently falling apart.  There is a certain group of people that come and kill some of Job’s servants and take all of the oxen from his land.  Basically at the same time, another person arrived with the news that all of the servants that were tending the sheep and including the sheep were burned up with a great fire.  Another group of people came and took the camels away and killed more of Job’s servants along with another report of the house collapsing and killing all that were inside.  There is nothing good about these reports and if any one of us would receive news of this content, it would not be hard to wonder and to angrily ask God, why?

But Job did not become angry with all of this devastation, he only purified himself before God and bowed to his Creator and gave thanks for the blessings that God had given him and his family for as long as He had.  So much for Satan’s acclamation that Job would “curse thee to thy face” statement that Satan used previously.  Job proved God correct and Satan wrong, just as God had knew he would.  And, being a “good” enemy and instead of sitting around and pouting Satan went back up to God and tried to up the ante so to speak.

At some point in eternal “time” Satan decides to go back in front of God and once again God basically asks Satan this question: what are you doing?  And Satan replied with basically the same answer as before, which proves that Stan really is not that smart but he keeps on knocking on the outhouse door.  One of my frequent sayings is that God has a sense of humor and I can only imagine that He would be using it here when He answers Satan with His own question: Have you considered my servant Job?  It must have been like a spiritual dig into Satan’s head when God uttered those words again; for Satan does know the past and he did remember the first failure that he had concerning Job.

I also find it funny that Satan continues to use the same line as before and that he had not thought of anything else to say in response to God at this time.  Satan once again sarcastically invoked the protective hedge about Job as the source of why Job would not succumb to cursing God.  This statement signifies that some part of God’s protective hedge was still about Job and his family and that with a portion of that hedge begin breached there was a part of that hedge that was still intact, for Job and his family were not personally touched in the first wave of calamities that they experienced because it was not allowed by God.  Only the things “about” Job were affected which meant only the things around Job could be touched; or things that Job had acquired.

But this conversation Satan took further and made it a personal vendetta against Job claiming to God that it was because he was not allowed to touch Job personally that was the reason as to why Job did not curse God.  So, with the same internal conditions of job’s heart intact and God knowing this, God authorized Satan to touch Job personally but placed one stipulation into play, Satan could not take his life.  This is a very important part here and one that many might overlook.

Over the next few verses of Job Chapter 2, it becomes clear that this time Satan’s attack is on Job himself and he places boils upon job’s body and covered his body with these sores.  Job’s family had been killed with only his wife left to be with him and it became so painful and disgusting that Job’s wife told Job to curse God and die.  I find it very interesting that Job’s children were in part of the first destructive wave but his wife was spared.  One would tend to believe that his wife would have been included in the destructive force that took all of his assets especially since his children were.  But there is a key principle here that both God and Satan understood and it was part of the groundwork that defined Job.

Remember back when God and Satan were first conversing and God gave Satan permission to take all that Job had but that he could not touch Job himself.  Immediately one would believe that those words would only include Job alone, but here is the principle that many of us forget.  Back in Genesis Chapter 2 when God created woman from man He set into motion the law of human reproduction.  It is commonly known that the only way that a man and a woman can be considered one is through sexual intercourse.  How important is this Kingdom law?  Important enough to prove as to why Job’s wife was not killed along with their children.  Once a man and woman become “one” with each other that Kingdom principle is in place and shall be carried with those people until their deaths.  It is for this principle only that Satan knew about and the sole reason as to why he could not touch Job’s wife, because they were one!  It also states that only a man and a woman can become one, even though humans try to pervert this law through human means.

This portion of the story also sets the stage for the reasons for purity between a marriage.  For if Job or his wife had not been faithful to that union and “oneness” she would have been made a target for Satan’s wrath s well.  Even though God set into motion this law way back in the Garden of Eden, He had to follow it and so did Satan.  God could not change it and Satan could not breech it without the legal grounds to do so.  I can guarantee you that Satan looked at every avenue in order to breech this union but because God’s law was in state, there was nothing Satan could do about it.  Anyone want to wonder why Satan has enticed our society into sex?  There is your answer.  It is well known that parents lose children sometimes and that death is one of the most agonizing times in a human being’s life.  I pray that my wife and I never have to face this but I do know that it does occur.  It is far more painful to watch our children suffer from the doors that they voluntarily open and walk through all in the name of having fun.  But it is through these actions and choices that our enemy gains the necessary authorization to wreak havoc in our lives. 

After Job and some of his friends had a long conversation and after God had given a thorough descriptive lesson concerning Kingdom to Job, it is written that Job was blessed with more land, more crops, animals and children than before his trials began.  This is another Kingdom principle that God will pour out on his people after the enemy has tried his best to thwart our eternal status.  But the key here is that we recognize what is transpiring and that we have prepared ourselves enough to act accordingly.  The only way that we can fully complete this knowledge is to turn our lives completely over to God and to allow Him to show us the truth about our existence.  Our enemy has provided many rocks along our paths so that we stumble and fall but in those hard and difficult times we must keep our eyes upon God and Hs ways, for they are the only sure foundation that we have.  I am thoroughly convinced that if Job had not followed God in all his ways, God would have allowed the spiritual hedge to be thinned a bit further.

It was these doors that Job and his wife that were not available that kept job intact.  Yes, losing his children was a huge blow to his life but at the same time it serves as an even greater example of how God cannot change His laws and as long as we do not give our enemy added leash length, which will be the topic of the third part of this series.  It is important that we understand that God loves us no matter what we have done in our lives, but it is also important that we understand that as long as we live within the laws of God and follow His Word, we will be under this protective hedge that He provides.  And even though trials, hurts, pains and many other ugly circumstances may arise in our lives, God is in control and has set specific boundaries that our enemy must obey.  But if we choose to remove that hedge voluntarily and continue to snub our noses at God and His ways, then all gloves are off and God has no power to shorten that chain on our enemy.  Talk about furious love!

DLB