Wednesday, May 14, 2008

God Has Two Hedges

Thus God dealt with Israel, “She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’ Therefore I will hedge up her path with thorns; I will wall her in—so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now.’” Hosea 2:6-8.

God has two hedges which the Scripture takes notice of:

1. The hedge of his protection, which you read of Job 1:10, “Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns?”
2. The hedge of affliction, which you read of here: “I will hedge up her path with thorns.”

Now the Lord make use of both these hedges:

The hedge of protection—is to keep His people from danger.
The hedge of affliction—is to stop His people from wandering.

The hedge of protection—is to keep them in God’s way.
The hedge of affliction—is to keep them out of sin’s way.

The hedge of protection—is to keep them from suffering.
The hedge of affliction—is to keep then from sinning,
and to put them upon returning to God.

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