Hedges
I’ve thought a lot lately about Eve and her choices. God created Eve to be a helper for her husband. The NASB phrases her job as being a “suitable helper” (Gen. 2:18) and makes it clear that she was in the garden because it wasn’t good for man to be alone. Eve was a crucial, intentional part of the garden—meant to be a benefit to Adam, the one closest to him who could surround him with her love and shield him from evil. Unfortunately, we all know the outcome of this story. Instead of being a helper who was a hedge and a shield for her husband, she invited evil into their abode (and a sin nature into ours) when she chose to believe a lie. King Solomon had a proverb that makes me think of Eve each time I read it: “The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it” (Proverbs 22:3).
Eve did not recognize evil when she saw it, and instead of hiding herself from the evil, she hid her face from God. She naively believed Satan’s boast that she surely wouldn’t die if she ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, she and Adam (because they were one flesh) and you and I (because we have inherited the sin nature that began with their disobedience) have been punished severely because sin separates from God. When they left the garden and intimate fellowship with God, they found only thorns and snares in the world into which they were thrust, and another of Solomon’s proverbs seems to apply here: “Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will be far from them” (Proverbs 22:5). We have to guard ourselves from the pain that comes when we choose to be naïve. We do this by choosing to listen to God’s instruction. We have to wisely choose life over the death that results from disobedience by applying the word to our lives one situation at a time. We have to “walk by the spirit” to keep us from “carry[ing] out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). It’s not a cakewalk, but fortunately for us, we’ve been equipped with powerful weapons by God. Through Christ alone, we can be strong in the Lord’s strength when we have none of our own. We can “resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13). God’s armor can be our hedge of protection if we “gird our loins with truth,” “put on the breastplate of righteousness,” “shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” “take up the shield of faith,” “take the helmet of salvation,” and carry the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vs. 14-17). I am sad to say that I’ve over trimmed my hedge of protection lately because I have not put on the whole armor of God. As a result, I have not been a suitable or even adequate helper to my Adam. Putting on bits and pieces of armor might be OK for hit or miss situations, but a war requires that I have it all in place all the time in addition to “prayer and petition” and “all perseverance” (vs. 18). I’ve found Eve and I have more in common than I would have thought, and I have lessons to learn. Going through hedges are painful, and I’m all about avoiding some pain!
Eve did not recognize evil when she saw it, and instead of hiding herself from the evil, she hid her face from God. She naively believed Satan’s boast that she surely wouldn’t die if she ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, she and Adam (because they were one flesh) and you and I (because we have inherited the sin nature that began with their disobedience) have been punished severely because sin separates from God. When they left the garden and intimate fellowship with God, they found only thorns and snares in the world into which they were thrust, and another of Solomon’s proverbs seems to apply here: “Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; he who guards himself will be far from them” (Proverbs 22:5). We have to guard ourselves from the pain that comes when we choose to be naïve. We do this by choosing to listen to God’s instruction. We have to wisely choose life over the death that results from disobedience by applying the word to our lives one situation at a time. We have to “walk by the spirit” to keep us from “carry[ing] out the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). It’s not a cakewalk, but fortunately for us, we’ve been equipped with powerful weapons by God. Through Christ alone, we can be strong in the Lord’s strength when we have none of our own. We can “resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Eph. 6:13). God’s armor can be our hedge of protection if we “gird our loins with truth,” “put on the breastplate of righteousness,” “shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” “take up the shield of faith,” “take the helmet of salvation,” and carry the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (vs. 14-17). I am sad to say that I’ve over trimmed my hedge of protection lately because I have not put on the whole armor of God. As a result, I have not been a suitable or even adequate helper to my Adam. Putting on bits and pieces of armor might be OK for hit or miss situations, but a war requires that I have it all in place all the time in addition to “prayer and petition” and “all perseverance” (vs. 18). I’ve found Eve and I have more in common than I would have thought, and I have lessons to learn. Going through hedges are painful, and I’m all about avoiding some pain!
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