When the Hedge Is Broken
ICS Daily Devotions

Job 1:10 (NKJV) Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

God builds a hedge of protection around His people because He is a loving and faithful God who watches over His covenant people. The devil cannot attack us if the hedge is intact, but if the devil finds a gap in the hedge, he can attack individuals through it.

1 Peter 5:8 describes the devil as a roaring lion who prowls around looking for someone devour, but the Book of Job reveals that he could not make any inroads into attacking Job because God had made a hedge of protection around Job, his family, and his possessions. Because God is the one who had blessed the work of Job’s hand, He was also protecting what Job had, and He was pleased with Job, describing him as a blameless and upright man, who feared God and shunned evil. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his wife and children with respect to their lifestyles and walks before God, so the gap or the hole in the fence was found in the lives of Job’s children and his wife, who eventually died.

Isaiah 5:5 (NKJV) And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

In the Old Testament, the hedge would be lifted whenever the people of God sinned against Him intentionally or followed other gods, and it is not very different today. Because the people of Israel went into bigotry, idolatry, and practised injustice despite God’s abundant love and care, God permitted the pagan invaders to trample over the nation when the hedge of protection came down. If they were to walk and abide in the laws and statues of God, the curses and the attacks by their enemies wouldn’t have happened. God had told the Israelites in the Book of Deuteronomy to choose life by obeying His commandments, laws, and statues, so that they would enjoy His blessings, but if they rebelled against Him, curses, death would come upon them as the hedge of protection was lifted. Because the Mosaic covenant is a conditional covenant, and because God is just, righteous, and holy, man’s acts of sin or rebelliousness would cause a hole in the wall of protection, enabling the devil to make inroads to steal, kill and destroy them.

However, through the blood of Jesus, we are now operating in a new covenant which is everlasting and unconditional. Therefore, if we are aware of the enemy’s scheme against us or our family, we can prevent it by enforcing the victory of Jesus Christ through intercession. When we choose to stand in the gap between God and the onslaught of the devil, we are protecting our loved ones by shielding them from the fiery darts of the evil one.

Sermon Series: Partnering God in Prayer