Building the Hedge Lesson 1
April 7th, 2008
- Building the Hedge Lesson 1
- Building the Hedge Lesson 2
- Building the Hedge Lesson 3
- Building the Hedge Lesson 4
Sunday AM March 30, 2008
HEDGE — a thorn hedge (Is. 5:5), a stone wall (Ps. 80:12), or a fence or partition of any kind (Mark 12:1). Hedges helped protect vineyards from thieves and predators. They consisted of loose stones or thorny branches or bushes.
Integrity is our hedge.
Integrity is to character what a foundation is to a building. Without a proper foundation a building or a person will eventually fall. A classic example of this truth is the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” in Italy. This beautiful bell tower built centuries ago from white marble is now some 16ft from perpendicular. In due time , for whatever reason the foundation failed. The question naturally comes to mind, how can this be made right?
Contemporary examples
During the 1980’s we saw the Televangelists fall because of moral failure.
During the 1990’s we saw an NBA star who admitted to being infected with the HIV virus.
The most publicized example was the President of the United States from Arkansas who had much to explain about a certain “ blue dress.”
Sadly, integrity is under attack from Wall Street to the Pulpit . Persona or self- image has become more important than personal integrity. Unlike image, which is only outward, integrity starts in the heart and works it’s way out. God is more interested in the process than the product. The World on the other hand believes, the end justifies the means. The Lord believes the process which produces maturity and stability are equally important. When I am operating in integrity , my words and my actions agree. That is to say, I am who I am regardless of where I am or who I may be with.
The greater the anointing, the greater the need for a foundation that will sustain the pressure of success.
Deut 8:11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest — when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end — 17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the Lord your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the Lord destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God. NKJV
The Word of God is given as hedge of protection. It applies from the least to the greatest of us .
Deut 17:14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say,’I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you,’You shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. NKJV
King Solomon had favorable beginning.
2 Chron 1:10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
11 Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life — but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king — 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.” NKJV
Solomon was promoted quickly.
2 Chron 1:1 Now Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him and exalted him exceedingly. NKJV
Sadly, Solomon neglected to build his spiritual hedge and in the end his foundation eroded.
Concerning Power:
Dt17:16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you,’You shall not return that way again.’
1 Kings 4:26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. NKJV
1 Kings 10:28 Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh. NKJV
Concerning Wives
DT 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;
1 Kings 11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites — 2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel,”You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. NKJV
Concerning Wealth
Dt 17:17 nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. NKJV
1 Kings 10:14 The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty‑six talents of gold, 15 besides that from the traveling merchants, from the income of traders, from all the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. NKJV
1 Kings 10:27 The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. NKJ
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