Ezer

How can I not write about my dog, Asher? Asher is a border collie, and he helps me move the livestock every day. Before I had him, I would run around like a fool, yelling and waving my arms trying to round up the sheep. They didn't take me very seriously. I didn't take me very seriously.

Asher does so much more than help me move the stock. Asher is a good friend. Ask anyone who has visited my home, and they will tell you that he greets you with a hug. He will wrap his arms around your leg and squeeze. He is extremely obedient and will always go out of his way to obey. He not only answers to me, but to anyone. He responds even to my children as an authority. If you tell him to lay down, he will drop to the ground immediately with no hesitation. His desire is to please...always. I have even had friends bring their dogs to my home, and Asher keeps them in line and will not let them disobey their owner or chase chickens or whatever else naughty a dog may do.

When we need a job with the stock done, the first question is: "Where's Asher? I need him." He brings order to the barnyard and he carries authority. The very sight of him makes the sheep bolt into the barn, so I actually cannot have him out during feeding time or the sheep would never get fed. With all he does, though, he doesn't assume his own authority; but he submits to me.

The word "ezer" accurately describes Asher in my life. Ezer is the Hebrew word for "help".

One of the first uses of it in Scripture is when Adam meets Eve and she is called his "ezer kenegdo" (help-meet). This is found in Genesis 2:18. God says that it is not good for man to be alone. Man alone is a lot like the picture of me trying to round up the sheep without Asher. Now, granted, some men are called into a life of celibacy, but they are hardly alone; God is their all. What I'm speaking of is that woman was created to help man do his job. She was not created directly in the image of God, but the image of man, who was made in the image of God (1 Corinthians 11:8&9). This is not to say that women are NOT made in the image of God at all, but simply that she was taken from man and is the glory of man. Women indeed are made in the image of God same as man, only more indirectly so. Thusly, for the ladies, remember to submit to your husband and have a heart for pleasing him. If you are not married, do it for your father. If you are single, do it for God who is your heavenly Father and your Bridegroom. Be His ezer kenegdo...it's who you were created to be, and anything apart from that will leave you feeling incomplete because you are truly being delinquent against the very fiber of your being. For the men, look to God as your Head and Leader--come alongside Him and allow His authority to work through you to bring order to a rebellious world.

Help can also take on the form of something much stronger than something that comes alongside you that aids you in your tasks. The word "ezer" is used again in Psalm 121--

"If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--your guardian is not asleep. No, the guardian of Israel never slumbers or sleeps. Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand Adonai provides you with shade--the sun can't strike you during the day or even the moon at night. Adonai will guard you against all harm; he will guard your life. Adonai will guard your coming and going from now on and forever."

Come again? "...at your right hand?" That sounds like God is our helper! Not only do we come alongside God to carry out His will, He comes alongside us to aid us in what He's called us to do. What a beautiful design the Lord laid out for our relationship with Him! My dear Asher is much like this picture of "helping guardian", as nothing happens on my land that Asher is not aware of first. He alerts me so that I can be watchful. He makes me a better ruler over this land the Lord gave me.

Ezer. What a beautiful word.

"Two are better than one, in that their cooperative efforts yield this advantage: if one of them falls, the other will help his partner up--woe to him who is alone when he falls and has no one to help him up." -Ecclesiastes 4:9&10