Hosea 2:15 — And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Yesterday, we celebrated, each in our own peculiar way, America’s independence. Not wishing to be too controversial, let me say that at the very least a large component of the founding population was undoubtedly Christian.
This nation came from a wilderness where it was not free to worship, into a promised land where religious liberty was guaranteed.
More than two hundred years later something really seems to have gone wrong. There is a concerted attack on marriage and family. The evidence of our eyes and ears seems to contradict the official statistics that suggest violent crimes are declining. The gap between rich and poor is growing. (Recent reports show the USA to have the fourth largest gap between rich and poor of any major developed country.) So are we doomed?
In the seventh chapter of Joshua we read of the stoning of Achan — the “troubler of Israel” in the valley of Achor — the valley of “trouble”. Taking what isn’t yours gets you into trouble!
Then in the second chapter of Hosea we find God’s amazing promise to adulterous, idolatrous Israel. “I’ll turn the valley of trouble into the valley of hope — when you let go of those things you should never have touched”. Albert Barnes expands this beautifully:
It was through the punishment of those who troubled the true Israel, “the destruction of Jerusalem”, that to the Apostles and the rest who believed, the hope of victory over the whole world was opened.” “Hope.” The word more fully means, a “patient, enduring longing.” To each returning soul, the valley of trouble, or the lowliness of repentance, becometh a door of patient longing, not in itself, but because God giveth it to be so; a longing which reacheth on, awaiteth on, entering within the veil, and bound fast to the Throne of God.
It is certain that in our troubled society there will be troubles. In time though — God’s time — there will be punishment, destruction, for those who trouble God’s kingdom. For those though who are repentant, returning, seeking the kingdom, the valley of trouble has become the valley of hope. The hope is for a season, a season of “patient longing”.
I thought I saw a first glimmer of hope in the Supreme Court’s rulings in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood cases. For the first time in a long time it seemed as though the highest (human) court in the land ruled in favor of the family and religious freedom. Perhaps these are the first signs of repentance and returning, and there is a door of hope opening …