The Valley of Achor

I was reading Hosea and was looking up commentaries. During my search I found an article written by John Piper. http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/call-me-husband-not-baal He pointed out that the Valley of Achor mentioned in Hosea 2:15 actually had a very significant meaning. If you go back to Joshua 7 you read about Israel failing to take the land. Here God had called them into Canaan, and He delivered Jericho into their hands. And when they went into Ai, they were met with an ambush and 36 of their men were killed. It says "the hearts of the people melted and turned to water." The reason behind this was sin. Achan stole goods from Babylonia, and so Joshua and the people of Israel took them to the Valley of Achor and stoned him and his entire family.

It's easy to read this story as a narrative and not put any thought into it. But imagine for a moment being there. The anger and betrayal the other Israelites must have felt toward Achan. Can you imagine being a young widow that just lost her brand new husband? Or the children that lost their father due to this man's sin? And what of his whole family? I can hear him begging Joshua on his knees,  Take my life, but please, spare my children, they are innocent! The scripture doesn't paint the picture of the horror of this time, but it is easy to imagine.  The result of Achan's sin was death. Death of innocent men, death of his life and his own family...and fear. Fear that God had deserted them. We also can decipher that it was significant because twice God mentions the Valley of Achor later on. Achor meant "trouble." But in Isaiah and in Hosea, he gives it new meaning:  I will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. 

I often struggle with condemnation of my past. Some of it would be significant to anyone, some of it is ridiculous. Like remembering something stupid I did when I was a young child. Growing up, I was followed by a tormenting spirit. I remember through my elementary school years, from the time I was 7 until I was 10, I was tortured by a spirit of guilt. I would lie on the floor in my room and weep and want to die. I would cry myself to sleep. It was all I could do to get through dinner without tears flowing down my cheeks. I was freed from the intense oppressiveness at 10, but I was never really completely free. At 22, I abandoned the faith altogether. I had just had enough of guilt. I couldn't handle it anymore. I walked away and didn't look back.

I think I had to walk away in order to fully understand the love and grace of God. Somehow, it isn't so much about our actions as it is about our hearts. Perhaps that is why He deals harshly with some people (Achan) but is merciful to others (David).  He sees the heart and the motives and thoughts, while we can only see circumstances. The real struggle for me is after He brought me back to Him, I left again and again. For whatever reason at the time, I wasn't a faithful wife. I was as unstable as my emotions, hot or cold, sometimes just apathetic. How could I have known Him and still willingly disobey and abandon Him?

Then I remember the story of Hosea. He marries a prostitute... and she commits adultery over and over again. Yet Hosea, though angry, never abandons her. He never fully rejects her. He brings this unfaithful woman back and promises to be a good husband to her. This picture was a living representation of the children of Israel. It is a message to all believers. God never gives up on His children. He's always ready to bring us back.  In Hosea, He calls the Valley of Achor a door of hope. No longer will the Israelites remember it a place of death and fear.

My past has been redeemed. I have been redeemed. I have been set free. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. He doesn't just forget my sin and my past; He turns into something I can look back and rejoice in. I don't have to look back at my past and feel shame and wish I could forget. I can look back at my past and see the power of God in my life that has transformed me into the image of His son. I am His daughter, His love, His betrothed. I am not defined by my past. I am defined by my Abba's love.