And In Between, a Door of Hope

I’ve been studying a great deal lately. This morning I was in Isaiah 65:10 and saw there a reference to “Achor.” When I looked up Achor, I found it to mean a place of “trouble.” As far as I could tell, it is mentioned three times in Scripture. You might remember, Achor was the scene of Achan’s great sin and Israel’s ignominious defeat before the men of Ai (see Joshua 7:10-26). But it was likewise the place of confession, repentance, and the rooting out of sin. Israel struggled in a cycle of idolatry, it was true; but the relentlessly merciful heart of God pledged,

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope… ” (Hosea 2:14–15, ESV)

Achor, the place of trouble–the very point of Israel’s great shame and disgrace–became for her the door of hope so that God later declares,

“Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down, for My people who have sought Me. ” (Isaiah 65:10, ESV)

I could only think—how like our God. How He delights in turning the place of sin and defeat and wrestling grief into “a door of hope” until finally, faithfully, He leads us to “a resting place.”

I trust Him—He will do that for each of us.