Introduction
If my calculations are correct Moses went to the mountaintop to be with God a total of eight times that we know of. He may have been to the mountain top more times then was recorded in the Scriptures; but at least 8 times. We know that on one of those occasions in Exodus 34:28, Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain top with God chiseling the Ten Commandments. So, let me ask you two question. The first one is: can you say that during the span of your Christian life, have you been on the mountain top with God at least 8 times? Moses could. And the second question is: can you say that during the span of your Christian life, can you say that I know that I have spent at least 40 days and 40 nights with God on His mountain top? Moses could.
My Bible in Acts 10:34 tells me that God is no respecter of persons. So, what Moses did, I believe you and I can do. We need to thrive to spend as many times as possible on the Mountain top with God; and we need to thrive to make those times on the Mountain top as long as possible.
But, unfortunately, when we are not on the mountain top, we find ourselves in the valleys. And the purposes of the valleys are to prepare us once again to go to the mountain top of God.
And so far in our series, we have looked at the Valley of Berakah which was a Valley of Crisis for Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel; and then we looked at the Valley of Beka which was a Valley of Tears for those who pilgrimaged to Jerusalem to celebrate the three Feast Days order by God in Deuteronomy 16:16. Today, we are going to look at the Valley of Achor or the Valley of Troubled Hearts.
So, if you have your Bibles turn to Hosea 2:14-15 and please stand for the reading of God’s Word.
Scripture
Hosea 2:14-15 (NKJV)
14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Background Information
We all are familiar with the Valley of Troubled Hearts. It may be a dad that was not there for you when you were growing up. It may be a marriage relationship which started out so wonderfully but ended in a bitter divorce. It might be your child that no matter what you do to help him or her, they cannot seem to be able to get it together. It may be a relationship with a best friend that spanned a number of decades but recently turned sour. We all know the Valley of a Troubled Heart. We all have been in the Valley of Troubled Hearts.
And in our Book of Hosea, Hosea knows all so well the Valley of Troubled Heart because his wife, Gomer, has left him to play the role of a harlot. And God uses that story of Hosea and his wife’s unfaithfulness to him to paint a picture of Israel’s unfaithfulness to God and God’s pursuit to win Israel back.
This story be could have been written for today about our nation’s unfaithfulness to God; or we could bring it down to a more personal level and could say it could have been written about our unfaithfulness to God.
And what I want us to see is God’s response. God told Hosea to pursue Gomer; God pursed Israel; and I believe that God is pursing America; and God is pursing each one of us. And let’s see what we can learn.
Points
#1
Have you ever gotten yourself spiritually off-track with God, and God brought you to the exact same place where you went off -track so this time you can hopefully do it God’s way?
14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.
The Bible is full of examples of that exact thing happening to individuals. There was Moses who killed an Egyptian soldier and had to fled to the back side of the wilderness only to be brought back to the exact same place where he fled from the first time to stand before the Pharaoh of Egypt to demand the release of God’s people, God’s way.
There was Jonah who heard the call of God to arise and go to Nineveh, but he fled to Tarnish, got on a ship, thrown off that same ship when the men aboard threw him over overboard and then Jonah was swallowed by a great fish. He prayed to God and the great fish spit him out. And the Bible says in Jonah 3, God said for the second time, arise and go to Nineveh. And so, Jonah, came back to the exact same command that God asked him the first time.
There is the story in Daniel, Chapter 4, where God took the kingdom of Babylon away from King Nebuchadnezzar because he felt he built it and it was his kingdom, and the king goes mad for seven seasons and lived like an animal. And it says that after seven seasons, he came to his mind, and claimed God rules the kingdoms of the world and was restored to his position as king. Nebuchadnezzar came back to his kingship with a different mind-set about who is in charge.
And then there is my story, I knew God called me into the ministry on November 5th, 1980 and I did it for four years, then an opportunity arose for me to become a bank president and I took it. To make a long story short, that is not what God intended for Anne and me, and things started going wrong for us after a while. Don’t get me wrong, the first few years were great, but then came financial problems, legal problems, and family problems. And then in August 1992, not being able to deal with the pressure anymore, I walked up the aisle of the church, I was attending at the time and I surrender to God again. God had brought me back to an altar to surrender my life again to Him in ministry. He brought me to the altar in 1980 and then he brought me back there in 1992. This time I am glad to say that I had learned my lesson.
Think about your life: is there a time that God has brought you full circle? As a preacher, I seen this full circle happen a lot of times. A faithful church member encounters some problem with someone in the church or with a church issue and then falls out of church. And then, God brings things to bear upon that person or their family which eventually lead them back to church. It may not happen as fast as a pastor wants, but I assure you, it will happen.
That is how God works: you may revisit a place where you fell away from God because God will bring you back to that place so this time you can make the right choice or choices. Make no mistake about it, God is the God of second, third and fourth choices; always hoping that you will get it right.
#2
When God brings you back to the place that you went off track, He does not do so to scold you or to throw guilt on you but to speak with tender care about getting you back on track.
(NKJV) 14 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.
(NIV) 14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
Sometimes parents will bring a child back to the scene of their mess (because let’s face it, kids make mess), and then start scolding them telling them you see what you done, you better not make that kind of mess again. Let me let you in on a secret. I found from my personal experience that my parents yelling and screaming at me was not an effective way to get me to change my ways.
I went back and read the Exodus story and no place did I see after God brought Moses back to Egypt, God telling Moses that you know you killed that Egyptian. I also reread the story of Jonah and no where do I see God tell Jonah you know you messed up and if you do it again, you are going to stay in that great fish longer this time.
In Hosea, God knows that Israel had messed up again by worshiping idols, but He does not bring that up instead the Scripture says God talks tenderly to her.
Romans 2:4 (NKJV)
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
If God brings you back to where you went off-track, it is because He loves you; not because He wants to throw it in your face. Don’t fight it; rejoice in it to know that the God of the universe loves me so much to bring me back to this exact place so I can get it right this time.
#3
God can restore what sin has stolen from you.
15 I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
The Valley of Achor is not first mentioned in Hosea but in Joshua 7. Israel had just taken Jericho and God told them not to take any of the treasures of Jericho for themselves but to put them in God’s treasury. But a man name Achan stole some of those items and buried them in his tent. The Israelites went to capture the next town Ai and were soundly defeated. God told Joshua that their defeat was because of sin in the camp. It was Achan’s sin that caused their defeat. And Joshua says in Joshua 7:25 (NKJV)
25 And Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." So, all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
And this happened in the Valley of Achor, which became known from that day forward as the Valley of Trouble.
Now, the Israelites are returned to this Valley in Hosea, And God says, do you know what? It does not have to be the Valley of Troubled Hearts any longer; I can restore it to the Valley of Hope. And you can get your joy back; you can get your song back; you can feel like you did in the days of your youth when you and I first walked together.
And do you know what? God offers that to each one of us today. Let God take you back to where you went off-track, let Him speak to you with tender care, and then you chose to follow His voice this time.
Let us pray!
