The Valley Of Troubled Hearts Series

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.