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Valley of Achor", or to translate the name into English "The valley of trouble". The
actual valley of Achor was so named, because of the sin of Achan who `troubled' Israel
(Josh. 6: 18). In I Chron. 2: 7 Achan's name is actually altered to read `Achar' the
word for `trouble' to emphasize the fact.
There are two references in the great prophecies of Israel's restoration where this
"Valley of Trouble" is turned by overruling grace into a place of blessing:
"I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of My mountains:
and Mine elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a
fold of flocks, and the Valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for My people
that have sought Me" (Isa. 65: 9, 10).
The lesson that appears on the surface, which administers balm to our hurt minds, and
soothes in times of stress is this:
(1)
God has a chosen people "Mine elect".
(2)
Though sin has robbed them of their inheritance, and turned the place of triumph into a
valley of trouble (Josh 6: and 7:), the elect shall yet enter into their own.
(3)
The present "Valley of Trouble" can be turned into a place of rest;
(4)
And the principle is found in the closing words of the passage "For My people that
have sought Me".
Here, therefore, we can see the lesson for ourselves. At one end of the story is the
electing love of God, and at the other the voluntary seeking of the Lord by His people. In
between lies the valley of Achor, the valley of trouble, but electing love, and seeking
faith can turn the valley of trouble into green pastures wherein the herds may `lie down'.
The second occurrence of this valley of Achor in the prophets, is that of Hos. 2: 15.
This chapter opens with the shameful unfaithfulness of Israel, under the figure of a
woman who has `played the harlot'; and of the Lord's dealings with such, taking away
the corn, the wine, the wool and the flax, not only as a judgment upon the woman's utter
unfaithfulness, but as a means of opening her poor blind eyes.
"For she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil, and multiplied her silver
and gold, which they prepared for Baal" (Hos. 2: 8).
When the lesson has been learned however, the Lord says:
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably (as in Isa. 40: 2) unto her. And I will give 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" (Hos. 2: 14,15).
The valley of trouble, can become `a door of hope' to all who have learned the lesson
of faith. The figurative use of a `door' for `opportunity' is familiar to all who know the
writings of the Apostle Paul. He speaks of "a great and effectual door" (I Cor. 16: 9), "a
door . . . . . opened by the Lord" (II Cor. 2: 12); `a door of utterance' (Col. 4: 3). The
book of the Revelation uses the word in the same figurative sense (Rev. 3: 8).