Hosea 2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.
“This will hurt me more than it hurts you.” Have you ever heard this from a parent? Have you ever said this as a parent? Whether you believe those words or not probably depends upon whether you are a parent. None of us enjoy pain. None of us enjoy punishment, yet that is what Hosea is largely about, pain, punishment, and restoration.
In Hosea 3 God says, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim.” In short, Hosea saw a time when Israel would be married to God in a covenant relationship with Him, but not enjoying the benefits of that marriage. This is much like Hosea whose wife was unfaithful and left him. Was she still married to him? Indeed she was. Was she enjoying the benefits and blessings of that marriage? No, she was not. That is perhaps where Israel is now.
Hosea 3:5 says, “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” So, you have a picture of trouble and a picture of hope.
If you look at the previous chapter, it is split almost exactly in half between the bad things God would do and the good things God would do. God says, “I will…I will…I will.” Basically, He says, “I will punish Israel. I will not have mercy.” Then in verse 14 it all changes and God says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her.” God would woo her back. He says, “I will…” and speaks of all the good things He will do. He says, “I will have mercy.”
So, on the one hand, God will not have mercy, and on the other hand, God will have mercy. Is there some schizophrenia here? No! This is trouble and hope. It is not as if we have two separate things, trouble and then hope. No, you sometimes have trouble precisely so that you can have hope.
In Hosea 2:15 God says, “And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope.” Achan was a man whose name meant “trouble.” The valley of Achor means “trouble.” And, just as trouble on the very cusp of the land that God had promised Israel was the door of hope to Israel when they returned to God, so, again trouble would and will be a door of hope to God’s people Israel.
Not every trouble you or I have is the result of a specific sin. But sometimes we know that what we are doing, the trouble we have, is because we are not square with God. Anything is better than thinking you are okay simply because your health is good, your wealth is fine, and you are okay. When you are not right with God, that pain is like your nerves. We don’t enjoy that pain, but it keeps us from harm. That pain keeps us from harm because it helps us to see that with or without the symptoms, the important thing is our relationship to God.
Maybe right now you find yourself in trouble. If you find yourself in that place specifically because you are not right with God, remember that there is always hope, and that God is not indifferent towards you. Trouble is often a door of hope to those who will return to God.