THE VALLEY OF ACHOR A DOOR OF HOPE
[p. 119] THE VALLEY OF ACHOR A DOOR OF HOPE
I am taking up this incident as an illustration of the truth of the gospel, and I have no doubt that the leprous men express the condition of man in the sight of God. I will take up the circumstances till the point is reached when they become evangelists.
The state of things was full of distress; a famine in the city and the enemy without. To remain in the city meant starvation, things looked as dark as they could be. But there was the intervention of God for His people; they were crooked and perverse, but God regarded them, and the mercy of God was not only to deliver them but to meet their need. God came in to deliver them from the fear of the Syrians, and their need was met by abundance of food. Death stared them in the face. There was dearth within and the enemy without. Now that is the state of things in the world today, there is the enemy without and dearth within. The world is a scene of dearth; that is felt in the moment of weakness and death, people have nothing to satisfy their soul. There is plenty to minister excitement, but nothing to minister satisfaction, because men do not seek it in the right place. People think that if they could get this or that, they would be content, but satisfaction cannot be found apart from God. Man cannot be really happy without God.
The condition of these four leprous men was very pitiful. They were outcasts from the city and their situation was desperate. They say, If “we will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we shall die also”. They would die in the city or out of it, and so they proposed to go into the camp of the enemy, and when they got there they found that God had come in in some [p. 120] extraordinary way; the camp was left, and everything standing, and the Syrians fled. They had fled under the influence of imaginary terror. These leprous men’s new circumstances were quite overpowering. The condition of things was beyond their necessity. They say, “This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace”, and that led them to become bearers of good tidings to the city. Those in the city investigated and found that the state of things was as reported. They found that the enemy had gone and that there was abundance of food according to the word of the Lord.
These things happened long ago and are not in themselves of very much moment to us, but the circumstances furnish an illustration of what concerns us very much. We are much in the position of these leprous men. A leprous man was defiled; he could not come into the city, he was disqualified for man and God. Every man is really leprous under the eye of God. He may not be so in the eyes of his fellows, but in the sight of God every man is defiled. The Lord says, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries”, etc., and these defile a man. A man may be defiled by reading bad books or looking at bad pictures, but the secret of defilement is from within. There never yet was, since sin came in, a really pure man in this world. Some people are more corrupt than others, but there never was a pure person in this world, for there is a spring of defilement within. I do not speak of what you are in the eyes of your fellows, but of what you are in the eye of God. I have come to know what I am myself in the sight of God, and we are all alike defiled and leprous and unfit for His presence. If a man of this world were taken to heaven, he would not care to be there; God’s presence would give him no pleasure and he would be glad to get out of heaven. There are degrees of defilement, but as to principle all are alike. We are all leprous men in the eye of God, and all unfit for God, like the prodigal in the far country.
[p. 121] Now these leprous men had no doubt of their leprosy. They knew it, and it is a great point when we are conscious that we are leprous. The beginning of all hope for man is when he is conscious that he is leprous. It was thus with the prodigal when he came to himself. He was a leprous man before, but when he came to himself he was conscious of it.
Now I will touch upon the course the leprous men took in going down to the enemy. They thought that possibly there might be a door of hope that way. There is a very remarkable scripture in one of the prophets, “I will give ... the valley of Achor for a door of hope”, Hosea 2: 15. The valley of Achor was the place where Achan and his house were stoned (Joshua 7). They had defiled Israel by their covetousness; judgment was executed upon them, and the place of judgment is to become a door of hope. The leprous men thought that possibly there might be a door of hope in the camp of the Syrians. When a man is leprous and conscious of it, it is well for him to look the enemy in the face, for he has got to meet the enemy, that is, death and judgment. Many people imagine that everything is going to terminate in death, but there is no real reckoning in this life. A good man may suffer, while a bad man may prosper in his wickedness. It appears to me that if God is God there must be a reckoning day, and Scripture says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”, that is, the reckoning day is beyond death. God might have put the reckoning day on this side of death, but He has seen fit to put it the other side. “Those that have done evil, to resurrection of judgment”. You have to face the enemy. Death is a tremendous enemy. Death reigns, and will conquer you, and judgment is appointed after death.
I speak to those who recognise the authority of Scripture, and what I would advise you to do is to go down and look the enemy in the face and see if it is not possible that in the valley of Achor is a door of hope.
[p. 122] Do it fairly; do not put it off till tomorrow. There is a gleam of hope to those who look the enemy in the face. People are not disposed to do it, but it is wise if you have to meet it. Do not defer it till it comes upon you; look it in the face and see if it is not possible that there is hope.
Now I want to show that, in place of hope, there is a great certainty. The love of God has come down into the place of death and judgment that man may find a way of deliverance from the enemy, the fear of death. The love of God has taken all that into account. You have all heard of Jesus, the Son of God, the One who died upon the cross. He died upon the cross in order that He might bring the love of God into the place of man’s enemy, death. The Son of God has died that man might be freed from the fear of death and from the certainty of judgment. God has been pleased to open the door of hope by Himself coming down by the Son. I want you to believe in the love of God and how it has been expressed, in the Son of God. He died to make known the love of God toward men and to communicate the Spirit to man, so that man might live. God has intervened, and His Son has come under the judgment to which we are liable. If you are prepared to recognise that you are leprous and you will look the enemy in the face, you will very soon see how the love of God has been expressed in the death of Christ, that God might impart the Spirit of life to those who believe, that they might not perish but have everlasting life. If God has loved man, God has loved you. The “kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man” have appeared. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. None here are beneath the notice of God. His love has been expressed to men in the death of Christ, and he who believes receives God’s gift. It cannot be given to a man who is indifferent to all that lies before him and to the love of God, God cannot [p. 123] give him any gift; but a man who faces the reality of things, apprehending his own defilement, and who sees how that in the valley of Achor God has opened a door of hope, to that man God gives eternal life. Death has no terror for that man, and he never will come into judgment, because Christ is the propitiation for his sins. That is what I want all to receive, the witness of divine love in the death of Christ and in its application to everyone. That love of God that has had its perfect expression in the death of Christ is towards all. God wants that all your wrong thoughts should be dispelled.
Have you received from God the Spirit of life? Many here have. You will not get it without faith. Do you believe in the death of Christ as the expression of the love of God? You will have to face death and judgment in their terrible power, but you may look at them now and find in them a door of hope. God has made death itself the expression of His love to man, that you may no longer fear death.
If you believe that, you get the Spirit of God. God gives the Spirit, in order that man may live without fear of death and judgment. The effect will be to make you evangelists. You will go home and tell your friends what great things God has done for you. It is when people have believed the glad tidings that they become evangelists. It is a great day in a person’s life when he can go and tell his friends what great things God has done for him and has had mercy on him.
But there was a nobleman who had ridiculed the word of the prophet. In those days everything was by the word of the prophet; in this case Elisha was the prophet. This nobleman was a skeptic, and when the prophet foretold abundance, he said: “Behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” In the day of good he got no good; he saw the abundance with his eyes, but never tasted of it. The nobleman is a warning to those who profane and ridicule the testimony; they may see the good with their eyes,
[p. 124] but will not taste of it. His position did not save him from the judgment of his profanity.
It is of all importance to be prepared to face realities. Death and judgment are upon man and he cannot evade them. Judgment is an absolute moral necessity, in order to maintain the relative positions of God and man. The reckoning day is before men. If you look these things in the face, there is a door of hope for you. Divine love has come in that you may believe in God and receive from Him the gift that God gives, the Spirit. May God grant that you may not be indifferent. There are many who have received the gift of God, and God is no respecter of persons. God gives to the believer the gift of the Spirit without money and without price. Everyone that thirsts is to come and drink. May you believe in the love of God expressed in the death of Christ that you may receive from God what God gives.