The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 73

He spolte to Jacob, not in the family, but in the desert, where only the quiet stars wrie watching; to Moses, not in the crowded camp1 but high above it, on Sinai; to Samuel, not amid the worshippers, but in the silent chamber where the child slept alone; t() Elijah, not in the tumult of Cannel's victory, but in the silence of the cave at Horcb. So Israel bad been taught, not in Egypt, but in the wilderness; and thus, said the prophet, 1t shall be again, and there "I will speak comfortably unto her "-literally," I will speak upon her heart "-that henceforth my Law and my love may be graven on it. Such has been the experience of the Christian. Convinced of sin, the world seemed dreary as a desert to him, till hope was infused into his heart that pardon and recon- ciliation were not far from him. Believing that God was near, he lifted up his trembling heart in prayer, and in Christ, the crucified and risen Saviour, he saw God reconciled to him; and the glimpse of his infinite beauty, of his unspeakable love, won his heart for ever. Then the very place of grief became the place where the fruits of joy were growing, and in the wilderness of repentance the promise was fulfilled, "I will give thee vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope." III. LOOK FOR THE DOOR OF HOPE IN THE VALLEY OF TROUBLE. "'l'he valley of Achor," or of troubling, on the north of Gilgal and Jericho, was the place in which Israel was gathered after the repulse at Ai; when the sin of Achan was discovered with such terrible exactitude, and removed by dreadful expiation (see Josh. vi.). But, though it seemed a valley of despair, it was really a place of hope, because the camp was purged from the curse and the people made ready for Canaan. So, in the comi,,g exile of which Hosea spoke, some even in Israel would cast off their sin and turn to the Lord, and that valley of Achor would be a. door of hope. The principle of using the most unlikely means for deliverance and blessing has often been exemplified, by him who brought water out of the rock, and made the cross the means of the world's salvation, and death the entrance to heaven. Most conspicuously is it seen in our redemption. 1. The door of hope was opened/or the world in the valley of trouble, through which Ohrist waJked on our behalf. We are raised to heaven because he came down to earth ; we he.ve the life eternal because he submitted to death. But for his obedience in humiliation, God's Le.w would not have been vindicated in its righteousness and beauty; but for his sorrows, we should have had no almighty Intercessor whose sympathy is perfect; but for his crucifixion, the handwriting against us would never have been nailed to the cross; and but for his death, and burial, and resurrection, and ascension, we shoulJ. not have seen the kingdom of heaven opened to all believers. 2. The door of hope was opened for the Jews, as a nation, in the valley of trouble. Egyptian bondage prepared for liberty, wilderness wandering was the means of moral culture, defeat led to the putting away of sin, the captivity in Babylon tore up idolatry by its roots. After the coming of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem amidst tears and blood was the opening of a new door of hope, for by it the noblest of the race began to look for the heavenly Jerusalem, to understand the spirituality of worship, and to find in Christ the one Centre round which the true Israel would gather. 'l'hus every nation me.y look for a door of hope in its valley of trouble? When called to pass through commercial depression, military disasters, diplomatic defeats, there is hope of finding purification from immorality, extrava,,"llllce, and aelf-indulgence, ILll.d e. new and loftier sense of responsibility to others and to God. 3. The door of hope is opened/or sinners in the valley of trouble. Trouble is not itself and of necessity a good. The wind, which we.fts one vessel to the haven, may drive another on the rocks. The river, which to-day gives fertility to the fields, may to-morrow bring desolation to the works and to the homes of men. Trouble ma.y injure us, yet it is meant to bless us; and this is specie.By true of the inward sorrow represented here. If one is convinced of sin, so that the old enjoyment of pleasures is gone, e.ud paradise becomes e. wilderness, his penitential grief is the true beginning of the joy the publican had, who went down to his house justified because he cried, "God be mercil'ul to me e. sinner." If we are in the sadder condition of one who has, like Israel, forsaken her first love, and e.re compelled to say, "'l'hen we.a it better with me tho.n now," our hope is found in going out, like Peter, weeping bitterly. And in the valley of th~ sbadO\V of death, which seems to mortal eyes so dark and strnn.~e, so sa.d an,! fearsome, that it may well be calkd the valley of Achor, we shnll find in it the door of hope--ay, the door of heaven-and, like others, we shnll sing in it as in the days of our youth, •• The.nlu be unto God which giveth us the victory."-A. R. ,0 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [ell, It, 1-23,