Door of Hope

“And I will give her 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.” (Ho 2:15 AV)

The valley of Achor was named after Achan.  Achan, if you recall, was the one who stole of the accursed thing from Jericho.  This resulted in Joshua’s only defeat.  Ai, a much smaller city, got the better of Joshua’s army.  It wasn’t until the LORD revealed the lust and hoarding of Achan that God exercised justice and Israel was successful in their campaign.  The valley of Achor was the last place Israel resided before they advanced on their promised land.  It was the place where worldliness, materialism, and lust went to die.  It was the last place of defeat.  It was the place where all that God hated was judged, dealt with, and buried forever. Sort of like our homegoing!  The old man finally perishes and we are off into our heavenly Canaan, never more to suffer defeat a the hand of temptation!  Oh, what glory.

The phrase, “door of hope” is such a lovely one.  Isn’t it?  It is common for people in the South to hold their funerals in funeral homes as opposed to church buildings.  In the North, it is just the opposite.  While serving in Kentucky, I had the privilege of officiating several funerals.  Many of them were held in Benton, Kentucky.  One of the duties of the officiant is to always stay with the casket until laid to final rest at the cemetery.  That means when the service is concluded, the minister and funeral home staff are the only ones in the parlor as the casket is prepared for transport.  The family and guests are excused to their cars and the checklist of items to be done begins.  I remember this funeral home above all others because of how the casket got to the hearse.  Behind the casket was lovely drapery that accented the room.  One would think it was there for mere decoration.  In reality, it was there to hide double doors leading to the sidewalk outside.  Once the casket was ready, the curtain was opened and the casket was wheeled right out the doors and into the hearse.  It went through a door.  What a picture of what the prophet spoke of above.  A door of mourning for the living, but a door of hope for the deceased.

For those of us who want to live a sinless life for the glory of God, earth seems an impossible place to accomplish this.  Our flesh is our worst enemy.  It is riddled with selfishness, lust, and variance.  We battle the old man from the time we awake until the time we rest our heads.  When we do lie down, it seems our last waking moments are spent in reflection of how much we have failed the LORD, seeking His forgiveness before we nod off to sleep.  But there is a door.  It is a door of hope.  This door of hope leads to eternity.  Our battle will be over.  God has won and the flesh, devil, and world have lost.  This door of hope is not to be feared.  It is to be welcomed.  More than that, we are looking forward to it.  This door of hope leads to sinless perfection wherein we have no capacity to fail God anymore.  This door of hope is not locked.  It is not a heavy door.  It is a door that is opened by the blood of Christ.  It is He who has opened this door.  There is it.  A beautiful door.  A door of unparalleled perfection, beauty, and strength.  A door that swings only one way.  A door that will forever close behind us.  This door of hope is the door that every battling saint looks for.  We want to get there in God’s timing.  No one runs toward it.  That is not for us to do.  Rather, we know it is there and when the LORD is ready, He will open it and beckon us to come.  This door of hope has my name on it.  It has your name on it.  But above it is the name of the LORD Jesus Christ by whom we enter.  What a glorious day it will be when that door opens for you.  When that door opens for me!