day 1097-1099

“I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope …” (Hos. 2:15, NKJV)

The way in which the mantle of every member of the Bride comes into being is typologically illustrated in the story of Elijah. This is what we are currently examining.

In the previous teaching we looked at Ahab’s loaded first words to Elijah: “Is that you, o troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17). This serious accusation was also levelled at an earlier juncture, against Achor, whose name means “troublemaker”. Achor is the prototype of all troublers, because he took a mantle that did not belong to him (Joshua 7:21). A mantle as indication of spiritual authority is what this positioning between Ahab and Elijah is fundamentally concerned with.

We concluded the previous teaching with a much later prophetic reference to Achor, of which is said in Hos. 2:15: “I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope.” The “her” is the one the Bridegroom has chosen for his wife, “the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:9)

Achor did not only sin against God – he brought trouble over the entire people of Israel. The “wrath of the Lord” thus did not only affect Achor, but also “the children of Israel” (Joshua 7:1). Many Israelites, not only his wife and children, lost their lives because of Achor’s misdeed, despite the fact that they themselves were not involved. God clearly views them as a collective: “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.” (Joshua 7:11-12).

In the teaching of Day 404 we learnt that throughout the Old Testament Israel is symbolised by a vineyard (Isa. 5:7). Since their departure from Egypt this is the central metaphor: “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.” (Ps. 80:8). In Isa. 5:1-7 and Jer. 2:21 we however find the story of how the “choicest vine” started bringing forth “sour grapes”. In Ezek. 15:6 this vine is cast into the fire. In John 15 Jesus identifies Himself as the TRUE vine, and us as the branches abiding in Him. The conclusion of the teaching was this important revelation – in the new covenant Jesus the Christ becomes the true Israel. Selah, please, especially in the light of Rom. 9:4. It was only later, when we got the revelation of Jesus and his Christ (Day 759-760) that we started understanding the implication for the Bride as a collective.

In the prophetic books Jeremiah and Ezekiel the matter of collectivity as addressed in terms of personal inequities (as was the Old Testament norm – Ex. 20:5; Deut. 28:35) is driven to breaking point, and a forecast of the new dispensation in Jesus Christ is presented:

 

  • Jer. 31:29-30 – “In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.”
  • Ezek. 18:2-4 – “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ‘As I live,” says the Lord God, ‘you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.’”

 

In this light the first part of Hos. 2:15 becomes clearer: “I will give her her vineyards from there …”. The Hebrew word for “from there” means to bring into being something from one point to another. The one point is clearly “the desert”, but the other point is not spelled out. But the Israelites were however on their way to Canaan, which is perhaps the other point. The Promised Land was their inheritance (Num. 16:14) and there were vineyards (Joshua 24:13). Were there vineyards from the beginning? No – vineyards do not grow in the desert. Clearly the word vineyard is used in a spiritual sense here. The Bible Knowledge Commentary explains it beautifully: “When the Lord leads Israel out of the desert back into the Promised Land, He will restore her vineyards. The words There I will give misinterpret the elliptical Hebrew text (which reads lit., “from there”) by implying that vineyards will grow in the wilderness where Israel had wandered.” This vineyard is thus clearly the growing identity in Christ which the Bride gains access to in the desert. When you arrive in the Promised Land (typologically the third dimension), the vineyards will be within her (Luke 17:21)! All the trouble and suffering in the desert served to form the godly identity and calling: the mantle. Selah.

According to Rom. 13:14 this mantle formation (to be clothed with Christ – Gal. 3:27) means the following: “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” It is thus concerned with obtaining “the godly nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).

The confrontation between Ahab and Elijah is thus really about the type of mantle each of them wears. We know what the mantle is that Elijah is in the process of receiving. Ahab, who stands in the name of formalised religion, is the son of Zerah (Joshua 7:24), “a son of Reuel and grandson of Esau, one of the dukes of the Edomites” (BDB). In Scripture Esau is the prototype of the carnal man Adam (his name means ‘red’, as does Esau’s). Take note of how he is described at birth: “the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over” (Gen. 25:25). This garment is a mantle of the first Adam, who embodied mortality and the fruit of carnality: “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21). A transition is needed, and Elijah also has to deal with the Ahab WITHIN HIMSELF: “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor. 15:49-50).

This explains why the valley of Achor forms a necessary transition on the way to establishing your spiritual identity in Christ. Our lives, thoughts, consciousness are all satiated with idols, with Baals. We are all “sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14). A bit later in the pericope Paul explains it further when he notes that “the law of sin … is in my members” (verse 23). Therefore he calls out in verse 24: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” He could just as well have called out: Who will save me from the mantle of carnality? If this could be Paul’s lament, how much more should it be ours?

 

 

The mystery at the bottom of all of this lies in the gift of grace of the valley of Achor. A valley is indeed also the place of the shadow of death, and on this dangerous walk of faith we often experience this dark space WITHIN ourselves and within our oppressive circumstances, as Job (10:22) accurately describes it: “A land as dark as darkness itself, as the shadow of death, without any order, where even the light is like darkness.” Jeremiah (2:6) describes how the Israelites experiences this desert road as a place of the shadow of death: “Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land that no one crossed and where no one dwelt?’”

This is the valley through which no one can travel unless God transports them through it. This is the valley with which Ahab, your prototypical king of the Baals, threatens you when he says, “Are you he that perverts Israel?” (CAB), “the one who brings disaster on Israel?” (NET), “you scourge of Israel!” (NJB). As part of the collective of the Bride (like Achor who was the cause of much suffering for the collective), you are also responsible for the Bride remaining in the valley of the shadow of death because you have not established a godly nature. It is thus not physical inequities that are carried over (these have been dealt with at the cross – Heb. 8:12), but our spiritual bloodlines in the Bride that need to be restored. THIS CAN ONLY HAPPEN BY CLOTHING YOURSELF WITH CHRIST, in other words clothing yourself with the spiritual mantle of your calling and purpose (2 Pet. 1:10); this is obviously also a new godly nature.

Achor is a valley of the shadow of death, it is a fait accompli. It is the place where you are thrown with stones and tested by fire. BUT: God says that from this place He will give the Bride “her vineyard” (her position in Christ) and transform the valley of Achor into a door of hope! He has, after all, promised Ps. 107:14 in prophetic terms: “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces.” In Isa. 9:2 this forecast is presented: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” Even if I I “walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me” (Ps. 23:4). Take note – this is God (and not Satan) who has “severely broken us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death” (Ps. 44:19). In Jesus the Christ we however find the DOOR of hope (John 10:9), to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:79).

Brenton’s English Septuagint (an English translation of the Greek Old Testament) insightfully translates Hos. 2:15 as follows: “And I will giver her possessions from thence, and the valley of Achor to open her understanding …” Many believers perish because they do not understand things as spiritual people (Hos. 4:6; 1 Cor. 2:14). Like Saul we can cause the people (= the Bride) and our spiritual brothers and sons to suffer because we are actually the troublers that deny the sons their honey (= revelatory knowledge) (1 Sam. 14:29). In CHRIST JESUS the valley of Achor becomes a door of hope: patient, enduring longing. Heb. 6:18-20 states that we should find “strong consolation … an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil” (= land of promise; third dimension). Isa. 65:10 (NASB) seals this promise: “and the valley of Achor [shall be] a resting place for herds, for My people who shall seek Me”.

Who could ever dream that Ahab’s harsh words to Elijah contain such an amazing mystery and promise for us? God has turned the curse into a blessing (Deut. 23:5)!

 

  • Selah: Have you also been called a troubler of Israel? And do you now know that God transformed the curse into a blessing?
  • Read: 19-21; Luke 18:15-19:48.
  • Memorise: Luke 17:21-18:14.