a door of hope

The "Valley of Achor" was that place, identified in Scripture, where the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, stoned to death and then burned the man Achan with all his family and possessions including his livestock and goods.  Achan transgressed the commandment of God regarding the battle of Jericho, which was the proximate cause of Israel's subsequent defeat at Ai.  Achan's rebellion prevented God from executing judgment upon Israel's enemies, which in turn exposed numbers of Israel's fighting men to mortal danger, 36 of whom were killed by the men of Ai.

About seven centuries or so later, the prophet Hosea wrote that the "valley of Achor" would become a "door of hope" (Hosea 2:15).  I do not intend to elaborate upon that passage of Scripture.  But it does suggest an apparent enigma.  How can the same place that was identified with judgment and death (the valley of Achor), later become a "door of hope"?

I have studied and written extensively about the End-time Apostasy which was foretold in Scripture.  With the story of Achan serving as an analogy, let us say that the valley of Achor represents the Apostasy: a place (condition) of judgment and death.  In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the Bible states:

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the "day of Christ"] shall not come, except there come a falling away first...".

The phrase, "falling away," comes from a single Greek word, ajpostasi÷a (apostasia), from which we get our English word, apostasy; which means: "defection from the truth."  Thus may we liken the Apostasy to the valley of Achor, a 'place' or a 'condition' of judgment and death.  The Bible foretold that the Apostasy (defection from the truth) would occur prior to the return of Jesus Christ, in the closing days of this present dispensation of grace (sometimes referred to as the Church Age).  Doubtless, many perceptive Christians have observed with great sadness that "falling away" occur right before our very eyes, in this generation.  Which for a long time ~ in my own mind at least, the rapidly increasing groundswell of apostasy amongst multitudes of professing Christians, seemed to preclude the possibility of anything like real Revival arising in America.  

The question loomed large in my thinking: How can Revival come to America, when most churches appear to be going further and further away from God?  To the extent I saw the professing Church in America, broadly speaking, steadily being overtaken by the Apostasy, my hope for Revival was seriously challenged.  But not only have I fought to cling to what hope for Revival I once had.  I have moreover continued to pray and to search for every reason, in God, why we ought to believe and to seek God for a great outpouring of His Spirit in Revival power, and at just such a time as this!

A few days ago, I was given to see, in the facts related to the Apostasy, a "door of hope" for Revival.  Let me explain.

Yes, the Apostasy is now a full-blown reality.  But what does that then mean?  Does it really mean ~ as I long, albeit wrongly, supposed ~ that Revival is therefore not likely?  I no longer believe so.  Rather, I now believe that just the opposite is true.  I do not mean that the Apostasy will lead to Revival.  But I do mean that the Apostasy is not necessarily a hindrance to Revival.  In fact, the Apostasy may very well serve to remove, or at least minimize the effects of, a major obstacle to Revival.  Which is to say that, as the Apostate churches move further and further away from the truth of God, those churches (which formerly professed to represent genuine Christianity) openly appear to care less and less about being identified with anything resembling Biblical Christianity.  Accordingly, those churches with their brand of pseudo-christianity may not, now, so easily be conflated, in the minds of unbelievers, with genuine Christianity.  Thus, allowing real Christianity to be perceived as something distinct from its erstwhile imposters.

For the past several years, I have been saying that the greatest obstacle to the progress of the Gospel, in America, is (was) the pseudo-christian churches.  Those professedly Christian churches which do not truly demonstrate, by means of a wholehearted commitment to the veracity of Scripture and the supreme authority of God's Word, the Lordship of Jesus Christ; such churches do not faithfully represent the character and purpose of Christ, to the world.  Such churches do not with integrity stand for the truth of God's Word.  Rather, they teach by their example the doctrines of demons, as they masquerade as Christians.  They are seducers and deceivers, leading multitudes of ignorant souls to eternal damnation.

The Apostasy.  Who is it that is apostatizing, that is to say, turning their backs on the truth which they once supposedly embraced?  I can say with confidence who it is not:

1. It is not true disciples of Jesus Christ; and,
2. It is not the unbelieving world ~ which has never yet come to embrace the truth.

Who, then, are the Apostates?  And why would Scripture explicitly identify the Apostasy, with the time of Christ's return?

The Apostates are those, professing Christians, who do not truly abide in Christ, but they nevertheless profess Christianity as though, themselves, "having a form of godliness" (2 Timothy 3:1-5).  So, how is that not a hindrance to Revival?

There are currently more than 7.5 Billion people living on earth.  Of that number, an estimated 2.2 Billion are classified as being "Christian."  But that number includes Roman Catholics ~ which neither would I, nor would the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, identify as Christian (the Roman Catholic hierarchy makes a distinction between "Catholic" and "Christian"; and well they should).  Roman Catholics number about 1.2 Billion; which, when subtracted from the total number of "Christians" (2.2), leaves about 1 Billion professing Christians, worldwide.  It is that latter group, I believe, which essentially contains the greatest proportion of those who: a) once professed to believe the truth of God; b) but, who have lately turned their back on historical (genuine) Christianity: They are, by definition, apostates.

Notwithstanding, even if 999,999,999 of those 1 Billion professing Christians were apostates; yet, that number represents less than 15% of the global population.  Which still leaves 85% (or 6.5 Billion) people ~ who can be, and who need to be, reached with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Thus we may understand that the Apostasy foretold in Scripture, though it does describe the spiritual condition of a very large percentage of persons associated with the professing Christian Church, during the closing days of the Church Age; yet, neither does that Apostasy signify any degeneration on the part of the true Church of God, nor does it indicate that God has at all changed his mind, with respect to soul-winning and Revival.

What is the meaning, then, of the Apostasy?  And why does the Bible mention that in connection with the return of Christ?  It means, for one thing, that other prophecies of Scripture, concerning the phenomenon of spiritual deception attacking the Christian Church from within during the end of this Dispensation, are right now being fulfilled.  The conjunction of those prophecies related to End-time spiritual deception and apostasy amongst so many professing Christian churches, are given in Scripture as SIGNS of Christ's soon return.

The Apostasy is not prophesied in Scripture as withstanding against the possibility of God's Spirit being poured out in the last days.  Indeed, such would directly contradict the plain words of Scripture, as in God's express promise, viz.: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh..." (Acts 2:17).

The Apostasy is not meant to be a reason for us, true Christians, to doubt that Revival is possible.  It is, rather, a sign of the Lord's soon return.  That 'sign' should be an incentive for us to pray more earnestly for Revival in these last days, that the great promise of the outpouring of God's Spirit "in the last days," will be fulfilled.

There are at least 6,500,000,000 suffering people amongst the "highways and hedges" of this sin-sick world, who are waiting for real Christians to seek and allow God to bring heaven-sent Revival ~ to those for whom Jesus offered himself on the cross.

The Apostasy ~ the valley of Achor ~ has thus become a door of hope.

That great and wonderful door will open wide to us, if we will believe.

Here is another treasure recently given to me by the Holy Ghost: Where, in Isaiah 41:17-18, we read:

"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none,
and their tongue faileth for thirst,
I the LORD will hear them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys:
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water."

Carefully, now. . . .

"When", means, at what time.

"When the poor and needy...".  Not the proud and self-sufficient, nor the self-righteous; but, rather, those who have come to the end of themselves and have been humbled before God.

"When the poor and needy seek water...".   We must not only possess, but we must also express, a real desire toward God.

"When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none...".  In other words, "water" appears nowhere in the world to be found: churches are cold and dead (apostate); the culture is godless, antichrist; true Christian fellowship is rare; real Christians feel isolated and embattled.

"...and their tongue faileth for thirst...".  When the real Christian's need and desire for water has become a desperate struggle for life-sustaining substance: 

"When" (at what time) that is the case, "I the LORD WILL hear them.  I the God of Israel WILL NOT forsake them."

In all my years of studying Revival (more than a decade), I have seen that the coming of Revival appears to follow the above-described pattern.  Which encourages me, because, I am sure that at least some of us, Christians, are in that place of desperately needing and earnestly seeking God for Revival.

If the Holy Ghost has been willing ~ and He has been, to set before us a "door of hope," then I believe we who truly love the Lord ought to look up from the ash-heap of our sufferings, as it were, to behold the face of him who is the very embodiment as well as the giver of Revival; and, to consider whether his suffering and death, together with his Resurrection and Ascension, still mean anything at all for the possibility that we, too, may receive from God a great outpouring of his Spirit, such as our spiritual forefathers did receive ~ when they prayed and believed God to fulfill his promises.