Achor definition
Achor. (15) means 'trouble' (the reference is to the story of Achan in Joshua 7) and the meaning here is very beautiful. The valley of trouble will become a door of hope for Israel, that is, the very sin which has devastated her is that which opens the fountain of grace in the heart of God. Sin and sorrow can be turned to good account by His sovereign power and will. Christ's own illustration of this is the best one: the mighty famine in the far country became a door of hope for the prodigal son, and started him on the way back to his father's house. By the wonderful and mysterious alchemy of the Spirit, blight can be turned to blessing, sorrow into joy. This wonderful vision of the future rises above and beyond the vicissitudes of the 'troubling' mentioned in 15. It is as if we were given a glimpse of the blessedness that lies through the 'door of hope'. The terms of 18 echo once again what we have already seen in Amos, the covenant with creation itself, which shall be restored and rejuvenated in the regeneration of mankind.