Am I a Prostitute?

If the fruit of my life is not of God’s making, I’ve fallen into prostitution.  That’s the message of Hosea.  It speaks to me, to you, and should have spoken to the children of Israel during the years leading up to the dispersion.

God told Hosea to go marry a prostitute, because his life was going to illustrate how the children of Israel had fallen into idolatry and prostituted themselves—and Hosea never said a word.  When God told Ezekiel to cook food over human dung, Ezekiel balked, and God relented.  Hosea just quietly married Gomer.

Notice what is said about each of Gomer’s children:

• Jezreel—“God plants”—Gomer “gave Hosea a son,” (Hosea 1:3), so this one was Hosea’s.  Jehu had been commissioned to judge the family of Ahab, but he killed not only King Joram of Israel, but also King Ahaziah of Judah.  The reference here is that God planted Ahaziah to rule the southern kingdom, and Jehu, who was sent to do God’s work of judgment, went beyond God’s instructions to murder a righteous descendant of David at Jezreel.
• Lo-ruhamah—“not loved”—God told Hosea, “Name your daughter,” so this one was Hosea’s (Hosea 1:6).  Here the message is that Israel (the northern kingdom) is about to be removed from their land in judgment for their idolatry
• Lo-ammi—“not my people”—it is never even suggested that Hosea’s blood ran in this child’s veins.  The message here is that Israel is no longer God’s people, and He is not their God.  He tells Hosea “I will not love [Israel’s] children, for they were conceived in prostitution,” (Hosea 2:4).

God recalls (in chapter 2) how He had provided grain, new wine, olive oil, silver, gold, wool, linen, grapes, figs, earrings, and jewels to Israel, but she sold herself to other lovers “for food and water,” (v. 5, 8-12).  Don’t we do that?  God provides everything we need, but we get a notion in our head that we can’t live without something (or someone) and abandon God’s rich provision and prostitute ourselves for something that’s not even good for us.

The real message of Hosea, to me, is “But then I will win her back once again,” (Hosea 2:14).  That statement is SO rich.  God is speaking about his promiscuous wife.  God is the one doing the seeking—she (like Gomer) never seeks Him.  “Once again” implies the repetitive need to go chasing after His wayward wife.  Just like Hosea had to keep chasing Gomer down and hauling her back home.

When Hosea bought Gomer back from one of her lovers, he told her she must live in his house for many days without intimacy with anyone, even himself.  God said, “This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests, or even idols!” (Hosea 3:4).

The most important word in Hosea seems to me to be “but.”

• “But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God,” (Hosea 1:7)
• “But then I will win her back once again,” (Hosea 2:14).
• “But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king,” (Hosea 3:5).

I’m out of time this morning, BUT one more thing:  “If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is,” (2 Tim. 2:13).  All of us prostitute ourselves in one way or another when the fruit of our lives is not coming from our Lord.  BUT God is faithful—He will continue to come after us.  He wants you back.  If the voice in your head says “It’s too late,” you’re listening to lies.  God never gives up on His children.  Never.  No matter what.

This message covers Hosea 1-3, but if you’re reading through the Daily Walk Bible, today’s passage is Hosea 7-8.  I will be blogging less frequently now, as I have homework every night.

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