Prostitution and Prophecy

​Hosea was a prophet; God spoke directly to him and through his life. He carried an extremely urgent message to the Israelites, who were at that time living in flagrant idolatry and rebellion.

He also married a prostitute. . .wait what? 

In fact, marrying a “wife of whoredom” was the very first thing God told him to do.
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” {Hosea 1:2 ESV} ​

Prophets oftentimes were instructed to live painful lives to illustrate the message God was speaking through them. In this book, God is directly comparing Israel’s unfaithfulness to Him to the lifestyle of a prostitute. They were guilty of forsaking their Lord for the idolatrous worship of Baal.

Woe to them, because they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me! {Hosea 7:13}

They exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful. {Hosea 4:7}

So after hearing the instructions from God, Hosea realized that this was going to be quite emotionally painful. Regardless, he goes ahead and obeys. He marries a prostitute named Gomer, who is committed to the idolatrous worship of Baal (what a package!), and together they have a child.

It seems that Hosea and Gomer are getting along pretty well at this point. Gomer might even be looking back to her messy past with thankfulness for where she’s at now—a steady husband who loves her, a son, a home.

Soon, however, Gomer starts to wander. The unpredictability and thrill of sin begins to lure her, pulling her first in mind, then action, back to her former way of living. She bears two more children, who are “children of whoredom,” as portrayed in the beginning of the book.

Let’s stop now and consider Hosea. Imagine the gossip surrounding his plight. The “what a fool, marrying Gomer. What did he expect?” Imagine the heart-in-your-stomach feeling as he fathers and loves these children who don’t resemble him in the slightest. Imagine the silent tension between him and his wife. The heartbreak of unfaithfulness.

Somehow, it gets even worse. Gomer packs up and leaves altogether, giving herself wholly to another man. Hosea is now a single parent of three children, a husband who has been forsaken and forgotten. Considering the times they were living in, the perfectly normal punishment for Gomer would have been getting stoned to death. In light of that fact and all the pain Gomer has put Hosea through, what happens next is bizarre.

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.” {Hosea 3:1} *note: the ‘sacred raisin cakes’ were used for Baal worship. I remember thinking that verse was really strange the first time I read it too.

So Hosea sets out on a search for Gomer. A mission to win her back. He finds her in a shameful place of ownership, and buys back his wife.
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So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley. Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will behave the same way toward you.” {Hosea 3:2-3}

He invites her fully back into his home, their family, and his steadfastness. This is one of the most astounding love stories I’ve come across in the Bible. It becomes even more beautiful when you realize all the parallels that are drawn between this story and the story of God’s love and redemption for the Israelites. What’s more, as believers, we are the modern-day Israelites. We are the people of God, and we have a story very similar to Gomer’s.

1. God ‘marrying’ us in the first place. When Hosea married Gomer, she was in a place of prostitution and idolatry. We were just like that when God first came to us. He found us in a place of sin and filthy shame. Furthermore, he knew that we would soon turn our backs on him in forgetfulness. Even so, he chose to make us his and bring us into his love.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. {Romans 5:8}

2. The presence of idolatry. Although it’s uncommon in our culture to worship Baal, we are still idolatrous. We put countless things above God—in our priorities, ambitions, and use of time. As David Platt puts it, there are no spiritual singles. You are either faithfully married to God, or committing spiritually adultery with the things of this world. 

"I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the Lord. {Hosea 2:13}
 
3. Our tendency to turn away from God. After being brought into a life with God, we eventually convince ourselves that we’re getting bored. Life before him seems a lot livelier. And so we turn back. Just like Gomer left Hosea, we do the same to God.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. {Proverbs 14:12 ESV}

“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.” {Hosea 5:4}
 
4. God being portrayed as a forsaken husband. This is the most heart wrenching piece of the story. Every ounce of agonizing emotion Hosea felt because of his unfaithful wife represents what God feels because of our sin and idolatry. In the words of David Platt, sin is spiritual adultery. It tears apart our relationship with God, with the full force of the pain that Hosea felt.
 
5. The beauty of redemption. And here is the most breathtaking piece. The entire story leads up to the point of Gomer being saved from her wandering. In fact, Hosea’s name actually means salvation. In the same way, God is always the one who takes initiative to restore the relationship. Through Jesus’s blood on the cross, we are able to be reconciled to him, regardless of our sin. We have the beautiful assurance of being taken back.

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” {Hosea 6:3}

"I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord." {Hosea 2:19-20}
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"I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.' I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’" {Hosea 2:23}
 
Let the scandal and beauty of this story stick with you. Let it daily remind you to keep your whole heart in God’s hands, and to thank him for taking you back every time you stumble. Like a faithful husband, he will never leave you in the shame of your sin. Glory to God!