we are all whores.

God had loved Israel.

God had chosen Israel to be a special people, a special treasure for him. They were to be a bright spot of light in a world that was Godless and corrupt.  – God was faithful to Israel. He loved her and provided for her – but what happened??

They turned from God and worshiped idols. God loves Israel and wants to call her back to Himself, and He used Hosea for this job.

God told Hosea to get married; but not to just anyone. He tells Hosea to marry a whore. a prostitute. "go down to Samaria, find the local strip joint, pick the dirtiest prostitute you can find, and join yourself to her."

TIME OUT: why, oh why did God tell Hosea to marry a prostitute?? prostitution was punishable by death in the old testament. stoning. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute because Israel has become a prostitute! they are whoring out their hearts to other gods, they are filthy, dirty and broken. He puts Hosea through his own hurt, so that Israel (and us!) can learn a lesson. if you've been reading my blog, and you know any of my heart, you know that i think very much that we as believers ARE Israelites. we forget the Lord, we whore ourselves out to other things, things that are not Godly, or of the Lord. Hosea's message was not just to Gomer, it wasnt just to Israel. it was to us.

He married Gomer and they had three children. Hosea loved her very much.

One day, Gomer (perhaps tired and bored with being a preacher’s wife and poor) left Hosea to head back to the excitement of her old life in Samaria’s local “night-club and strip-tease joint.” Hosea and Gomer had probably been poor – but now Gomer has every thing she wants! Her boyfriends and lovers give her all sorts of gifts. Everything looks good, at first. But soon Gomer’s beauty fades. She becomes so disgusting that everyone despises her. No one wants her now. She gets so bad that she starts to pay her lovers, instead of her lovers paying her, she pursues and runs after the men that used to be chasing her down!! (Imagine your husband or wife doing this to you… how would you feel? Imagine your husband or wife paying someone else to sleep with them... HOW WOULD YOU FEEL???)

Now, picture Hosea, the prophet of God, the preacher whose wife has left him. He walks downtown, to the “striptease-nightclub joint” Everyone is staring at him, whispering, snickering… Someone calls out “Hey Preach! How’s the wife?? You heard about her latest boyfriend??” Man you should have seen her last night…”

Then Hosea, his heart breaking, turns to the men. “Hey, you guys think I have a problem? I DO! But God’s got a worse problem – you know who is problem is? YOU! I loved Gomer, I married her, I wanted her to be my one and only, we were so happy! What she has done is breaking my heart…” “But God also loved someone. He chose someone to be HIS one and only, YOU. Israel. YOU ARE THAT SOMEONE. And like my Gomer, you have prostituted yourselves to other gods – and God’s heart is broken!” “But I want to tell you something! Even though Gomer has slept around with other men, even though she has ruined her life and her beauty. Even though she stinks and her lovers don’t want her anymore, and everyone looks down on her as a worthless prostitute, I STILL LOVE HER! YOU GO TELL HER THAT I LOVE HER AND WANT HER BACK!” 

Hosea's message to Gomer is God’s message to Israel! they’ve left God, ruined their lives, lost their purity. they are filthy and dirty. But GOD STILL LOVES THEM!!! If only they would repent, turn back to God, turn away from their idols and let Him restore them to that relationship they once had!

ummmm. excuse me? if we are JUST LIKE Israel, (which really... think about it. we are.) how can you possibly see this kind of love displayed toward us and NOT be moved by it? how can you NOT respond? how can you not leave your other lovers and run full speed toward the one true love that will love you like that??

Hosea didnt just go back to get Gomer (talk about some humility, just taking the step to go get her, can you honestly say you'd go off to seek out your whore of a wife? (or husband?) after what they had put you through already?) Hosea doesnt just go and find her; he PAYS EVERYTHING HE HAS to get her back. what?!? he pays off Gomer's pimp. so that he can have his whore of a wife back. back it up. read that again. what?!?

it's not like Gomer got her act together and then Hosea came to the rescue. SHE WAS STILL A WHORE.

hold on... this sounds familiar... oh yes...

 "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

While we were still whore's, sinners, broken, ugly, worthless... God sent his only son, everything he had, to pay off our pimp. to give us hope. to give us perfect love. to give us grace. he sacrificed everything to have us back... 

wow.

phew.