Hosea: A Prophet Takes a Prostitute
With today’s Bible reading* we read the first half of the book of Hosea. God commands this prophet to marry a prostitute. And to no surprise, his wife, Gomer, acts just like a prostitute, leaving her husband to follow other lovers.
Hosea learns that his life is an object lesson to demonstrate God’s relationship with His people who are selling themselves and committing adultery against Him. In committing adultery against God, they bow down to Baal and other gods. God accuses His people of adultery in other places in the Bible. One example is in Revelation 2:4 “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.” (CSB)
Application
The story of Hosea is very sad, but one that must be told. And it is highly applicable today.
Think about it. Our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles by men — many were believers — who believed that God was calling them to do it. In their writings, they often referred to God and His Providence in establishing our nation. For almost two hundred years, our nation’s morals were generally based on the Bible.
But in my lifetime, things have changed dramatically in the way our people see things, morally speaking. Now, there seems to be a general laissez-faire, “live-and-let-live”, “you-be-you”, and “live-your-truth” attitude in our land.
What used to be morally objectionable is proudly paraded and celebrated. In many areas, we have seen the demise of our culture according to Romans 1:18-25. We have gone from a generally moral nation to a generally amoral or immoral nation.
We have taken God’s blessings for granted. And God has given us over to our own devices. He has basically said, “If this is what you want, I’ll give it to you.” We have said in our votes that character doesn’t really matter. He has given us the political leaders — and religious leaders — we deserve. Our politicians have codified immorality and criminalized morality. Our religious leaders have blurred the lines of religion and politics, even insisting that if you are a Christian, you must vote for particular candidates and policies. Note that both liberal and conservative church leaders have done this! We have lost the idea that Jesus doesn’t ride on donkeys and elephants.
We have followed the path of many other nations and cultures before us. And we are paying the price. We have gone after other gods — including ourselves — having turned our back on God.
Only an intervention from God will save us from ourselves and our choices. Believers, we need to pray that God will hedge us in so that we cannot find satisfaction in the gods that have satisfied us so that all we can do is to look up and find our First Love. (Hosea 2:6-8) We need to pray for the genuine revival of the church and spiritual awakening for the spiritually dead.
On Independence Day tomorrow, may we cry out to God, beg for His mercy and forgiveness, and once again declare our dependence on Him.
* Chapters covered in today’s reading:
– Hosea 1
– Hosea 2
– Hosea 3
– Hosea 4
– Hosea 5
This devotional was originally published on July 4, 2021.
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