Tuesday: Hosea’s Harlot Wife
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 15th of April 2025
God’s request of the prophet Hosea may be one of the strangest assignments ever given to one of His servants: marry a harlot—on purpose! But God was using Hosea to help us understand, from His own perspective, the pain of human sin and rebellion. God had lovingly chosen a wife, Israel, who repeatedly cheated on Him, and yet, astonishingly enough, He took her back and restored her.
Compare Hosea 1:2; Hosea 3:1; Revelation 17:1-2; and Revelation 18:1-4. What is the harlotry mentioned here? What lessons can the Christian church learn from the story of Hosea? In what ways has the church repeated the sins of the Old Testament?
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
The Bible reveals that the errors of Israel in the Old Testament would be largely repeated by Christ’s New Testament church. God’s covenant people went wildly astray prior to their exile, bringing the idolatrous practices of neighboring nations into God’s covenant nation. “Concerned over the growing rift within the church over Arius’s ideas, Constantine both convened and intervened in the Council of Nicaea.” — Christopher A. Hall, “How Arianism Almost Won,” Christianity Today, (2008). In each case, God’s people wandered outside of their relationship with Him in order to find “solutions” for perceived problems.
God’s choice of words makes it seem obvious that He is not only trying to show us what we’ve done wrong but also sharing how it makes Him feel. Those who have been betrayed by a spouse can begin to grasp the feelings of devastation that our infidelity to Christ might stir in the courts of heaven. Perhaps the most amazing part of Hosea’s story is the lengths to which the prophet went to redeem his wayward wife.
When we see the final cry to humanity, calling God’s people to come out of Babylon, it is noteworthy that He is calling His own people, and not strangers. He knows them intimately. He loves them. And as the world pitches toward its worst hour, He is still offering the redemption price that He had paid in order to purchase us back with His own blood. The cross of Christ, more than anything else, should show us just how earnestly the Lord wants to save His wayward people.
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What are the ways today that any church, even our own, can be dallying with spiritual fornication? |
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Hosea teaches us about how God forgives His bride who has been unfaithful. Does it also teach us to forgive those who have been unfaithful to us? Does God give us an example of mercy and forgiveness to apply to our marriages and relationships?
Sorry, I want to stray a bit. Prophet Hosea and his unfaithful wife is a true story which really happened. At times we read Bible stories quickly and forget these are real people. How did this man (Hosea) manage this amount of infidelity? Infidelity is profoundly devastating. It strikes at the very heart of trust, love, identity, and unity. Infidelity is mostly considered as the most painful human betrayal. It comes with a rubber stamp of shame, heartache, immense physical and emotional trauma, social humiliation and deep wounds. How did a man of God have the courage to continue loving a woman of such character? It might be too over simplistic to say Hosea was a prophet of God and should have forgiven his wife. Does the Bible (Matthew 5:31–32, Matthew 19:9) not permit divorce on the ground of infidelity?
This story among the many lessons it teaches me is that forgiveness is costly but extremely powerful. Secondly, only God has the power to make me strong to when going through certain experiences in this life.
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” – Philippians 4:13, NLT
The story of Hosea teaches profound lessons about God's unwavering love and forgiveness. The church must guard against modern forms of spiritual fornication such as prioritizing materialism, political alliances, false teachings or human traditions over God.
Hosea buying back his wife (Hosea 3:1) mirrors Christ’s sacrifice to redeem humanity from sin. Just as Hosea called Gomer back, God calls His church to return to Him, especially in the last days. We must heed this call to separate from spiritual compromise. It is a reminder that God’s love is persistent and He desires His people to remain faithful in their relationship with Him.
Admiring God's marvelous act of love as an answer for the unfaithful behavior of His once-perfect creation gives us a unique chance to exchange our sins for His Son. God is always faithful to us, and He is also the One who reconciles us to Himself. Unbelievable love.
As I read the story of Hosea, I chose to view it from a godly, pragmatic, and human perspective. What I saw was a sacrificial act of obedience—a life lived in the tension between divine purpose and human emotion. Hosea’s story reminds us that God may call us to live out uncomfortable truths so that His will can be accomplished.
From Hosea’s point of view, this command would have come at great emotional and social cost. His reputation was at stake, and his heart would bear the pain of betrayal and public shame. But sometimes, obedience to God defies logic and leads to personal suffering—yet it produces spiritual fruit beyond what we can immediately see.
In moments like these, we must:
Trust God's Wisdom – His plans are higher, even when they don’t make sense to us.
Acknowledge the Cost – God’s call can require real emotional and social sacrifice.
Embrace the Message – Hosea’s story isn’t about romantic love; it’s about God’s covenant love. His life spoke louder than his words.
We may also be asked to walk difficult paths—not because God is unfair, but because He wants to use our lives as living messages of grace, faithfulness, and redemption. And the truth is, we can only walk those paths with tears, a deep love for God, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
When a church makes alliances with governments for the sake of financial gain, prestige, position, or power you can know that they have gone astray in their mission and are committing spiritual fornication.
When a church wants to drop, or deemphasize it's distinctive, unique beliefs, in order to get along with other faith communities, and not seem so peculiar, you can know that they are dallying with spiritual fornication.
When a church wants to be big and popular and wants to be led by a man instead of the Lord, like Israel of old wanting a king, you can know that they are dallying with spiritual fornication.
When a church decides to "go along to get along," so as not to resist mandatès set by government, which deny it's members their freedom of conscious, in order to procure financial benefits or to avoid financial penalties, you can know that they are dallying with spiritual fornication.
In the words of that sage, and one of the United State's founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin; "When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."
Christ has ransomed his bride to be a "pure, chaste virgin." "For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." 2 Cor.11:2 We ought not be going awhoring after other lovers, turning away from the One who gave his life to redeem us. Jesus is so worthy and deserving of better treatment by His Bride.
We, as part of the Bride of Christ must come out from Babylon, (spiritual confusion) and let "Babylon" come out of us. We must make Babylon our mission field, instead of our dwelling place. Never forget who we are, we are the Bride of Christ, not the Beast's harlot. It's past time to return to our first love. "Jesus is attractive!"
Thank you, Tim. Well said.
"We are living, we are dwelling in a grand and awful time, to be living is sublime".
Well said. Similarities to current affairs are not coincidental.
Reading the story of Hosea makes me thankful that I'm not called to be a prophet! (He was asked to live/act out a prophecy!)
Or am I?
A prophet is someone who "speaks for God." What are we called to do? What does Rev. 12:11 mean by "words of their testimony"? What kind of "testimony" does the world need?
I read that "The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them." (Christ's Object Lessons, page 415)
So, perhaps, like Hoseah, we are also called to live out a message?
Paul tells us that we are not only asked to live the message, but also to speak it in Romans 10:10.
So are we called to be prophets too ... or not?