"It's Never Good When God Calls You a Prostitute"
When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, "Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods." (Hosea 1:2 NLT)
Do you think Hosea asked if he heard God correctly? Marry a who? But God doesn't stutter & he meant what he said. If I'm Hosea, I'm starting to think this prophet thing isn't going to work out. And yet he obeys God.
I'm also surprised at how God is using Hosea's life. This is quite the object lesson. But this is not just an object lesson however, this is Hosea's actually life we are talking about. His actual wife will be a prostitute & his kids will have a mother for a prostitute. Not such a good role model. This is how God has chosen to use Hosea's life. And as crazy as it may sound to us (and actually be) Hosea seems to embrace God's purpose for him. He doesn't run like Jonah, he doesn't give excuses like Moses, he simply obeys.
Similarly, God doesn't always make sense in our lives either. We have plans for our lives & God interrupts them with a purpose for us that we never saw coming. He does this a lot! I'm sure Hosea never wanted to marry a prostitute & Moses never wanted to be a leader but God had other plans. Jonah didn't want to go to Ninevah but God had other plans. So, maybe, just maybe we should be like Hosea & embrace his kingdom purpose for us no matter how bizarre! It may seem crazy to us but God knows what he is doing.
What also stands out is the depth of the people's sin. The only way God can communicate their prostitution to them is to have his prophet marry one. This would have spoken for sure! The people had become so entrenched in idolatry that the only thing God can compare it to is prostitution. It's never good for God to call us a prostitute. They had been unfaithful to him & their covenant they made with him. They were cheating on him & he was trying to get their attention & get them to change. They had replaced God with something else. What have we replaced God with? What have we cheated on God with? How have we been unfaithful to him? Let's repent of our sin & idolatry & return to him in true fidelity.
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