There is only one thing worse than telling a nation or people that they are way out of line, and that is not to tell them. But the message of the Old Testament prophet Hosea is way over the top! Calling anyone, let alone a whole nation a “whore” is offensive to say the least.
But, what is it when we are told that the best things in life are a stomach full of the finest foods; good company; good times – and sex? What is it when sex seems synonymous with the good life? All that we have is God-given – and sex is God-given, but not as the source of the good life! Yet according to Hosea, that was what the Israel he preached to thought. Look at these horrifying words:
The first time GOD spoke to Hosea he said: "Find a whore and marry her. Make this whore the mother of your children. And here's why: This whole country has become a whorehouse, unfaithful to me, GOD." Hosea 1:2 [Message]
Israel at that time, some 700 years before Christ, took on the belief of the original Canaanite dwellers that the fertility of northern Israel was due to their practice of having cult prostitutes. The good crops and fair weather and land made for prosperity, but instead of Israel thanking God for that, they preferred the attractions of the fertility cult. The result was disastrous. As Israel fell into sin and went away from God, they became rotten through and through.
Hosea’s question seems very apposite for us today. What do you attribute the good life to? Most people in the west live their whole lives without the danger of starvation, attack or death, but many today give us the distinct impression that this is attributable to human effort and the rewards are to do as we like.
What do you attribute your good life to? What are you grateful for? Where are your priorities? We may be good-living people, but Hosea’s point is that if we are Christians and we do not see God in those questions, then our love for God is compromised. He calls it adultery.
This week, let’s do some digging in our lives to see what our real priorities in life are.
Alan Cartwright
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