There are a lot of good things about being a pastor. Teaching the truths of scripture in bible classes, preaching the words of everlasting life from this pulpit, administering the sacraments and absolving sins are among the highlights, not to mention that I get to do such things surrounded by kindhearted Christians like you. And I really mean that, even if time to time some of you get a little crabby or cranky, over all you are one of the good things about being a pastor.
That is not to say that being a pastor is without its challenges, frustrations, and downright stinky-ness. Being a pastor is not entirely different than your jobs. There are parts of my job that are difficult, demanding, and at times even detestable. More than once I have reevaluated if this is what I want to do with my life. But no matter how difficult the task, no matter how demanding the chore, no matter how detestable the obligation, I try to remind myself it could be worse. Instead of being Harmon the pastor I could be Hosea the prophet.
In my line of work Hosea is a legend, not so much for the awesome things that he said or did, but more for the awful things he endured. Whereas Isaiah gets to prophecy about the coming Messiah, Hosea is told to marry a prostitute. The book of Hosea opens with these words, “When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD.”[1] The prophet’s wife was a prostitute.
The prophet’s prostitute is what I want to talk to you about this morning. Today I want to talk to you about prostitution. Now, parents before you slap earmuffs on your children or send them running from the room, don’t worry, I am not going to be overly graphic in my description. But it is helpful for us to at least recognize how unsavory a situation this would have been for Hosea.
The work of a prostitute was (and is) especially offensive to people. That is not to say that prostitution is a worse sin than say gossip or greed. Prostitution is not more damnable than any other sin. But, as with all sexual sins, prostitution intimately, physically, and completely embraces sin. In 1 Corinthians 6:18 saint Paul writes, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” A prostitute was not someone who was struggling to keep the sixth commandment (thou shalt not commit adultery); she was not fleeing from sexual immorality, rather, she made sexual immorality her profession. The prostitute was a professional sinner; she literally got paid to sin. Furthermore, she enticed others to sin, multiple men multiple times a day, if she was lucky. She enticed as many others to sin as she could. As a result, prostitution was considered exceptionally vulgar to both the LORD God and His people. Such vulgarity was punishable by death. The method of execution in some cases, as we read in Genesis 38:24, was burning, but most commonly a prostitute was stoned to death in the streets.
Three thousand years ago, if you wanted to give an example of vulgar unfaithfulness you pointed to a prostitute. And that is exactly what the LORD does in our lesson from Hosea this morning. In verses one and two Hosea writes, “1 The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes. 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and about a homer and a lethek of barley.” Here we see that, shock and surprise, the prophet’s prostitute has been unfaithful to her husband. We are spared the sordid details that transpire between chapter one and three, but It appears the prophet’s prostitute has sold herself into some sort of slavery, perhaps she was an indentured servant working as a temple prostitute for some false god. Whatever the case, Hosea is required to pay the price one would pay to set someone free from slavery. Adding insult to injury, Hosea buys his unfaithful wife back from her slavery to sin.
Why would the LORD ask this of His prophet? Was it to punish the prophet? No. It was to teach His people; it was to teach you… teach you how much the LORD loves you. The prophet was instructed to love the prostitute “as the LORD loves” His people; as the LORD loves you.
To understand how much the LORD loves you, it is necessary for you to first understand that in this lesson, you are the prostitute. You are the one who has been unfaithful to the LORD your God. Time and time again you have given yourself to the god of this age. Countless times you have allowed yourself to become aroused by possessions. You have a roof over your head, but you fantasize about a bigger roof, a nicer roof, maybe a roof in some exotic location. There are clothes on your back, but not the kind of clothes that make your friends jealous and make the kind of statement you want to make when you enter a room. You have gadgets and gizmos, but they are not the latest gadgets and one can never have too many gizmos. You want a bigger roof, better clothes, and more gizmos and so you prioritize work over worship, or take advantage of another person, or do a dishonest deal to get them. Countless other times you have allowed yourself to be turned on by pleasures. A moment’s rest is needed to ensure productivity, but a moment seldom seems to satisfy and so you steal a minute from your employer, take time at the expense of your obligations, or just zone out with your phone while neglecting your family. You have what you need to sustain life, but certain foods are so savory, so sweet, so satisfying that you cannot help but eat more than you need, indeed more than is even healthy for a person to consume. Beer and Bourbon, wine and whiskey are enjoyable when consumed in moderation, but why be moderate when it comes to such things? Why not drink yourself into oblivion and see what comes after enjoyable. Countless more times you have allowed yourself to be excited by passion. The desires of the flesh are a gift given and are intended to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife, but they are so easily found in a book, or on a screen, or in the arms of another.
As you can see there are many different ways the god of this age seeks to seduce you. But when you give yourself to the god of this age; when you become aroused by possessions, turned on by pleasures, or excited by passions you are acting like a whore. Does that offend you? Are you insulted by this accusation? Are you thinking, ‘pastor please, such things are inappropriate for the house of the LORD?’ Well I couldn’t agree more. More than that the LORD our God couldn’t agree more. Your sinful behavior is offensive to Him. He is insulted by it. People who do such things are inappropriate for the house of the LORD. How do you think it feels for the LORD, the LORD who loves you with an infinite love, how do you think it feels when you present yourself to sin like some sort of satanic prostitute?
This is the first part of the lesson the LORD wanted to teach His people. By having the prophet marry the prostitute the LORD wants us to see how vulgar our sins truly are. The second part of the lesson is found in verses three through five. There Hosea writes, “3 Then I told her, “You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you.” 4 For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol.5 Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.” Having paid the price to free her from her slavery, the prophet brings the prostitute into his house and gives instruction as to how her life was to change. In the same way the LORD, having paid the price to set you free from sin brings you into His house and instructs you how your life is to change. Both the prophet’s prostitute and the LORD’s people are told to “return and seek”. We are to turn. Turn away from the god of this age. Turn away from the sin that seduces us, that is we are to stop doing it; stop being aroused by possessions, stop being turned on by pleasures, and stop being excited by passions. We are to turn away from the god of this age and seek the LORD our God. We are to seek Him where He can be found. According to Hosea, we are to seek Him in the house of David, in the city of David, in a manger in that city where a virgin’s son was laid. Having lived nearly a thousand years before that baby was born Hosea does not know the name of the one we are to seek, but we do. His name is Jesus. He is the one who paid the price to free us from our slavery to sin, not with 15 shekels of silver and a bushel of barley but with His holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. We seek the LORD our God through Jesus because only through Jesus are we forgiven for the times we have prostituted ourselves with the god of this age.
Having been reminded how vulgar our spiritual prostitution is there is an understandable trembling as we approach the LORD our God, but when we seek Him through Jesus, Hosea assures us, we will find “blessings”. We will find Someone Who by a miracle of mercy has chosen to keep no record of our wrongs. We will find one Who is patient with us and speaks tenderly to us. We will find One who provides for us and protects us. We will find One who opens both His heart and His home to us. We will find One Whose faithful love endures forever. By having the prophet marry the prostitute the LORD your God wants you to see how much He loves you.
The prophet Hosea’s wife was a prostitute. My wife is Michelle. No matter how difficult the task, demanding the chore or detestable the obligation associated with me being a pastor there is no question, I got it pretty good compared to Hosea. My wife is no prostitute. I do not envy Hosea’s ministry, but I am grateful for his message. You know, the bible tries to explain God’s love for us in many ways. It depicts the love of God like a father for His children or a shepherd for his sheep. Such illustrations are helpful and speak volumes. But to an extent we understand why a father would love his children or even why a shepherd would love his sheep. That is what makes Hosea’s message so powerful. A man has no reason to make a prostitute his wife, even less reason to go chasing after that prostitute when she continues to be unfaithful to her husband, one might even say no reason at all to pay the price for that prostitute’s self-imposed slavery. And yet that is what God does!!! He loves you like the prophet loved the prostitute.
There are a lot of good things about being a pastor. Teaching, preaching, and administering the sacraments are among the highlights, but the best thing, the best thing is telling people like you just how much the LORD loves you. Amen
[1] Hosea 1:2