"they have left their God to play the whore"

I love the book of Hosea. i love it because it's a beautiful picture of God's undying, unfailing, unconditional love for his children. before i get into that though, here's a little background info. (If time-lines and history bore you, skip the next paragraph. but since the OT isn't actually in chronological order, i find it helpful and interesting to figure out when things are happening in comparison to other events!!)

Before Israel split into two kingdoms, all the Israelites would travel to Jerusalem to worship. The people up north got tired of this travel, and decided to make their own place of worship. They built an idol in Ephraim (one of the 12 tribes), and decided they would worship their own god, instead of going to Jerusalem to worship. We now have the two kingdoms. Israel, being 10 tribes in the northern part, and Judah, being 2 tribes in the southern. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom during Jeroboam II reign, which was from 793-753BC. The Israelites continued worshipping false gods, and were finally taken captive by the Assyrians in 722-721BC. When you read of Ephraim in Hosea, it is not referring to that one tribe, but all of Israel. (For it was there Israels corruption began.) okay moving on...

Hosea was commanded by God to marry a whore. This was to give Israel a picture of their relationship w/ God. They have left their God to worship objects made by man. This is to give us a picture of our relationship w/ God. We are constantly leaving our God to chase other lovers.

"For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'...she shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she will say, 'i will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.' And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal." (hosea 2:5-8)

We have all we need in Christ. And yet, why are we always wanting something more?? We are always looking, trying to find satisfation in something else. "For the spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore." (4:12) i hope that verse grieves you as it does me. the God who gives us life, the God who sustains us, the God who gave the sacrifice of his Son so that we might be saved, that is the God we have looked in the face and said to him "what you've done is great, but i think i'm going to go see what else there is". a quote by Matthew Henry in his commentary on Hosea: "What an odious thing would it be for the prophet, a holy man, to have a whorish wife and children whorish like her! What an exericise would it be of his patience, and, if she persisted in it, what could be expected but that he should give her a bill of divorce! And is it not much more offensive to the holy God to have such a people as this to be called by his name and have a place in his house? How great is his patience with them! And how justly may he cast them off!" and yet, read chapter 11, v 8. "How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can i make you like Admah? How can i treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender." the NKJV says it like this "My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred." how beautiful is that?? the love of our God is so uncomprehendable!

"So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God." (12:6)