The Prostitute Spouse

The Prostitute Spouse


Then the Lord said to me, “Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and lover her, even though she loves adultery. For the Lord still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts.”
Hosea 3:1 NEW LIVING TRANSLATION


In the case of Hosea, God wanted him to literally buy back his wife. And, remarkably, Hosea follows God’s directions. When I read something like this, I like to put myself in the protagonist’s shoes to gain better insight. I do this by asking questions. For example, ask yourself if you would buy your cheating spouse back from a pimp? How would your children be affected by being known as the children of the town whore? Do you think the townspeople would treat you and your kids differently at PTA meetings, at the grocery store and at church? I figure that Hosea could save a little face for himself and the kids if he would just follow the Jewish law and stone her. She isn’t worth saving. Just find someone else and rescue your family from the intense pain and shame.

Putting myself in Hosea’s sandals helps me to understand his anguish, the desire for revenge and the embarrassment of having a whore for a spouse. Not to mention that even your kids may not be and probably aren’t yours. When one spouse breaks the promise of the marriage covenant, the other feels like he or she can never trust or love the same way again. In some ways, their life now seems tainted and dirty. I am not sure how one can ever fully recover. I admit though, I have made a fatal flaw in understanding this story. Instead of walking in Hosea’s shoes, I should have also attempted to walk in Gomer’s, (the wife’s shoes), for I am most like her in my faith walk. God wants to express his love for me, so he takes me from nothing and gives me a name, an inheritance and a place that is intimate with him. I realize my boredom with God only after I have chased after and replaced God with self-gratification, with riches, with entertainment etc. When I replace God with anything else, my actions are like that of Gomer.

The tragedy behind this story is not only that Hosea feels shortchanged, that the children have to walk around with names that carry a stigma, that God rarely receives a return on the love he gives to others , but the worst is that we do not know if Gomer ever had gratitude towards Hosea. We never get to find out if Gomer stayed true to her husband and children. In some way I guess, we get to finish the story. We can answer the questions of gratitude and a changed life in how we live today.