By Andrea Guachalla
Throughout the history of literature, there have been works that resemble the story of Hosea, the prophet who marries an adulterous woman at God’s command. This is not because the authors were inspired by Hosea or the Bible itself, but because even the secular world, despite the fact that it encourages and celebrates sexual promiscuity, continues to view adultery and infidelity as one of the most painful things a person can go through. That a man decides to marry a prostitute or a woman with an adulterous heart continues to be seen as an act of sacrifice and unconditional love, which is reflected in works such as “Resurrection” by the famous Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
Seeing the stories of Hosea and Gomer, as well as that of Prince Dimitri and Katusha will help us see how God himself views adultery and what the temporal and eternal consequences are.
In chapter 1, verse 2 of the book of Hosea we are told what is the command that God gives to the prophet: “When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.”” Hosea 1:2, ESV. Now, although theologians differ as to the exact meaning of “wife of whoredom” since some argue that it refers to a woman who was a prostitute, and others to that she had the sinful disposition to be an adulteress in the future, in what they agree is that it is about a woman who would be unfaithful to her husband and he was aware of it but decides to marry her and love her despite her infidelity.
In chapter 3 of the book of Hosea, it is seen how Gomer continues to succumb to the desires of her adulterous heart and is unfaithful to Hosea, which could have been an excuse for divorce, but still, God sends the prophet to look for Gomer (Hosea 3: 1-3) and buy her at, what is thought to have been, a slave auction. After this, Hosea imposes restrictions on her to keep her pure in the future.
As an echo of this story, there is a novel “Resurrection” set in the context of the 19th century, where Tolstoy describes the unfortunate life of a prostitute named Katusha, and the circumstances that led her to that lifestyle, which end up condemning her to prison and later to live in exile in Siberia. Simultaneously, it tells the life of a prince named Dimitri Nekhludoff, a man of great renown, wealth, and a judicial officer who, by chance, participates in the trial of Katusha when she is being sentenced.
At the time of participating in Katusha’s trial Dimitri realizes that she was someone he knew, and someone he had wronged many years ago, so to amend his mistake and redeem her from her life of prostitution and condemnation decides to marry her. A prince marrying a prostitute condemned to exile for life.
Katusha, however, rejects his offer of marriage repeatedly for the simple fact that the lifestyle she leads does not seem bad at all to her, she was used to living in sin and that was what she wanted. Dimitri, insisting on marrying her, realizes that the Katusha that he had known many years ago no longer existed, but only the promiscuous woman who took every opportunity she had to sell her body for a few rubles.
“This woman is dead,”
Dimitri concludes when he saw that she was not willing to give up her sin. And she really was dead in her sins. But still, Dimitri insists on marrying her. He shows her mercy and love to the point where Katusha slowly begins to open her heart and begins to see the sinful misery in which she has been living. Realizing her sin, she immediately feels unworthy of marrying the merciful Prince Dimitri, so she now rejects his marriage proposal not because of her love of sin, but because she feels unworthy that a man like him should be subjected for life to someone like her. Along the way, Dimitri must deal with Katusha’s adulterous tendency, and must repeatedly forgive her for her actions, but as with Hosea and Gomer, Katusha’s imperfection does not diminish his love for her but increases it, and he learns to persevere in mercy and patience.
In both cases, sexual immorality is not seen as a good thing, but as something reprehensible despite being characteristic of pagan religions and rebellion against God from Old Testament times to the present day. For the prophet Hosea and the fictional character Dimitri, it is a sacrifice and a source of pain to have to forgive the infidelity and adultery in which the women they love get involved. Those same feelings are replicated in anyone who faces infidelity from their partner.
The Christian values that once characterized much of the Western world have changed radically in recent decades with the rise of feminism, the “sexual revolution,” and the reasoning that men have the “right” to “enjoy” their sexuality outside of marriage because they cannot get pregnant and therefore women should enjoy that same “right” through contraceptive pills and “reproductive health” (i.e. the mass murder of unborn babies). Interestingly, the story of Hosea and Gomer is interpreted by feminists as a clear example of the “oppressive patriarchy” that represses the sexuality of women and does not allow them to “enjoy” pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relations in the same way as men, assuming that sexual immorality is desirable and that all men engage in adulterous acts.
If before sexual promiscuity was seen as something rare and reprehensible, now it is seen as something to celebrate and promote, it is celebrated as a “revolutionary” act. Young people and even children are taught how to explore sexuality “safely” from an early age in schools, and college youth encourage each other to “live in the moment” by using drugs, alcohol and having casual sex. Much of today’s youth think that this is what enjoying life really is: having open relationships, that is, non-monogamous, in which one responds to their instincts and carnal desires almost like an animal, which destroys the idea of what a family is and reduces sex to a mere act of selfish pleasure.
Many psychologists, university professors, young people, and others argue that sexual promiscuity and not being involved in a monogamous relationship is normal and that no one should feel bad about it: sexual immorality is the norm in a world without values that only seeks temporary pleasure. Even the entertainment industry sends the same message, a study reports that the lyrics of songs in infidelity is addressed either positively or negatively, causes young women to be more tolerant of sexual infidelity. However, the reality is very different from what many claim, firstly because promiscuity is condemned by God, and secondly because the effects it has on individuals who are immersed in a promiscuous lifestyle are tangibly negative.
Studies reveal that adultery or emotional/sexual infidelity is a common problem in marriages today. In a study, Dr. Atkins shows that sexual infidelity by married men is more frequent between their 55 and 65 years, and more frequent in women between their 40 and 45 years, and that in both cases sexual infidelity is a lot less when individuals regularly attend religious services. That is, their spiritual life greatly influences how they view sexuality and fidelity. As direct consequences of sexual infidelity are cited: dissolution of marriages, divorce, instability in the home, not to mention a high level of stress in the partners of those who engage in acts of adultery. Studies that seek to understand the difference between the response of women and men to infidelity, affirm that men tend to present higher levels of stress in the face of sexual infidelity, while women do so in the face of emotional infidelity. In both cases, infidelity is one reason why monogamous couples decide to end a relationship.
In all cases, infidelity is reported to cause pain and stress. Both men and women acknowledge that they find it emotionally upsetting to discover that their partners have been unfaithful, however, as reported by Dr. Feldman in a study, these same people often do not hold back from being sexually promiscuous. This study carried out in young adults shows that two thirds of the population sample have been a victim, an offender, or both in terms of acts of sexual infidelity.
All this helps us to see that sexual promiscuity dishonors God, and is not good for oneself or for others even though society promotes sexual liberation and a denigrating view of sexuality. Faced with both perspectives, things can get confusing and that is why we must be sure of how God Himself views sexual immorality.
The Bible is clear about the sin of adultery and sexual immorality in general, and God Himself establishes what is good about sexuality for His glory, for our good, and for the good of others. The seventh commandment given by God to Moses and His people is “You shall not commit adultery.” In the civil law in Leviticus 20:10 reads: “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Leviticus 20:10, ESV
Adultery was a sin punishable by death. Other passages in both the Old and New Testaments warn of the condemnation that comes through adultery so it must be understood that the intimate union between a man and a woman within marriage was designed by God for His glory and the good of His children. Matthew 5: 27-28 emphasizes that adultery begins in the heart the moment a man desires his neighbor’s wife. Proverbs 6:32 and 1 Corinthians 6:18 warn that the fornicator sins against his own body and soul, and of course also against God and his neighbor. The sin of adultery is so serious that it is even compared to idolatry, which implies the infidelity of God’s people towards the Creator and violates the first four commandments of God that demand to love him above all things, not to have other gods, not to create images of god, nor take God’s name in vain.
The moment God’s people seek out other gods and worship them in the hope that they will meet their needs, they are committing spiritual adultery against God Himself. This is the gravity with which God views adultery, and it is the reason why in the book of Hosea he prophesies condemnation for Israel’s sin. Because they have turned away from God and have preferred other gods, which is comparable to Gomer’s infidelity towards Hosea, and the reason why the book of Hosea is used to talk about the idolatry of the people of Israel.
Now, although God views sin with such gravity in the book of Hosea He also shows mercy and forgiveness, grace and patience towards the adulterous people who have gone after other gods, thus violating His law and rejecting His mercy. Just as Hosea goes in search of Gomer as we saw in chapter 3: 1-3 after her being unfaithful to him and buying her out of her life of sin, so too God shows mercy towards His people again and again despite their tendency to sin and buys His people through the sacrifice of Christ that separates them from sin and makes them righteous before Him.
Chapter 14 of Hosea concludes by asking Israel to return to God and giving a message of hope, the prophet writes:
“I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.”
Hosea 14: 4-6,9, English Standard Version
The clearest display of sacrificial love that we can imagine even within the secular world is that of someone loving another without their deserving it. That is the love that God shows to His people through Jesus Christ despite their unfaithfulness. It is the love that we see on a human scale from Hosea towards Gomer and the love that we see even in secular literary works such as “Resurrection” where a great prince decides to marry a prostitute mired in her sins.
Despite what the world today dictates about the “sexual revolution” and the world’s claims that sexuality means nothing more than the physical pleasure it brings, the negative consequences of infidelity and sexual immorality can be seen. This should lead us to recognize that when God commands something, He does it for His glory, our good, and the good of our neighbor, and everything that opposes His commandments is to the dishonor of God, of oneself, and others as well. Furthermore, sexual immorality should lead us to see how God, in His eternal mercy, decides to have patience with sinners who reject Him and still save those whom the Father chooses, which leads true believers to leave their sinful life. This shows that God’s love is not subject to the good that we can do by our own strength but to His infinite grace.
This is an adaptation of the final essay presented in the subject
Introduction to the Old Testament of the Latin American Reformed Seminary.
References:
- Alexopoulos, C .; Taylor, D. If your girl only knew: The effects of infidelity-themed song lyrics on cognitions related to infidelity. American Psychological Association, 2020.
- American Experience. The Pill and the Sexual Revolution.
- Atkins, David, et. to the. Understanding Infidelity: Correlates in a National Random Sample. Journal of Family Psychology 2001, Vol. 15, No. 4, 735-749.
- Beeke, Joel. Reformed Heritage Study Bible. Ciudad Real: Poiema, 2018.
- Carpenter, Christopher. Meta-Analyzes of Sex Differences in Responses to Sexual Versus Emotional Infidelity: Men and Women Are More Similar than Different. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 2012, 36:25.
- Feldman, Shirley; Cauffman, Elizabeth. Sexual Betrayal Among Late Adolescents: Perspectives of the Perpetrator and the Aggrieved. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1999, Vol. 28, No. 2.
- Keefe, Alice. Woman’s Body and the Social Body in Hosea 1-2. NY .: A Continuum Imprint, 2001.
- MacArthur, John. MacArthur Study Bible. Nashville, TE: Thomas Nelson, 2011.
- Strobel, Lee. Holy Study Bible: The Case of Christ. Trad. Group Level One. Great Rapids, MI: Life, 2010.
- Tolstoi, León. Resurrection. Trad. Louise Maude, Kindle Version.
