Suffer Long with a Prostitute

It was my fourth semester of Old Testament. I sat in the second row, forth desk inside a room covered from floor to ceiling with painted maps of the nations of Israel, Abraham’s journeys, the Exodus, and many other pertinent Old Testament happenings. But that week the maps didn’t distract me. My thoughts, eyes, and heart were completely focused on the professor as he stood behind the lectern, tears streaming down his face, and taught through the book of Hosea. I was deeply moved as we took this journey, but wouldn’t completely grasp its true meaning until years later when my own husband would suffer long for my affection and love for him.

Hosea was a prophet of Yahweh. He served the LORD in ministry from around 755-710 B.C. During his years of service, the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, experienced peace, prosperity, moral corruption, and spiritual ruin. Hosea’s primary focus was to open the blinded spiritual eyes of Israel in hopes that they’d see how they’d violated their covenant relationship with Yahweh.

Hosea was called by the LORD to marry a woman who would prostitute herself during their marriage. This woman would give birth to children who may or may not have been his biological offspring. She would disgrace him and bring shame upon their home. But, Hosea wouldn’t leave her; instead he’d stand right beside her. He’d not shun her; he’d welcome her home. He’d never hate her; instead he’d love her all the more. If ever there were an example of patience in a martial relationship, Hosea would be the poster child.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, LONGSUFFERING, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Galatians 5:22 & 23, NKJV

Patience and/or longsuffering as defined for us in Galatians 5:22 is the transliteration of the Greek word makrothumia which means endurance, constancy, steadfastness, perseverance, forbearance, longsuffering, slowness in avenging wrongs (Thayer’s Greek Definitions).

In John Gill’s Exposition of the entire Bible he says the following about longsuffering/ patience:

“longsuffering is a patient bearing and enduring of present evils with joyfulness, being strengthened by the Spirit with all might, according to His glorious power; being slow to anger, ready to forgive injuries, put up with affronts (insults), and bear with, and forbear one another: and which is usually accompanied with gentleness, humanity, affability, courteousness, shown both in words, gestures, and actions.”

Hosea joyfully endured the trials in his marriage because he knew there was a greater purpose. He didn’t rant and rave when his wife came home late; he remained calm, compassionate, and loving toward this woman who’d betrayed him. Over and over Hosea forgave Gomer for all the wrong she’d committed against him; with kindness and gentleness he stretched out his arms and welcomed her back home. He suffered great heartache, yet he was a beautiful picture of patience.

How was Hosea able to repeatedly forgive his wife? Why did he continue to take her back? Why didn’t he just divorce her and marry a Godly woman who would be faithful to him? How could his love for Gomer suffer so long? How could he be so patient? Because patience, Godly patience, has nothing to do with one’s present circumstances but is solely based on the One who’s in control of those circumstances.

From Galatians 5:22 we learn that patience is a result of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in and among His people- “but the fruit of the Spirit is…” Hosea was able to demonstrate patience in his marital relationship because his focus wasn’t on the circumstances around him but rather on Yahweh. Hosea wasn’t keeping a running list of all the times his wife would come home late. He wasn’t keeping score of how many times he was right as opposed to all the times she was wrong. Hosea remained true and faithful to the calling God placed on his life to marry Gomer. His marriage served as a reminder to all of God’s covenant love for His people.

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On February 13, 2003 that Old Testament classroom I’d sat in years earlier flooded my mind and left me sitting at my kitchen table weeping. The words my professor had shared that week about Hosea, the emotion with which he had shared of the heartache Hosea lived through, the long suffering love this man graciously offered his wife had now become my own reality.

You see, I had prostituted my husband’s love for me; I had corrupted it, cheapened it, and degraded him in ways I never imagined possible. I married him, not because I loved him but because I was searching for something to fill a massive void in my life. But he didn’t (and couldn’t) fill that void so my search continued. I lied to him. I manipulated him. I worked late and stayed out later. He’d load up our youngest child in the middle of the night and come looking for me, worried that I’d been in a car accident or something. It was never a car accident, but always something that pulled me away. Something that I still searched for to make me whole. I disgraced him time and time again. Shamed his name when my name appeared in the “arrest column” of the local paper. I was his badge of dishonor.

But he was my Hosea. And he loved me. He never sought revenge. He never lost his cool. He simply endured. Suffering long. Because he refused to give up on us…on me. He loved me through all my escapades and he loved me back home. He was a picture of Jesus to me; an in-the-flesh example of sacrificial love, abundant grace, and rich mercy. He loved me like Christ loves His church, pure, selfless, complete.

I wrote my husband a love letter that night after I wiped the tears away. I thanked him for suffering long with me and loving me hard. I promised him that I would do my absolute best to honor him for the rest of my life. To love him selflessly. To give to him freely. To be his wife.

And then I wrote a love letter to my Jesus. The One who redeemed me. The One who delivered me from the pit I was living in. I thanked Him for enabling my husband (who was not yet a follower of Christ) to love me hard. I thanked Him for deep forgiveness, for washing me clean, and for rich love. And I thanked Him for being the One who I’d been searching for my whole life.

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You may be a Hosea right now, suffering long for someone you love. Or you may be a Gomer, prostituting yourself to the things of this world, things other than your spouse and family.

To the Hosea’s may I offer this bit of encouragement…as you suffer long make the choice not to quench the power of the Holy Spirit, but instead allow His power to arm you with patience for your spouse. First Corinthians 13:4, tells us that “love suffers long.” Love outlasts all failures and injuries inflicted by another because true love, Godly love, begins with patience.

To the Gomer’s may I offer this bit of encouragement…God loves you with an everlasting love. And there’s nothing you have done, are doing, or ever will do that will make Him stop loving you. His greatest desire is for you to run to Him right now. He will not condemn you, only love you whole.

God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!

Jeremiah 31:3, the Message

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Hosea’s marriage to Gomer was a representation of God’s unconditional love, never-ending forgiveness, and immeasurable patience for His chosen people. You and I can mirror this characteristic of patience in our marriages only through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. In order for us to view those circumstances that tempt us to become impatient, irritated, annoyed, and maybe even pack our bags and leave we must DAILY yield ourselves to the authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must seek His guidance and wisdom in all situations and allow Him to fill our hearts with a pure, honest love that’s willing and able to suffer long.

Jenifer Jernigan

Jenifer has a past that would spill over into her present if it weren’t for the magnificent grace of Jesus and His powerful healing hand. She is the wife of Chris and the momma of three precious children, Hannah, Will, and Lydia. Her days are spent homeschooling her kiddos, getting lost in a sea of words, sipping on delicious cups of her favorite coffee, and chasing hard after the One who saved her.You can visit with Jenifer and Diving Deeper Ministries where she encourages all to dive deeper into God's Word and live abundantly in Christ.

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