The Harlot Wife

Imagine with me for a moment…

You just got married and finished the most amazing honeymoon ever. Your groom is everything you ever imagined. You are his beloved and he loves you. He seems to know your every hearts desire and then proceeds to give it to you.

But it is not enough…

One day while he is away you find a lover. You find someone else who seems better. He lets you have whatever you want. He spoils you and lavishes you with jewels and riches.

But still, it is not enough…

You begin to go from lover to lover, only thinking of your self. You have forgotten your first love – your groom. You only think of the unsatisfied lusts that grow deep within you.

His anger grows at what you have done. He does not understand why you seem so bent on running from his love. He has only desired your good. Have you forgotten so quickly what a true selfless love feels like? His anger burns toward you for your life of harlotry. You are a faithless and your heart has grown cold toward your groom, now you must bear the guilt. Your groom should not have to live with such a bride. He has every reason to put you out on the street, to have nothing to do with you.

Oh But how can he give up on you? How can he turn you loose? How can he even think such thoughts as his insides churn in protest? So even though he has every right to, he will not let you go. He will stay and fight for you. He will do what he can in order to win you back.

You have forgotten that he brought you out of a life of misery and despair. He took from a life of suffering and gave you plenty. It was not enough, you were not satisfied. Oh beloved bride, when will you stop chasing all your lovers who take what they want and leave you unsatisfied. When will you come back to the one who loves you with an everlasting, pure love?

For my people are determined to desert me. They call me the Most High, but they don't truly honor me. "Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? How can I destroy you? No, I will not punish you as much as my burning anger tells me to. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy. For someday the people will follow the LORD. I will roar like a lion, and my people will return trembling from the west. Hosea 11:7-11

We are the bride, Christ is the groom.
Let us be glad and rejoice and honor him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. Rev 19:7