Cherishing the Cord of Bondage

Cherishing the Cord of Bondage

(Insight into the Spirit of Whoredom)

Robert Wurtz II

 

 

“And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding” (Hosea 4:9–11 ESV). 

 

God had a controversy with Israel. In response, He raised up Hosea as a living example of the treachery of Israel. God called the prophet to marry a prostitute to portray the spiritual reality that was happening in Israel from God’s perspective. Assigned to a life of heartbreak, the record of his experience speaks to us profoundly today. 

 

Moreover, our passage reveals God’s intentions in dealing with the treachery (unfaithfulness) of His people. He says, “I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.” God is long-suffering, but they have left Him with no choice. He will use many measures to gain their repentance, but none will work. Eventually, their enemies carry them away to Babylon, destroy Jerusalem and the Temple. 

 

Three Cords of Bondage

 

 

 

The people had three lovers competing with God like three cords binding them in sin. They forsook the LORD to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine. Notice the order. Much has been written about the excesses of wine and new wine, but what speaks more to the analogy of Hosea and Gomer (his unfaithful wife) is the cherishing of whoredom. This behavior led the people into idolatry. 

 

“My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore” (Hosea 4:12 ESV).

 

The Hebrew terms rūăch zᵉnūniīm reveals that the whoredom is represented as a demonic power, which has seized upon the nation. Zᵉnūnīmra probably includes both carnal and spiritual whoredom, since idolatry, especially the Asherah-worship, was connected with gross licentiousness. (C. F. Keil and Delitzsch F., Commentary on the Old Testament) 

 

The Hebrew word translated as “cherish” in our passage could be translated as “obey.” They were obeying their lusts, seeking to find fulfillment in sin rather than in God and it opened the door to the demonic. Matthew Henry passed a comment on this passage saying, “Their sensual pleasures have taken them off from their devotions and drowned all that is good in them.” The men’s harlotry also opened the door for their children and their wives to commit harlotry (Hosea 4:13-14). 

 

What is Harlotry?

 

In modern times, we don’t typically employ words like harlotry, whoredom, treachery, etc. to describe sexual immorality. We describe sinful behavior in terms of sexually active, casual sex, or consenting adults. This is the way of the world to manufacture terms that lessen the impact of the sin. However, the LXX (Greek Old Testament) uses the Greek word porneias from which we get the first part of the English word pornography (porno-graphy). Porneias is any sexual activity outside the bounds of Biblical marriage.

 

An old-time preacher once said that harlotry (or whoredom) is when we take the love that belongs to one and gives it to another. The promiscuous woman or man says, “stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Proverbs 9:17). This is an insightful way to describe adultery or fornication, “stolen waters.” Paul the Apostle takes a similar line when he warns the Thessalonians is one of the very first Christian writings ever penned (1 Thessalonians):

 

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–7 NKJV). 

 

Notice that this deviant sexual behavior is linked directly to uncleanness. A Christian is to possess their own vessel (body) in sanctification and honor and not as a vehicle for fulfilling lust. Further, Paul speaks of “taking advantage of and defrauding” his brother. Clearly, this would imply “stealing waters” (to use the Proverbs euphemism) from a brother. The person is a thief, but not just any thief. They have stolen something that they can never return or make restitution. Solomon explained it best:

 

“People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself” (Proverbs 6:30–32 ESV).   

 

Israel is an example to us of what not to do in regards to sexual immorality and the yielding to a spirit of whoredom. Their eventual judgment demonstrates, as Paul wrote, that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.