Phony religion is adultery.
Hosea incessantly pronounced God’s coming judgment on Israel for her hypocritical religious devotion to Yahweh. This seems to be the theme of the book. This is because religious hypocrisy is akin to marital infidelity because it is spiritual adultery. Israel is like Gomer but her spouse is Yahweh. The Lord chose her and made a covenant with her. Yet, like Gomer, she does not live as if she were His bride but lives like a prostitute. She claims she is in right relationship but her actions belie her words. She pursues intimate relationships with false gods while rejecting the legitimate intimacy offered by Yahweh.
Most people in the 21st Century church engage in spiritual prostitution. We spend more time devoted to pursuing the gods of this world such as fame, sex, money, material goods and pride. While we do this, we manifest an outward appearance of charity, goodness and piety while withholding obedience and deep love from God. In addition, we withhold love, mercy and justice from our fellow human beings especially those who poor, needy or caught up in those sins we deem particularly despicable such as prostitution and homosexuality. We can stand up for right theology, orthodox belief and morality but still fail to maintain a proper relationship for God because our obedience is a sham. Solid theology is fine but not by itself, it must be accompanied by acts of unselfish righteousness and love that exalt God and not our pride.
Meditate & Apply: In what ways have you been guilty of spiritual adultery?