The Whore At His Feet

"When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, "Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness, because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD." – (Hosea 1:2)


One of the more disturbing metaphors in Scripture is the recurring image of God’s people as a prostitute. Whenever we turn away from God and give ourselves to the pleasures of this world, God is grieved and often He likens this act of spiritual adultery to prostitution.

"'But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers—would you now return to me?' declares the LORD." – (Jeremiah 3:1)

In the Old Testament book of Hosea, we see this prostitution of God’s people personified in the form of Gomer, the wife of Hosea the prophet.

"The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods...So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver...Then I told her, "You are to live with me many days; you must not be a prostitute or be intimate with any man, and I will live with you." – (Hosea 3:1-3)

I recently saw a Barna research report that rated people's perceptions of different groups of people. In this study Barna found that only prostitutes rated lower on the scale of favorable impressions than Evangelical Christians. So, that got me to thinking, maybe we're a lot more like prostitutes than we'd like to imagine?

In what ways can the Church be like a prostitute? When she offers services rather than genuine love. When she is more concerned with looking good on the outside than being good on the inside. When she fails to engage in a lifelong love affair with her husband. When she only remains faithful because she’s afraid of losing her security. When she honors people more for what they can do for her than for who they are as people.

Many years ago a friend of mine told me about a paper he had to write for a seminary class. The assignment was to write about which Biblical character you would want to be and why. At first my friend started to write his paper about how he’d like to be King David, but then he heard this song:

In the night, the harlot moves across the floor
She turns the handle on the door
A hundred eyes seem to look right through her
Why she's there they're not sure
Behind her love, she falls down to her knees
Without a word, she begins to weep
And her tears, they fall down upon his feet
She smothers them with kisses
And she dries them with her hair

In my life, sorrow has kissed my lonely heart
Fear of man tears me apart
And I try, but many times I've loved the world
So many times I've been the whore
And I cried a million tears, or maybe more
So many times I have been the whore
I will fall down on my knees
And I will sing "I love you"

I will sing "I love you, my love"
And my tears, they fall down upon your feet

Let me smother them with kisses
Let me dry them with my hair
Cos if I could be anyone at all
Well, if I could be anyone at all
Let me be the whore at your feet
The whore at your feet*

After hearing this song, my friend tore up his paper and began to write a new one entitled, “The Whore At His Feet”. The next day, after his professor read the paper he asked my friend to present it to the class. When my friend was done reading, everyone in the class asked if they could also re-write their papers and identify themselves with the whore at the feet of Jesus.

The truth is that we are all, like this prostitute, desperately in need of Jesus and His love. We are all sick, we are all sinners, we are all in the same boat and hopelessly lost without Him.

Because we’ve received such abundant and marvelous love so graciously and without merit, we cannot help but to fall on our knees before Him and express our devotion with a thankful heart.

Now, if you could be anyone in the Bible, who would you choose to be?

-kg

"When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner"...Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." – (Luke 7:37-39; 44-47)



*Lyrics by Mike Prtizl, from the Violet Burning album "Strength" - 1992