In Luke 9, we’re given insight into what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

Following Jesus doesn’t mean making a one-time declaration of Jesus as our Lord and Savior and then continuing to live as we did before. Instead, we must daily deny our sinful nature and do what God wants us to do. After all, how can we say we follow Christ if we don’t?

An excellent example of what it means to follow the Lord can be found in Hosea.

When the LORD first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the LORD and worshiping other gods.”

Hosea 1:2 (NLT)

Upon reading this verse, one might be taken aback. How could the Lord instruct Hosea to marry a prostitute? Wasn’t it against the law according to Leviticus?

“ ‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.”

Leviticus 21:7 (NIV)

The short answer is, “No, it wasn’t against the law to marry a prostitute.” The law in Leviticus applied only to priests. Therefore, God did not instruct Hosea to break the law. Nevertheless, marrying a known prostitute would be challenging for most men. However, was Gomer (Hosea’s wife) really a prostitute?

The King James Version of the Bible gives us this translation for Hosea 1:2.

The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.

Hosea 1:2 (KJV)

Instead of “prostitute,” the KJV uses the word “whoredoms” and uses it in such a way as to indicate there’s something more than prostitution going on. Indeed, we’re given this insight from the NIV.

When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.”

Hosea 1:2 (NIV)

The NIV says “promiscuous woman,” which accurately describes the Hebrew word “zenunim,” defined as “adultery” or “idolatry.” This also aligns with why God told Hosea to marry this woman: “The land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD” Hosea 1:2 (NIV).

Therefore, when God told Hosea to marry Gomer, he wasn’t marrying a prostitute, and from the text, it’s unclear whether she had been promiscuous before Hosea married her. Still, Hosea 3 reveals that Gomer was an adulterous woman.

The LORD said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Hosea 3:1 (NIV)

As Christians, we are called to bear our crosses daily, and while the Lord isn’t likely to ask you to marry an adulterer, Hosea does serve as an example of what it means to deny ourselves to do the Lord’s will.