Hosea 2:21

And it shall come to pass in that day,.... When these espousals shall be made, when the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and his bride will be betrothed to him; then the whole creation, the heavens

And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; In that day - of grace to Israel.

Hosea 2:21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;Ver. 21. And it shall come to pass in that day] In that time of grace and reconciliation, fitly set forth by the name of a day in regard of, 1. Revelation 2:1-29. Adornation; 3. Consolation; 4. Distinction; 5. Speedy preterition. I will hear, saith the Lord of hosts] That is, I that have the command of both the upper and nether springs and forces, sun, moon, stars, &c., Deuteronomy 4:9, those storehouses of God’ s good treasure which he openeth to our profit, Deuteronomy 28:12, and therehence makes a scatter of riches upon the earth by their influence. I that stop and unstop those bottles of the sky, the clouds, which there hang and move, though weighty with their own burden; I that make the earth to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and meat to the eater, Isaiah 55:10, &c. I will hear the heavens] Heb. I will answer, that is, I will so hear as that I will answer; so will not great ones sometimes, or if they do, yet the poor man speaks supplications, but the rich answereth him roughly, Proverbs 18:23. Solyman II, the grand signor, when many thousands of his poor Christian subjects, to be eased of their heavy taxations, fell down before him and offered to turn Mahometans, rejected their conversion, and doubled their taxations. God hath here a great sort of suppliants (the poets feign that litae, or supplications, are always about Jupiter); the heaven, the earth, the grain, &c., and he heareth and speedeth them all. Never any humble petitioner went sad out of his presence. Never said he to the house of Israel, Seek ye me in vain. The heathen idols may do so, but he scorns it. "Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give flowers?" Jeremiah 14:22. Surely they cannot, till God have heard and answered them. The genealogy of rain, of grain, and wine is here resolved into Jehovah; and he promiseth to endow his beloved spouse with them as part (though the least part) of her jointure. "All are yours, for you are Christ’ s," 1 Corinthians 3:23. In marrying with the heir you have right to all. Here is omnium rerum ubertas ob Dei semen Christum, saith Jerome, plenty of all things for Christ’ s sake, who, wherever he comes, cometh with a cornucopia; a horn of salvation, besides a largess of outward comforts. This was a very necessary doctrine at all times to be taught in the Church, lest, pressed with miseries, men should faint in tbeir minds.

(21-23) Will hear.—More correctly, I will answer (the prayer of) the heavens. A sublime personification! Heaven pleads with Jehovah, the earth pleads with heaven, and the products of the soil plead with the earth. To all these prayers an answer is vouchsafed. Jehovah answers the heavens with the gifts of dew and rain, wherewith the heavens answer the cravings of the earth, and the earth the cravings of the corn, wine, and oil. And these last, in their turn, answer the wants of Jezreel, a name which, like Achor, is to be invested with brighter meanings. It is to represent a Divine seed—the people whom the Lord hath blessed. (See Stanley, Lectures on the Jewish Church, II. Series, Lecture 32 ad fin., where this idea is eloquently set forth.)

Verse 21. I will hear, saith the Lord] The sentence is repeated, to show how fully the thing was determined by the Almighty, and how implicitly they might depend on the Divine promise. I will hear the heavens] The visible heavens, the atmosphere, where vapours are collected. The clouds, when they wish to deposit their fertilizing showers upon the earth. They shall hear the earth] When it seems to supplicate for rain.

14–23. And now the notes of threatening are dying away; bright and glorious days are announced for both sections of the nation. There shall be a second Exodus; no more idolatry; no more war; no. cloud upon Israel’s relation to her God. (Notice in passing the limitations of this stage of religious knowledge; the Messianic hope is as yet confined entirely to the people of Israel.)

I will hear the heavens ... - As all nature is closed, and would refuse her office to those who rebel against her God, so, when He hath withdrawn His curse and is reconciled to man all shall combine

18-23. Picture of the ideal future to be realized by the restored wife. Hosea 2:18 speaks of permanent peace, undisturbed by man and beast.