The Audience of Jezreel
Catholic Champion. Hosea 2:21-22 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, said the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;… The prophet refers, under the symbolic title Jezreel, to God's own faithful people, the undefiled remnant of Israel; those who were brought back to their own land after the captivity in Babylon. In a larger sense we are to understand the passage as a prophecy of the blessings which such of the Jews as accept our Lord Christ, and those of the Gentiles who believe in Him, shall enjoy under the Gospel. I. THE WAY IN WHICH GOD PROMISES TO BE GRACIOUS TO HIS PEOPLE AT THE LAST. He will deal with them through a chain of intermediate agencies. I. Superficially the text is but a poetic way of saying that all the universe shall unite to help the people of God. 2. The deeper thought is, that in this mode of due order and proportion, having respect to the fitness of all things which He has made. God rules the universe, albeit for the sake of His people. II. THE BROAD AND ALL-EMBRACING METHOD OF THE DIVINE OPERATION OUGHT TO BE A GREAT STRENGTH TO US IN TIMES OF DISCOURAGEMENT AND DOUBT. The tendency of modern life seems to be to make men pessimistic. It seems as if the enormous natural forces brought out into the light, and harnessed to work man's will for him, had somehow paralysed our human instincts. Human life seems to be becoming more and more but the life of a machine. God has promised to hear our prayers, but only on the condition that we approach Him in the way He has appointed. (Catholic Champion.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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; WEB: It will happen in that day, I will respond," says Yahweh, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth;