And I will make a covenant for them in that day with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will break bow and sword and battle out of the land; and I will make them to lie down safely.
Hosea has just pictured a broken marriage healed: the Lord takes His people back to Himself. Verse 18 turns outward, to peace with the animals and an end to weapons of war.
The verse gives a date, but only a phrase: "on that day." Commentators place that day beyond anything Israel has seen so far. They warn against pulling it into the present age:
It is not the time of the Incarnation, as some godly men say — though it is astonishing that they dare to say it. "That day" is still future. It awaits the appearing and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. It is distressing to confuse such a prophecy with Peter's vision and so apply it all to the church now.
The same phrase runs through the prophets with a settled sense:
"That day," then, is clearly a well understood phrase. Used without any special connection, it means the period of Messiah's reign and Israel's blessing.
Notice who does the making. Israel does not bargain with the animals. God makes the agreement for them — and only after He has settled His own relationship with them:
Hosea 2 then gives us a fuller view of Israel's guilt and misery, and of their final blessedness. There is the beautiful description of the covenant the Lord makes for Israel, between them and the beasts of the earth, after He has taken them into covenant with Himself. And there is the view we get of the Lord at one end of a magnificent system of blessing, and Israel at the other, after wilderness days. Both are exquisite.
God names three groups: beasts of the field, birds of the heavens, and creeping things of the ground. That is the whole animal creation. Commentators refuse to shrink the promise down to something already fulfilled:
It is foolish to think that all this came fully true when Israel returned from the Babylonian captivity. This wretched error misleads even Christians. It drags them into the impiety of counting God's word here as mere exaggeration, added to heighten the effect. It is as if the Holy Spirit stooped to be a trickster with words, or a prophet were as vain as a writer chasing style. No; it is a brighter day. Then the power of God will sweep the world clear of disorder, misrule, and man's violence and corruption. He will also reduce the whole animal kingdom to harmless and happy subjection.
Verse 18 sits between Israel's restoration and the blessing of the earth. That order matters:
Verse 18 tells us that creation will then be blessed; the time of its deliverance has come. Here the same thing is indicated as in Isaiah 11:6-7 and Romans 8:21. The end of wars comes then, and universal peace blesses the whole earth. This is always the order in the divine forecasts. First, Israel has to be brought back. After that come the blessings for the earth and the nations. That includes the peace which the blinded world-church tries to secure without the Lord Jesus Christ.
Israel's return to the Lord, flowing out of His grace toward them, brings universal blessedness with it. God will make all the earth feel, to its own joy, the gracious restoration of His long-estranged people.
God abolishes the bow, the sword, and war. He does not regulate them or reduce them. The result is a people lying down without fear. One writer finds a preview of that rest when Christ fed the five thousand:
The scene that follows is surely a foretaste of millennial blessing. It shows the Lord's perfect administration, and the power of one Person to calm the world's unrest and meet its desperate hunger. At His word five thousand men are in a moment set in perfect rest. He speaks the word, and at once we read, "The men sat down." So it will be in the day of the Lord. Then He will "abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land," and "make you lie down in safety" (Hosea 2:18).
- Relationship first. God settles His own covenant with His people first. Only then does He make a covenant for them with creation. Peace outside flows from peace with Him.
- God is the maker. God makes the agreement for Israel. They add nothing to the deal between themselves and the beasts, birds, and creeping things.
- Creation next. God brings Israel back first. Then comes creation's deliverance, and blessing for the earth and the nations.
- Then the weapons go. God abolishes bow, sword, and war from the land. His people lie down in safety, as the five thousand sat down at Christ's word.
- Still ahead. "That day" is not the Incarnation, not the return from captivity, and not the present age. It waits for the appearing and kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and God means it exactly as He says it.
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; and I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies;
God speaks here as a husband to a wife who had left Him. He does not just take her back. He binds her to Himself for ever. So who is this bride? When does this promise come true? And how can a holy God enter such a bond again?
The betrothal promise comes after God has already declared the relationship over. One writer traces the order: sentence first, then a fresh start.
In this passage from the prophet, Israel is not just guilty. Israel has already gone through judgment. God had declared that He would no more have mercy... and that Israel was no longer His people... But afterwards, once the judgment had fallen, He returns to His purposes of grace, which He will never revoke... He betroths her to Him for ever, in righteousness, in judgment, in grace, in mercy, and all is blessing.
Betrothal was not the wedding itself. In Israel it still bound the couple by law, and Scripture uses the word in two directions.
The Jews saw this as being as binding as marriage. Only a divorce could end it... Scripture uses it as a picture of Jehovah's favour to His ancient people in a future day, when He will 'betroth' them to Himself for ever. Hosea 2:19-20. Also as to the position in which the church stands to Christ: Paul wrote to the Corinthian saints "I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:2. The conduct of the saints should be true to this betrothal.
Earlier in the chapter she stops calling Him "my master" and calls Him "my husband." One writer shows why that change makes the betrothal hold.
"Ishi" and "Baali" both mean "husband." But "Baali" means "lord, master," and points only to the wife's place under him. "Ishi" means "my man." It goes back to creation and to the basic fitting of man and woman to each other, so that there should be real fellowship or kinship in the relation... So far they had known God only in the distant place of "master." They did not know the reality of His glorious nature, or the affectionate closeness He wanted. Thus there was nothing to hinder their being drawn away to "other lords" which had usurped His place. But now, in the future which He here contemplates, all would be changed, so as to make stable the relationship.
The terms are startling when you see who receives them. She had chased other lovers; He answers with righteousness.
There is to be acceptance for this unfaithful one with her injured Lord. She has been unfaithful, it is true... she has said, "I will go after my lovers," but the Lord has also said, "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy."
Another writer points to the place where God's judgment first fell inside the land.
God's judgment first fell on the unfaithful people after they entered the land. There He acted according to their responsibility. In that same place He would now show that grace abounded over all their sin... The whole basis of Israel's relationship with Jehovah would change. He would not be as a Master (Baal) to whom she was responsible, but as a Husband who had betrothed her.
Some have tied this promise to Christ's first coming. One writer rules that out, and then weighs the betrothal against every other blessing in the chapter.
It is not the time when Christ came as a man, as some godly men say... "That day" is still future, and waits for the appearing and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus... But, better than all, "I will also betroth you to Myself for ever." What is every other mercy worth, compared with this closest bond with Jehovah Himself?
The verse does not end with a private reunion. Because the bond holds, blessing spreads from the heavens to the earth.
Heavens and earth will be gloriously united, and in answer to the call of His people the heavens will hear and cover all with blessing, for Satan's power is now gone. Israel is no longer "not My people," but they will be "His people" and He will be "their God," while the redeemed nation itself will be a blessing in the earth.
- Judgment first. God speaks this promise to a people already sentenced. Only then does He return to purposes He will never take back.
- Betrothal, not sentiment. The word carried the full binding force of marriage. Scripture uses it of Israel's future and of the church's standing toward Christ now.
- Master becomes Husband. The old distance of "my master" left room for other lords; intimacy is what makes the new bond stable.
- Righteousness for the unfaithful. Grace abounds where judgment once fell. He takes the wife who chased other lovers in righteousness, justice, steadfast love and mercy.
- Forever outweighs everything. This chapter promises many mercies. Nearness to God Himself dwarfs them all, and from it blessing spreads to the whole earth.
and I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness and thou shalt know Jehovah.
Hosea 2 ends with God speaking as a husband to a wife who had run after other gods. He pledges Himself three times over, and this last pledge — "in faithfulness" — raises two questions: when does it happen, and what does it mean to know the LORD?
Commentators place this promise in a future day, not in any past restoration. They read the betrothal as worth more than every other mercy God gives.
"That day" is still future. It awaits the appearing and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus… But, better than all: "I will also betroth you to Myself for ever." What is every other mercy worth compared with this closest association with Jehovah Himself? "Yes, I will betroth you to Myself in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies," says He for the third time. "I will betroth you to Myself in faithfulness; and you shall know Jehovah."
Readers have long argued over who this promise belongs to — Israel or the Church. One writer answers that plainly.
Nothing could be more decisive than this… Surely no one can twist it in the way that has been so common, reading "the Church" where it says "Israel." This is how the Old Testament speaks throughout.
The pledges pile up — righteousness, judgment, loving-kindness, mercies — and faithfulness closes the list. Earlier in the chapter God also changes the name Israel calls Him by. That change explains the knowledge promised here.
"Ishi" and "Baali" are both words for "husband." But "Baali" means, strictly, "lord, master," and implies only that the wife is under him. "Ishi," "my man," goes back to creation and to the basic fitting of man and woman to each other, so that there should be real fellowship or kinship in the relation… They had known God until now only in the far-off place of "master," not in the reality of His glorious nature, not in the affectionate closeness He was seeking. So there was nothing to stop them being drawn away to "other lords" which had taken His place. But now, in the future He has in view, everything would change. The change would make the relationship stable: "I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness"—or "steadfastness"—"and you shall know the Lord."
God takes the valley of Achor, a place tied to His judgment, and makes it a door of hope. That reversal sets the terms of the whole betrothal.
The judgment of God first fell on the unfaithful people after they entered the land, when He dealt with them according to their responsibility. In that very place He would now show that grace abounded over all their sin… It would be a fresh start of their history in grace, and this time the blessing would be secure. God would change the whole basis of Israel's relationship with Him. He would not be a Master (Baal) whom she owed duty to, but a Husband who had betrothed her to Himself.
The last words of the verse answer a problem Hosea named earlier in the chapter.
We can trace Israel's decline first of all to her lack of knowledge about Jehovah's generosity: "She did not know that I gave her grain" (Hosea 2:8). But in the day of future glory, when Jehovah betroths her to Himself, she shall fully know Him. "You shall know the Lord" (Hosea 2:20).
Jeremiah's new covenant carries the same promise. One writer marks how it differs from what believers have now.
When the new covenant is established with Israel, the Lord says, "They shall all know Me" (vv. 31-34). That will indeed be a glad and glorious day… This blessing is so rich that it will be like life from the dead. It will truly be eternal life, though not in the same measure and relationship that belongs to the believer now. They will know Jehovah: we are brought to know the Father and the Son.
The union does not stop with Israel. Blessing runs down from heaven to the land and to every creature.
What an uninterrupted line of blessing, from the heavens down to every earthly blessing in the land of Israel! Every creature of God will then enjoy to the full the fruits of that restored and completed union between Jehovah and His ancient people.
- Grace begins it. God turns the place where judgment first fell into a door of hope, and sets the bond on a new footing — Husband, not Master.
- Faithfulness secures it. The third pledge is "steadfastness," the quality that makes the bond stable after all Israel's wandering.
- Knowledge crowns it. She who did not know who gave her the grain will fully know Him; the far-off place of "master" gives way to closeness.
- Blessing follows it. From that union runs an unbroken line of supply, heaven to earth, enjoyed by every creature.
- Timing frames it. Commentators read "that day" as still future. It waits on the appearing and kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and God speaks the promise to Israel.
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
Hosea 2 closes with God speaking to a nation He had once named "not My people." He promises to bind her to Himself for ever. This verse shows what follows: answers running from God, through the heavens, down to the land and its harvest. Older translations read "I will hear" where the ESV has "I will answer." The commentators use that older wording. The picture is the same: a call goes up, and supply comes down.
The verse lists the links in order: God, the heavens, the earth, then the harvest. Nothing in between is blocked.
What an uninterrupted line of blessing, from the heavens down to every earthly blessing in the land of Israel! Every creature of God shall then reap in full enjoyment the fruits of the restored and consummated union of Jehovah with His ancient people.
Read from the bottom up, the chain is a series of calls going up to God. The answer comes back down. One writer traces what broke the links, and what repaired them:
Sin had interfered with the flow of blessing to the earth. Redemption reconnects the broken links, and the chain is complete — most clearly when the Lord Jesus reigns in glory over the earth… The corn, the wine, and the oil call upon the earth to bring forth, and the earth calls to the heaven, for the first and the latter rain, and the heavens call to Jehovah. God, the source and giver of all, hears and gives in the appointed order and way.
If God must "answer the heavens," something had stopped them answering before. The reason given is a hostile presence above, and corrupt worship below.
The sin of man had cut the heavens off from the earth, and had done so of necessity and for a long time. Satan had gained power not only on the earth. Above it, he could claim a seeming title of righteousness as accuser before God. So the heavens were turned into brass against His people… For man did not look up to God in adoration. He made the heavens and their host of stars, not God, the highest object of his worship. This was the earliest form of idolatry.
Another writer looks ahead to the reverse. What is silent now will be in direct touch then.
The heavens will be new, for they will be in direct touch with earth, as Hosea 2:21 describes, instead of standing cut off and silent as they do now. As a result the earth will be blessed.
The last link in the chain is a name, and the name carries the meaning of the whole promise.
There is an unbroken chain of blessings from Jehovah Himself down to the earthly blessings poured out in abundance on Israel. Israel is the seed of God, for this is the force of the word 'Jezreel.' That is why He adds (v. 23), "I will sow her for Myself in the land." For Israel will become the instrument of blessing to the earth, as life from among the dead.
Jezreel was also a real place with a bloody past:
In the prophet's day the crimes that made Jezreel notorious in the days of Ahab marked the whole land, and in judgment Jehovah takes away His blessings… But in "that day," the day when judgment is reversed, He will cleanse the place where the heaviest judgment fell from its iniquity.
Some read this promise as fulfilled when the exiles came back from Babylon. One writer rejects that, and warns where it leads:
It is folly to think that all this was fully accomplished when Israel came back from the captivity in Babylon. This miserable error misleads even Christians. It draws them into the irreverent, rationalist habit of treating God's word here as mere exaggeration for effect… No; it is a brighter day, when the power of God will sweep the world clean of disorder, misrule, and man's violence and corruption.
Most of the Old Testament promises about the coming age describe an earthly scene. One writer names this verse as one of the few that lift the eye higher.
This coming age is the theme of many a glowing Old Testament Scripture… still, such Scriptures view the age as the age of Messiah's glory. Israel is gathered under Him as the head of the nations, and the other nations are set in order and blessed in a place under Israel. Only in very rare cases — as Hosea 2:21 — do they mention the heavenly side at all.
- Chain. The verse is one unbroken line of supply — God, heavens, earth, harvest, Jezreel — with no link blocked.
- Break. Sin severed heaven from earth and left the sky like brass; that is why God must first answer the heavens.
- Repair. Redemption reconnects the severed links, and the chain is complete when Christ reigns.
- Seed. Jezreel means the seed of God — the very place of bloodshed becomes the sown field God blesses.
- Reach. The promise is still future, and it is one of the rare Old Testament glimpses of the heavenly side of that day.
and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel.
Hosea 2:22 closes a chain of answers running from God down to the soil, and it ends on a name — Jezreel — that once meant bloodshed and judgment. Why does blessing travel in this order, and how does a name of ruin become the name of a harvest?
The quotes below follow an older translation: it says "hear" where the ESV says "answer", "corn" where the ESV says "grain", and "the earth" where the ESV says "the land" in verse 23.
Verses 21 and 22 are not separate promises. They are one movement, running from heaven down to the crops of the ground.
What an unbroken line of blessing, from the heavens down to every earthly blessing in the land of Israel! Every creature of God will then reap and fully enjoy the fruits of the restored and completed union of Jehovah with His ancient people.
Read the chain from the bottom, and each level asks the one above for what it needs. But why did the chain ever need repair?
Sin had cut off the flow of blessing to the earth. Redemption reconnects the broken links, and the chain is complete. This shows most clearly when the Lord Jesus reigns in glory over the earth. Jezreel — the place once of sin and judgment, now of mercy — calls to the corn and the wine and the oil. They are the evidence of God's favour, and this call agrees with His promise at the beginning. That promise was forfeited then, because it was conditional on obedience; it is secure now through restoring grace. These call on the earth to bring forth. The earth calls to the heaven for the first and the latter rain. The heavens call to Jehovah. And God, the source and giver of all, hears and gives in the appointed order and way. But the land of Israel can no more be the limit of this blessing than the Jews could be the only objects of grace after the cross. Both the grace and the glory must overflow.
Why corn, then wine, then oil?
That order seems to hold throughout the Old Testament, right on to Hosea. The reason for this order is clear: the corn is the result of the harvest, the wine is the result of the vintage, and last of all comes the oil. In God's dealings through the ages there will be a "harvest judgment", a judgment between good and evil. Then comes the "vintage" — the removal of every opposing element. This leads to the outpouring of the Spirit of God. So the blessing of God will be enjoyed in the power of the Spirit in the world to come.
One writer traces all three back to their source.
"The corn, the wine, and the oil" are so often linked together in Deuteronomy and other scriptures. They take in the produce of the field, the vineyard and the orchard. All are made to yield their increase in blessing from Him of whom it is said, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof."
The chain ends at a name, and that name explains what God is doing with Israel.
There is an unbroken chain of blessings from Jehovah Himself down to the earthly blessings poured out in abundance upon Israel. Israel is the seed of God — that is the force of the word "Jezreel". For this reason He adds in verse 23, "I will sow her for Myself in the earth." Israel will become the instrument of blessing to the earth, as life from among the dead.
Jezreel was a place of innocent blood and heavy judgment. That is where God plants.
Here Jezreel is the name given to the whole land, which had all become polluted with blood and oppression. But in "that day," the day when judgment is reversed, God will cleanse the place where the heaviest judgment fell. He will take away the curse of innocent blood... In "that day" He will not only free the earth from bondage. Mercy will rejoice against judgment, and Jezreel too, the defiled and forsaken, will flourish again even more richly than before.
The passage keeps saying "in that day." One writer dates it plainly.
"That day" is still future, and awaits the appearing and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
- Chain — The verse is one link in an unbroken line from God down to the harvest. Every creature shares in the restored union between Him and His people.
- Answer — Sin cut the links, and redemption reconnects them. Each level calls on the one above, until the call reaches God, who gives in the appointed order.
- Harvest — Corn, wine and oil cover field, vineyard and orchard. Their fixed order traces harvest, then vintage, then the outpouring of the Spirit.
- Seed — Jezreel means the seed of God. He sows Israel for Himself, to make them the channel of blessing to the whole earth.
- Mercy — The ground stained by the heaviest judgment is the ground that flourishes most. It waits on the appearing and kingdom of the Lord Jesus.
And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God.
The closing verse of Hosea 2 turns the language of judgment inside out. God plants the nation, pities the child named "No Mercy," and calls "Not My People" His own people again. The question it raises is who this promise belongs to — the nation of Israel in a future day, or those who believe now.
Hosea's children were given names that acted as sentences on the nation. The word "Lo-ammi" means "not my people," and the last verse cancels it.
Because of the sin of Israel they are for a time openly not God's people. God has not changed His purpose concerning His ancient people, Romans 11:29; He has only changed His manner toward them. Hosea 2:23 adds, "I will say to Not My People, 'You are my people'; and he shall say, 'You are my God.'" That will happen when God's set time comes to bring them back into blessing.
"I will sow her" picks up the name Jezreel. That name tells you what God plans to do with this nation.
There is an unbroken chain of blessings from the Lord Himself down to the earthly blessings poured out in abundance on Israel, who is the seed of God (for this is the force of the word "Jezreel"). This is why the verse adds (v. 23), "I will sow her for myself in the land." For Israel will become the instrument of blessing to the earth, as life from among the dead.
The verse before it describes God answering the heavens, the heavens the earth, and the earth the grain, wine and oil. Verse 23 is the end of that line, and nothing along it is left broken.
What an uninterrupted line of blessing, from the heavens down to every earthly blessing in the land of Israel! Every creature of God will then reap in full enjoyment the fruits of the restored and completed union of the Lord with His ancient people.
Israel earns none of this.
Because of their wickedness and sin, God had said that Israel should not get mercy, and were not His people (Hosea 1:6). The nation has lost the blessing through their disobedience. In the second chapter, the Lord promises to give it back. Despite their sin, their disobedience, their unfaithfulness, and My judgment too, I will bring them into blessing later on, God says. In the very spot where they were judged, there they will be blessed (Hosea 2:23). Judgment has gone by, and mercy rejoices against judgment, for even disobedience cannot frustrate the purposes of God in grace.
The promise is to be planted in the land, and commentators insist that the plain subject of the sentence stands.
You would think it impossible to twist this in the way that has been so common — reading "the Church" in place of "Israel." This is how the Old Testament speaks throughout. So Isaiah says (chapter 27:6): "He will cause those who come from Jacob to take root. Israel will blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit."
Peter quotes this verse of believers in his own day (1 Peter 2:10) — yet what they receive is the mercy, not the settled place in the land.
Paul, writing to the saints in Rome — mostly Gentiles — applies not only Hosea 2:23, which predicts the future recall of Israel, but also Hosea 1:10, which reveals the actual call of Gentiles (Romans 9:25-26). They are not to be His people as Israel will be later on, but to have the blessed title of Christians now, "sons of the living God." Peter, writing to the Christian Jews scattered in Asia Minor (1 Peter 2:10), applies only Hosea 2:23. Those who now believe anticipate that blessing, along with much more that belongs to Christianity alone: "who were once not a people, but now God's people; who were not objects of mercy, but now have obtained mercy." The verses that follow then show something else with care. Believers now are not sown in the earth, never to be uprooted, flourishing forever in the bright kingdom of Messiah here below. They are called to follow Him in present rejection, reproach and patience, "as pilgrims and strangers" until He appears.
Paul quotes both this verse and Hosea 1:10 in Romans 9, and the logic of the pairing rests on how far Israel had fallen.
The prophecies clearly apply only to Israel. Yet it is Israel at the same distance from God as though they had been Gentiles — "not My people." God could have mercy on Israel after declaring them to be "not My people." It plainly follows that He could be merciful to Gentiles too, for they were in exactly the same class. What admirable wisdom! What blessed grace!
- Named — The names spelled out the sentence: "No Mercy," "Not My People." Verse 23 cancels both in one breath.
- Sown — Jezreel marks Israel as the seed of God. He plants that nation to make the whole earth fruitful.
- Pitied — God pities the very people He said would get no mercy, on the ground where He judged them. They earn none of it.
- Widened — Israel sank to "not My people." So the same mercy can reach the nations, who stood in the same class.
- Answered — The verse ends in two voices. He says, "You are my people." The people reply, "You are my God." The relationship is restored, not just the fortunes.