Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3)
The early rain, from the last of October to the first part of December (see on Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23), following the dry season, allows the sowing of the seed in the autumn (the beginning of the Jewish civil and agricultural year). The latter rain in March and April, preceding and promoting the harvest, closes the winter rainy season, which peaks in January (see Vol. II, pp. 109, 110). In such expressive figurative language did Hosea assure his people of the abundant blessings of God that would revive and nourish their spiritual life.
As the morning.
Appropriately, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the dawn, or the Dayspring from on high (Luke 1:78). As the morning dawn quietly and gently breaks upon the earth, dispelling the shadows of the night and arousing the world to new life and activity, so will “the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings” (Mal. 4:2). Christ did not come in an outward display of glory to dazzle the senses of men; He rather gave to men the very measure of light needed for their soul’s salvation.
His going forth.
Clearly the antecedent of “his” is “the Lord.” The passage fittingly describes the work of the coming Messiah (see PK 688).