What does it mean that the LORD will answer the heavens, and they will answer the earth, and the earth will answer the grain, the wine, and the oil?

The verb “to answer” is used here in the sense of responding to another’s plea for assistance, like how we might say, God answered our prayer.¹ In figurative language, God responds positively to the heavens, hearing their cry for renewal. Set in motion by God, the heavens respond to the earth by sending down rain. This, in turn, waters the crops which produces an abundant harvest. It vindicates God, who was always Israel’s true Provider and the only Lord over heaven and earth, not Baal (Hosea 2:5).