I love that worship song we’ve been singing lately, “Salvation Belongs To You”. The opening verse, in particular, has resonated deep in my spirit from the time we began to sing it. Last Sunday, it took on deeper resonance and significance for me in the light of recent prophetic revelations given to us …
“There's a rain coming
You better get ready
It will wash your heart
It'll dry your eyes
It will clean your soul.”
Many songs over the years from the secular world seem to have majored not necessarily on actual rain falling from the sky, but on other issues. Rain is a very strong metaphor in our culture for sadness, grief, tears and dark times in our lives. But rain in the biblical sense is often a key metaphor for a new and exciting time when God pours out His Spirit. The prophetic word we have received in this last week, indicates that there is a fresh rain coming. Not only that, the vision that was received indicates a heavier rain than we’ve had before – it is coming upon those already damp with God’s Spirit, and it is new and heavy.
The prophet Joel back in the 9th century BC, prophesied to Israel about the early rains and the latter rains. And, although he was talking about the actual seasons and God’s faithfulness in moving to restore Israel’s agricultural prosperity if they would return to Him with all their hearts, it was also about a heavy outpouring of God’s Spirit that was coming.
Joel 2:23-29 (NLT)
“Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God! For the rain He sends demonstrates His faithfulness. Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring. 24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain, and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil. 25 The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts. It was I who sent this great destroying army against you. 26 Once again you will have all the food you want, and you will praise the LORD your God, who does these miracles for you. Never again will My people be disgraced. 27 Then you will know that I am among My people Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and there is no other. Never again will My people be disgraced. 28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.”
The King James Version of verse 23 is a little more descriptive in the spiritual sense and is really helpful … “… and rejoice in the LORD your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.”
The former rains in autumn and winter are very light and sprinkled in the Israeli winter, but at the start of spring the latter rain is heavy, long and deeply soaking. Whatever is planted at the end of winter takes root quickly and starts growing. Though spring is short in Israel, 3-4 weeks tops, a lot of rain comes with the latter rains – heavy rain. Swiftly the east wind then comes to quickly ripen the crops for harvest in the mid-summer. Rain is a prophetic metaphor in scripture. Joel’s prophecy had two dimensions. One was Israel’s agricultural prosperity being restored, the other was a spiritual outpouring the early rain of which awaited a future time. It came at Pentecost. The apostle Peter recognised it.
Acts 2:16-18 (NLT)
“… what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.”
This was the early rain prophesied - and the Church was born. The latter rain is still to come and with it a new kind of harvest – a spiritual harvest, just as Joel prophesied. The latter rain to come would stimulate amazing growth and ready the crops for harvest. The latter rain of God’s Spirit would do two things: mature God’s people for His kingdom work as the end times came to a rushing climax, and also ready them for the greatest harvest of souls in history. In Los Angeles in 1904, significant moves of Holy Spirit on the supernatural level began occurring. It was unprecedented. I also believe there are early and latter rain seasons for God’s people at a very personal level. When the early rain of God’s Spirit is received (when we are born again – our personal Pentecost, if you will) and then, subsequent to that, latter rain comes. It is much heavier than the first rain, and it brings a believer to ripeness. In the sphere of our spiritual growth Holy Spirit is the rain agency – early and latter rain. We are baptized in Holy Spirit power once, for salvation and so on, yes - but there are many refillings, or fresh and greater infillings. The apostle Paul mentioned this.
Ephesians 5:18 (NLT)
“Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, …”.
He is speaking to a church full of born agains. But here is the clue. That phrase, “be filled” is in the present imperative sense. That is, “be filled now – and be constantly filled”. So, on one level we’ve had Holy Spirit poured out on us and this is like an early rain outpouring where God plants something and it takes root in us. Then, as we walk by faith with Him, there are other fresh and greater outpourings of His Spirit, too. And these are personal latter rain outpourings for our maturing in the spirit that will bring a particular kind of harvest that God looks forward to …
Galatians 6:9 (NIV)
“Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)
“Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness ...”
But on a global scale I believe that what happened in Los Angeles in 1904, and in many other places around the world since, were the beginnings of the latter rain prophesied by Joel, and we are now living in a time when it is getting heavier by the day. The true church – regardless of denomination - is being caught up in it. There has never been anything like it in all history. The latter rain always precedes harvest whether this is the harvest of righteousness in the church, or the harvest of souls into the kingdom of God through evangelism. So much to unpack here, so little space! Suffice to say for now: there’s a rain coming, you better get ready, it will wash your heart, it'll dry your eyes, it will clean your soul - harvest of righteousness stuff. And this maturing in the church, the ripened people of God, will not only be capable of bringing in the great harvest of souls, what’s more, God’s people will have the zeal and passion to do so. They will be unstoppable.
There’s a rain coming … you better get ready!
Ps Milton
[Sources: Interpreters Bible Dictionary; Lightbearers.org (Ty Gibson); World Biblical Commentary; other commentaries.]