THE LATTER RAIN
In the context of what the Lord is doing in this hour, it is important to understand what the Bible says in regard to the times. This was significant in the time when Nehemiah was rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem in 445 bc, and we are now in the time when Jesus is building His Temples. These are not temples made of stone but a group of people called in the Bible “the Sons of God, His Elect, His Faithful Ones”, into whom He will enter, and as He does, these temples will be filled with His Glory, or His Divine Nature. These Temples will be completed, and nothing will hinder this great move of God. When Nehemiah was rebuilding the actual temple in Jerusalem there were attempts to thwart his work. In Nehemiah 6 you read of a man Sanballat a Horonite, who was an enemy of the Jews and opposed Nehemiah. In 4:7 it says that when he heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored he was very wroth. He conspired with the Arabians, the Ashdodites and the Ammonites to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder the work.
I love Nehemiah’s defence in 4:9 – He prayed to The Lord and set a watch against them and in v 16, half the servants were used in the work and half were set as watchmen. These men were from Judah, the tribe of Praise.
In Chapter 6 Sanballat is at it again, and V 2 says he thought to do evil. But none of these attempts succeeded, and the Temple was completed. Well, Sanballat is a type of satan, who is trying to stop the Jesus’ temples being built, but he will not succeed. Jesus has our watchmen in the Spiritual realms who are angels. Whilst He is transforming us into His own image, his angels are protecting us and fighting off the powers of darkness that would try to stop us coming into Jesus perfection. You will notice in V 10-14, Sanballat tries another ploy which he thinks will surely work. He and his mate Tobiah, an Ammonite, hired a false prophet Shemaiah, a close friend of Nehemiah, who told Nehemiah to meet him in the temple and shut the doors as the others were going to kill him that night. Under Jewish law only the priest could enter that temple area and if Nehemiah had followed the word of this false prophet, then Nehemiah would have sinned and then they would have then had perfect ammunition to discredit Nehemiah to the Jews thus destroying God’s chosen leader. This false prophet worked with one of satan’s greatest tools which is fear. But in V 11, Nehemiah stood on the law and said “how could one such as I go in there”, I WILL NOT GO IN!!! Furthermore, V 12, he PERCEIVED or lit. DISCERNED that God did not send Shemaiah and that the others had hired him. Amazing what money will do to a person. Remember Judus Iscariot? Who told Nehemiah? Nobody. The Holy Spirit gave him discernment for he knew that the prophecy went against God’s own Word and therefore was false. He discerned that the only way his friend Shemaiah could have done this was through bribery.
To the precious Sons of God, be courageous and vigilant in your Kingdom walk, for satan wants to stop the manchild being born according to Revelation 12. He seeks to devour, discredit, and uses fear and even false prophets to destroy. He may even try to get to those close to you. But use Spiritual discernment. We have the same special Spiritual discernment which Nehemiah was given and I believe that this is for us to see the pitfalls. Act with courage in what The Lord shows you in this time.
If you read on from Chapter 8 you will see that the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple was completed, but importantly that in 8:14 they discovered in the law about the Feast of Tabernacles. The temple was completed at the season of that Jewish Feast and so they observed its ceremonies. The Feast of Tabernacles was the third major feast of the Jews following the feasts of Passover and Pentecost. They had actually forgotten this third Feast until Ezra the teacher revealed it to them. This was actually a Feast of Glory unto The Lord. Look at Ch. 9:5,6 – they stood and blessed the Glorious Name of The Lord, WHICH IS EXALTED ABOVE ALL BLESSING AND PRAISE. They praised Him as the Creator of Heaven and earth, that He preserves all creation, and that the host of Heaven worship Him.
The interesting thing is that the temple was finished and dedicated at the time of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
Now, what does all of this mean today?
These earlier events are for our admonition and understanding. They were patterns of events which would be unfolded at a later time. They were ancient times and shadows of future events. Events which are yet to unfold in our day, were shadowed in the actual events of old, because they had the same Spiritual purposes which God is yet to unfold.
1. The rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Temple by Nehemiah is a type of the Lord building His Temples (His Elect) made of flesh, and the coming Kingdom Day.
2. The three major Jewish Feasts all have Spiritual fulfilling in the later dispensation following the death and resurrection of Jesus.
• The first Jewish feast of Passover was fulfilled in the death of Jesus on the cross for the sin of the world. Originally, when in Egypt, the Israelites sacrificed a lamb and wiped the blood on their doorposts, when the angel of death “passed over” Their houses (“Passover”), they were spared because of the blood on their doorposts. The significance of the Blood of Jesus is obvious. If you are covered by the Blood of Jesus on the cross, you will be saved.
• The second Jewish feast was Pentecost which became a Spiritual realm for the Christian believer to enter into by the Baptism in The Holy Spirit. This feast was fulfilled when The Lord’s disciples were filled with The Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost when the church day began, and the Holy Spirit has continued until this day baptising believers into the fullness of The Holy Spirit.
• The third feast of Israel was The Feast of Tabernacles which they commemorated to remember the Lord bringing them into their inheritance of the Promised Land. This feast was unto The Lord to Glorify Him. This feast will be fulfilled in the Kingdom Day of Jesus on this earth. This is yet to happen on The Day of the Lord, when He is exalted as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In Nehemiah’s day, the temple was completed at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus’ Temples, His Elect, will be completed at the start of His Kingdom Day on the earth, thus fulfilling the third Feast of Tabernacles. This will be a feast which lasts for one thousand years on the earth, under the rule of Jesus Christ. This feast on earth will Glorify Jesus Christ.
Now, Nehemiah 6:15,16 Says that the wall was completed in the Jewish -month Elul in 52 days. The enemies were confounded for they perceived that “this work was wrought by the God of Israel”. The work of God is done swiftly and when the awesome climactic Day of Jesus dawns on creation, again men shall have only one explanation that “this work is wrought by Jesus Christ”.
THE SEASONS
We see in Joel 2:23-
“Be glad then ye sons of Zion and rejoice in The Lord your God. For He has given the former or early rain in just measure, and He will cause to come down for you the heavy showers of the first rain and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. In Scripture, Corn stands for The Word, Wine for the Fruit of the Spirit, and Oil for The Anointing. Joel talks of a time of DELUGE accompanied with the fullness of The Word and The Holy Ghost.
Israel Had Two Calendars: (1) - A sacred calendar and (2) - A civil or agricultural calendar.
October was the first month of the Agricultural year, and the seventh month of the Sacred year which was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Early rain fell at sowing time about December. The Latter rain around April to mature the grain for Harvest.
NOW – God promised that in the 1st month of the Agricultural year, OCTOBER, He would give the first and latter rain together. On the Sacred calendar, this was the time of the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles.
Both Solomon’s Temple and Nehemiah’s Temple were completed and dedicated at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Beloved, I believe that again Jesus’ Temples, now His Sons, will again be completed and dedicated at the start of the Feast of Tabernacles, which will be the fulfilling of this last unfulfilled Feast again on the earth. This will be one thousand years of His Glory on this earth. Bless His Wonderful Name. We will see The Deluge that Joel prophesied. The very fullness of Jesus will fill the earth.
The Prophet Zechariah in Ch.10:1, said to “Ask The Lord for rain in the time of latter rain”. “The Lord will make “Bright Clouds” and bring showers and cause grass in the field”.
Let me ask all who read and understand this, to do what the Prophet says. “BRING IN THE KINGDOM DAY with your asking”! The “bright clouds” I believe are His Elect and they shall cover the earth with the rain of His Glory as “grass in the field”. The world has been shown Jesus Christ as the Saviour for two thousand years. The time has come for Him to be revealed as the Lord of Heaven and earth. The time has come for evil to cease. This world can only survive with the Kingdom of Jesus Christ ruling and reigning.
In Deuteronomy 11:14, God gave His people then, the first and latter rains that they may have the fullness of His Blessing. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN IN HIS HEART TO GIVE THIS FULLNESS!
It is ours beloved. Hear the Word of The Lord. Ask The Lord for the rain. We are in the day of asking. He will bring “Bright Clouds” bearing His Glory and they shall water the earth.
The Bright Clouds
Clouds bring rain. The “Latter Rain” of the Feast of Tabernacles will come from “Bright Clouds”. The Greek word for “bright” actually means “lightning”. What a Glorious happening. The Latter Rain will come from “Clouds of Light” like unto Lightning. These clouds are a people, filled with the same Transfiguration Light which shone from Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 17:2 – “and He was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as Light”. This event in Jesus life is a type of what will happen in His Elect at the start of His Kingdom Day when they are revealed. This “transfiguration” which He experienced was a change from His mortal state to a Divine state. His whole person was filled with Light as the sun. This is what His Divine Nature is like. This is the Light of His GLORY which shines in His Face. I find it difficult to find words to describe how wonderful this same transformation will be for those who enter in by by-passing the grave. It will be a change of state, from a limited mortal body to a transformed person in the Divine Image of Jesus Christ. Blessed be His wonderful Name! (Notice that He went to the mountain after six days. We are at the end of the 6 X 1,000-year days, = Six thousand years from Adam
And these transformed Elect of God, will appear as the “Bright Clouds” which shall bring showers of the Glory of Jesus to water the earth.
If you look in Jude V 12, you will see that apostates (those who forsake their Christian faith), are described as “clouds without water”. If these people can be referred to as clouds without rain, then equally, the Elect can also be referred to as clouds with rain.
ASK THE LORD FOR THE RAIN. This world is in the day of Asking, and responding to this invitation from Jesus Himself through the prophet Zechariah.
In Matthew 24:3, Jesus disciples are asking Him about the signs of His Coming, and the end of the age. In V 30, He says that the earth shall see Him coming in the clouds of heaven (lit. the “sky”), With Power and Great Glory. And He shall send His Angels with a great sound of a trumpet to Gather Together HIS ELECT from the four winds from one end of heaven (the sky) to the other. I believe that the Elect are the Clouds gathered by the winds in which He is then seen. His Glory is the Latter Rain of Light which He said He would give.
This world is in the time of the soon outpouring of the Latter Rain. Hear the Word of The Lord as He speaks to you. These things are not myths but the Pure Truth believed by many of The Lord’s people right across the earth. I only know a few, both in Australia and overseas. You will not hear these things preached in the religious Christian churches because they have been made known only to His Kingdom day prophets some of whom have stood alone and declared them for many years even in the face of rejection and isolation.
I Bless all of my brothers and sisters in His Elect and encourage and strengthen you in your circumstances as you look for the dawning of that Glorious Day.
ALL GLORY TO JESUS
LARRY WILSON
