How the Rain of God Comes – Zech. 10:1

How the Rain of God Comes

In the 1940s, there was a move of God called the Latter Rain. It came on the scene in the years following WWII, emphasizing the prophetic, the five-fold ministry, and God’s healing power. Interestingly, it ran concurrently with an Evangelical awakening led by Billy Graham and the Healing Revivals under William Branham, Oral Roberts, and AA Allen. Can you imagine it? Three significant winds of God blowing gale force at the same time. That time frame (1948-1965) profoundly influences the church to this day. Ecc. 4:12 tells us that a three-fold cord is not easily broken – how much more so a time of outpouring such as this.

Zech. 10:1 speaks of multiple moves of God manifesting at the same time:

Zechariah 10:1 Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field.

Are you asking God for rain? What was the latter rain in Bible days? It was the latter rains that came to ripen the crop before harvesting. Joel spoke of a time when we would receive the “latter” rain and the “former” rain at the same time:

[Joe 2:23 KJV] 23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, 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].

What is the former and the latter rain from a prophetic perspective? It is Old Testament power, and New Testament grace poured out simultaneously in a moment of time. We are living in momentous times. Don’t get distracted. Don’t let anything get your eyes off the harvest. We do see darkness and ungodliness running rampant in our land. From a certain perspective, things look gloomy and uncertain, but for the believer, we are to operate according to a whole different set of expectations the world knows nothing of:

[Joe 2:2 KJV] 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations.

See what Joel says? Yes, it is dark and gloomy. Dark clouds and thick clouds of heaviness lay oppressively over our world but look again, saint, look again. It is also (for us) a day of “morning spread on the mountains.” You have to make a choice. Are you going to focus on the darkness and the gloom, or are you going to focus on the “morning spread on the mountains?” Politics cannot save us. Medical science cannot save us. Zech. 4:6 says, “not by might, nor by power but by My spirit says the Lord.” God is a jealous God. He is jealous for His people and jealous over the earth. He is moving. He is bringing His flashing clouds online full of the beneficial rains of heaven.

What are the clouds? The scriptures teach that clouds are people. Joel 2:2 shows us clouds of darkness, and we see those as people being used to advance the enemy’s agenda. Look at Hollywood. Look at the total spiritual depravity of countless celebrities. Look at political leaders with no moral compass or humility toward God. They are the thick clouds of darkness, bringing despair and corruption. Now, look at the men and women of God in the earth who are bright clouds of God’s glory flashing out the lightning bolts of the gospel of God. Its time for you to “cloud up” as well. It’s time for you to allow the condensation of God’s word and God’s goodness to so fill you that you begin to pour out on this dry and thirsty land of ours. It’s a new day. Old things are passed away. New things are coming. God will not leave us where we are. Get ready for the rain.