Morning Light – January 4th, 2018 – Zecheriah 10: Are You Praying for the Latter Rain?

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Today: [Zecheriah 10] Are You Praying for the Latter Rain? Zecheriah 10 could not be more relevant to your life as a believer (whether you know it or not). It speaks of a call to prayer for the rain of God at a specific time and to a specific generation which closely examined, is the generation you currently live in. A powerful revelation for every serious believer.
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[Zec 10:1-12 KJV] 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. 2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because [there was] no shepherd. 3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. 4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 5 And they shall be as mighty [men], which tread down [their enemies] in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD [is] with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I [am] the LORD their God, and will hear them. 7 And [they of] Ephraim shall be like a mighty [man], and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see [it], and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and [place] shall not be found for them. 11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.
Chapter 10 of Zecheriah opens with a called to prayer for the refreshing of God upon the nation. The rain that is called for is not just natural rain upon actual crops, but upon the people of God who have returned to build up the ruins of Jerusalem and who are participating in the laying of a foundation for the second temple under the direction of Zerubbabel. This mention of an outpouring of God signified as rain is also referenced in Hosea 6:1-3:
[Hos 6:1-3 KJV] 1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 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.
In the Hosea 6 reference there is a timing factor that is important for us to note. The coming of the Lord is in a third day after two days when we will be revived. This is not speaking of a 24 hour day as Peter affirms to us:
[2Pe 3:8 KJV] 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Being “revived” after two days speaks of the outpouring of Pentecost that took place at the close of the second millennia (or, second 1000 year day) after the resurrection of Jesus. What happens in the Third Day which we are now in? A coming of the Lord that will be “as the rain”. Why is He coming? Because there is a people obeying the mandate of Zecheriah 10:1 to ASK of the Lord rain, when? In the TIME of the latter rain? When is that? It isn’t made clear in Zecheriah 10 but Hosea makes it very clear – in the beginning third millennia from the resurrection of Christ. If there was ever a prayer initiative mandated in Scripture with a prophetic time line attached this would be it. It is God inviting our generation – our SPECIFIC generation to step into the narrative of scripture and to take our place in a mighty outpouring of His Spirit.
What comes as an answer when we pray for this latter rain? The answer from God is that He will “make bright clouds”. What are the clouds we are speaking of? 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 12 speak of apostate men as “clouds without water”. The “bright clouds” of Zecheriah 10 are just the opposite. They are clouds flashing with lighting, which signals the prospect of coming rain. They are men and women, full of God’s spirit who are flashing out the declaration and intercession for a pouring out of God’s refreshing on the earth to sweep away (v. 2) the idolatry, divination, false dreams and leaderless condition of God’s people who are a flock “going their way”, troubled in spirit because there was no shepherd.
In verse 3 this time frame, prophetically indicating our generation is a time when God is angry at the shepherds and is punishing the goats. We live in a day in Christian culture where those in pastoral positions hold a stranglehold on access to God’s people. They invalidate any ministry other than their own, largely reject the prophets in their midst, the apostles being raised up in the church, implying by their policies of strictness that the ministry of the pastor is the only one the people really need. In so doing pastoral culture in Christianity has kindled the anger of the Lord against them and against the “goat” believers who accept their message.
Who are the goats? You know them by their behavior. They are believers that like goats, you can’t turn your back on them without being attacked. They are believers who will eat anything and will “but” or object to everything. They are the ally of egotistical pastors because the pastors keep away from them the very apostles and prophets who would deal with their disobediences and their harshness. God says He will punish these two groups of people in the time of the latter rain.
There have been two great movements in recent history identified as “the latter rain”, one in the 1880’s led by a North Carolina minister by the name of Richard Spurling and another in the 1940’s typified in the ministries of men like Oral Roberts, Jack Coe and William Branham. While these movements were valid and have their place in our history we point out that Hosea’s timeline points not to a 140 years ago in Spurling’s time or even 70+ years ago in the 50’s healing revivals but to OUR day, as Hosea specifies “after two days”. What two days? The two thousand year timeframes after the resurrection, which is the very timeframe that this study is being written in. What is our assignment? To “ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain” which timing is fixed by Hosea in Hos. 6:1-3.
What will God do in response to our prayer? Make bright clouds – or men and women filled with God’s Spirit flashing out a message as lighting in a cloud flashes out, announcing the rain that is about to fall. Unfortunately the call for an outpouring of God in this manner is very much out of vogue in the body of Christ even among those who claim to be prophetic in calling and renewalist (full gospel) in leaning. “Stop looking for anything more! Be content with where you are in God!” they cry, because it is repugnant to them to believe that there is something in God they have not experienced. In some ways this is to be expected, but James writing in his day anticipated that it would be long in coming and exhorts us to be patience and keep praying, believing and declaring what is to come:
[Jas 5:7 KJV] 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
The latter rain time that Zecheriah speaks of in v. 10 is a time that God’s people will be called out of Egypt and out of Assyria. This is a type of the world and the anti-Christ system respectively. The world and the influence of the world has deeply encroached into the church in our day. The anti-Christ (anti-anointing) agenda controls the church so much so that there is little understanding in our ranks of what the anointing is or that it is needed, so much so that when Benny Hinn wrote a book on the anointing he was branded a heretic and came under so much pressure he had to come out and distance himself from statements he made in his own book to major evangelical denominational leaders. God says that He will “hiss” or whistle for His people to come OUT of these contaminating influences and out into the Gilead and Lebanon that He has called us to.
What does Gilead and Lebanon represent? We should answer this because it is where God is calling us today. Gilead is always connected with healing. God wants to heal us. Gilead as a word means “rocky place” or “heap of witness” such as the stones that were stacked in the midst of the Jordan when the people entered the promised land dry shod. It speaks of remembering the testimony of things God has done in the past. This also is very unpopular today, as those who claim to be leaders of the cutting edge of what God is doing, consistently disparage and insult those who speak of anything God did in any generation previous to our own because it makes them look bad, look powerless, and look out of touch with what God is allegedly doing (or not doing).
Lebanon means “the white mountain” or literally “the mountain of the Lord’s righteousness”. Mountains represent central places of government. The government we are called to is that of the governance of God in our day. The great dearth of our time is that of “unaccountable sons”. God is calling us afresh and anew to seek out the mountain of the Lord’s house, His governance in our lives individually and corporately. Part of that will involved the emergence of apostolic ministry on a scale comparable to the power and authority of the early apostles.
What is the outcome of all this? The pride of Assyria will be brought down. The anti-Christ agenda will be crushed and God’s people will once again seek out the true anointing, no longer substituting human charisma for the unction of God. Egypt shall depart away. Isn’t that interesting. Egypt represents the worldly influence on God’s people the church. The worldly influence will cease. God’s people will stop trying to be like the world, to garner the world’s favor. They will adopt the kingdom as their culture and become that shining city of testimony that Jesus spoke of. What happens as a result? Because we pray for the rain IN THE TIME of the latter rain (Hos. 6:1-3) the promise is that God (v.12) will strengthen us and we will walk up and down (in the earth) once again in His name as the early church did that went out of Jerusalem in power and glory and brought the known world to its knees at the foot of the cross.