Time for the Latter Rain

“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.” (Zec 10:1 AV)

This prophecy regards Israel and the promise of a Messiah.  In particular, this prophecy regards deliverance from their diaspora.  The first rain was deliverance from Egypt.  The prophet mentions idols as that from which Israel needs deliverance.  The latter rain is the coming of their Savior.  This latter rain is spoken of in the next chapter.  In chapters eleven and twelve, Zechariah mentions specifically that Israel will look on Him whom they have pierced and more for Him as an only brother.  The former rain delivered Israel from pagan worship.  The latter rain, in the person of Jesus Christ, is to deliver them permanently from their sin.  As N.T saints, we can apply this directly and indirectly.  As born-again believers, the latter rain has come into our souls.  We are delivered from sin, death, and hell.  The direct application is that the latter rain, in the person of Jesus Christ, has come to the saint.  But there might be a practical application to this verse as well.  That is, looking for the latter rain when the time for it is expected.  In this sense, the latter rain is deliverance.  In particular, deliverance that results in revival.

The scriptures that follow make mention of grass growing and maturing.  It takes me back to my hunting days.  After the fall harvest, some farmers grow a crop called winter wheat.  Most do not.  It grows well into the planting season the next spring.  Harvested in early summer, the wheat is valuable as a cash crop, a cover crop, and supplies most of the wheat used in baking.  Some farmers will grow this wheat as they rotate their crops and rejuvenate their fields.  These crops rely heavily on the latter rains of fall and winter.  Once in hibernation, these crops come alive in early spring.  Winter wheat continues to grow until ripened.  Some farmers will plow the wheat under rather than harvest the crop.  They will enter the fields in early spring and plow the unripen crop as a soil conditioner for other crops to follow.  I remember hunting turkey over winter wheat fields.  The farmers told me not to mind damage done to the plants.  They were simply going to be plowed under, anyway.  The latter rain is important to this crop.  The summer is hot and dry.  For the winter wheat to survive, rain must fall as it did in the spring.  To revive the soil, the heavens must open rather significantly between September and January.  The latter rain is even more refreshing than the former.  The former rain is coming at the time when snow is melting.  The former rain drops on a already saturated field.  But the latter rain is coming on a parched field.

The time of the latter rain is a time well known.  It comes when the soul is parched from much growth and harvest.  I cannot help but think of our seasoned saints.  We have given decades of service to the LORD and most of us are all used up.  We have sacrificed.  We have built.  We have ministered.  We have invested.  Now it is time for the latter rain.  We need deliverance from weariness.  We need deliverance by seeing the hope of our labors growing into the next generation.  We need to see that our labor was not in vain.  We need the latter rain of God’s presence to reinvigorate us for our final growth season.  We need to drink of the fountain of grace that joy and hope abound.  When the dry winds of summer have parched the soul, the latter rain is desperately needed.  We need a refreshing.  Our churches desperately need a downpour of God’s power.  We need to have our soil reinvigorated for the responsibility that lies ahead.  We need the latter rain because it is the time for the latter rain!