The Former and Latter Rain WILL Come Down Because It's Harvest Time!

I've started a new Facebook page for this blog, and I share tidbits of insights into things God has shown me and more. Well, a few days ago, this is the Word God gave me, and I've been seeing a lot of confirmation regarding this prophecy.

God is restoring DOUBLE what the enemy has stolen! He said, "Restoration for 2015!" Stand on that, receive that, and be free.

How awesome, right? I'm definitely standing on that promise!

Since God works in mysterious ways, I was reading through my Bible a few days before this. I came across a Bible verse, quite by "accident." Joel 2:23 (NKJV)

Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.

And if you stop here, it would be awesome enough, but it gets even better as it continues.

²⁴ The threshing floors shall be full of wheat,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. ²⁵ “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
The crawling locust,
The consuming locust,
And the chewing locust,
My great army which I sent among you.
²⁶ You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
And praise the name of the Lord your God,
Who has dealt wondrously with you;

So what does it all mean? That's exactly what I asked myself. If you look at it in face value, it just seems like God is talking about sending the rain because they needed a harvest, food. But, when you break it down, it really means a lot more, something deeper. Sit tight as we explore what God's prophecy above has to do with the rain verses I'll be showing you.

First, we need to define the former and the latter rain.

The former rain comes in the fall, between October and December. It was to "prepare the seed-bed and assist germination." (MacArthur NKJV Study Bible pg. 1272)

Now, let's talk about the actual Hebrew meaning. Former rain is Mowreh (mo-reh') in Hebrew. It is a masculine noun meaning, "early rain" or "teacher." (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary)

We see how the former rain fits the verse, but how does "teacher" fit into this? Here's the MSG version of our first verse in Joel.

He’s giving you a teacher
    to train you how to live right—
Teaching, like rain out of heaven, showers of words
    to refresh and nourish your soul, just as he used to do.

The " former rain" has a double meaning. It's quite literally the first rain, but it's also a teacher. We need to understand how the rain works to get the harvest, restoration, and blessings coming to us via the former and the latter rains. God is teaching us how to nourish our souls in preparation for the harvest to come.

Let's now turn our focus on defining the "latter rain." According to MacArthur, "the latter rain came in Mar.-May to provide ample moisture for the grain and fruit to be rich and full." (NKJV Study Bible pg. 1272)

The Hebrew word for latter rain is Malqowsh (mal-koshe'). It means, "latter rain, spring rain" - "the March and April rains which mature the crops of Palestine." But, the word Laqash (law-kash') - it's origin - means "to glean, gather, take the aftermath, take everything." (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary)

Now, let's focus in the former rain and the latter rain coming in the first month. Did you catch that? God will provide BOTH rains in ONE month.

So, both the former and latter rains will be coming in ONE month. And when these rains come down together, the "threshing floors shall be full...and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil." The harvest will be so big that storehouses can't hold it all.

According to MacArthur, "Moisture from heaven invariably accomplishes its intended purpose in helping meet human physical needs. The Word of God will likewise produce its intended results in fulfilling God's spiritual purposes..." (NKJV Study Bible pg. 1041)

But, it has to be the right time for us to get this harvest. Leviticus 26:4 shows us that the rain has to come in its right season.

then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

 MacArthur says that, "If the rains did not come at the right times, the people experience crop failure and famine." (NKJV Study Bible pg 190)

I thoroughly believe that the right time is now. God has said that He's restoring what the enemy has stolen from us in 2015, and the rains are falling this month!  "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust..." The locusts can't eat our crops anymore. He has no authority over them because its our inheritance! 

When God sends His rain, and we reap a harvest from it, that is our inheritance. 

Psalm 68:9 NKJV says:
You, O God, sent a plentiful rain,
Whereby You confirmed Your inheritance,
When it was weary.

In this heavy rain, God was confirming His promise to see the "inheritance" through. God has told us that He's restoring everything that the enemy, the locusts, has stolen, eaten, and this is our year to get our harvest, to get our inheritance back.

Amazing, right? Our Inheritance is coming back to us! The devil can't have it anymore, and we're getting a DOUBLE PORTION back.

But, we must remember this one important fact from the verses above. We have to "praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you...." 

Praise is a very important key to receiving the blessings that God has given, or is giving, us. Praise opens many doors to God, and it closes the doors of the enemy. It stops the enemy from stealing your harvest, and it stops him from making you feel like you don't deserve what God obviously wants you to have.

So get in agreement with the Word today. The former and the latter rains have fallen, and it's time that we received our inheritance, the harvest. It's time we received the restoration of DOUBLE what the enemy has stolen. Let God be your teacher and show you exactly how to receive your inheritance. Remember that praise is key.