Joel 2: 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 do we really mean by this? What was Joel talking about? Yes I know we have used this to speak of the latter Rain in movement of the past ages of Church history,. But let’s take a closer look.

In 1 kings 17:1 , Elijah prophesied before Ahab “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”.

Now the authority of Elijah was hinged on the word of God previous in Lev.26:1+, that if they should go into idolatry, then God will punish them and there will be no rain, meaning no food for them. So this is what Elijah stood upon to make the declaration to King Ahab. See it here…
Lev.26: 1+ “ Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God. ….
But the rain comes when they keep his Sabbath..(vs. 4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.) Now don’t forget Christ is our Sabbath, rest. Math11:28.

But Apostle James gave us the clarity as to how long the dryness / punishment was for Israel. Knowing also that famine is not just literal food but the word of God.

James 15: 17 “Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months”.

Now when Joel prophesied..,
Joel 2: 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…”

It was prophetic of all of these, lack of the word that will result in fruitlessness in Israel.

But the good thing is, the source of the rain is the teaching ministry, for your see, the word “the former rain moderately”, equals “a teacher of righteousness” in the Hebrew, and “moderately” means “according to righteousness”

See it here.. Joel 2:23 Children of Zion, celebrate! Be glad in your God. 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.
24 And plenty of food for your body — silos full of grain, casks of wine and barrels of olive oil.” (MSG)

So you see, the 31/2 year of Jesus’ ministry was to destroy the effect of the prophetic words of Elijah on Israel through his teaching ministry. The signs and wonders, miracles that he performed were all the symbolic of the rain.

And so this prophetic word of Joel, was fulfilled in the teaching ministry of Christ. That was why it was for 31/2 years in order to undo the 31/2 years of the prayers of Elijah and its effect on Israel figurative of mankind in general. Just as Christ fulfilled the prophetic virgin birth of Isaiah. 7:14.

Therefore in talking of the latter Rain, we are talking of the release of the “prophetic, teaching priest group of people” ,and not just a latter Rain movement relegated now to the past, as people called it., But why ? Because out of the Mouth of the Priest shall men seek, or find knowledge

(Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, …….) , reason is because, man lost every authority and power in Eden through the wrong knowledge , and restoration must be through the right knowledge of who God is, his purposes on the earth, and He being our Father which a personal relationship, that we lost as well.

So we read…
Col.3: 10 “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”
This then is the mystery of the latter Rain prophetic word of Joel fulfilled in Christ and still being fulfilled today within the Body as the Lord releases this threefold cold Ministry.
Mathew .23: 34 “wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city”. (see Eph 3:5, 1 Cor.12:28-29. Amp.)
Here we see the Prophetic that expounds the word of God, the Apostolic with divine architectural wisdom and the scribe, prophetic teaching ministry in building his church.

So then, this is the Latter Rain that the Father sent and will always be sending in building and maturing His Church. Latter Rain is not just a movement but a company of people with the proceeding word today

(c) 2015 – Dr. David O. Ogaga