Abundant Showers

‘Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before’ (Joel 2:23).

Nations in ancient Near East solely depended on rain for a good harvest and consequently a good economy, unlike the 21^st century where mechanical farming enables farmers to experience a good harvest in the midst of drought. ‘In Palestine, there are two major seasons of rain each year: in the autumn or fall, when the rain helps the grain to sprout, and in the spring, when the rain helps the grain to ripen.

Rain is one of the main symbols used to signify the outpouring of the spirit of God and revival in the Bible. In Acts 2, Peter in an attempt to give an explanation of the Upper Room experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, brought into remembrance the prophecy that Joel gave In Joel 2:28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions’. Peter emphasized that what the disciples were experiencing was a fulfillment of that prophecy. The Upper Room experience that brought in thousands of souls was the ‘Former or Autumn rains’ and it lasted for decades. The good news is that God has also promised of the ‘Latter or Spring rains’. Joel prophesied in Joel 2:23 that we should be glad because God is going to send ‘abundant showers, both Autumn and Spring rains, as before’. The Fall or Autumn rains came to germinate or shoot up the church as recorded on the day of Pentecost, but the promised ‘Spring rains’ combined with the ‘Autumn rains’ are needed for the church to fully grow or mature before the rapture.

In Mat 24:14 Jesus said that ‘this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come’. Jesus’ words were a confirmation of Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 2:2 that ‘…it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it’. Like it happened in the book of Acts every revival recorded in Church history was preceded by a hunger for God through prayer and purity. The men of old served God and their generation in their time, this is our time (Acts 13:36).The crucial question is, is your church experiencing the promised abundant showers or revival? Some of the signs or benefits of the revival in the early Church in the book of Acts were the passion for souls, massive harvest of souls, the fear of God and the intense demonstration of God’s power and love through men, which purged the church of sin.

Oh!!!! I hear the ‘sound of abundance of rain’ may the Church today prepare itself like the men of old did, as they purged themselves and waited on the master through prayer. The next lesson of Study is ‘Ask the Lord for rain’.