What Is Meant: The Early Rain And The Latter Rain?

Be patient therefore, brethren, but coming

love the Lord.  Behold, the husbandman waiteth

for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath

long patients for it, until he received the

early rain and latter rain.  Be ye also patient; 

stablish your hearts: for the coming of the

Lord draweth with nigh.

James 5:7 -- 8

 

 

     Patience, a thing sought after but seldom found, we think we have it when reality are actually impatient.  This impatience you demonstrated by the tapping of the foot, ringing of the hands, and often mumbling to oneself because time is so slow.  Along with impatience and its demonstration can be seen in the complaining by the one claiming to be patient.  The Greek word used in verse seven gives us a better understanding of what James was writing to us about and that we are to have endurance and long-suffering. James was telling us that we need to preserve patiently and to be brave in enduring missed fortunes and troubles even to be patient bearing the offenses and injuries dealt to you by others and that we are to be mild and slow in avenging. today there is a rush to litigate just about every offense that's possible at all one has to do is watch some of the television judge shows and see how picky and minor that is being brought before the judge that should've been handled between two people involved.  We even see this in the churches, unfortunately.

     I grew up on a ranch farm that had peaches, plums, oranges, walnuts, grapes and even pigs and cattle.  And I can fully understand the illustration by James as to the husbandman.  We had to plow land, to trim the end turned the trees and branches of the grapes and to water at the proper time, to spray insecticides to protect the trees and the fruit.  As a farmer, and even you can get the same, we get good rain in the spring, this early rain that is so badly needed to get the growth beginning so that we can have a good crop.  Then, around September comes the latter rain after a hot summer the plants are glad to have this water.  I know it comes in September for often we had to rush out and wrap up the grapes that were drying into raisins so that they did not mildew due to the rain.  As a farmer we also watched the fruit so that we would know when was the best time to pick the fruit, packet for shipping.

     James is telling us to be patient, watchful, until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Authentic Christians would care for their hearts, as a farmer cares for his trees and vines, and to establish our hearts.  Unfortunately, some men and women who call themselves pastors and theologians have pulled out of these verses words so that they developed doctrines that these verses had nothing to do and yet many people are misled by these men and women.  What I am speaking about is the words early rain and latter rain. The Latter Rain Movement can be found in such churches as the Pentecostals, Charismatics, and others who believe in Dominion theology and restoration theology.  Here is what we need to come to understand from the words of those involved in this doctrine.

     Today men and women are calling themselves modern-day prophets who have received "new revelations" of the end time which had not before been understood by the Church. This "New Breed" of apostles and prophets believe that they've been raised up to assume the role to lead the church to take dominion and execute God's judgments in the world.  Church ministries such as the Vineyard Ministry and the Apostle, Jack Deere, most others who call themselves prophets, Paul Cain and Bob Jones have led and are leading this heretical doctrine.  This is what Paul Cain had to say: “God is raising up a new standard, a new banner if you will, that’s going to radically change the expression, the understanding of Christianity in our generation…God has invited us to have a role in establishing this NEW ORDER of Christianity…God is offering to this generation something He has never offered to any other generation… Beware lest OLD ORDER brethren rob you and steal this hope from you! (2) Bob Jones has received special revelation about this new hope: Bob Kane goes on to say:

"Are you having difficulty discerning or receiving this “new revelation”? Then perhaps you have been interpreting your Bible in the “old way” — comparing Scripture with Scripture, studying diligently to account for every jot and tittle and being careful to rightly divide the Word of truth.  If this describes you, then you belong to the “Old Generation” which will not enter in to “possess the land” in the Latter Rain Revival.  You may even be a member of a denominational church with its dogmatic confession of faith and statement of doctrine. These legalistic forms will be relics of the past in the up and coming “Postdenominational Church.”  

      Latter Rain doctrine is a modern version of the classic heresy of Gnosticism, which taught that a spiritual elite possessed “hidden knowledge” of the divine realm which placed their personal revelations, spiritual experiences, and private interpretation of Scripture above the ordinary revelation of God’s Word. In Latter Rain doctrine, Pentecost was the “former rain” or outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the Church must yet receive a second Holy Spirit visitation. At this time, the Sons of God will be glorified and manifested to all as they establish the Kingdom on earth before Jesus Christ returns bodily. Latter Rain prophets are now preparing multitudes for this transformation. In a 1991 program entitled “Manifested Sons of God,” Morris Cerullo flattered his audience with the following blasphemy,...

     Today people are looking for experiences that make them feel happy and are not taking a hard critical look at the facts and whether or not that which is making them happy is actually founded on Scripture.  The rush to know about when Jesus Christ is coming and the end times as lead to all kinds of teachings making some of the symbols of the helicopters, tanks, and other such things and people are just following like sheep and the goats that are misleading them.

     Yes, we are to be patient, watchful, studying God's Word, praying to our God to lead us into the truth and away from heresies. this is my attempt to show you that there are many such heresies that is infecting and affecting Christianity and we must know about them and turned from them and live according to what Scripture is actually telling us how to live. Establish your hearts and do this by the truths of Scripture and not simply by men and women who are charismatic and seem to speak the truth and we will not know unless we examine what they say according to Scripture.  Will you do it?

 

All the sinners of my people

     shall die by the sword,

which say, The evil shall not 

     overtake nor prevent us.

                         Amos 9:10

 

Do not allow yourself to be fooled

 

Richard L. Crumb