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Latter Days, Latter Rain, Latter House

With regards to the fulfillment of the mystery of God we know that All Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:26), but before and amidst this happening God will perfect the Gentile Church so that Israel is hereby provoked to jealousy (Rom. 11:11). So, what must forerun the restitution of all things pertaining to Israel (Acts 3:21)? I repeat, there must be a performance of all things pertaining to the Gentile Church to wit, “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rev. 11:25), and, “His wife hath made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). According to Revelation 7:9-14, we know that in and through the coming tribulation (and not without it) God will win for Himself the repentance of the Gentile Church and this, just prior to the End of the World (2 Pet. 3:9).

From a doctrinal perspective, the full, complete, and perfect readiness of the Gentile Church means: their perfection in cleanliness, holiness, & separation as the People of God (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1), that they would be an unleavened Lump (1 Cor. 5:6-8) and a Lamp whose persons are all in the Light (1 Jn. 1:3-72 Cor. 6:14Eph. 5:7-17Rev. 1:20), a Sacrifice whose entire body is of unblemished members (Rom. 12:1-215:16-19, Eph. 5:26-27Jas. 1:26-27), a Royal Priesthood which employs every priest to abide by the codes of separation which cannot be broken, a Temple whose stones are elect and precious people who are, therefore, purged from the desecrating mixture of wood, hay, stubble, and earth (2 Tim. 2:19-221 Cor. 3:10-20), a collection of spiritually healthy people who make up one Body that is free from all offenders, heathen men, and publicans (Matt. 18:8-9; see also curse #3 of the NT curses of God), and, finally, but not exhaustively, the Church must be a collection of holy people who make up one glorious and beautiful Bride, which means that they / she is without blemish, spot, wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. 5:26-27Rev. 19:72 Cor. 11:2). This glorious perfection of the Gentile Church is a future event, we know, because these things have not yet been fulfilled (Rom. 15:16-19, Eph. 5:25-27, Col. 1:28-29, Rev. 19:7-8)! It has been over 2,000 years since the Last Days began and around 70 years since the Jewish nation of Israel was reestablished, thus the time approaches!

According to the apostle Peter, “the Last Days” began at Pentecost when the New Covenant was initiated via the outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the saints (Acts 2:16-36) and, thereafter, the 1st century Church was exemplary of what God would do in both glory and apostasy, as a witness to the earth and as tribulation saints (2 Tim. 3:1, Heb. 1:2, Jas. 5:3, 2 Pet. 3:3, 1 Jn. 2:18). In other words, this marks the beginning of what God would do through the Gentiles in fulfillment of what He said about the Jews! Accordingly, the Doctrine of the Latter Days (or the Last Days) has been a subject of prophecy for millennia speaking of such things. The Latter Days, or such like references of the distant future, is calendared to be the time when all the mystery of God will be fulfilled, but seeing that this time began over 2,000 years ago… “what shall be the end of these things?” (Dan. 12:8, Matt. 24:3). This much we know, the Doctrine of the Latter Days entails unfulfilled and finally executed judgments (tribulations) alongside unfulfilled and finally restored glories in the Church, things typified by the 1st century Church. Pertaining to the restoration of the Glory of God in the Church (speaking in reference to both Gentiles and Jews), it was written,

“The glory of the Latter House shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD hosts.” – Hag. 2:9

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.” – Joel 2:23 (Joel 2:28-29 – spiritual experience, Joel 2:30-32 – situation of Last Days tribulation)

In the above promises we read of the Latter House and the Latter Rain, but what about the Last Days? When are these prophecies forecasted to transpire? Upon a thorough study, it is apparent that these prophecies were originally intended for the Restoration Generation that returned to the Promised Land after the 70-year Captivity (“The 1st Restoration Generation”, “The Regathering & Restoration”). Moreover, it is also apparent that this generation was stubborn and rebellious against the LORD insomuch that the conditional promises were breached and thereby they were recasted to another generation (“The Regathering & Restoration Recasted to the Last Days”). After 400 years of silence (from Malachi to Matthew) and the rejection of the Branch, the Messiah, the Jews were deserving of yet another Tribulation Period like the Babylonian invasions and dispersions, only this time by Rome (But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.” – Lk. 23:28). Of necessity, like the 400 years of silence between Malachi and Matthew, there needs to be a recasting of these events to a later date and meanwhile, there must be some kind of justification verbalized for the withholding of these things for yet another unknown period of time.

As for the manner of rebellion undertaken by the 1st century Jews resulting in them being engulfed by another Tribulation Period like that of Babylon (Rome in 70 A.D.), this too was prophesied. Think of it, my reader! The Jews hatefully rejected and publicly crucified the Messiah, the Branch! Nevertheless, the prophetic voices that proclaimed the coming of the Branch took note of this mystery in a punctual observation in light of the backsliding of the original Restoration Generation (like for example in Isaiah 53:1-12, 65:1-2 (Rom. 10:20-21), Hosea 1:10 (Rom. 9:25), Deuteronomy 32:21 (Rom. 10:19), Zechariah 12:10, 13:6-7, & Daniel 9:26); and now that a second Restoration Generation of the Jews during the 1st century merited for themselves the crushing and dispersing hand of typological Babylon, called Rome, a prophetic explanation is all the more necessary (Note: this point was thoroughly proven in the Introduction of this Commentary). Though the meaning of these mysterious prophecies were obscure to interpreters prior to the crucifixion of Christ (Isa. 53:1, Ps. 22:12-19), after the fact the meaning became apparent. So, because this meant the scattering of the Jews and not the regathering of them unto the glorious restoration of national Israel, the vision is recasted even further 2,000 years and counting; in the meantime, God has turned to the Gentiles in a salvific purpose that is powered by the former promises and prophecies He made to the Jews (Acts 13:46, Rom. 11:11)! How? By transforming the Gentiles into Jewish Israelites and thereby joining them to the vital promises and prophecies of redemption spoken of old!

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” – Gal. 3:28-29

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.” – Gal. 6:15-16

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” – Eph. 2:11-13

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” – Rom. 2:28-29

On this wise, the very promises and prophecies that were aiming for the regathering and restoring of the Jews to the Land of Israel, have captured the Gentiles. With the dawn of a new era of redemption for the Gentiles, new light is granted in clarification of future events. With Divine Inspiration giving explanation to this wondrous mystery via the New Testament, namely the engraftment of the Gentiles, we know that the regathering and restoring of the Jews to the Land of Israel in the foretold ways of glory is only possible by the Millennial Reign of Christ. From the standpoint of human retrospect via the reexamination of the ancient prophecies, however, it is easy to recognize that God knew this was going to happen all along (God in the Ways of God); the LORD made all the necessary arrangements so that the prophetic word spoken would be fulfilled. In an inferior sense, I mean, the word is fulfilled in that God has legally and spiritually turned the Gentiles into Jews for a redemptive purpose in the Gentile Church Age. Notwithstanding, the promises and prophecies delivered to the physical Jews of old were contextualized in a scenario of redemption nothing short of the Millennial Reign of Christ. This we know, but as has been observed in how Jeremiah 31:31-34 was spoken to the Jews and for the Jews, and yet through Christ it is applicable to the Gentiles but not in entirety (“The Multi-Sensed Fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:31-34”), even so we must look again at all the prophecies that are inferiorly and superiorly yet to be fulfilled in the Gentiles and the Jews in the Last Days. In other words, just as Jeremiah 31:31-34 was and is multi-sensed so as to distinctively apply to both Gentiles and Jews respectively, even so must Haggai 2:9 & Joel 2:23 be interpreted.

Multi-Sensed Applications

Being led by the Spirit in this multi-sensed manner (making an inferior and incomplete application to the Gentiles and meanwhile reserving the superior for the Jews), the apostle Peter quoted and applied a fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy in Joel 2:28-32 to the Outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2:16-21. Of course, all of this is vitally relevant to understanding and interpreting Joel 2:23, the former and latter rain prophecy, because the Outpouring of the Spirit spoken of in Joel 2:28-32 is the promised “rain” that God was prophesying about in Joel 2:23. In other words, what is being spoken of here is Spiritual Rain.

It is true that literal physical rain was granted or withheld according to the blessings and curses of the Covenant in the Old Testament. The God of Israel blessed the Land with prosperity by sending physical rain (Lev. 26:4-5Deut. 7:12-1428:3-5811-12), and He cursed the Land with famine by withholding physical rain (Duet. 28:16-18, 23-24, 33, 38-42, 48, 51). In addition to this, however, the Old Testament frequently addressed the giving or withholding of Spiritual Rain and or the calamity of Spiritual Famine: Amos 8:9-13 [spiritual famine], Isa. 5:644:3 & Joel 2:23 [the Spirit of God is rain], Isa. 41:17-18 [spiritual pools and springs], Isa. 35:6-743:19-2049:9-10 [spiritual streams, pools, and springs invading wilderness’ of dragons], Ps. 46:4 [spiritual river], & Isa. 13:20-2234:10-15 [spiritual deserts, the dwelling place of devils]. Notably, the Prophet Hosea spoke of the coming of the LORD’s presence in harmonious terms, saying, “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth” (Hos. 6:3). This is a prophetic reflection exactly parallel to Joel 2:23, 28-32. Hereby, Hosea’s prophecy promised the reversal of the onset of a Spiritual Famine already underway in the time of apostasy among him and his contemporaries. Howbeit, in reference to the falling out of things in Hosea’s time, because the generational and status quo apostasy of the people had a stiff neck of unchangeable defiance, the blessings of national restoration in respect to Israel and Judah were only possible after the cleansing of the floor of God’s House via judgment. This meant that historical Assyria and Babylon had to come and that, afterward, God’s blessing of rain would fall. Seeing this, the prophet Joel foretold the national blessing of a regathered and restored Jewish People, saying,

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.” – Joel 2:23

Joel spoke of not one but two Spiritual Outpourings of Rain, the one called “the former rain moderately”, and the second called “the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:23). Here the prophet compares those who wait for rain in the natural with the Jews who wait for rain in the spiritual – the long-awaited regathering and restoration after the Jewish dispersions of Assyria and Babylon. In the natural, the former rain fell several months before the latter rain, and the latter rain is known to fall in the first month. Understanding this, the miraculous nature of what is being prophesied is pronounced: firstly, there will be one outpouring equivalent to the “the former rain moderately”, but then, secondarily, another outpouring will come that is comparatively greater and double in magnitude, an outpouring effectively equivalent to “the former rain and the latter rain” being combined into one outpouring during the time of the Latter Rain, which is the first month. So, the greatest aim of the prophecy is not in the first spiritual outpouring but the second. Such a prophecy as this begs the question: WHEN?

Well, knowing that the Restoration Generation of Zerubbabel and Joshua was in position for these blessings… what happened? They were regathered and in the process of restoration, as Haggai and Zechariah did abundantly testify, but because of rampant apostasy and backsliding the restoration was recasted to the Last Days. Speaking from the standpoint of a recasted date of the regathering and restoration, Zechariah prophesied,

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.” – Zech. 10:1

Time passed and the wait for spiritual rain continued until finally the date came, “the time of the Latter Rain” (Zech. 10:1). For this cause the Upper Room was filled with 120 fervent disciples of Jesus (Acts 1:13), and “these all continued with one accord in prayer and in supplication” (Acts 1:14). What were they waiting for? They were asking for what they were waiting for, Jesus commanding them, “wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4). Namely, the Outpouring of the Spirit of God that was likened unto an outpouring of rain in abundance – the former and the latter! Recognizing this, Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and quoted Joel 2:28-32, but with one important rephrasing of the prophetic word: a profoundly relevant detail was interpreted by Peter, in that, “And it shall come to pass afterward…”, in Joel 2:28, is interpreted to mean, “And it shall come to pass in the Last Days…”, in Acts 2:17. Peter is signifying that this is what was being spoken of long ago, the signaled outpouring of God’s regathering and restoration of the Jewish People! Rife with this expectation, the disciples asked the Lord Jesus, “wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel?” (Acts 1:6). At Peter’s 2nd open-air sermon he is clearly taken with the same strain of thought, and understandably so! The freshly baptized apostle couldn’t help but point to the Restoration Generation as something that was nigh and at hand (“the times of restitution [restoration] of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His prophets since the world began” – Acts 3:21)! Drenched in the foretold Outpouring of Rain, Peter exclaimed: RESTORATION! Namely, because the foretold Outpouring of Rain was at Pentecost fulfilled (“when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” – Acts 3:19), Peter was lifting up the head of disconsolate Jews to behold the fulfillment of all things at hand! Do you see what Peter was seeing, my reader?

We can be sure that the Pillar Apostle to the Jews wasn’t misled by some aimless interpretation of Joel’s prophecy. Credentialing Peter’s claim, the totality of the New Covenant has been defined in terms of Spiritual Rain. Peter’s understanding of Spiritual Rain (Acts 2:15-21, Joel 2:28-32) is clearly observable when comparing Psalm 68:9, 15-20 with Ephesians 4:7-13 & 1 Corinthians 1:4-8; there’s an apparent citation of Spiritual Rain being made (Ps. 68:9) with an interpretation of the rain-drenching experience in plain non-metaphorical terms (Ps. 68:15-20) with clear New Testament applications as well (Eph. 4:7-13, 1 Cor. 1:4-8). Furthermore, a present-continuous and unceasing Outpouring of Spiritual Rain is revealed to be the present-continuous experience of saving grace according to Hebrews 6:7-8; this passage interprets the plainly spoken experience of saving grace in Hebrews 6:4-5 as that of Spiritual Rain, and because of the spiritual rainfall God demands good fruit or else reprobation! Of course, this same experience – the redemptive working of God the Holy Ghost – was defined by Jesus of Nazareth in terms of Spiritual Water according to John 7:38 [spiritual rivers of water invading deserts of dryness] & Luke 10:19 [Devils, like serpents and scorpions, inhabit rain-less desert places]). Remember, the writer of Hebrews was inspired in these very same terms in Hebrews 6:8 so as to give further insight and due warning - that men who are void of the Spirit of God are therefore void of Spiritual Rain, and hereby they become desert-lands of thorns and briers, an inviting habitation for devils. Likewise, according to James 5:14-20, the souls of sinners are described by James to be rain-less regions of famine and fruitlessness, men and women who are in need of the rain-releasing prayers of intercessors like the prophet Elijah. Accordingly, rain-releasing effects can be wrought by the effectual prayers of New Testament intercessors, therefore according to James 5:17-20 the rain restores the fruitfulness of New Testament Israelites who were caught in rain-less days; and upon the release of rain the erring brethren, fruitless and inhibited because of a personal spiritual famine, are restored from their erringfruitfulness springs forth from their desertified souls, a desert wasteland experiences a restoration!

The apostle Peter understood that this spiritual experience, now enjoyed by the Christians of the Gentile Church Age, was indicative of the Restoration Generation of the Jews in all its glory. Peter considered this to be the beginning of the Jewish Restoration or its first fruits, if you will (see The Gospel & Acts: Turning from the Jews to the Gentiles for exhaustive proof). Harmoniously, in Acts 15:15-18 the apostle James quoted Amos 9:11 to interpret what God was doing in temporarily turning away from the Jews during the Gentile Church Age (Isa. 43:7, 65:1, 11:10, 49:6-7). Yet, the Gentile Church Age is 2,000 years and counting… the Last Days fulfillment of the Restoration Generation is still unfulfilled! Therefore, looking again at Zechariah 10:1 and Joel 2:23, and also Haggai 2:9, we are forced to look for yet another recasted Last Days fulfillment seeing that in the 1st Outpouring of Rain God turned to the Gentiles and forsook the Jews, and we know that the day will come when God will turn from the Gentiles to the Jews for the fulfillment of everything wanting (Rom. 11:1-36). Ah! Where is the at hand restoration that rain-drenched Peter exuberantly pointed to on the horizon!

For the recasting of the Restoration Generation to a future date, a reconsultation of the prophecies is necessary. For, after all, when is the Latter Rain & Latter House of the Latter Days? This was the question posed at the first. According to the Prophets, the Restoration Generation of the Latter Rain and Latter House of the Last Days will happen at the same time as the Shaking, the Wilderness Experience, the Measuring Reed for the Rebuilding of the Temple and the Return of the Glory of God, the Two Anointed Ones, and more. In summation, these prophecies amount to nothing less than the Millennial Reign of Christ, but it’s not that simple.

Jesus Christ, the Branch, has ascended to the Davidic Throne of Heaven (Acts 2:25-36), the blood-purchase of the blessings to come were transacted (Heb. 9:16-28), and Joel’s Outpouring of Rain was fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-21) …now what’s next? What else remains to be accomplished? Upon taking a closer look at Joel’s prophecy concerning the Latter Rain, can you see anything that remains to be accomplished?

And it shall come to pass in the Last Days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smokeThe sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable Day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – Acts 2:17-21

Where are the wonders in heaven above and the signs on earth beneath, my reader? When has the sun turned into darkness and the moon into blood, and where is the blood, fire, and vapour of smoke? Interpreting this, I mean, where are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th Trumpets according to Revelation 8:1-9:21? World War II, you say? Wrong. The state of Israel and the Jewish regathering thereto didn’t happen until after World War II, and besides this nothing of this magnitude has taken place for 70 years now. So, what are we waiting for? To be plain and to the point: BABYLON. We’re waiting for the rise of Spiritual Babylon unto a One World Government via World War III.

In the aftermath of Babylon’s rise to power by war and conquest, the prophetic scene is set. This is what we learn from Revelation Chapter 10. Then, and only then, in the aftermath of Babylon’s rise, all things are set in order for the fulfillment of all unfulfilled promises and prophecies pertaining to the Restoration Generation. This point is further confirmed by a thorough reconsultation of the promises and prophecies pertaining to the Restoration Generation according to the doctrines of the Shaking, the Wilderness Experience, the Measuring Reed for the Rebuilding of the Temple and the Return of the Glory of God, the Two Anointed Ones, and more. For, not even the Latter Rain can be ultimately fulfilled without the presence of Babylon according to Joel 2:18-32. With all things considered from a contextual perspective, the superior aim of the Latter Rain prophecy is the restoration of the Jews in the aftermath of Babylon’s dominance through war. Any application of Joel 2:23 & Joel 2:28-32 being completely fulfilled in the absence of Babylon violates the situational context that is inherently connected to these prophecies. Remember, my reader, Babylon’s Armies are directly and metaphorically described all throughout the Book of Joel, especially in Joel 1:4, 6, 2:1-11, 17, 20, 25.

1st century Rome didn’t do what future Babylon will do, and that’s the difference! This being the case, though, why did Peter quote and apply Joel 2:23 & Joel 2:28-32 while under the shadow of Rome? According to the prophecies of Jesus in Matthew 24:1-41, Mark 13:1-37, & Luke 21:1-38, Rome was a typological forerunner to the Spiritual Babylon of the future (future Babylon and her acts as a nation are directly or indirectly named or described in Revelation 8:7-9:21, 13:1-8, 14:8, 17:1-18, 18:2-8, 10, 21, 19:2, 17-21). Unitedly, Jesus did hereby validate Peter’s reckoning of Joel 2 without the presence of Babylon, and here’s how: Jesus prophesied of Babylon via multi-sensed prophecies that pertained inferiorly to Rome and superiorly to Babylon. Hereby, Peter and Jesus were in perfect agreement. Therefore, seeing that Rome or Syria fell short of accomplishing the fullness of what the Lord was prophesying of in Matthew 24:1-41, Mark 13:1-37, & Luke 21:1-38, Babylon will rise. In the latter days of the Last Days, Babylon will rise! And, on the flipside of the same coin, because Babylon will rise as a judgment against the backslidden Church, the Gentile Church will fall! Verily, in the year 2017 the Gentile Church has fallen. Therefore, the Great Tribulation brought about by Babylon will be a needed correction to the Church.

Accordingly, the Jews dwelt in the shadow of Rome only as a result of God’s judgment upon them because of their backslidings. Even so, if the Gentile Church is going to be overshadowed by the finale of all forerunners to the fulfillment of every word of prophecy, don’t you think that the reality of all former typologies will be ingeniously parallel in its divine employment? Hereunto our study of prophecy grows! Prophetic harmony beckons that there must be a re-engaging of these prophecies as a result of the Gentile Church backsliding into general apostasy like as Israel backslid in the former two Tribulation Periods (2 Tim. 3:1, Heb. 1:2, Jas. 5:3, 2 Pet. 3:3, 1 Jn. 2:18). For, lo, how else can the presence of Babylon be vindicated as a just dessert like as the Jews were deserving of Rome, except we have sinned against God in like manner? Take note of the aforementioned citations of Scripture, my reader. I entreat you to reevaluate your perception of the Last Days in relationship to the spiritual status of the Gentile Church at large prior to the rise of Babylon. For, only then will you be able to vindicate the righteousness of God in the events of the Last Days. Most people will be offended at God as a result of Babylon’s atrocities, but is there not a cause? They never humbled themselves to “The Strange Work of the LORD” through Babylon and so, like Job, will darken God’s counsel by words without knowledge (Job 38:2, 42:3). “If any man have an ear, let him hear” (Rev. 13:9).

What is believed to be the cruelty of Babylon and shunned as an invention of Satan, the same is adamantly affirmed to be contrary to the grace of God. Much the rather, however, this is God’s judgment of the Church for redemptive purposes, a last resort rescue mission for a sick Church in a dying World, and therefore the fruition of these things spring into action at the divinely commanded trumpet-blasts of Holy Angels in Heaven! This shows you who’s in charge. Nevertheless…

What is believed to be for the World, is for the Church!

What is brought upon them to their hurt, is for their worth!

What is reckoned as God’s anger with sinners, is for saints!

All can be used for redemption if you hearken, so do not faint!

 

What they attempt to resist, they must embrace!

The world they love they must learn to hate!

What they view as inestimable loss, is great gain!

What they call evil is for the good of God’s Name!

Because great sin is cleansed through a sinner’s pain!

 

What they lament as tragedy, is a divinely lit fire of God’s Majesty!

What they dread about the diabolical agendas of antichrist,

is for the salvific working of an untold story of Jesus Christ!

What is loathed to be uncontrollable, cruel, and preventable,

is divinely calculated, merciful, and unavoidable!

 

What they reckon as the Day of the Devil or that of Babylon, is the Day of the LORD!

What armies they think are the Devil’s or that of Babylon, belong to the LORD!

What they seek to avoid of a physical mark is spiritual and immaterial, so check your heart!

The spiritual security reckoned in accordance with one’s physical status, is catastrophe!

 

What mark they deemed as permanent and unchangeable, is not!

It is conditionally based upon one’s relationship with God!

The mark they think is manmade and visible, is celestially administered and invisible!

The world they think is God-forsaken, is God-governed even while by Devils overtaken!

The tribulations they think are avoidable and ambiguously suffered,

They’re inescapable and meticulously appointed for you and not another!

 

The raw passions of human survival mode do amount to a spiritual suicide,

while all men will be made to realize that there’s nothing they can do to hide!

The backsliding of the Gentile Church does indeed merit the spawning of the divine apparatus of correction called BABYLON, and if this is strange to any one of us then we’d better repent and listen to God! If you haven’t read, hundreds of Chapters of Holy Scripture bear witness of the Doctrine of Babylon – a testimony amounting to approximately one third of the Bible all for the explaining of this shocking doctrine (“Introducing Babylon”)! Ingeniously, this is because the divine warrants of historical and future Babylon are the same. In response to the Churches’ backsliding, there’s judgment (Babylon); but with and through judgment there’s a glorious restoration (“Babylon as a Redemptive Process for the Backslidden Church”)! Heretofore we’ve observed the doctrinal basis for God’s judgment of the Church through Babylon (in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, & 6th Trumpets), but with our arrival to Revelation Chapter 10 we’ve only just begun observing the Doctrine of Restoration as it pertains to the Gentile Church Age! Necessarily so, Revelation Chapter 10 is a topical pivot from judgment to restoration! Hell’s Army was spawned for judgment and the Two Witnesses will be empowered for the restoration of all things pertaining to the Gentiles and the Jews!

Peter, who quoted and applied the Restoration Rainfall of Joel 2:28-32, died long before two vital points of human history – events that force the recasting of these things to a distant date: namely, the 70 A.D. destruction of Jerusalem by Rome & “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” that God gave to John after 70 A.D. had come and gone (what we now call, the Book of Revelation). Dying before these two points in human history makes the interpreting of these things very difficult for Peter or Paul. Indeed, it wasn’t God’s will that Peter or Paul understood the whole of the matter concerning the restoration of the future. The 1st century was evidently set forth as an Example Generation, a typological Tribulation Period, and for this reason they were made to believe that the Day of the LORD was very near. God was pleased to make them feel this way for the making of the Canon of Holy Scripture because, hereby, forged in the pages of Holy Scripture is a testimony that will be the meat and drink of the Last Generation – a generation that will heartily endure the conflict of the End of the World because of the exemplary courage of the 1st century Church that was brought to the brink of the foretold experience.

In full, there must be another cycle that is typologically parallel to the former cycles of tribulation and glory for the End of the World and the fulfillment of all things (Acts 3:21). Therefore, amidst the warring of Babylon’s rise to worldwide power (blood, fire, & pillars of smoke) there will be another Outpouring of the Holy Ghost (prophesyings, visions, dreams) to wit an ultimate and complete fulfillment of what Joel and all the other prophets aimed for in prophesying is fulfilled. Can you believe it? Herein, Revelation Chapter 10 finds significance! This is the Last Days outpouring of outpourings, if you will! According to the two different Outpourings of Rain prophesied in Joel 2:23, I propose: could Revelation Chapter 10 be the second? Could it be that the 1st century Outpouring of Rain at Pentecost was “the former rain moderately”, while the latter of the Last Days Outpouring of Rain, according to Revelation Chapter 10, is “the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:23)? Likewise, could it be that the Temple that Zerubbabel and Joshua built, according to Haggai and Zechariah’s prophecies, was an inferior and former Temple, like the former rain, a Temple that was typologically former to the Latter House that will be altogether and exactly glorious according to prophecy? I believe so.