Issued: 5/12/24

“Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.“

Mark 13:33

   PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

   Though the Bible is rife with prophecies, none of them gives us specific dates/times as to when they are to start or end. In Daniel 12:11-12, there are vague outliers for either the coming of the “abomination of desolation” or the period of relative safety taking place after 1,335 “days.” ¹ In Matthew 24:21 and Luke 21:28, Jesus specifically referred to undated events to approximate when the Great Tribulation would come upon the world; as well as, on the basis of prophesied events preceding it (Isaiah 13:10, 34:14, 51:6↔Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 1:7, 6:12-14; Amos 8:9), the unknown day and hour of his second coming (Mark 14:32; Luke 12:40; Acts 1:7).² Even the stash of hail in Revelation 16:21 awaits the specific day and time for its future deployment during the final plagues (Job 38:22-23).

   And though there are myriads of human scenarios and timelines dealing with end-times events, the simple truth is that in the Bible, prophecies point to but never pinpoint the dates and times of their fulfillment. Father committed Himself to warn men about things He planned to do (Amos 3:7, 4:13); but while He previewed them through assorted prophets, the latter were kept from understanding their import because those prophecies were meant for future generations (Daniel 12:4; 1Peter 1:12). An exception to this rule appears in Revelation 22:10, where the writer of Revelation [presumably the Apostle John] was told not to “seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time [for their fulfillment] was near.” But even here the word “near” reflects the vagueness of prophecy, because it is now, not when Revelation was written almost two thousand years ago, that events therein described are slated to take place after the entire world has been evangelized (Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8). Paul’s argument in 2Corinthians 6:2 reflects the imprecise nature of Scriptural timetables.³

Partial Listing of End-Times Happenings

   For the record, let us list human behaviors and events prophesied in the Old Testament and link them to their corresponding New Testament Scriptures [↔Ecclesiastes 1:9-10].

a) The overall degradation of human nature (Genesis 6:5,11-12; Ecclesiastes 7:29, 9:3↔Matthew 24:11-12; 1Timothy 4:1-4; 2Timothy 3:1-5; Revelation 9:20-21).

b) Prioritizing worldly concerns rather than spiritual goals (Isaiah 22:12-13↔Luke 17:26-30, 21:34; James 4:1-4).

c) The apostasy or falling away from the Judeo-Christian faith (Deuteronomy 31:16,20; Hosea 13:6↔2Thessalonians 2:3-4); hatched in adulterous synagogues, Babylon the Great and Protestant daughters [i.e., churches, temples, etc.] (Jeremiah 5:7↔Revelation 17:5). Please note that while Judaism has been actively blinded to the truth (Romans 11:7-29; 2Corinthians 3:13-14), worldwide “hypocrisy” [i.e., the corruption of Jesus’ Gospel] came out of Christendom, which in the Old Testament is symbolized by Jerusalem [↔Jeremiah 23:15]. Why do we allege this? Because Jerusalem was the purported site of Father‘s dwelling place (1Kings 8:27,30↔Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:47-50, 17:24); which foreshadowed Father‘s Holy of Holies in Jesus’ body/conceptual Church (Colossians 1:18-20, 2:9), where He can be accessed directly through the “veil of Jesus’ flesh” (Hebrews 10:19-22↔9:2-3,6-8).⁴

d) Worldwide rejection of Father and Jesus (Psalms 2:1-3, 74:8; Daniel 8:23-25, 11:33↔Matthew 24:9; John 16:2; Revelation 17:12-14,17-18); during which the Scriptures may be lost to us, either by Father‘s design (Amos 8:11-12) or as the result of failures in communication systems resulting from solar interference [↔Revelation 16:8-9].

The “Latter Day” Rain

   Which brings us to the topic of this essay: Joel 2:23’s “latter day rain,” described in verse 2:28 like this: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” Now, though in Acts 2:16-20 Peter quoted Joel as proof of prophetic fulfillment, please note that Peter’s timeline extends to celestial upheavals prior to Jesus’ second coming (verses 20-21), which is Scripture’s way of forecasting future events bundled up with past ones. This is exactly how Jesus prophesied the fall of present-day Jerusalem on the precedent of its fall to the Romans in 70 CE (Luke 21:20-24↔Matthew 24:14,21-22); and how Paul extrapolated 1Thessalonians 5:3 from Ezekiel 13:10-16 [↔Lamentations 2:13-14].

   As discussed elsewhere, Father fashioned the natural world as a mirror reflecting human events and behaviors [↔Ecclesiastes 3:18]: This is proven by Scriptures like Isaiah 1:3; Matthew 7:6, 16:1-4; 1Corinthians 9:9-10↔Deuteronomy 22:10; 2Peter 2:20-22. By that token normal rain, which encourages things to grow and multiply, symbolizes spiritual gifts given to men not only by which they themselves may bear fruit or not, as may be the case, but be counted as part of the overall crop (John 7:19, 15:2; Titus 3:14; Revelation 14:4, 14-16↔Exodus 23:19; Revelation 14:17-20↔Isaiah 5:2-5). Thus the differentiation between natural cycles of rainfall (Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24; Hosea 6:3; Joel 2:23; Zechariah 10:1; James 5:7) and cycles of spiritual rainfall; where “early/spring” rains symbolize outpourings of the Holy Spirit throughout the history of Christian evangelization; and “late/autumn/fall” rain symbolizes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at end-times—i.e., the “latter day” rain.

   In between there have been ‘spotty’ rainfalls whenever true Christian followers were anointed with the Holy Spirit [↔1John 2:27, 3:24, 4:5-6↔John 15:19-21] to meet the challenges of their times [↔Hebrews 11:35-40). However much neo-Christians brag about their ‘faith,’ not every person shares Jesus’ brand of faith (2Thessalonians 3:2)—certainly not every Tom, Dick and Harry boasting to be drenched in it, or evangelical leaders lording it over their flocks presuming roles never meant to be theirs (Matthew 20:25-26, 23:8-10↔John 15:26, 16:13; 1Corinthians 2:7, 10-13↔Deuteronomy 29:29; Mark 4:11-12). Heaven’s ‘detour’ sign is the appeal to get wisdom directly from Father Himself (Jeremiah 33:3; James 1:5↔1Corinthians 2:10). Since human middle-men proved to be false and unreliable (Ezekiel 34:2-8; Zephaniah 3:4; Malachi 2:7-8), sole mediator Jesus (1Timothy 2:5) instituted Plan B by booting them out of their jobs (Luke 16:16; John 15:26, 16:13↔1John 2:27). In Acts 19:1-6 we see how despite knowing Christian basics, Paul had to teach Ephesian disciples Jesus’ new approach; and only after accepting it did they receive the Holy Spirit by imposition of hands—at which point Paul’s job as teacher was basically over and done with.

   Still, this is not the way we find in every denomination/religion throughout the world: There are always the gurus/shamans/rabbis/priests/pastors or what-have-you who feel invested/ordained to convey spiritual matters not within their purview—which is, of course, the agar upon which apostasy feeds and proliferates. Yet do not blame them for your personal choices to submit to their instruction/leadership; because you have been amply warned not to do so (Psalms 146:3↔note how Jesus is exempted; Isaiah 30:10↔Exodus 32:1-4; Ezekiel 3:4-7; Zechariah 7:12; Romans 6:16). Gazillions of neo-Christians ‘love’ to hear Christian doctrine, but in Ezekiel 33:30-33 Father put that bluff to rest.

Regional/Seasonal Rains

   We digress. If the downpour at Pentecost was a regional “early rain” through which Jesus gave Jerusalem congregants the Holy Spirit,⁵ it follows that the “latter day rain” will be a world-wide outpouring of the Holy Spirit at end-times before the time of grace expires and the Great Tribulation begins. And this is exactly what Joel 2:28 intimated following the familiar Scriptural methodology of mixing timelines into one, extended time continuum—though oftentimes presented not in chronological order but jumbled up in such a way that later events precede earlier ones. We see this pattern in Joel 2:1-11↔Revelation 9:1-11; Revelation 9:20-21), dealing with Satan’s army of tormenting demons during the final plagues; and the ‘dry spells’ of rain during Christendom’s apostasy (Joel 2:22-27)

   This prophetic “time continuum” is exemplified in other ways. Let us take Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)? Why a vineyard? To provide links between Isaiah 5:1-7 [see verse 7↔Isaiah 61:3] and the grape harvest of Revelation 14:14-20; which itself provides links to Matthew 13:30, 24:31-44 and Mark 13:24-43—the entire Christian endeavor from inception to finish. Thus in Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus speaks of a working “day” when Apostles were called to labor during the hottest part of the day [↔1Corinthians 12:28; 1Thessalonians 3:3-4]; other evangelists throughout less hot parts of the day [↔Hebrews 11:39-40; 1Peter 2:20-21, 4:12-14]; and a remnant to be called close to the night no one can work (John 9:4)—yet all paid the same wages: Salvation and citizenship in Father‘s Kingdom [↔Hebrews 11:13-16].

   The most meaningful time-links are with Fifth and Sixth Days of Creation, when “animals” symbolizing human beings in terms of their behaviors were created. On the main sea creatures symbolize humanity at large, the reservoir where “peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (Revelation 17:15) mix together. Also the sea is Satan’s domain (Psalms 104:26), which is our world (Isaiah 14:6,16-17,20↔Hebrews 2:14↔Revelation 6:8; John 14:30; Luke 4:5-6↔1John 5:19; 2Corinthians 4:4). It is highly suggestive that once Satan, his demons and all the unrighteous are burned at Armageddon (Revelation 9:7-10), there will no longer be a sea [by its nature a ‘divider’ of peoples] in Father‘s Kingdom (Revelation 21:1).

   Sixth Day animals, on the other hand, were terrestrial; they were brought to Man so that he could name them [one of Jesus’ Messianic roles↔John 1:42; Revelation 2:17↔Isaiah 65:15]. Because Man lacked a suitable helpmate to plow/take care of the Garden of Eden, Woman was created out of Man’s flesh after he fell into a deep sleep (Genesis 2:15-24). It does not take rocket science to find the links amongst Matthew 13:37-38↔Genesis 3:17-19↔Isaiah 5:1-7; Isaiah 53:5↔Hebrews 9:14↔Revelation 5:9; 1Corinthians 15:45-49; and Ephesians 5:30-32.

   In our series The Myth that Never Was, Parts VI(a) and VI(b), we discussed how clean and unclean animals were used to symbolized righteous and unrighteous people in terms of their behaviors. Thus sheep (John 10:16, 27-28↔Ezekiel 34:23, 37:24) and oxen (1Corinthians 9:9-12) signified followers and evangelists; whereas the unrighteous were the beasts of the field waging war against Father‘s nation (Deuteronomy 7:22; Job 5:22; Jeremiah 28:14↔Isaiah 14:4-6,12-17; Ephesians 2:1-2; Matthew 25:31-33]. Needless to say such labels did not exist in Eden: They appear in Genesis 7:2, in regards to the destruction of the world during the Flood, way before their codification in Mosaic Law (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14:3-21). Nevertheless, just as the first-born male, unflawed paschal lamb prefigured Jesus (Exodus 12:3-5, 13:2,12-23, 34:19; Leviticus 1:3,10↔1Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 7:26, 9:13-14), so did the scapegoat in Leviticus 16:20-22 prefigure Satan.⁶

   Furthermore Sixth Day was when Man and Women were made in the image Yahweh Son proxy Creator shared with Father—the reason for the “our” in Genesis 1:26.⁷ If we then assume the Christian endeavor began with Jesus’ ministry both on earth and from Heaven, the last 2,000+ years of human history correspond with Fifth and Sixth Days of Creation, covering world-evangelization [i.e., sea creatures] and hand-picked, terrestrial creatures (John 15:19; Acts 1:8, 2:39, 9:15; 1Peter 2:21) to help in the building of Father‘s Holy of Holies (Hebrews 3:6; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1Peter 2:5), Jesus’ conceptual body (Colossians 2:9). That Holy of Holies is the Church, made up of the resurrected righteous truly sharing Jesus’ and Father‘s immortal flesh (Psalms 17:15↔1John 3:2; 1Corinthians 15:52), so that it will the then that the prophecy in Genesis 2:23-24↔Ephesians 5:31-32 will come to pass. Supporting this contention, we have the Millennium of Rest following the resurrection of the righteous (Revelation 20:4-6), which corresponds with the Seventh Day Sabbath of Genesis 2:2-3 [↔Hebrews 4:3-10↔John 5:17].

The Unique Feature of the Latter-Day Rain

   In the Old and New Testaments women were were never conscripted to teach the Gospel, and were in fact forbidden to by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:20-21) through Paul (1Corinthians 14:34-37; 1Timothy 2:12). Though we are told about prophetesses like Deborah (Judges 4:4-9) and Huldah (2Kings 22:14-20), these women lacked the prophetic credentials given to Moses (Exodus 7:1-2), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:3-8), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5-10), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1-7), Jonah (Jonah 1:1-2), and even John the Baptist (Malachi 4:5↔Matthew 11:14), who was the last in the mold of Old Testament prophets [↔Luke 16:16]. Both Deborah and Huldah were conveniently at hand to relay messages to men shirking their duties to Yahweh; thus the extent of their usefulness. Deborah appears to have been a little more ambitious, having assumed an onus not placed upon her by Yahweh (Judges 5:7), much in the vein of modern female evangelists. Miriam, perhaps hedging her bets on her kinship with Moses and Aaron, grew too big for her britches and crossed lines; for which reason, even if Aaron was as guilty as she was for badmouthing Moses, she was turned into a leper and cast out for seven days to teach her humility and subservience (Numbers 12:1-15).

   In the New Testament, we hear of Phillip’s for daughters, all prophetesses, but who are a mere postscript in Scripture (Acts 21:9). And despite many women who served Jesus in different capacities (Matthew 27:55; Luke 8:1-3), the Apostles were all males, hand-picked by Jesus himself; who obviously denied his mother, Mary, the role Roman Catholicism—and Satan through ‘Marian’ apparitions—attribute to her as co-redemptrix⁸ and mediatrix of graces.⁹

   But Joel’s latter-day rain includes both sexes in terms of prophecy, though dreams and visions appear to be limited to males; yet both “menservants and maidservants” will be anointed with the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). Judging by previous methodology, these revelations will probably involve predictions of catastrophes and human events escalating up to the end of the time of grace; sort of like alarms sounded off before the day and hour when the “It is done” will be uttered from the heavenly temple (Revelation 16:17-21).

   Thus it behooves us to pay heed to them, however and whenever they may appear; so that like Jesus instructed us, we may be amongst “those servants who the master finds on watch when he returns, who remain awake and clothed, so that [they] will not go naked and let [their] shame be exposed” (Luke 12:37; Revelation 16:15).

¹ We have discussed prophetic dating elsewhere. These “days,” like the ones in Genesis 1 which signify millenniums, are not 24-hour periods. Most Old Testament prophecies are pegged on the 30-day lunar Hebrew calendar, so that the 42 months of Revelation 13:5 = 1,260 days [42 x 30]. These probably fell during the time [the Holy Roman Empire?] in which “the abomination of desolation” was permitted to war against the saints and vanquish them (Daniel 7:21, 8:24; Revelation 13:7); though Jesus (Matthew 24:15,21-22) and Paul (2Thessalonians 2:3-4↔Ezekiel 28:2) referred to a second manifestation of that “abomination of desolation” to predict similar conditions before the Great Tribulation at end-times [↔Revelation 13:14-18].

   In the context of prophetic dating, we have to use Ezekiel 4:6’s conversion factor of 1 day = 1 year, a notion established in Numbers 14:34; so that 1,260 prophetic “days” = 1,260 actual years. In the case of Daniel 12:11, the starting point took place when the “daily sacrifice” was abolished, which must mean Jesus’ crucifixion invalidating Mosaic animal sacrifices [↔Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 9:11-15]; yet since no one knows the specific Friday Jesus was nailed to the cross, Daniel’s prophecy is technically open-ended.

   By the same token, the duration of “time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 is vague to say the least, unless we choose to interpret “time” as the 120-year-limit Yahweh Son placed on human life (Genesis 6:3)—and it was him did this, not Father Who never changes His mind [Genesis 6:7-8 vis-à-vis Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:7]. While this is our interpretation, the conversion factor seems to work when applied to “time” = 120 years + “times” = 1,080 (9×120) years + and “half a time” = 60 years; to wit, 120+ 1080+60 = 1,260 years. If the reader is troubled by the “times” value, use your basic algebra: 120 + x + 60 = 1,260 years, where x = 1,260 – 120 – 60 = 1,080.

² One of the many ways in which Scripture differentiates between Father and Son as two distinct and unequal beings in reverence and rank: Though almighty as Father‘s proxy God (Revelation 1:7-8, 22:12-13↔Isaiah 44:6, 48:12), Jesus is not All-Knowing like Him, totally dependent upon Him for instruction (Revelation 1:1↔John 7:16, 12:49).

³ And so did Jesus in Matthew 12:39-40 and Luke 9:22 [↔Jonah 1:17]. Please note that while Jonah remained alive in the belly of the fish, Jesus was dead to the world, for his soul had gone up to Father late Friday evening in an unconscious state and did not go up bodily to Him until his resurrection on Sunday morning (Luke 23:46↔Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 12:7; Mark 15:42; John 20:1,17; Acts 2:24, 13:30; Revelation 1:8).

   But the important detail to notice is that by no stretch of the imagination was Jesus dead for 72 literal hours. If he died late Friday evening, was dead all of Saturday, and resurrected early Sunday morning, we have an unspecified number of hours which do not add up to three 24-hour days like those Jonah probably endured, but parts of three different days which technically fulfill Scripture’s timeline. Thus we see that Heaven’s sense of time lacks the atomic-like precision men like in theirs—which in itself is not surprising [↔Isaiah 55:8].

⁴ In the earthly counterpart, the veil separating the Holiest Place from the Holy of Holies was rent with Jesus’ death on the cross (Matthew 27:51) and upgraded with Jesus’ “flesh.”

⁵ Not piecemeal like he did with the Apostles (Luke 24:45,49; John 20:22); Father did with Peter (Matthew 16:17); and had been the modus operandi in the Old Testament (Numbers 24:2; Judges 15:14↔16:20; 1Samuel 11:6↔16:14; 1Samuel 16:13; 2Samuel 23:2; 1Kings 22:24; 2Kings 2:9-15; Nehemiah 9:20↔Daniel 96; Ezekiel 8:3). Please note that all recipients of the Holy Spirit were male, never female, for men are the ones chosen to wage spiritual warfare [↔Numbers 1:2-3] with the sword of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 3:6; Matthew 10:34; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12↔Revelation 1:16); and to be the builders of Father‘s dwelling place, Jesus’ body/Church [↔Ezra 3:8; Revelation 21:14]. Though there are assigned roles for women in Christian evangelism (Matthew 27:55; Luke 8:3), the preaching/teaching of Father’s Gospel has never been one of them (1Corinthians 14:33-37; 1Timothy 2:12).

⁶ Hence the Christian underpinnings of the Passover Seder: Partaking of the body of the Lamb (Matthew 26:26↔1Corinthians 11:23-27); eating unleavened bread (Luke 12:1; John 6:51↔1Corinthians 5:7); and salting offerings (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2Chronicles 13:5↔Matthew 5:13; Colossians 4:6).

⁷ Which by the way never involves the never-described Holy Spirit. As is always the case with like-minded Athenians of yore (Acts 17:21), some scholars interpret “our image” as an indicator of a time when Israel may have believed in a plurality of gods.

⁸ Supposedly because of her suffering at the foot of Jesus’ cross sharing(?) his torment. Though tears may [↔2Kings 22:19; Isaiah 38:1-5) or may not [↔Romans 9:13; Hebrews 12:17] resonate with Father, human tears lack the power to remit sins, which is only possible with the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22); hence the insistence on Jesus’ specific contribution to human salvation (Isaiah 53:5↔Matthew 26:28; 1Corinthians 6:20; 1Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:9).

⁹ In contradiction of 1Timothy 2:5.