A marriage celebration is a wonderful occasion. It is God ordained to both meet the deepest physical joy of man and to prophetically portray the ultimate joy of the Lord Jesus. When Adam had finished naming all the created creatures, the Father saw that his highest earthly creation was lonely and without a companion. From Adam’s rib, God made woman and joined them by heart to each other. From the first memorial event until this day, wedding feasts have brought laughter, celebration, and union. Satan was furious and devised a foolish alternative called sodomy. Sodomy actually blasphemed the beauty of God’s pure plan both for man and for His Son. It is the lowest point of human depravity.
It is fitting that Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding feast. Every aspect of this event was filled with prophecy, but nothing as beautiful as the miracle of the last wine. The wedding had progressed for days until the supply of wine was gone. Mary, the mother of Jesus, told Jesus and then said to the servants, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). Great containers for purification were available and Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water” (John 2:7). When this was done he commanded, “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast” (John 2:8). The guests were astonished when they began to drink the miracle wine and explained, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10). The wedding feast ended in a blaze of excitement because of this miracle and the “best wine at the end.”
This great miracle is prophetic of the day in which we live. Wine is a great type of spiritual blessing and the joy of the Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal experience has touched millions since the Day of Pentecost. We have witnessed the “early rain, moderately,” but soon, even any moment, the latter rain is ordained to begin. Joel said, “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. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:23-25). He firmly stated that this would occur in the first month. That is exactly the day which the Feast of Trumpets is ordained to occur. The Feast of Trumpets is the Old Testament type of the Rapture of the Church. The feast begins thirty days earlier with a daily trumpet and ends on the very first day of the first full month. Prophecy in Scripture is perfect, so it shall transpire.
I believe the Latter Rain is scheduled to begin a short period before the Rapture and then continue right through the Seven Years of Great Tribulation. It will then literally explode when the Jewish people are converted at the beginning of the thousand years of the Millennium. Isaiah proclaimed, “With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). The greatest harvest of all time is yet to come. The Pentecostal experience we have witnessed in our lives is but a shadow of this prophesied Latter Rain.
The best wine is saved until the end. The entire story of His first miracle is a story of the harvest in beautiful typology. The harvest started with His ministry, continued with the early church, and has been intermittent for two thousand years. It will explode in the End Time. We are privileged to live in this prophetic day and to be a part of the best wine of all history. The grapes are ripening for the final harvest.
Does this mean that the latter rain (the begining of revival) in the Fall at the Feast of Trumpets could also be the timing of the Rapture in this year? I hope so. Jim
I loved this article but one could argue that there are TWO first months.
in Exodus 12:2 God told Moses that the New Year was to begin in Abib (Aviv, Nisan). Exodus 12:2 THIS MONTH (Abib) shall be unto you the BEGINNING of months: it shall be the FIRST MONTH of the YEAR to you. The first month, Abib, has a really fascinating Biblical history. Abib is a month when God seems to zero in on His Temple. Moses put the Tabernacle up on the first day of Abib. Two of Israel’s greatest Revivals (starting with the cleansing of the Temple) happened during Abib. And in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus cleansed the Temple in Abib. Abib is the month of Redemption and not only for the Jews in Egypt but for all mankind during our Lord’s Passion. He came out of that grave on Resurrection Sunday, First Fruits in Abib. For all these reasons and more I’ll be watching this coming Abib (begins the evening of March 15th) very closely for Revival. After all, God’s word commands us to OBSERVE (Hebrew: shamar–to keep, GUARD, WATCH, to be on one’s guard, give heed, beware, mark, etc) the MONTH of Abib, Deut. 16:1.
Renee, You are right! The Lord told Moses that a new beginning of months would begin on the Passover they were told to celabrate as they left Egypt.So now we have a Spring first of Months and a fall. I think the feast of Trumphets in the fall mirrors the date Joel suggest for the Latter Rain. (Joel 2:23) Pastor Chambers
I’ll have a drink