Pentecostals associated with the “First Wave” of the charismatic movement claim that their fraudulent faux-miracles and gobbledegook tongues are the “latter rain” prophesied in Joel 2. Many Christians are familiar with the prophecy of Joel 2 because it is cited by Peter on the Day of Pentecost during the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Jews. The portion of that prophecy cited in Peter’s sermon is in Acts 2:17-21 and cites Joel 2:28-32…
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that 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. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 30 “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Peter says that this prophecy had been fulfilled, saying in verse 16, “This is what was uttered by the prophet, Joel…”
While there seem to have been eschatological qualities to Joel’s prophecies, clearly Peter interpreted this portion to apply to what was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the Jews (and he was inspired of the Holy Spirit, so we should assume he knew how to interpret that which the Holy Spirit had written).
Charismatics, however, claimed that there was a secret, hidden, pseudo-gnostic piece of knowledge in Joel’s prophecy that referred to the 20th century Pentecostal movement. The connection to the demonic activity as Azusa Street and Joel’s prophecy was first pieced together by David Myland, who had written a series of songs called “The Latter Rain songs” and later, “The Latter Rain Covenant.” The reference came to Myland from Joel 2:23 (preceding the passage quoted by Peter in Acts 2), which says, “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.”
The traditional interpretation of Joel’s prophecy is that he was using an agricultural metaphor to refer to prophetic things; chiefly, the “early rain” was from the prophetic voices of the Old Testament and the “latter rain” was the prophetic voices of the New Testament. Joel was prophesying that even though prophecy would soon cease and there would be a “famine” of God’s Word (Amos prophesied this as well), God would again give the prophecies of the New Testament. In Myland’s novel interpretation, the “early rain” refers to Pentecost and the “latter rain” refers to the modern charismatic movement beginning in 1907. This “Latter Rain” movement has led to such demonic phenomena as the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville, Pensacola, and Lakeland Revivals.
Recently, charismatic prophets have been claiming that the literal rain experienced through hurricanes is the “latter rain” prophesied by Joel and ultimately fulfilled in charismatic chicanery.
Larry Titus, of the charismatic Kingdom Global Ministries, claims to have been given a twenty year-old prophecy from an employee that explains the spiritual significance of the recent hurricanes in the continental United States. Essentially the prophecy goes like this; there will be a solar eclipse, then a hurricane and then a mighty move of God.
Again, the sequence of events will be (1) a solar eclipse (2) a hurricane and (3) a mighty move of God. The move of God, Titus claims, is being done through an upcoming event hosted by charismatic prophet, Lou Engle, called “The Call” (which Titus claims was prophesied in the Book of Esther).
You can watch the video below.
A few things should be pointed out:
(1) There are roughly two solar eclipses every year. Every…single…year.
(2) There are hurricanes somewhere every year. Every…single…year.
Finally, (3) charismatic prophets have “big events” every year. Every…single…year.
Furthermore, Titus is prophesying a “Latter Rain” to begin this year. Ironically, the charismatic movement has claimed for 110 years that it began in 1907.
