By John Thiel, Third Angel’s Message, study 4, mp3

What is the latter rain and what has it to do with the third angel’s message? These are the two questions that we want to have answered, what the latter rain is, and how it is linked with the third angel’s message. We want to recall one of our studies regarding the angels and their messages. This was the very first study of the first angel’s message, and we read Zechariah 4. There we saw how much the angels have to do with the Holy Spirit:

Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all [of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which [are] upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right [side] of the bowl, and the other upon the left [side] thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What [are] these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

This vision of the olive trees and the candlestick was a vision to describe the method of God’s work upon human beings, namely, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit. The angel continues to explain:

Zechariah 4:11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What [are] these two olive trees upon the right [side] of the candlestick and upon the left [side] thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What [be these] two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden [oil] out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these [be]? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These [are] the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Read the rest of this entry →