According to Ezekiel 37 the wind brings in the breath (vv. 9b-10, 14a). In John 20:22 the Spirit as the breath was breathed as life into the disciples for their life. After His resurrection, the Lord came back to the disciples to breathe into them. John 20:22 says, “He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.” His breath is the Spirit.
The cloud is another symbol of the Spirit (Exo. 14:20, 24; 40:34-38a; Num. 10:34; 1 Cor. 10:2; Ezek. 1:4b). In Ezekiel 1:4 there is the thought that the wind brings in the cloud. Exodus tells us that when the Israelites desired to go out of Egypt, Pharaoh would not let them go. Therefore, the Spirit had to come in to fight for them. At that time the Spirit came as a pillar of cloud. During the day the Lord went before them in a pillar of a cloud to lead them. At night the pillar of cloud was a pillar of fire to give them light (Exo. 13:21-22). Exodus tells us that this pillar of cloud and of fire stood between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel (14:20, 24). Exodus and Numbers tell us that the cloud covered the tent of meeting (Exo. 40:34-38a; Num. 10:34). The cloud became the covering, the protection, of the tabernacle. That cloud was the presence of Jehovah, and that presence was God Himself as the Spirit overshadowing His people.
According to Ezekiel 1:4, the wind brings in the cloud, and within the cloud is the fire. In Exodus the fire within the pillar of cloud made it a pillar of fire. The fire is in the cloud. Also, Acts 2 shows us that when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the disciples, tongues as of fire sat on each one of them (vv. 3-4). Tongues as of fire signify the function of the Spirit. A tongue is a symbol of speaking, symbolizing that God’s economical Spirit of power is mostly for speaking. He is the speaking Spirit. The fire symbolizes burning power for purging and motivating in God’s economical move.
The fire brings in the light, the “brightness” (Ezek. 1:4d). The Spirit is symbolized by the light. Wherever fire is, light is there. When a candle is burning with fire, that burning gives light. The Holy Spirit is fire and also light.
The Spirit is symbolized by the rain—the former rain and the latter rain (Gen. 2:5; Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23, 28-29; Hosea 6:3; Zech. 10:1; Acts 2:16-18). Frequently, lightning accompanies the rain. Therefore, there is “fire” with the rain. In the same way, if we have the fire of the Spirit, the rain will come.
The Old Testament refers to the former rain and the latter rain. The former rain was in the fall, and the latter rain was in the spring. The former rain and the latter rain both refer to the Spirit in the right season. Joel 2:23 says that the Lord gives the former rain, the autumn rain, and the latter rain, the spring rain. Then in verses 28 and 29, the Lord says twice that He will pour out His Spirit. The pouring out of the Spirit is the fulfillment of the former rain and the latter rain. The pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the former rain. Then at the end of this age, God will pour out His Spirit again. That will be the latter rain. This latter rain is prophesied of in Zechariah 12:10. This verse says, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” At Christ’s coming, the Lord will pour out His Spirit upon the children of Israel, and they all will repent.
With the Jews there are the two rains. When Peter stood up and spoke on the day of Pentecost, that was the fulfillment of Joel 2. But Peter did not say there would be another pouring out of the Spirit at the end of the age. This pouring out of the Spirit is prophesied in Zechariah 12. God will pour out His Spirit upon the children of Israel, they will repent, and all Israel will be saved. This will be the latter rain to the Jews. This indicates that God gives us His Spirit in the right season. Both the former rain and the latter rain are given at the season of need. Spring and autumn are both seasons for farming, so both seasons need the rain.