Deuteronomy 11:14

The first rain. This was the autumn rain, which fell at the time of planting the winter crops, to sprout the seed and give it a good start before the cold of winter set in. It fell in the eighth month, our late autumn (see Ezra 10:9, 13). In a land dependent on rain the seed would not sprout unless the rain fell in its season (Leviticus 26:4).

The latter rain. This fell in the spring before the harvest, during our months of March and early April, and brought the crop to full maturity (see Jeremiah 5:24; Joel 2:23). In his reply to the false charges of Eliphaz, Job speaks figuratively of the importance of the latter rain (Job 29:23). Solomon uses it as an illustration of favors bestowed by a king (Proverbs 16:15), and Hosea, of revival and reformation (Hosea 6:2, 3). The tragedy that resulted from a failure of the latter rain is described by Jeremiah in his first message to the backslidden church of his day (Jeremiah 3:3; cf. Amos 4:7; see on Joel 2:23).