A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 54
The Church received a profound revelation from God in 1960, but that revelation has largely been forgotten today. The forces of darkness have had a lot of success in robbing the Church of its heritage. Part of the reason for that may be that the Church does not seem to value our heritage or to be zealous to fight for and protect the priceless heritage that God has given to us.
To make matters worse, the Church has mostly turned against the messenger who was used by God to deliver this profound revelation to us. Even while he was alive, there was a fierce campaign, driven by the forces of evil, to smear the name of William Branham, and to destroy his credibility. The campaign of deception has been so successful that today, it seems that most Christian leaders and Bible schools never mention the name of William Branham, or if they do, it is only to caution their followers to stay away from his teachings and to avoid learning about his ministry, as they mistakenly advise their followers that he was “in error.”
In steering people away from the legacy and the revelations of William Branham, Christian leaders make a tragic mistake.
When the Book was Opened
William Branham pastored a church in Jeffersonville, Indiana. In the Fall of 1960, he took some time off to go squirrel hunting with a few friends in Kentucky. At one point, when there wasn’t any action from the squirrels, Brother Branham took his Bible out of his bag and sat down to read. Before he even had a chance to open his Bible, a voice spoke to him:
“Rise, and go to the place you call Sportsman’s Hollow. There I will speak to you.”
Brother Branham obediently walked about a mile to Sportsman’s Hollow, sat down and waited.
Several minutes passed.
Branham stretched himself out on the ground and prayed.
Finally, the Holy Spirit began to speak to him, directing him to passages in the Old and New Testaments and sharing profound revelations from Scripture.
Then the Holy Spirit spoke again for the final time that day:
“Read Revelation chapters one, two, and three.”
Brother Branham turned to the book of Revelation and began to read as the Lord opened his understanding to see these chapters as he had never seen them before, and to clearly understand the meaning of each verse.
When he returned to his home in Jeffersonville, Indiana, Brother Branham devoted the next few weeks to deep study of the book of Revelation. He also studied other books and documents that gave him a clearer historical understanding of the times and events.
On Sunday morning, December 4, 1960, Brother Branham began to share with his congregation the revelations that God had shared with him.
From those meetings came profound revelations contained in the book, An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages, which is now available online as a free download in PDF and audiobook formats.
We also have the audio recordings of those meetings that help to preserve these landmarks of Christian history.
Why We Cannot Afford to Ignore the Message of William Branham
On June 3, 1933, after a series of revival meetings in Jeffersonville, Indiana, over 1,000 people gathered on the banks of the Ohio River to watch as Brother Branham baptized people who had received salvation during his revival meetings. Over 200 people came to be baptized.
Brother Branham baptized the first sixteen people. Then, before he could baptize the next person, a voice told him to “Look up.” Puzzled, he tried to continue the baptism, but two more times the voice interrupted him, saying, “Look up.” When he finally stopped to look up in the sky, he gasped at what he saw!
Brother Branham watched as a roaring ball of fire came down from the heavens! It looked like a star from a distance. Its color seemed to change back an forth from yellowish-green to amber. As it came closer to Brother Branham, this roaring ball of fire was spinning and shooting off sparks and flames.
This roaring fireball came down from the heavens and stopped directly over Brother Branham. It hung in the air directly over his head. The fireball caused the waters in the river to churn and send up a mist that created a rainbow around the fireball.
Then a voice spoke these words to Brother Branham:
“As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so you are sent with a message to forerun his second coming.”
On the banks of the river, women were screaming at the sight of the fireball. Men grabbed one another for support. Some people ran away in panic. Many people trembled in fear, and a few people fainted. Not everyone heard the voice, but some did.
After hanging in the air over Brother Branham’s head for a few seconds, the fireball shot back up into the sky, leaving just as it had come.
After calming the crowd, Brother Branham continued baptizing until all 200 people were baptized.
The next day, the headline in the local newspaper read, “Mysterious Star Appears Over Minister While Baptizing.” (Jorgensen, Vol.I, p.103-106)
Confirmation
Years later, in 1947, Brother Branham held several meetings in Texas. In his first meeting in San Antonio, the worship leader introduced Brother Branham to the audience. As Brother Branham walked across the platform to the pulpit, another man on the platform suddenly stood up and began speaking loudly in an unknown language.
There was silence after the man finished speaking. The crowd waited. Then another man in the back of the auditorium stood and spoke loudly, saying,
“Thus saith the Lord, ‘The man that is walking across the platform is going forward with a ministry that was ordained by Almighty God. As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so is this man sent with a message to forerun His second coming’.”
After a moment Brother Branham broke the silence to ask the man in the back if he knew the man who had spoken from the platform. He did not.
Did he know anything about Brother Branham? He said that he had never heard of William Branham before that day. The people he worked for had invited him to the meeting. He came not knowing anything about William Branham.
Then Brother Branham turned to the man who had spoken from the platform, questioning him. The man said that he did not know the other man who had spoken from the back of the auditorium. He said that he only came to the meeting because he had read about a “divine healer” in the newspaper and came out of curiosity. (Jorgensen, Vol.I, p.294-295)
If William Branham was entrusted with a message from God that will forerun the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot afford to ignore that message.
In 1960, through the ministry of William Branham, God seemed to begin opening the secrets of the book of Revelation as they had never been understood before.
Since that time, God has built upon the insight given to William Branham by giving further revelations that are expanding and deepening our understanding of His end-time secrets.
Sadly, most teachers in the Church seem to have discarded the revelations that were miraculously delivered to William Branham, and they have gone on to build their end-time teachings on faulty reasonings that are based in error. These erroneous teachings can be known by their fruit.
Erroneous end-time teachings often produce and reinforce attitudes of complacency that Jesus warned about in His letter to the church of Laodicea. Erroneous end-time teachings often produce Christians who feel no urgency to prepare for the return of the Lord or to live holy, consecrated lives with clear consciences before God and people.
True end-time teaching based in genuine revelation from the Holy Spirit should impart an urgency to prepare to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom and inspire joy and hope as we live expectantly waiting for the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
**References: **
Branham, W. M. (2005). An Exposition of the Seven Church Ages. Voice of God Recordings. (PDF)
Jorgensen, O. (2011). Supernatural: The Life of William Branham. Supernatural Christian Books.
Lindsay, G. (1950). William Branham: A Man Sent from God.
