Revelation 10:1-3 refers to future events
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An easy way to deceive people is to convince them that future events have happened. They'll then oppose it when it happens.
First published on the 27th of July 2018 — Last updated on the 6th of November 2018Revelation 10: 1 is not fulfilled by the supernatural cloud that was photographed on 28 February 1963 as it briefly appeared for 28 minutes after sunset over the city of Flagstaff in northern Arizona.
There were two clouds simultaneously over Flagstaff. One supernatural and the smaller one due to the smoke of the explosion of a powerful Thor rocket.
The supernatural cloud photographed moving from west to east over Flagstaff on 28 February 1963 was the "sign of the Son of man in the heaven" spoken of in Matthew 24:30
The smoke cloud was the "pillars of smoke" in the heavens prophesied by Joel 2: 30.
In 1964 brother Branham was still waiting for the Angel of Revelation 10 to come down.
64-0112 SHALOM
But in the seventh hour, the seventh messenger, that all these mysteries should be finished.
........ And then, after that, he saw another Angel coming down
The mighty Angel can only come down when the mysteries are finished. The mysteries were finished in December 1965.
So the mighty Angel can only come down after that.
When the cloud was photographed brother Branham was 200 miles away at Tucson and knew nothing about it.
Eight days later on 8 March 1963, seven angels came to visit brother Branham near Sunset Peak. They formed no cloud on that day. They told him to go back to Jeffersonville to reveal the seven Seals of Revelation Chapter 6.
Sunset Peak, where the angels came to him, was about 200 miles south of where the cloud was seen at Flagstaff.
Brother Branham knew nothing about the spectacular main cloud when it was photographed by Dr James McDonald from the Tucson Observatory. Other photographs from Phoenix and Prescott also ignored the smaller smoke cloud as they focused on the main cloud.
Brother Branham’s big mistake was to think that the 7 angels formed the cloud when they left him.
So much error has emerged about the spectacular cloud that we must first establish the known facts about it.
REVELATION 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
This is the cloud that James McDonald photographed over Flagstaff from Tucson on 28 February 1963.
There is no face in the cloud.
No feet and thus no Pillars of Fire as feet.
There is no sea that is visible.
No hand and thus no Book in the hand.
The inside of the cloud, where the face would be, is dark and certainly not shining like the sun. There is no visible face in the cloud.
No obvious rainbow.
Thus this cloud does not fulfill Revelation Chapter 10:1.
In addition, the Angel came down but this cloud only appeared over Flagstaff for 28 minutes just after sunset. It stayed at its height of about 43 kilometers for all that time, travelling horizontally from west to east. The cloud never came down.
43 kilometers is too high for a natural cloud to form. Above 20 km there is not enough water vapour to form a cloud.
Flagstaff is about 200 miles north of Tucson and Sunset Peak where brother Branham met the 7 angels.
So this cloud does not fulfill the Angel coming down.
[ Let us assume that the cloud was the Angel coming down. Who did it come down to?
There was nobody at Flagstaff that was spiritual enough to fulfill Scripture. Brother Branham was 200 miles south in Tucson and he knew nothing about the cloud for a few months, until he saw a Photostat that was not a true copy as it introduced light and dark patches that created the image of a face.
Then brother Branham got his facts wrong and thought that the seven angels formed the cloud when they left him on 8 March 1963 and went up into the sky.
He thus thought the cloud went up so he did not think that the cloud could be the Angel coming down.]
Problems began when brother Pearry Green made a Photostat of the cloud from the back cover of Life magazine.
The photostat, for technical reasons, was not a true copy of the cloud photograph as different light and dark patches appeared. In the photostat two eyes and part of a nose appeared as well as a bright light below the cloud.
You must decide what emphasis you put on the photostat, as it changed the original photograph.
But in the photostat you can argue that the cloud looks like a judge’s wig.
If the cloud does form a head, then the face is looking down at the earth.
If there was a body attached to the cloud-head, then the body would be lying parallel to the ground.
The cloud does not form the head of someone who is standing on the earth.
The above picture shows what John saw. The cloud formed the clothes of the Angel and the Angel does not at all look like the cloud that was photographed.
What about the smaller smoke cloud?
In the early afternoon of 28 February 1963 a Thor rocket exploded at Vandenberg Airforce Base in California at a height of 43 kilometers. The wind blew the smoke horizontally from west to east towards Flagstaff in northern Arizona as shown on the next map by the blue dashed line.
The next map just enlarges Arizona.
The arrow shows the movements of the smoke cloud and main cloud, just after sunset. The smaller smoke cloud was about 20 miles behind the moving main cloud.
The only town in front of the two clouds was Winslow.
And this is what baffled Dr McDonald. From photographs taken from Winslow he saw two clouds.
This is what no message people ever seem to refer to. They also do not refer to Dr McDonald’s report on the two clouds. There is no natural explanation for two clouds. That is why he called it a high cloud ring of mystery.
The smoke cloud at the back was from the explosion and the angels formed the main cloud in front.
But the main cloud was 200 miles north of Sunset Peak where brother Branham went hunting six days later on 6 March 1963. The seven angels met him two days later on 8 March in the morning. So the seven angels met him eight days after they formed the cloud.
No cloud was formed on 8 March. Brother Branham just imagined that.
It is necessary to establish further background on high altitude clouds, so that we know what we are talking about.
Normal clouds stop forming above 20 km as there is not enough water vapour to form a cloud.
Between 80 to 85 km we get noctilucent clouds from some tricky chemistry where fragments of water vapour freeze to make tiny ice crystals, that reflect electric blue light because of the very small ice crystals. They form under extremely cold conditions at -123ᵒC as they freeze on tiny particles of space dust or possibly volcanic dust.
But these two clouds were nowhere near that height. So they formed in a cloud-free zone. Smoke and the condensing water vapour in rocket or jet plane exhaust fumes are the only way to get artificial clouds between 20 and 80 km. These condensation trails are called contrails.
Smoke from the explosion only formed the one cloud. There was no evidence of jets or rockets in that area that day.
Air gets thinner as you go higher because it has to spread out further into a bigger volume. Thus high altitude clouds, above 20 km, are too thinly spread out to be visible in sunlight.
In the evening, when the sun sinks over the horizon, then the sunlight misses the lower clouds which become dark and reflect off the high altitude clouds which become briefly visible after sunset. You normally only see satellites around the time of sunset and sunrise.
This next picture is not an actual photograph but a picture to show you how the two clouds, briefly for 28 minutes, became visible over Flagstaff just after sunset.
63-0318 THE FIRST SEAL
I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud:.....
....And he had in his hand a little book opened (Now, the Seals had done been broke here. We're breaking them now; but this, the thing's opened.)... and he set his right foot on the sea, and his left on the earth,
Brother Branham was busy breaking the Seals.
When the Angel comes down the Seals are already broken and opened.
The Angel only comes down after the Seals have been revealed so that the mysteries of Scripture can be understood. Thus the cloud which was seen before the revelation of the seven Seals could not be the Angel.
This creates another problem as the seventh Seal has not yet opened. It cannot. It is just silence. We cannot interpret silence. So where God is silent, we should have the sense to be silent too.
64-0719M THE.FEAST OF THE TRUMPETS
The Seventh Seal hasn't opened yet, you know. That's His Coming.
The Angel can only come down when the seventh Seal has opened. That is some time in the future.
As brother Branham preaches on the seven Seals he is still waiting for the Angel to come down.
63-0318 THE FIRST SEAL
What about the hour has come that when His Bride must be taken away? What, that the hour has come that time shall be no more?
The Angel is ready to set one foot on land and the other on the sea with a rainbow over Him, with feet, and say, "Time's run out." And besides that, He raised up His hand and swore that time would be no more when this happened.
This is 18 days after the cloud was photographed and he says "the Angel is ready" to come down. So it has not yet happened.
Notice. He stresses that the Angel has got feet.
The Cloud cannot be this Angel as the Cloud had no feet, just a head.
The coming of the mysteries has to be finished first. Only then can the Angel appear.
So the Angel cannot come down until after the mysteries are revealed.
63-0317E THE BREACH BETWEEN THE SEVEN CHURCH AGES AND THE SEVEN SEALS
And here He returns back in the 10th chapter after the coming time, that all the mysteries is to be finished, and the Seals are to be broke, and proclaiming that its time is no more. And he said, "When the seventh angel has begin to sound, then the mysteries should be finished and time for the Angel to appear. We're close, somewhere.
A key point is that the Angel only comes down when the mysteries are finished.
The Angel does not come down in order to reveal the mysteries.
Look at this next quote. There was the seventh angel on earth who finished the mysteries. And “then, after that he saw another Angel coming down”.
The mighty Angel only coming down after that the seventh angel was finished revealing the mysteries.
64-0112 SHALOM
But in the seventh hour, the seventh messenger, that all these mysteries should be finished.
The seventh earthly messenger, see, this angel that He speaks of then was on earth. An angel means "messenger." And then, after that, he saw another Angel coming down, not the earthly angel that had been given the Message here, but the (another) mighty Angel came from Heaven with a rainbow over Him, and set His foot on the land and sea, and swore by Him that lives forever and ever, "Time shall be no more."
But before He broke forth on those Seven Seals to reveal them, that He showed miraculous, He showed it first in the heavens.
This is 1964, a year after the cloud. So the Angel only comes down after the seventh angel has finished the mysteries. The mysteries were revealed by December 1965. That is when his ministry ended.
62-1230E IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END SIR
But, this Angel brings the next announcement. And an angel means a "messenger." And He comes down from Heaven, clothed in that Pillar of Light, Cloud, with a rainbow over His head. And a rainbow is a covenant. It was Christ, "With one foot on land, and one on the sea, and swore, that, 'Time will be no more.'"
.......... He come down from Heaven, because the mystery is all finished.
And when the mystery is finished, the Angel said, "Time shall be no more," and Seven Thunders throwed their voices out.
The mighty Angel can only come down because the mystery has been revealed and finished.
The supernatural cloud was a sign in the heavens.
Do not mistake the sign of an event for being the actual event.
64-0112 SHALOM
That day they took pictures all across southern United States and Mexico. There it hangs now in the Life Magazine, still a mystery to them. But He declares it in the heavens before He does it on earth. He always does that. He shows His signs in the heavens first.
So the Cloud of 1963, which never came down and stayed at a height of 27 miles, was a sign in the sky or the heavens.
Brother Branham says the same thing in 1965, five months before he left the earth.
1965-0718M TRYING TO DO GOD A SERVICE WITHOUT BEING THE WILL OF GOD
And then in that great observatory, so that the world will be without, they're still wondering what happened. In Tucson, them big observatories took the picture of it up there; still wondering what happened. What is it? They still put in the paper, "Does anybody know anything about what, how it could have happen?" There is no fog up there, there's no air, there's no moisture; thirty miles high in the air. Oh, my!
"There shall be signs in the heaven above. And when these things take place, earthquakes in divers places, then shall appear the sign in the heaven, of the Son of man."
MATTHEW 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:
This places the Cloud in its Scriptural place. The "sign in the heaven of the Son of man".
A sign in the heavens that God was going to unfold the mysteries so that the seventh angel could fulfill his ministry.
63-0707M THE INDICTMENT
Said, "This is the Scripture! This is that that was spoke of by the prophet! 'I'll pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. On My handmaids and maidservant I'll pour out of My Spirit; and I'll show signs in the heavens above, and on earth; fire, and pillars of smoke, and vapor.'"
“pillars of smoke” would need the Thor rocket to explode in order to make the high altitude smoke cloud to fulfill this prophecy from Joel.
JOEL 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
This next quote complicates things as it makes the Angel come down both for the Bride and the Jews.
So the Angel can only come down just before the Bride gets taken.
1963 BREACH
a rainbow... upon his head,...
If you notice that's Christ (See?), 'cause He in the Old Testament was called the Angel of the Covenant, and He's directly coming to the Jews now, for the Church is finished. See? All right.
... and his face... as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
(Here he says that the Angel comes to the Jews when the church is finished and taken up).
You remember that Angel in Revelations 1? Same thing. Angel is a messenger, and He's a Messenger to Israel. See? The Church has been raptured. See? Now, or fixing to be raptured. He comes for His Church.
The Angel has a ministry to the church that is fixing to be raptured and the Angel is also a messenger to the Jews after the church has been raptured.
So the Angel comes down for the resurrection just before the rapture and then moves on to get the Jews started for their part in the Tribulation, when Daniel said that Michael the Archangel would stand for the Jews.
DANIEL 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
JUDE 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
The Archangel is Jesus in an angelic body.
The Archangel is concerned with the resurrection of the dead. He took the body of Moses away from Satan so that Moses could speak to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
So the mighty Angel of Revelation Chapter 10 is the Archangel.
55-0109E BEGINNING AND ENDING OF THE GENTILE DISPENSATION
"And at that time Michael shall stand, the great prince." Michael was Christ, of course,
So why does the Angel come down to the church? To perform the resurrection.
64-01 19 SHALOM
When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you'll rise up from among the dead.
At the time of the resurrection, the church goes up and the Gospel goes back to the Jews.
Now brother Branham places all of Revelation 10: 1-7 in the future.
FIRST SEAL
All right, reveals all the mysteries that's been in the past, all the things in the past: Revelations 10:1-7. That is to be.
This is 1963 and here he places all of Revelation 10:1-7 in the future.
The Cloud had come and gone. Revelation 10: 1 – 7 still lays in the future.
This is the tricky part.
REVELATION 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10: 7 was not just to reveal the mysteries, which brother Branham did, but also to finish the mystery of God which is for the last age to believe the same as the first age.
Brother Branham cannot do that for us. So brother Branham did his part by telling us what the mysteries mean but we have not yet done our part.
He revealed the mysteries and left his voice on tape. But that was only half of what the verse means.
The Bride has to learn from his quotes how to interpret Scripture so that we can go back to believing the written Word and behaving just like the early church.
First we learn to read, then we read to learn.
First we learn from his quotes how to read the symbols and types and patterns of the Bible so that we can understand its mysteries. Then we read the Bible with those insights so that we can learn more from Scripture. Our insights must always agree with what he early church believed.
Only when the end-time church is restored back to the early church, then the final seed will be just like the seed that was sown. Then the ripe seed is pulled off the dead plant in the harvest and taken up to heaven.
The former rain is the teaching rain.
Brother Branham revealed the mysteries that we need to know for the rapture. But we now have to teach ourselves how to interpret Scripture from his quotes. The seed ripens on a dead church plant until it is exactly the same as the former doctrines of the first church, before truth got lost in the Dark Ages.
Then comes the latter rain, the harvest rain.
The ripe seed that is identical to the original planted seed is pulled off the dead plant.
The latter or harvest rain is when the dead saints from seven church ages are pulled out of their graves. The living Bride is changed by the seven Thunders and then both groups are pulled off the earth up to heaven.
I CORINTHIANS 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
I THESSALONIANS 4:17 we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Our problem is first to spot the resurrection of the church ages saints. That is the only sign that can tell us that the end has arrived. Jesus ascended to Heaven forty days after His resurrection.
Then, if events are reasonably similar to the past, we will have about a similar time period to achieve the changing of our bodies. That is where the seven Thunders play their roles. If we cannot identify them from Scripture we will end up opposing them, which will be a disaster for us. Just like 128 nations at the United Nations opposed President Trump when he wanted to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Showing how blind these nations are to the plan of God.
Only if our bodies change we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
The Bible does not say “in the days of the seventh angel”. That finished in 1965 when he left the scene.
“In the days of the voice of the seventh angel”, while his books and tapes and MP3 players spread his messages, then the Bride will finish the mystery of God by making the end church the same as the first church.
"In the days of the voice of the seventh angel" is a time period that covers the more than 50 years since he left the scene, after leaving us with his voice on tape.
Now, sadly, the “voice of the seventh angel” has been changed to the “Voice of God”. There is no Scripture for the Voice of God in the New Testament. So that is unscriptural. Just like the denominations, message groups are also going unscriptural.
63-0324E THE SEVENTH SEAL
…You notice. Notice now, for the end-of-time message, this Seal. After all, He's revealed all the six Seals, but it don't say nothing about the Seventh. And the end-time Seal, when it starts, will be absolutely a total secret according to the Bible. Before knowing that... And remember, Revelations 10:1, 7 (1-7, chapter 10:1-7) at the end of the seventh angel's message, all the mysteries of God would be known. We're at the end time, the opening of the Seventh Seal.
The mysteries could only be known at the end of the seventh angel’s message. His message was to reveal these mysteries.
He finished preaching in December 1965. By then he understood the mysteries but the Bride did not, especially those who were not yet born.
So God has given us an extension of time so that we can learn from brother Branham's messages how to interpret the mysteries of Scripture in such a way as to end up believing the same as what the first church believed.
REVELATION 10:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
The Book being open actually means that all the mysteries have been revealed. The mysteries were finished by December 1965 when brother Branham understood them and then left the earth. We now have to be able to understand the Bible mysteries as well. Then the Angel can come down.
62-1230E IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END SIR
.......... He come down from Heaven, because the mystery is all finished.
God does not want us to follow a man and just parrot his quotes. We each need to be able to understand the Bible for ourselves. Thus the mysteries have not yet finished for the Bride as we do not yet understand them all. We cannot prove our beliefs from Scripture.
Land and sea. That is where Christians have been buried over the 2000 years of church history.
To stand on something is to claim possession of it.
JOSHUA 1: 1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,
:2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
The Angel is coming down to claim possession of the dead saints who died during the seven church ages. The soles of His feet tread on land and sea.
REVELATION 10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
The lion is the king of the beasts. The Lion of the tribe of Judah roars in triumph as He wins His final victory over death by raising the dead saints in the first resurrection. This will be the final show of power that Jesus has over the Devil.
“cried with a loud voice” is an expression linked to the resurrection of Lazarus.
JOHN 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
JOHN 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
“when He had cried” is an expression that is linked to the resurrection of the Old Testament saints.
MATTHEW 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
MATTHEW 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
MATTHEW 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
MATTHEW 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
This verse of Revelation 10:3 has two expressions which both refer to the resurrection of the dead.
So this mighty Angel comes down to perform the resurrection of the dead.
There will be the sound of a trumpet when the dead rise.
I CORINTHIANS 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
A sign of the times: God uses the word “trump” rather than “trumpet”.
President Trump has played a significant role in the plan of God. He had the courage to made Jerusalem the capital of Israel to fulfill the prophecy of the scattered Jews returning to Jerusalem. Now the end-time events can happen so that Jesus can return to the Jews.
ISAIAH 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.
JOEL 3:1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
God is not impressed with those who have divided up Israel into parts. England gave 78 % of the land of Israel to create Trans Jordan and thus created the Jordanian nation of Arabs. (Shown in green).Then the Golan Heights was given to Syria. (Shown in black). Then the remaining 22 % was divided between the Palestinian Arabs (shown in yellow) and the Jews (shown by the three pieces in red). The big piece of the red at the bottom of the map is actually just the dry and desolate Negev desert. The Palestinian Arabs did not really want that piece.
There was no Palestinian nation, just Arabs who lived in Palestine and were called Palestinian Arabs.
The Palestinian Arabs rejected this plan as they wanted to wipe out the Jews and take over all of Israel.
They declared war in 1948 and against all odds, the Jews won. Thus the Jewish territory spread as is shown by the red on the next map.
Trans Jordan greedily took control of the west bank and East Jerusalem, shown in green on the left of the Jordan river and the Dead Sea. The Palestinian Arabs never complained. Egypt took over Gaza, shown in yellow and the Syrians kept the Golan heights, again with no complaints from the Palestinian Arabs. This occupation only occurred because they had won that territory in the war.
But thanks to the 1948 war of independence, the Jews now had a bigger territory.
ZECHARIAH 8:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
:8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
After the 1967 war the Jews took over Jerusalem and the green area of the west bank of the Jordan river. And the Gaza strip.
ZECHARIAH 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
Most countries will oppose Israel. Jerusalem will be a very contentious topic.
The Arab states refused to accept about 750 000 Palestinian Arabs who were either chased out of the Jewish territory or left of their own accord. This refusal created a refugee crisis that would stir up world opinion against the Jews. The Arabs who stayed in the Jewish territory were accepted as Arab citizens of Israel. Today, 20 % of the citizens of Israel, who have full voting rights, are Arabs.
The Jews absorbed about 800 000 Jews who were chased out of the Arab countries in retaliation. Thus the Jews refused to create a Jewish refugee problem.
The trumpet indicates an alarm. The alarm of war.
JEREMIAH 4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
One thing about President Trump is that he has certainly alarmed the world. Banning many Muslim immigrants to minimize the spread of terror. He fired numerous missiles into Syria when President Assad began using poison gas against the Syrian people. Fortunately, though Assad was very alarmed at these surgically precise demolitions, he had more sense than to start a war. But he stopped using poison gas on the Syrian people.
Then Trump started a trade war with China and other countries. That has caused great alarm.
So it seems that we are getting close to the end time.
When the Bride goes up to Heaven then the awful Tribulation, called the Day of the Lord, with its world-wide wars and horrors will start.
Look at the conditions that will exist as the Tribulation draws near.
ZEPHANIAH 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Against high towers. Think of the Twin Towers that were destroyed by terrorists in two commercial aeroplanes.
:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Again, the trumpet blows as a symbol of alarm.
Thick darkness clouds human thinking because they rejected the revelation of Scripture.
They walk like blind men.
God said the final church of the Laodiceans is blind because they cannot reveal or understand the Scriptures.
REVELATION 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
3: 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
This last church age is in a sad condition. Yet each church thinks that they are right with God.
ISAIAH 28: 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
All of our human efforts to justify ourselves and our church always fall short. The rags of our own church-righteousness cannot cover our faults. We end up believing what the church says, not what the Bible says.
Laodicea. The church age that is rich and increased in goods and has need of nothing. Smugly self-satisfied, they need no correction. They accept no correction from the Scriptures. They do not listen to anyone outside their church.
Each church only listens to its human pastor.
The pastor is the boss and you are forced to agree with him, and you have to stop thinking for yourself if you want to belong to that church.
But pastors disagree with each other. That is why there are 45000 different types of denomination. All different, yet all claiming to be right.
People believe that they are safe because they belong to a church. They just believe what the church believes.
Then they fool themselves that they do not have to prove their beliefs from the Bible because that is too much like hard work.
64-0119 SHALOM
Two lights can't shine at the same time.
There can't be a church light and God's Light shine at the same time. It's got to be God's Light putting out the church light. And that's exactly what's taking place today. God is separating churchism from His Light of the promised Word of this hour that we're living in.
We have to prove what we believe from Scripture as that is the true Light.
65-1128M GOD'S ONLY PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP
Out there in Tucson, is listening in this morning, I once wondered... I've always constraining people, "Go to church, no matter where you go." And I seen the people kind of pulling back, and going this way. And I thought, "What's the matter?"
I went to some of them, "The first day you're there, they'll approach you, 'Join our church.' If you don't do it, you're not welcome." See? See? It's a forced thing, it's forced upon you, see, and that's Babylon. But in Christ, you come in by election; not by force, your heart pulls you in.
God did not put His name then in Babylon. Closely now. He cannot put His Name in Babylon, the churches. Oh, they, they put His Name in there, but He never. No.
You say, "Well, now, Brother Branham!" Wait, wait, just sit still just a minute. You asked me to stay a little longer. All right. Now notice, they put His Name in there, but He didn't.
Many churches lead people to Christ for an individual salvation experience. That is good. But after that each church forces you to believe what they believe. If you disagree with them, your opinion is not wanted and soon they make you realize that you are not wanted.
Being forced or pressured into believing something is the mark of the beast.
The beast spirit relies on forced conformity to the pastor’s beliefs. Individuals who disagree are not wanted.
65-1128M GOD'S ONLY PROVIDED PLACE OF WORSHIP
Now, He said, "The place that I'm going to meet you and receive your sacrifice is where I choose to put My Name. You come in at this gate, this door where I choose to put My Name. There's where you come."
Well, they put, "This is the Church of Christ." If there's anything that's wrong in that declaration, it left out one word: "anti." Uh-huh, all that He taught, they disagree with It. Modern Pharisees.
As soon as a church disagrees with Scripture it becomes antichrist. The pastor is a Pharisee.
The word Pharisee can be made to mean Phar- I - see or Far-I-see. The pastor splicing and interpreting quotes to see far into a mystery that is not even written in the Bible, just like his version of the seven Thunders. Ask him what the difference between the third and the fourth Thunders are. The seven Thunders were never written so they cannot refer to seven things that are written in the Bible.
The Pope also believes mysteries that are not written in the Bible like Trinity, purgatory, Christmas, and Lent etc.
So believing in what is not written in the Bible cannot put you in God’s will.
But God promised a breakthrough and a strange work that will come to pass.
ISAIAH 28:21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
Perazim means a breach or breakthrough where David defeated the Philistines. Palestine was named after the Philistines by the Roman emperor Hadrian in 135 AD when he scattered the Jews out of Israel.
Apply that verse to our day.
Today the Jews are fighting the Palestinians just like they fought the Philistines.
Breakthrough. In 1967 the radar in Jordan picked up the 200 Jewish planes that were flying to attack Egypt. The previous day the Egyptians changed their military code but never updated Jordan. Thus Egypt could not be warned. Six Egyptian airfields and 300 hundred Egyptian planes were destroyed. Destroying the enemies’ air cover, gave the Jewish ground troops the ability to break through the enemy ground forces.
The ground war would last five more days, but that first day actually won the war. The real breakthrough was the destruction of the Arab air forces.
The men of Gibeon, scared of Joshua’s reputation as a mighty general, deceived Joshua into signing a peace treaty. These men claimed they were from far away when they were just next door.
Deception was again used by the Palestinian leader Arafat after the 1967 six day war that the Jews won. Realizing that the Israeli Defence Force was too strong to fight, he invented the myth that the Arabs who lived in Israel were a separate Palestinian nation, that had never previously existed. Based on this false claim, the Palestinian Arabs then demanded a homeland in Israel for the Palestinian nation. Palestine, during the 400 years that it was ruled by the Ottoman Turks, had always been regarded as part of southern Syria. The Arabs who lived there had always been called Palestinian Arabs.
The world fell for Arafat’s deception and demanded that tiny Israel must give up its territory to create a 23rd Arab state.
The Arabs in their existing 22 states already have an area bigger than Europe.
Getting back to Joshua.
Five local kings of southern Canaan combined to attack Gibeon because of their peace treaty with Joshua.
But Joshua, helped by a miraculous hailstorm, smashed them. Joshua then commanded the sun to stand still on Gibeon to give them enough time to destroy the enemy until they were consumed.
JOSHUA 10: 20 And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.
So God has promised that He is going to do a strange work with a strange act in Israel. God had interfered with Nature in a strange way for Joshua. But Isaiah is writing more than 700 years after Joshua. So Isaiah was prophesying of future events.
Already we have seen something strange.
Trump became American President with no previous political experience. All the professional polls showed that he would lose. Yet he won. Then with great courage he stood up against the vast majority of the United Nations to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The vote in the United Nations was 128 - 9 against Trump.
But God had promised that the scattered Jews would be gathered and given the land of Israel.
So God allowed Trump to win the election against all odds. That was a very strange event.
Trump had the courage that Obama and Bush and Clinton lacked. He made Jerusalem the capital of Israel against world opinion.
While people were pointing out Trump's faults, they failed to see that prophecy was being fulfilled.
EZEKIEL 11:16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
Despite his character and life being regularly shredded in the world media, Trump bravely helped to fulfill this ancient prophecy that the Jews would return to their Promised Land, when he declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel.
Nobody ever thought that Trump would be God’s man for this hour. God certainly worked in a strange way.
The Tribulation, which is the Day of the Lord, starts soon after the resurrection of the church age saints.
I THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The shout must be brother Branham’s revelation of the mysteries of Scripture. This is not just emphasizing the teaching years of brother Branham’s ministry from 1947 -1965.
By 1965 he understood the revealed mysteries of the Bible, but the Bride of Christ did not. Many, if not most Bride members were only born after 1965. Andrew was the only disciple of John the Baptist who became a disciple of Jesus. So knowing brother Branham well gives no advantages to a person.
Two faithful disciples of John came to question Jesus as to whether He was the Messiah. So they believed John’s quote when John made that serious mistake. They believed in being faithful disciples of John and that mindset ended up with them repeating a wrong quote. They thought they were not allowed to correct the prophet. They had to believe whatever he said.
But Jesus corrected the prophet’s wrong quote by quoting the written Scriptures. Then they walked away from Jesus, while He was speaking the Word, and they faded out of Scripture and were never mentioned again. Walking away from the Word was not wise.
Jesus never criticized John. But these two disciples of John never realized that they were supposed to listen to John and then end up following Jesus. But they serve to warn us about making a similar mistake. Hanging onto a quote or an interpretation of a quote that contradicts Scripture means you prefer the prophet to Jesus. That is not a recipe for success.
Those 18 years from 1947 – 1965 were the “days of the seventh angel” when brother Branham lived on earth and recorded his sermons.
The top-secret tape recorder, invented by the Americans during World War 2 to record secret messages from spies that were sent out at any time of the day or night, was only released to the public in 1947.
Brother Branham was the first preacher to begin recording his sermons in 1947.
REVELATION 10: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel..
This puts an emphasis on the more than 50 years since brother Branham left the scene in 1965. Since then we have only had the voice of brother Branham, originally recorded on tape recorders.
Our function is to get the ideas from his sermons and then prove that the ideas were true by following them through the written verses of the Bible. That way we listen to the prophet’s ideas but we follow them because they are written in the Word. So we end up following Jesus Who is the Word.
Then follows the voice of the Archangel as He raises the dead. This is the mighty Angel of Revelation Chapter 10.
64-0119 SHALOM
But, remember, if it goes plumb into the shadows of death, "I am the resurrection and Life; I'll raise him up again." And when the great Director comes down and bears that stick down, then, "time shall be no more." When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you will rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you'll go in.
Then the living Bride is changed by the seven Thunders which gives them not just rapturing faith, but also the changed bodies to be caught up into the air.
REVELATION 10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Even if you had rapturing faith right now, you could not go up in this body of flesh. You need a new body before you can exercise rapturing faith.
Rapturing faith has been zealously preached by many for 50 odd years, but so far nobody has been raptured. Something is wrong with that doctrine.
Then we come to the trump of God. God’s trumpet calling us up into the air. There will be no rapture until God summons us up with His trumpet.
That will only happen after the resurrection.
So only after the resurrection can you begin to believe in rapturing faith.
“The trump of God”. Again the use of the word “trump”.
God using President Trump as a sign of the times. He made Jerusalem the capital and he has spread the alarm of war. Thus he has done two Scriptural things for God.
He has his faults. Sure. But we forget that Rahab was a harlot. Moses was a murderer, David was a murderer and an adulterer. God blinds the Devil by using unexpected people that we overlook.
JOEL 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
The day of the Lord is the Tribulation. It is getting close.
It is almost as if God is using the very unusual man Trump as a sign that the Tribulation or day of the Lord is close to happening.
What do we know about what the seven Thunders said? Nothing.
63-0324E THE SEVENTH SEAL
One of the mystery of that [seventh] Seal, the reason it wasn't revealed, it was seven thunders that uttered their voices, and there it is perfectly, because nothing knows anything about it; wasn't even written. So we're at the end time; we are here.
REVELATION 10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
We cannot know something about what was not written.
64-0614M THE UNVEILING OF GOD
And he said, "Well, then, them seven thunders, you see," said, "wouldn't them seven thunders blasting out, won't that be a Revelation be give to some man?"
I said, "No, sir, it would be adding something to It or taking Something from It."
It's all revealed in There, and the Seven Seals opened up the revelation of what That was. That's what it was. See, it's still in the Word. You see, you can't get out of that Word. It won't leave the Word. And God's Spirit will never leave that Word. It'll stay right with the Word; blinding some, and open the eyes of others. It'll always do that.
So what did the seven Seals tell us about the seven Thunders?
64-0830E QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.4
Have the seven thunders which equals seven mysteries already been revealed? Were they revealed in the seven Seals, but are yet not known to us as the thunders yet?
No, they were revealed in the seven Seals; that's what the thunders was about.
The seven Seals only revealed what the seven Thunders are about. In other words what their function is.
63-0318 THE FIRST SEAL
Seven thunders of revelation... May He show the Bride how to prepare for the great translation faith.
63-0318 THE FIRST SEAL
But when these seven thunders over in Revelations 10 uttered, he said, "Don't write them at all." They're mysteries. We don't know what they are yet; but my opinion they'll be revealed right away. And when it do, it'll give faith for that rapturing grace for that Church to move out.
The seven Thunders utter after the resurrection to guide the Bride so that she can be changed into a glorified body.
Only then can she be caught up to Heaven.
The seven Thunders are not written in the Bible but they are somehow hidden amongst the Bible symbols.
65-0718E SPIRITUAL FOOD IN DUE SEASON
I always thought it was sealed on the back of the Book and it'd be something wasn't wrote in the Book, but it turned out that it was made known that He cannot do that. It isn't something that's written in the Book... It's something that's been hid in the Book.
And we need to know the Bible well (the former or teaching rain) if we are to recognize the seven Thunders when they happen.
They will utter around the time of the midnight cry that wakes up all the wise and foolish virgins (all the saved Christians). Message people think they know so much, but the Bible says that we all need a wake-up call.
Do not forget. The seven Thunders also utter to the Jews.
63-0321 THE FOURTH SEAL
Now, we had him coming last night with his great sword to kill. We find out that he gets killed with the Sword too, the sword of the Word. God's Word, sharp, two-edged sword slays him, puts him right down. Wait till them seven thunders utter their voices to that group who really can take the Word of God and hand it there. It'll slice and cut. And they can close the heavens; they can shut this or do that, whatever they want to. Glory.
He will be slayed by the Word that proceeds from His mouth; it's sharper than a two-edged sword. They could call for a hundred billion tons of flies if they wanted to. Amen. Whatever they say's going to happen, because it's the Word of God coming from the mouth of God. Amen.
God always... It's His Word, but He always uses man to work it. God could call for them flies down in Egypt, but He said, "Moses, that's your job. I'll just tell you what to do, and you go do it."
The two Jewish prophets, Moses and Elijah, will possess the frightening ability to interrupt nature just by speaking.
REVELATION 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
I KINGS 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
It will take the mysterious seven Thunders to launch them into their incredibly supernatural ministries.
They will be so in tune with God that they will only speak what He tells them to speak.
That is the secret that the Bride has to learn.
We must be so in tune with what is written in the Bible, which is what God has said, if we are to recognize and respond to the seven Thunders when they utter.