MESSAGE 101
One thing that I have noticed in my dealings with
message people over the last seven years is that we tend to fall into two
extremes. There are those among us that use quotes almost exclusively and ignore
the written word. And those that use the written word only and don’t know much
of what the prophet said.
Both of theses extremes are detrimental to
spiritual growth. We should look at the spoken and the written word as the two
sights on the shotgun, if the gun is true and you line them up, you’ll hit
dead center every time.
Once the government built a harbor for ships. It
was called Omega harbor because of its shape. There was a dangerous and narrow
entryway into the harbor. The channel was rocky on both sides. To assist the
mariners that steered into the harbor they built two lighthouses. The only way
to steer safely into Omega harbor was to line up your boat so that the two
lights became ONE light. These two lights type the written and the spoken word.
If we interpret the written word by the prophet and also take what the prophet
said and confirm it in scripture, it becomes ours forever and we will not be
moved from it.
This is the reason for this paper, I wanted to give
an intelligent and straightforward SCRIPTURAL argument for what we believe so
that we may witness more effectively. As the scripture says:
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
So here I will give a scriptural argument for the
message. And a Scriptural defense for the common objections to it. Now we know
there are SOME that will reject it and call you a devil even if you CONCLUSIVLY
PROOVE the truth. But I give EVERY denominational or fundamentalist or
charismaniac the same challenge…you take this little blue book here…[the
church age book]…and if you can use the standard rules of bible interpretation
and the laws of evidence that stand in our courts, and if you can show me by the
KING James bible that this book is NOT absolutely thus saith the lord I’ll
become what you are whether Baptist, Pentecostal, charismaniac or whatever,
I’d even become [God forbid] a Roman Catholic if THEIR truth can disprove OUR
truth! To date, nobody has ever taken me up on the challenge or even tried yet
because they KNOW it can’t be done.
OUR message is 100 percent truth. What fascinates
me is that everything else points to it and proves it true again. You look to
the stars and the message is there. If you count the numbers, the message is
there. Every historic fact types it. Every newspaper proclaims the message of
the hour daily without even knowing it. Holy ghost eyes see Christ everywhere. He shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Today he shows himself alive, speaking this WORD in this hour. HE is so
alive in it and it’s truth. He is showing THIS living word to be alive! What a
day we live in!
So lets begin with the basic truth we believe that
William Marrion Branham fulfilled all the scriptural requirements and that HE
alone is the Elijah prophet predicted in Malachi FOUR. So let us examine it!
Malachi 4:1-6
For, behold, the day cometh,
that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them
neither root nor branch. But unto you
that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing
in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow
up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they
shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in
the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him
in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the LORD And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The traditional denominational interpretation is to
call this “Elijah prophet” John the Baptist, or to say this scripture refers
to that future Elijah prophet that comes to the Jews during the tribulation
period. But if we LET SCRIPTURE INTERPRET SCRITURE we
see that neither one of these can be correct!
What else does the scripture say about the
“Elijah prophet?” Here is what Jesus had to say about it:
And his disciples asked him, saying, why
then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said
unto them, Elias truly shall first come,
and restore all things. But I say unto you, that
Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him
whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then
the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.
LOOK AT IT! ELIJAH SHALL COME and ELIJAH HAS COME!
This was spoken AFTER the Baptist had been killed. Jesus refers to the coming of
Elijah in FUTURE tense and also gives us ANOTHER CLUE in that he says that the
Elijah that is to come will RESTORE ALL THINGS! So what is Jesus saying? There
are either TWO Elijah’s he speaks of OR Jesus is a liar!
So Jesus says that Elijah will restore all things.
What is THIS event called “the restoration of all things?” Here is the
prophet Peter in Acts 3:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord.
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all his holy prophets since the world began.
Peter tells us about the same event that Jesus
spoke of called the “restitution of all things.” Jesus
told us the WHO and peter tells us the WHEN of
this event. Jesus said that the ELIJAH prophet that is to come would be
responsible for this ministry? Peter said that this ministry would happen BEFORE
the return of Jesus Christ. SO could the prophet of Malachi four POSSIBLY be
John the Baptist? NO! Jesus said Elijah would restore all things and Peter tells
of the same restoration as a future event, several years after the Baptist had
died!
So what is this restoration of all
things?
The word in the Greek is “Apokatistasis,” which is a combination of three
Greek words; apo, to separate or “pull out,” Kata, which means to set down,
and stasis, which means to stand up.
So here we have a prophet like Elijah, which will
“pull out” a people from an established belief that is wrongly held to be
correct. THAT SOUND LIKE AN EXODUS!
You have to have a falling away then FROM the truth
before there can be a restoration TO the truth. This is the falling away that
Paul spoke of in Thessalonians Let no man deceive
you by any means: for that day [meaning
the day of the LORD] shall not come, except there come a falling away first,
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
So remember that JESUS said that ELIJAH would
restore all things BEFORE the Lord comes. Peter said heaven must receive JESUS
until the times of restitution of all things, or Jesus WONT return until the
restoration. ELIJAH does HIS JOB or Jesus won’t come!
So we place this Elijah type prophet in time
SCRIPTUALLY after the falling away of the church from the truth. And BEFORE the
“great and dreadful day of the LORD.”
So then WHEN is this day of the LORD? IS it a
24-hour day? NO!
Remember this: when the Hebrew scripture use the
word we call “day,” it is the word “YOWM,” and it can refer to a 24 hour
day OR a space of time. We use it the same way when we say for instance back in
grandpa’s “day.” We don’t mean grandpa lived his 70 years in a 24 hour
day! When the Old Testament places a DEFINATE article in front of the word
“yowm” it means a literal 24-hour day. But when it does NOT have a definite
article day means a space of time or an age.
So we see that “Elijah” of Malachi four comes
before a day of the Lord, or a space of time that is called both great and
dreadful! This could ONLY BE THE GREAT TRIBULATION PERIOD!
But lets remember the rules use SCRIPTURE to
interpret SCRIPTURE because NO scripture is of any PRIVATE interpretation! So
what does scripture say about the “day” of the LORD?
It is “GREAT,” meaning large or
“noteworthy” and it is “dreadful” meaning it is a FEARSOME time of GREAT
judgment. Jeremiah said of it in Chapter 30:
Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it:
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
So we see THAT DAY is a span of TIME, which is
called Jacob’s Trouble.
Zephaniah calls it the day of the Lords wrath,
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. 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, A day of the trumpet and alarm
against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 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. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in
the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of
his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in
the land.
WHAT ELSE COULD THIS BE BUT THE GREAT TRIBULATION?
So then This “Elijah” of Malachi four, which
Jesus said would restore all things, COMES BEFORE THE TRIBULATION PERIOD!
Therefore this “Elijah” prophet CANNOT be the Elijah that most bible
scholars agree comes DURING the tribulation period.
For one thing look again at Malachi 4:5-6
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before
the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD And he
shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
The word said HE not THEY, when it refers to the
prophets of the tribulation it ALWAYS refers to TWO of them as in Rev. 11:3;
And I will give power unto my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth.
The prophet of Malachi four comes alone and comes
BEFORE the awesome day of the LORD. Also the “Elijah” prophet of the time of
wrath will not restore anything. The ministry of the two witnesses in the
tribulation is the death witness required by law in Deuteronomy 17:6
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three
witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of
one witness he shall not be put to death.
This is the reason that God send Two major prophets
at the same time, ONLY IN THE LAST DAYS, WHEN MEN HAVE TOTALLY REJECTED HIS
TRUTH. God is not going to break his own law and put MILLIONS to death at his
coming without sending two witnesses!
Therefore the “Elijah” of the tribulation does
NOT have a restoration ministry, but rather a DECLARATION ministry. This Elijah
is a tormentor, not a restorer. In Revelation
Now go back to what PETER said about this
restoration of all things
Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord.
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Whom the heaven must receive until the
times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all his holy prophets since the world began.
Peter then in perfect agreement with Jesus ties
this future restoration of truth to the ministry of a prophet
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A
prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like
unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet,
shall be destroyed from among the people.
What doest it mean to be a “prophet like
MOSES?” WHAT DID MOSES DO? He called a people out of a people!
So this “Elijah” of Malachi four
will call “a church out of the church” as a part of his restoration of all
things. Remember the word “restitution” means to call out to set down and to
rise up. And remember where scripture places this “Elijah” AFTER THE FALLING
AWAY OF THE CHURCH and BEFORE the great tribulation. Therefore THIS
“ELIJAH”MUST BE A PROPHET SENT TO THE CHURCH AGE!
Moses was vindicated by the presence of the pillar
of fire! So then the Malachi four prophet will have to be vindicated by the
presence of the pillar of fire!
Moses was opposed by the people of God on this
basis; the people REJECTED HIS MINISTRY, claiming that God does not use a single
man to lead his people. Therefore all the followers of this “restoration
prophet,” of this “Elijah” prophet who peter calls a prophet “like
Moses” will be falsely accused of following a man instead of God. This false
accusation will come FROM within THE CHURCH!
Now, Lets look at some of the other things that the
Malachi four prophet would do: But
unto you that
fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings;
and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Notice that it said unto you “that fear my
name,” this is a phrase that is exclusively
used of the believing gentiles. As the Jews say, “house of Aaron,
house of Jacob and all those who ‘fear his name.’” Therefore we can assume
that the Malachi Four prophet is SENT TO THE GENTILES!
Look at the phrase “those that fear his name”
from the context of Malachi
This is obviously the bible we have today because
the Jews did not have a book, and they did not baptize in the name.
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth
his own son that serveth him.
The day that he makes up HIS JEWELS is the church
ages according to peter “To whom coming, as unto a living stone,
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, also, as lively
stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
So the book was written in the day that God made up
his “jewels.” His jewels are those who offer spiritual sacrifices BY JESUS
CHRIST. Therefore the ones that “Fear
his name” in Malachi
So the argument that Malachi four is sent to the
Jews is invalid in its context. The “you” to whom Malachi four is sent is to
the gentile bride of the church age!
There are two other things to note in Malachi
concerning this prophet. He would be sent WITH A HEALING MINISTRY! But
unto you that fear my
name shall the Sun of righteousness arise
with healing in his wings.
This further rules out John the Baptist because
John
Note also that “the people of God who feared his
name” would “grow up as calves of the stall” Calves in the stall refer to cattle that are NOT allowed to graze. These
are cows that ONLY eat STORED UP FOOD. Therefore since food is a type of the
“Word of God,” we see that the spiritual nourishment of the followers of the
prophet of Malachi four would “eat food” that is stored in the silo.
This means that the “Elijah” prophet of Malachi four would have some kind of
record of his sermons made. Malachi four would then have to have his
messages either written or recorded for his followers to use after his
departure.
So we have learned that the malachi four prophet
is:
Not john the Baptist
Not the Elijah of the tribulation
He would come with a healing ministry
He would restore lost truths
He would come to the gentile bride in
the church age
He would call out a people from the
established church
Who else could Malachi four be but William Branham?
So there you have it, the ministry of William
Branham, preached from the bible only, without a single quote to give an answer
to your denominational friends.
Author Unkown