Four raptures had taken place already, and there are two more to come. Three of them took place in the Old Testament.
“There’s your three raptures of the New Testament. Three raptures of the Old Testament, all of them past.” (WMB, par 178, RAPTURE.THE.title YUMA.AZ V-5 N-14 65-1204)
THE FIRST THREE RAPTURES
The FIRST RAPTURE was when ENOCH was caught away to heaven before the Flood came in Noah’s days (Genesis 5:24).;The SECOND RAPTURE was when ELIJAH was taken away alive in a chariot of fire (II Kings 2:11) leaving his mantle to Elisha.
The THIRD RAPTURE was when the Old Testament Saints (Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others) rose up from the dead during the time when Jesus shouted with a loud voice at the cross of Calvary. The graves of those saints were opened and their glorified bodies arose and appeared unto many.
MATTHEW 27:50-53 – ”Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 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; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
In order for these O.T. Saints to be transported beyond the curtain of time, their sins had to be totally blotted out. The blood of bulls and goats in the Old Testament never had the power to do that. It just covered their sins temporarily and they always had to offer a sacrifice every year in order to maintain their cleanliness before God. They had to wait for that “Perfect Sacrifice” to come, the “Lamb of God” Himself who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus’ precious Blood finally released them from the guilt of sin. All of mankind’s sin problem was settled when Jesus died at the cross (John 3:16)
THE FOURTH RAPTURE
The FOURTH RAPTURE took place when our Lord Jesus Christ himself finally ascended up into the heavens, as it is written in the Book of ACTS 1:9 to 11- “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
THE FIFTH RAPTURE
The FIFTH RAPTURE, is that which is spoken of in I THESSALONIANS 4:16-18 and I CORINTHIANS 15:51-54, which concerns all the true Bible-believing Christians who had lived from the Day of Pentecost throughout the confines of the Seven Church Ages until this day. This Body of Believers is composed of the saints who died for the Gospel during the Ephesian, Smyrnean, Pergamean, Thyaterian, Sardisean, Philadelphian and Laodecian church ages, along with the living saints that are still in our age, the Laodecian Church Age. All these saints are bound to meet the Lord in the air comes rapture time. They are the ones who are spoken of in “the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air”.
Only the wise virgins are considered in this FIFTH RAPTURE. These are those who have received “OIL” in their lamps, which is the “Baptism of the Holy Ghost,” by heeding and believing this End Time Message and hearing what the Spirit speaketh through the Seventh Angel Messenger of this age. This “OIL” is the basic requirement for one to go in the Rapture.
Read how Brother Branham explain these things to us:
“Looky here. Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Lutherans by the hundreds is coming in seeking the Holy Ghost. Strange. That’s right. Hundreds and hundreds of denominational people coming in, seeking the Holy Ghost. Don’t you know Jesus said when the sleeping virgin come to buy oil, it was that very hour that the—the Bridegroom come? When she come, and said, “Let us have some of your oil,” said, “We just have enough for ourselves. Go buy.” And when she went to buy the oil (the sleeping virgin) then the Bridegroom come, and the Bride went in. Now, there’s never been a time that we’ve ever knowed that the denominational world has been wanting the Holy Ghost until right now.” (Uncertain Sound, Spokane, 62-0714)
“The very minute that outside denominational world begins to receive this Message, that’s exactly the hour He’s coming. When they—when they went, the sleeping virgin realized she didn’t have any oil in her lamp. And when she come to knock on the door to get it, that was exactly when the Bride went out, when the wise virgin left. That’s right. They didn’t get in. No. They won’t have the opportunity to, (the) time the message gets around, the church will be gone. So if they’re trying to get in right now, how close are we? When we see as it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of man.” (ONLY BELIEVE title CHICAGO.IL 61-0427)
This End Time Message has now been made available on-line to give the elect of God the required “OIL” for the Rapture. Believe it and be considered worthy to be able to escape the wrath of God that’s to be poured out upon this wicked and adulterous generation.
Here are some more quotations from the Messenger of this age concerning the Rapture:
“The time is at hand, church. The time is at hand. Don’t—don’t—don’t wait any longer. See, how do you know the rapture’s not going on all the time? First thing you know it’ll be past, one disappearing here, and there. It’ll be gone the first thing you know, and you’ll—judgment will strike the world. You say, “Well, I thought this…” “It’s too late now.” You remember, they didn’t know it until the day they entered into the ark, and then it was too late. The foolish virgin didn’t know until she come back and found the wise virgin gone. Then she was left for the tribulation period. No good teacher believes that the church, the bride… The church goes through the tribulation, but not the bride. The church goes through for purification, sure, under the sixth seal. Right. Israel does the same thing, for the hundred and forty-four thousand, but not the bride. There’s… The bride’s forgiven. She goes straight to glory in a rapture. That’s right. She’s… My opinion, the last member will be caught up one of these days. It might come, and you wouldn’t know nothing about it. Remember, it’s a secret, secret catching away. He’ll come an hour that you think not. You won’t know nothing about it; she’ll be gone, be too late then.” (GOD HIDING HIMSELF IN SIMPLICITY title ALBQ.NM 63-0412E)
“He makes three comings. He come in three Son’s Names. He come in a trinity, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. See? All of it the same Christ, the same God all the time. Now, we know He come to bring three works of grace: Justification, Sanctification, Baptism of the Holy Ghost. Every thing in God is completed in threes. And so He come first to redeem His Bride; He come second as a rapture to take away His Bride; He comes third with His Bride, King and Queen. After… That’s when many people are expecting the coming. But when He comes this time, hardly none but those who are ready will know when He comes. There’ll just be an absence of people. They won’t know what happened to them. They’ll just be caught away in a moment. And that… They’ll just come up missing, changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye. So just be ready for that. It’d be horrible some morning to miss a loved one, no one can find them. Wouldn’t it be too bad to know it’s done past and you missed it? So just keep before God.” (BROKEN CISTERNS title JEFF.IN V-5 N-13 64-0726E)
“Well, you say, “Oh, my, there is no need of me trying.” That shows you haven’t got the kind of faith you need. “If there’s just going to go, be one, that’ll be me (Amen.), ‘cause I believe.” See? That’s the way you want to believe it. “Be me.” Sure. I want to live so close to Him that I know He’s going to take me when He comes; I believe it. So if there—if everybody else misses it, I’m going to be there by His grace, ‘cause He promised me that, and I know that I—I’ll be there, ‘cause He can’t lie, and I know my soul and life bears record, and I try to live daily just like He was coming, so I—I’m—I’m going to be that one. That’s the way you want to feel. If there’s going to be eight, I’ll be one of that eight; going to be five hundred, I’m going to be one of that five hundred. Don’t know about the other fellow, but I want to be one of that five hundred. You see? See? That is the way you want to remember it. See? And if you don’t remember it like that, there’s something wrong with your faith. See, you’re not sure you are saved yet then. You’re just guessing at it. Don’t do that.” (THIRD SEAL THE.title JEFF.IN 63-0320)
THE SIXTH RAPTURE
THE SIXTH RAPTURE will transpire when the Two Witnesses (Moses and Elijah) of Revelation 11 will have come to Israel to call out the 144,000 Jews back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember that the Jews were blinded to this truth until the fullness of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Moses and Elijah will come to Israel to testify to them about Jesus Christ being their true Messiah. They will show signs and wonders following their ministry.The AntiChrist will hate these two prohets and will kill them, but God will raise them up again after three days and be caught up into heaven. Make no mistake about it. Here it is written in REVELATION 11:3-12:
“And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy (Elijah): and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will (Moses). And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”
“Now, as soon as this Church, the Bride is drawed together, she’s taken up; in that mystery of the Seventh Seal, or the Seventh Seal, the mystery going. And the JEWS is called by the mystery of the SEVENTH TRUMPET, which is TWO PROPHETS, Elijah and Moses. And they come back, and there’s where the Pentecostals is all mixed up. They’re looking for something to happen, and the Church is done gone, and that’s to the Jews.” (FEAST OF THE TRUMPETS JEFF.IN V-3 N-16 64-0719M)
Now, these two prophets, what will they do? It’s Moses and Elijah. They’ll rise on the scene. They’ll tell those Jews their mistake. And out of that Jewish bunch that’s there now to be the 144,000, God will call with these prophets… What is it? The Spirit of Elijah off of this Gentile church will just continue right on into that Jewish church, go right on in and call Moses with him. Hallelujah. You see it? And he’ll preach the same message of Pentecost to those Jews, that they rejected the Messiah. Amen. You see it? It’ll be the same Pentecostal message that these Jews will preach right over to them. And they’ll hate those Jews so bad till they’ll kill them. And they were hated by all nations, and in the midst of the week… Because that they’d raised up a great powerful 144,000… They had the Holy Ghost, and brother, you talk about doing miracles; they did them. They stopped the heavens, and it didn’t rain in the days of their prophecy, smote the earth with plagues as oft they wanted to. They give plagues and everything else. They’ll give them Romans a hard way to go. But finally they’ll be killed. Our God is a terrible God when He’s angry. But remember, that’s over in the seventieth week, and the church in glory. Amen. The wedding supper’s going on. Yes. Now, notice. That’s where we seen her coming back to the millennial temple over here at the end of the Jewish age—the anointed. Here He come riding on a white horse; those followed Him on white horses (horse, powers), dressed in white, blood—or vesture dipped in blood, wrote on Him, “The Word of God.” He cometh, the mighty Conqueror (Yes, sir.) to set up the millennium—coming to the temple. Glory. There He meets that 144,000. (SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL.title JEFF.IN DA 89-141 61-0806)
And have power over the waters to turn them to blood and to smite the earth with plagues as oft as they will... What is it? What can bring these things but the Word? They can do nature anyway they want to. Here it is. They’re the one who brings on this Sixth Seal. They uncover and open it up. It’s the power of God to interrupt nature. See, the Sixth Seal, is completely an interruption of nature. Do you get it now? There’s your Seal. Who does it? It’s the prophets the other side of the rapture. With the power of God, the Word of God, they just condemn nature. They can send earthquakes, turn the moon into blood, the sun can go down or anything at their command. Amen. There you are. There you are. See? See how the Seals opened down there in the church age, how it showed the martyrs? And now here’s these two prophets standing here with the Word of God to do anything to nature they want to, and they shake the earth. And it shows exactly who does it. It’s Moses and Elijah, ‘cause there’s their ministry reimpersonated again: both men. Oh, my. Do you see it now? See what the Sixth Seal is? It’s those prophets. (SIXTH SEAL THE.title JEFF.IN 63-0323)
THE SHOUT, THE VOICE & THE TRUMPET
There are the THREE SIGNS that we need to watch out concerning the RAPTURE. While Jesus is coming down to earth, He does all three signs. Revelation 10:1 to 7 parallels with this event. This event is also known as the SEVENTH SEAL, the coming of the Lord. Notice that in the sventh seal (Rev 8:1) there was silence, a hush in heaven, no angel singing or praising, for almost the space of half an hour, because Jesus at this time comes down to earth to finish all His remaining plans for mankind.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God…” (I Thessalonians 4:16)
The “SHOUT” refers to an “END TIME MESSAGE” that will prepare the elect, the Bride of Christ, for the coming Bridegroom. “Come out from among them (denominations), My people, and be not partakers of her (Whore and Harlot’s) sins and that ye receive not of her plagues,” is the shout of the seventh angel, the cry of this last age. The Bride is now being separated from all man-made creeds and dogmas, for Christ wants her virgin to the Word. Not a whore or a prostitute. No, Christ will not marry a denominational pervert. He will come for a Word-Bride, those who stayed pure with the teachings of the Bible.
The “VOICE” here is the voice of the SEVENTH ANGEL as spoken of in 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”. This seventh angel is none other than the seventh messenger to the seventh church age of Laodicea, which is William Marrion Branham. He was the one commissioned by God to reveal all the mysteries hidden in the seven seals.
The third symbol, the “TRUMP” of God signifies two things: (1) “CALLING TO A FEAST” or a (2) “PREPARATION FOR BATTLE”.
Once you receive the revelation of this Endtime Message, you enter into both “dimensions” of feasting and warring. One, when you have been converted and been born again by the Message, you have become a “rapture-bound” creature, bound to go into the Wedding Feast in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb of God in heaven once rapture time takes place. Two, you have been enlisted into God’s spiritual army and you have become a Christian soldier summoned to fight a SPIRITUAL BATTLE against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Religious denominations will begin to hate you. Just like how those Pharisees and Saduccees hated Jesus and His Message in His days, these denominational organizations will also persecute the true Bride of Christ today and will destroy her influence. They will call you bad names such as “holy rollers”, “cult”, “heretic”, for the main reason that this End Time Message exposes their folly of man-made traditions, systems, dogmas and creeds, against the Word. But as Jesus told His apostles, “If the Master of the House was called a “Beelzebub”, a servant is not greater than His Master”.
Truly, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. There’s no question about it. The children of disobedience will call you all kinds of evil things but the Bride of Christ is rest assured by revelation, that Jesus will take her out of this world to be with Him in glory. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.
SIGNS THAT THE RAPTURE IS AT HAND
In Matthew 24, Jesus gave the apostles numerous signs relating to His second coming. He told them that “this generation shall not pass away until all things be fulfillled.” He was referring to the generation that will see Israel “the Fig Tree” put forth its leaves. When Israel becomes a nation again, we are told to look up for our redemption draweth nigh. This generation that will see Israel become a nation will not pass away until all things be fulfilled.
Israel has been back as a nation since 1948. After years of sojourning, God had forced the Israeiltes back to their homeland by hardening the hearts of Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini during the second world war to pressure them and kick them out of Europe and Russia. Israel has her own flag, the Star of David, which is considered to be the oldest flag in the world. She has her own military, monetary system, and economy. Israel has had her Jubilee in 1998. The rapture is already long overdue. But the Bible reminds us about the days of Noah when the ark was closed, yet it did not rain until after seven more days. These silent days were known to be as “preaching to the lost”, and the “third pull”. No one can enter, and no one can get out anymore. “Let the filthy be filthy still, and let the holy be holy still”. William Branham, the last messenger to the Gentile church age, was taken by God off the scene in December of 1965. It was 40 years already in December of 2005 since then. Laodicean Age, which started in 1906, had her centennial celebration last 2006. It’s later than we think.
AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF SODOM AND NOAH’S, SO SHALL IT BE IN THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
It is predicted that in the days when the Son of Man will return, the condition of the world will be like “as it was in the Days of Sodom”. Immorality and moral decay shall abound. Isn’t that the very scenario of our world today?
God destroyed the world by flood during the first 2000 years in the days of Noah. He also destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire because man’s thoughts were continually evil.
MATTHEW 24:37-39, “But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
We see the same signs in the world today that she’s ripe for judgment. The rapture will come anytime now. Read Matthew 24 and Luke 21 for they cover most of the signs that signal Jesus’ second coming in our generation.
