William Marrion Branham
William Branham (we call him Brother Branham) began his life in the Spring of 1909. He was born into the poorest of families, deep in the hills of southern Kentucky. Within minutes of his birth in a tiny one-room cabin, a strange Light entered the room and hovered over the bed where he was laying. It was the beginning of a supernatural life that would change the face of the modern Christian world.
With an alcoholic father and little to no religion at home, he didn’t have much of a chance. Yet, against all odds, Brother Branham grew up to be a mighty man of God. At about 38 years old, he was praying in a small trapping cabin just north of his home in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was then, late into the night, that the Angel of the Lord visited him and gave him the commission to pray for the sick.
Among other things, the Angel told him:
“If you get the people to believe you, and be sincere when you pray, nothing shall stand before your prayers, not even cancer.”
All the doubts were gone. Brother Branham now had his commission and boldly stepped forward. A world-wide healing revival had begun.
Brother Branham’s ministry marked the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit since the day of Pentecost. Hundreds of thousands attended the Branham campaigns. Thousands were healed in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other evangelists such as Oral Roberts, T.L. Osborne, and A.A. Allen soon followed Brother Branham and started their own healing revivals. The Lord rained down His blessings like never before. The healing hand of Jesus Christ had once again touched His people.
Brother Branham’s ministry had no equal. He proved that Jesus Christ is as alive today as He was when He walked the shores of Galilee. Like the apostle Paul, Brother Branham showed that the Gospel is not in word only, but also in power! Revelation of the hidden mysteries and the manifested power of God had come together in one, very special ministry. Notably, as the scribes recorded the sermons of the biblical prophets, his sermons were recorded onto magnetic tape. Today, we cherish those recordings.
Brother Branham passed away as a result of a tragic car crash in December, 1965. God took His servant home, but He left us with those precious recordings that we hold so dear to our hearts.
How did William Marrion Branham die?
On December 18, 1965, Branham and his family—except his daughter Rebekah—were returning to Jeffersonville, Indiana, from Tucson for the Christmas holiday.[121] About three miles (4.8 km) east of Friona, Texas, and about seventy miles (110 km) southwest of Amarillo on US Highway 60, just after dark, a car driven by a drunken driver traveling westward in the eastbound lane collided head-on with Branham’s car.[172] He was rushed to the hospital in Amarillo where he remained comatose for several days and died of his injuries on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1965.
When did William Branham die?
24 December 1965
Where did William Branham die?
Amarillo, Texas, United States
The spirit of Elijah, and the spirit of Jesus
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.” (Mt 11:11).
The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.
Why?
Because every true Christian has the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which is far greater than the spirit of Elijah!
Why would we need the spirit of Elijah when each believer possesses something greater?
Are we falling short of what God intended for believers by looking for the spirit of Elijah when, in fact, we possess something much greater? Are we really living and attaining to the level of spiritual life that God intends for us?
Malachi 4 vs. Malachi 3
William Branham stated that John the Baptist fulfilled Malachi 3 but did not fulfill Malachi 4.
However, Jesus told his disciples, referring to John, that “if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.” (Matt 11:14)
The problem is that there is only one reference to Elijah in Malachi, and that is in Malachi 4. So how could William Branham’s interpretation that John did not fulfill Malachi 4 be correct if Jesus specifically referred to John the Baptist as Elijah, a direct reference to Malachi 4?
Scriptures
Matthew 11:!4
And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.
Mark 9:11-13
Then they asked him, “Why do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?” He said to them, “Elijah does indeed come first, and restores all things. And why is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be despised? But I tell you that Elijah has certainly come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”
Luke 1:13
William Branham said:
“Not for one moment do I bring a message to the people that they may follow me, or join my church, or start some fellowship and organization. I have never done that and will not do that now. I have no interest in those things, but I do have an interest in the things of God and people, and if I can accomplish just one thing I will be satisfied. That one thing is to see established a true spiritual relationship between God and men, wherein men become new creations in Christ, filled with His Spirit and live according to His Word. I would invite, plead and warn all to hear His voice at this time, and yield your lives completely to Him, even as I trust my heart that I have given my all to Him. God bless you, and may His Coming rejoice your heart.”
EARLY LIFE AND CONVERSION
William Branham was born April 6, 1909 in a log cabin in the Kentucky hills, the first of nine children of Charles and Ella Branham. Reared near Jeffersonville, Indiana, he knew only a life of deep poverty and hardship, his father being alcoholic and illiterate. Compounding these circumstances, the young boy was considered “nervous”, because from an early age he spoke of “visions” and “a voice” which spoke to him out of a wind, saying, “Don’t ever drink, or smoke, or defile your body in any way. There will be a work for you to do when you get older.”
William Branham came to know the Lord and was filled with the Holy Spirit in 1931. From that time, the Bible became the focus of his life and Jesus Christ the center of his very existence! He was ordained to the ministry at the age of 23 years, in the Missionary Baptist Church in December of 1932.
VISITATIONS OF AN ANGEL
On June 11, 1933, William Branham was baptizing in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville, Indiana, when a bright fiery light suddenly appeared over his head and a voice spoke out, “As John the Baptist was sent to forerun the first coming of Jesus Christ, so are you sent to forerun His second coming!” The next edition of the Jeffersonville Evening News reported the incident with the subheading, “Mysterious Star Appears Over Minister While Baptizing”.
In May of 1946, he set himself aside to seek God for the meaning of his strange life. As he prayed alone late one night, an angel of light appeared, saying, “Do not fear. I am sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar birth and misunderstood life has been to indicate that you are to take a gift of Divine healing to the peoples of the world. If you will be sincere when you pray and can get the people to believe you, nothing shall stand before your prayer, not even cancer. You will go into many parts of the earth and will pray for kings and rulers and potentates. You will preach to multitudes the world over and thousands will come to you for counsel.”
For half an hour, this angel explained to Brother Branham about the past and told him of his future. He explained why the ministers couldn’t recognize a gift of God in William’s life, yet the devil could. It was the same in Jesus’ day: the religious leaders said Jesus had a devil, yet the devils at Gadara recognized Him (Mark 3:22; John 7:20).
TWO VINDICATED SIGNS
The angel also told Brother Branham that, even as Moses was given two signs to prove he was sent from God (Exodus 4:1-8), so he would be given two signs also. First, he would be able to diagnose diseases by their vibrations, which would cause his hand to swell. If the swelling went down after he prayed upon the person, he could say, “Thus saith the Lord, you are healed.” The angel said that time would come when Brother Branham would be able to discern the very secrets of men’s hearts (Heb 4:12; John 2:24-25).
Millions of people bear record that the words of the angel were fulfilled exactly (as in Acts 27:21-25). As the sign in his hand was manifested, which when seen would raise the people’s faith to be healed, his ministry grew nationwide, then worldwide. Then it came to where the Spirit of Christ would reveal to him the very thoughts of men’s hearts, reveal their needs; reveal unconfessed sins that were not cleansed by the Blood of Jesus Christ; reveal things about their lives that Brother Branham himself couldn’t possibly know. Not mindreading or psychology, but rather he would see a vision of it – the things actually enacted before his open eyes (Joel 2:28). And when he spoke under the anointing, out of hundreds of thousands of times all over the world, the words spoken to total strangers never failed to be exactly the truth. And the prophesies — of healing, of future events, small to great, thousands and thousands and thousands of times – not once was one even partly wrong! It was a literal, “THUS SAITH THE LORD!”
Over the next ten years Brother Branham circled the globe seven times, holding some of the largest meetings in history. Some 100,000 people heard him in Durban, South Africa. Seven truckloads of crutches, wheelchairs, canes, etc.. were hauled away after the healing services.
Many individuals of public influence, including Congressman Upshaw of the U.S.A. and King George VI of England, were healed as a result of his prayers.
WORLDWIDE MINISTRY
As news spread of miraculous healings, pastors from all around began to call Bro. William Branham to minister for their congregations and pray for the sick. A supernatural sign had been given him for the purpose of encouraging the people to believe.
Firstly, a physical sign in his hand would indicate a disease or healing. Later on in his ministry the secret thoughts and needs of individuals were revealed, resulting in faith for deliverance. It became abundantly clear to any serious Bible reader, that William Branham was ordained a prophet to fulfill the many scriptural prophecies concerning our time. Churches could not accommodate the crowds, and the meetings moved to large auditoriums or stadiums for united campaigns in the major cities of North America.
While preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Portland, Oregon, a huge, demon-possessed man strode to the platform, calling Brother Branham a fake, an imposter, a deceiver, threatening to break every bone in his body. As the man drew near to execute his threats, Brother Branham said softly, “Satan, because you have challenged the servant of God – in the Name of Jesus Christ, you shall fall at my feet.” The powerful man struggled to come nearer, but couldn’t. He sank to the floor and had to be carried out by ushers because he fell on his face in front of God’s vindicated servant.
In Bombay, India, where some 400,000 came to hear the Gospel, there was a blind beggar brought before Brother Branham for prayer. In a vision, Brother Branham saw who this beggar was, where he lived, and that he had become blind by staring at the sun, which he worshipped as God. Then Brother Branham challenged the various heathen Indian priests in turn saying, “If your god be God, then come up here at the platform and have him open this man’s eyes and we’ll fall down and worship your god.” None moved. “But if my God, the Lord Jesus Christ, be God and opens this man’s eyes, will you forsake your powerless gods and accept Jesus as your Saviour?” To this they agreed. The reason for this prophet’s fearless confidence was because he had already seen the man healed in a vision, and the these visions never failed him. When the beggar’s eyes came open that he could already see all the people in that meeting, pandemonium broke loose as those poor people strove just to touch Brother Branham to be healed.
It was in Mexico that the simple faith of a woman caused God to work a mighty miracle. The doctor wrote out a sworn statement that her baby had died at 9:00 in the morning of pneumonia, but because she had seen God give a blind man back his sight in Brother Branham’s meetings the night before, she carried her dead baby around all day, believing that if she could just get it to Brother Branham, God would raise it up. That night, where Brother Branham was having a meeting, he saw a vision of a Mexican baby being cuddled by her mother, alive. There he prayed in Jesus’ Name and laid hands on the baby. Immediately the infant began to cry and was restored back to life. The news packed the article and the doctor who issued the death certificate could not believe what had transpired.
THE PILLAR OF FIRE
The photograph at the left with the PILLAR OF FIRE above Brother Branham’s head was photographed at Houston, Texas, in January of 1950. This Light had accompanied Brother Branham since his birth in 1909. And during a 1933 baptismal service at the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, this SUPERNATURAL BEING appeared before hundreds of people saying to him, “As John the Baptist foreran the first coming of Christ, you will forerun His second Coming.” This picture is displayed today at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and was examined and certified as genuine by Mr. George Lacy, a federal examiner of Questioned Documents in the U.S., to be the only authentic documetation of the supernatural in this generation.
A MYSTERIOUS CLOUD
On February 28, 1963, over in Arizona, U.S.A., a constellation of seven angels appeared to Reverend William Marrion Branham in the form of a ring shaped-Cloud (left photo).
These seven angels came from the presence of God revealing to him the hidden mysteries of the Bible which were sealed in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation yet were ordained to be unveiled at the end time. This was to inform the people of God of the perfect will of the Father in preparation for the oncoming millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon this earth.
It was as they left Brother Branham that they formed this mysterious cloud which Life Magazine had featured in their May 17, 1963 issue, and Science Magazine in their April 19, 1963 issue.
The original glossy prints reveal the full face of the Lord Jesus Christ as the picture is viewed from the right side angle “like unto the Son of Man, His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow” (Rev.1:13).
SEVEN SEALED-BOOK OF REVELATIONS UNVEILED
On December 22, 1962, Brother Branham had a vision where he was standing near Tucson, Arizona, picking a sand burr out of his pants leg, when a tremendous explosion occured. He told this vision to his congregation in Jeffersonville, Indiana on the 31st of December (the sermon was tape recorded). Then he moved to Tucson, Arizona.
Over a month later, on February 28, 1963, while out hunting, he noticed a sand burr in his trouser. As he reached to pull it off, a tremendous blast rocked the mountainside. Looking up, he saw seven angels in the form of a pyramid sweeping towards him, and for a time he seemed to be caught up in their midst. These seven angels represents the Seven Messengers to the Seven Church Ages as written in Revelations Chapter 2 and 3.
Then a voice cried out, “Go back east,” and Brother Branham knew it was time for the opening of the mysteries of the Seven Seals in the Book of Revelation (Daniel 12:4,8-9; Rev. 5,6 & 8) which the angels have entrusted to him. The angels returned into the sky and formed a cloud some 50 miles long and 30 miles wide, which was visible for hundreds of miles around.
Many pictures were taken of this peculiar Cloud, some appearing in Life Magazine (May 17, 1963 issue); some in Science Magazine (April 19,1963 issue), along with a scientific report of how it was scientifically impossible for such a cloud to exist. The highest clouds form at about 10 miles, but this phenomenal cloud was 26 miles up, at which altitude water vapor does not exist.
Brother Branham returned to Jeffersonville, Indiana wherein for seven days, as he waited on God, the voice of God spoke out the Pillar of Fire, revealing the exact Truth of the Mysteries sealed up in Revelations 5 through 8; which revelation was contrary to what everyone (including Brother Branham) had previously supposed, yet was perfectly in line with the rest of God’s Word.
As Brother Branham preached seven consecutive nights on these Seals (March 17-24, 1963) his sermons were tape-recorded: Thus the Scripture is fulfilled in our day saying, “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” (Rev. 10:7).
SEVEN VISIONS OF WILLIAM BRANHAM
In the year 1933, God gave Brother Branham a continuous vision of seven major things that must transpire before the Lord Jesus Christ would come again.
The first (1) vision was that he saw a dictator rising up in Italy that would invade Ethiopia. He saw Mussolini and his shameful end where the people turned on him, before it ever transpired in actual event.
The second (2) vision was shown to him by God where he saw a young Austrian named Adolf Hitler who would gain power in Germany and would lead the world into war, but that Germany would be defeated and Hitler would come to a mysterious end.
In the third (3) vision, he saw three great ISM’s in the world: Fascism, Nazism and Communism: but that the first two would be swallowed up into the third one – Communism.
Then on the fourth (4) vision, he beheld the tremendous advances in science that would follow World War II. He saw an automobile looking like an egg that’s being run not by humans but by remote control.
The fifth (5) vision showed him the horrible moral decay of the world, centering mostly around women. He saw women cutting her hair, smoking cigarettes, drinking, wearing pants and indecent clothing. (Remember these five things were shown to him in 1933, years before they occured).
In the sixth (6) vision, he saw a beautiful, yet cruel woman rise in America, dominating the land with authority.
And in the last (7) vision, he saw the land of America in smoldering ruins. As far as the eye could see there was no life, only craters and smoking piles of debris. He also saw Los Angeles, California sank beneath the ocean caused by a major earthquake. Then these visions faded away.
PROPHESY FULFILLED IN OUR DAY
“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7
God’s pattern of dealing with His people has always included the sending of prophets. The prophet Amos informs us that God does “nothing” without a prophetic forerunner, and even a surface study of scriptural history will uncover this to be exactly as stated. Seldom was there a prophet who spoke the words of God who was not greeted with skepticism, rejection and abuse!
CONSIDER these Scriptures on the spirit of Elijah:
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.”
Malachi 4:5 and 6 is two-fold, fulfilled in part in the ministry of John, the Baptist. He preceded the first coming of Jesus Christ, called the “great” day of the Lord, turning the hearts of the fathers of the “law” to the children of the New Testament era of “grace.”
As stated in Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary on the Whole Bible, “…John the Baptist was an Elijah in spirit (Luke 1:16,17) but not the literal Elijah (John 1:21). This implies that John, knowing he was referred to by Malachi 4:5, knew by inspiration that he did not exhaustively fulfil all that is included in this prophecy: that there is a further fulfillment. There is a prophet that will fulfill the second part of this scripture, forerun the second coming of Christ and “turn the hearts of the children to their fathers..” Literally, this means that there will be a ministry that will turn the hearts of a backslidden generation back to the Word of God and the faith of our “early church” fathers before the “dreadful day of the Lord”, the second coming of Christ in judgment.
Again, Matthew 17:10-12 is two-fold. Firstly, “Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?” “… But I say unto you, That Elias is come already and they knew him not …” speaking of John the Baptist. Secondly, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.” Speaking of a future forerunner to precede Christ’s second coming.
The ministry of William Branham is the fufillment of the coming of the spirit of Elijah that was to precede the second coming of Christ which is to “restore” the heart so of the children banck to the teachings of the Apostolic Fathers.
The ministry of William Branham involved three distinct stages that he referred to as “pulls”. The First Pull: Healing. Second Pull: Prophesying. Third Pull: The opening or revealing of the Word of God.
The ministry of Jesus Christ followed exactly the same pattern. First Pull: multitudes flocked to hear his gracious words and to receive His miraculous healing touch. Second Pull: Revealed the secrets of the hearts. (John 4:17-18) Third Pull: His “message”, the Word of God which came in strength and contrary to the religious order of the day, caused the multitudes to leave him. “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.” John. 6:66
