There are some who question whether this Angel was
actually an Angel of God or not. That is the reason that I decided to write
this article so that you who read this can decide for yourself after looking at
the facts which are stated here. You will read what Brother Branham said in his
own words along with my comments which will be based upon what I am inclined to
believe as I relate the things that were said by Brother Branham and how the
veracity of the statements line up with bible scripture.
My big concern is that most of Brother Branham’s teaching
on the bible did not conform to written scripture, but consisted of his own
interpretation. Also my concern is just how much of Brother Branham’s teaching
was influenced by the presence of this Angel, especially if he was not an Angel
of God.
Up until I was about 34 years old there was no doubt in
my mind that Brother Branham’s complete ministry was ordained by God. I
believed that he truly was a Prophet of God and had the gift of divine healing.
All of this was my belief because of all that I heard about which took place in
his meetings. Even more than what I heard about him, I knew him personally and
members of my family were actively involved in his evangelist crusades and I
had a personal insight into everything that was taking place in his ministry.
We all considered our relationship with Brother Branham as though he was part
of our family. Had it not been for my discovery in 1969, shortly after his
death, because of my intense bible study, I became aware that a problem with
his bible teaching existed and that was the reason I began to take a closer
look at his complete ministry. If it was not that his teaching was in conflict
with bible scripture I would never have doubted anything about his complete
ministry having been ordained of God. So following is some of what I
discovered.
We are all interested in the truth of this matter because
God has the right for us to know the truth of His Word. So following are the
facts that I have gleaned from the transcript of Brother Branham’s preaching.
This
is all about the Angel according to what Brother Branham said.
“I raised up. I laid down on the bed, and there It was,
above the bed, milling around, like a whole lot of colors in a rainbow, milling
around”
“And then when I opened my eyes, there He was, just above
the bed whirling around and around.”
( Brother Branham speaking to his son) “Now, you remember
that night in Vandalia, Illinois, when you were laying, sleeping on the bed,
and the Angel of the Lord was standing over me there?”
“And I wasn't but eighteen months old when the vision
came. And the very time when I was born, that Angel that you see on the picture
here was hanging over the little crib bed, where I was born in.”
“that Angel stood right over the bed where I was born in
a little cabin down in the mountains of Kentucky. And now that same Angel is
not five feet from where I'm standing right now”
“And--and that Angel of God, at five o'clock in the
morning, April 6, 1909, at five o'clock in the morning, come right in and stood
over that little bed where I was laying.”
“I told her that the Lord was going to heal her. And I...
Brother George and I got down to pray, and when I started to pray, well, that
Angel that I see, that--that you see in the picture, I seen it hanging over the
bed.”
(Note) Here was some very strange occurrences.
An Angel of God that made a habit of flying around over the bed that Brother
Branham was sleeping on. This was similar to Brother Branham testifying that
during some of his meetings the angel would be flying around over the
congregation, hanging over someone he was to call upon.
Brother Branham spoke about waiting for the
Angel to arrive before he could start a meeting because the discernment
wouldn’t work unless the Angel was present.
‘Say, "You're stalling for something, Brother
Branham." That's exactly right. Sure, I'm waiting on Him, and if He
doesn't come, I can't minister. I can do nothing, not a thing.
But when He's here He can do all things, and He can do it through me if
I can submit myself enough to Him. in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I take
every person, every spirit under my control for His glory.”
( Note) Isn’t that something, that Brother
Branham had to wait for the Angel to arrive? The Angel must have been busy
doing something else.
“I want this audience in one control. I want to take
these spirits under my control”
“Don't move now; set still. See, each one of you are
spirits, and every one of those spirits is right in my control. See?”
Do you see what Brother Branham said about him
not being able to do anything in a meeting until the Angel arrived and when the
Angel arrived he spoke through Brother Branham that he was taking everyone
under his control? It becomes obvious that he didn’t depend upon the anointing
of the Holy Spirit to help him in the meetings. He depended upon the Angel to
help him and the Angel to operate the gifts, because Brother Branham didn’t
possess the gifts that the Angel said would be given to him.
Brother Branham said that when the discernment
was in operation, it wasn’t him doing the talking, it was the Angel just using
his voice and talking through him. The only way Brother Branham would know what
the Angel spoke through him was to listen to the tapes after the service was
over. See just a few examples below.
“Now, I do not know what I said to the woman; that wasn't
me talking; that was that Angel you see on that picture”
“Tomorrow you know the only way I will know what I said
to you? When them recorders right there, see them going, see here? When them
recorders they play it back to me, and I see what I said. See?”
“That was Him just using my voice. "What is
it?" you say. It's the way I have just submitted myself to the Spirit. And
He does the talking”
The
following are comments by the Author
Over and over Brother Branham stated that the Angel would
talk through him, using Brother Branham’s voice, but it was the Angel’s words.
For this to work for the operation of the gifts is one thing, but I have a
concern that the Angel might have been responsible for some of the teaching
that did not conform to Bible scripture. Did the Angel just use Brother
Branham’s voice, speaking through him and doing some of the teaching?
One of the most egregious things that I realized occurred
when Brother Branham’s angel first visited him on May 7, 1946. The angel told
him that he was being given two signs that could be used to help convince the
people that God had given him a gift of divine healing and nothing could stand
before his prayer. The angel said that he was being given two signs just like
God gave Moses two signs to prove to the people that God had sent him. The
problem with this is that the angel made a mistake quoting scripture. Moses was
given three signs and not two.
So the angel was wrong about everything. Brother Branham
wasn’t given a gift of healing. Instead he could only pray for sick people and
if they really believed that he had this gift from God, then God would heal
them. Brother Branham also wasn’t given even two signs because it was the angel
that operated the gift of discernment, not Brother Branham as has been stated
before in Brother Branham’s own words.
Brother Branham received a calling from God to be an
Evangelist preaching the gospel of Christ and praying for sick people and was
very successful in this ministry. When the Angel came along, which I am certain
was not an Angel of God, Brother Branham’s ministry changed for the worse.
Because of the operation of these supernatural signs performed by this Angel,
Brother Branham began to think of himself as more than just an Evangelist. He
was convinced that he was a Prophet of God, but there is evidence that his
prophecies did not come to pass as the prophecies of a God called Prophet did.
He thought that his ministry reflected the return of Christ and his preaching
convinced the people that he actually was the return of Christ. When he began
to teach scripture and saw that the supernatural signs continued to work, he
was convinced that God had revealed his interpretation of scripture to be true,
but it wasn’t according to the God inspired Holy scriptures.
One of the most dangerous doctrines that he taught because
of the influence of that angel was the gospel he preached which was a different
gospel that the bible presents and it is of utmost importance to believe the
true gospel of Christ according to the bible in order to be saved and inherit
eternal life.
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