Question: What is your position on the 7th Angel of Rev 10, and the coming of the prophet Elijah as promised by the prophet Malachi. I believe they were both fulfilled in the person of Rev. William M. Branham....The Angel of the Laodicean Church Age, sent to dress the Bride of Christ to meet him.
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
First of all, regarding William M.Branham, he was a very humble man of God and a prophet of God in His initial days. God has called him as one among the healing revivalist to be a light to the generation that was to be prepared for the Lord's Second Coming, I mean, the generation in which the nation of Israel was born as a prophetic sign of the coming of the Lord (Matt 24:32-35).
During this time, many prophets and apostles were raised by the Lord in a similar way from many different background to become pioneers of healing evangelism and proclamation of the Gospel to the world with signs, wonders and miracles to the world in need of it. Another notable name before Brother Branham was Brother John Alexander Dowie. All these people were mightily anointed and worked for the Lord with great Zeal, but as time went on, they were not able to stand in that limelight of the anointing without deception of self and flesh.
As they began to prosper greatly ministerially, financially and socially, the deception of themselves as Elijah to come had come to these men because of pride and prosperity mainly. How these thoughts came to them is through their followers and supporters who misled them by telling them something that they are not. If they had continued in the calling God had given them initially which prospered them and took them to heights spiritually they never ever imagined, they would have been kept safe from deception. But then the thought of exclusivity over all other saints of God gained control of their thought life against the will of God (Php 2:5-8; John 13:14-17; 1 Pet 5;3; Lev 25:39-40), which later destroyed their lives totally at the end of their lives.
Was John the Baptist the promised Elijah? Yes spiritually (Luke 1:15-17), but such a great man identified Himself as a "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight." (Mark 1:3), in fact, if there is someone who could boast about being the Elijah of his generation, it was surely John the Baptist without doubt which even Scripture prophesied. But this great man was so humble that when people asked if he is not the prophet Elijah or any other prophet or Christ, who was he? He confessed and pointed to Christ whose sandals he was not worthy to remove (John 1:25-28). So these healing evangelist, were tripped by pride of self, that which caused Satan's downfall (1 Tim 3:6). No human can boast of pride free life as long as they are alive in the flesh body of sin, pride comes out of us as a peel of rotten onion, you take one layer, another layer and then another layer and so on and so forth until the full is no more of use of any good to God who hates it and stands against it (1 Pet 5:5; Gal 6:3; Prov 16:5). Above all, religious pride is the biggest deception to any human, be it a man of God or a simple recently converted saint, because it justifies self subtly and removes the glory which Christ should only receive, and instead take it for itself excluding Him out (Luke 18:9-14).
So does this mean, the Malachi prophesy of the Old Testament, Elijah I will send you before the dreadful day of the Lord is already over (Mal 4:5), but rather as Jesus Himself said, "Elijah is coming first" (Matt 17:11; Mark 9:12), that means literally and physically he is coming to the nation of Israel to turn them towards the Lord their God, before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to rule it for a Millennium (Rev 11:3). Hallelujah!
So no one should confuse the spiritual aspect and physical aspect of Elijah, to take for themselves the title of Elijah because of self-deception. Having said enough, God has allowed Brother Branham to die by an accident because he had been warned of the untimely exit through another man of God as he was self-deceived in pride of himself as Elijah. But instead, Branham did not repent of that sin of pride and wrong doctrines which caused his followers to follow his wrong doctrines, which completely threw them in to chaos and spiritual ship wreck of their faith in Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:19-20). According to me and the word of God, every man's end should be great in God's sight and not vice-versa, in this the great man of God Branham failed (Eccl 7:8). To us all this is a type-lesson, that no matter how greatly God uses us, if we go out of our calling in to another's by pride, we will fail miserably. Instead of being a prophetic evangelist, he stepped in to teaching doctrines which became prominent after his time of limelight. Brother Branham doesn't want to lose that spot of limelight, that he stepped away from his call as prophet-evangelist in to a Bible Teacher.
If Branham had stayed humble, he would have never taken the limelight of God's glory for himself, instead would have given it all to Christ to walk as unprofitable servant, the attitude of which would have preserved his spiritual life until the end of his life (Luke 17:10; Php 2:6-8). So we must all stay true and faithful to the call God has given to us personally, whether it is the contemporary one or the old style one like John the Baptist. All that matters to God is, whether we will be "good and faithful" servant at the end of our lives which only carries great reward from God and glorifies Him for eternity ahead (Matt 25:21, 23).
What is my position on the 7th Angel of Rev 10?
First of all, Elijah and Enoch who both did not die but were taken to heaven directly in to the Presence of God to be prepared for a end time wild card entry in to the second half of the Daniel's 70th week (Dan 9:27), to turn the nation of Israel towards their Father's Messiah and the heart of the Father's of faith like all the Old Testament prophets and saints alike who are in heaven towards the Millennial nation of Israel (Mal 4:5-6), this will happen. Both the prophets will be a sign of repentance towards God for the nation of Israel first, and then as a witness to the nations of the earth. Therefore at the time of 7th angel who will blow the trumpet before the end of the second three and half years through the prophets (Rev 11:1-19), the prophets of God will be killed by the Antichrist and his followers. The whole world will rejoice at that sight which will be streamed live for three days. But at the end of three days, both of them will rise up and be caught up to heaven in a cloud, and all their enemies of God will see it. The mystery that will be over by that time is people seeing all the natural calamities and plagues and famines and destruction without seeing who is the One who is behind all these things will no more continue like that (Isa 45:15). But when the wrath of God comes against Antichrist directly through the bowls of wrath which will take place from heaven in a shortest period of time after which Jesus Christ and the Church will arrive on earth to rule for a Millennium, this mystery of who the Lord God is will all be over by the time Jesus and the Church arrives on earth (Rev 10:7; Acts 3:21). Under Jesus restoration of all the earth for God's glory will happen for a thousand years on this present sin tainted earth through the sons of God who are in the Church (Rom 8:19-21)!
I want you to believe the Word of God and not the words of humans who will be alive today but gone tomorrow (Matt 24:35). When you believe the words of Jesus, then you will experience salvation of your soul for eternity ahead! Praise the Lord.
GLORY TO GOD!!
MUch Blessings...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment