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William Branham and the Providence of God: Difference between revisions
William Branham and the Providence of God (view source)
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, 3 years ago→Did William Branham believe in the providence of God?
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::''(2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and | ::''(2) cooperates with created things in every action, directing their distinctive properties to cause them to act as they do; and | ||
::''(3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 315.</ref> | ::''(3) directs them to fulfill his purposes.<ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 315.</ref> | ||
In Ephesians 1:11 Paul says that God “accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will.” No event in creation falls outside of his providence. | |||
Scripture also speaks of God’s providential control of human affairs. We read that God “makes nations great, and he destroys them: he enlarges nations, and leads them away” (Job 12:23). “Dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations” (Ps. 22:28). He has determined the time of existence and the place of every nation on the earth, for Paul says, “he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26; cf. 14:16). And when Nebuchadnezzar repented, he learned to praise God, | |||
:''For his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing; and he does according to his will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What are you doing?” (Dan. 4:34–35) | |||
God plans our days before we are born, for David affirms, “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Ps. 139:16). And Job says that man’s “days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). This can be seen in the life of Paul, who says that God “had set me apart before I was born” (Gal. 1:15), and Jeremiah, to whom God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer. 1:5). | |||
All our actions are under God’s providential care, for “in him we live and move” (Acts 17:28). The individual steps we take each day are directed by the Lord. Jeremiah confesses, “I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). We read that “a man’s steps are ordered by the LORD” (Prov. 20:24), and that “a man’s mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Similarly, Proverbs 16:1 affirms, “The plans of the mind belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.” | |||
God influences rulers in their decisions, for “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Prov. 21:1). An illustration of this was when the Lord “turned the heart of the king of Assyria” to his people, “so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel” (Ezr. 6:22), or when “the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia” (Ezr. 1:1) to help the people of Israel. But it is not just the heart of the king that God influences, for he looks down “on all the inhabitants of the earth” and “fashions the hearts of them all” (Ps. 33:14–15). <ref>Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House, 2004), 317–322.</ref> | |||
=Did William Branham believe in the providence of God?= | =Did William Branham believe in the providence of God?= | ||
In a quote that has been used by many message follower regarding the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, William Branham stated: | In a quote that has been used by many message follower regarding the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, William Branham stated: | ||
:''We know that the hour has to come when the wrong man will be chosen, too. So we pray, Father, that You’ll give us a little more time to bring in the lost. May, if there be any of those here tonight, seeing the shadows lengthening out, may they come sweetly to the Lord Jesus and be saved. Heal the sick and afflicted. Strengthen the Church. For we ask it in His Name. Amen.<ref>William Branham, 60-0711 - The Door Inside The Door, para. 16</ref> | |||
How could the American people choose "the wrong man" when God is in control? If God sets up kings and takes them down, then how can anyone ever truly elect the "wrong man"? Here is what Daniel said of God (Danial 2:21): | |||
:''It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.<ref>New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Dan 2:21.</ref> | |||
William Branham's statement about the "wrong man" being elected simply shows that he did not understand the providence of God. | |||
=Full Quotes of William Branham= | =Full Quotes of William Branham= | ||