| This article summarizes William Branham's teaching on the Godhead. Godhead means “the nature of God”, but is usually a term for “what” God is, rather than “who” God is. At its greatest depth, knowing about someone is much less rewarding that knowing someone. Still, its a start.
The Tabernacle of the Body
Jesus is the Name. And the Name was placed in a Man; not a church, not a denomination, not a creed, but a Man. He chose to place His Name in Jesus Christ. Now we find out that then He becomes the place of God’s worship, where you worship Him.
- (William Branham, Sermon: God’s Chosen Place of Worship, February 20, 1965)
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The Bible teaches that Christians are temples of the Holy Spirit. William Branham compared the temple in the Bible to a person, linking your physical body to the temple court, your spirit to the Holy place, and your soul to the Most Holy place: three parts, but one temple of the Holy Spirit. Some scriptures that support this teaching of the Godhead include:
- God created humanity in the image of God.(Genesis 1:26)
- Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 6:19)
- God designed the body of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18)
- Jesus called his body a temple. (John 2:21)
 - Jesus came to find people to worship God (John 4:23)
- God designed the tabernacle (the first temple) in the wilderness. (Exodus 25:9)
- There was one tabernacle (Exodus 26:6)
- The tabernacle had three parts,
- The Court (Exodus 27:9)
- The Holy Place (Exodus 26:33)
- The Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:33)
- The tabernacle was a place where God could be worshipped (Psalms 138:2)
- The tabernacle (the tent) became the temple (the building) by the work of the son of David. (I Chron. 17:12)
- The temple was a pattern of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8:5-6).
- Jesus perfectly fulfilled the three-fold instruction “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
- The temple on earth was a pattern of the things in heaven (Hebrews 9:23-24).
- Every person has a body, spirit, and soul (I Thessalonians 5:23)
- We should think of our own creation when we think about the Godhead (Acts 17:29)
- When our bodies die, we have a new body waiting in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:1-2).
- Jesus rose from the dead (I Thess. 4:14) and was seen by Paul in a heavenly body (Acts 22:6-8)
- The children of Israel worshiped God in his tabernacle from their own tents (Exodus 33:10)
- Thomas worshipped the LORD God in the tabernacle of Jesus Christ (John 20:28)
| Now, remember, you’re in a cycle of three, but you’re one person. Like Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, cycle of three, but one Person. …And you are: body, spirit, and soul. Now, the outside body has five inlets to it, to contact your earthly home: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. The inside, which is a spirit, it has five senses: conscience, and love, and so forth. But the inside of that, the soul, has one thing. That’s where you live. ~ William Branham, Sermon: Works is Faith Expressed, November 26, 1965
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The order of the Tabernacle
Dividing God into three persons would be like dividing the tabernacle into three temples. Over-unifying God (denying his three-fold being, or saying God is one like your finger) is like having all of the pieces to the tabernacle in one big circle. Both of these ideas are out of order with God’s original design.
God’s original design given to Moses was that the Court surrounded The Holy Place, through which the high priest could access the Most Holy Place. In the same way, it is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (the Court) that we have access through his Spirit (the Holy Place) to the head of Christ, which is God (the Most Holy Place).
Here is a more detailed description of the operation of the tabernacle and its parallel to Jesus Christ:
 Outline of the three parts of the temple - The Court is where the sacrifice was washed and slain – which corresponds to the body of Jesus Christ, which was baptized and crucified.
- The Holy Place is where incense was burned, bread was offered, and the candlesticks were lit – which corresponds to the work of the Spirit of Christ in the Christian era through the prayers of the saints, communion, and the fire of the Holy Spirit that fell on the church in the book of Acts.
- The Holy of Holies held the Ark and the Judgement/Mercy Seat – which corresponds to the work that Jesus Christ will accomplish in the future, fulfilling the will of the Father at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10) as he stands as the judge of all(2 Timothy 4:1).
| Jesus is the Son of God, that is the body, and God was the Spirit that dwelt in that Tabernacle that He created for Himself, a virgin body. God… That’s the reason He said here, ‘I’ve been so long with you and you don’t know Me? He that’s seen Me hath seen the Father.’ In other words, ‘You see the Father working through Me.’ God is a Spirit. ~ William Branham, Sermon: Show us the Father, July 22, 1962.
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The Tabernacle of God is with Men
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them ~ Revelation 21:3
- Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. ~ Matthew 1:23
- And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. ~ John 3:13
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Reference
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Comments on this scripture
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| Matthew 13:24
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The kingdom of heaven is like a man…
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In his parables, Jesus taught that something as common as our own identity was a perfect type for his heavenly kingdom.
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| I Corinthians 15:49 (NIV, 2011)
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Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
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Paul taught that the mortal temples of the Holy Spirit (more commonly called “Christians”) will become eternal temples of the Holy Spirit (following the example of Jesus Christ).
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| Exodus 33:23
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And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
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After Moses finished building the tabernacle, God showed himself to Moses in the form of a man (a vision of the tabernacle of God in heaven).
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| I John 3:2
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Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
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John taught that Christians will be like Jesus, no matter where we are (this world or the next).
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“the Son that was with the Father in the beginning was the Logos that went out of God. And it was the Theophany of God that went out, the human form that didn’t have eyes like you see: a better eye. It didn’t have ears like you hear, but a far more hearing. …Moses saw It when It passed through the rock like that. He saw the back parts.”
- (William Branham, Sermon: Questions and Answers, October 2, 1957)
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Bringing the words of Moses, Jesus, Paul, and John together shows that God had a plan for the Tabernacle, God has a plan for Jesus, and God has a plan for you. The plan of the tabernacle is a simple example of the Godhead, which was embodied in Jesus Christ. The plan that God has for you is that you might become a child of God: which is an individual led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14). That is how a person can become a heavenly man like Jesus Christ.
When you learn about the design of God’s tabernacle, you are not just learning about the Godhead, you are also learning about God’s plan for Jesus Christ, and God’s plan for your own life.
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