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    =Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?=
    William Branham preached a series of sermons in March 1963 on the Seven Seals of the book of Revelation. This article contains a summary of these sermons as taught by William Branham, who taught that each seal identifies a religous disturbance.  Much of William Branham's teachings on the Seven Seals can also be found in the works of Clarence Larkin, a dispensational Baptist author. 


    Each seal opens a new chapter in the book sealed with seven seals.  This page reviews William Branham's commentary on the third seal, as found in the fifth and sixth verses of Revelation Chapter 6. 
    William Branham said this about his "revelation" of the third seal:


    <div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; text-align:center; font-size:140%; padding:1px; margin:1px;">Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 5</div>
    :''And I want to say this. That, each time, even till this morning, about… Oh, I get up real, real early and go to prayer before things stir, and just keep on praying through the day. '''But this morning, early, the Holy Spirit came to where I was. And just as plain as anything, I—I seen this other Seal open up now, just exactly.''' Now—now—now, He hears me, I know. And I’m very grateful.<ref>William Branham, 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 20</ref>


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    ==William Branham's Revelation of the Third Seal==
    |''And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.''
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    ====The Lamb opens the third Seal====
    For the third horse rider, the red horse, William Branham said the following:
    The Lamb of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, opens the third seal. 


    :'''''Same rider, now.''' This first stage, he was innocent. And second, now, if you went a little bit higher, a little more than that; the second stage, the Bible said he’d be “given a crown.” And they crowned a man, a superman. See, crowned him! And, then, the Bible didn’t call him a pope. The Bible called him a “false prophet.” Why? Yeah. Of course, he must be a false prophet, by his antichrist spirit, that taught antichrist against the original Word.  Cause, if he taught against the original Word, it was antichrist. It was. And the Word is God, see, Christ. All right. Now, after that, we find him then crowned. And when he got crowned, now, he’s very innocent and helpless. He’s just a little fellow.


    ====The third beast====
    :''But then in the Nicaea Council, he was made it, and Constantine give him all the property. And then what did he do? Then he, see, Satan, give him his throne and authority. The Bible said so, as we’ve went through it. 275 Now, the next thing we find out, that the devil controls all politics that ever has been or ever will be. We find that in Matthew 4:11. And now we find out, then, that Satan already had politics.
    The third six-winged beast, which has a face as a man, says "Come and see."  William Branham taught that like the Gospel of Luke the physician (the third of the four gospels protecting the testimony of Jesus Christ, and giving witness to the book of Acts), the man testifies of the humanity and wisdom of Jesus Christ. Under the anointing of the man, the Medeival Christians passively resisted the spread of Catholic Orthodoxy, changed the course of history by preparing the world for the emergence of Luther, and spread the message of the Reformation.  


    :''And '''wine symbolizes stimulation of revelation'''. Oh, I—I like to a run all over the place. Wonder I didn’t wake up the neighborhood, when the Lord showed me that, see, “stimulation of revelation.” See?<ref>William Branham,  63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 273-275, 306</ref>


    ====The Black Horse====
    ==Comparison to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell==
    William Branham taught that a horse represents power, and black represents blindness. 


    After the fall of the Roman Empire, much of Europe became illiterate, with only the rich and the priests having time for education.  It was during these turbulent years that the fame of [[Columba]] and the Celtic Christians spread throughout Europe as they evangelized and taught the peasant people from hand-copied Bibles.  By the 1200's the Cult of Columba had spread across Europe, and many independent Christian groups were reproducing scriptures of ancient Celtic origin as they found the means.   
    As with the first two Seals, we want to look at Charles Taze Russel’s explanation of the third horse rider (from his 1918 book, The Finished Mystery).  You will again see that William Branham is again copying Russel:


    The Roman Catholic Church followed a distinctly different pattern. The First council of Nicea in 325 A.D. condemned the writings of Arius (his book "Thalia") in the Church's first official act of censorship. By the end of Medievel times, the Catholic Church had gone so far as to condemn the reading of the Bible in the vernacular - the language of the peasants - in decrees from the synod of Toulouse (1129), Tarragona (1234), and Oxford (1408) [Censorship of Books, New Catholic Encyclopedia, www.newadvent.org]. 
    :''And I beheld, and lo, a black horse.—Complete disregard of the Scriptures by clergy and people alike, and in their place the ugly creeds and bulls of popes and councils.
    :''And he that sat on him.—'''The same rider, the Antichrist.'''
    :''And the wine.—'''Wine is a symbol of doctrine''', true or false, '''and its accompanying joys'''.<ref>Russell, C. T. (Charles Taze), The Finished Mystery, Brooklyn : International Bible Students Association, 1918</ref>


    This censorship of scriptures is the darkness of the black horse, which was conquered only by the Spirit of God moving through the wisdom of man: the invention of the printing press and mass-production of the Bible.
    ==Avoid other Christians==
    During this sermon William Branham also encourages his congregation to [[Amos 3:3|dis-fellowship from other Christians]], saying ''“The Message going out right here is to “Stay away from that poison thing!” See?  See? 'How can two walk together lest they be agreed’”''?


    ==Questions you should ask yourself==


    ====The Rider with balances====
    In his sermon on the third seal, William Branham stated:
    William Branham taught that the Rider on the third horse is the same rider that came on the white horse and the red horse.  The Antichrist Spirit of the white horse became the false prophet of the Red and the Black Horses. 


    The balances in the hand of the rider represents economic control, and substitution. After the fall of the Roman Empire most economies were barter societies. It was only after 1000 A.D. that the merchant economy of the Muslims began to heavily influence trade in Europe, re-creating the monetary society of the Roman Empire. Instead of trading goods for goods, money was again substituted for everything.  The Catholic Church also picked up this advancement, and began selling indulgences for money (i.e. I'll sell you my extra good works to cover your sins) until this practice caused [[Martin Luther]] to nail 95 thesis on the door of a Catholic church demanding an end of this practice.
    :''I always wondered, all my life, why I was so against organizational systems. Not the people, no. The people are just like me or you, or anybody else. But that system, that denominational system, now I see it right here. I never knowed it till now. And that’s right.<ref>William Branham, 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 154</ref>


    In addition to substituting salvation for money, the Catholic Church also substituted the Holy Ghost with traditions, grace with judgement (the Inquisition), revelation for political power, and the Bible for "mystery religion".  With regards to political power, the feudal system of Medieval Europe began with the rule of Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, and gave the Catholic Church the authority over the people through the ignorance and economic chains that held the peasants.  To object to this system was considered blasphemy, as the kings were ordered by God, and this sustem supported the "Millenium" of the Catholic Church.
    If William Branham discovered the errors of Denominations during the Third Seal, why did he preach “Why are we not a denomination” (also titled “The Great Harlot”) on September 27, 1958 and identify “the mark of the beast, which is Romanism; and the image of the beast, which is Protestantism” in a sermon on March 18, 1962?


    =Moving to the Next Seal=


    <div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; text-align:center; font-size:140%; padding:1px; margin:1px;">Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 6</div>
    Click [[Fourth Seal|here to go to the next article - The Fourth Seal]]


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    =Video Transcript=
    |''And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.'' (Revelation 6:5-6)
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    ====The Voice in the midst====
    We have seen where William Branham received his revelation of the first 2 seals.  Is the third seal any different?
    The four beasts guard the throne of God.  The voice in the midst of the beasts is God himself. 


    In his sermon on the third seal, William Branham tells us:


    ====The Wheat and the Barley====
    :''But this morning, early, the Holy Spirit came to where I was. And just as plain as anything, I—I seen this other Seal open up now, just exactly. Now—now—now, He hears me, I know. And I’m very grateful.<ref>63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 20</ref>
    William Branham taught that wheat and barley was the staff of life for the Children of Israel. They were harvested at different times during the year (Barley at the start of the year, and wheat at the end of summer) and required the former and latter rain to mature. For the Christians, the wheat and barley represents the staff of eternal life, which need the presence of God to mature. In order to mature properly, a Christian needs both prayer and scripture.  


    By controlling access to the scriptures, and access to God (saints serve as mediators instead of Jesus Christ himself, who is the only true mediator between God and man), the black horse creates a famine for the Word of God.   
    So William Branham is again clear that he got his revelation directly from God.  He didn’t get it from anyone else.   


    Here is his revelation which he discloses towards the end of his sermon:


    ====A penny====
    :''Same rider, now.<ref>63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 273</ref>
    William Branham said:


    :''We can scarcely get anything from Christ's ministers but for money, at bishopping money, at marriage money, for confession money - no, not extreme unction without money! They will ring no bells without money, no burial in the church without money; so that it seemeth that Paradise is shut up without money. The rich is buried in the church, the poor in the churchyard. ...The rich man may readily get large indulgences, but the poor none, because he wanteth money to pay for them."''
    Not surprisingly, we find Russel saying the same thing in his book, The Finished Mystery:
    :(Juan de Valdez, a Roman Catholic and brother of the secretary of the Emperor Charles V) [Professor Arthur Noble, European Institute of Protestant Studies, The Resurrection of Indulgences or Is Tetzel really dead? 1/15/1999, http://www.ianpaisley.org]


    In the Old Testament, the book of Job records that God set barriers that Satan could not cross in his persecution.  God's word in the third seal also set barriers for Satan to work within: he was free to rule the economy and charge for prayers and salvation.  
    :''And when He had opened the third seal. — Disclosing the third epoch in the history of Antichrist.
    :''And he that sat on him. — The same rider, the Antichrist.<ref>Charles Taze Russell, Studies in the Scriptures, Volume VII, The Finished Mystery: The Winepress of God's Wrath and the Fall of Babylon (published posthumously), edited by C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, copyright 1917, Peoples Pulpit Association, Brooklyn, N. Y., USA, International Bible Students Association, published 1918, p. 149</ref>


    Why did William Branham take the words of Charles Russell and proclaim them as God’s message?


    ====The Oil and the Wine====
    :''So I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.<ref>Jeremiah 23:30, NET</ref>
    William Branham taught that the oil represents the Holy Spirit (Lev 8:12, Zach 4:12, Mat 25:3-4), and the wine represents stimulation by revelation (Acts 2).  Touching the oil and the wine would result in pollution.  God's decree for the Black horse rider not to touch the Oil and the wine has a two-fold meaning: first the rider does not have the Holy Spirit or stimulation by revelation, and secondly, he is not allowed to take the Holy Spirit or the stimulation by revelation from anyone.
     
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    '''The Catholic Church without the Holy Spirit:'''  The lives of the Popes in the Dark and Medieval Ages and the Reformation age are mainly secular, and highly immoral.  For example:
    {{7 Seals}}
     
    [[Category:Doctrines]]
    *Pope Benedict IX (d. 1048) was pope three times (abdicated for money twice), and was perhaps the most morally perverse of any other pope.
    [[Category:Plagiarism]]
    *Pope Nicholas V (d. 1445) Legitimized the slave trade of "unbelievers"
    [[Category:Eschatology]]
    *Pope Boniface VIII (d. 1303) imprisoned the previous pope, who died in custody, and wrote that ''"is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff"'' and ''"The Christian religion is a human invention like the faith of the Jews and the Arabs."'' (Based on a posthumus investigation held from 1303-1311 republished by J. Coste)
    [[Category:The Seven Seals]]
    *Pope Clement VII (d. 1534) (caused the English schism (and the Anglican Church) by denying the divorce of King Henry VIII - yet he was the illigitimate child of Giuliano de' Medici and was also the father of an illigitimate child whom he installed as the Duke of Florence.
    [[Category:William Branham pointing to himself]]
     
    [[Category:The Message]]
    '''The Catholic Church without stimulation''': While many of the Protestant and pre-protestant churches were lively, musical, and demonstrative in praise, the Catholic Church praised the glory of form, tradition, sanctity (in public), and hierarchy.  As evidence of the lack of "stimulation" in the Catholic church, from 800 A.D. to 1300 the music of the Catholic Church was the plainsong and Gregorian chant.  In 1364 Pope Urban officially sanctioned polyphony for use in sacred music; however, even after this time the worshiper and the musicians were separate - one part listened, and the other party played.  While the Catholic Church does integrate musical worship in its congregations today, it also accepts non-Christian forms of worship.  For example, Pope John Paul invited Bob Dylan to sing at the Vatican in an act of acceptance of Rock and Roll.  But music only represents stimulation, it does not represent revelation. 
     
    '''The Catholic Church without revelation''': Bishops, Cardinals, theologians and all church members are censured by the Vatican as to what they can say or do, or face excommunication.  This form of discipline is most commonly exercised over priests and bishops.  As an example, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church very soon after he was given the revelation that the "Just shall live by faith."
     
    '''The Catholic Church not able to take the Holy Spirit or Revelation from the people''': The Catholic Church did set up the Inquisition to examine and reconvert "heretics".  However, this was a slow process, and the majority of the martyrs during this time were not given the option to recant prior to their execution.  For example, in 1209 the crusader army attacked the Cather town of Béziers.  Instead of separating the Catholic faithful from the Cathar "heretics", the papal legate Arnaud-Amaury, Abbot of Cîteaux, declared “Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own”.  Arnaud, later wrote to Pope Innocent III and declared: "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex".  These "heretics" therefore died in the faith, and were not given space to recant as was given the early Christian Church during the reign of the pagan Roman empire. 
     
    {|style="width:800px; background-color:#cedff2; border:1px #a3b0bf solid; text-align:center;"
    !Matthew 24:7
    !Revelation 6:5-6
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    |For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
    |And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
    |-
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    Latest revision as of 15:58, 18 May 2022

    Click on headings to expand them, or links to go to specific articles.

    Seven Seals: Introduction • First • Second • Third • Fourth • Fifth • Sixth • Seventh • Videos

    Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?

    William Branham said this about his "revelation" of the third seal:

    And I want to say this. That, each time, even till this morning, about… Oh, I get up real, real early and go to prayer before things stir, and just keep on praying through the day. But this morning, early, the Holy Spirit came to where I was. And just as plain as anything, I—I seen this other Seal open up now, just exactly. Now—now—now, He hears me, I know. And I’m very grateful.[1]

    William Branham's Revelation of the Third Seal

    For the third horse rider, the red horse, William Branham said the following:

    Same rider, now. This first stage, he was innocent. And second, now, if you went a little bit higher, a little more than that; the second stage, the Bible said he’d be “given a crown.” And they crowned a man, a superman. See, crowned him! And, then, the Bible didn’t call him a pope. The Bible called him a “false prophet.” Why? Yeah. Of course, he must be a false prophet, by his antichrist spirit, that taught antichrist against the original Word. Cause, if he taught against the original Word, it was antichrist. It was. And the Word is God, see, Christ. All right. Now, after that, we find him then crowned. And when he got crowned, now, he’s very innocent and helpless. He’s just a little fellow.
    But then in the Nicaea Council, he was made it, and Constantine give him all the property. And then what did he do? Then he, see, Satan, give him his throne and authority. The Bible said so, as we’ve went through it. 275 Now, the next thing we find out, that the devil controls all politics that ever has been or ever will be. We find that in Matthew 4:11. And now we find out, then, that Satan already had politics.
    And wine symbolizes stimulation of revelation. Oh, I—I like to a run all over the place. Wonder I didn’t wake up the neighborhood, when the Lord showed me that, see, “stimulation of revelation.” See?[2]

    Comparison to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell

    As with the first two Seals, we want to look at Charles Taze Russel’s explanation of the third horse rider (from his 1918 book, The Finished Mystery). You will again see that William Branham is again copying Russel:

    And I beheld, and lo, a black horse.—Complete disregard of the Scriptures by clergy and people alike, and in their place the ugly creeds and bulls of popes and councils.
    And he that sat on him.—The same rider, the Antichrist.
    And the wine.—Wine is a symbol of doctrine, true or false, and its accompanying joys.[3]

    Avoid other Christians

    During this sermon William Branham also encourages his congregation to dis-fellowship from other Christians, saying “The Message going out right here is to “Stay away from that poison thing!” See? See? 'How can two walk together lest they be agreed’”?

    Questions you should ask yourself

    In his sermon on the third seal, William Branham stated:

    I always wondered, all my life, why I was so against organizational systems. Not the people, no. The people are just like me or you, or anybody else. But that system, that denominational system, now I see it right here. I never knowed it till now. And that’s right.[4]

    If William Branham discovered the errors of Denominations during the Third Seal, why did he preach “Why are we not a denomination” (also titled “The Great Harlot”) on September 27, 1958 and identify “the mark of the beast, which is Romanism; and the image of the beast, which is Protestantism” in a sermon on March 18, 1962?

    Moving to the Next Seal

    Click here to go to the next article - The Fourth Seal

    Video Transcript

    We have seen where William Branham received his revelation of the first 2 seals. Is the third seal any different?

    In his sermon on the third seal, William Branham tells us:

    But this morning, early, the Holy Spirit came to where I was. And just as plain as anything, I—I seen this other Seal open up now, just exactly. Now—now—now, He hears me, I know. And I’m very grateful.[5]

    So William Branham is again clear that he got his revelation directly from God. He didn’t get it from anyone else.

    Here is his revelation which he discloses towards the end of his sermon:

    Same rider, now.[6]

    Not surprisingly, we find Russel saying the same thing in his book, The Finished Mystery:

    And when He had opened the third seal. — Disclosing the third epoch in the history of Antichrist.
    And he that sat on him. — The same rider, the Antichrist.[7]

    Why did William Branham take the words of Charles Russell and proclaim them as God’s message?

    So I, the LORD, affirm that I am opposed to those prophets who steal messages from one another that they claim are from me.[8]


    Footnotes

    1. ↑ William Branham, 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 20
    2. ↑ William Branham, 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 273-275, 306
    3. ↑ Russell, C. T. (Charles Taze), The Finished Mystery, Brooklyn : International Bible Students Association, 1918
    4. ↑ William Branham, 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 154
    5. ↑ 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 20
    6. ↑ 63-0320 - The Third Seal, para. 273
    7. ↑ Charles Taze Russell, Studies in the Scriptures, Volume VII, The Finished Mystery: The Winepress of God's Wrath and the Fall of Babylon (published posthumously), edited by C. J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, copyright 1917, Peoples Pulpit Association, Brooklyn, N. Y., USA, International Bible Students Association, published 1918, p. 149
    8. ↑ Jeremiah 23:30, NET


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