Third Seal

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Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?

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

William Branham's Revelation of the Second Seal

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

273 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. 274 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.

Comparison to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell

As with the first two Seals, we again compare William Branham's teaching above to what Charles Taze Russel said in the 1918 book, The Finished Mystery:

6:8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse.—The ghastly and horrible teachings that God's true people must be “exterminated.” “The ghastly green of terror and of death. The word is used of grass in Rev. 8:7; 9:4; Mark 6:39.”—Cook.

And his name that sat on him was Death.—Still the same rider, the Papacy; and an apt description of its chief claim to recognition during the pre-Reformation period.

Paying for Heaven

The third seal is rider on a black horse, with balances in his hand. A voice speaks telling the rider not to hurt the oil and the wine. William Branham said the beast in this seal is the man-angel and represents intelligence.

During this sermon, William Branham identifies the Black horse rider as vicar over the trinity of earth, purgatory, and heaven. He says that this rider makes other people pay to enter heaven, pay for prayers, pray for “novenas” and “hail Mary’s”.

No Forced Conversions

William Branham calls the oil and wine the Holy Spirit, and the stimulation of Revelation. The rider is instructed not to touch these things. In other words, there will be no forced conversions or attempted conversions of true believers during this time.

"Like this: "If you catch some of My little flock that's filled with My oil and wine (See?) wine and oil of the pure Word (See?) and you're going to kill them, 'cause you--you're doing that, that's what you're doing, don't you force them to say any "hail Marys," or do anything like that or some of your creeds. You keep your hands off them, they know where they're going."

But does this explanation match history, which is full of inquisitions and forced conversions by most religions? Even the 20th Century has seen significant persecution of Christians, especially those who convert from a Muslim background. But why does William Branham's explanation of the Third Seal ignore this?

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’”?

Plagiarism

What William Branham Said	What Clarence Larkin Said
Now, we're going to open the Third Seal. It's found in Revelations 6:5 and 6. And when he had opened the third seal, I--I beheld the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that set on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts saying, A measure of... penny--a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and... wine. Famine, see? Exactly the same Seal, same thing Jesus said. All right.	When the “THIRD SEAL” was broken John heard the third or “Man-like Living Creature” say—“Come,” and a “BLACK HORSE” appeared... The “BLACK HORSE” signifies famine...

Questions you should ask yourself

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?

“That denominational System, now I see it right here. I never knowed it till now.”

Moving to the Next Seal

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

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Links to other articles in the series

This article is one in a series of studies on the Seven Seals - you are currently on the topic that is in bold:

• Introduction
• First Seal
• Second Seal
• Third Seal
• Fourth Seal
• Fifth Seal
• Sixth Seal
• Seventh Seal
• Videos
• An Analysis of William Branham's Plagiarism