Joel 2:25

What do you think? The statements by William Branham included in these articles are so strong, they force you to make a conclusion. (a) Will you accept William Branham's statements and conclude that he was God himself - greater than Jesus, equal to the Holy Spirit, infallible, and above reproach? (b) Or will you conclude that William Branahm was delusional. There is no middle ground, because to compromise these statements requires you to deny William Branham's own words. It's time to choose: is William Branham's word Infallible, or was his message fallible?

This article is one in a series of studies on the doctrines of William Branham that pointed to himself - you are currently on the article that is in bold:

• Revelation 10:7
• The Fulfillment of Malachi 4:5
• The Laodicean Church Age Messenger
• Matthew 17:11
• Luke 17:30
• Matthew 24:28
• Zechariah 14:7
• Joel 2:25
• 1 Thessalonians 4:16
• The Importance of a Seven-Lettered Name
• The Prophet and The Eagle
• The Sign of the Messiah
• Two major prophets never ministered at the same time
• William Branham's View of Himself
• William Branham and the Nation of Israel

William Branham taught that Joel 2:25 related to the restoration of the church in the last days and, specifically, that William Branham was the one by whom restoration came:

What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

But is his interpretation valid? He also linked Joel 2:25 with Zechariah 14:7. Is that an appropriate interpretation?

What the Bible actually says

In order to properly interpret scripture, it is necessary to read the passage in context. Here is Joel 2:23–32:

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. “The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

It is interesting to note that the latter part of this passage is specifically referred to in Acts 2:

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Peter clearly says that Joel 2:28-32 was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. The preamble to Joel 2:28 also plainly states that this is after the restoration that takes place in Joel 2:25.

We therefore must conclude that William Branham's interpretation of Joel 2:25 was wrong and was only done to try to point to himself.

Quotes of William Branham

When the--when the Lutherans said, "We're going to become a organization; we'll be as big as the Catholics." All right, He just pruned off the branch, and Wesley took it right on, raised up another prophet. Then as soon as Wesley did--dwelled--Wesley died, the great prophet, what'd they do? Organized it. On come Pentecost. Soon as she died, He pruned that off. It's raising right on up. See? He's going to restore.

...The evening Lights, the Bible said, would shine in the last day. The evening Light is the same Light in the west, that was the same Light that was in the east. And the same Light that shined in the east, that brought forth the first church that the Romans cut down by their--their pagan worship, and so forth; in the evening Light is the same Light. Now, notice, the same Light...

And what's the evening Light come out for? What is the evening Light for? To restore. Whew. You get it? The evening Light is for the same purpose the morning Light was for: to restore what was cut down by the dark ages through Rome, God is going to restore by shining forth the evening Light. What? Restore the whole Word of God again, the full manifestation of Christ in His church. Everything that He did, just exactly the way He did, would be again in the evening Light. See what I mean? Oh, isn't that wonderful? And to know we're living right here to see It.

Now, the evening Light (exactly according to prophecy), the evening Light come out to restore what? To restore what the bugs had eat up. It started growing, and then what'd it do? It denominated, so God pruned them off, bound them up, laid them back, let them go ahead and organize. Then the next one come up; He bound them up, laid them off; Tree went on. Then He bound them up, laid them off, said, "Now, one of these days they'll be burned." Bind them up in their organizations. But then what? Right in the top of the Tree is where the fruit ripens first (That's right.), right in top of the Tree. So it's the top of the Tree here that sees the evening Light.

...There were four great prophets. One of them, Martin Luther, he begin to shine a Light. It was a little Light, just a very small strength of justification. Along came Wesley, stronger: sanctification. After Wesley come a stronger than him, Pentecostal, the baptism of the Holy Ghost in another great prophet. See? But in the last days of Malachi 4, Elijah is to come with the very Word. The Word of the Lord came to the prophet. In the evening Lights is to come forth to restore and bring back. What? Turn the hearts of the children back to the faith of the fathers: fourth Light.

Four killers took It, four messengers destroyed It. Four messengers of death took It away in dogmas; four messengers of righteousness restore It back again.

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