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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 Sixth Seal as found in the twelfth to seventeenth verses of Revelation Chapter 6.
Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 12
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And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
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The Lamb opens the sixth seal
It is the Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ, who is the only one worthy to open the seals.
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:
Disruption of nature
Immediately after the seal is opened there is a disruption of nature: an earthquake, darkness in the daytime, and blood at night. This was prophecied by Jesus to occur before the end of time:
- Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
William Branham taught that all of these things occurred or were mentioned earlier in the scriptures, and it is possible to see why they are happening again: they are nature's response to a prophet.
Earthquake Matthew 27:54 - Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
Darkness Exodus 10:22 - And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
Blood Joel 2:31 - The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joel prophecied that the moon would be turned into blood before the "great and terrible day of the LORD". Malachi prophecied that before the "great and dreadful day of the LORD" Elijah the prophet would come, and the people would remember the law of Moses.
The two witnesses
REVELATION 11:3, 6 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ...These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
The words in this scripture, as taught by William Branham mean:
Days: Using the Hebrew calendar of 30 days in a month, 1,260 days is 42 months, which is three and a half years. Daniel prophecied that Messiah (Jesus) would be cut off in the midst of the week (a day being equal to a year), leaving three and a half days (or years) to finish the redemption of the Children of Israel.
Power to shut heaven: In the Bible, Elijah the prophet was the only one with power to withhold dew and rain from heaven. (I Kings 17:1) Elijah then held the rain back from the land for over three years (I Kings 18:1).
Power to turn water into blood: In the Bible, Moses the prophet was the only one with power to turn water into blood(Exodus 7:19), and to smite the earth with plagues (Exodus 8-12).
These two prophets, Moses and Elijah, are the cause of the disruption of nature, as foretold by the prophets Malachi and Joel to occur before the "day of the LORD".
The reason for the disruptions
An earthquake followed Jesus' crucifixion because the world had rejected the Messiah. Elijah held back the rain because Ahab had forsaken the commandments of God, and followed other gods (I Kings 18:8). Moses turned water into blood because the people refused to listen to the two signs given to him by God (Exodus 4:9). This disruption of nature is redemption through judgement.
William Branham taught that redemption by judgement marks the start of freedom for those who believe: Jesus broke the penalty of sin and death, Elijah brought the people back to God on Mount Carmel, and Moses brought the deliverance of the Children of Israel and set them into tribal order.
Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 13 and 14
| And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
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William Branham said:
- “Brother, the earthquake burst open, and the stars shake; volcanics will come forth, and the earth will renew itself. New lava will break forth from the center of the earth, and she'll crumble all around and around and around when she spins out in yonder. And I tell you, one morning when Jesus and His Bride comes back to the earth, there'll be a paradise of God there”
- “Let me show you the reason the world's got to do it. The frame of this world: the iron and the brass and the materials of this earth has been pulled out of it, its framework, for war and industry until it's just about ready..”
Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 15 and 16
| And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
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- “Those who had laughed at the preaching of the Word, of the vindicated Word of the living God... When them prophets that stood there and performed miracles, closed the sun, and everything else, and all down through the age... See? They cried for the rocks and the mountains to hide them (See?), to hide them from the Word that they'd laughed at, 'cause they seen Him coming. "Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb." He is the Word. See?”
William Branham taught that every person who has rejected the leadership of the Word of God, as delivered through his servants the prophets, is subject to the wrath of the Lamb. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, paid the penalty for sin and death. However, anyone who rejects this sacrifice is guilty of the sacrifice, and it is Jesus himself who becomes the judge of man, instead of his saviour.
- Romans 10:16-17 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 17
| For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
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William Branham taught that the day of wrath is prophecied in Malachi, Daniel, Isaiah, and II Peter. With such repetition of prophecy, there is no doubt that judgement will come, and the day of the Lord will arrive.
- II Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
- Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
- Isaiah 13:6-8 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
| Matthew 24:29-30
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Revelation 6:12-17
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| Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
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Plagiarism
| What William Branham Said
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What Clarence Larkin Said
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| | Notice, just exactly like come over there: "And the sun became as black as sackcloth..." See? Same thing, these happenings of nature. What was it? What, when nature happens like this, has been? God calling Israel. (See?) God's calling out Israel. Now, "sun as black as hair..." Now, God was about to deliver Israel there (All right.), bring them out of their enemy's hand, which was Egypt at that time.
Matthew, 27th chapter of Matthew and the--the 45th verse, I believe it is.
Now, from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
Now, notice just exactly what He did back here now in this. See?
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal,... lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon--and the moon became as blood;
Blackness, darkness: Egypt--blackness, darkness, God delivering Jesus at the cross, just 'fore He brought Him up from the resurrection...
In Isaiah, let's take this. Isaiah the prophet seen this Sixth Seal open and spoke of it... Let's just... I like this--this of Isaiah. Let's go back here to Isaiah, the 13th chapter of Isaiah. I like...
THE.SIXTH.SEAL_ JEFF.IN SATURDAY_ 63-0323
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SIXTH SEAL
When the “SIXTH SEAL” was broken John tells us that there was a “GREAT EARTHQUAKE,” and the “SUN BECAME BLACK AS SACKCLOTH OF HAIR,” and the “MOON BECAME AS BLOOD,” and the “STARS OF HEAVEN FELL TO THE EARTH,” and the “HEAVEN DEPARTED AS A SCROLL,” and “EVERY MOUNTAIN AND ISLAND WERE MOVED OUT OF THEIR PLACE.”
Such physical phenomena and changes have happened before. We must not forget the “GREAT DARKNESS” that for 3 days overspread Egypt in the days before the Exodus (Ex. 10:21–23), nor the “DARKNESS” that settled over Jerusalem and Calvary on the day of the Crucifixion of Christ. Matt. 27:45.
In Isa. 13:9–10, we read—“Behold the ‘DAY OF THE LORD’ cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall NOT GIVE THEIR LIGHT, the sun shall be DARKENED in his going forth, and the moon shall not CAUSE HER LIGHT TO SHINE.”
Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture, 60-61 (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919).
| | Now, I want you to hold your Book like this: Matthew 24 and Revelations 6, like this, and let's compare something here just a little bit. So watch this now, and you can find out just how--how it is. See, what the Lamb here is showing exactly in symbol what He said over here in Word, doing exactly. So that makes it right. Now, that's--that's all there is to it. Here's--here's one; He's talking of it, and here's where it happens. See? It's just a perfect vindication.
THE SIXTH SEAL 63-0323
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SIXTH SEAL
At this point it will be interesting to compare, as on the next three pages, Christ’s “Olivet Discourse” (Matt. 24:1–30), with the “Six Seals” of Rev. 6:1–17. The similarity between them is most striking, and proves that the author of the “Olivet Discourse” foreknew, in the “Days of His Flesh,” in their exact order, the things that shall come to pass in the “Day of the Lord.” This is indisputable evidence of the Deity of Jesus.
Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture, 61 (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919).
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