Zechariah 14:7
William Branham believed that he was the fulfillment of Zechariah 14:7:
- And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.[1]
What the Bible teaches
The whole passage in Zechariah 14 should be read in context:
- For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
- On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
- On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
- And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one.
- The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.
- And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
- And on that day a great panic from the LORD shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other. 14 Even Judah will fight at Jerusalem. And the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance. 15 And a plague like this plague shall fall on the horses, the mules, the camels, the donkeys, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.
- Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the LORD afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths. This shall be the punishment to Egypt and the punishment to all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
- And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the LORD.” And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.[2]
It is critical to note that all the nations gather against Jerusalem to battle (v.2) prior to the scripture that William Branham points to as being his ministry. So it seems that one should simply ask the question: Have the nations gathered together against Israel to do battle?
Since the obvious answer to this is "NO", then it is unreasonable for William Branham to think that Zechariah 14:7 has been fulfilled.
Quotes of William Branham
The prophet said, "There will be a day that couldn't be called day nor night." It's a dismal, the clouds, as over the face of the sun. But said, "About evening time it shall come Light again." The same Son! He is Alpha and Omega. Same Son that rose in the east was predicted to rise in the west again, in the last days, just before the day was over. I don't know how they interpret It; God interprets His Own Word. He proves It. This is the evening time. 106 It's sad, but she sure fell for it again. Christ's bride fell for it, and took the intellectual knowledge of some seminary preacher instead of believing the pure, vindicated Word of God.[3]
Now let's find out. "It shall be Light" (about the middle day?) "at the evening time!" What is Light sent for? So you can see where you're... how to get around. Is that right? See where you're at. "It shall be Light about the evening time."
Now, we take that now and compare it over with Malachi 4. He promised that there would be Light come again in the evening time, see, "For, behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet, and he will restore the--the children back to the fathers, and the fathers to the children," (is that right?) "lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."[4]
God has promised His Word, how It would be fulfilled and how It would come to pass when He chose His Bride, how it would be done. It's happening right before you, in the Name of the Lord, and that's by the original Word! The evening-time Message is here.
How many remembers Haywood when he wrote:
- It shall be Light about the evening time,
- The path to Glory you will surely find.[5]