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{{7 Seals Top}}
=Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?=
=Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?=


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''Now notice, here is—here is '''three questions''' are asked by the Jews, His disciple. '''Three questions''' are asked. Now watch. “What,” '''first''', first, “What…? '''When shall these things be''', when, ‘There won’t be one stone left upon another’?” “'''What shall be the sign of Thy Coming?'''” second question. '''“And of the end of the world?”''' See it? '''There is three questions.'''<ref>William Branham, 663-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.151</ref>
''Now notice, here is—here is '''three questions''' are asked by the Jews, His disciple. '''Three questions''' are asked. Now watch. “What,” '''first''', first, “What…? '''When shall these things be''', when, ‘There won’t be one stone left upon another’?” “'''What shall be the sign of Thy Coming?'''” second question. '''“And of the end of the world?”''' See it? '''There is three questions.'''<ref>William Branham, 663-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.151</ref>


===Answer to the First Question===
===Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 tied together===


''Now watch. The '''First Seal''' is '''Revelation 6:1 and 2'''. Now we read 6:1 and 2.  ...Who did we find this fellow was? [Congregation says, “Antichrist.”—Ed.] Antichrist. Matthew 24, now, 4 and 5.<ref>William Branham, 663-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.157</ref>
''Now watch. The '''First Seal''' is '''Revelation 6:1 and 2'''. Now we read 6:1 and 2.  ...Who did we find this fellow was? [Congregation says, “Antichrist.”—Ed.] Antichrist. Matthew 24, now, 4 and 5.<ref>William Branham, 663-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.157</ref>
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==Comparison to the teachings of Clarence Larkin==
==Comparison to the teachings of Clarence Larkin==


We need to compare William Branham's teaching above to Clarence Larkin's teaching.  The following is quoted verbatim from Larkin's book, ''The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture'' (Philadelphia, PA: 1919):
We need to compare William Branham's teaching above to Clarence Larkin's teaching.  The following is '''quoted verbatim from Larkin's book''', ''The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture'' (Philadelphia, PA: 1919):


===When did Matthew 24 take place?===
===When did Matthew 24 take place?===
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#AND OF THE END OF THE WORLD (AGE)?<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 62.</ref>
#AND OF THE END OF THE WORLD (AGE)?<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 62.</ref>


===Answer to the First Question===
===Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 tied together===


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11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should he fulfilled.
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should he fulfilled.
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|style="text-align:center;"|MATT. 24:14
|style="text-align:center;"|MATT. 24:29–30
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
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:
|style="text-align:center;|ACTS 20:24.
30 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.
|style="text-align:center;"|THE GOSPEL NOW BEING PREACHED, IS THE “GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD.”
|style="text-align:center;|6-SEAL<br>
PHYSICAL CHANGES
|style="text-align:center;"|12 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;
13 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.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 64.</ref>
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===Answer to the Second Question===
===Answer to the Third Question===


===Who were the Two Witnesses?===
===Who were the Two Witnesses?===
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If we study carefully what shall happen during the period the '''“TWO WITNESSES”''' shall testify, which as we have seen will be the last half of the “Week,” or 3½ years, we shall see that the “TWO WITNESSES” can be no other than MOSES and ELIJAH. It is probable that Elijah will shut up the heavens that there shall be no rain, during the '''3½ years''' of their witnessing, for we read that there is to be a “FIRE TEST” such as Elijah appointed on Mt. Carmel in the days of King Ahab (1. Kings 18:17–40), and the contest will be between Elijah and the “FALSE PROPHET,” and that the “FALSE PROPHET” shall have power to do what the Priests of Baal could not do, bring FIRE FROM HEAVEN. Rev. 13:13. The crucial question on Mt. Carmel was, who is GOD, JEHOVAH or BAAL? In the days of Antichrist it will be, who is GOD, JEHOVAH or ANTICHRIST? The test will be the power to bring down FIRE FROM HEAVEN. As the “False Prophet” will imitate the power of Elijah and bring down FIRE FROM HEAVEN, the test will not be decisive. The true Israel of God however will acknowledge the claim of Jehovah, while the followers of “The Beast” will continue to believe in him. But Elijah shall not be as fortunate as he was in the days of Ahab, for then he escaped the vengeance of Jezebel, but he will not be able to escape the vengeance of Antichrist who will see to it that both he and Moses are slain.  As the Plagues that are to accompany the pouring out of the “Vials,” are four of them similar to the “Plagues of Egypt,” who more likely to bring them to pass than Moses? The evidence seems conclusive that the '''“TWO WITNESSES” will be MOSES and ELIJAH.'''<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 86.</ref>
If we study carefully what shall happen during the period the '''“TWO WITNESSES”''' shall testify, which as we have seen will be the last half of the “Week,” or 3½ years, we shall see that the “TWO WITNESSES” can be no other than MOSES and ELIJAH. It is probable that Elijah will shut up the heavens that there shall be no rain, during the '''3½ years''' of their witnessing, for we read that there is to be a “FIRE TEST” such as Elijah appointed on Mt. Carmel in the days of King Ahab (1. Kings 18:17–40), and the contest will be between Elijah and the “FALSE PROPHET,” and that the “FALSE PROPHET” shall have power to do what the Priests of Baal could not do, bring FIRE FROM HEAVEN. Rev. 13:13. The crucial question on Mt. Carmel was, who is GOD, JEHOVAH or BAAL? In the days of Antichrist it will be, who is GOD, JEHOVAH or ANTICHRIST? The test will be the power to bring down FIRE FROM HEAVEN. As the “False Prophet” will imitate the power of Elijah and bring down FIRE FROM HEAVEN, the test will not be decisive. The true Israel of God however will acknowledge the claim of Jehovah, while the followers of “The Beast” will continue to believe in him. But Elijah shall not be as fortunate as he was in the days of Ahab, for then he escaped the vengeance of Jezebel, but he will not be able to escape the vengeance of Antichrist who will see to it that both he and Moses are slain.  As the Plagues that are to accompany the pouring out of the “Vials,” are four of them similar to the “Plagues of Egypt,” who more likely to bring them to pass than Moses? The evidence seems conclusive that the '''“TWO WITNESSES” will be MOSES and ELIJAH.'''<ref>Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919), 86.</ref>


=Two Prophets Controlling Nature=
=Conclusion of the Sixth Seal=
William Branham ties the earthquake, and signs in heaven and on earth, to the ministries of Moses and Elijah after the Rapture.  Since Moses and Elijah both performed signs in heaven and earth during their ministries, he concluded that they would return to continue their job.   


:''“Israel is God’s son, so he is going to deliver him here in the Tribulation period, just exactly the way He did down in Egypt. …There is your Seal.  Who does it?  It’s the prophets, the other side of the Rapture.  With the Power of God, the Word of God, they just condemn nature.  They can send earthquakes, turn the moon into blood, the sun can go down, or anything, at their command.”''
William Branham gave the same essentials interpretation of the sixth seal as Clarence Larkin. They both explained it to be the judgement of God carried out at the end of the world immediately preceding the return of Christ. Why did William Branham claim that this revelation was given to him through a supernatural experience? Is it just a coincidence that what God supernaturally revealed to him identically matches a book in his library that he made regular references to in other sermons?


==One Prophet Controlling Nature==
=Other Plagiarism=
By 1964, William Branham was trying out his own hand at condemning nature, proclaiming judgment on Los Angeles, and claiming that an earthquake in Alaska was fulfillment of his ministry’s judgment on the West Coast.
William Branham opens the Sixth Seal with a modified retelling of '''Max Brand’s 1920 story “A Sagebrush Cinderella”. '''


=Plagiarism=
In addition to plagiarizing the comparison of Matthew 24 to Revelation 6, William Branham also takes a few other things from the writings of [[Plagiarism|Clarence Larkin]]:
William Branham opens the Sixth Seal with a modified retelling of Max Brand’s 1920 story “A Sagebrush Cinderella”. 
 
He also continues taking the bulk of his sermon notes directly from the writings of [[Plagiarism|Clarence Larkin]].  Here is a comparison:


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|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.'''
|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...
|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.
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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..."
|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.”
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|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...
|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.”  
|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.”  
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|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...  
|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...  
|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'''.
|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'''.
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====God Will Judge Big Game Hunters====
====God Will Judge Big Game Hunters====
'''[[William Branham the Hunter|William Branham went to Africa and shot 34 large game animals in 21 days]].  What other sins did he preach against, but participated in? '''
'''[[William Branham the Hunter|William Branham went to Africa and shot 34 large game animals in 21 days]].  What other sins did he preach against, but participated in? '''
:''"...you mean that's sportsmanship? That's pure murder in my book… Buffalo Bill and them plainsmen had shot off all them buffaloes, forty, fifty in an afternoon. They know when they ridded that, they got rid of the Indian. Oh, my, a stain on the flag the way they treated them Indians. There you are. But remember, the Bible said, "The hour's come that God will destroy them that destroys the earth."''
:''"...you mean that's sportsmanship? That's pure murder in my book… Buffalo Bill and them plainsmen had shot off all them buffaloes, forty, fifty in an afternoon. They know when they ridded that, they got rid of the Indian. Oh, my, a stain on the flag the way they treated them Indians. There you are. But remember, the Bible said, "The hour's come that God will destroy them that destroys the earth."''<ref>William Branham, 63-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.341-346</ref>


====No Contradictions in the Word====
====No Contradictions in the Word====
Voice of God Recordings and many Message Believers have tried to justify inconsistencies in William Branham's stories, doctrines and prophecies by saying there are discrepancies in the Bible.  As part of the Sixth Seal, William Branham addresses these concerns himself.  So if William Branham's Message was the "Word for your day" as he claimed, then shouldn't it be free from contradictions as well?   
Voice of God Recordings and many Message Believers have tried to justify inconsistencies in William Branham's stories, doctrines and prophecies by saying there are discrepancies in the Bible.  As part of the Sixth Seal, William Branham addresses these concerns himself.  So if William Branham's Message was the "Word for your day" as he claimed, then shouldn't it be free from contradictions as well?   
:''“I can take one Scripture and say, “Judas went and hung himself,” take another and say, “You go do the same.” See?  But, see, it won’t blend in with the rest of It...The Bible does not contradict itself.  “And the Bible does not contradict Itself anywhere. I've heard the old critics say that, but I have had an offer for him for a long time to show me where it's at. It isn't in here.”''
:''“I can take one Scripture and say, “Judas went and hung himself,” take another and say, “You go do the same.” See?  But, see, it won’t blend in with the rest of It...The Bible does not contradict itself.  “And the Bible does not contradict Itself anywhere. I've heard the old critics say that, but I have had an offer for him for a long time to show me where it's at. It isn't in here.”''<ref>William Branham, 63-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.137</ref>


====Is the Vision Biblical?====
====Is the Vision Biblical?====
'''At the end of the sixth seal sermon, William Branham mentions a vision being present in Heaven with Jesus and the recording angel, when the recording angel calls his name.  Meda and Hope then enter heaven with him.  Is this story simply to reassure those who listened to sermon on the Fifth Seal, that those waiting under the altar following his ministry would enter heaven with him?   
At the end of the sixth seal sermon, William Branham mentions a vision being present in Heaven with Jesus and the recording angel, when the recording angel calls his name.  Meda and Hope then enter heaven with him.  Is this story simply to reassure those who listened to sermon on the Fifth Seal, that those waiting under the altar following his ministry would enter heaven with him?   


'''If Joseph Smith's vision was real but not Biblical, shouldn't you also put William Branham's visions to the Biblical test?  
'''If Joseph Smith's vision was real but not Biblical, shouldn't you also put William Branham's visions to the Biblical test?'''


'''Double check whether your faith is in receiving the Holy Spirit, or in William Branham's vision of heaven.       
Double check whether your faith is in receiving the Holy Spirit, or in William Branham's vision of heaven.       


:''“Joseph Smith…that fine man, and the vision, I don’t doubt at all but what he had the vision. I believe he was a sincere man.  But the vision he had was contrary to the Scripture.”'' (William Branham, The Sixth Seal)
:''“Joseph Smith…that fine man, and the vision, I don’t doubt at all but what he had the vision. I believe he was a sincere man.  But the vision he had was contrary to the Scripture.”''<ref>William Branham, 63-0323 - The Sixth Seal, para.37</ref>


{{7 Seals}}
=Moving to the Next Seal=


Click [[Seventh Seal|here to go to the next article - The Seventh Seal]]


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