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The Brown Bear Vision: Difference between revisions
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=The 1962 Vision of the Brown Bear, by William Branham= | |||
April 1, 1962, in the sermon "Wisdom versus Faith": | April 1, 1962, in the sermon "Wisdom versus Faith": | ||
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=Explanation for the failed vision= | |||
People who believe that William Branham is a true prophet explain away this vision in the following ways. | People who believe that William Branham is a true prophet explain away this vision in the following ways. | ||
#Some claim that he will rise from the dead to fulfill this vision. | #Some claim that he will rise from the dead to fulfill this vision. | ||
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There are a few problems with these explanations: | There are a few problems with these explanations: | ||
==Returned Ministry== | |||
William Branham died in 1965, and a large stone pyramid now sits on top of his grave in Indiana. He is not raising from the dead just to travel to British Columbia to shoot a bear. | William Branham died in 1965, and a large stone pyramid now sits on top of his grave in Indiana. He is not raising from the dead just to travel to British Columbia to shoot a bear. | ||
==The Jonah Excuse== | |||
''“God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon”'' the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10) because they repented. Applying this scripture to William Branham’s life might make sense in the context of the vision of the destruction of Los Angeles (although there was no mass-repentance in L.A. as there was in Nineveh). However, this scripture does not work in the context of the hunting vision, as it would mean that the brown bear repented of its evil ways. | ''“God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon”'' the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:10) because they repented. Applying this scripture to William Branham’s life might make sense in the context of the vision of the destruction of Los Angeles (although there was no mass-repentance in L.A. as there was in Nineveh). However, this scripture does not work in the context of the hunting vision, as it would mean that the brown bear repented of its evil ways. | ||
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Years before the Jonah went to Nineveh, the prophet Jeremiah said that God would withhold his judgement to a Nation that would repent. ''"The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it."'' (Jeremiah 18:7-8) There is no scriptural precident that says God will relent of a vision that involves the destruction of a brown bear. | Years before the Jonah went to Nineveh, the prophet Jeremiah said that God would withhold his judgement to a Nation that would repent. ''"The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it."'' (Jeremiah 18:7-8) There is no scriptural precident that says God will relent of a vision that involves the destruction of a brown bear. | ||
==William Branham's Disobedience Resulted in the Failure of the Vision== | |||
A minister who accompanied William Branham on several of his hunting trips stated publicly that William Branham discussed his disobedience and the resultant failure of this vision in this quote: | A minister who accompanied William Branham on several of his hunting trips stated publicly that William Branham discussed his disobedience and the resultant failure of this vision in this quote: | ||
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So what will you do with this failed vision? Will you succumb to [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]] and trivialize an obvious wrong? | So what will you do with this failed vision? Will you succumb to [[Cognitive Dissonance|cognitive dissonance]] and trivialize an obvious wrong? | ||
=The 1961 Vision of the Grizzly Bear= | |||
People are sometimes confused by the story about the vision of William Branham shooting a grizzly bear with that of him shooting a brown bear. William Branham told the vision of shooting a grizzly bear several times. The first time that he tells the story of this vision was on October 1, 1961, five months after he had shot the grizzly bear. | People are sometimes confused by the story about the vision of William Branham shooting a grizzly bear with that of him shooting a brown bear. William Branham told the vision of shooting a grizzly bear several times. The first time that he tells the story of this vision was on October 1, 1961, five months after he had shot the grizzly bear. | ||
:''About two months ago, or hardly that long, I was woke up one morning. I believe, I'm not sure... I told it to most of the church. There's many here has heard me tell this before it come to pass. And in the--a vision I saw, that I'd saw a great animal, looked like a deer. And it had great high horns. And it was... I had to go around a side shale, like this, to get to it. And it was a very famous animal. It was a great trophy animal. And there was a man that I saw that had on a green checkered shirt. And then on the road, after I'd got the animal, I'd heard a--a voice say that, "Those horns are forty-two inches high." That's about this high. And it was a mammoth animal. And on the road back, I saw a great huge silver-tip grizzly bear. Now, that's the famous bear. There's four in the grizzly family. One is the silver-tip, which is the famous. Next is called, the native name, kadish, which is a black with a round ear; the second. Third is the regular grizzly, which is between black and brown, a huge bear. And the next is the Kodiak, which is only found on Kodiak Island and--and western Alaska; he's great, mammoth, biggest of all bears, but he's a grizzly. But the silver-tip is black, and the white is on--the silver is on the end of the tip of the hair. He's the famous one, very high-strung, ill-tempered bear. I shot the bear with a heart shot, killed him.''<ref>William Branham, October 1, 1961, ''It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness''</ref> | :''About two months ago, or hardly that long, I was woke up one morning. I believe, I'm not sure... I told it to most of the church. There's many here has heard me tell this before it come to pass. And in the--a vision I saw, that I'd saw a great animal, looked like a deer. And it had great high horns. And it was... I had to go around a side shale, like this, to get to it. And it was a very famous animal. It was a great trophy animal. And there was a man that I saw that had on a green checkered shirt. And then on the road, after I'd got the animal, I'd heard a--a voice say that, "Those horns are forty-two inches high." That's about this high. And it was a mammoth animal. And on the road back, I saw a great huge silver-tip grizzly bear. Now, that's the famous bear. There's four in the grizzly family. One is the silver-tip, which is the famous. Next is called, the native name, kadish, which is a black with a round ear; the second. Third is the regular grizzly, which is between black and brown, a huge bear. And the next is the Kodiak, which is only found on Kodiak Island and--and western Alaska; he's great, mammoth, biggest of all bears, but he's a grizzly. But the silver-tip is black, and the white is on--the silver is on the end of the tip of the hair. He's the famous one, very high-strung, ill-tempered bear. I shot the bear with a heart shot, killed him.''<ref>William Branham, October 1, 1961, ''It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness''</ref> | ||
=Video Script= | |||
In May 1961, on a hunting trip in Northern British Columbia, William Branham shot a silver-tip grizzly bear which he stated he prophesied in advance, although this prophecy was not recorded on tape. | |||
The following year, in 1962, he tells of a vision in which he shoots a brown bear that is even larger than the grizzly he shot. | |||
:''Many of you remember the vision that I had, where I had shot the grizzly bear, nine-foot grizzly bear (And the church remembers me telling it here.) and the caribou. I had another. Remember it's on tape here, I seen a great huge brown bear. That might be a Kodiak and it wouldn't have worked down there in Canada, 'cause they're not there. You see? But wherever it will be, it'll be. It will be; that's THUS SAITH THE LORD. It will be.''<ref> See POSSESSING.ALL.THINGS JEFF.IN 62-0506</ref> | |||
:''Now, I'm going back into the country, that you might know, when I come back next year. I'm going to get a brown bear that's almost twice that size. You see if it's right or not. I seen it. When we was standing, put my hands on his haunches laying on the ground, like that. And I could put my hands on his hips like that, and him laying down. Now, you find out if that's right or not.<ref>PRESUMING S.PINES.NC 62-0610M</ref> | |||
While William Branham did go hunting a number of times after he told this vision, he did not shoot the large brown bear that he spoke of. Those that went hunting with him have admitted that this vision was never fulfilled. | |||
Now… some have excused the failure of this vision as being directly related to William Branham’s disobedience to God. His disobedience prevented the vision from being fulfilled. In fact, one minister quotes William Branham as having said that it was “only the second time I know that I disobeyed a vision.” | |||
By this statement, this minister attempts to excuse William Branham’s failed prophecy. | |||
But what does the Bible say? | |||
First, Deuteronomy 18:20-22 does not permit any excuse relating to the failure of a vision or prophecy. | |||
:''But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.'' <ref>Deuteronomy 18:-20-22</ref> | |||
If Deuteronomy 18 did allow for excuses, a prophet with a failed vision could simply have said, '''“Oops… sorry… I disobeyed God… so you can’t kill me.”''' | |||
Secondly, the prophet Jeremiah does provide a specific rule that can apply with respect to a prophecy that fails to come to pass. | |||
:''The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.'' <ref>Jeremiah 18:7-10</ref> | |||
However, the failure of the brown bear vision does not fall within the allowance that Jeremiah provided. | |||
Sure Jonah disobeyed God, but that was not the reason that Nineveh was spared. Nineveh repented and so that great city was spared. But William Branham’s vision did not relate to a kingdom or nation. He gave it as an attempt to vindicate his own prophetic ministry. God decided not to provide that vindication. | |||
So on what basis can anyone excuse the failure of the brown bear vision from being fulfilled? | |||
Jesus said, “''beware of false prophets''”<ref>Matthew 7:15</ref>, and the apostle John said to “''test the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world''.”<ref>1 John 4:1</ref> | |||
These warnings tell us that we should test the prophecies of those who claim they are prophets. This is the only way to know whether you should embrace or abandon their teaching. | |||
Why would you accept a prophet who says things that do not come to pass? | |||
Why did God provide clear tests we mentioned for judging a prophet if He wanted you to ignore them? | |||
Do you really want to believe something so badly that you are willing to accept an excuse and reject the plain teaching of the Bible? | |||
How are you going to explain that to God? | |||
:''You may be wondering among yourselves, “How can we tell the difference, whether it was GOD who spoke or not?” Here’s how: If what the prophet spoke in GOD’s name doesn’t happen, then obviously GOD wasn’t behind it; the prophet made it up. Forget about him.''<ref>Deut 18:21-22 (The Message)</ref> | |||
=References= | =References= | ||