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| | [[File:By 1977.jpg|left|350px|Message believers all thought the world would end by 1977]] |
| [[ William Branham]] believed that the world would end in 1977. | | [[ William Branham]] believed that the world would end in 1977. |
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| William Branham said ‘[[Thus saith the Lord]]” many times during his ministry. It is interesting that he actually realized he could completely destroy his legacy with a prophecy that was incorrect as to exact timing. As a result, he waffled on the date. | | William Branham said ‘[[Thus saith the Lord]]” many times during his ministry. It is interesting that he actually realized he could completely destroy his legacy with a prophecy that was incorrect as to exact timing. As a result, he waffled on the date. |
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| ==2) "These visions" are true prophecy== | | ==Were his seven visions true prophecy?== |
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| William Branham's prediction was about the timing of the series of seven visions given to him in 1933. While the timing of the fulfillment was a prediction, the underlying visions were prophecy which have been and are being fulfilled. | | William Branham's prediction was about the timing of the series of seven visions given to him in 1933. While the timing of the fulfillment was a prediction, the underlying visions were prophecy which have been and are being fulfilled. |
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| :''David said furthermore, [As] the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.'' (I SAMUEL 26:10) | | :''David said furthermore, [As] the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.'' (I SAMUEL 26:10) |
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| ==3) The Sign of Jonas==
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| Jesus said ''A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.'' (Matthew 16:4) The question stands - what is the sign of the prophet Jonas (hereafter referred to as Jonah)?
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| For those who don't know who Jonah was, Jonah was a prophet who received a message from God to deliver to a non-Jewish city called Nineveh. ''Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.'' (Jonah 1:2). Instead of running to Ninevah, Jonah took a boat in the opposite direction. A great storm came and Jonah was thrown into the sea at his request. A great fish swallowed Jonah, and Jonah lived in the fish for three days after which the fish spit Jonah out on dry land. Jonah then went to Ninevah at God's second request and preached to the city, which was saved.
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| The 'Sign of Jonah' given to the people of Nineveh was preaching, and a prophecy that was delayed in its coming. ''And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.' So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.'' (Jonah 3:1-3a) However, when Jonah went into Nineveh he cried ''Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'' (Jonah 3:4). When the people of Nineveh repented, the prophecy of destruction was delayed. Nineveh was finally totally and utterly destroyed in 612 B.C., which was a number of years after Jonah prophecied, rather than the 40 days he predicted. God's mercy to Nineveh displeased Jonah, and his story ends up with God teaching Jonah a lesson on the value of human life.
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| Perhaps the destruction of America was delayed as the destruction of Nineveh was delayed. Perhaps there were ''10 righteous'' people in America in 1977, and God had regard to those people as he promised to Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if he found 10 righteous people abiding there (Genesis 18:32). Whatever the reason, America has been given the sign of the Prophet Jonas, destruction has been delayed, but destruction has been prophecied and will come quickly based on the fulfillment of the 7 visions given to William Branham.
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| ==4) Delay of Judgement==
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| Apart from Jonah, there are other Biblical examples of prophetic judgment being delayed. For example, King Hezekiah pleaded for and was granted more years from the Lord when a prophet told him he was going to die. Still another example would be King Ahab, who when told of his fate, clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes. The word of the Lord then changed from judgement on Ahab, to a judgement on his children after his passing.
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| ==5) William Branham spoke as a man==
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| William Branham made this statement as "a private student of the Word" and not as a prophet. This is scriptural as the Bible records other times when prophets spoke as men, rather then as prophets. When they did speak, their words were fallable, rather than when the Lord spoke through them making their words infallible.
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