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The Laodicean Church Age Messenger: Difference between revisions
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But the question must be asked - What was the reason that he taught this doctrine? Was it simply another way to point to himself as a great prophet? | But the question must be asked - What was the reason that he taught this doctrine? Was it simply another way to point to himself as a great prophet? | ||
=The concept of "church ages"= | |||
Someone in the message recently asked this question - "''How can you deny that In His hands were 7 stars, one star for each age? You are in Laodicea and you are refusing to find the star. Remember the wise men? They followed the star and the star always points to the Word. How can you read the Bible, preach the bible and plainly refuse that there are 7 stars?''" | |||
William Branham did not come up with the idea that there were "seven church ages." | |||
Some early dispensationalists (such as [[Plagiarism#Clarence Larkin|Clarence Larkin]] from whom William Branham copied the idea, including the dates of the ages) interpreted the seven churches of Asia (Rev. 1:4) symbolically as seven “church ages,” or stages of church history, though few hold this view today outside of [[The Message|the message]]. For the following reasons, this line of interpretation is no more feasible than allegorizing the churches addressed in Paul’s letters: | |||
#There is '''no reference''' in the book of Revelation that would suggest that the seven church are seven church ages. The Bible does not use the word "age" or "ages." This is a construct of early dispensationalists which William Branham copied. | |||
#Abundant evidence suggests that Revelation addresses seven literal church communities, including items of local color that fit each of the seven letters (see [[Seven Churches In Asia]]). | |||
#A map shows that Revelation addresses the seven churches in the very sequence that a messenger from John, arriving first in Ephesus near the sea, would travel to each of the cities listed, presumably along the main roads of Asia. The average distance between each city was about thirty to forty-five miles. | |||
#Only a forced reading of church history (regularly revised with the passing of time) has allowed this interpretation. | |||
#Finally, if Revelation requires the completion of seven church ages before Jesus’ return, then, in most centuries of church history, Christians had no right to expect the imminent return of the Lord! This would be a curious conclusion for advocates of the seven church ages view, most of whom vehemently emphasize the imminence of Christ’s return.<ref>Craig S. Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 74–75.</ref> | |||
The burden of proof is clearly upon William Branham to show that these local letters are successive "ages" or "eras". | |||
=William Branham believed himself to be a prophet= | =William Branham believed himself to be a prophet= | ||