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<youtube>https://youtu.be/pbGUzTI3u-8</youtube> | |||
William Branham taught that the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3 were actually a prophecy of seven specific ages that the church would go through prior to the coming of the Lord. But does the Bible teach this? | |||
=What the Bible says= | |||
The Bible clearly does not state that the letters to the seven churches were describing seven chronological ages. Revelation 1:11 states that the letters were to seven churches that physically existed in Asia: | |||
:''...What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches '''which are in Asia'''; unto [[Ephesus]], and unto [[Smyrna]], and unto [[Pergamos]], and unto [[Thyatira]], and unto [[Sardis]], and unto [[Philadelphia]], and unto [[Laodicea]].'' | :''...What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches '''which are in Asia'''; unto [[Ephesus]], and unto [[Smyrna]], and unto [[Pergamos]], and unto [[Thyatira]], and unto [[Sardis]], and unto [[Philadelphia]], and unto [[Laodicea]].'' | ||
:''The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.'' | :''The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.'' | ||
:::<small>Revelation 1:11b, 20</small> | :::<small>Revelation 1:11b, 20</small> | ||
==The problem of Revelation 1:19== | |||
In Revelation 1:19, John tells us he was instructed as follows: | |||
:''Write, therefore, what you have seen, '''what is now''' and '''what will take place later'''.<ref>The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Re 1:19.</ref> | |||
So the book of Revelation consists of 2 parts: | |||
#what is now; and | |||
#what will take place later. | |||
"What is now" refers to the letters to the seven EXISTING churches in Asia. These are contained in Revelation 2-3 | |||
"What will take place later" refers to the prophecies in Revelation 4-22. This is confirmed by the wording of Revelation 4:1 | |||
==The Problem of Revelation 4:1== | |||
:''After this I looked—and there was a door in heaven, standing open! The voice like a trumpet, which I had heard speaking with me at the beginning, spoke again. ‘Come up here’, it said, ‘and I will show you '''what must take place after these things'''.’<ref>Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone, For Everyone Bible Study Guides (London; Louisville, KY: SPCK; Westminster John Knox, 2011), 41.</ref> | |||
Revelation 4:1 says that what follows was going to take place AFTER what was written in Revelation chapters 1-3. But William Branham taught that content of the seven seals started again chronologically after the resurrection. This cannot be the case based on the plain wording of Revelation 4:1. | |||
=Where did William Branham say he got his teaching from?= | =Where did William Branham say he got his teaching from?= | ||
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#Smyrna - 170 - 312 A.D. Messenger - Irenaeus (born c. 130 A.D. - died circa 200 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | #Smyrna - 170 - 312 A.D. Messenger - Irenaeus (born c. 130 A.D. - died circa 200 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | ||
#Pergamos - 312 - 606 A.D. Messenger - Martin (born c. 316 A.D. - died 397 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | #Pergamos - 312 - 606 A.D. Messenger - Martin (born c. 316 A.D. - died 397 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | ||
#Thyatira - 606 - 1520 A.D. Messenger - Columba (born 521 A.D. - died 597 A.D.) - ''' | #Thyatira - 606 - 1520 A.D. Messenger - Columba (born 521 A.D. - died 597 A.D.) - '''died prior to the start of''' '''his "age"''' | ||
#Sardis - 1520 - 1750 A.D. Messenger - Martin Luther (born 1483 A.D. - died 1546 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | #Sardis - 1520 - 1750 A.D. Messenger - Martin Luther (born 1483 A.D. - died 1546 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | ||
#Philadelphia - 1750 - 1906 A.D. - Messenger - John Wesley (born 1703 A.D. - died 1791 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | #Philadelphia - 1750 - 1906 A.D. - Messenger - John Wesley (born 1703 A.D. - died 1791 A.D.) - '''beginning of age''' | ||
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*[[Paul the Apostle]] was martyred between 68 and 73 AD. | *[[Paul the Apostle]] was martyred between 68 and 73 AD. | ||
*John wrote the Book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos around 95 AD. | *John wrote the Book of Revelation from the Isle of Patmos around 95 AD. | ||
If William Branham was correct, then Paul had been dead for over 20 years when John sent him the letter. ''' | If William Branham was correct, then Paul had been dead for over 20 years when John sent him the letter. '''So Paul never got the letter sent to him?''' | ||
===Irenaeus=== | ===Irenaeus=== | ||
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#As seen above, William Branham [[Plagiarism|plagiarized the concept of the seven church ages from Clarence Larkin]] (see link for detail or brief discussion below) | #As seen above, William Branham [[Plagiarism|plagiarized the concept of the seven church ages from Clarence Larkin]] (see link for detail or brief discussion below) | ||
#The Bible does not talk about church ages and this interpretation of Revelation 2 & 3 is clearly wrong on the basis of church history and current events. | #The Bible does not talk about church ages and this interpretation of Revelation 2 & 3 is clearly wrong on the basis of church history and current events. | ||
#Less than 20% of evangelical Christians live in North America or Europe where lukewarm churches abound. Today, more evangelicals live in Asia than any other continent. 60% of evangelicals live in Asia or Africa. The churches in the third world… particularly in countries where the church is persecuted… are anything but lukewarm. | #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 (see the Introduction). 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.<ref>Craig S. Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1999), 75.</ref> | ||
#We are not in the Laodicean church age. Less than 20% of evangelical Christians live in North America or Europe where lukewarm churches abound. Today, more evangelicals live in Asia than any other continent. 60% of evangelicals live in Asia or Africa. The churches in the third world… particularly in countries where the church is persecuted… are anything but lukewarm. | |||
#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), 75.</ref> | |||
#The whole point of William Branham's interpretation was to [[William Branham's View of Himself|point to himself]]. | #The whole point of William Branham's interpretation was to [[William Branham's View of Himself|point to himself]]. | ||
==Is this also a Jehovah's Witness doctrine?== | |||
The preface to the book, "The Finished Mystery", published by the International Bible Students Association and said to be the posthumous work of Charles Taze Russell<ref>It was later established that this book was largely written and compiled by two of Russell's associates, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, and edited by Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford</ref>, states the following: | |||
:Through St. John the Lord Jesus revealed the fact that the Church would be developed during '''seven distinct periods''', or epochs; and that for each of these epochs Ho would have '''a special angel, or messenger''', to serve the other members of the Body. It follows, then, that '''the messenger to the last, or Laodicean, epoch would declare the Presence of the Lord and the time of the Harvest of the Gospel Age'''. The great Master laid special emphasis on the importance of the messenger to the seventh, or Laodicean, period of the Church, saying that such an one would be "a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord would make ruler over all His Household, to give them meat in due season." | |||
:Those consecrated Christians who have read and fully appreciated the Truth as contained in the preceding six volumes of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES readily sea and agree that '''Charles Taze Russell was the messenger of the Church of Laodicea'''. In the mind of every one who believes the Bible the evidence set forth in this volume will establish that fact beyond the question of a doubt. | |||
==Seven Church '''Ages'''?== | ==Seven Church '''Ages'''?== | ||
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:''Notice. This last message of the last church age is not a reformer; he is a prophet, not a reformer. Show me where one prophet ever started a church age. He's not a reformer; he is a prophet. '''Others was reformers but not prophets.''' If they would've been, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet; that's the reason they continued on in the baptism in Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and all these other things, because they were reformers and not prophets. But yet they were great men of God and saw the need of the day that they lived in, and God anointed them, and they sent out there and tore those things to pieces. But the full Word of God never come to them, because they was not prophets. They were reformers. 194 But in the last days it'll have to be a prophet to take up the mysteries of God, bring it back, because the mysteries was only re—known by prophets. So it has to be this fellow come. See what I mean now? He can't be a reformer; it's got to be a prophet, because it's got to be somebody that's gifted and set there that catches the Word.<ref>63-0318 - The First Seal, para. 191-192</ref> | :''Notice. This last message of the last church age is not a reformer; he is a prophet, not a reformer. Show me where one prophet ever started a church age. He's not a reformer; he is a prophet. '''Others was reformers but not prophets.''' If they would've been, the Word of the Lord comes to the prophet; that's the reason they continued on in the baptism in Father, Son, Holy Ghost, and all these other things, because they were reformers and not prophets. But yet they were great men of God and saw the need of the day that they lived in, and God anointed them, and they sent out there and tore those things to pieces. But the full Word of God never come to them, because they was not prophets. They were reformers. 194 But in the last days it'll have to be a prophet to take up the mysteries of God, bring it back, because the mysteries was only re—known by prophets. So it has to be this fellow come. See what I mean now? He can't be a reformer; it's got to be a prophet, because it's got to be somebody that's gifted and set there that catches the Word.<ref>63-0318 - The First Seal, para. 191-192</ref> | ||
==The Value of [[Church History|History]]== | ==The Value of [[Church History|History]]== | ||
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''Remember, up at the tabernacle, when them…You got tapes. I guess, all of you take them. How that the Lord showed there that day, in the tabernacle, exactly where those church ages would be and how they would be! I had them drawed out on the board up there, them church ages which you see here drawed out in a book. '''And if that Holy Spirit didn’t come down in a big Pillar of Fire''', and went right back '''there on that wall and drawed them out''', Hisself, while '''three or four hundred people setting, looking at It!'''<ref>William Branham, 65-1204 - The Rapture, para. 61</ref> | ''Remember, up at the tabernacle, when them…You got tapes. I guess, all of you take them. How that the Lord showed there that day, in the tabernacle, exactly where those church ages would be and how they would be! I had them drawed out on the board up there, them church ages which you see here drawed out in a book. '''And if that Holy Spirit didn’t come down in a big Pillar of Fire''', and went right back '''there on that wall and drawed them out''', Hisself, while '''three or four hundred people setting, looking at It!'''<ref>William Branham, 65-1204 - The Rapture, para. 61</ref> | ||
{{7 Church Ages Bottom}} | |||
=Video Transcript= | |||
William Branham told his followers that he received his revelation of the seven church ages directly from God: | |||
:''...when we got finished with the book of the revelation of the church, what God did to those seven churches, which were then in their infancy, or their shadow, in Asia Minor. Then the Holy Spirit revealed and opened to us all the mysteries in There, of how He has brought His Church through history.<ref>64-0719M - The Feast Of The Trumpets, para. 38</ref> | |||
The problem is that William Branham stole significant parts of his “revelation” from Clarence Larkin’s book, “Dispensational Truth, or God’s Plan and Purpose in the Ages“ which was published in 1918. | |||
Now I do understand that William Branham referred to Clarence Larkin but the first time he did so was over seven months after preaching his series on the church ages. Specifically, he refers to Larkin in relation to research he was doing on the seventy weeks of Daniel: | |||
:''I've been reading Dr. Larkin's book, Dr. Smith's book, Dr. Scofield's notes, different commentaries from men everywhere, and yet I cannot put theirs together to make it come out right. See?<ref>61-0730M, Gabriel's Instructions to Daniel, para. 33</ref> | |||
He never mentions Larkin in connection with his sermons on the seven church ages or the seven seals. And when he does mention Clarence Larkin, it seems as though he disagrees with him. | |||
[[Image:Larkin Church Age Dates.png|right|thumb|250px]] | |||
But the truth is that the amount of material that William Branham copied from Larkin in the seven church age series is so significant that it goes beyond the scope of a video presentation. If you wish to see the extent of the theft, please refer to the details on our website and in the information below this video. | |||
[[Image:WMB Church Age Dates.png|right|thumb|250px]] | |||
Here are dates of the church ages according to Clarence Larkin. William Branham copied Clarence Larkin’s dates for each of the ages almost verbatim. | |||
William Branham repeatedly stressed that the messenger to each church age came at the end of their particular age: | |||
God sends the messenger of that age at the end of the time; always at the end, never at the beginning. At the end! (63-0116 - The Evening Messenger, para. 79-80) | |||
But this is completely nonsense. Let’s look at each age: | |||
Most scholars put Paul’s death in either 64 or 65 AD. This is only 12 years after William Branham said the age started. He did change the start of the Ephesian church age from A.D. 70 to A.D. 53 to coincide with the writing of Paul first epistle. The problem with this change is that the letter to the Ephesian church, as contained in Chapter 2 of the book of revelation was not written until after Paul’s death. So Paul never got the letter that William Branham said was addressed to him. How does that make sense? | |||
[[Image:WMB Church Age Messengers.png|right|thumb|500px]] | |||
Irenaeus was at the start of the age and so was Martin. | |||
William Branham really messed up with Columba as he was born in the Pergamos age and never even made it to the age of Thyatira. How could he be the messenger to that age? | |||
Luther and Wesley were both ministering at the beginning of their respective ages. | |||
Finally , William Branham was convinced he was at the end of the Laodicean age but as time moves on it is clear he was born at the beginning of the age. | |||
William Branham’s church age doctrine is outdated and obsolete. While it was at one time accepted by pre-millenial dispensationalists like Clarence Larkin, the continued study of church history has shown that the doctrine was based on poor research and certainly does not fit the current state of the church. | |||
The clearest example of this is the Laodicean age. On a cursory examination it does appears that our current age is one of excess riches and lukewarmness. But that comparison disappears as soon as one looks outside of the first world. | |||
Less than 20% of evangelical Christians live in North America or Europe where lukewarm churches abound. Today, more evangelicals live in Asia than any other continent. 60% of evangelicals are in Asia or Africa. The churches in the third world… particularly in countries where the church is persecuted… are anything but lukewarm. | |||
In fact, according to current research, “More Christians have died for their faith in this current century than all other centuries of church history combined.” (Christianity.com) | |||
The only reason William Branham preached the church ages was to point to himself. It is now over 60 years since he initially preached the church age series, and the only thing about his ministry that is clear, is the failure of his claims as a prophet. | |||
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