11,141
edits
The Seven Churches Ages: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| (2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
{{7 Church Ages}} | {{7 Church Ages}} | ||
<youtube>https://youtu.be/pbGUzTI3u-8</youtube> | <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?= | ||
| Line 69: | Line 96: | ||
#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''' | ||
| Line 174: | Line 201: | ||
:''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]]== | ||