The Seven Churches Ages: Difference between revisions

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{{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?=