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    =Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?=
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    William Branham preached a series of sermons in March 1963 on the Seven Seals of the book of Revelation.  This article contains a summary of these sermons as taught by William Branham, who taught that each seal identifies a religous disturbance.  Much of William Branham's teachings on the Seven Seals can also be found in the works of Clarence Larkin, a dispensational Baptist author. 


    Each seal opens a new chapter in the book sealed with seven seals.  This page reviews William Branham's commentary on the second seal.
    William Branham said this about his "revelation" of the second seal:


    <div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; text-align:center; font-size:140%; padding:1px; margin:1px;">Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 3</div>
    :''And now, tonight, we are studying this Second Seal. And for the first four Seals there is four horse riders. And I tell you, today something happened again. And, I—I, something that I…I go and get the old script that I had, that I talked on, long ago, and just set down there. And I thought, “Well, I—I did the very best I could.” And many writers and things, and I thought, “Well, I’ll read a little while, and look over and see this and that.” And the first thing you know, something just happens, and it’s altogether different. It just comes in different. Then I grab me a pencil right quick, and start writing down just as fast as I can, while He’s there. Oh, it just something happened just about one-half hour ago. I was telling Brother Wood, coming down, just a few minutes ago. Just something, you know. You know, there’s a lot of things happen, you just can’t talk about, you know. But just something just took place that just helped me so much.<ref>William Branham, 63-0319 - The Second Seal, para. 11-12</ref>


    {|style="width:800px; background-color:#cedff2; border:1px #a3b0bf solid; text-align:center;"
    ==William Branham's Revelation of the Second Seal==
    |''And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.''
    |-
    |}


    ====The Lamb worthy to open the Seals====
    For the second horse rider, the red horse, William Branham said the following:
    Once again it is the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who opens the seal as he is the only one worth. 


    :''Now here is my revelation of it. '''This is Satan, again.''' It’s the devil, again, in another form...  The council was held, and they elected a head bishop. And then, by doing this, they united church and state together. Then, he dropped his bow. He got off his white horse. He got on his red horse, for he can kill anybody that don’t agree with him. There is your Seal. '''Same fellow!''' Watch him ride on into Eternity yonder, with it, see, unites both his powers together.<ref>William Branham, 63-0319 - The Second Seal, para. 261, 284</ref>


    ====The Second Beast====
    ==Comparison to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell==
    The second six-winged beast, which looks like a calf, says "Come and see."  William Branham taught that like the Gospel of Mark (the second of the four books protecting the testimony of Jesus Christ, and giving witness to the book of Acts), the calf testifies of the labour of Jesus Christ.  In the Old Testament, a calf was one of the sacrificial animals.  Under the anointing of the calf (or ox), the Medieval Christians laboured against the persecutions of papal Rome to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and often laid down their lives for their convictions.


    As with the First Seal, we again compare William Branham's teaching above to what Charles Taze Russel said in the 1918 book, The Finished Mystery:


    <div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; text-align:center; font-size:140%; padding:1px; margin:1px;">Revelation Chapter 6 Verse 4</div>
    :''6:3. And when He had opened the second seal.—Revealing the second period of the history of the Antichrist.
    :''I heard the second beast.—Infinite Power. See Rev. 4:7.
    :''Say, Come and see.—Come and see Infinite Power consenting to a thing apparently in victorious opposition to it.
    :''6:4. And I beheld and lo there went out another horse.—A creed-horse, quite different from the Scriptures which it misrepresented.
    :''That was red.—The color of sin—imperfection. “Though your sins be as scarlet.”—Isa. 1:18.
    :''And power was given to him that sat thereon.—'''The same rider, the Antichrist.'''<ref>Russell, C. T. (Charles Taze), The Finished Mystery, Brooklyn : International Bible Students Association, 1918</ref>


    {|style="width:800px; background-color:#cedff2; border:1px #a3b0bf solid; text-align:center;"
    ==Questions==
    |''And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.'' (Revelation 6:3-4)
    '''Does it concern you that we have found proof that a number of William Branham's [[Prophecy|prophecies did not come true?]]'''
    |-
    :''“I charge any of you in the Name of the Lord Jesus to ever--to put your finger on one thing of the hundreds of things that's been told before they come to pass and say they did not come to pass. Tell me one time that on the platform, out there wherever it was, that He ever spoke anything that wasn't perfectly just exactly that way.”'' (William Branham, The Second Seal)
    |}


    ====A red horse, and him that sat thereon====
    '''Didn’t William Branham say that he came out of the desert, and claim the Third Pull would happen in the secret chamber?  If so, do you want to believe Jesus' warning or William Branham's stories?'''
    William Branham taught that a horse represents a power, and red represents bloodshed. The rider is the same rider that rode the white horse of deception. Crowned with power, he demands the blood of any person opposed to his Nicolaitan spirit.  
    :''“And now, just before the coming of Christ, the Bible said there would be false christs arise and would claim to be Christ, and would say, "Lo," the people say, "He's in the desert." Don't believe it. "Lo, He's in the secret chamber." Don't believe it. "For as the sun shineth from the east unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be." See? Yes, He'll--He'll--He'll appear, and it'll be a universal thing.”'' (William Branham, The Second Seal)


    ==Controversial Statements==
    William Branham says some very strange comments during this sermon, such as:
    #”when a man turns down the Gospel Truth, Satan marks him. Where? At his ear.”  However, William Branham admits turning down the Gospel call as a youth, as published in his [[Life story by Julius Stadsklev]].
    #” The devil, as I proved to you the other night is in a trinity just like God”
    #” God works His place in a trinity: justification, sanctification and incarnate Himself in His people with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Same thing. The devil's just in a type after Christ.”
    #“And I'd want you to, not by no mean, think that I am trying to inject some kind of a--a cult of Elijah's blankets or robes and oh, all those things we've had plenty of them.”


    ====Power to remove Peace====
    =Moving to the Next Seal=
    When Jesus was born, Angels declared his presence by singing ''"Peace on earth"'' (luke 2:14).  Paul taught that the kingdom of God was ''"Peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost"''  (Romans 14:17). 


    William Branham taught that to take peace from the earth is to take the Holy Ghost from the earth.  The only way to remove the Holy Spirit from the earth is to remove Christians from the earth, and remove access to the Holy Spirit (i.e. the scriptures) from the people.   
    Click [[Third Seal|here to go to the next article - The Third Seal]]


    Scriptures on peace in the Bible include:
    {{Bottom of Page}}
    *'''Psalm 120:7'''  I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
    {{7 Seals}}
    *'''Isaiah 48:22'''  There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
    [[Category:Doctrines]]
    *'''John 14:27'''  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
    [[Category:Plagiarism]]
    *'''I Corinthians 14:33'''  For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
    [[Category:Eschatology]]
    *'''I Thessalonians 5:3'''  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
    [[Category:The Seven Seals]]
     
    [[Category:William Branham pointing to himself]]
     
    [[Category:The Message]]
    ====Power to kill, and the gift of the sword====
    Jesus spoke of those who did not teach the truth when he said ''"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."'' (Matthew 15:14)  Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote on the same subject, but concluded ''"Why ... should not the Church use force in compelling her lost sons to return, if the lost sons compelled others to their destruction?"'' (The Correction of the Donatists, 22–24, d. 430 A.D.).
     
    William Branham taught that just like the rider in the first seal was given a crown (but didn't start out with a crown), the rider in the second seal was given a great sword (but didn't start out with a sword).  Inspired by the theology of teachers like Augustine, the Roman Church first courted kings, emperors and princes to do its bidding, and eventually acquired its own military. 
     
    Charlemagne, the first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, converted the Saxons with the sword and enforced the doctrine of the Roman Church.  Other kings loyal to Rome followed similar "evangilism" campaigns against the pagans in Northern Europe, and against the Saracenes (Muslims) in the south of Europe - all the while enforcing Rome's doctrine.  After the split of the Eastern Church in 1054 A.D., Pope Urban II launched the first crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks in 1095 A.D.  These crusades marked the start of Rome's own military might, including the following Orders:
     
    #Knights Templar: 1129 - 1312
    #Knights Hospitaller 1080 - present (minimized)
    #Portuguese Order of Aviz 1128 – 1789 (secularized)
    #Order of Calatrava 1164 - 1838
    #Order of Santiago – 1171 - 1499
    #Teutonic Knights – 1198 - present (minimized)
    #Order of Montesa in Spain 1312 – 1587 (secularized)
    #Order of Christ in Portugal, 1318 – 1789 (secularized)
    #Palantine Guards: 1850 - 1970
    #Noble Guards: 1801 - 1970
    #Swiss Guards: 1506 - present
     
    After practicing on pagans and Muslims, the Roman Church launched inquisitions against "heretics" (anyone who opposed the official doctrine of the church) in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and India.  The brutality of the Spanish exporers in South America and the Carribean must also be remembered.  According to Smucker's Glorious Reformation, 68,000,000 Christians were martyred at the hands of the Catholic church. 
     
    :''He's going forth a sword in his hand, riding red horse, wading through the blood of everybody that disagrees with him.''
    :'''Sermon: The Second Seal'''
     
     
    {|style="width:800px; background-color:#cedff2; border:1px #a3b0bf solid; text-align:center;"
    !Matthew 24:6
    !Revelation 6:3-4
    |- valign="top"
    |And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
    |And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
    |-
    |}
     
    ==Plagiarism==
     
    {| class="wikitable"
    !What William Branham Said
    !What Clarence Larkin Said
    |-
    | style="width: 50%; background-color: white;"|
    | style="width: 50%; background-color: white;"|
    |-
    |Now, here's my revelation of it: This is Satan again ...But you find out here that this man has a sword so he pertains to church political war.
    THE.SECOND.SEAL_  JEFF.IN  TUESDAY_  63-0319
     
    |SECOND SEAL
    There is no need to tarry long with this SEAL. When it was broken John heard the second, or “Calf-like Living Creature” say, “Come,” and a “RED HORSE” appeared and went forth, whose Rider was given a “GREAT SWORD,” and who had power to take peace from the earth, and cause men to kill one another. The symbolism is very clear. Red, the color of the Horse, is a symbol of BLOOD, and the Sword is a symbol of WAR.
    Clarence Larkin, The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture, 55 (Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919).
    |-
    |}
     
    {{Portal Navigation}}
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    Revision as of 18:16, 15 January 2022

    Click on headings to expand them, or links to go to specific articles.

    Seven Seals: Introduction • First • Second • Third • Fourth • Fifth • Sixth • Seventh • Videos

    Where did William Branham say he got his revelation from?

    William Branham said this about his "revelation" of the second seal:

    And now, tonight, we are studying this Second Seal. And for the first four Seals there is four horse riders. And I tell you, today something happened again. And, I—I, something that I…I go and get the old script that I had, that I talked on, long ago, and just set down there. And I thought, “Well, I—I did the very best I could.” And many writers and things, and I thought, “Well, I’ll read a little while, and look over and see this and that.” And the first thing you know, something just happens, and it’s altogether different. It just comes in different. Then I grab me a pencil right quick, and start writing down just as fast as I can, while He’s there. Oh, it just something happened just about one-half hour ago. I was telling Brother Wood, coming down, just a few minutes ago. Just something, you know. You know, there’s a lot of things happen, you just can’t talk about, you know. But just something just took place that just helped me so much.[1]

    William Branham's Revelation of the Second Seal

    For the second horse rider, the red horse, William Branham said the following:

    Now here is my revelation of it. This is Satan, again. It’s the devil, again, in another form... The council was held, and they elected a head bishop. And then, by doing this, they united church and state together. Then, he dropped his bow. He got off his white horse. He got on his red horse, for he can kill anybody that don’t agree with him. There is your Seal. Same fellow! Watch him ride on into Eternity yonder, with it, see, unites both his powers together.[2]

    Comparison to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell

    As with the First Seal, we again compare William Branham's teaching above to what Charles Taze Russel said in the 1918 book, The Finished Mystery:

    6:3. And when He had opened the second seal.—Revealing the second period of the history of the Antichrist.
    I heard the second beast.—Infinite Power. See Rev. 4:7.
    Say, Come and see.—Come and see Infinite Power consenting to a thing apparently in victorious opposition to it.
    6:4. And I beheld and lo there went out another horse.—A creed-horse, quite different from the Scriptures which it misrepresented.
    That was red.—The color of sin—imperfection. “Though your sins be as scarlet.”—Isa. 1:18.
    And power was given to him that sat thereon.—The same rider, the Antichrist.[3]

    Questions

    Does it concern you that we have found proof that a number of William Branham's prophecies did not come true?

    “I charge any of you in the Name of the Lord Jesus to ever--to put your finger on one thing of the hundreds of things that's been told before they come to pass and say they did not come to pass. Tell me one time that on the platform, out there wherever it was, that He ever spoke anything that wasn't perfectly just exactly that way.” (William Branham, The Second Seal)

    Didn’t William Branham say that he came out of the desert, and claim the Third Pull would happen in the secret chamber? If so, do you want to believe Jesus' warning or William Branham's stories?

    “And now, just before the coming of Christ, the Bible said there would be false christs arise and would claim to be Christ, and would say, "Lo," the people say, "He's in the desert." Don't believe it. "Lo, He's in the secret chamber." Don't believe it. "For as the sun shineth from the east unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be." See? Yes, He'll--He'll--He'll appear, and it'll be a universal thing.” (William Branham, The Second Seal)

    Controversial Statements

    William Branham says some very strange comments during this sermon, such as:

    1. ”when a man turns down the Gospel Truth, Satan marks him. Where? At his ear.” However, William Branham admits turning down the Gospel call as a youth, as published in his Life story by Julius Stadsklev.
    2. ” The devil, as I proved to you the other night is in a trinity just like God”
    3. ” God works His place in a trinity: justification, sanctification and incarnate Himself in His people with the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Same thing. The devil's just in a type after Christ.”
    4. “And I'd want you to, not by no mean, think that I am trying to inject some kind of a--a cult of Elijah's blankets or robes and oh, all those things we've had plenty of them.”

    Moving to the Next Seal

    Click here to go to the next article - The Third Seal


    Footnotes

    1. ↑ William Branham, 63-0319 - The Second Seal, para. 11-12
    2. ↑ William Branham, 63-0319 - The Second Seal, para. 261, 284
    3. ↑ Russell, C. T. (Charles Taze), The Finished Mystery, Brooklyn : International Bible Students Association, 1918


    Navigation

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    This article is one in a series of studies on the Seven Seals - you are currently on the topic that is in bold:

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