The Wise Shall Understand

 IN THE LIGHT OF CURRENT EVENTS, AND THE REALIZATION THAT THEY DEFINITELY ARE POINTING TO THE END OF THE AGE, I WANT TO TAKE THE 12TH CHAPTER OF DANIEL FOR A TEXT, AND DEAL WITH A MESSAGE THAT WE WILL TITLE FROM A PHRASE FOUND IN THAT CHAPTER, “THE WISE SHALL UNDERSTAND.” THIS WAS WRITTEN MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE FIRST ADVENT OF CHRIST, AND IT IS SPEAKING OF A PERIOD IN TIME THAT WOULD BE MORE THAN 2,500 YEARS IN THE FUTURE. BUT IT JUST SHOWS HOW PRECISE GOD IS, IN THESE THINGS, FOR SIX HUNDRED AND SOME YEARS LATER, HE HAD THE APOSTLE JOHN WRITE SOME MORE, DEALING WITH THIS SAME SUBJECT, AND MENTIONING THE SAME ANGEL, AND THAT IS FOUND IN THE 12TH CHAPTER OF REVELATION, WHICH WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT IN CONNECTION WITH THIS MESSAGE. GREAT MULTITUDES OF RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE CAUGHT UP IN A BIG RUSH AND GREAT EXPECTATION, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE WE ARE LIVING CLOSE TO THE TIME OF THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST FOR HIS CHURCH, BUT IT IS SAD TO REALIZE THAT SO FEW OF THEM ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THE MIDST OF THOSE WHO TRULY ARE THE CHURCH THAT WILL BE RAPTURED AT THAT TIME. THE TRUE CHURCH, COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST WILL KNOW FOR SURE AS THAT TIME DRAWS NEAR, AND SHE WILL BE MAKING HERSELF READY TO MEET HIM, JUST LIKE WE SEE IN THE 19TH CHAPTER OF REVELATION, “HIS WIFE HATH MADE HERSELF READY.” IT TAKES MORE THAN JUST BELIEVING IN A GREAT WORLDWIDE REVIVAL OF ALL DENOMINATIONS, TO BE READY TO MEET JESUS IN THE AIR WHEN HE COMES. THE TRUE BRIDE WILL BE SEEING SOMETHING IN THIS BOOK (THE BIBLE) THAT DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH LEADERS WILL NOT ALLOW THEIR PEOPLE TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND. THEY DO NOT WANT THEM TO BELIEVE ANYTHING THAT IS NOT ALREADY INCLUDED IN THEIR DENOMINATIONAL TEACHING. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A MARVEL TO ME, THAT PEOPLE WHO CLAIM TO BE BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS WILL LOOK AT CERTAIN THINGS IN THE BIBLE THAT OTHERS BELIEVE, AND SAY, STAY AWAY FROM THAT; IT IS OF THE DEVIL, AND YET THEY WILL OPEN THEIR BIBLES TO 2 TIMOTHY 3:16, AND READ, “ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS,” WHEN IT SUITS THEIR PURPOSE TO DO SO. NEVERTHELESS GOD IS STILL REVEALING HIS WORD TO THOSE THAT WILL RECEIVE IT, AND BECAUSE HE IS, THE BRIDE IS GOING TO KNOW SOME PRECIOUS THINGS THAT OTHER CHURCH-GOING PEOPLE WILL NOT KNOW. 

ISRAEL’S TIME OF DELIVERANCE 

 Let us open our Bibles to the 12th chapter of Daniel now, where Daniel is writing of certain things that are to transpire at the time of the end. This chapter starts out dealing only with Daniel’s people. which of course is the nation of Israel, but a little further on down, we see the Gentile bride of Christ brought into the picture. Notice, And at that time (the time of the end) shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: (Israel) and there shall be a time of trouble.(That is what we see in Revelation 12:7, war in heaven. Michael and his angels fighting with the dragon and his angels, and it is all in relationship to what God is doing with the nation of Israel in this specific time factor, and it definitely is a time of trouble.) such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: (Jesus mentions that in Matthew 24 ) and at THAT TIME THY PEOPLE shall be delivered, everyone that is found written in the book.” That is where Revelation 7.1-8 comes into the picture. You find there that one hundred and forty four thousand servants of God are to be sealed, and that will be done through the ministry of God’s two prophets of chapter It. and they will be sealed with the baptism of the Holy Ghost But that is only one segment of the people referred to as thy people to Daniel. for these are the ones that shall preach the everlasting gospel in the nations of the world that they have been gathered from Besides them though, there is yet another very important element of “THY PEOPLE” that shall be saved at that time, and that is the element referred to as “THE WOMAN,” that will flee into the wilderness, into a place prepared for her to hide from the evil Antichrist forces that will be slaughtering Jews in the last half of that seventieth week of Daniel. This will be men, women, boys and girls, kept mortally alive to repopulate the Jewish race of people in the Millennium. They will also be awakened spiritually by the ministry of those two prophets, in the first 312 years of that week of time. Now naturally when we speak of a week of time in this wise, we are referring to a week of years instead of days. I will not go into that just now, for we have it fully explained in many other messages already in print. 

RESURRECTION TO LIFE —AND DEATH 

 As we continue on here, with verse 2, we find a resurrection spoken of in connection with these end time events, but it is not broken down into its various phases; it simply covers the whole scope of the resurrection; both righteous and wicked. “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Because of this verse, many of the Jews today look for a general resurrection in connection with the coming of their Messiah. But without the New Testament, which sheds more light on this resurrection subject, one might naturally read this verse 2, and see it like that. You just have to keep in mind, that this grace age wherein God is working among Gentiles to take out a people for His name, is referred to in the Old Testament as THE LATTER DAYS, therefore the Jews having rejected Christ the first time He came to them, just simply do not realize how long these latter days were to last, and they have already lasted almost two thousand years. You will recall how Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, using a prophecy of Joel which says, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh,” and so forth. Well, the last days started on that day, but it pertains to a period, or dispensation of time wherein God would deal with mankind in a specific way, other than the way He did under the dispensation of the law. Therefore we have been living in the last days from that standpoint all along, but now we are living in the time of the end when many of these prophecies shall be fulfilled. Those that awake to everlasting life will be the bride, the foolish virgins, and also the Jewish tribulation saints, in addition to those that arose when Jesus did. These will all be resurrected in their predetermined order before the Millennium starts, but those who are resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt will stay in the ground until after the Millennium, and they will be raised to stand before the great white throne judgment of Revelation 20:11-15, and may I say this, The wise do understand these things, for they are revealed unto them. That final resurrection has no life in it. 

THE WISE SHALL SHINE 

 Alright now, verse 3 says, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Brothers and Sisters: We are living in the day when that scripture is pointing right at you and me. Mankind is no longer to be excused for not knowing, or for not having access to the truth that the wise shall have and understand. For it has been revealed, and it is being proclaimed around this world today, and those who are receiving it know also, that there is still more to be revealed in the days ahead, so they will not take what they now have, and go to seed on it; as denominational people have in past days. No, they will let that truth shine, that others may continue to find light to walk in. We will never shine as the brightness of the firmament (the brightness of the sun) as long as we are still holding on to our former traditions; that is reserved for those who absolutely take on the mind of Christ, and when we do that, we will no longer take delight in just seeing how many people we can pack into a church house. No, God is looking for righteousness in His true children, instead of works of the flesh inspired by fleshly zeal. That is why I say, When you begin to see what true righteousness is, you can no longer go to the church of your choice, for you will begin to see also, that there is only one church, only one faith, only one baptism that gets a person into that church, and only one God, and that He is Spirit and not a person. Hallelujah! Spiritual ignorance cannot stand in the midst of this great light. Bro. Jackson: What about dear saints of other ages who did not know what we know today? You just have to look at these things from the standpoint of whether people of past days walked in all the light that was available to them or not. Gentiles in Babylonian confusion were just as much in t bondage as the Jews that were carried to literal Babylon, and God dealt with them accordingly. In other words, Jerusalem and the land of Israel could not be expected to flourish when the heirs of that land were in captivity. But when God did open the way for those Jews to be brought back from their captivity, and restored to the land of their heritage, then they were without excuse. It is the same with Gentiles today. Those denominational walls have been penetrated with enough truth to break them down, so anyone who chooses to remain in the darkness of confusion and captivity is without excuse before God. They have all had their opportunity to walk with God in the light of His word. 

RUNNING TO AND FRO 

 In verse 4 we read, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the TIME OF THE END: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” In other words, Daniel: you go ahead and write this, but you are not going to understand it, because it is not for your time. That chapter was going to h lay there in the written word of God for 2500 years before it would be revealed and applied. No amount of probing could get out of that chapter its full meaning until the time appointed of the Father, for Daniel was commanded to shut it up and seal it, and that is exactly what was done. Oh yes, theologians have built their theories about it, but not one of them has ever been able to see from it, what every true bride saint will see in this time of the end as God removes the seal from it. As for the time element, the last part of that verse speaks of how many will run to and fro, and knowledge would be increased, so I ask you, Did very many run to and fro, before this twentieth century? The real running to and fro has only been a reality since the end of WW2, and certainly we are all aware of how knowledge has increased in the past forty some years. We have passed from those old steamboat days into a gasoline and diesel engine era, and brother, they are running everywhere. If someone in New York City  in their day, it was not very often that anyone traveled from Harrison County to Washington County just to visit someone; But today, on a Sunday afternoon, it is very common for people to get in their car and travel from Salem to Corydon, and then on to New Albany and Jeffersonville, Sellersburg, Charlestown, and back to Salem, just viewing the countryside. You would not have done that 60 years ago. Even when I was a boy, people did not just get up one morning and decide to go to Jeffersonville. Usually this was something that was anticipated and planned several weeks in advance. You would have to spend a few days getting all the tires pumped up on the old Model T. and then you might have to pump them up a few more times before you could get there and back home again. In place of the old dirt and rock, roads we now have nice paved highways, and vehicles that can run 60, 70, 80, and 90 miles an hour, if the law would allow it. You can be in Mexico from here, in 4 1/2 hours, or Europe in 10 hours, and the highways and airways are crowded all the time, so tell me, Are we traveling to and fro or not? Of course I realize that there are certain remote areas of the world where this is not the case, but may I remind you, that it is not those areas of the world that fulfill the scriptures. It is your intellectual, industrialized areas of the world that God is looking at in connection with the fulfillment of those prophecies of the Bible. They are even saying now, that we have passed from the industrial age, and that we are now entering the era of knowledge. They have computers to do everything. Even little children in grade school are working with computers now. Schools are setting up computer classes for the very young; and computers are becoming as common in many homes as typewriters were not too long ago. Therefore I say, It is a computer age. A computer can do in minutes, what it takes the human mind hours and days to do. So can we deny the fact that we are living in a day when knowledge is increased? The prophecy is accurate to the minutest detail; so when we see the conditions of its fulfillment forming around us, should we not realize that the time is at hand? The wicked shall not understand, but the wise will. 

HOW LONG UNTIL THE END? 

 “Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.” This is a picture of what Daniel saw in relationship to his beloved land, because there is only one river in the land of Israel that Israel has been known and identified by throughout all scripture, and that is the Jordan, which flows from almost the extreme north to the south. (Many of you have been there and seen it.) “And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? (Speaking of those prophetic scenes that Daniel had been seeing and recording.) And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by Him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a -time, (one year) and times, (two more years) and an half.” (which is half a year) This man seen here in white linen, (actually in angelic form) is the same one that John wrote of in Revelation 10, which had one foot upon the sea, and the other one on the earth. Both scenes pertain to the end time, or time of the end, but they are pertaining to two differ ent realms of people. In both scenes, the one in white linen raises His hand, or hands to heaven, and swears by Him that liveth for ever, and in the case of Revelation 10, which pertains to Gentiles, it is announced that time shall be no longer, or delay no longer. But in Daniel 12, which pertains to the Jews, it is stated that there will be 3 1/2 years transpire before the end of the things would be realized, so we must see that it is a prophecy concerning, or being applied through Jesus the Christ, who at the time of Daniel’s prophecy, had not even come into existence. But they are both prophecies that will be fulfilled at the endtime. For the bride of Christ it will mean that Jesus is off of the mercy seat and there will be no more grace for Gentiles, for the little scroll that was sealed with seven seals, is now fully opened, as He stands there holding it in His hand. Also, the fact that He has one foot on land and the other on the sea, shows that He has universal authority and dominion in what He is proclaiming. In other words, Time for Gentiles has expired. Now let us finish the rest of Daniel 12:7, which says, “And when he the Antichrist shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. Of course we realize that the scattering of the power of the Holy people pertains to the woman (spiritually awakened Israel) of Revelation 12, that flees into the wilderness to hide, into a place that is already prepared for her, and that she has found out about from her two prophets that prophesy for 3 1/2 years prior to her fleeing. Naturally all the things that will be finished at that time, pertains to the pictorial prophetic wonders that Daniel has been viewing in this vision. In other words, That 70th week of Daniel will have run its course, the great tribulation will be over, and it will be time for the Lord Jesus and His bride to judge the nations, and set up the Millennial kingdom. Let me say this also, Saints: Do not get disturbed, when certain skeptics come around, and tell you, that you cannot find anything in the Bible about a Millennial reign of Christ, for the word Millennium simply designates, or applies to the one thousand years Christ will reign on earth with His bride in a reign of holiness and restoration. In other words, One thousand is a Millennium, and that is why we use that terminology, and the scriptures themselves fully substantiate the one thousand year reign, so we need not even argue that fact. 

HEARING —BUT NOT UNDERSTANDING 

 Now notice, when we come to verse 8, Daniel says, “And I heard, but I understood not? (That is like a lot of church people today, they hear every word that is preached, but they just simply do not understand. Daniel had to hear every word perfectly, or he could not have written it, but there was no need for him to understand any of it, because it was not for his day. Therefore it was just like what John wrote in the book of Revela-tion, it was to be sealed up until the endtime, to be revealed to those that would be affected by its fulfillment. If either one of them had been allowed to understand and remember what they saw and what it meant, they would have written that too, so the Lord just had it all recorded, and kept it scaled up. Daniel was not satisfied just to leave it rest like that though. so he asked what it means.) then said, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things. That was a normal question for him to ask. We would have probably done the same thing. But the answer came back from one of those angelic beings, saying. “Go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” In other words, Just do not ask, Daniel, for there is no way that you are going to understand this. Then he goes ahead saying, verse 10, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; (That is exactly what has been taking place throughout this age of grace.) but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand.” Let me just hold the rest of that verse for a minute. We have seen in Revela-tion 19:8, that the bride of Christ is to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, and we know from Revelation 7:9-17, that the tribulation saints are pictured as having white robes, but the wicked folks that lived next door to these saints, and down the street from them, could never understand, they just simply go on, in their wicked ways, and get worse and worse as time draws near the end. All the testifying you could ever do, would never change them one bit, for the Bible says, “The wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand.” But, praise God! There will be some that do understand, so notice the rest of that verse. “But the wise shall understand.” There, is where we got our title for this message. Brother! Listen to me! There are some wise virgins scattered around this old world today, that do understand these things that are being revealed by the Spirit of God in these last days of Laodicea, and they are going to be lifted up out of all this wickedness one day before very much longer. No, I will not set any dates; we will just watch world events take shape, and that will be soon enough for us to know. As everything falls into place, it will be revealed to the bride, and she will make her final preparation. 

1260 DAYS — 1290 DAYS —1335 DAYS 

 As we look at verse 11, we immediately recognize that it places time exactly in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, and counts forward. “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, (When the Anti-christ breaks the peace covenant and takes over the temple of the Jews in the middle of that week.) And the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” The Jews do not even have a temple at this present time; therefore they are not offering sacrifice according to the law, so this places all of this on out ahead yet. But we do know that Daniel 9:27 will be fulfilled in connection with these events, and it shows that this false prince will confirm a peace covenant with many, for one week, (Israel will be the main ones) and in the midst (or middle) of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. So Daniel 12:11 picks up right there and says, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Then the angel continued on saying, “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.” That actually sounds like a contradiction between those two verses and verse 7, which adds up to one thousand two hundred and sixty days, but I assure you, it is not. The 1260 days of the last half of that week are allotted to the Antichrist and his wickedness, and the extra thirty days of verse 11, and the extra 45 days of verse 12, are days of time that elapse between the time Jesus and His bride descend from heaven bringing an end to the reign of the Antichrist, and the time the Millennium is actually set in motion. The forces of Armageddon are dealt with, the temple, and the altar, have to be cleansed and rededicated, after having been defiled by the Antichrist, so I assure you, there is no contradiction there. It is just that verses eleven and twelve are stretched out to cover events beyond the end of the week of Daniel. The wise WILL understand. Verse 13, “But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, (in death) and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Daniel has been resting in death for almost 2500 years now, but the end of those days are soon to be a fulfilled reality, not as soon as some are saying, but at the present trend of wickedness and degradation out here in the world, I do not see the Lord allowing it to go on much longer. Nevertheless we do need to keep in mind, that Jesus will not come until every preceding prophecy is a fulfilled reality. The war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 cannot be fought after He comes for the bride. You could never get the time to figure out right on the various phases of that encounter, if it did not take place before the rapture of the Church. I grant you, there are a lot of men who are supposed to be smarter than me, that say, “I believe a lot of that is fulfilled already, and we just do not know how to interpret it.” But I say, “You may preach that to spiritually blind people, but you will never get the bride of Jesus Christ to be so careless with the scriptures.” Most of those that use scriptures like that, are just merely covering up for their own ignorance of the word of God. People who follow leaders like that, are taught that Jesus can come any minute, and that if they will just love Him and live their lives right, everything will come out alright, even if they do not understand the scriptures. I say, “That would be wonderful if it were that way, but it is not that way; the wise shall understand.” This was not written in vain. God has purposed to have a church that does understand His word. 

EVERYTHING IN ITS OWN TIME 

 When John the Baptist came on the scene preparing the way for the Lord, he created a commotion that caused the Scribes and Pharisees to send men to inquire, Are you the Messiah? Are you this, or that, or just who are you? He merely answered, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.” Then he just went right ahead preaching, fulfilling what he was called to do, and only those who were actually ordained to hear his message, had their eyes opened, their ears unstopped, and became followers of John, and later, followers of Christ. It would not have done one bit of good for anyone in Jerusalem to have said, Well we are still having revivals at the temple, people are being converted to Judaism every day, for God was not in Judaism then, He was moving by His Spirit, down at the Jordan River, and the wise of that day understood that. They no longer looked for God in Judaism. Therefore what I am saying is this, God is not obligated to fulfill our word, but He is obligated to fulfill His word. He has obligated Himself, by His own decree, that not one word of all that He has ever spoken shall fail. He will not bypass any prophecy whatsoever, to fulfill your expectancy, nor of mine. It is our responsibility to get our expectations in line with His word, and when we do that, we will not be looking for anything ahead of time. Furthermore, when we get our under-s standing straightened out, we will have no reason to reject what God is revealing to His church in these last days, for we will know that it is for our own benefit, that He is doing it. 

FIGHTING AGAINST TRUTH

 A lady called here Thursday night, and when I answered she said, Are you Raymond Jackson? I acknowledged that I was, and she replied, Well I want to talk to you about that article you printed in March, “Identifying The Anti-christ.” She would not give her name, but I assumed it was the same lady that called and talked to my wife, when she and some of the other sisters were here at the church. That lady was disturbed about the picture on the front of the paper, showing various denominational name tags on people attending an ecumenical gathering, and saying to each other, “Why did we ever protest Catholic doctrine anyway?” Evidently the picture is doing exactly what we intended for it to do, get the attention of those that see it, and naturally we do not expect everyone that sees it to be thrilled to death about it, for it really brings them face to face with reality, and many people do not want to face the truth. They would rather bury their head in the sand, and pretend that everything’s alright. This lady would not even tell me where she attends church, but she said to me, “You ought to be ashamed for criticizing your brethren like that. I think you are doing a terrible thing.” Then she said, “I will have you know, we are still getting people saved and baptized in our church, so you cannot tell me that we have the spirit of Antichrist.” She let me know in no uncertain terms, that as long as they were experiencing a move like that, they did not need anything else. She assured me that her church did not agree with Catholic doctrine, so I just said to her, I am not pointing a finger at your local congregation, but I am pointing to those denominations that have joined up with the World Council of Churches, or The National Council of Churches, and I assure you, that they are every one confederates, and that they are linking back with the old Vatican church system that the Reformation freed them from. Furthermore, I said, The day will come when what is written in that paper will be fulfilled right before your eyes, if you live, and with that, she hung up. I just thought to myself, There is an element of people in this twentieth century that are just as loyal to those systems of religion as anyone could possibly be. They are exactly like those Scribes and Pharisees that were always contending with John the Baptist and Jesus, because they considered them to be unorthodox, and without authority. I have said, If we could get people in this message to be as loyal to truth, as these people are to their denominational systems, we would be seeing some things today. But the real truth is, a lot of people today are using this message to hide their flesh behind, and they are not faithful to the truth of God’s revealed word at all. However it seems that each group has been deceived into believing that they have exactly what Jesus Christ is coming for, and they do not want to hear anything any different. Let me assure you though, I never want to be guilty of believing that God cannot save the soul of a person that is in one of these systems. But let me add this also, For goodness sakes, let God lead you. I refuse to accept the idea that God is saving people just to make good Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, or what have you, when the Bible teaches so clearly that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost, and that it is the purpose of God to perfect those redeemed ones, and bring them to the very image of His perfect Son. Furthermore the Bible teaches us so clearly that Catholicism is the mother of harlots, how can any Bible believing person think for one moment that God will accept those harlot systems? John was shown the end time judgment of that great whore, before there ever was such a whore, so how can He condemn the structure of such a system without condemning the people who justify it? It is sad to think of, but there are millions of loyal souls in the world today, that will never see any more than what their system has to offer, for they are just like those Jews that believed they had the inside track with God, and Jesus called them children of the devil. Some people who are not very faithful to the truth themselves, like to accuse others of judging people, so let me just say this, We do not have to judge them; they are already judged by the word of God. It is just a simple matter of recognizing the same spirit on them that Jesus has already identified. It is a religious spirit, but it is not the Spirit of truth that was promised to those who truly turn to God with their whole heart. 

ARE MULTITUDES REALLY BEING SAVED? 

 From time to time I will turn the television on and catch a little of one of these television preachers, and I never cease to be amazed at some of the things you can hear them say, for they seem to compromise enough to try to please everyone. But I recently heard Billy Graham speak of how they are still getting people saved. He said, God is moving by His Spirit, and saving people in the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, and mentioned various other denominational systems, thanks be to God. I just thought to myself, Yes, but that spirit on most of them will never allow them to go any further than where they are now. It will not allow them to accept certain pictorial prophecies that are written in the word of God as a gauge for the bride of Christ so she will know when to start getting ready. Billy Graham has always encouraged his converts to get in a local church and be faithful to their program, but I say, It has to be more than that if there is really any life there. God would have been unjust to humanity, to have sent a prophet messenger to this age, with a message to call them out of these systems of religion, if He was going to raise up other preachers to tell them just to be loyal to the system they are in. I would not be able to put very much confidence in a God like that. Like I said, I am thankful that God can save a soul in any of those systems, just like He did me, when I was in the Methodist Church, but I am just as thankful that He did not leave me in that system, for I have seen what they have done since that g time. Some of their leaders today will even deny the virgin birth, and deny that Jesus arose from the dead. Brother, when you deny those two major doctrines, you may as well just throw your Bible away. No true child of God would ever deny those truths, for their very faith is grounded upon them. That is why they are wise, they believe the word of God. Furthermore when the Bible says, The wise shall understand, one of the things they understand, is that they must get out of those Antichrist systems of religion before the door of God’s perfecting revelation is closed. God will hold every individual person accountable for the opportunities He has given them, and that is all He will hold them accountable for. He will not judge them for rejecting something they never had a chance to accept, and I say this mainly because of the way some of the people who claim to be preaching Bro. William Branham’s message, presents their version of the message to people, and expects God to judge those poor souls on the basis of their rejection of what they presented to them. Well regardless of what anyone says and does, only the elect will come out of those systems and stand for the truth of God’s word. The wise will come out, in order to prepare herself for the wedding and escape the great tribulation, but the foolish will wait too long to get free from them, and they will have to go through the tribulation to purge themselves, but it is still by the Spirit of God, whether wise virgins or foolish virgins. God puts a hunger in the hearts of His elect, that causes them to fight their way through confusion and keep on searching until they find the truth that feeds their hungry souls. Then once they discover where they can be fed, a thousand devils cannot keep them away from that feeding place. On the other hand, regardless of what some people hear, they will never take a concrete stand for it. That in itself proves that they are not wise at all, even if they do say, Hallelujah! We are getting ready to meet Jesus. The 2nd parable of the 13th chapter of Matthew explains it perfectly. The gospel seed is sown, but where it lands is what makes the difference. In that parable, you will find four different soil conditions, and if you will pay close attention, only the 4th one ever brought forth fruit to perfection. Sometimes the devil confuses people’s minds until they cannot even grasp the word of God that is preached in their hearing. Others, because of persecution, give up the fight and surrender to the devil’s suggestions, and still another element which actually have received the word of God and followed it for a while, get their eyes upon worldly pleasures and material gain, and by and by, they will just cast the word of God aside by choice, and cling to the things of the world. None of these first three ever have a born again experience with the Lord. It is only that 4th group, those that receive seed into good ground, that actually experience the new birth, and not every one of them have the ability to bear fruit a hundredfold, but each one bears fruit to their full capacity, whether thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold, and that is all the Lord requires of them. But I assure you of this one thing, Every one of them will love truth. They will not reject the word of God when it is preached to them. Some of them may not understand everything the first time they hear it, but they will not dogmatically reject it. Surely we realize though, that since the Church is passing through a period of restoration, there naturally will be some tradition crossed when a true revelation is presented, and every soul will have to make their own choices about what to do about it, but that is what this separation is all about, choosing the right, and rejecting the wrong. Then as we walk in the light we already have, more light is given to us. 

THE JEW’S TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT 

 Now let us go to the 11th chapter of Revelation, and read some of the letters God had the apostle John write to the bride of Christ. Just remember first of all, that no Gentile had any part in writing the scriptures; they were all Jews. In 96 A.D. when John wrote the book of Revelation, the 1st church age messenger, the apostle Paul, had been gone about 30 years already, and during that thirty years of time the rest of the old guardians of the faith had either died off, or been martyred, and John himself was in exile on a little island because of his stand for the truth, at the time. He knew Jerusalem had been lying in ruins for about 26 years, and that the temple had been demolished, and that the Jewish people had been butchered, scattered and dispersed. and the land itself had a curse upon it. (The land was to be trodden down by many Gentile empires in the centuries to come.) Therefore I imagine John was feeling just about the same way Daniel was, when the Lord began to deal with him to record some things. In other words, Oh, God; What does the future hold for my brethren, my beloved people Israel? God does not let that question go unanswered in John’s heart. He sends His angel to John to show him things that would shortly come to pass, and he was instructed to write them, past, present and future events. So I can just see old John all the way through ten chapters, (which he did not number by chapters and verses) and then he comes to chapter 11, and says, “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: (a measuring instrument) and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” There is only one spot of ground on the face of the whole earth where that Jewish temple even could be built; that is on top of Mt. Moriah, which is on Mt. Zion. in Jerusalem. It is believed to be the very spot we read of in Genesis, where God led Abraham to offer up his son Isaac. Therefore the Jews know, there is no other place in Israel where the temple could be built again, except on that very spot of ground. So John was told to Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar. and them that worship therein. Of course the temple as the building, and the altar where the sacrifices are offered up, are always connected as a complete pictorial scene. You do not have the one without the other. But he was also to measure those that worship therein, and Gentiles down through time have spiritualized this part, and applied it to the church. That just goes to prove that as long as the Church among the Gentiles was traveling through dispensational time, there was no way that this scripture would ever be put together, for the time had not come for it to be understood. But somewhere toward the end, as all these other things begin to close in, someone has got to understand, so John is told in advance, and he wrote it, and we know that the people who worship therein are Jews. In Biblical times, the wall that encircled the court encircled the complete temple compound, and took in many acres of geographical territory, and it was all in relationship to the temple. Therefore there is three things that we need to get lined out in our thinking; the altar where the sacrifices were offered up to Jehovah, the building in which the priests entered to perform certain services throughout the year, and once each year, the high priest would enter into the innermost part called the holy of holies to offer for the sins of the people on the day of atonement. But the court area was the compound area in which the Jewish people as a congregation would assemble and sing, and watch the priests as they perform their different services. In other words. In the days of Solomon, when the whole thing was as it should be, that is how it was. But let us catch the main point here, for the very fact that the angel told John to measure the temple, proves that there will be a temple built there again. somewhere on out in future time. but at that time, 96 A.D., the whole thing was in ruins. Verse 2. however, does put a time factor in the picture, for it says. “But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not: (Why?) for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city (Jerusalem) shall they tread under foot (How long?) forty and two months.” That is the exact period of time we saw in Daniel 12:7, which was referred to as a time, times, and an half, which is also exactly 42 months of prophetic time, at the end of which, all those prophetic wonders were to be ended, or fulfilled and completed. Therefore we understand that both scriptures are dealing with the same 3 1/2 year period of time beginning in the middle of the 70th week of years of Daniel’s prophecy, and it will all definitely be completed before the Millennium starts, for Jesus Himself, is going to occupy the temple during the Millennium, and it will definitely not be desecrated during that time. The old Antichrist and his international police force will trod that holy spot under foot for 42 months, but then Jesus comes from heaven with His mighty army and destroys all of that ungodliness: every unbelieving and abominable thing will be destroyed. Only the righteous will be allowed to pass into the Millennium. As we have pointed out before. There will be an element of mortal people from every nation pass into the Millennium, for it is from them that the whole world will be repopulated. That is what the judgment of the 25th chapter of Matthew is all about, Millennial subjects being chosen. Alright then, according to Daniel 12:1, this 31: year period of time when the Gentiles are treading underfoot this holy place, it will be a time of trouble for the Jews such as never was since there was a nation, even to that very time, and brother, I want you to know, Jews through the ages have had plenty of trouble. Therefore the reason the court will not be reconstructed according to its former dimensions before that time is no doubt due to a time factor itself; there just simply will not be enough time before the Antichrist cuts off the Jews’ access to the area. The temple will be built and the altar reactivated sometime around the beginning of that week of time. But the temple will not have to be built before those Jews start offering sacrifices upon the altar. When they came back from captivity to build the second temple, they offered sacrifice upon that altar all during the time the temple was under construction. But in order for the Antichrist to take control of the temple in the middle of the week. it will have to be built prior to that; this is one of our main points here. 

OLIVE TREES —CANDLESTICKS — ANOINTED ONES 

 Verse 3 says. “And I will give power (authority) to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy (How long?) a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” Now just to show you how one scripture explains another, just suppose John had not known what the prophet Zechariah had written about these two witnesses. We will just read verse 3 and verse 5, leaving out verse 4. and let you see the difference “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. And if any man hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth. and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed: “We read verse 3, and verse 5, and we know what they are going to do. but we do not know who these two prophets are, do we? One thing is sure, They will have authority, for that Holy Ghost fire will slay their enemies. That is exactly what Elijah did one day when he went up, and sat down on the side of a mountain, or hillside, and the king sent out a captain with his fifty men to bring Elijah to him, because he was displeased with a prophecy Elijah had sent to him. But what did Elijah do? He looked at that captain and said, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy thee and thy fifty, and immediately it was done. Elijah did not have to use a flamethrower: he merely spoke the word and God backed him up. Therefore that is what is going to repeat itself through the authority given to these two witnesses of Revelation 11:3, so let us go back and read verse 4, that tells us who they will be, not by name, but by description. “These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Zech. 4:3 calls them olive trees, and verse 14 says, “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” Therefore the angel let John know that these two witnesses were the two olive trees Zechariah had prophesied about. I think it would be good at this time just to go into Zechariah 4, and read a little more, for there is a type set by Zechariah and Haggai, the two prophets that ministered to those Jews that returned from Babylon to rebuild the temple They both prophesied during the same time factor, while that temple was being built. and they set a perfect type of the two prophets of Revelation 11, which will no doubt prophesy to the Jews during the time the next temple is being built. Notice, “And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me, (Zechariah) What seest thou? Then I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it. and his seven lamps thereon, (This is called, the Jewish Menorah.) and seven pipes to seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” Zechariah is seeing a vision of this great Menorah standing there, this great lamp, and on each side of it stood an olive tree. out of which the oil flowed for the lamps. They use olive oil for the lamps of the Menorah, as well as for anointing purposes. Alright now, “So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, “What are these, my Lord? (He is inquiring of the angel, What are these? Just like Daniel did, when he said. What meaneth this?) Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying. Not by might, nor by power. but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zerubbabel was their governor appointed by the people, but he sets a type of the Holy Ghost, which is our governor and leader for this day and hour, and not only ours. but also the Jews’, after he passes from the Gentiles back to the Jews. But I just love that scripture. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.” Why do you suppose the Lord said that to Zerubbabel though? Because when those Jews came back from Babylon, all they could see was a huge pile of rubbish where they should build the temple, so they became very discouraged. They did not have the huge pieces of earth-moving equipment like we do today, so they were saying, How will we ever get all of this cleared away so we can start building? That is exactly what carnal minded Gentiles are saying today. They look at that great Moslem Mosque standing over the rock of Omar, and say, Those Moslems will never let the Jews have that temple area back, they will probably have to build their temple somewhere else. No, they will not, the Lord will make sure that thing is moved, when the time comes. It will not be by man’s political, nor ecclesiastical might nor power that it will be done. but I believe they will have that spot of ground as quick as a flash, so to speak. It would not surprise me, if it were accidentally blown to pieces by a stray bomb, that is not even meant to do that. The Lord works in strange ways, you know. 

WHAT UNITY OF PURPOSE CAN ACCOMPLISH 

 Notice this prophecy here in the 7th verse, concerning that great mountain of rubbish that lay before the people and their leader Zerubbabel. “Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: I and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. How is that going to be, was the question on their minds? Zerubbabel was only one man; he was certainly not going to build the temple by himself, and all that rubbish had to be moved, before they could even find the place to lay the cornerstone (headstone) This is where Haggai’s prophecy  came into prominence. When you read Haggai in connection with verse 7 of Zechariah 4, you see how the Lord spoke through Haggai to stir up the spirit of Zerubbabel and the people and giving them a common vision of the task before them. They quit looking at that great obstacle before them, and just started moving one rock at a time, and the Lord was with them, just like he had promised to be. Brothers and Sisters: It is amazing what a little group of people can accomplish when they all get the same vision, and work as a unit. I hear people today say, “Where is the Church? Just look at all of this mess of confusion in religion.” Do you know what they are doing? They are looking at the same pile of rubbish, spiritually speaking, as those Jews were looking at Hut remember this. God moved upon Zerubbabel first, and when he caught the vision, he inspired that same vision in all those other Jews, and they got in unity on what they had to do, and when they got in unity of purpose. and the method in which the job was to be accomplished, they went to work on it, and got it done. You can have ten thousand people chosen to do a certain thing, and as long as each one just stands looking at his, or her own weakness, they will never get very much done. One will have a bad cold, another one a sore toe, and another one just simply does not feel like working today, and so on down the line. But you get that same group of people in unison, with a common goal in mind, and those mountains just seem to disappear. Haggai said, The Spirit of the Lord put in the people a willingness to work. Therefore I say to you, When the Holy Ghost takes a situation in hand, and begins to move upon the people that are chosen and ordained to do a certain thing, there are not enough demons in hell to stop it; so let us read verse 8, and continue on. “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; (a plummet here, pertains to setting dimensions, but the seven refers to something else.) they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” Now verse 11 brings us back to the candlesticks. Zechariah kept his eyes upon them, and wanted to know what they represented. “Then answered I, and said unto him, (unto the angel) What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof? (Zechariah understood about the mountain, and what the Lord was moving upon the people to do, but he did not understand about those olive trees and candlesticks.) And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” There, lays a symbolic prophetic picture, pointing to two great prophetic anointings that always stand by the plan and purpose of God, but the Jews who read that prophecy still do not know how or where to apply the prophecy, for they do not accept the scriptures that shed more light upon it. They do not necessarily expect two great, outstanding prophets such as Moses and Elijah, even though they are aware of the prophecy itself. They probe at it, just like the Gentile church-world probes at the seven thunders of Revelation 10:3 & 4. But, Praise God! The church knows what those seven thunders are, and they know what those two olive trees are. They are the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3. But some will say, Now why would God reveal something to the Gentile church, that only pertains to the Jews? Remember, the church is to have the mind of Christ, and furthermore these things point to a specific period of time which the church is to reconcile with other things, as she makes preparation for her departure from this old world. The seven thunders will be to her, what the two olive trees are going to be to Israel. Hallelujah! Do you believe that? Of course you do, for the wise shall understand. We could not use these things to convert the world, because people of the world are not going to see things the way we do, so what the bride knows, is just for her to know, and not for everyone. 

MOSES AND ELIJAH MINISTRIES 

 When the book of Revelation was given to the Church, the Jews were already in dispersion, and they have existed like that for many centuries without knowing, or without understanding of what God would do for them in the latter times. Even the Gentiles that have carried this letter through the centuries, did not understand very much of it, until this twentieth century, and even now, many of them think the two witnesses will be one Jew, and one Gentile. I have a publication at home that actually brings that out, and I just thought to myself, how strange it is, that some would look at that scripture like that, and others will look at the same scripture, and say, You know Enoch and Elijah never died, and the scriptures say, It is appointed unto man once to die, so I believe that is who the two witnesses will be. (Just careless speculation) Saints: Enoch walked with God, before the flood, and God took him, but in his lifetime, he never had a ministry of cursing the earth with plagues and such like. But on the other hand. Moses had a ministry of plagues that was vindicated against Egypt, and Elijah had a ministry of curses, and when you read the effects of the ministry of these two witnesses, and know what John wrote about them, you have to see those same two anointings that was upon the Moses and Elijah of old. Moses was a prophet that came upon the scene when there was a great exodus pending. and Elijah was upon the scene, when Israel was in great apostasy. Therefore at a future time when a great exodus has brought Jews to Israel from all over the world, and they have come to that land with traditions of every sort, and very little understanding of what God is actually doing, great apostasy is again in the land, so God visits them with that same dynamic ministry of Moses and Elijah of old. Two modern day Jews will have the same anointings that Moses and Elijah had, and I believe the bride of Jesus Christ will see these two prophets come upon the scene before she goes to glory. I do not believe I am speaking out of turn, or speaking presumptuously, for since the Gentile church has carried this prophecy through time, I believe the bride will understand it all, and see it put into effect. In his first ThessaIonian letter, Paul described the catching away of the church, the translation, commonly called the rapture, and in his second letter, he makes it very clear that this translation will not take place before the man of sin, the son of perdition is introduced to the world. I may not be here myself, but I am confident that there will be a living element of Gentile Christians that will see all these scriptures dovetail before they leave here. The actual events will take place in that last week of Daniel, but the Church will see it introduced. Then by the time that week of years has expired, every scripture that pertains to the visible return of Jesus Christ will have been unlocked. He will come from heaven with His saints and finish every prophecy that proceeds His Millennial reign on the throne of David. You could never get Billy Graham and Jimmy Swaggart to agree with what we teach, for they still look at what they call. “THE CHURCH,” and they know that what we believe and teach here, would tear their lovely systems all to pieces. They have to preach only what their supporters want to hear, or they will lose that support, and in turn, lose their great television programs, and everything they have built through their compromising ministries. Saints: I am thankful to God, that I do not have any great program to support. I leave it in the hands of God to supply me with the necessary means to fulfill the ministry He has called me to, and my first obligation is to preach the revealed truth of His precious word without compromise. That is how it was preached in the first age, and I am fully persuaded that the bride of Jesus Christ will feed upon nothing less than that in this age. For as I study the scriptures, I see that when the gospel passed from the Jews to the Gentiles, it came to them on the same level that the Jews had it. God did not drop down to the level of the Gentiles, He simply elevated them to the same level of the Jews that had received the gospel. That ought to tell us something. It was future generations of carnal Gentiles that allowed the gospel message to be watered down and perverted, and we realize that God preserved seed through all of that, but this endtime church will not be perfected by that watered down gospel. If it could have been, the Reformation never would have been needed. I sometimes wonder what these compromising preachers believe the Reformation was for anyhow, for when you analyze what they preach, it is basically Catholic doctrine. That is why the true bride of Christ had to be called out from among them; they can never bring any fruit to perfection. Furthermore, would God allow the gospel to go back to the Jews in a different version than what their forefathers died to preserve? He would be unjust to do so, and every true child of God knows that. No, there will be no compromise. The two greatest anointings that Jehovah has ever bestowed upon any servant of His. will be upon those two witnesses of Revelation 11:3 and 4, when they go to prophesy to their brethren in Israel. 

TWO WITNESSES KILLED —WORLD REJOICES 

 God will send those two prophets to Israel with complete authority to exercise their anointing to its fullest potential. If any man tries to hurt them before their allotted time of 42 months is completed. they just simply speak death to them. Then verse 6 says, “These have power to shut the heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: (That is what Elijah did in former days) and have power over waters to turn them to blood, (That was the ministry of Moses, in Egypt) and to smite the earth with all plagues. as often as they will.” That was Moses also. Verse 7, “And when they shall have finished their testimony (their prophetic utterances) the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” Now we have to realize that no corporal bodied creature comes out of the bottomless pit. That is a spirit of Satan which God allows to come up and anoint the beast man, the man of sin, which until then, has been looked upon for 3 1/2 years as a great man of peace, a holy man, dedicated to God and man. But as we have said many times, when Satan anoints him, he will suddenly become a ruthless tyrant. He will kill these two prophets first of all, because they have been exposing him to Israel, and to the whole world, through the medium of television, and verse 8 says, “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” Naturally we know that is Jerusalem. He kills those two prophets right there in the streets of Jerusalem, where they have been prophesying for 3 1/2 years, during which time the 144.000 servants of God are sealed with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and also the remainder of spiritual Israel as well. Please take notice also, that these two witnesses are prophesying to Israel by the anointing of the Spirit of God; they are not just preaching something they could have learned in some Gentile Bible college, or seminary. Brother, what they are proclaiming to Israel, is straight from the throne of God, untouched by human reasoning and sentimental feelings. The old Pope has had the world deceived into believing that he is the great spokesman for God on earth, but by the middle of that week, the whole world has had a chance to know better, for these two prophets will have God on display for all to see. Let me say this also, Those Jews that have returned to Israel from Gentile nations around the world, will be so full of traditions and rituals, and many without any belief at all, that it will take a supernatural display of the power of God to awaken them out of that condition, and get them sealed with the Spirit of God. Naturally that pertains only to the true spiritual seed there, for the rest will rejoice with the world when those two prophets are killed. In other words, the world in general will look upon them only as two fanatical troublemakers, that are saying things about the Pope of Rome that are blasphemous against that holy man. That is why verses 9-10, say what they do. Notice now, “And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” That proves that the word of God is a tormenting menace to wicked mankind, and they rejoice to see a true man of God slaughtered. 

SODOM AND EGYPT SYMBOLICALLY USED 

 For exactly three and one half years nothing can harm those two prophets, but in the middle of the week, when according to God’s timekeeping. they have finished their appointed ministry. God will no longer answer by fire to protect them. There is no way that they can extend their ministry beyond 42 months, for it will require the supernatural, protecting hand of God to keep them alive that long, and the word of God has already said they will be killed; so that settles it. They will be killed, and left lying in the street for 3 1/2 days, while people throughout the earth are rejoicing over their death. Now you see Sodom and Egypt mentioned there, and you may wonder. How could Sodom and Egypt have any connection with the city of Jerusalem, but remember, this is a symbolic picture. At the time of the killing of those two prophets, Jerusalem will be a cesspool of perversion and filth of wicked mankind. Because of their scriptural identity as a holy people, Gentiles have had the idea that Jewish people would never do the immoral and corrupt things that Gentiles do, but remember, they have been among Gentiles for two thousand years, and they have picked up the same immoral practices, and when they go back to the land of their heritage, they take all of those spirits back there with them, and because Jerusalem is a tourist attraction, those spirits love it there. Therefore in the days of these two prophets, there will be one element of Jews awakened to spiritual life, and another element that will be just as immoral and perverted as those inhabitants of Sodom in the day God destroyed them. Then because Egypt symbolically speaks of bondage, it is applied there, because in that day, those left in Jerusalem will be under bondage to the Antichrist and the way the Antichrist will slaughter Jews in the last half of that week, will make what Hitler and Pharaoh did seem like a small thing. The main objective will be to get rid of every Jew and stop all of that nonsense about a Jewish Messiah ruling the world. That will be the devil’s objective then. as it has been all along. Right there in the middle of the week, is when the Antichrist brings in his troops, takes control of the city of Jerusalem, and desecrates the temple by setting himself up in it, and showing himself as God, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Paul says there, that this Antichrist will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So we know it takes a devil to do that, and that is exactly what the Pope of Rome will be in that day. the very devil incarnate. The devil will be as much in him, as God was in Jesus the true Christ, and killing those two prophets of God will give him great pleasure. 

HOW THE WHOLE WORLD WILL VIEW TWO PROPHETS IN ISRAEL 

 What thrills me when I read verse 9, is how this prophecy foretells something that could only be accomplished through the medium of television, when two thousand years ago there was no such thing as a camera, radio, telephone, nor television, yet when the time comes for the prophecy to be fulfilled. CBS and NBC will cover it live. and broadcast it to the whole world. Praise God! It seems like. even the most dyed in the wool skeptics would have to see a little something there, but do they? All of that unique accuracy has been lying there in one little verse for almost two thousand years. and only the revelated children of God are able to see and appreciate it. However their dead bodies are left lying there in the street for 3 1/2 days, long enough for corruption to go to work on them. (The Lord Himself was raised before 72 hours expired, because it had been prophesied that His body would not see corruption, but here is a different story. The Lord allows these two bodies to be left there until corruption has well set in. and the flies are hovering over them, and no doubt, they have been spat upon by many and all that time, the man of the world is rejoicing because these tormentors have finally got what they had coming to them. Not just in Jerusalem. but the world over, people are rejoicing and sending gifts to each other, just like they do at Christmas, and saying, Good riddance; that should have been done 3 1/2 years ago when those two fanatics first started that stuff. That is how the world talks, you know. But, Oh Praise God, notice what verse 11 says about it all. “And after 3 1/2 days the Spirit of life FROM GOD entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. I can’t imagine, can’t you?) And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” I cannot help but wonder what those newscasters will say when that happens. You know how they do, when something is happening somewhere in the world; they camp right on top of it, and that is about all you can hear until it is over. So after they have just about worn the public out with all of their bulletins and special reports for 3 1/2 years, all of a sudden they break in with a news flash from the Middle East. “Folks there is a new development in the case of those two slain prophets that caused all that trouble in Jerusalem for 3 1/2 years. After lying dead in the street of that city for 3 1/2 days, they have suddenly stood upright and ascended into the heavens, and some witnesses nearby are saying they heard a great voice from heaven telling them to Come up hither. Our information is fragmentary because of a great earthquake that shook the city about that time. From what we have been able to learn though, thousands of lives were lost in it, and a great part of the city was destroyed. Stay tuned, and we will update our report when we get confirmation. You know how they report those things, and I am sure that after they have been covering the story for 3 1/2 years, and especially for the 3 1/2 days while the dead prophets were lying there in the street, the Lord is going to make sure they have opportunity to give a good report on the latest developments, would you not say so? Let us read verses 13 & 14, to finish this, and then I want to call your attention to a certain keyword found in verses 11 & 12. “And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake was slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to God of heaven.” That simply means that they said, Only God could do a thing like that. That is all it could amount to at a time like that. Verse 14, “The second woe is past; and, behold. the third woe cometh quickly.” In the 13th verse of chapter 8, three woes were announced in connection with the trumpet angels that were yet to sound, the first of which was when the bottomless pit was opened, and hell turned loose on earth, recorded in chapter 9, and pertaining to the middle of that week, right when the two prophets are killed. Then the death of the two prophets fulfilled the second woe, and the third is found in chapter 12, in relation to the persecution of the woman (Israel) that brought forth the man child, (Jesus) and they all take place in the middle of that week, when the Antichrist is anointed by the devil. 

OBSERVING A KEYWORD 

Now let us look at that key word here in chapter 11, that actually is a key to something in chapter 10. The word is T-H-E-I-R: a plural pronoun word. The word THEIR in the English language, is always connected with some object. It is never used in a symbolic sense. Here in chapter 11, T-H-E-I-R is used, speaking of the two witnesses, but when you go back to chapter 10, it is speaking of seven thunders, and that is why I am convinced that the seven thunders are seven men, not seven statements, nor seven messages by one man, but seven men. The thunders will be seven men, and they will prophesy to the bride of Christ just like we know these two witnesses are going to prophesy to Israel in the first half of that week of Daniel. Of course many of you know why I am talking like this, but there will be some that hear this, or read it in the Contender, that will not know, so let me go back and bring it up to this point. 

THE FIRST SIX SEALS WERE REVEALED IN 1963 

Back in 1963, when the Spirit of God dealt with Bro. Branham, to come back to Jeffersonville and preach the true revelation of the first six seals (I say six, because the revelation of the seventh was not revealed at that time, and it still has not been revealed, and if any of you want to try and prove to me that it was revealed, I ask that you give me a written explanation of it in as much clarity and preciseness as what we have in the first six.) a lot of people who sat there, and heard every word I heard, will still argue that all seven seals were opened. They were not all opened then, or we would be in the Millennium now, so is that what you want to believe? Go ahead and believe it if you want to, but you do not have any scripture for it. Some of the people that are forever pushing some idea they think they got from Bro. Branham will say, But he came with a message to Laodicea. I say he did too, but I want you to know that the message, in the light of Malachi 4:5 & 6, in its last day fulfillment, is not a message that can be alienated from the written word of God. His message was the absolute truth of how to get back into the Bible, the written word of God, in all of its apostolic teachings laid down by the early church. Bro. Branham, proclaimed to be the seventh church age messenger, the messenger to the Laodicean age, (I myself believe that) did not leave one written chapter that can be added to the Bible, the written word of God. The book of Revelation is the last book of inspired scripture that we have any right to hold as a book of the Bible. Anything else that we may have is only that which has been revealed to us from what was already written. Therefore a message in this last day is not another chapter to be added to the Bible. When Bro. Branham would stand and preach his heart out, dealing with the Godhead, “There is only one God. There is no such thing as a trinity,” he was not bringing anything new. It was already in the Bible, and other men before him had already been preaching it. But he was the first man anointed of God, (and with a vindicated ministry) to take various major doctrines of the New Testament Church, that had been divided up, and was scattered around in denomination-al systems, and believed only half right, and put them all together, and present them to the church in a true revelation. Furthermore it was the way God vindicated that man’s ministry, that actually brought a lot of us out of those denominational systems. We were able to come to the restored truth of the original gospel that had been once delivered to the church fathers. and to that. God added revelation, or understanding to many things that had been lying there in the scriptures all along, but written in a mysterious way. He brought out a profile of the serpent’s seed, but that did not add another chapter to the Bible. It is just God’s way of leading His true children into a deeper depth of understanding, allowing them to see things concealed beneath the crust of the written word of God. This man was also inspired to preach a series of messages on the church ages, but do not think for one minute that he preached anything that should be added to the Bible. No. It just gave us a spiritual insight, based upon written history, of the first, second, and third chapters of Revelation. The (lurch ages were preached in December 1960. Then in March and April 1963, God moved upon him in a supernatural way as he stood there each night, dealing with one of the seals, sealing the little scroll that was in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. (Revelation 5:1) He was not taking anyone out of the Bible, he was only taking us deeper into the things that were already written in the Bible. He read chapters 9 & 5, right on down through where the Lamb stepped forth, and took the scroll out of the hand of the one that sat on the throne, and so forth, and no one said a word at that time. But later, after Bro. Branham was taken from us in that automobile accident, certain ones began to jump to conclusions, saying for one thing, Nobody else can be saved, Nobody else can receive the Holy Ghost, for Jesus has left the mercy seat. Some even said. Nobody has received the Holy Ghost, except the prophet, mean-ing Bro. Branham. All of this just began to be a confused mess, rather than an enlightened people being made ready to meet the Lord. The whole crowd sat there with expectancy as those first six seals were broken, thinking that the last one would be broken also, but it was not broken, and it still has not been broken. However the expectancy was that that last seal would be broken, and that it would fulfill that part where Jesus the Lamb of God took the little scroll and opened the seals, and that would mean that He had left the mercy seat, but even though the seventh seal was not dealt with, as the other six were, certain ones still went ahead and assumed that it was opened. and that mercy for Gentiles was over with. It just proves that they still do not understand the Godhead. or they could not jump to such conclusions. They look at verses 6, 7, 8, of chapter 5, and they see a Lamb leaving a throne, and going over to another throne, and taking a scroll out of the hand , of the one who is still sitting on that throne. Now I ask you, What kind of a picture of the Godhead, does that present? Brothers and Sisters: You have to realize that this is all symbolic. Jesus Christ is the only manifested person of the Godhead, and He is still sitting on that throne. That is why the epistles state that He was taken up and seated on the right hand of the Father, not the Father, a person, but like Peter I said, on the right hand of the majesty on high, or in reality, on the right hand of authority. He is exercising Himself in that priestly office that the Psalms refer to as a priest after the order of Melchizedek, so the object person is not the Father as a person, it is a picture of Jesus Christ invested with the Father’s authority and attributes. Now the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, as a literal animal, does not even exist in heaven. It is only symbolic of the merits by which He assumes the authority to open the seals. Because He was offered as a sacrifice, as a Lamb without spot or blemish for the contents of what is recorded in that sealed scroll, when it comes time for those seals to be broken, it is said that the Lion of the tribe of Judah (we know, that is Jesus) hath prevailed to open the little scroll. and to loose the seven seals thereof, but it was not a Lion that stepped forward to take the little stepped forward to take the little scroll, it was a Lamb, and that was symbolic of what Jesus did to redeem those whose names were written in that little sealed scroll.  In other words, It was not what He did as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (King) that caused the eternal Spirit to invest in Him the authority to open those seven seals, for He is not King yet. It was what He did as the Lamb of God, and that seventh seal is still on that little scroll today, or we would be carrying the revelation of it, just like the first six. But some of you would not even be here today, if that last seal had been broken in 1963, for God’s grace had not even touched your lives then, and we know, that once that last seal is broken and revealed, Jesus will be off of the mercy seat, and no Gentile can be saved after that. God knew that the revelation of the first six would be circulated throughout the universal church, and that, I coupled with the gospel message this man had restored to the church, would be sufficient means to call people out of systems of religion, and to the word of God, while Jesus would still be seated on the mercy seat as mediator and high priest interceding for them. He is still there today, but none of us know how much longer He will be, for when we look at world conditions around us, it is obvious that the Spirit of conviction is fast departing from the Gentiles. That last one will soon come in, and God already knows who it is, and when it will take place. Now Jesus is not just interceding for you and me to have a better revelation of the word of God, He is interceding for the contents of what is written in that little scroll, all the foreknown sons and daughters of God. But Bro. Jackson; I thought He was interceding for His church. You can say it like that, if you realize that His church is made up of the human souls whose names are written in that little scroll. They must first brought into the church through the gospel of His shed blood, and then, He will intercede before the Father according to His prayer in John 17, Father: Make them one as we are one, and so forth. 

SOME HEARD — WITHOUT HEARING 

Brothers and Sisters: Nineteen years have come and gone since the death of our precious brother, and during that nineteen years. some of these preachers that sat there and heard him preach. have not preached anything except “Bro. Branham said,” this and that, and a lot of their fanatical ideas based on what he said. But as far as preaching anything from the Bible, they may as well not even have one. They have set dates for the return of the Lord, and preached it as gospel, condemning anyone who would not agree with them, and when their projected dates pass, and the Lord still has not come for His bride, do you think any of them will ever admit they were wrong? No, they just make some excuse, and the first thing you know, they have them another date set. It is no wonder that the denominational church world looks upon all of us as a bunch of stupid. unlearned, insane fanatics. Who would want to have a part in something like that? I am not ashamed of the words Bro. Branham used at times, trying to express certain things with his uneducated vocabulary, for it was the anointed messages he preached that fed my soul, not the correct pronunciation of every word. You either sat there catching a revelation of the thought flowing through the man’s soul, or you missed it, and possibly went away criticizing. One thing is sure, not all who claim to have heard him, actually heard him; they just heard what they wanted to hear. That is why there is so much controversy over this 10th chapter of Revelation right today. If we do not remind ourselves that we have an understanding of what was said in those seals, looking at chapter 10 could be misleading. It is going to be literally fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled before that week of Daniel starts, but do not look for a long interval of time between them, for I believe that time and events will move right from the one to the other. Just remember this, When we speak of the week of Daniel, and the seven years peace covenant the Antichrist will confirm with many, we are speaking of the same period of time in both cases. Chapter 8, verse 1, opens the seventh seal, and when that takes place, chapter 10 will become effective, it and when the events of chapter 10 have accomplished among the bride of Christ what they are supposed to, it will be time for that week to start, and time for God’s two witnesses to step upon Is the scene in Israel and start their three and one half year ministry. So let us look at chapter 10 now.

AT THE CRY — SEVEN THUNDERS UTTER THEIR VOICES

 John the apostle says, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.” In chapter 4, when John was taken up, and saw a throne set in heaven, he saw one sitting on that throne, that was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and he saw a rainbow round about the throne.  Now heaven is not a place where as you see rainbows popping up everywhere That rainbow specifically points to the deity of Jehovah, while the actual person was that of Jesus the Christ seated in His mediatorial position. Therefore when we see the mighty angel in chapter 10, with a rainbow upon His head, and His face glowing as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire, let us be sure we understand that the symbols identify Him as the same one that was seated upon the throne in heaven, invested with the ancient authority and deity of Jehovah. But verse 2 shows us something else, so notice, “And He had in His hand a little book (scroll) open: (The scroll is open now, so that means the last seal has been broken, the contents have been revealed, and the bride will be getting her final instructions from the throne of God, just before those two prophets start prophesying to the Jews. This is an angelic projection of the Lord Jesus Christ standing here with the little scroll open in His hand.) and He set His right foot upon the sea and His left foot on the earth.” Such a stance can only project one thing, His reason for being on earth is a universal one. This shows universal dominion and authority. The little scroll is now open, so all the names written in it have now been interceded for, and they are written there, from every nation on earth. You know, some people are just plain selfish. When Bro. Branham preached the seals, in 1963, most of the world had not even heard his message, yet his message was to the universal church, and they all had to have their chance to hear it. but a lot of those that sat there, wanted to cut off the Gentiles right then, and there. Well, they might have been ready, but God wasn’t, there were still some names on that little scroll, that had not heard their call to the gospel, and during the 19 years since his death the message he delivered to Laodicea has been around this world. So what we see here in verse 2 is a universal picture, and what we saw in Daniel 12:6, was just for the nation of Israel, for that same the nation of Israel, for that same angel is seen there upon the waters of the river, but in both settings we find him lifting his hands to heaven, and swearing by Him that liveth for ever. In other words, by the authority of the eternal God. In Daniel 12, to the Jews, he announces that there will yet be 3 1/2 years before their time of trouble comes to an end. But in Revelation 10 to the bride, he announces, or swears by the authority of Jehovah, the eternal one, that there shall be time no longer, other words, Gentile grace has reached its climax. The one who has been interceding for all that was written in that little scroll is now ready to receive to Himself what He has been interceding for. Therefore He is seen standing in a stance that proclaims universal authority, and verse 3 says, “And He cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: (Naturally that word cried, pertains to a loud yell, rather than to sobbing.) and when He had cried, SEVEN THUNDERS uttered T-H-E-I-R voices.” In other words, when He lets out that universal scream (Remember the terminology is in the past tense because John was projected into the future to see these things, but the events themselves are yet before us.) seven men will begin to prophesy to the bride of Christ, instructing her the same way those two witnesses will instruct the spiritual Jews through their prophesying. When He cries out, they will immediately respond. I do not know what that cry will be; that is not important. But I do know that these things are written in this symbolic way to mislead carnal minds, the minds of great scholars. There are certain things written that they can understand a certain amount of, but basically it is just like when Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables. They asked Him, Why do you speak in parables? He replied, It is given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but to them that are without, it is not. 

WHY SOME MISS THE MARK 

 When He spoke in parables, I believe there were certain points that the multitude could piece together, but they could never grasp the whole picture. Yet the disciples, those who were wise in that hour, were made to understand. In Matthew 13. Jesus spoke seven parables that dealt with things, or conditions that would transpire during the grace age. covering seven ages or phases that the church would pass through, but when this mighty angel cries, it will be a signal to those seven thunders, all of that is finished, sound off! Brother, they will begin to sound, and there will not be one trinity person hear what they have to say. It will be just like the parables, only those that are supposed to hear, will understand what is being said. They will be getting their last minute flight instructions before they leave this old world; therefore those who have rejected one God teaching, and held to their trinity, will not understand the word that is spoken to the bride. Truth has not been able to penetrate their denominational walls to lead them out of captivity, so they will be left here to go right on into even greater captivity, the great tribulation. The messenger to this age screamed, “Get out of those denominations and get back to the word of God!” But how many of them that heard him, got out? If he had just been pushing his own opinion at them, you could not blame them for sticking with something they felt secure in, but what condemns them, is the fact that he proved what he preached. right from the same Bible they carried, and they still would not receive it. We do not baptize in the name of Jesus just because Bro. Branham said that was the correct way. We do it because it is the correct way. We do it because the Bible shows that to be the only way baptism was performed in the beginning; immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Therefore I say to you, When a true man of God speaks by the anointing of the Spirit of God, those who have an ear to hear will hear, and all the rest will just go on their merry way. That is how it will be when these seven thunders begin to utter their voices, the wise will hear and understand what they have to say. Of course I realize that a lot of people resent me saying that these seven thunders are seven men, chosen of God to actually prophesy to the bride in her final hour of preparation, but I say, If they would get their eyes open, and read verses 3 & 4, and apply what they learned in school, they would see that T-H-E-I-R VOICES, could not possibly apply to something one man preached, or taught. There are certain words and phrases in the Bible, that are absolutely keys to unlock the revelation of the full context, and those keys are called to our attention by the Spirit of God when the time is right. Before that, we just read right over them. This 10th chapter has a number of keys in it, rainbow, face as the sun, right foot on sea, and left foot on earth, voice as a lion roaring, their voices, swear by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and so forth; therefore it behooves every true child of God to stop listening to these scoffers, and start yielding themselves to the Spirit of God. It is His responsibility to lead them into all truth. 

GOD WORKS IN SEVENS 

 Let me read verse three all the way through now, and notice every word. “And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when He had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.” Now, how many noticed that the sound of the voice alone, tells us who this mighty angel is Jesus Christ, according to the Bible. is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When He hung on the cross. He was the dying Lamb. But when He comes to rule and reign, He is pictured as a roaring Lion. Yet neither animal actually exists literally, they only symbolically express a scriptural truth of the invested authority the Father has placed in His Son Jesus in this work of redemption. Furthermore if verse 3 just said, “And when He had cried, seven thunders sounded, we would have reason to question. What does the word thunder mean? But it gives us a perfect number to go with the other keys. Seven thunders uttered their voices. To utter is to speak. Utterance is a word that speaks of something that is communicative, something giving information, and so forth. But it is all tied to the pronoun word. THEIR, a word that is plural in its usage. In this case, it is not pertaining to a multitude, but to seven certain men who will receive their signal to start uttering their voices, by the cry that comes forth from this mighty angel. As I have already said, THEIR is in the same relationship to the thunders here, that it is to the two witnesses in chapter 11, that are referred to as olive trees and candlesticks. These two great anointings that stand before the God of the earth will prophesy to Israel for 3 1/2 years, and God will vindicate them, and protect them, in the days of THEIR ministry. Let me say this again also. If you can believe that two Jewish men will prophesy to Israel during that 3 1/2 years allotted to them. what is so hard to believe about God having seven men placed strategically around this old world to prophesy to the Gentile bride. Prophecy is not something that is already written, when you are dealing with something like this. It will be something straight from the throne of God. Well, why seven, some will say? For the same reason God has worked in sevens all the way through the Gentile age. Seven parables in Matthew 13, seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2 & 3, seven church ages, seven seals, seven spirits, seven thunders, and we could go on and on, but seven is a number of completion with God, and it is only fitting that His last work with the bride of Christ should be set forth symbolically in the number 7. Just take up your concordance sometime, and see how many times seven is used throughout the Bible, and you will see that seven is a very important number with God. These seven men referred to as thunders, are not to be thought of in the same relationship as the messengers to the various ages. They will be prophesying concerning the end of the age. While on the other hand, Bro. Branham, the messenger to this age of Laodicea, preached almost as much on the plan of salvation in its doctrinal structure, as he did the other great truths of the word of God. He had to, he was dealing with all of professing Christianity calling them back to the Bible, and out of denominations. But these seven thunders will speak only for the benefit of the called out church. They will be lifted to the same spiritual plateau among the Gentiles, as were those early apostles and whatever that level is, in a spiritual sense, that is the same spiritual plateau those two prophets will be ministering on when they go to Israel. 

SPIRIT OF BLINDNESS 

 Now it would be very foolish for anyone to think all seven of these thunders would come out of one nation when the Church is a universal body of believers, and also very selfish. They will not be telling how to get baptized, nor explaining the Godhead, for they will be ministering to a people that already know all of that, and has grown up staturally in it, and is only waiting for instructions on her final preparation in getting dressed up in her wedding garment, ready to meet the bridegroom. The church world in general can read Revelation 10, a thousand times, and they will still not be looking for men to utter their voices when that angel cries. That is why God has it written in these symbolic terms; they are not supposed to know. Those poor Pharisees and Sadducees could read Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 4:5-6, Malachi 3:1, and Isaiah 9:6, until they were blue in the face, and they still did not catch a revelation, so they could recognize it, when those scriptures were fulfilled right before their very eyes. They were as religious as anyone could be. and they were sincere. They loved the synagogue, and you could not have kept them away from it. But they were spiritually, as blind as bats. You could not teach them anything at all from the scriptures. Did not Jesus teach openly in their midst, and they did not see a thing, but rather sought to kill Him most of the time. That ought to help some of you better understand why denominational people act like they hate people like us. they have that same spirit on them, that was on those ever so religious Pharisees. 

PROPHESYING INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS 

 Now Brothers and Sisters: If I know anything at all. this old world is going to be in a terrible shape by the time these thunders are sounding. Economically, bankers and politicians are going to be at the point of despair, crying to each other, “What are we going to do? We have got to have peace, we just simply cannot go on like this.” What are we going to do? We have got to have peace, we just simply cannot go on like this.” That kind of desperation will have them ready to accept the beast system, and is that beautiful peace plan that will be accepted by many, according w to Daniel 9:27. The Church will not have any part of it though, for she already has insight on what is taking place, and those thunders will be adding to their insight, acquainting them with how to conduct themselves, and how to keep clear of all of that until her Bridegroom comes for her. You say, How do you know that? I say, If those two witnesses are going to inform spiritual Israel on what to watch for, when to watch for it, and where to flee to when it takes its place, why would God not do the same thing for the little bride of Jesus Christ? But would that not be adding to the word of God? Absolutely not, for in the very book where we are warned not to add to, nor take from the word of God, we are also told that these two prophets will prophesy to Israel, and they will not be if prophesying something to them, that they could read in the Bible. They will be telling them things that God could not let be written if in the Bible, lest the devil and all his wicked instruments know it if also. No, they will not be writing anything to add to the scriptures, for there will be no need for it by the time all of this is over with, because God will be ready to do a new thing. Let me ask you this, If you can accept the fact that these two prophets can prophesy to Israel without violating the word of God, why would it be so ridiculous to believe that the bride could be dealt with in the same way? Those seven thunders, as well as those two candlesticks, will be saying things that are not written in the scriptures. When Isaiah prophesied that a virgin would conceive, and have a son, it was not written who the virgin would be. The scriptures had it recorded where Jesus would be born, but the exact time when he would be born was not written anywhere. Then no sooner was he born, then God sent His angels to tell some sheep herders, and some wise men saw his star, and started on a journey to visit him, but was any of that written ahead of time. You know it was not, but that did not keep the Lord from doing those things at the proper time. I hope you can see that God did those things that were not even written, at the very time when things that were written, were in the process of being fulfilled, so I will just have to say, These thunders will sound their voices to the bride of Christ when the time comes, whether the teaching of it is accepted or not. 

SEAL UP THOSE WORDS —AND WRITE THEM NOT 

 Let me read verse 4 now, for there is something there, that is very interesting to note, “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.” That lets us know, John heard every word that was spoken, and he was about to write it, but a voice from heaven told him the same thing that was told to Daniel. Seal it up and write it not. But Saints: If you can just allow yourselves to realize, that, even though John lived, and wrote this prophecy in 96 A.D.. he was actually projected by the Spirit of God into the future. where he could stand and look at these things being fulfilled. So we have to realize, John stood on out in time beyond where we are today, and actually heard the words those thunders uttered, and could have written them down, right there with those other things he saw and heard, but he was told not to. Therefore the same power that conveyed John to a point in time where he could hear those words, will move upon seven men time where he could hear those words, will move upon seven men to speak them to the bride of Christ, when time reaches that point. Do not even expect the world to receive this though, for they have their Billy Graham, and Jimmy Swaggart, to explain the scriptures to them. Billy Graham has his series on the four horsemen of Revelation, chapter 6, and when he stepped up to explain the first horse, that last horse was right on his heels, just literally gobbling him up, and he does not even realize it. He still has all four of those horsemen out somewhere in the future, and we all know the first three rode long ago, and the fourth one is still riding, but the people of the world think we are crazy for believing that. Well that is the way every true child of God is looked upon by the world. It has been like that all through time, and it will be like that all the way to the end, so do not feel like you are all that much different from saints of other ages that have been scorned for what they believed. Most of us know by now, that we cannot please God and man both at the same time; therefore we live to please God, it and just let the other take its natural course. 

 THERE SHALL BE TIME NO LONGER 

  Look with me, at verses 5 & 6, which say, “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon d the earth lifted up His hand to heaven, and swear by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, it and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.” There is only one it other verse in the Bible that carries this same likeness, and it is the one in Daniel 12, that we e have already referred to, concerning the angel that was upon the waters of the river, and lifted up his hands to heaven, and swear by Him that liveth for ever. It is the same angelic being in both cases. swearing by the authority of the eternal God. one to the Gentile bride, and the other time to the, or concerning the nation of Israel. When the question was asked in Daniel 12:6, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders. That certain angel lifted his hands to heaven. and by the authority of the eternal God he proclaimed that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he (the Antichrist shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people. (the Jews) all these things shall be finished. I think I said already. That brings time right to the end of the week of Daniel, the tribulation is ended, and Jesus Christ is on earth, not in angelic form this time, but literally, to set up His Millennial kingdom. His literal return brings an end to the great tribulation, to the battle of Armageddon, and to the reign of the Antichrist. Of course we must realize then, that when this mighty angel is seen in Revelation 10, it proceeds that Daniel setting, for in chapter 10, He is still dealing with the Gentiles. First He cries; Then the thunders sound their voices, and after the thunders have sounded, then He is seen lifting His hand to heaven, and swearing by the eternal God, that time for Gentiles has run out. Different translations will have different phrases, but what this literally means is, Let time end. Not the end of the world, but time allotted for dealing with Gentiles. He is no longer on the mercy seat, so Gentile time will have to end here. The little scroll is opened fully, so He is here to receive the contents of what is written in it, which is the Gentile heirs of salvation. Satan will already have the world in a pitiful mess, so it will take these seven prophets in their universal scope, to enlighten the bride, and give her those last minute instructions. Naturally there will be a little lapse of time after their prophecies, for the universal body will have to hear what they have to say, so just do not try to crowd it all into one day’s time. Just endeavor to catch the revelation of what these symbols pertain to, and then let God work out the order of them in His own time. In other words, If we are settled in our minds that the bride is going to hear some thunders sound off before she takes her flight, then we will be watching for, and expecting those thunders when they come on the scene. When they will sound off is not the important thing for us, being ready to receive their message, or prophecy is the important thing. These people who have been setting dates for the past nineteen years will not hear those thunders, for they think they have already sounded in 1963, when Bro Branham preached on the seven seals, but in reality only six of them were opened and revealed. 

THE VOICE OF THE SEVENTH ANGEL 

 This verse 7 stands out to the people of the following of Bro. Branham’s ministry; therefore I would like to take time to explain something about this verse. I believe it will help explain why there has been so much confusion. I am convinced that if Bro. Branham had remained alive for the past nineteen years, our frame of thinking would still be running in a different channel. But realizing that Jesus is still on the mercy seat, and that the little scroll still has one seal left on it, we know that intercessory work is still in effect He (Jesus) is still bringing in souls on the merits of the gospel that has been restored; But that will all come to an end somewhere out ahead of us, as the door to the Gentiles is closed. God Himself is the only one that can close the door, and when He closes it, every predestined soul will already be sealed in. There is no way that anyone could preach enough to get another name added to the book of life, for every name in it was written there, before the foundation of the world, and God will not close the door of grace until they are all in the fold and secure, so let us notice what that same angel went ahead and said, after He had declared that time should be no longer. Verse 7 starts with the word B-U-T. This is a conjunction leading everything that has been said, or transpired up to this verse, and it puts important attention on what the verse contains. But in the days of the VOICE of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to His servants the prophets.” This is the only verse of scripture in the entire book of Revelation, that speaks specifically of any church age messenger in his respective hour of time. No other verse of scripture deals with the church age messenger Do you understand what I mean by that? In 96 AD., Paul, the first church age messenger, had already been dead many years. Therefore when John was instructed to write this letter and send it to the seven churches of Asia, each one started out. “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea write,” and then the message to that particular church followed. But when we preached on these church ages, you may remember that I said. The primary declaration was to those outstanding ministers of those congregations, that God had purposed to hold responsible for the things detailed in the different letters, things that were going on in their assemblies. I also said. But whatever was said to those individual churches, also carried a compound meaning that would apply to the age that corresponded with the conditions of those local churches in 96 A.D. The same admonition would apply to the church age that had conditions existing, that identified it with its counterpart. Therefore the messenger to each age would be held responsible for dealing with the spirit of that thing, in his hour. In the case of Paul, the first church age messenger, the compound is not there, because the age has already been established, and is approaching the breaking point, the point where it will yield to the second age. Therefore this is the only verse of scripture in this entire prophetic letter, that speaks specifically of a church age angel messenger. I just have to say, It is speaking on behalf of it on the compound. Because all of those local ministers who had the first primary objective of it, are all dead. The angel of Laodicea that was alive at that time, for that hour, is also dead. So this seventh angel, who was the angel messenger to this Laodicean church age. has been here, and he is gone, but his voice still rings out loud and clear. Of course the word V-O-I-C-E, here, has misled a lot of people. As long as Bro. Branham was alive, they could take this verse of scripture, and hold it above the rest of the chapter, because they had a physical, visible object to look to, and they looked at all the rest of that chapter through their understanding, or ideas about verse 7. But now that 19 years have come and gone since his death, we have to look at the chapter from a different standpoint. That is why you have heard me say a number of times, The angel has not cried yet. Jesus is still on the mercy seat; therefore there have been no thunders yet. Furthermore time could still last a few more years. I pray that it does not last much longer, but I realize that my statements do not change the plan of God. We can hope that chapter 10 is just a short distance ahead of us, but whether it is or not. what we say will not change those predetermined plans of God one bit. He is the one that controls it all. Then as we look at the word VOICE, and what it implies, let us realize that it does not necessarily point to the literal commutative sound of Bro. Branham’s physical voice. To back that up, I will ask you to read Acts 13:27 with me. and let us see how Paul used that same word there. “For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not. (Jesus) nor yet the VOICES of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him.” I believe it is obvious that Paul is not speaking of the literal vocal words of those prophets which were all dead at that time. He was referring to those recorded messages those prophets left with them. Paul is using the same term in referring to the recorded messages of those old prophets, that we find here in verse 7, concerning the sounding of the seventh church age messenger. He could not even be thinking of audio tapes, like we have today, for such a thing had not even been thought of when those old prophets wrote those scrolls. But Paul does refer to their prophecies as their VOICES, and there should be no question about that. Therefore as we go back to Revelation 10:7, let us be sensible, and realize that the same terminology applies there. Back in the 50’s and early 60’s, Bro. Branham stuck primarily to salvation messages and divine healing. But after he preached the seals in 1963, and the era of time changed so rapidly, he seemed to feel pressed in the spirit to deal with certain issues in the church. That is why he would deal with the Godhead. water baptism. sanctification, baptism of the Holy Spirit, what the church is. and what it is not, predestination. eternal security, and all those major doctrines; he was dealing with an important responsibility to leave a voice in the land that people could have access to. No, I am not saying he premeditated such a thing, I am only saying that God moved him to do that. for God is the one that runs His own plan and purpose. That man left a voice in the land that lets people know God is not saving people just to make better Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and all such like, out of them. That is not what Jesus is coming for. Some will say, Why are you always picking on denominations? First of all, because the Bible condemns all such. It does not call them by name, but it does call them harlots, and their mother a great whore, and it pronounces judgment upon the whole mess, so that is reason enough. Any time a group builds a fence around what they have already, and refuses to move on with God into deeper things, He rejects that thing. He removes Himself far from it. That is why the angel said to John, in Revelation 17, way back there in 96 A.D. “Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, (people) when the abominable thing had not even come into existence at that time. The spirit that was to produce such a system of religion was already running rampant, trying to get into the true church to pervert its teaching, and that is exactly what did happen after those first age guardians of the faith passed off the scene.

 THE MYSTERY OF GOD REVEALED 

 Now Brothers and Sisters: I have said all of this, trying to get you to see that the word voice does not necessarily pertain to vocal sounds that can be heard with the natural ear. However it does say, (speaking of this seventh angel) when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets. So that does point to an hour in his life, when God laid upon his shoulders a great responsibility to utter certain things that would be in harmony with the written word. For these, God would hold him responsible for preaching and proclaiming them. For it is through those things, that people are being brought back to the apostolic faith of our church fathers. No wonder Bro. Branham asked of the Lord, if Paul would be held responsible for those of his day, and when he received an answer in the affirmative, he said, I have preached the same gospel Paul preached. Now we know he preached things Paul did not preach, for Paul never preach-ed on the serpent’s seed, and things like that, but the gospel of our salvation was the point in question, and he preached it just like Paul did. He preached the Godhead the same, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins the same, and the deity of Jesus Christ, and the authority of that name, the same. He preached the great commission the same, and declared that there is no such thing as a trinity, concerning the Godhead. These modern day preachers still leave people with the idea that Eve ate an apple, and brought the curse of sin upon all mankind, but this man preached that it was something more serious than that. It had to be something that affected the genes of the offspring in order for it all to turn out as it did. We have messages in print on all of that, so I will not try to explain it here. Any way you look at it though, the Mystery of God, meaning these things those old prophets prophesied concerning God’s grace to the Gentiles, and that they just simply could not understand, is finished, or revealed. It has been made known to us. In Ephesians 3. Paul wrote of how God by revelation of the Spirit, had made known unto him the mystery, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: (Notice now) That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” Many of those Old Testament prophets wrote of how God’s grace would be extended to Gentiles, but they only wrote it; they did not understand it, and through the ages since the apostle Pau(people who believed in a trinity, not knowing whether God was one, three or a half a dozen, could not really grasp the full significance of what God’s plan for the Gentiles really was. Brother, that apostolic teaching had to be restored to the church to get her back into the place she had drifted from, before God’s redemption plan could be wrapped up, and that is exactly what this seventh angel messenger was used by God for, to get the church of Jesus Christ back into the Bible. Some will say though, Why would God add serpent seed to our understanding? It was to let you and me know how important it is for us to understand why Jesus had to be born of a virgin. People who do not believe the serpent seed revelation, could never really tell you why it was absolutely essential that Jesus be born free of the genes of any earthly parent. Praise God! We know though, and it is wonderful! Hallelujah! The denominations call us fanatics, but that is all right, for they just simply do not understand. But the wise shall understand. Thank God. 

THOU MUST PROPHESY AGAIN 

 Let us continue on, and bring this to a close. Verse 8, “And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, saying, Go and take the little book which is open (really a scroll) in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. (scroll) And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” All of this was symbolically pointing to something that would not affect John at all, but since He was projected into this twentieth century to watch the wrap up of God’s great redemption plan, he actually stood symbolically in the place of those thunders that will sound their voices when that angel cries. John will not prophesy any more like it says here, but I believe that same Spirit that transported John from place to place, and showed him all these things, will be upon seven men placed strategically around this earth in the day that chapter 10 is fulfilled, and they will prophesy to the nation, the things John heard there in the Spirit. We will go into Ezekiel chapter 2, and start with verse 9, and we will see a similar situation. “And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me and, lo, a roll of a book (a scroll) was therein; And he spread it before me; and it was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat. and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.” What did all of that mean? He was to prophesy everything from his own vocal voice of what was written therein, and it would be dealing with destruction, chaos, suffering, and such like, that was coming upon the Jews at Jerusalem. So that brings us back to Revelation 10, where John was told the same thing. But John is dead now, so he will not be prophesying to anyone anymore. But someone will have to, for this was an end time scene he was watching here. I believe those thunders, besides having a message for the bride, will also speak some things that will shake up some earthly kingdoms, for kings were included in the list of those that should be prophesied to. John will not do it, but someone will, and I believe we can see by now, that these seven thunders are men, and that they will prophesy. So I will say no more. The wise shall understand. Amen

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