William Marion Branham
He was born in the hills of Kentucky in a crude log cabin, on April 6, 1909. Those present witnessed a strange hazy light hovering over him, although it was before daylight, Jer. 1:4-5.
When he was 3 years old he told his mother he heard a voice speak to him out of the woods, saying, “You will live near a town called New Albany.” His mother laughed. Over a year later his family moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, a few miles from New Albany.
His first vision occurred when he was seven. While playing on the banks of the Ohio River, he suddenly beheld a bridge rise up and form across the water, as if under construction. As he watched, 16 men fell from that bridge and died in the river. Twenty-two years later a bridge was built in that exact spot and 16 men fell from it, losing their lives during its construction.
There was no form of religion at all in the Branham family. William’s early life was filled with much hardship and poverty because his father drank heavily. His father also bootlegged whiskey during Prohibition. One time he made his son carry water to his still. As William was passing under a poplar tree, he heard the sound of the wind. It puzzled him for the day was calm. Looking up he saw a strange whirlwind in the branches. A voice spoke out of the whirlwind (as in Job 38:1) and said, “Don’t ever drink, smoke or defile your body in any way, for when you get older there’s a word for you to do.” It terrified him, yet he never forgot it.
Several years later his father called him a “sissy” because he wouldn’t take a drink. Determined to prove himself a “man”, he raised a bottle of whiskey to his lips. …he heard that whirlwind. Fear gripped him. He dropped the bottle and ran. In like manner, several years later, his friends called him a “sissy” because he wouldn’t smoke. Angered, he grabbed a cigarette, but again that whirlwind stopped him short.
Yet, despite these and many more similar experiences, he was still a sinner who knew not God, (Rom. 11:29). While working for the gas works about the age of twenty he was overcome with gas, became very ill, and had to have an operation. As he lay in the hospital, near death, he had a vision. He was standing in a forest and far away he heard the sound of wind rustling leaves – coming closer, closer. He thought it was dead. Then that voice said, “Never drink, smoke or defile your body in any way. I called you and you wouldn’t go.” (as in Jonah 1:1-3) “Lord” cried William, “if that is you, let me go back to earth again and I’ll preach your Gospel from the housetops and street corners.” The vision faded. Miraculously, William recovered.
He made a promise and he set out to keep it. Yet he knew nothing about finding God. Realizing that God dwelt in nature, he wrote a note and tacked it on a tree so God would read it. When that didn’t work, he entered a woodshed and weeping for his sins, he prayed desperately, “God, I’m no good! Help me!” A cross of light appeared before him. As he realized that his forgiveness lay in the Blood of JESUS CHRIST shed upon the cross, the joy of salvation flooded his soul.
Because he was aware of a strange call on his life, he went into the ministry. It was a hot day, June 11, 1933. He had just held his first revival and was down in the Ohio River baptizing some 130 people in the Name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. As he came to the 17th person a great blazing light appeared in the sky above him (as in Acts 9:1-7) and a voice spoke to him from heaven saying, “AS JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS SENT TO FOREFRUN THE FIRST COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, SO ARE YOU SENT TO FORERUN HIS SECOND COMING.” There were 4,000 amazed, frightened witnesses who bear a record of this. Not even Brother Branham understood then what it meant. Nor could he yet understand his peculiar life. All the ministers he knew told him the visions he so frequently saw were of the devil. However, when they were of a future event, the visions NEVER FAILED to be FULFILLED EXACTLY the way he saw them and they always glorified God by helping God’s children. To make things more confusing, every time William Branham came in contact with an evil-possessed person, such as astrologers or fortune-tellers, they would tell him they saw a light following him, that he was born under a sign, and that there was a divine gift in his possession. These incidents troubled him greatly
May 7, 1946, as he was coming home from work, a mighty wind started in the top of a maple tree and came rushing down, nearly knocking Brother Branham over. Desperation struck him and he said to his wife, “For over 20 years I’ve not been able to understand this ministry or myself. I can’t go on like this. Is this of God? Honey, I’m going to go into the woods and seek God with my Bible and prayer and find out or never come back!” In a cave in the woods, he cast himself down and cried all his heart out to God. About 11:00 that night a star of light filled the cave. Fear gripped William’s heart. He heard footsteps. A man, clothed in white, walked out of the light and said, “Fear not, I am sent from the presence of Almighty God to tell you that your strange life and misunderstood ways have been to indicate that God has sent you to take a gift of divine healing to the people of the world. If you will be sincere and can get the people to believe you, nothing shall stand before your prayer, not even cancer.” For half an hour this angel explained to Brother Branham about his past and told him of his future, (as in Gen. 16:7-12; Ex. 3:2-14; Judges 6:11-23; Zech. 4:5-6; Matt. 16:2-7; Luke 1:11-38; Acts 5:19-20).
He explained why the ministers couldn’t recognize a gift of God in William’s life, yet the devil could. It was the same in JESUS’ day: The religious leaders said JESUS had a devil (Mark 3:22; John 7:20; 8:48-52; 10:20), while the demons recognized him as the Holy One of God (Luke 4:33-35; 40-41; 8:27-28; Mark 1:23-24; 3:11). The angel also told Brother Branham that, even as Moses was given two signs. To prove he was sent from God (Ex. 4:1-8), he would be given two signs. First, he would be able to diagnose diseases by their vibrations, which would cause his hand to swell. If the swelling went down after he prayed he could say, “THUS SAITH THE LORD, you are healed.” The angel said the time would come when Brother Branham would be able to discern the very secrets of men’s hearts, (Heb. 4:12; John 2:24-25).
Millions of people bear records that the words of the angel were fulfilled exactly (as in Acts 27:21-25). As the sign in his hand was manifested, which when seen would raise people’s faith to be healed, his ministry grew nationwide, then worldwide. Then it came to where the Spirit of CHRIST would reveal to him the very thoughts of people’s hearts (as in Gen. 18:9-15; 2 Kings 6:8-12; John 4:17-19) …reveal their needs; reveal unconfessed sins that were not cleaned by the Blood of JESUS CHRIST; reveal things about their lives that Brother Branham of himself couldn’t possibly know. Not mind reading or psychology, but rather he would see a vision of it the things actually enacted before his eyes (Joel 2:28). And when he spoke under the Anointing, out of hundreds of thousands of times all over the world, the words were spoken to total strangers NEVER FAILED to be EXACTLY the truth. (Deut. 18:21-22) And the prophecies of healing, of future events, small to great, thousands and thousands and thousands of times NOT ONCE WAS ONE EVEN PARTLY WRONG! It was a literal, “THUS SAITH THE LORD!”
Over the next 10 years, Brother Branham circled the globe 7 times, holding some of the largest religious meetings in history. Some 100,000 people heard him in Durban, South Africa. Seven truckloads of crutches, wheelchairs, cans, etc., were hauled away after the healing service. One healed was a poor, deformed beggar, who had never in his life been able to walk erect, but walked all bent over on both hands and feet. This beggar was widely known, because those who cared for him exhibited him as a curiosity, putting a collar and chain on him and having him dance like an animal in the streets. Brother Branham saw a vision of this man standing upright, so he challenged the people and they agreed that if this man was healed in JESUS Name, JESUS was indeed God. As soon as Brother Branham prayed, the man stood erect, (as in Luke 12:11-13). Is it any wonder that 30,000 people surrendered their lives to the LORD JESUS CHRIST that night?
Once God showed Brother Branham a vision of a little boy being raised from the dead. Brother Branham told the vision to thousands of people, describing the scene, telling them to write it down, for it was “THUS SAITH THE LORD!” Two years later, while they were on a campaign in Finland, they came across a car accident in the mountains. A little boy lay in the road crushed, bloody, having been dead for HALF AN HOUR. It was the boy of the vision. Brother Branham faced the crowd standing around and said, “If that little boy isn’t on his feet in five minutes, you can run me out of Finland as a false prophet. But if he is, you owe your lives to the LORD JESUS CHRIST!” As he prayed, life came back into the dead boy (as in Kings 17:17-24; Luke 7:11-16).
While preaching the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST in Portland, Oregon, a huge, demon-possessed man strode to the platform, calling Brother Branham a fake, an imposter, a deceiver, threatening to break every bone in his body. As the man drew near to execute his threats, Brother Branham said softly, “Satan, because you have challenged the servant of God, in the Name of JESUS, you shall fall at my feet.” The powerful man struggled to come nearer, but couldn’t. He sank to the floor and had to be carried out, (Luke 11:18-20).
In Bombay India, where some 400,000 came to hear the Gospel, there was a blind beggar brought before Brother Branham for prayer. In a vision, Brother Branham saw who this beggar was, where he lived, and that he had become blind by staring at the sun, which he worshipped as God. Then Brother Branham challenged the various heathen priests in turn, “If your God is God, then come up here and have him open this man’s eyes and we’ll fall down and worship your god.” None moved. “But if my God, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, be God and opens this man’s eyes, will you forsake your powerless gods and accept JESUS as your Savior? (as in Kings 18:21-39) To this, they agreed. The reason for this prophet’s fearless confidence was because he had already seen the man healed in a vision, and the visions were NEVER FAILED. When the beggar’s eyes came open, pandemonium broke loose as those poor people strove just to touch Brother Branham to be healed.
It was in Mexico that the simple faith of a woman caused God to work a mighty miracle. The doctor wrote out a sworn statement that her baby had died at 9:00 in the morning of pneumonia, but because she had seen God give a blind man his sight in Brother Branham’s meeting the night before, she carried her DEAD baby around all day, believing if she could just get it to Brother Branham, God would raise it up. That night Brother Branham saw a vision of her baby alive. He prayed in JESUS’ Name and immediately her infant began to cry.
There was the time Brother Branham stopped his sermon, looked at a man in a wheelchair, and said, “Sir, I perceive you have faith to be healed. Rise up and walk,” (as in Acts 3:2-10). And Congressman Upshaw who had been confined to a wheelchair for over 60 years, rose up and walked down the aisle praising JESUS CHRIST. Returning to Washington, D.C., Congressman Upshaw was not ashamed to declare William Branham a prophet of God to the 20th Century.
These are but a few (and by no means the most outstanding) of the miracles God used to vindicate His Servant. Space fails me to record the hundreds of thousands of times that, “THUS SAITH THE LORD” has been manifested in our generation without one flaw! Did not Jesus say, “If you can’t believe Me simply because the WORDS I speak are the TRUTH, then believe Me for the VERY WORKS’ SAKE, BECAUSE THEY TESTIFY WHO I AM.” (John 10:37-38, also John 5:36 10:25; 12:37-40; 14:10-12; 15:24; Luke 7:19-23) The same is true of every prophet of God. Is not the same true of William Branham? He had to be sent from God, “for no man can do these miracles…except God be with him,” (John 3:2). If William Branham was not that end-time prophet to the gentiles when that prophet does come, “will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? (John 7:31) Assuredly, “If this man were not of God, he could do nothing,” (John 9:33).
Why then is not William Branham widely acclaimed today?
No true prophet was ever accepted by the majority of people in their day. A true prophet must strike against corruption, and people don’t like to change. He must speak the TRUTH, no matter what it costs. Notice: as long as JESUS CHRIST (who was the God-Prophet) was healing the sick, multitudes swarmed to Him. But when he began to bring forth strong doctrine, the Bible records: “From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with Him,” (John 6:48-68). Likewise, as long as God used Brother Branham to heal the sick and afflicted, millions followed his ministry. But when God through His prophet began to restore the Word, most people loved the miracles but hated the Word. Howbeit, the Word had to be restored before JESUS CHRIST could take His Bride, for she must be a PURE WORD Bride, and the true meaning of the Word of God has been so distorted down through the centuries until today, as JESUS said, “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for DOCTRINES the COMMANDMENTS OF MEN… making the WORD OF GOD of NONE EFFECT through your TRADITIONS!” (Mark 7:6,7,13).
On December 30 1962 Brother Branham had a vision where he was standing near Tucson Arizona, picking a sand burr out of his pants leg, when a tremendous explosion occurred. He told this vision to his congregation in Jeffersonville, Indiana (the sermon was tape-recorded) on the 31st of December. Then he moved to Tucson. Over a month later, on February 28, 1963, while out hunting, he noticed a sand burr in his trouser. As he reached to pull it off, a tremendous blast rocked the mountainside. Looking up, he saw seven angels in a pyramid sweeping towards him and for a time he seemed to be caught up in their midst. A voice cried, “Go back east, and Brother Branham knew it was time for the opening of the Seven Seals in the Book of Revelation, (Dan 12:4, 8-9; Rev. Chap. 5,6 through 8:1). The angels returned into the sky and formed a cloud some 50 miles long and 30 miles wide, which was visible for hundreds of miles around (Luke 21:25-28). Many pictures were taken of this peculiar cloud, some appearing in Life Magazine, the May 17, 1963 issue;
some in Science Magazine of April 19, 1963, along with a scientist’s report of how it was scientifically IMPOSSIBLE for such a cloud to exist. The highest clouds form at about 10 miles, but this phenomenal cloud was 26 miles up, at which altitude water vapor does not exist. Brother Branham returned to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where for 7 days, as he waited on God, the voice of God spoke out of the Pillar of Fire, revealing the exact Truth of the mysteries sealed up in Rev. 5 through 8; which revelation was contrary to what everyone (including Brother Branham) had previously supposed, yet was perfectly in line with the rest of God’s Word. As Brother Branham preached 7 consecutive nights on these Seals (March 17-24, 1963) his sermons were tape-recorded; Thus the Scripture is fulfilled, “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,” (Rev. 10:7).
William Branham died in December of 1965 when he was hit by a drunken driver (John 3:28-30). But the MESSAGE God used him to bring cannot die. There are over 1,000 different tape-recorded sermons for Brother Branham’s circulating around the globe, crying out against perversion, warning souls that JESUS CHRIST IS COMING VERY SOON, mapping out the TRUTH through God’s Word, preparing a Bride for JESUS CHRIST, it is “the voice of the seventh messenger.” Think not that these things exalt a man, CHRIST ALONE IS EXALTED! Brother Branham of himself could do nothing (John 3:27). It was JESUS CHRIST performing (through a humble prophet) the same works He did when He walked in human flesh (Heb. 13:8). So look not at the man, but at the MESSAGE which he brought, for that Message will point you to the pure JESUS CHRIST, free from all denominational creeds and traditions. Did not the apostle Paul say, “Be ye followers of Me, even as I also am of Christ,” (1 Cor. 11:1; 4:16)? When you obey Paul, you are not “following a man,” but the Holy Spirit speaking through him. “And today,” (as the lone man wrote) “this man, William Branham, has had literally thousands of manifested vindications from God, and with his life containing all the other factors that make up the prophetic office, he ought to be received for what he is-HE MUST BE RECEIVED FOR WHAT HE IS. “THUS SAITH THE LORD” in his mouth by the Holy Ghost is absolutely no different from the “THUS SAITH THE LORD” in the mouth of Paul, for it is the same Holy Ghost. But would you have recognized Paul had you lived in his day? Or if you had lived in the days of Noah? Or Elijah? Or Jeremiah? Would you have recognized them as prophets and heeded their message? How about if you had lived in a remote part of Palestine and heard reports about somebody called JESUS who was performing mighty miracles? Would you have recognized Him for who He was, or would you have been like the Pharisees, who believed what God did IN THE PAST, but could not accept what God was doing IN THEIR OWN DAY! “Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees,” cried JESUS, “hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets, wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets!” (Matt. 23:29-31) And God has visited this last generation with a mighty prophet. A humble man, who desired neither fame nor wealth, who NEVER FAILED TO GIVE EVERY BIT OF THE GLORY TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.