“Commission in the Church Cornerstone”

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William Branham claimed to have received different “commissions” or instructions from God and His angels, which told him what he was to do with his life and ministry.

 

His first alleged commission occurred when he was seven, eight or nine years old and God,

the angel of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, a vision, a voice of a man and a Light first spoke to him from a bush and a big tree and instructed him to “never drink, smoke or defile your body in any way for there would be a work to do when you are older.”[1]

 

He alleged to have received another commission when he was baptizing his first converts in the Ohio River in 1933 and God told him that he was “sent forth with a Message, to forerun the second Coming of Christ.”[2]

 

He also alleged that the Angel of the Lord commissioned him in 1946 to pray for sick people throughout the world.[3]

 

In addition, he alleged that “seven angels” commissioned him to preach the “seven seals” of Revelation Chapters 5-6 and 8.[4]

 

Yet another alleged “commission” that he claimed to have received was the one in 1933 just before the dedication of his church building.

 

According to him, that “commission” consisted of God showing him a “vision” which instructed him to “do the work of an evangelist” and “make full proof” of his ministry.

He claimed that after writing the “vision” down, it was placed in the cornerstone of his church's foundation, as follows,

 

“And It left me sitting in the room. I didn’t even know it was a vision. I didn’t know what to call it then. I was laying the cornerstone (that day) of the foundation there. It’s wrote, laying right there in that cornerstone now, and said:

…do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall…heap for themselves together teach—teachers, having itching ears;

…and shall be turned from the Truth unto fables. (That’s both oneness and trinity, they’ve missed the…)

Now, He never said “you are evangelist,” He said, “Do the work of one.” See? Now, has the time come? Shall I continue on with that or has the time come for something else? That I know not.” “Questions And Answers” (62-0527).

 

Note that the alleged “vision” in italics above is precisely the same message that St. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and 2 Timothy 4:5, but in reverse order.

 

Note also that William Branham's claims that God never said “you are evangelist,” He said, “Do the work of one” are directly contradicted by his claims below in which he explicitly states that God called and told him to be an evangelist the very morning the cornerstone

was laid,

 

“Now, when God called me to be an evangelist, I wanted to be a pastor. And I thought staying at home here would just be fine. And the Lord called me. And finally all the people got together…There’s not a one of them left tonight in here, that they cried and went out there on 1717 Spring Street. And the lady, Mrs. Hawkins over here, met me and said (crying, during the time of depression, when one in the neighborhood would cook a mess of beans and we’d all come in and eat from that), and she said, “I’ll allowance my children at the table if you’ll only build a tabernacle.” See?

And my calling was an evangelist. The morning…Laying right here at this cornerstone, if we could burst in there tonight, you’ll see a flyleaf off of my Bible where He told me to be an evangelist. See? And I wasn’t a successful pastor, never would be, because I haven’t got the patience and what it takes to be a pastor. See? So therefore if I tried to pastor, I would just be as far out as a pastor is trying to be an evangelist.

See what I mean? You can see the way the Lord calls you, what your position is in the Body. Is there a question?” “Questions And Answers” (61-0112).

 

William Branham also contradicted his claims that God called and told him “to be an evangelist” the morning the cornerstone was laid in 1933 by stating the following,

 

Now, I haven’t had a prayer line of this type for a long, long time. How many remembers my commission when we built the tabernacle here? Said, “Do the work of an evangelist.” Didn’t say I was an evangelist. Said, “Do the work of an evangelist,” see, “for the hour will come when that’s to be changed.” That hour is arriving. All right. Now, in this, He…

You can’t mix two or three different ministries together, pastor and evangelize, the same time. You can’t be a—a prophet and maybe a pastor, at the same time, see, ’cause you have different works, different ministry.

But the Lord gave me what I should do in my Message. But then He said, “Do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry, for the hour will arrive when they will not endure sound Doctrine.” If that hasn’t come now! Every church denomination has turned me down. They wouldn’t endure sound Doctrine. “But after their own lusts they’ll bring their own teachers in, and they’ll be turned into fables. And they will do great things of exploit like Jambres and Jannes that withstood Moses, but their folly will be made manifest.” See? See? All right, impersonations! You see how Jambres…

And, God in Heaven knows, that lays right there in the corner-…(of that tabernacle)…-stone since 1933, wrote on a page of a Bible, laying right there. Look how they’ve done it. Look what’s come to pass. Impersonations, just exact. Said, “Let them alone, their folly will be made known in the same manner as Jambres and Jannes was.” Here we are in that day. “Spiritual Food In Due Season” (65-0718E).

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Despite his claims that God told him to “be an evangelist” and “do the work of one”, the following claims of his reflect that God never instructed him to do anything more than “read II Timothy 4” after coming out of the alleged “vision”:

 

“And then this circling of Fire called out, said, "The harvest is ripe, and the laborers are few." And He said, "Now, when you come to yourself again, or come out of this, read II Timothy 4: II Timothy 4." And then I came to myself. And I stood there rubbing my face in my hand. And just then, in the corner of the room, sun shining high, then I must've been under the vision for some hour or more, and It said, "II Timothy 4." And I reached quickly for my Bible and read II Timothy 4.” “Present Stage of My Ministry” (62-0908).

 

Without God informing him which of the 22 verses in II Timothy 4 to read, there certainly was insufficient basis for William Branham to construe verse 5 to mean that that God was “commissioning” him to “be an evangelist” or to “do the work of one.” (All twenty-two verses of II Timothy 4, which were intended solely for Timothy to act on can be read here.)

 

And being that God (at most) told William Branham to read “II Timothy 4”, it is entirely false that God and the “vision” told him to “Preach the Word”, as he claimed below,

 

“Because, the vision, the morning that I laid the cornerstone, said, 'Preach the Word.'” “God Keeps His Word” (57-0120E).

 

“And then that how that He said, 'Preach the Word. Stay on the Word.'” “God Keeps His Word” (57-0407M).

 

2 Timothy 4:2 does state, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.” However, that directive was clearly intended for Timothy alone and not later used by God (implicitly or explicitly) to give William Branham another “commission.”

 

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Footnotes:

[1]   Click here to read William Branham's stories in which it is apparent that he made contradictory claims about who spoke to him, what he saw and what he saw at the time.

[2]   “And right out of a brassy sky, where there hadn’t been rain for weeks, here He come with a roar, and said, 'As John the Baptist was sent forth, to forerun the first coming of Christ, you’re sent forth with a Message, to forerun the second Coming of Christ.'” “Is This The Sign Of The End Sir” (62-1230).

[3]   “And He said to me... I just sit there. And He said, "Fear not. I'm sent from the Presence of God to tell you that this peculiar life of yours, peculiar birth... [Blank.spot.on.tape—Ed.]... a gift of Divine healing to the peoples of the world."” “The Angel and His Commission” (47-1102).

[4]   “And there stood those seven Angels just as natural as you see me standing here, and told me to return to my home, that the mysteries that the reformers down through the ages had failed to pick up, the mysteries of the Bible, which the Seven Seals held, would be revealed.” “Shalom” (64-0119).

The whole earth shook, everywhere. Rocks that size rolled down, dust flying like that. And I looked, and standing before me stood seven Angels; just exactly the way it was. I felt like I was standing way up off the ground. First, I thought somebody had shot me, you know, with that black hat on; looked like a javelina hog, anyhow, you know they’re dark. I thought somebody had shot me, such a…right close. And I—I seen then what it was. Well, as soon as…I got my commission, in the Scripture, “The Seven Seals which is the seven mysteries.” See? “Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God's Will” (65-1127B).