“Elijah the Prophet of Malachi 4”
Beginning in 1955, William Branham's popularity and ministry as a world renown faith healer started to decline. From 1960 until the end of 1965, when he died, he appealed to people mainly through his teachings. During those six years, he persuaded people that they were living in the “end time” just before the great tribulation and “rapture” of the Gentile church.
He made several doomsday predictions during that period including his predictions that the United States and the rest of the world would come to an end by 1977.[1]
As the “way out” or escape from the impending doom, he began declaring that God would send “Elijah the prophet” to the Gentile church to first “restore all things” and prepare the church for the “rapture.” He based his related claims on the Old Testament scripture in Malachi 4:5-6, which states,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
In his January 17, 1961 sermon, “The Messiah”, he made one of his first claims that God was going to send “Elijah the prophet”of Malachi 4 to the Gentiles. Therein, he alleged that the Lord showed him the meaning of Malachi 4 when he was on Sportsman’s Hollow and specifically described “Elijah the prophet” using clear references to himself (i.e. a hater of woman and denominations, and man of the wilderness), as follows.
“I was reading in the Scriptures the other day up in the mountain. I was reading there, and the Holy Spirit told me to go up to a certain tree and stand there. He wanted to speak to me. I stood there for a half hour. He never said nothing. I laid down under this oak tree, and laid myself out. I said, “Lord, You spoke to me about a mile up here, and said come up here on the mountain here (this Sportsman’s Hollow, as I called it), and You’d speak to me. Then He showed me, when He opened up Malachi, the 4th chapter. And I said… “Behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, burn up the proud…” (If you want to put it down, Malachi 4.) And He said, 'It shall burn the proud, and the—and the righteous shall walk out upon the ashes of the wicked.' Well, then… And He said, 'Behold I send to you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord shall come; it shall… And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children of the fathers, or the children’s hearts to the fathers.' . . .Turn to Malachi 4 just a minute. Watch there.
I never knew that before. I never try to speak anything until the Holy Spirit comes first to reveal it. Watch, Malachi 4:5… Behold, I will send to you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great… day of the Lord… (that great terrible day that He will burn the earth): And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers,…
And remember, when this Elijah comes… I’ll give you some of his description. When Elijah comes, that’s the messenger to the Laodicean church Age. We find Elijah coming before… Remember, Elijah was the one that went up on a chariot, never tasted death. And the message of this great messenger that’ll come in this closing day in the Laodicean church Age, the Pentecostal Age, will be the one that’ll take the church to the rapture. Exactly. He was raptured himself, and he will come with the church to the rapture. And remember again… I’ll give you some of the descriptions of this man. He will be a woman hater. He sure will. Look at—look what he was on Elijah: Jezebel. Look on John: Herodias. See? Another thing, he will be firmly against denominations. Look at Elijah; look at John. “Don’t think to say within yourself we have Abraham to our father. God’s able of these stones to rise children to Abraham.” He will hate denominations; he will hate immoral women. He will be a man in the wilderness, that lives in the wilderness, coming forth with his Message.” And he'll bring the hearts of the people....Oh, there's been a hundred Elijahs come up in the last days—Alexander Dowie, and so many in the world today saying they're Elijah, they're Elijah of the day. Elijah will go back to the original Pentecostal Ephesus Church, and bring that same message to the people with signs of the Messiah. The Bible said so.” “The Messiah” (61-0117).
Alexander Dowie, to whom William Branham referred, was an evangelist and faith healer who lived from 1847–1907 (in the decades just prior to William Branham). Dowie's teachings influenced many ministers and Divine healing proponents including Fred F. Bosworth, Gordon Lindsay and Raymond T. Richey, who worked with the Branham party. In turn, Dowie's teachings likely also influenced William Branham, including his teachings about “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4.
In 1899, Dowie proclaimed himself to be “Elijah the Restorer” of Malachi 4 who would restore the Gentile church to its first-century state. Then in 1901, he founded a Utopian city in Illinois called Zion, which was intended to be a literal manifestation of the restoration of the original Apostolic Church, and even changed the church's name in the city to “The Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion” to reflect that.
Thus, William Branham's later teachings that “Elijah the prophet” would come to “restore all things” to the way they were in “the original Pentecostal Ephesus Church” had already been taught and allegedly carried out by Alexander Dowie.
William Branham; however, apparently regarded himself (as the hater of “woman”/“immoral women” and “denominations”) to be the true Elijah (i.e. Elisha) and all of the others like Dowie to be counterfeit “Elijahs” who Satan used to confound the minds and faith of people before he appeared. As he stated,
“We’ve had Elijah’s garments. We’ve had Elijah’s robes. Oh, there’s been people that’s…John Alexander Dowie is buried up there, wrapped in a—a robe. He said he was Elisha. And we’ve had all kinds of things like that. What is it, anyhow? It’s only to take away a Truth that is going to be presented. See? They had false christs before Jesus’ time. See? They always do that. It’s Satan, running out a counterfeit, to upset the minds and the faith of the people, before the thing actually happens. That’s all.
Didn’t Gamaliel say the same thing to the Jews that day? Said, “Wasn’t there a man raised up, professed to be This? And they took four hundred out in the wilderness. They perished, and so forth.”
Said, “Every branch that My Heavenly Father hasn’t planted,” Jesus said, “will be rooted up.”
Gamaliel said, “Let them alone. If they, if it be not of God, won’t it come to naught? But if it be of God, you be found fighting against God.” The man used wisdom. He was a teacher.
Now notice. Now, to wind up all these mysteries, God has promised that there would be a genuine Elisha rise, some man anointed with that Spirit, and it would reveal. He promised it in Malachi 4. . . . Now, we believe that there is to be a coming of the true Spirit of Elisha. It’s predicted it would be, see. And we must remember it’ll be here, in its own season and time. We may be laying a foundation for it now.” “The Fourth Seal” (63-0321).
Despite William Branham's view of Dowie as a counterfeit used by Satan, he regarded Dowie to be a “great renowned brother” who is in heaven with Jesus. He also regarded Dowie's Utopian city of Zion to have been acceptable for the Gospel of Christ, as is evident below,
“Just recently, this afternoon, one of the brothers that’s on the platform now, handed me a letter from a lady, said… A very saintly looking, motherly lady, aged, was standing in the hotel lobby, said, “Give this personally to Brother Branham.” She was acquainted, of your, our great renowned brother that’s—that’s sleeping tonight, no, not sleeping (his body is); his soul’s with Jesus: Doctor Alexander Dowie. . . .“Doctor Dowie prophesied that some forty years after his death, that the churches would be restored in more power and glory than they were in—in the former”. . .Now, I believe the revival spirit is in the city now. . . .But I hope that I hear this: I trust to God, that an old fashion revival has come into your city. . . .They come into Zion again for—for the glorious Gospel of Christ.” “I Was Not Disobedient To The Heavenly Vision” (49-0718).
Although William Branham regarded Dowie to have been used by Satan as a counterfeit “Elijah the prophet”, he also regarded Dowie to have accurately prophesied that he would go to Zion forty years after Dowie died, as follows,
“Oh, if I… If Jesus tarries, and I can stay that long, let me be like that. That’s right. Brother Richey here, how I could speak of him, of how down through the age when I was a little boy in school, he was out there preaching the Gospel and praying for the sick, when I was just a boy. Your mothers and dads listened to him preach the Gospel on Divine healing, both of them out of Zion, Illinois. Candidates, or, out from under the—the great teacher, late Doctor Dowie. How Doctor Dowie, in his death, prophesied that I would come to that city forty years from the time that he died. Not knowing nothing about it, he died on one day, and I was borned on the next. And forty years to the day I entered the city, not knowing nothing about it. Oh, how God’s great move is coming together. I hear the sound of abundance of rain.” “Our Hope Is In God” (51-0929).
In other words, William Branham discredited Dowie's significance in a larger role as a prophet, but credited him fully when it came to something that makes his own birth and life appear significant. However, his claim that he was “borned” the day after Dowie died is unbelievable because that would mean he was “borned” on March 10, 1907 and that directly contradicts his other claims of his birth date and what he certified on his marriage licenses, as follows,
“When I was born on April the sixth, 1909, about five o'clock in the morning…” “The Manifestation Of The Spirit” (51-0717).
“And I was born on April the—the 6th, 1909. Course, you know, that makes me a little over twenty-five now.” “My Life Story” (59-0419A).
On his first marriage license, which can be viewed here, he certified that he was born on
April 8, 1908.
On his second marriage license, which can be viewed here, he certified that he was born on April 6, 1909 and that compares with his other claims that an astronomer told him that he was born in that year.
As time went on, William Branham led more and more people to believe that he was “Elijah the prophet” by defining more characteristics of “Elijah” and “prophets”, drawing parallels with his ministry and Old Testament prophets, repeatedly claiming that all of his “prophecies” were fulfilled and frequently declaring, “Thus Saith the Lord” in his sermons, which made him appear like an Old Testament prophet.
He also persuaded people that he was that “prophet” by making statements such as these,
“To my precious dear brothers and sisters (See?), all of you, as a servant of God… I never said this before in the wor-… in—in this church, I've never said, but as a prophet of the Lord, I say to you,” 'This is the Light; walk ye in It.'” “Faith” (61-0813).
“I'm going to say this for my first time, over the pulpit [he'd actually already said it many times]. I've stretched out farther tonight, on This, than I have on anything else, any time, anyhow, before the public, because I've had a great freedom in these meetings. If you believe me to be God's prophet, you listen to what I've told you.” “The Choosing Of A Bride” (65-0429E).
William Branham falsely claimed that God never used two major prophets at the same time.
To show that he was “the prophet” with the one and only “end-time” message to the Gentiles, William Branham claimed that God never used two major prophets at the same time as follows,
“And it's strange, but through the Bible, He never had two prophets, major prophets in operation at the same time. He always had one prophet. Then when He got through with that one, He--taken him away and put another one in his place.” Getting.In.The.Spirit _Chicago.IL 61-0428.
“Now, God always uses a—a prophet, a man. If you use a bunch of man, you get different ideas; see, each man, two man. Never did He have two major prophets on the earth at one time. He takes one, so the other one can take its place for another day, another message. He never has two, He has one at a time.” The.Evening. Messenger_Mesa.AZ 63-0116.
“God always deals with one individual. Two men's got two ideas. There never was two major prophets on the earth prophesying the same time. Look back and see if there was. No, sir. Too much scrupled up. He's got to get one man completely surrendered and use that person. He searches for that person, but there will be one sometime, somebody who'll listen to Him word by word.” “The Fourth Seal,” Revelation of the Seven Seals, 1963 (63-0321).
His claims about God never having two major prophets on the earth at the same time are clearly false because three of the four major prophets (Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) were all contemporaries during the years 595-587 B.C. (Jeremiah: c. 627 - 580 B.C., Daniel: c. 605 - 530 B.C. and Ezekiel c. 593 - 570 B.C.).
William Branham could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6.
Even though William Branham led countless people to believe that he was “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4 to the Gentile Church, there are numerous reasons why he could not have been that prophet.
The main reason why he could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4 to the Gentile Church is that the entire book of Malachi was written to the Jews and is intended for the Jews. This is obvious from Malachi's introduction of the book, which states,
“The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.” (Malachi 1:1)
It is apparent from Malachi's words that he was only addressing the Israelites and each reference to “you” or “ye” in the subsequent verses and chapters of his book can only be accepted as being directed to and intended for the children of Israel.
And since the subject “you” refers to the children of Israel throughout the book of Malachi and never changes to “you” the Gentiles, it is clear that the “you” in Malachi 4:5-6 also refers to the children of Israel,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Because “Elijah the prophet” will be sent to the Jews and William Branham never went to Israel or ministered to the Jews, he could not have been the fulfillment of “Elijah the prophet” in Malachi 4.
William Branham nevertheless was able to convince countless Gentile people around the world that the “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4 was sent to the Gentiles and was him by making such statements as these,
“Now, mark that with what the last prophet said, "Behold I send to you Elijah the prophet, and he will restore the--the hearts of the children back to the fathers," (See?) a Message to bring them back to the Bible.” Spiritual Food In Due Season (65-0718E).
“They want to believe this is the apostolic move, as God promised in the last days He would pour out His Spirit. We... he wants to believe in Malachi 4, that He promised, in the last days the--the original pentecostal Faith would be restored back to the--to the church again.” Proving His Word (65-0426).
William Branham apparently realized how difficult it would be to satisfy both portions of Malachi 4:6 and turn both “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” He likely saw that it was easier to explain how the “hearts of the children” of his day could be turned back to Pentecostal fathers from more than two-thousand years ago, but found it too difficult to explain how the hearts of (non-living) fathers from more than two-thousand years ago could be turned to the children of his day.
Because he could not make sense of how his “prophet ministry” could fulfill both parts of Malachi 4:6 and also “turn the heart of the fathers to children”, William Branham likely saw it expedient and necessary to change the meaning of Malachi 4:5-6 to consist of two Elijah the prophets (one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles). He did so by claiming that the Elijah of Malachi 4 would come twice (first to the Jews and second to the Gentiles), as follows,
“The first time Elijah come, he turned the hearts of the fathers, the old patriarch fathers (See?), back there, the old Jews, to the faith of the children that'd just received Him, and believed of the coming Messiah. "Turned the hearts of the fathers to the children, and (a conjunction, tying the sentence together, when He comes the second time) the hearts of the children back to the Pentecostal fathers." Hallelujah. There you are.” The Messiah (61-0117).
There is nothing, however, in either verse of Malachi 4:5-6 that states or indicates that there would be two Elijah the prophets or that “Elijah the prophet” would come twice (first to the Jews and second to the Gentiles). And considering the entire book of Malachi was written to and for the Jews, William Branham's insertion of himself as a Gentile into just the second half of the verse in Malachi 4:6 is clearly erroneous. As Malachi 4:5-6 are written, there will be one Elijah who will do two things (i.e. “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers”) and not two Elijah's who will each do one thing.
Not only did William Branham teach that two Elijah the prophets would fulfill Malachi 4:5-6, but he specifically taught that the first one was John the Baptist, as follows,
“There is absolutely no doubt that Elijah must return before the coming of Jesus. He has a specific work to accomplish. That work is the part of Malachi 4:6 that says ‘he will turn the hearts of the children to their fathers’. The reason that we know this is his specific work to do at that time is because he has already accomplished the part that says ‘he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ when the Elijah ministry was here in John the Baptist.
In the ministry of John the ‘hearts of the fathers were turned to the children’. We know that because Jesus said so. But it does not say that the hearts of the children were turned to the fathers. That is yet to take place. The hearts of the last day children will be turned back to the Pentecostal fathers. John got the fathers ready for Jesus to welcome the children into the fold. Now this prophet upon whom the Spirit of Elijah falls will prepare the children to welcome back Jesus.” 324-2 LAODICEAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH. AGE.BOOK.CPT.9
“Now, when John came as Elijah, he turned the hearts of the Israelites, the hearts of the children that was then accepting his message, the hearts of the fathers to the children. But when he comes this time, he’s going to turn the hearts of the Church back to the Pentecostal fathers. See, it’s a vice versa there. You get it? Now, read It!” “The Laodicean Church Age” (60-1211E).
However, William Branham changed his teaching from John the Baptist fulfilled the first half of Malachi 4:6 to teaching that John the Baptist did not fulfill any of it by stating,
“Elijah was to come three times. Now, you say, ‘That John the Baptist was that guy.’ If you’ll notice Jesus said it was–John the Baptist was the messenger of Malachi 3, not Malachi 4. ‘Behold, I send My messenger before My face.’” The Seventieth Week Of Daniel (61-0806).
“John was Elijah of Malachi 3, not Malachi 4.” Paradox (64-0206B).
“Now, John the Baptist was not the Elisha of Malachi 4. He was the Elisha of Malachi 3. Jesus said so.” The Feast Of The Trumpets (64-0719M).
Based on all of the above contradictory, erroneous, untrue and unfounded teachings of William Branham, he clearly could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6.
William Branham also could not have been “Elijah the prophet” based on his many failed prophecies.
To show that he was a “Elijah the prophet”, William Branham repeatedly claimed that none of
his “prophetic visions” or prophecies ever failed. However, those claims of his are untrue because many of them did fail completely, as is demonstrated on this website.
A true prophet of the Lord is clearly one whose prophecies come to pass, as is established in Jeremiah 28:9 of the Bible,
“The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.”
Because many of William Branham's prophecies failed, the Lord could not have truly sent him. Consequently, he could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6.
William Branham also could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6 based on his claims about Elijah and the rapture.
William Branham made the following claims about “Elijah” and the rapture,
“When Elijah comes, that's the messenger to the Laodicean church Age. We find Elijah coming before...Remember, Elijah was the one that went up on a chariot, never tasted death. And the message of this great messenger that'll come in this closing day in the Laodicean church Age, the Pentecostal Age, will be the one that'll take the church to the rapture. Exactly. He was raptured himself, and he will come with the church to the rapture.” The Messiah – 1/17/61.
By reason of the fact that “Elijah the prophet” will be sent to the Jews and not to the Gentiles,
William's Branham's claim that the “message” of “Elijah the prophet” will take the Gentile Church to the rapture is false. Consequently, he could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6.
Moreover, because William Branham died on December 24, 1965 from injuries caused by a car crash, he was not “raptured himself” and did not “come with the church to the rapture.” He, therefore, could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4:5-6.
William Branham also could not have been “Elijah the prophet” based on his claims about the earth and wicked being burned by fire immediately after Elijah's “coming.”
He specifically claimed that “the earth will be cleansed by fire and the wicked burned to ashes” immediately after the coming of “Elijah the prophet”, as follows,
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” See, immediately after the coming of THIS Elijah, the earth will be cleansed by fire and the wicked burned to ashes. Of course, this did NOT happen at the time of John (the Elijah for his day).” “Seven Church Age Book”, p. 327.
In addition, William Branham led people to believe that he had “Divine inspiration” that the earth and wicked of the earth would be burned by fire before 1977. He did so by stating,
“So I repeat, I sincerely believe and maintain as a private student of the Word, along with Divine inspiration that 1977 ought to terminate the world systems and usher in the
millennium.” “Seven Church Age Book”, p. 322.
“Then I seen the United States as one smoldering, burnt-over place. It will be near the end. (Then I've got in parenthesis: "I predict that this will take place." Now, remember, the Lord ne... That's what the Lord showed, but "I predict this will take place before 1977.")” [1]
Because neither the earth, nor the wicked were burned “immediately after” the “coming” of William Branham as the “Elijah” or right after his ministry and life ended in 1965; he could not have been that prophet, as he led people to believe.
Footnotes:
[1] Then I seen the United States as one smoldering, burnt-over place. It will be near the end. (Then I've got in parenthesis: "I predict that this will take place." Now, remember, the Lord ne... That's what the Lord showed, but "I predict this will take place before 1977.") Upon this prediction, I base, because of the onrushing slaught that's coming now, how fast that it was moving, how long it'll take till this nation meets its place. “Condemnation By Representation” (60-1113).
“So I repeat, I sincerely believe and maintain as a private student of the Word, along with Divine inspiration that 1977 ought to terminate the world systems and usher in the millennium.” “Seven Church Age Book”, p. 322 (1965).
William Branham predicted doomsday events would occur in the following years (sermon numbers and corresponding paragraph numbers are in parentheses): 1954 (54-0513 ¶ #13), 1956 (56-0212 ¶ #12), 1962 (62-0518 ¶ #112), 1975 (64-0705 ¶ #76), 1977 (61-0806 ¶ #196), 1983 (63-1229M ¶ #219), 1999 (63-1124E ¶ #320), 2000 (63-1229M ¶ #219).