ProveTheClaims - "Healing Ministry Commission"

“Healing Ministry Commission”

William Branham claimed that the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in 1946 and “commissioned” him to pray for sick people throughout the world. However, his alleged “angelic commission” is not believable for the reasons set forth below.

William Branham's “angelic commission” is not believable based on significant aspects of it being similar to the “commission” of Mormon founder, Joseph Smith.

It is a widely accepted fact that Mormonism and its many anti-Biblical teachings, which Joseph Smith founded in the 19th century, is a religious cult that is not of God. Consequently, Smith's “commission” which he claimed to have received from an Angel named Moroni is not credible.

That “commission”, as provided in part below, is strikingly similar to the “commission” that William Branham later described in the 20th century. Branham's version is so similar in parts to Smith's version that it appears he copied them from him, as is evident in the following comparison of their claims,

Plea to God for forgiveness followed by a request for a sign:

Joseph Smith: “I betook myself to prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follies, and also for a manifestation to me, that I might know of my state and standing before him...”

William Branham: “I cried before God....I laid my face to the ground....I looked up to God and cried, “If you will forgive me for the way that I have done, I’ll try to do better....I'm sorry that I’ve been so neglectful all these years in doing the work you wanted me to do....Will you speak to me someway, God?”

Discovering a light in the room and seeing it increase in size:

Joseph Smith: “While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor.” [Similarly, William Branham also claimed that Jesus appeared 10 feet above him in the air. (Ref. “Seed Not Heir with Shuck” (65-0218).]

William Branham: “Then along in the night, at about the eleventh hour, I had quit praying and was sitting up when I noticed a light flickering in the room. Thinking someone was coming with a flashlight, I looked out the window, but there was no one, and when I looked back, the light was spreading out on the floor, becoming wider.”

Barefoot angel in a white robe:

Joseph Smith: “He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.”

William Branham: “And I heard somebody coming, just walking, only it was bare-footed. And I seen the foot of a Man come in. It was dark in the room, all but right here where It was shining right down. I seen the foot of a Man coming in. And when He come into the room, walked on up, He was a Man about, looked to weigh about two hundred pounds. He had His hands folded like this, dressed in a white robe, had dark hair to His shoulder, very pleasant sort of a Man.”

Angel is a “messenger” that is “sent from the

presence of God” with a worldwide commission:

Joseph Smith: “He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni; that God had a work for me to do; and that my name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people.” [Similarly, William Branham claimed that his angel once told him, “There'll be a work for you to do when you get older.” See “God Revealing Himself to His People” (50-0813E).]

William Branham: “Do not fear; I am sent from the Presence of Almighty God to tell you, that your peculiar birth and life has been to indicate that you're to pray for sick people, and take this to the world." Said, "If you'll get the people to believe you and be sincere, nothing shall stand before your prayer. And you're going into all parts of the world; and kings and rulers, and great men will be come and be prayed for. And there'll be great things and signs, and the great things to happen. . . .I do not know who he is. I only know that he is the messenger of God to me.”

Credit to John Kennah @ http://people.delphiforums.com/johnk63/evetns.htm#moroni for the ideas in the above comparison of William Branham's and Joseoph Smith's alleged “angelic commissions.”

William Branham's “angelic commission” is also not believable based on his claim that the angel told him he would be given two signs like Moses.

When William Branham described his alleged “angelic commission” in the video entitled, “Twentieth Century Prophet”, he claimed the angel said,

“Fear not, I am sent from the Presence of God to tell you that you're to pray for sick people. Great signs and wonders will be following your ministry, and you'll be praying for kings and monarchs... As Moses was given two signs of confirmation of his ministry, that I would be given two signs. One would be the praying for the sick, the miracles, and the other would be you'd know the very secrets of the people's heart.”

The problem with that claim is that Moses was not given two signs, he was given three.

Those three signs, which are described in Exodus 4:1-9, are that Moses would be able to turn 1) his rod into a serpent, 2) his hand to leprous snow, and 3) water from the river to blood.

William Branham's “angelic commission” is also not believable based on “when” he claimed he received it.

William Branham claimed that he received his “commission” to pray for the sick from the Angel of the Lord on the same day that Israel became a nation, as follows,

“And a strange thing of that, that you might not know, the very day the Angel of the Lord called me out, May the 6th, 1947, and issued the gift to pray for the sick, was the very same day that Israel become a nation for the first time for twenty-five hundred years. Oh, I believe there's something in it. I just can't keep from believing that we're near the end of time. That's right.” “Great Coming Revival” (54-0718A).

“The very day that Israel was declared a nation again for the first time for twenty-five hundred years, that same night the Angel of the Lord sent me out to pray for the sick, the very same time, May the 6th, 1946, the Lord Jesus did that.” “Manifestation of Thy Resurrection” (54-0809E).

“And last week, you know what taken place in Israel, the last sign. Israel became a nation in 1947 on the same night the Angel of the Lord visit me. When It came at me at twelve o'clock, it was noon when they signed the--that peace pact with the world and the League of Nations and so forth, overseas.” “Who is This” (59-1004M).

“Israel returning to their homeland, Israel... Let me just say this. Now, watch. I guess it's off of tape. Let me say this: The very hour that Israel become a nation... The reason I've always believed--before my class here--that there was something, that I'd have a part before I die of getting Israel back to the Lord, because when... The very hour, by the Pan American chart, that Israel was declared a nation for the first time for two thousand years since they'd been scattered, not a people, it was that very same hour, exactly to the hour, that the Angel of the Lord met me up yonder and sent me to the--with the Gospel--the very same thing: May the 7th, 1946.” “Gabriel's Instructions to Daniel” (61-0730M).

It is evident that the Angel of the Lord could not have commissioned William Branham to pray for the sick the “very same day and hour” that Israel became a nation, in May 1946 or 1947 as he claimed, because Israel declared its independence and became a nation on May 14, 1948.

To this day, Israel's birth as a nation on May 14, 1948 is celebrated on Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day), which is a national holiday of Israel. Under the Jewish calendar, the anniversary of the creation of Israel, on May 14, 1948 is the 5th of Iyyar, 5708.

It is further evident that William Branham could not have received his “angelic commission” the “very same day and hour” that Israel became a nation, as he claimed, because he had already said he received it more than a year before Israel's founding in his April 12, 1947 sermon, “Faith is the Substance”,

“I said, "Now, look, there was an Angel came down into the room and told me that way back, back 'fore I was born, was foreordained to have a gift of Divine healing. And He came and told me in the room one night that God had sent the gift, and it was a gift of Divine healing for the people. And if I could get the people to believe me (believe me), and would be sincere when I prayed, that nothing would stand before the prayer."
I said, "Therefore, speaking face to face with this supernatural Being, I believe it with all my heart. And if I can get you to believe me with all your heart, that's what moves God, and then you're healed.” “Faith is the substance” (47-0412).

What's more, William Branham completely contradicted his claims that he received his “angelic commission” in 1946 or 1947, by stating he received the “commission” in 1945 in his November 2, 1947 sermon, “The Angel and His Commission”, as follows,

“A little over two years ago now, I was sitting in the room. I was reading my little Scofield Bible, and I heard something. First, I saw a Light. . . . And the Light was kind of a, more of a green, between green and yellow, shining on the floor. And coming walking through this Light, came a Man that looked like, as I said before, would weigh two hundred pounds, a huge Man. He did not have beard over His face, like Christ's picture does. Who He is, I do not know. But He had... [Blank.spot.on.tape--Ed.]... shoulder. He was more of an olive complexion; He had dark eyes. He walked as close to me as the microphone is there.

Yes, it's true friends. I couldn't speak. 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." And said, "If you'll be sincere, and will get the people to believe you, there will be no disease stand before your prayer, not even to cancer." And He said, "It'll come to pass that you'll tell the people their diseases from a vibration over your hand. Then if you will be reverent long, then you'll tell the people the sins of their life, and the things that they have done." Dear friends, with the Bible before me this afternoon, it has come to pass. I went forth.” “The Angel and His Commission” (47-1102).

From the above, it is clear that William Branham was also claiming that the “Angel” issued him the “Gift of Discernment” (i.e. ability to “tell the people the sins of their life, and the things that they have done”) two years before 1947 (in 1945). The late Evangelist and “faith healer”, Jack Coe, identified William Branham's “Gift of Discernment” as being in operation that year, as follows,

“I was having a tent revival in San Antonio in 1945 when I heard that a man called William Branham was discerning people’s hearts and praying for sick.”[1]

Because William Branham also claimed his “Gift of Discernment” was issued by the Angel

in 1945 and that Gift was witnessed in operation that year, it is further evident that he could not have received the “angelic commission” and its associated gifts when Israel became a nation, as he led people to believe.

In addition, his claims that the Angel issued “a gift of Divine healing” to him in 1945 are further contradicted by his earlier claims in which he described circumstances that indicate he already had the “gift of Divine healing” before 1936, as shown below. He did so in a small book that he wrote and published in 1945 entitled, “I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision.” (A full copy of the book's text can be read on the “Voice of God Recordings” website here. A video showing each page of the actual book can be viewed here.)

William Branham stated in the book that God “performed mighty miracles” in his ministry for “over three years” and then took the “Gift of Healing” from him for “more than five years” before the Spirit informed him the year before (in 1944) that he was “forgiven” and the Gift would be restored to him with a “double portion of Power to heal.” As such, William Branham was claiming to have had the “Gift of Healing” with “mighty miracles” in his ministry more than eight years before 1944 (i.e. before 1936). Those claims of his in the book, however, collide directly with the claims he later made about his “Gift of Healing”, as is apparent below.

In the book, he did not claim that God sent an “Angel” to issue or restore the “Gift of Healing” to him. Rather, he merely implied that his “Gift” was restored to him in 1945 by God because he “journeyed westward” to St. Louis and “fed the bread of life” to the people at a healing revival; thereby fulfilling of a “heavenly vision” he saw. (Many “cases” of miraculous healings from his trip to St. Louis were evidently provided in the book to demonstrate how his “Gift of Healing” had returned to him with great power and results.)

After William Branham experienced great success with his restored “Gift of Healing” during the healing revival in St. Louis in 1945, the modern Healing Revival movement began traversing the United States. Thereafter, he apparently abandoned and never retold his story about God taking his “Gift of Healing” away from him for “more than five years” after He “performed mighty miracles” for “over three years” and the Spirit informing him that his “Gift of Healing” would be restored to him with a “double portion of Power to heal.”

There is no such story in any of his other books or 1,205 recorded sermons that followed the revival in St. Louis. In addition, he only referred to his book, “I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision” in his five of those sermons with no mention therein of his previous “Gift of Healing.” All of his sermon references to the book can be viewed here.)

Once his healing ministry was in the limelight and receiving national attention, William Branham evidently decided to replace the original story about his “Gift of Healing” with one that was more persuasive. In turn, he advanced his first new story about his “Gift” in a sermon on November 2, 1947 that he entitled, “The Angel and His Commission.” In that story, which is quoted above, he began alleging that an Angel of God issued the “Gift” to him after he saw an unusual light on the floor.

As time went on, he provided ever-changing stories with embellished details about his “Gift” including the ones above in which he falsely claimed that he was “issued the gift to pray for the sick” when “Israel became a nation” in 1946 and 1947. In some of those stories, he also claimed he was in the wilderness when the “Angel of the Lord” appeared to him not in a vision, but as a natural man, and said, “I am sent from the Presence of God to tell you that you’re to pray for sick people.”[2]

William Branham claimed that the reason he went to the wilderness was to find out “what that is” that's followed him all the days of his life.[3] However, that claim is problematic because he certainly would have known what was following him in his life if God had already used him to perform “mighty miracles” with the “Gift of Healing” and “the power to heal” in the 1930s, as he claimed.

Footnotes:

[1] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Coe

[2] “It never has failed to come to pass yet. 1947, ’46 rather, on April the se—or May the seventh in the room, an Angel of the Lord came into the room. “Ministry Explained” (50-0711)

"He said, 'I am sent from the Presence of God to tell you that you’re to pray for sick people. Great signs and wonders will be following your ministry, and you’ll be praying for kings and monarchs and so forth.'” “The Twentieth-Century Prophet” (53-0800)..

“And walking right to me, not a vision, just as natural as I am, come a Man about two hundred pounds in weight.” “The Manifestation Of The Spirit” (51-0717).

“That was not a vision. Surely, I know what a vision is. This was no vision. The Man was there, just the same as I’m here. And He was looking at me. And I kept getting back to hold my chair…?… Looking back, and He looked right down at me, and He said, “Do not fear.”” “The Revelation That Was Given To Me” (60-0210M).

[3] “Was way in the wilderness. And I thought, "Somebody's coming up." The light was on the floor, spread greater and greater. I heard of Somebody walking. When it did, It was a Man. He was barefooted. He had hair to His shoulders. He had on a robe. And I… Like to scared me to death. He said, "Don't fear.” “A Trial ”(64-0405).

William Branham's “angelic commission” is also not believable based on “where” he claimed he received it.

Had he had such a supernatural and momentous experience with the Angel, he clearly would have also known and remembered where he was at the time it took place. Consequently, he would not have ever described it as taking place in different locations, as he did by claiming it took place in his study, in his room, in a cave and in a cabin, as follows.

In November of 1947, William Branham first claimed he was in a room when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

“A little over two years ago now, I was sitting in the room. I was reading my little Scofield Bible, and I heard something. First, I saw a Light. And I thought it was an automobile that turned the corner. But it turned, but it got brighter. And I looked out the door and there was no automobile. Then I heard something coming like this, going… [Brother Branham knocks on the podium four times.—Ed.] walking. And I looked, and the Light got greater. And just above me hung a great Star. And the Light was kind of a, more of a green, between green and yellow, shining on the floor. And coming walking through this Light, came a Man that looked like, as I said before, would weigh two hundred pounds, a huge Man. He did not have beard over His face, like Christ's picture does. Who He is, I do not know.” “The Angel and His Commission” (47-1102).

In March of 1950, he claimed he was in his study when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

“Here’s what’s happened, when the time I met Him, when He appeared as a Man, I was setting in my study. He came… I seen the Light spread out on the floor. He came walking to me. He looked like a Man that weighed two hundred pounds. And this Light was just above me.” “Gifts And Callings Are Without Repentance” (50-0300).

and his study evidently was his “den room” in his house,

“That’s where I got the information, right out of that old encyclopedia, “time,” and I was studying. And Becky uses them in her school. I got them down in my study, down in my den room downstairs. And we went down there and got it, and there we looked it up, and find it, exactly, through all the calendars and time that’s ever been. See? So, we got it.” “The Seventieth Week Of Daniel” (61-0806).

In July of 1950, William Branham claimed that he “just come from patrol” and he walked into his place and was in his room when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

In August of 1950, he claimed that he was in his room praying just before the Angel appeared and issued his calling (i.e. “commission”) to him,

“One night in Camden, Arkansas, I was trying to explain, the people setting very skeptic. I’d just been called into this ministry. I was telling them; I said, “Now, dear friends, I’m just a man. I’m trying to explain something, that God sent His Angel that’s been with me.” All along. . . .Then It—It appeared many times, and in different forms. I’ve seen It many times. I’ve seen It come into my room and speak to me. And the last time It appeared to me, just before I was called on this, I was in my room. I was praying. It gets me up sometime at night. I’m up all night at a time, many times, praying. I can feel It near me. It’ll come real near, then It’ll go away. I can feel It now. It’s near.” “God Revealing Himself To His People” (50-0813E).

In August of 1953, William Branham also claimed in the movie, “Twentieth Century Prophet” that he was in his room when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

“At the age of thirty-seven, one night I was praying in my room, and when I'd raised up, I noticed there was a Light on the floor. And looking around to see where it come from, It was coming from above. The Pillar of Fire was hanging just above, and was throwing the Light on the floor. I heard someone walking. I looked; coming through the room, coming into this Light, came a man. In human figure He'd be about two hundred pounds of weight. He had dark hair to His shoulder, an olive complexion. He was bare-footed.”

“Twentieth Century Prophet” (53-0800).

In the August 1950 edition of the Voice of Healing magazine, on page 5, it is also evident that William Branham claimed that he had “shut himself in a room” before the “Angel” appeared to him. (The complete magazine can be viewed here. The full portion of the article about his “Angelic Commission” can also be viewed here.) As he is quoted therein,

“"I shall never forget the time, May 7, 1946 ... a very beautiful season of the year in Indiana. I was working as game warden, and had just come home for lunch. Just as I was going around the house, it seemed as if the whole top of a maple tree let loose. It seemed that something came down through that tree and struck me. I staggered back, frightened."

He said he made up his mind then and there to surrender completely to God, and shut himself in a room that very day to pray and read the Bible. Late that night, he said, he suddenly became aware of a peculiar light in the room.

"As the light was spreading across the floor, I became excited and started from the chair. As I looked up, there hung that great star I'd seen many times before. Just then I heard someone walking across the floor. Now I saw, coming through the light, a man who, in human weight would weigh about 200 pounds. He was clothed in a white robe and had dark brown hair down to his shoulders."”

In May of 1953, William Branham claimed that he was at a cave when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

“Well, one night up yonder in Green's Mill, Indiana, to a cave where I was at in a place, the Angel of the Lord appeared and said, 'You're to go pray for sick people.' And told me what would take place. He said, 'Do not fear. I will be with you.'” “The Pillar Of Fire” (53-0509).

He also told his family that it took place in a cave and his daughter, Rebekah Branham-Smith, indicated that the cave had even been discovered in her article, “The Mystery at Fourteen Mile Creek” (ref. Believers International's supplemental publication, “Post Scripts”, July 1990), which can be read in full here. Therein, she states, “The first time Dad mentioned that he went to 'his cave' was in 1946, and he told how the Angel of the Lord met him there.” Rebekah's husband, George Smith, also published a video showing the cave, which can be viewed here.

He also told the late Reverend Pearry Green that he was in a cave when the Angel issued his “commission” to him, as is evident by these statements of Pearry Green,

“Brother Branham, speaking on his tape Life Story did not tell all the little details, as he told his wife and children, and as he told me personally, but where he went that night, though at the ranger's cabin, was in a little cave near the cabin. God, sometime or another in Brother Branham's younger life, had led him to a cave which he has spoken of often in his later tapes and where he said that no man could find it. The cave is furnished by nature as though for his very own use, for inside there is a round rock shaped like a table, a rock shaped like a chair, and also a place for a man to lie down and sleep. He put none of this there – it simply was there. To my knowledge, the only person that has ever been to the cave besides Brother Branham is his wife, Sister Meda. He once took her there.” Pearry Green, “The Acts of the Prophet” p. 53.[4]

In January of 1955, William Branham claimed that he was in a cabin when the Angel issued his “commission” to him,

“And I went up there that night and went back in the little old cabin floor. . . So, this little old cabin . . .So, it got too dark in the little old cabin where I used to trap when I was a boy. . . Just a little old dilapidated cabin sitting over there, been in there for years. Some tenant might have had it before it all come to that. And so, I was just waiting there. And I thought, Well. Got along towards one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning, I was walking up and down the floor, walking back and forth. I sat down on a little old stool there, a little ... not stool, a little old box of a thing . . .And I sat down on this little stool. . . And, all at once, I seen a light flicker in the room. I thought somebody was coming up with a flashlight. And I looked around, and I thought, Well.... And here it was, right out in front of me, and old wooden boards on the floor. And there it was, right in front of me. There was a little old drum stove sitting in the corner, the top was tore out of it. And right in here there was a light on the floor. And I thought, Well, where's that? Well, that couldn't be coming . . . And I seen the foot of a man come in. It was dark in the room, all but right here where it was shining right down. I seen the foot of a man coming in. And when He come into the room, walked on up, He was a man about ... looked to weigh about two hundred pounds . . . And the Angel stepped into the light again that begin to come around and around, and around and around, and around His feet like that, went up into the light and went out of the building.” “How The Angel Came To Me, And His Commission” (55-0117).

Because William Branham said he was in an “old dilapidated cabin” and the Angel “went out of the building”, he clearly could not have also been in a cave as he led people to believe.

All of his contradictory and discrepant claims stating that he was in his study, in his room, in a cave and in a cabin when he received his “angelic commission” clearly collide with each other and render them to be untrue and unbelievable.

Footnote:

[4] Source: http://www.williambranhamstorehouse.com/p_green/The%20Acts%20of%20The%20Prophet.pdf, See also Pearry Green, “The Acts of the Prophet”, 1st and 2nd editions, pp. 67-68.

William Branham's “commission” is also unbelievable based on his contradictory claims of what he was doing when the “Light” and “Angel” appeared to him.

William Branham claimed that he was praying when the “Light” and “Angel” appeared to him, as follows,

“And while praying there that night, about, around two—between two and three in the morning, . . .And I no more than had prayed my prayer, till I seen a Light come on the floor. I looked up, and above it was that whirl of light, still there again, whirling around. But the first time in all my life… It spoke to me hundreds of times. But coming walking, I heard somebody walking. I looked like that, It scared me. It would you. And walking right to me, not a vision, just as natural as I am, come a Man about two hundred pounds in weight.” “The Manifestation Of The Spirit” (51-0717).

William Branham contradicted that claim by stating that he was reading his Bible when the “Light” and “Angel” appeared, as follows,

William Branham's claim that he was reading his Scofield Bible when the “Light” and “Angel” appeared is directly contradicted by his other claims that it was too dark to read at the time, as follows,

“I went back up there. I went into a place. I read the Bible, I cried…[Blank spot on tape—Ed.]… no light in there so I had to close up the Word, and go back. “Early Spiritual Experiences” (52-0713A).

“So I went to a little cabin, where I fish, way in the wilderness, and I prayed all afternoon. Reading this same Bible… And I’d went to… When it got dark… Many times, I’d go there and pray for days at a time. And I’d got down on my knees when it gotten dark, and I couldn’t read no more, because the little cabin’s way back in the mountains.” “The Revelation That Was Given To Me” (60-0210M).

“And I went up there that night. Went back in the little old cabin, ’fore it was next day; it was kind of late. I was going to go up to my camp the next day, up on the…farther around the mountain, or the hill, rather, and get up in the woods there. I don’t believe the F.B.I. could find me up there. So this little old cabin…I had been praying all that afternoon and ’fore it got too dark. I’d pray, was reading over there in the Bible where It said, “The Spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophet.” I couldn’t make that out. So it got too dark in the little old cabin. “How The Angel Came To Me, And His Commission” (55-0117).

Despite it being too dark to read, William Branham also claimed that he read from the Bible when the “Angel” told him to do so, as follows,

“He said “Pick up your Bible.” And I picked up my Bible. I guess I held that Bible for ten minutes without anybody…any more Word coming. I waited just a few moments.

I heard Him say again, “Turn to Hebrews 6 and start reading.” And I did.” “Demonology, Religious Realm” (53-0609A).

That claim is especially remarkable because William Branham only claimed to have seen a light on the floor and never said that light illuminated the room and made it bright enough

to read.

Additional contradictory and unbelievable aspects of William Branham's “commission.”

In 1947, William Branham portrayed his “commission” as occurring in a room that was close enough to a roadway for him to first think that the light he saw was caused by the headlights of an “automobile that turned the corner”, as follows,

In 1950, William Branham changed his story to say that he was “way out in the wilderness” and “way in them hills” and too far away for any car to be the cause of the light, as follows,

“And He walked right up to me just as smoothly. And I was biting my fingers until I was bleeding almost. I was sitting back. I couldn’t get up. I… Honest, I was so scared. I—I just couldn’t move. And you’d be too. Don’t think… Now, just imagine setting way out in the wilderness like that to yourself, and look around, and there It stands beside of you like that.” “The Angel And The Commission” (50-0821).

“Now, the night when it taken place, when He called me to this ministry, I was setting in the room, been in prayer. . . .And I was setting there, and I seen a Light flicker in the room. And I looked to see where It was at. I thought, “Well, here.” Where I was going to pray, and way in them hills, I knowed that nobody was coming in there with a car. I thought, “Well, where was that.” And I looked, and here It was, right up here above me. Was that same thing that you see in the picture. It was spread out on the floor, getting larger and larger, spreading out across the floor. Well, I thought, “Oh, God.” “God Revealing Himself To His People” (50-0813E).

Had William Branham been in the remote wilderness, as he led people to believe, he would not have ever “looked out the door” to see if the light was being caused by an “automobile that turned the corner”, as he claimed in his 1947 story of the alleged “commission.” Simply put, a person would not ever check to see if an unusual light was being caused by an “automobile that turned the corner” if they were “way out in the wilderness”, as he later claimed he was.

In a subsequent account in 1952, he even went on to claim that the setting was so remote that no man, not even the FBI, could find him there.[5]

William Branham's claim that the light turned and got brighter is further contradicted by his claim that he thought that the light was shining through a knothole (i.e. a hole in a piece

of wood),

“One night at a little camp where I was fishing way back in the mountains, I was laying back there about three o'clock one morning. I seen a Light coming. I'd just been reading the Bible. I thought it was somebody coming, shining through a knothole a lantern, or something. Was way in the wilderness. And I thought, "Somebody's coming up." The light was on the floor, spread greater and greater. I heard of Somebody walking. When it did, It was a Man. He was barefooted. He had hair to His shoulders. He had on a robe. And I… Like to scared me to death.” “A Trial” (64-0405).

It certainly is not possible for the light to have “turned”, as he claimed, and for him to have thought that it shined through a knothole, as he also claimed, because light passing through a hole in a piece of wood cannot “turn”, but can only travel in a straight line and direction.

In addition, he could not have thought the light was caused by an automobile turning, as he claimed, and a light passing through a knothole, as he also claimed, because the light from an automobile would have been vastly larger in size than a light passing through a small hole in a piece of wood.

William Branham also contradicted his claim that the Light and Angel appeared to him after he had just come from patrol and walked into his place and room by later claiming that they appeared to him after he was fishing at a little camp way back in the mountains,

“And I was the Indiana state game warden. And one day I just come from patrol, and I walked into the... my place, and I was praying that night about one o'clock, between one and three. And I noticed in my room, a Light begin to spread across the floor. And I wondered where It come from. I looked up, and that same Light that appears in the meeting, It... . . .Then—then It come to me, I seen a Man come, walking. He was barefooted. He had on a white garment like a robe, and He had dark hair, to His shoulders. He had dark eyes. He was smooth faced, and kind of a dark complected. He walked up to me, had His arms folded in this manner.” “Obey The Voice Of The Angel” (50-0713).

Footnote:

[5] See “Early Spiritual Experiences” (52-0713A).

William Branham's “angelic commission” is also not believable based on his claim that the “Angel” told him his ministry “will bring the second Coming of Christ.”

1n 1947, William Branham told his first story about being “commissioned” to pray for the sick by the alleged “Angel of God.” Thereafter, the stories that he told about it changed continuously and significantly over time.

From a plain reading of the stories here, it is apparent that they do not match and align with each other, but contradict and contravene each other considerably. In the 46+ references he made to his “commission”, he provided many widely different characterizations and sporadic details of the “Light” and “Angel” that allegedly appeared to him.

Two such characterizations are the ones below in which he said the “Angel” told him that his “ministry” and “message” would “bring the second Coming of Christ”,

“He said, “I’m sent from the Presence of Almighty God to tell you that your peculiar life and birth was for you to go to the world and pray for the sick people.” Said, 'Your ministry will scatter over the world and in this, will bring the Gospel and the power which will bring the second Coming of Christ.'” “Why I'm Praying For The Sick” (54-0314).

“He said I’d be praying for kings and monarchs and, message around the world, a message that would bring the second coming of Christ was near. And I told Him I couldn’t do it. And He told me then for me to put my hands on the people and it would be told what was wrong.” “Prayer Line” (53-1127).

On no other occasion did William Branham claim that the “Angel” told him he would have such a preeminent “ministry” and “message.” Because that most important of all declarations from the “Angel” was never mentioned or included in any of his other stories, it is not believable. It is also not believable because he affirmed five and six years later (in 1959) that his calling never was to teach or preach, but only to minister to the sick by a “Divine gift of discernment”, as follows,

“The ministry has not been—my ministry, to lay hands on the sick. It’s been to make, by a Divine gift, to bring Presence… the Lord Jesus Christ in Presence by a discernment of spirit, which is called in the Bible, a gift of knowledge. And in doing so, makes Him manifested before the people, and then they receive Him as their Healer. That settles it.”
“New Ministry” (59-0406).

“Now, I’m not much of a preacher. I don’t have any education. I could not take their place. They are teachers, pastors, and so forth. But the Lord gave me a gift of discernment, a gift of prophecy that more or less has been since I was a little boy, and sent me… Instead of having my knowledge of the Bible, that’s the reason I don’t preach doctrine among you. I may not know enough about it. I know I’m saved. I can tell you how I got saved. Then ask your pastor the rest of it. And I know that He heals, and I know He fills with the Holy Spirit. I’ve witnessed all those things. And that’s what I can truthfully tell you that’s the truth. And you get that much, then your pastor will take you from there on.” “A Prophet Like Unto Moses” (59-1120).

His former campaign managers, Ern Baxter and Gordon Lindsay, also recognized that he was not called to teach or preach, but only to minister to the sick, as is evident in their statements toward the bottom of the About page here.

His claims that the “Angel” told him his “ministry” and “message” will “bring the second Coming of Christ” are also unbelievable because they are contradicted by his statement, “your pastor will take you from there on.” By those words, he established that pastors are entirely sufficient for the cause of Christ without the need for anything more or greater from him, including the “power” and “Gospel” of his “ministry” and “message.”

Two years later (in 1961), he contradicted himself further by leading people to believe that pastors are not sufficient to prepare the church for the “second Coming”, but only he could do so through his “message” as the “Laodicean messenger” of Revelation 3 and “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4, As he stated,

“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” (61-0117).

Because William Branham died on December 24, 1965 from injuries caused by a car crash,

he could not have been the “Elijah the prophet” that was “raptured himself” and “come with the church to the rapture.” He also could not have been the “Laodicean messenger” that took the church to the rapture” or brought the second Coming of Christ. (It is further evident that he could not have been “Elijah the prophet” of Malachi 4 and the “Laodicean messenger” of Revelation 3 for all the reasons identified here and here, respectively.)

In actual fact, there is no Biblical foundation or any other basis on which it is possible to establish any particular man as having an end-time “message” and “ministry” that would “bring the second Coming of Christ.”

Conclusion.

Based on all of the above, it is evident that William Branham not only was not commissioned by the Angel of the Lord when Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, but he also could not have been “in his room”, “in a cave” and “in a cabin” when the alleged “commission” was issued. Had he had a momentous experience with an Angel of God, he certainly would have remembered where he was and when it took place, as well as what he was doing at the time. Such a life-changing experience certainly would not become clouded or distorted in one's memory in only a few years time.

Because the many stories he told about his alleged “angelic commission” changed continuously over time and contradict each other significantly, they cannot rightly be accepted as factual and true. It is therefore questionable whether he was ever “commissioned” by an Angel. William Branham himself said that if an Angel of God has commissioned a man, it will bear record down the line that it's the truth, as follows,

“If a man has seen an Angel of God, and met God has commissioned—that Angel commissioned him from God, and It was sent from God, it’ll bear record right down to the line, that it’s the truth. You believe that? But if it doesn’t, it isn’t the truth. That’s one thing you can depend on, “By their fruits you shall know them.” That’s true.”
“I Am The Resurrection And The Life” (52-0810A).

Considering how many controverted and discrepant aspects there are in his stories about his “angelic commission”, it clearly has not born “record right down to the line, that it's the truth” and, therefore,“it isn't the truth”, according to his own criteria above.