“Marriage and Divorce”
Among William Branham's most significant teachings were the ones he taught on the subject of “marriage and divorce.”
He presented the teachings as absolute Biblical truth and providing answers to questions that had never been known before by anyone.
According to him, people were completely devoid of the real Truth about “marriage and divorce” throughout history because it was a hidden “mystery” that was “closed up since the foundation of the world.”[1]
He claimed that it remained “hidden” and “closed up” throughout all time until God revealed it to him and he made it known through the opening of the “seven seals” of Revelation 5-6 and 8.
As follows, he specifically claimed that “seven angels” told him to open the “seven seals” and in opening them the “true mystery of marriage and divorce” was also made known.
“I saw seven Angels come. Didn’t Life magazine pack it, as the fog of It floated across here, twenty-seven miles high, and thirty miles across? Is not Fred Sothmann, these other, Gene Norman, them, setting back there? Stood right there when them seven Angels appeared right there on the hill. It shook the hills, for miles around, like that. There stood seven Angels. And throwed a sword in your hand, said, “Go home and open these Seven Seals that are given.” And here they are, the true mystery of marriage and divorce, and the serpent’s seed, and all of these things that’s been fussed about. It’s THUS SAITH THE LORD.” “The Easter Seal” (65-0410).
“Later, the Angels appeared as was prophesied. And at the same time, a great cluster of Light left where I was standing, and moved thirty miles high in the air, and around the circle, like the wings of the Angels, and drawed into the skies a shape of a pyramid in the same constellation of Angels that appeared.
Science took the picture, all the way from Mexico, as it moved from northern Arizona, where the Holy Spirit said I would be standing, “forty miles northeast of Tucson.” And it went into the air, and Life magazine packed the pictures, “A mystic something way in the spheres, where there could be no moisture, where there could be no evaporations of anything; thirty miles high, and twenty-seven miles across,” and coming right up from where those Angels were.
Now, they asked, to know. Science, the one of them in Tucson, wanted to know any significance, but I didn’t tell them. You all knew it, told beforehand. But it wasn’t for them; it was for you.
And so there He spoke to me, and said, “The Seven Seals will be opened. The seven mysteries, sevenfold mystery of the Bible, that’s been closed up since the foundation of the world, will be revealed.” And we, yet a humble little group, compared with all the world, we’ve enjoyed these blessings, a hearing those mysteries. Marriage, divorce, serpent’s seed, all these different questions, has been completely revealed to us, not by man, but by God, Himself, that’s opened those seven mysteries; of what the Church was, how It was in Christ at the beginning, and how It would be revealed in the last day.”
“It Is The Rising Of The Sun” (65-0418M).
William Branham's claims that the “true mystery of marriage and divorce” was revealed through the opening of the “seven seals” are unfounded and untrue because God never chose or used him to open the “seven sealed” book of Revelation Chapters 5-6 and 8.
It is apparent that God never chose or used him to open the “seven seals” because he outright lied about “seven angels” appearing to him in northern Arizona where the high cloud was and instructing him to return home and “open the seals.” As is fully demonstrated on this website here, he was not even in the state of Arizona when the high cloud appeared and therefore could not have received such a “commission” from “seven angels.”
It is also apparent that he was not chosen by God to open the “seven seals” of Revelation 5-6 and 8 because St. John established in Revelation 5:3-4 that,
“....no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.”
St. John also established in Revelation 5:6-9 that only the Lamb (Jesus Christ) was “worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof” and he alone was worthy because He was “slain, and hast redeemed us to God.” (See the full discussion on this website here for many other false aspects of William Branham's “seven seals” teachings.)
Had God used William Branham to make known the “true mystery of marriage and divorce” through the revealing of the “seven seals”, there certainly would have been evidence of it in his “seven seals” sermons that he preached in March of 1963 or in his book about the “seals” that was later published. However, in neither the sermons, nor the book did he ever make known the “true mystery of marriage and divorce.”[2]
In fact, it was not until February 21, 1965 (nearly two years later) that he preached his sermon entitled, “Marriage and Divorce” in which he provided his alleged “revelation” on the subject.
Footnotes:
[1] Source: “It Is The Rising Of The Sun” (65-0418M).
[2] The only reference that William Branham made about “marriage and divorce” during the week he allegedly opened the
“seven seals” was the following one that clearly has nothing to do revealing the “hidden mystery” or real “truth of marriage and divorce”,
“177. Now, Brother Branham, is there any Scripture permitting marriage after divorce? This is very important.
It says, “Important.” Well, that’s the reason…It wasn’t pertaining to this. As far as I can see, my brother, or sister, whoever it may be, there isn’t, unless your companion is dead. Because, the Bible said, “We’re bound to them as long as they live.” See?
So, as—as far as being “any Scripture?” That’s what was asked here, “Is there Scripture?” See? “Is there any Scripture?” Not as I can find, see, not as I can find. Cause, Paul said that the—the married couple, “If the companion is dead, then they’re free then to marry whomsoever they will in the Lord.” But until then, but, watch, you take it, “Until death we part.” That’s it. You done took an oath over that, you see.
So, I don’t think there is. Now, if there’s…If you found some, and it’s correctly, why, all—all right. But, as far as myself, I—I don’t find any.” “Questions and Answers on the Seals” (63-0324M).
Evidence that William Branham was not the “seventh angel” who God used to make known ALL of His mysteries, including the “mystery of marriage and divorce.”
From the statements he made, it is clear that William Branham not only led people to believe that God chose him to open the “seven seals”, but to also be the “seventh angel” of Revelation 10:7 who would make known “ALL of the mysteries of God” including the “mystery of marriage and divorce.”[3]
However, William Branham could not have been that “angel” because Revelation 10:7 does not indicate that the “seventh angel” would ever have those purposes, but instead merely states,
“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.”
From a plain reading of Revelation 10:7 above, it is clear that it states that “THE MYSTERY of God should be finished” when the seventh angel begins to sound. It does not state, “ALL the mysteries of God would be made known” at the “last day”, as William Branham claimed.
William Branham also could not have been the “seventh angel” of Revelation 10 who would make known “all of the mysteries of God” to the Gentile church as he led people to believe because he specifically established that God is only dealing with Israel during the 4th to the 19th chapters of Revelation, as follows,
“The first three chapters of the Book of Revelations reveals all the happenings unto the Church. Then from the 3rd chapter unto the 19th chapter of Revelation there is no more seen of the Church. The Church goes up at the 4th chapter of Revelations and returns back at the 19th chapter of Revelations, the Bride and the Groom together coming to the earth. And then from the 19th chapter to the conclusive of the 22nd chapter, it's all on the millennium and what will be in the years that is to follow. During the 4th to the 19th, God is dealing with Israel.” “The Feast Of The Trumpets” (64-0719M).
After establishing that God is only dealing with Israel in Revelation Chapters 4 through 19, William Branham nevertheless went on to lead people to believe that God was actually using him to reveal the hidden “mysteries on Marriage and Divorce” to the Gentiles as part of the fulfillment of Chapter 10, as follows,
“Now on the Marriage And Divorce, see, it has to be revealed. Until it’s revealed, you don’t know it. But He promised in this last days, in this age, that every hidden mystery in the Bible would be revealed. How many knows that? Revelation, the 10th chapter!
Jesus promised it, that all of these hidden mysteries on—on Marriage And Divorce, all these other hidden mysteries that’s been, would be revealed in the end time. Now you remember, the Voice said, “Go to Tucson.” Remember the mystic Light in the skies? the seventh Angel standing there? come back, and the opening of the Seven Seals. Watch what’s taken place. That is true.” “Marriage And Divorce” (65-0221M).
Because he previously established that the Gentile Church has gone up “at the 4th chapter of Revelations and returns back at the 19th chapter of Revelations”, it is not possible for God to have chosen him or any other Gentile to “reveal” the “hidden mysteries on Marriage And Divorce” to the Gentile Church as the “seventh angel” of Revelation 10:7.
According to his own teachings, the “seventh angel” could only be a Jew and not a Gentile in that part of the Bible.
Footnotes:
[3] William Branham clearly implied and led people to believe that he was the “seventh angel” of Revelation 10:7.
He did so by claiming that the “seven seals” of Revelation 5-6 and 8 would be broken opened by the “seventh angel” and preaching a series of sermons on March 17-24, 1963 allegedly to do so, as follows,
“And at that day of the sounding of the last church age, the seventh angel, the mysteries of God should be made known in that day. The Seven Seals would be broken. The mysteries of all these churches and things, how they happened, and what tak-... how, what taken place” “Spiritual Food In Due Season” (65-0718E).
“And he had in his hand a little book opened:... (Now, the Seals had done been broke here. We're breaking them now; but this, the thing's opened.)” “The First Seal” (63-0318).
Was William Branham's “revelation” on “marriage and divorce” consistent with the Bible?
For his “revelation” to have come from God, it certainly needed to be true and consistent with the Bible.
He recognized that the Bible is the “absolute” and even it declared it to be so for him, as follows,
“And it’s got to come to one final absolute, and my absolute is the Word, the Bible.” “Church Order” (63-1226).
He also identified the Bible to be the “sacred Word of God” to which nothing can be added or taken from it, as follows,
“Which, is written in the last Book of the Bible, “God will take out of the Book of Life, for that man who will take one Word out of This, or add one word to It.” We realize, then, that Bible is the sacred Word of God. And we cannot add one thing to It, or take one thing from It. Therefore, Lord, we leave It just the way You give It to us, and teach It, and try to live It, by Your grace.” “Let Your Light So Shine Before Men” (61-0903).
In addition, he declared a person to be “cursed” who adds to or takes anything from the Bible, as follows,
“This Bible is the complete revelation of Jesus Christ. There can be no more added to It, or anything taken away from It; the person who does it is cursed. We cannot add nothing to It, take nothing from It.” “God's Provided Way For This Day” (64-0206E).
Based on all of those statements of his, one would expect that his “revelation” and related teachings on “marriage and divorce” would be completely consistent with the Bible.
He clearly believed that that they were and even declared that he could prove his “marriage and divorce” teachings by the Bible at the start of his “Marriage and Divorce” sermon on February 21, 1965,
“And now, no doubt, but there'll be many of you disagree with what is to be said, but
I want to prove it to you by the Bible. And then I believe if you'll just be reverent and listen, then you'll have a better understanding and conception of what I've been hammering at all along. I believe this will explain it. And I trust that it will.”
“Marriage And Divorce” (65-0221M).
In that sermon, he specifically claimed that women are never allowed to remarry, but only men can remarry, as follows,
“See, she has got a living husband, so no man can marry her. Care what she does and who she is, she’s got a living husband, there is no grounds for her at all. But, it’s not, for him. “Causes her,” not him. Get it? You have to make the Word run in continuity. See, nothing saying he couldn’t, but she can’t. See, “causes her,” not him. That’s exactly what the Bible says, “causes her.” It is not stated against him to remarry, but “her.” Why? Christ in the type.
Notice, it is stated that he cannot remarry, only a virgin. He can remarry. He can, he can remarry again if it’s a virgin, but he can’t marry somebody else’s wife. No indeedy. And if he does marry a divorced woman, he is living in adultery, I don’t care who he is. The Bible said, “Whosoever marrieth her that is put away, liveth in adultery.” There you are, not no divorcees.
See that original back there, “from the beginning,” now? Remarrying, now notice, he can, but she can’t. Like David, like Solomon, like the continuity of the whole Bible, now, same as David and the rest of them.
Now you notice in First Corinthians 7:10, notice, Paul commands the wife that is, that divorces her husband, to remain single or be reconciled, not to remarry. She must remain single, or to be reconciled back to her husband. She cannot remarry. She must remain single, but, notice, he never said about the man. See, you can’t make the Word lie. “From the beginning,” the sex law by polygamy. Now, the Word of God runs true with nature of God, runs in to continuity.” Ibid.
Although he believed that those teachings of his aligned with the Bible, they certainly do not because it is clear from Mark 10:11-12 that Jesus Christ made it known that neither the man, nor the woman is allowed to remarry, as follows,
“And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”
It is also important to note that there is nothing in I Corinthians 7, which Apostle Paul taught on “marriage and divorce” that would permit a married man to divorce his wife and remarry another.
Not only did William Branham claim that only men can remarry, but he claimed that a man can divorce his wife if she cuts her hair, as follows,
“But let me tell you something. A lot of you women tonight would have an awful time doing that; you’d have to stand on your head to do it. Shame on you. The Bible said, “The hair is given to a woman for her glory.” And the Bible rights gives any man a right to leave and divorce and leave his wife, that’ll cut her hair. That’s the Bible. That’s THUS SAITH THE LORD. Too bad you got away from the old fashion trainings, isn’t it?” “The Worst Sinner In The City” (56-0218E).
“What we need today is men. We need Gospel preachers. And any preacher that will stand in the pulpit and hold back on those things, I got little respect of him being called of God. Right. A man that’s ashamed to stand in the pulpit and tell the God’s truth, when he knows it’s an immoral thing for a woman to cut her hair… The Bible… A man’s got a right to leave his wife and give her a divorce when she cuts her hair. The Bible said so. Who’s the head of the woman? Her husband. And the Bible said, “If a woman cuts her hair she dishonors her head.” No dishonorable woman should be lived with. Amen. She cuts off her glory. And so does the church. When she does the same thing she cuts her glory stream off.” “The Mark Of The Beast And The Seal Of God #1” (61-0216).
Those teachings of his clearly are also not consistent with the Bible since it is clear from Matthew 5:31-32 that Jesus Christ made it known that the only reason a man can put away his wife is for the “cause of fornication”, as follows,
“It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”