Transcript
Good morning.
It’s time to start service today.
It’s good to have you all here with us, and I want to greet all our friends listening online. Especially all our friends from Faith Assembly and the other churches where we have fellowshipped for so many years.
It was so wonderful to hear from our different friends again over the past week. We really appreciate your prayers and support. We are praying for you, and we thank you for continuing to pray for us.
And also, I send my greetings to everyone listening around the world. It’s so wonderful to have made so many new friends, and to know we are not walking this path alone.
Jesus said that anyone who forsakes friends or family for his sake will reward them a thousand fold in this life and grant them life eternal in the world to come. And we have certainly experienced that to be true.
And today, we are continuing with our second message in this series. I am calling this the William Branham series, and I am really appreciative of all the wonderful feedback I have received over the past week since I started this series.
As we go on to the second part today, the title of the message is “Who is the seventh angel of Revelation 10:7?”
And our scripture today will be Revelation 10:7. I invite you to open your bibles with me and turn there, and we will read that verse together.
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.
Revelation 10:7
Let us pray.
Lord God, we bless your name. We thank you for your love and for your help. We thank you for imparting to us the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher. As we approach this passage of scripture this morning, it is our desire to understand it. Lord, we do not seek to twist the scripture but to comprehend them in their plain and simple meaning. Grant us understanding, and Lord, what we know not, teach us; what we have not, give us; what we are not, make us, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
Introduction
Today we have another topic of particular interest to people who have come from a background similar to my own. In case you are listening today and are unfamiliar with why this topic matters to us, I and most of our listeners here were formerly part of the cult following of William Branham called the Message. The Message teaches us that the seventh angel in Revelation 10:7 was William Branham.
When you wake up and realize William Branham was not who he claimed to be, it is a very natural question and even an immediate reaction to come to verses like Revelation 10:7 and ask the question, “If William Branham was not the seventh angel – then who was?”
Today, we are going to answer this question publicly, in a way that I hope will help anyone looking into these things. As we look at this, I want you all to understand I am not coming at this in some sort of a dogmatic way. We were not very long ago brainwashed by a cult, and so, recognizing that should cause us to approach these things with some humility and a realization that we may well have room to continue to improve our understanding. I am just showing you the very best of my understanding, and I feel confident enough today that you can take what I share in this message, study it, and my hope is that this will just help set your mind at ease and point you in the right direction.
This lesson today will be broken into three parts. In the first part, I want to explain how Revelation 10:7 was interpreted by William Branham and his followers. In the second part, I want to show you what is wrong with their interpretation and present a more accurate way to understand this verse. In the third part, I want to answer the question: who is this seventh angel in Revelation 10:7? So, I will break this message into those three parts, and I expect to be able to get through all three parts today. So bear with me, and we will get started.
Message Interpretation
Let me begin with looking at the Message interpretation of this passage of scripture. The better way to say this would be the Message interpretations (plural) of this scripture because depending on which preacher you listen to, the leaders of the Message actually have multiple different ways to explain this passage.
I will start by giving the popular explanation, which most people in the Message believe. The reason this is the popular explanation is that it is the explanation given by William Branham himself. Where I come from, our churches did not actually believe the more popular explanation. We did not accept William Branham’s explanation of Revelation 10:7. We had a different explanation in our churches, and after I explain the popular explanation, I will also tell you how we believed it in the churches we came from. But first, let me give the more popular interpretation.
The popular interpretation, which came from William Branham himself, is that Revelation 10:7 is connected to events that happened in 1963. If you read this entire chapter 10, it begins with a mighty angel descending from heaven with a rainbow over his head and a book opened in his hand. William Branham interpreted that to be Jesus Christ himself descending to the earth with the seven-sealed book open in his hand, right after the seven seals were broken.
William Branham taught that happened in 1963. That Jesus, in the shape of a cloud, descended down from heaven while he was supposedly out hunting in the Arizona desert. When that happened, William Branham was supposedly commissioned to preach the seven seals. So, William Branham believed that Revelation 10:7 was speaking specifically about him and the things he was preaching.
Everyone in the Message, my group included, was taught that William Branham was this seventh angel. They arrived at that because they believed William Branham to be the angel of the church of Laodicea back in chapter 3. Since Laodicea was the seventh church, they concluded that the angel to Laodicea was the seventh angel mentioned in Revelation 10:7. William Branham taught that he was the angel of Laodicea, and since they believed that, they also believed he must have been the seventh angel mentioned in Revelation 10:7. That is how they reasoned it out. So,
… in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, (so this would be taken to mean literally the voice of William Branham, So in the days of the voice of William Branham) when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:7
Now for the second part of this verse.
William Branham would almost always quote this by saying the “mysteries” of God, plural. He generally made it plural when he quoted this verse, even when he was reading it off the page.
He was always very clear about what he meant by that. To him, this meant that the mysteries of the Bible would be fully revealed. If you want to visit the website where I post this sermon, I will include some sources so you can read William Branham’s personal explanation. But I will read just one single quote from William Branham here. This is a quote from 1964:
In Revelation 10, that the seventh angel, when he begins to sound” (that’s the—the angel to the Laodicea church, that’s supposed to call the church back to the Faith of the fathers), “that when this angel sounds, that all the mysteries of God should be revealed in that day.
64-0419 – The Trial
Rev. William Marrion Branham
So, there it is plain an simple. That is what William Branham said Revelation 10:7 meant. And he was very consistent in explaining it that way.
So the majority of William Branham’s followers interpreted Revelation 10:7 to mean that in the days he was speaking, all the mysteries of the Bible would be revealed. They believed this revelation started in 1963 when Jesus supposedly descended from heaven in the Arizona desert. Now they claim to have a complete and perfect revelation of all the mysteries of the Bible, which they call “The Message” that William Branham preached. This is why many of them only play tapes or preach sermons by quoting him because they believe he already had the perfect understanding of all the mysteries. Revelation 10:7 is the verse they use to say that William Branham’s message is the perfect interpretation of the Bible.
Faith Assembly’s Interpretation
That is the majority view, how most people in the Message interpret Revelation 10:7, and how William Branham himself interpreted it. Now, as I said already, this is not how we interpreted this verse where I come from. Lee Vayle and his groups also taught differently. We held a different minority view on Revelation 10:7 at Faith Assembly.
I am not going to explain Lee Vayle’s view, but I do want to explain the view Raymond Jackson promoted. Looking back, it’s really weird how many things William Branham preached that we did not believe in, yet somehow, we still believed he was the greatest prophet there ever was. It’s hard to reconcile it. He preached a whole bunch of wrong stuff we never believed, yet he was considered a great prophet of God. It really doesn’t make any sense once you get some time and distance and are able to think clearly about these things.
But at any rate, I am very familiar with the way we interpreted it in our churches. You can find their literature online with their explanations, and I will mention that I was the editor and publisher of that literature. What you will find online from them are the documents I created and put there. I say this just so you can understand that I am an expert in their beliefs, and I know exactly what they teach and believe.
The difference between Faith Assembly’s view on Revelation 10:7 and most of the rest of the Message stems from our different understanding of the seven seals. We, and the churches who fellowshipped with us, only believed that the first six seals were opened in 1963, whereas most people in the Message, including William Branham himself, believed that all seven seals were opened in 1963.
So, for us at Faith Assembly, we put the seventh seal in the future and rejected the things William Branham said about opening the seventh seal. But most of the Message believers put the seventh seal in the past and believe it was opened in 1963, along with the first six. Those who put it in the past also believe that Revelation 10 was already fulfilled back in 1963, whereas at Faith Assembly, we put Revelation 10 in the future. It’s the way we look at the seventh seal that made that difference.
At Faith Assembly, we believe that the Lord descended from heaven with a shout in 1963, but we separate 1st Thessalonians 4 and Revelation 10 into two separate events. The shout and 1st Thessalonians 4 happened in 1963, but Revelation 10 is yet in the future. Whereas most of the Message believers believe Revelation 10 and 1st Thessalonians 4 are the same event, and they both happened in 1963. So, I hope that explanation helps you understand the distinction as it relates to the timing of the event. Where I come from, Revelation 10:7 is something in the future.
And so, in our churches, we read Revelation 10:7 like this:
in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, (that would be the message of William Braham, not his own voice, and not him personally. But his message)
So in the days of his message, he is dead and gone, but his message is still here and being shared. So, the days in which his message was being shared…
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.
And the second part here, we would say the mystery of God is not talking about the revealing of the mysteries of the Bible. We would actually say quite plainly – William Branham was mistaken. When he quoted this verse as “mysteries of God,” he was misquoting the passage, and therefore his interpretation was wrong. I heard our preachers say that from the platform plenty of times.
So, we would make a different explanation for what the mystery of God is. And we would go back to the epistles of Paul, where Paul wrote about the mystery of God. We would say, the mystery of God is grace to the Gentiles. So, when it says the mystery of God will be finished, that meant, grace for the Gentiles would be over, it would be finished. After Revelation 10:7 happened, no more Gentiles would be saved, and grace to the Gentiles ends with Revelation 10:7.
We would say this is the point at which the gospel returns to the Jews, and then it is the Jews’ turn to be saved. Because we didn’t believe the Jews could be saved until Revelation 10:7 happened. So, Revelation 10:7 was the point at which the Gentiles were all saved. And then the Jews get a turn to be saved after Revelation 10:7. And this was all future to us, it had not happened yet. And we used the word “should.”
The mystery of God should be finished. We would say, “should” is progressive. And it is something that would happen with time. It was not an immediate thing, but something that should come in time.
Ok, so that is the two message interpretations of Revelation 10:7 I am explaining here. I have given both because we have people from different message backgrounds listening here.
And, I do understand how the different branches of the message interpret things differently. And I want to try and give everyone listening a common point of reference.
Interpretation 1 – says all the mysteries of the Bible were revealed by William Branham between 1963 and 1965, and the message is now the perfect revelation of the Bible.
Interpretation 2 – says the grace age would end for the Gentiles during the days of the message, and it is a future event yet to happen.
And those are two radically different interpretations. And I want to make sure I point out to you, William Branham himself preached the first interpretation.
What’s wrong with the interpretation:
So now let’s examine what is wrong with these interpretations. Because, there is a whole lot wrong here.
And first, I want to look at that last part of the verse.
The mystery of God should be finished. Very clearly that word mystery is singular – it’s not plural. And, just the language there, the mystery of God should be finished. Finished and revealed are two different words. And so, just a simple reading of the words in their plain meaning rules out William Branham’s explanation.
This is not a revealing of all the mysteries of the Bible. It is the finishing of the mystery “singular” of God.
And we can go back to the writings of the apostles, and we can see what that mystery is.
The mystery or the mystery of God, is actually a phrase you will find throughout the New Testament. And it is almost always referring to the same. So let’s go read some verses, and find out what this mystery is.
And first let me read Colossians 1:26-27.
Paul writes…
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Colossians 1:26-27
What is the mystery?
So Christ in you, the hope of glory – that is part of the mystery. Being one with Christ, and being glorified as a result. That is pointing to the completed plan of redemption, when we are glorified.
Let’s read some more, let’s see if that is consistent with other passages about the mystery.
And go to Romans 16, verse 25, let’s read that too, which is another example we could look at.
25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Romans 16
Here again, we see the mystery being described as something related to salvation and redemption, so that all nations come to faith in Christ. And do you notice how this is using the exact same language as the book of Revelation? The mystery, from the Scriptures and the prophets. That is the same language.
Let me go to Ephesians next, and we will find some more passages about this mystery. Turn to Ephesians chapter 3 with me, and let me read the first nine verses. And let’s read how Paul speaks about this mystery. He writes,
1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Ephesians 3
So, without dwelling on this too much, I think it’s pretty obvious what this mystery is about. And I am sure we could get really technical in the meaning of the phrase. I feel like this is something I could spend ten messages just on this point. But I am just trying to look at the broad strokes, just see what is plain and clear.
One thing is, this mystery is no longer a mystery. It was revealed already, in the days of Paul and Peter and James and John. It don’t need a special endtime prophet to come reveal this mystery. Paul and Peter and James and John already knew what it was, and they already explained it in their epistles. And we can see, the mystery is concerning the plan of redemption, how that God would save and redeem and glorify lost mankind through Christ Jesus.
And what I am saying here, about the mystery of God, this is the overwhelming majority view of the rest of Christianity. And you can just take some time and look into the mystery of God and see for yourself what it is. You can find lots of other good preachers who will take more time to explain this topic in a deeper way than I am right here.
But let me put one more scripture with this, go back up to Ephesians 1, and let me read a couple more verses about this mystery. And we will see, this mystery is concerning the redemption of all things.
Ephesians 1, verse 9…
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Ephesians 1
Now you can go look at even more scriptures than these few I have read.
But, just in these few, I believe I have demonstrated to you that this phrase, the mystery, or the mystery of God, the mystery of Christ, or the great mystery.
This is a phrase used over and over and over by the apostle Paul to refer to the plan of salvation or the plan of redemption.
And the truth is, if you go back to the gospels – you will find Jesus Christ himself is the one who gave it that definition.
And Paul is not just making something up here.
He is repeating the very things that Jesus himself taught.
And verse 10, of Ephesians 1 very plainly tells us what the mystery is.
The mystery is, …
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Ephesians 1
That was the mystery, but it’s not a mystery anymore. The mystery was revealed to the early church.
And to people who are from my background, the mystery of God is not just the redemption and salvation of the gentiles, but the redemption and salvation of all things, which are to be saved and redeemed. We were close when we said it was grace to the gentiles, but it was bigger than that. It was the entire plan of redemption, the redemption of all people and all things which are to be redeemed.
So, the mystery of God is not talking about having all the mysteries of the bible revealed. That interpretation is flat wrong. There is no basis for that belief at all in scripture. The only basis for the belief is the words of William Branham, which is not good enough.
The mystery of God is also not talking narrowly about just the salvation to the Gentiles, but the mystery of God is salvation and redemption of all people and all things. It’s not just redemption of the gentiles, but it is redemption in to-to. It’s all of redemption.
Let me read verse 10 again, the mystery is,…
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Ephesians 1
So when we go back to Revelation 10:7, when it says the mystery of God shall be finished, it does not mean all the mysteries of the bible are revealed, and it does not mean God is finishing the plan of redemption for the gentiles alone. It does not mean either of those things.
What it does mean is that the plan of redemption is coming to completion for all things and all people when the seventh angel sounds. It means the plan of redemption is being finished.
Let me read Ephesians one more time, verse 9 and 10…
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
And revelation 10:7:
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.
Revelation 10:7
The plan of redemption shall be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he begins to sound. That is the correct understanding of Revelation 10:7. So that finishes this section and brings us to the final part of this message.
Who is the seventh angel?
I want to show that to you because it’s actually pretty easy to see, once you see it. To show you that, I want to pay close attention to how the seventh angel is described here in Revelation 10:7. It says, “the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound.”
So, this is the seventh angel, which means there are six angels before him, and he is an angel who will sound in the future. So, we should be able to go back, before chapter 10, and find the other six angels, and we should be able to go forward, beyond chapter 10, and find where he does sound. That is just common deduction, a simple reading of this verse.
There should be six angels before this, and somewhere after this, he should sound. So, let’s go look, let’s go see if we can find that.
And this is Revelation chapter 10. If we want to find those six angels who came before, we have to back up a few chapters and read what came before chapter 10.
So, let’s do that. Let’s go back two chapters, to chapter 8, and I will read verse 6 and 7. Verse 6 says…
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Revelation 8
Do you notice there how verse 6 uses the same language used in Revelation 10:7? It’s telling us there are seven angels which are going to sound, and the context here is clear, that sounding is when they blow their trumpet. Now read the next verse, verse 7. It says…
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Revelation 8
So there is what happens when the first angel sounds, or when he blows his trumpet. These plagues from God are unleashed on the earth. And what we see here in verse 7 is the start of a pattern. When each of these trumpet angels blows his trumpet, it says he sounded, and then certain plagues are released on the earth.
And here in verse 7, the first angel sounded, and then these plagues were released. I am not going to analyze all of these angels blowing their trumpets and all of the plagues, but I just want you to see the pattern, recognize the pattern here. Here in verse 7, the first angel sounded. Now read verse 8…
8 And the second angel sounded…..
Revelation 8
Now read verse 10
10 And the third angel sounded..
Revelation 8
And now read verse 12
12 And the fourth angel sounded…
Revelation 8
Lets keep reading, go over to chapter 9
1 And the fifth angel sounded…
Revelation 9
Ok, jump to verse 13
13 And the sixth angel sounded…
Revelation 9
Ok, that is number six. And you see the pattern, right? Each angel is being given a number, and then they sound. And here at verse 13, the sixth angel sounded.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… So the next angel to sound should be the seventh angel, right?
So lets go to the next chapter, chapter 10. Verse 7
7 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.
Revelation 10
So, I think the pattern here is very obvious. These trumpet angels are sounding, in order. And right here at chapter 10, right on queue, here comes the seventh angel, and he is getting ready to sound. This is the seventh angel in Revelation 10:7. It is the seventh trumpet angel.
This is not the angel to Laodicea. This is the seventh trumpet angel. And when the seventh trumpet angel sounds, the mystery of God, the plan of redemption, will be finished.
Now the seventh trumpet angel does not sound here in chapter 10. He sounds in chapter 11. So let’s go over and read it, and let’s see what happens when the seventh trumpet angel sounds. Because it should match, right? The plan of redemption should be finished when he sounds, if that is right…
7 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.
Revelation 10:7
So go over to chapter 11, lets read when the seventh angel sounds. And it is chapter 11, and verse 15 where than happens.
15 And the seventh angel sounded…
Revelation 11
Any reasonable person, reading this, would realize this is the same angel that was being talked about in chapter 10. The language is the same, the explanation is the same. This is really obvious, and it’s not complicated at all. The seventh angel in chapter 11 is the same as the seventh angel of chapter 10.
And let me ask you this question: If the seventh angel in chapter 10 was William Branham, why isn’t the seventh angel in chapter 11 William Branham too? The same logic, the same reasoning that would make William Branham the seventh angel in chapter 10, would also make William Branham the seventh angel in chapter 11. So, when you make William Branham the seventh angel in chapter 10, but not chapter 11, you are introducing an inconsistency to how you read the book of Revelation. Because any reasonable person with common sense, and who can read, can realize the seventh angel in chapter 11 is the same as the seventh angel in chapter 10.
If you just read the book of Revelation in a normal common sense way, it’s so obvious that the seventh angel of Revelation 10 is the same as the seventh angel of Revelation 11. And the context fits too. Let’s read what happens when the seventh trumpet angel sounds…
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Revelation 11
What are we reading here?
We are reading about the climax of the plan of redemption. The mystery of God is finished. The wicked are being destroyed. The righteous are being rewarded, and the kingdom of God has come to earth. This is exactly what we would expect to happen when the plan of redemption reaches completion: the wicked destroyed, the righteous rewarded, and the heavenly kingdom reigning in heaven and on earth.
So, the seventh angel is the seventh trumpet angel, and when he sounds, the mystery of God will be finished, and the plan of redemption will come to completion. God will have finished gathering all things unto Christ, and He will have taken to Himself His great power and reigned.
Now it is very obvious to us that this seventh trumpet angel and the angel to Laodicea are not the same angel.
Let’s analyze that a bit more. Let’s go back and read about the angels to the seven churches. Go back to Revelation chapter 2 with me. Let me read that…
2 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;
Revelation 2
Notice there, these angels to the churches are not numbered. They are not like the trumpet angels, where God is numbering them one, two, three, four, and so forth. That is not how God is referring to these angels to the churches. Instead, God is addressing each of these as the angel of the church. This is the angel of the church of Ephesus. Go to verse 8, and see the pattern…
8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna
Revelation 2
- Go down to verse 12
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos
Revelation 2
- And verse 18
18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira
Revelation 2
- Go over to chapter 3
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis
Revelation 3
- And verse 7
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia
Revelation 3
- And verse 14
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
Revelation 3
Now notice, all of these angels are called the angel of the certain church. It’s not the first angel, the second angel, the third angel, and so forth. That is not how these angels are described.
It’s not until you get to chapter 8, with the trumpet angels, that is the first place you start to see angels given numbers: the first angel, the second angel, the third angel, and so forth.
So when we read in chapter 10, verse 7, it does not say “in the days of the voice of the angel of the church of Laodicea.” It does not say that. And I have to ask, if this is talking about the angel to the church of Laodicea, why did God change the language? If He wanted us to know this is the angel to Laodicea – wouldn’t He have said that? But instead of using the language from the angels to the churches, He is using the language of the trumpet angels.
It says, “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.” Seventh angel and the angel of the church of Laodicea are not the same thing. The seventh angel is one of the trumpet angels, and the angel of the church of Laodicea is one of the angels to the church.
The trumpet angels and the angels to the churches are different angels. When we read about the first trumpet angel, when he sounded, fire came out of heaven and burned up a third part of the trees. And, for the sake of argument, let’s just accept the message belief that the apostle Paul is the angel to Ephesus. Well, there was no time that Paul called fire down out of heaven and burnt up a third part of the trees. Or maybe you go to the next one, Irenaeus, the second trumpet angel, when he sounded, a mountain fell out of heaven, and it turned a third part of the water into blood. Irenaeus never did anything like that.
So, my point is – the trumpet angels and the angels to the churches are not the same angels, not even by the message interpretation. Because in the message, we interpret these angels’ plagues to be literal things. And as long as it is literal – literal fire coming down and burning up a third part of the tree, and a literal mountain falling in the sea and turning a third part to blood – if you say these plagues from the trumpet angels are literal, then there is no way these seven trumpet angels can be the same thing as the angels to the churches.
So, there is really just no basis to say the seventh angel of Revelation 10:7 is the angel to Laodicea. There is nothing in the text of scripture to give us that impression that the seventh trumpet angel and the angel to Laodicea are the same angel.
And the only reason we believed that in the message is that we thought William Branham had a divine ability to interpret scripture to us. The only reason we thought the angel of Revelation 10:7 was the angel to Laodicea is because William Branham said so. And then people who heard it repeated that to us, like Raymond Jackson. We did not believe William Branham was the seventh angel because the bible says so. We believed it because those men said so, and we trusted those men.
But now we can see our trust was misplaced, and we need to come back and look at these things for ourselves. And just see, what is the plain reading of the bible.
And the plain reading of the bible would lead us to believe they are different angels, different individuals – however you want to term it. And there is really no solid basis to say they are the same angel.
And if you did, like I said before, whatever case you make to say they are the same angel, you would need to apply the same reasoning and make the other seven trump angels match their church too. And you would also have to make the angel to Laodicea fit the seventh angel in chapter 11 too. And none of that works.
There is no way to merge the message interpretation of the angels to the church and the trumpet angels. It just does not fit or work – certainly not the way the message approaches these verses.
Let me read it again.
7 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.
Revelation 10:7
Brothers and sisters, who is the seventh angel of Revelation 10:7? He is the seventh trumpet angel, an angelic being who lives in the portals of glory in the Presence of the eternal God. He has never sounded yet; the mystery of God is not finished, and the plan of redemption is not over.
The seventh angel is not a man walking around with flesh and blood, born of a woman. The seventh angel is an angel; he is not William Branham.
We were deceived in the message. Someone took a verse of scripture that is pretty clear and twisted it. Our entire life, the only way anyone presented it to us, was the twisted way.
This idea came from the Jehovah Witnesses, and William Branham adopted this interpretation from them. But the Jehovah Witnesses are not a movement from God; Charles Russel, their founder, was a false teacher and a false prophet.
Time itself has proven the message to be false, and it’s time to move on. The seventh angel of Revelation 10:7 is not William Branham; it is the seventh trumpet angel.
I challenge you to prove by the scriptures that the angel of Revelation 10:7 is the angel to Laodicea. You will find that there is no basis for such a claim.
I am giving you the building blocks to get you started in the right direction. Take some time, think about it, pray about it, and read it for yourself. Study the scripture, set aside the words of men, and see what the scripture tells you.
Jesus Christ is greater and better than we ever realized. He is enough; you don’t need the message to make it to eternal life or to escape the wrath to come. Jesus cares for you, and he will never let you down.
I pray that you find hope in Jesus and recognize the truth. God bless you all, and let us close in prayer.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the Bible and the Holy Spirit who teaches us. We are lost without you, and we thank you for answering our questions and putting peace in our souls. We pray for swift judgment upon the wicked who have deceived us and refuse to repent. May the innocent be delivered. In Jesus’ name, Amen.