Who is the Son of Man in Luke 17:30?

Transcript

Good morning! It’s time to begin service. I greet each of you in the name of Jesus, and it is so wonderful to have you with us. I want to especially greet and welcome all our friends at Faith Assembly and the different churches we fellowshipped with for so many years. We love you all and pray for you daily. I also send my greetings to all different ones who reached out over the past week. I am glad that so many are finding this series we are on to be helpful.

This will be our fourth episode in this series, and we are calling it the William Branham series. We are focusing on a few of the big questions that people have as they exit William Branham’s cult following, known as the message.

And today, our topic is “Who is the Son of Man in Luke 17:30?” Our scripture reading is from the book of Luke, chapter 17. I invite you to turn there with me, and I will be reading beginning at verse 20 and going down to verse 30.

Luke 17:20-30

King James Version

20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

Let us pray. Lord God, as we approach your word this morning, we do so with a humble heart. It is our desire to understand the scriptures we have read this morning. Grant it to us we pray, by the Holy Spirit who is our teacher. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Well, brothers and sisters, we have what appears to be a very simple topic today. We are asking the question, who is the Son of Man who is referred to in verse 30.

As we go into this subject, I will let you know that I will be breaking the lesson today into four parts. First, we are going to explain the interpretation that William Branham gave to this verse. Second, we will explain the interpretation that Raymond Jackson and preachers associated with Faith Assembly gave for this verse. Third, we will examine these verses to see if there is anything here to support their interpretations. And then last of all, we will answer the question, who is the Son of Man these verses are speaking about? And I want to do my best to finish that all up in one message.

William Branham’s interpretation

So let’s get started by diving into the first part of this lesson. Let’s examine how William Branham interpreted this verse because William Branham’s personal explanation is the belief that is held by a majority of people who follow his teachings.

And as we begin, I want to point out that William Branham was very influenced by a theology known as the manifested sons of God that was developed in the latter rain movement of the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was a belief that Jesus Christ would spiritually return to the church in the last days. When that happened, His spirit would rest on particular people, and those individuals within the church would become manifested sons of God. Those manifested sons of God would be perfectly the image of Jesus Christ, to the extent that they would perform signs, wonders, and miracles, speaking new revelation and prophetic words, and generally be like Jesus Christ in every way.

And in that theology, verses like Luke 17:30 were used to point towards that manifestation of those sons of God. They essentially believed that some people were going to be glorified on this side of the rapture, which is very different from what most Christians believe on that subject.

William Branham taught a version of that theology. He did not originate those teachings or ideas, but he did adapt them for his own purposes.

William Branham’s explanation for Luke 17:30 was very influenced by that manifested sons of God theology. William Branham believed that God would manifest Himself again, in the flesh, just before the end of the age. His purpose in doing so would be to prepare the people to usher in the heavenly kingdom and the end of days.

William Branham believed this manifestation would be similar to the way God was manifested in Melchizedek. He used the passage here in Luke 17, where it says “as it was in the days of Lot, and as it was in the days of Sodom,” William Branham believed that was referring to the manifestation of Melchizedek as a Son of Man.

William Branham claimed that Melchizedek was the start of a pattern, and that God manifested Himself in human flesh over and over through the ages. He believed that prophets throughout the Bible were also manifestations of God in a similar way. For example, William Branham said that Moses was God, and Ezekiel and Jeremiah were God. He also taught that Jesus Christ was another manifestation of God as a prophet, in that same pattern.

So William Branham taught that the phrase “Son of Man” meant a manifestation of God as a prophet. When he read these verses in Luke 17 about the Son of Man being revealed, he believed these verses were pointing towards another manifestation of God in the flesh, as a prophet, in that same pattern. He believed that would occur in the last days, to prepare the church for ushering in the heavenly kingdom and the end of days.

That is something he taught and explained a number of times, and he was quite consistent in that explanation. Let me read just one quote from William Branham, so you can hear from his own words…

We read here in Luke, the 17th chapter and the 30th verse, Jesus speaking, “As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be when the Son of man will be revealed.” When He’s being revealed! I want to draw your attention to this just for a few minutes, if you’ll bear with me just a few minutes longer now. Be real reverent for just a few minutes. Notice, Jesus packed three names; Son of man, Son of David, Son of God. He had three names. All the same person, but with three names. Just like Father, Son, Holy Ghost; all the same God, three attributes.

Just like me. My wife calls me husband. My children has nothing to do with me by the name of husband, I am their daddy. My little grandson sitting over there, has nothing to do with me in the name of daddy, nothing in the name of husband, he is my grandchild. And it’s all the same person.

And we notice when Jesus come and tried to reveal Himself as Son of man (don’t miss this), when He revealed Himself and called Himself, constantly, “the Son of man,” Israel was blinded. They knowed nothing about what Son of man meant. But they said, “Son of David,” when Blind Bartimeaus run out and recognized Him. David meant “King.” Remember, Son of man, Son of David, Son of God (which was Lord).

…

Now, why wasn’t He recognized as Son of man? The Son of man was the spiritual revelation, a prophet. Son of man means “prophet.” Now if you’ll turn over in your Bibles to Ezekiel, the 2nd chapter and the 1st verse, you’ll find out that Ezekiel was the prophet, the Word of God for that day. And Jehovah Himself called him the son of man. Jehovah called him a man, the son of man, the same as Jesus revealed Himself as Son of man. What was it? The promised Word of that hour being made manifest, same God! God of Ezekiel’s time, God of Jesus’ time, Son of man!

…

He was the Son of man because He had come to reveal Himself to Israel as a Prophet, and they rejected it. And that was the prophecy that they should receive Him in, in the name of the Son of man, a Prophet, because it was according to the Word. Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God shall raise up a Prophet likened unto me.” And when He come, He identified Himself in His ministry as a man, not a Son of God, Son of man! God is a Spirit. And He revealed Himself as Son of man, what He claimed to be. And they was blinded and couldn’t see it.

But now unto the Gentiles He reveals Hisself, and now the Son of God which is the Holy Ghost.

…

Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Sodom, when the Son of man is being revealed!” In the days of Sodom was the Son (that was God) revealed in human flesh, which was one time called Melchisedec. Melchisedec at that time had no father and no mother, and no beginning of days or no ending of life; ever Who He was, He remains the same. Jesus had Father and mother; but this Man had neither father nor mother. And He appeared to Abraham in the form of a Son of man: Elohim, Jehovah.

The church now has served the term through the church age, in the baptism of the Holy Ghost. But Jesus said here, to make Malachi 4 and the rest of these Scriptures real to you, see, that “In the last days, just before the Coming, the world setting will be like the Sodom, and the Son of man will reveal Hisself as the Son of man like He did in the days of Sodom.”

Blind prosecutor, can’t you see that? His Words are true. Not nail scars and prints and thorns. It’s the Son of God impersonated in His Church, as Son of man. It has to fulfill Malachi 4 and the rest of the Scriptures. I call to the court’s attention, look at that real good, “Son of man”! Like God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost; it’s the same God, three different attributes of the same God. Now, this is Son of David…Son of man revealed then as a Prophet. Son of David, the King. And now the Son of God to the church age, as, God isn’t man, God is a Spirit, and the Spirit’s Son is the Holy Ghost, which is revealing the church age. But promised here, “In the last days, that the Son of man would be revealed”!
64-0419 – The Trial
   Rev. William Marrion Branham

Ok, so I think that speaks for itself. William Branham was teaching that Luke 17 means that another son of man prophet, would be manifested in the last days, to the gentiles.

And he taught that many times in the last two or three years of his life. And William Branham was very clearly saying that he was himself the son of man prophet these verses were referring to. I will read you two examples of that.

This first example is from the 1964 sermon Proving His Word

William Branham said

After nineteen hundred years, and we’re at the end of the Laodicea Church Age, He promised, in Luke 17:30, that this same Son of man (He promised it) would be revealed in the days like it was in Sodom, upon the earth. Did He do it? Does it have to come to pass? Now, remember, He come in three names: the Son of man, a prophet; the Son of God, the Spirit; the Son of David, for the Millennium. But in between, this conjunction, now according to His own Words, in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed, reveal Himself as (what? not Son of God) Son of man. Will reveal Hisself in a different way. Now, what does that make? [It makes] Malachi 4, exactly right. See, the Son of man will reveal Himself, not in a whole big denominations and things, as we’ve had through the ages, but He would manifest Himself as Son of man again, to make manifest Malachi 4.
64-0816 – Proving His Word
Rev. William Marrion Branham

Ok, so, that is pretty clear. He is saying the son of man prophet would be manifested to the church in the last days. And the son of man would be manifested as the Malachi 4 prophet. And let me read you one more quote to this effect. This is from the 1965 sermon Trying to God a service. William Branham said, quote,

The Elijah of this day is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is to come according to Luke 17:30, the Son of man is to reveal Himself among His people. Not a man, God! But it’ll come through a prophet. Now, He never had two major prophets at the same time, never, in the world. See? No matter how much there’s…two—two heads can’t…It has to be one head. God has to get one man under His control. See?
65-1127B – Trying To Do God A Service Without It Being God’s Will
Rev. William Marrion Branham

So that is another quote, where he is again, very plainly elaborating on his views of Luke 17:30.

And it is unmistakable, William Branham was claiming to personally be the son of man of prophet he believed Luke 17:30 was speaking about.

That is what WIlliam Branham taught. And that explanation of Luke 17:30 is the view that is held by most message believers and message preachers.

And if you believe I am misrepresenting that, you are welcome to go read the quotes for yourself. I would encourage you to read William Branham sermons “Who Is This Melchizedek”, or his sermon “The Unveiling of the mighty God”. You will find very detailed explanations of this topic on those sermons.

Raymond Jackson

Now moving on to our second part of this lesson. I am going to explain how this verse was interpreted in the churches I come from. And, part of the reason I delved into what William Branham taught himself, is because where I come from, we were totally misled by our leaders about what William Branham actually taught.

Our preachers would often tell us they were preaching the same message as William Branham. But the truth is, we in our churches actually rejected many things William Branham taught. We even rejected quite a few of William Branham’s “thus saith the Lord” sermons, and we even rejected thing William Branham claimed he was given by angels. And our leaders totally misled us about all of that – they were very dishonest in the way they hid these things from us.

And that is part of the reason so many of the other message groups thought we were strange, or they would say we didn’t believe the message. Because somehow, Raymond Jackson and our leaders rejected a large part of William Branham’s teachings. Yet they also claimed he was a prophet of God. A prophet who prophesied a whole bunch of things they didn’t believe in. Its very bizarre, and if you can be honest with yourself, you will recognize that is actually very deceptive behavior.

And in our churches, our preachers realized that what William Branham taught concerning Luke 17:30 was actually blasphemous. And they were ashamed to repeat it themselves. Because, obviously, William Branham was not a theophany like Melchizedek. And Moses and Ezekiel and the prophets of old were not Jesus Christ in the flesh. And William Branham was not certainly either.

So our leaders realized William Branham was preaching blasphemy, but they could not fully throw away what William Branham said about Luke 17:30. They had to come up with some way to explain William Branham’s teachings without endorsing his blasphemy.

They had to have a plausible explanation of how the son of man was revealed in the days of William Branham’s ministry, without making the blasphemous claim that William Branham was himself the son of man.

And they needed to do that so they could defend William Branham against the accusations that he had claimed to be this son of man in Luke 17:30.

So in order to justify and defend William Branham, they covered up what happened, and told us William Branham never preached such a thing.

Our preachers totally disregarded everything William Branham said about this subject. They deceptively pretended like William Branham never actually preached these things. And they hid from us the very obvious red flags that William Branham had committed blasphemy by claiming to be Jesus Christ.

And our leaders sinned against you and I when they covered up William Branham’s serious errors. They held back important information we needed in order to allow us to evaluate William Branham. And that was corrupt behavior on their part.

And as part of their coverup of William Branham’s blasphemy, Raymond Jackson invented the idea that Luke 17:30 is speaking about a last day revelation of the Godhead. And that is what our leaders taught us about Luke 17:30. They claimed that son of man in Luke 17:30 was revealed to us through the teachings of William Branham, rather than through the person of William Branham. And they often pointed specifically to William Branham’s revelation of the Godhead. They claimed his revelation of the Godhead was the manner in which the son of man was revealed to us. Even though William Branham himself never said any such thing.

Now Raymond Jackson was the first person, I believe, to introduce the idea that Luke 17:30 was speaking about a revelation related to the Godhead. And he did that in direct response to people who saying William Branham was this Luke 17:30 son of man. And when Raymond Jackson did that, he totally misled us about what William Branham himself had said about Luke 17:30.

Those sermons are recorded, you can do listen to them for yourself. One of them was a sermon entitled “Who Is the Son Of Man”. And you will see Raymond Jackson’s pattern for covering up for William Branham. Raymond Jackson led us to believe that certain people were twisting William Branham’s words. When in fact William Branham very clearly claimed to be the fulfillment of Luke 17:30. William Branham claimed to be a son of Man who was the Fulfillment of Luke 17:30. He did not claim to be THE son of man fulfilling Luke 17:30. He claimed to be A son of man fulfilling Luke 17:30. And Raymond Jackson thought that the difference between the word “The” and “A” was enough for him to excuse William Branham’s blasphemy.

And rather than just be honest, and tell us yes, William Branham claimed to be the fulfillment of Luke 17:30. And that makes him a false teacher which we should ignore. Raymond Jackson instead invented the Godhead explanation for Luke 17:30. And he not only sinned against us by misleading us. And in doing that, Raymond Jackson sinned against all of us. He purposefully misled us about William Branham, and covered up his blasphemy.

Raymond Jackson is a man I have deeply loved in my life. It’s not easy for me to say these sort of things about him. But at a certain point you have to wipe the scales off your eyes and start plainly saying what happened. Raymond Jackson sat there and heard William Branham say from his own lips that he was this son of man in Luke 17:30. And then he misled us and said it never happened. And this is one example, of many, where Raymond Jackson purposefully misled us. And the very sad truth is that Raymond Jackson was engaged a lifelong pattern of deception when it comes to William Branham.

And in covering up or finding ways to excuse the really terrible things William Branham did. Like when he claimed to be Jesus Christ.

And that is how Raymond Jackson arrived at the idea that we believed in our churches. We believed the son of man was revealed by William Branham’s teachings, and specifically his teachings on the Godhead and the nature of Christ.

And that became widely accepted among the preachers and churches who fellowshipped with us. And it was taught quite widely that William Branham brought a perfect revelation of the Godhead. And I once believed that myself. I taught and preached the same thing myself – that Luke 17:30 was the perfect revelation of Godhead brought by William Branham.

And then naturally, we believed William Branham must have been bringing a new revelation of the Godhead. It had to be something the other guys had missed, and then revealed by William Branham in the last days.

So, Our Godhead views at Faith Assembly developed, out of a necessity. It was necessary for us to have a unique Godhead teaching, to justify Luke 17:30. And that is how Raymond Jackson developed our Godhead teachings.

And that is how our churches ended up with a view of the Godhead the diverges from the majority of message believers.

And in summary, the Godhead view that was taught by Raymond Jackson was that Jesus was born a perfect man, and he was indwelt with the fullness of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. And that Jesus was and is fully man, with the fullness of the Holy Spirit abiding in him.

And by the time I left, our pastor would very plainly say Jesus is not God. And most everyone in the church was of the same belief, that Jesus is not God. We would say, Jesus was a perfect man who had the fullness of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. But he was not God.

And that was, to us, the unique new revelation of the Godhead Luke 17:30 was speaking about.

Alright, so those are two message explanations of Luke 17:30 we are examining today.

The majority explanation, which came from William Branham – where he was himself a son of man who was being revealed – God in the form of a prophet.

And the minority view held in the churches associated with Faith Assembly – the view that the son of man was revealed in William Branham’s unique revelation of the Godhead.

And if you think I am misrepresenting their teachings, I encourage you to look into it for yourself. They have plenty of literature you can access to read. And I want to remind you, I was the editor and publisher of that literature. And I am certainly an expert on their beliefs.

What is wrong?

Alright, now that moves us to the third part of this lesson – What is wrong with those interpretations?

And first, let’s just think about the more popular explanation. That William Branham was himself this son of man being revealed. And for the sake of argument, let’s just grant that William Branham’s explanation is correct. And this son of man is God manifesting himself in human flesh as a prophet. Like William Branham claimed. Even if it is that. Then these signs should accompany the day in which this is son of man is revealed.

There should be a sign that is so clear and obvious that no one else needs to tell you it happened. There should be a sign as obvious as a bright light across the entire sky. There should be a very obvious catastrophic judgment striking and destroying all the wicked.

And there is absolutely no way to read these verses. Jesus is telling us these specific signs will accompany the day, the single 24 hour day, in which this son of man is revealed.

And it has to be that way. When the son of man is revealed, it has to have these signs occur. Because otherwise, Jesus is a liar. And I cannot believe Jesus lied to us. If Jesus said fire and brimstone will fall out of heaven that same day. Then fire and brimstone should fall out of heaven the same day this son of man is revealed.

And we should be able to see those signs if Luke 17:30 is fulfilled.

And William Branham taught Luke 17:30 was fulfilled. So did Raymond Jackson. So has James Allen.

And Luke 17:30 can’t be some secret private thing that nobody notices. It can’t be some invisible thing. That runs totally counter to the very heart of the point Jesus Christ is making in what he said here in Luke 17.

His entire point here is to tell his listeners that the revealing of this son of man will be accompanied by powerful, obvious, clear signs. And that it will in no way be some secret invisible thing that is easy to miss.

And when we look at men who say Luke 17:30 is fulfilled. We have to ask the question, where is that evidence? Where is that sign? Where is this thing that makes it so obvious everybody should be able to see it for themselves? Where is the fire and brimstone and sudden destruction of the wicked?

If this son of man was revealed, then were are the signs that are supposed to have accompanied it?

There has been nothing remotely approaching those things.

So, how can you say the Son of Man in verse 30 was revealed. When the signs which are supposed to accompany the same day he is revealed have not occurred?

And here we are, sixty years later from when these things from when this son of man was supposedly revealed. And these signs are yet to manifest.

So, even if we accept that William Branham is correct. And this son of man is God manifesting himself in human flesh as a prophet. We can conclude that has certainly not happened. Because the accompanying signs have not happened.

And so we can, from that alone, totally dismiss this idea that this son of man has been revealed.

We can categorically reject that Luke 17:30 has been fulfilled in any shape or form. Because we have not seen the signs that accompany that day.

And anyone who tries to tell you the son of man spoken of here in Luke 17 has been revealed. They put themselves in the category of verse 23. Regardless of what or how they spin it. If they are telling us go here, do this, see there. Jesus commands us to ignore them.

Plain and simple. Anyone who tells you the son of man is revealed. We should obey Jesus and ignore them.

And so, I want to ask the people still in the message. Why are you disobeying Jesus? Why are directly disobeying the commands of your Lord and Savior? Why would you listen to anybody who tries to tell you the son of man, in Luke 17:30, is revealed?

You are commanded, in the name of Jesus Christ, to ignore them. So how long are you going to continue to live in outright rebellion against the words of Jesus Christ?

If you love the Lord, keep his commandments. And he commands you to ignore people who tell you the son of man is revealed.

And you are in rebellion and sin when you refuse to do so. The word of God is not on your side.

There is more we could say here. But let’s move on.

Luke 17:20-30

King James Version

20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.

23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

So, this son of man, whoever he is, even if it is to be God manifesting himself in human flesh as a prophet, like William Branham claimed, even if it is that, then these signs should accompany the day in which this son of man is revealed. There should be a sign that is so clear and obvious that no one else needs to tell you it happened. There should be a sign as obvious as a bright light across the entire sky. There should be a very obvious catastrophic judgment striking and destroying all the wicked.

And there is absolutely no way to read these verses. Jesus is telling us these specific signs will accompany the day, the single 24 hour day, in which this son of man is revealed.

And we should be able to see those signs if Luke 17:30 is fulfilled.

And William Branham taught Luke 17:30 was fulfilled. So did Raymond Jackson. So has James Allen.

If this son of man was revealed, then were are the signs that are supposed to have accompanied it?

There has been nothing remotely approaching those things.

So, how can you say the Son of Man in verse 30 was revealed. When the signs which are supposed to accompany the same day he is revealed have not occurred?

And here we are, sixty years later from when these things from when this son of man was supposedly revealed. And these signs are yet to manifest.

And so we can, from that alone, totally dismiss this idea that this son of man has been revealed.

We can categorically reject that Luke 17:30 has been fulfilled in any shape or form. Because we have not seen the signs that accompany that day.

Plain and simple. Anyone who tells you the son of man is revealed. We should obey Jesus and ignore them.

You are commanded, in the name of Jesus Christ, to ignore them. So how long are you going to continue to live in outright rebellion against the words of Jesus Christ?

If you love the Lord, keep his commandments. And he commands you to ignore people who tell you the son of man is revealed.

You are in rebellion and sin when you refuse to do so. The word of God is not on your side.

There is more we could say here. But let’s move on.

Raymond Jackson was mistaken too

And as we move on, let me point out that whether this Son of Man is revealed in the flesh or in a revelation that is more spiritual, it really doesn’t matter as it relates to these signs. There should have been fire and brimstone to destroy the wicked, and there should have been a clear sign in the heavens so obvious that no one else had to tell us about it. If this Son of Man was really revealed – whoever or whatever it is – there should have been those signs.

So, even if we say he was revealed through a revelation of the Godhead, the same signs should still have been manifested. There is no way to disconnect Luke 17:30 from the accompanying signs. Thus, we can also reject the interpretation in the churches where I have come from; there was no point when those signs were manifested. So, it makes no sense to say this Son of Man, in Luke 17:30, was revealed by William Branham in any way, shape, or form.

And I will give this one thing to William Branham: Whoever this Son of Man is, it is very clear that Jesus is talking about the appearance of a physical individual person you can see with your eyes and touch with your hands. That is correct, William Branham was right about that part; this is talking about a literal person. There is nothing to remotely suggest that this is talking about a revelation of the Godhead. Luke 17 is speaking of the Son of Man as a very physical, literal person. It is just plain as the nose on your face that these verses are talking about the physical appearance of this Son of Man. You have to twist yourself into knots to say otherwise.

Here is the truth about where we came from: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Passages like this, where it is so plainly obvious what this is talking about, were twisted into knots to try and justify William Branham. They presented themselves as though they were wise with all this deep understanding, but the truth is, they were just fools.

Besides these really obvious problems, there is a third problem I would like to point out: Problem #1 – These verses give us no indication this is anything but a literal revealing of a physical person; Problem #2 – The signs which are supposed to happen the day he is revealed have not happened.

And now problem #3 – We did not actually have a new revelation of the Godhead. We were taught that William Branham had a new special revelation of the Godhead, different from oneness and trinity, revealed specially by William Branham to restore us back to the perfect understanding of the Godhead from the early church. But the third problem is that’s not true. William Branham was not revealing to us a new revelation of the Godhead.

What we believed is something called Arianism, and the version we believed in happens to be the same version the Jehovah Witnesses believe in. The version of the Godhead which we believed in our churches is the Jehovah Witness version of the Godhead, not oneness, not trinitarian, but what you might call two-ness, or most people would call it Arianism.

There is not a single aspect of Faith Assembly’s Godhead teachings that did not come from the Jehovah Witnesses. Our Godhead beliefs were the Jehovah Witness version, with a couple of pieces of their version subtracted out. The Jehovah Witnesses do believe that Jesus preexisted his birth as the archangel Michael, and when William Branham preached the Jehovah Witness version of the Godhead, he actually preached that too.

William Branham did teach that Jesus preexisted as the Archangel Michael, but for whatever reason, Raymond Jackson decided to drop that part but he kept all the rest. In every other way, Faith Assembly teaches the Jehovah Witness version of the Godhead. We did not have a new unique revelation of the Godhead that William Branham revealed. To this day, when they tell you that no one else has a right understanding of the Godhead, they are lying to you because Faith Assembly teaches the Jehovah Witness version of the Godhead, and there are millions of Jehovah Witnesses who believe it just like you do, and they have been believing it that way since before William Branham was even born. And William Branham didn’t reveal anything about that at all. He just copied it from them. That is where William Branham got our version of the Godhead; he was reading his explanation out of Jehovah Witness literature, and he tricked us about that.

On this third point, I have to also reject the interpretation of Luke 17:30 from our churches. The version of the Godhead we believed was not new, it was not revealed in the days of William Branham. So we can safely reject Raymond Jackson’s explanation of Luke 17:30, just like we reject William Branham’s explanation. On all of those counts, we can very safely say that the message preachers are in deep error when they explain Luke 17:30.

The seriousness of this error becomes more focused when we acknowledge who and what the Son of Man in these verses actually is. Who is the Son of Man? This brings us to the final part of this message: Who is the Son of Man here in Luke 17:30? If it’s not a revelation of the Godhead like we believed, and it’s not the person of William Branham – like most of the message followers believe – then who is it? Who is the Son of Man in Luke 17:30?

I imagine most of you already know exactly who this Son of Man is; it’s so plainly obvious who the Son of Man of these verses is. Anyone with a true ounce of the Holy Spirit in them already knows who the Son of Man is here because the Holy Spirit is the teacher, and it’s just so obvious who it is. Let’s just read it, let’s see the clues and answer that question.

Luke 17:20-30 King James Version 20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”

It’s not something that is going to come, at least at first, in a way that you see with your eyes. It will not be observable in that way; it’s invisible. “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

It’s not something you can see; it’s not a kingdom with provinces, territories, and borders in that natural sense. It’s not a natural kingdom. Jesus is trying to help them see that the kingdom of God, at first, is not going to be what they expect. The kingdom of God, at first, is going to be a kingdom within people; it’s going to be a kingdom of hearts, minds, and souls. Jesus is a king today, ruling over the kingdom of God, but it’s not a kingdom of lands, provinces, and principalities. It’s a kingdom of hearts, minds, and souls; the kingdom is within you, and Jesus is ruling over that invisible kingdom. This is how the kingdom is going to exist for a period of time, and this is what Jesus is conveying in his answer. He wants them to understand that he will be ruling over an invisible kingdom of hearts and minds and souls, not a literal kingdom of provinces and territories.

In verse 22, he goes on to say that, not only is the kingdom going to be invisible, but for a period of time, the king himself is going to be invisible too. Both the king and the kingdom will be invisible. “And he said unto the disciples, The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.”

Jesus is conveying that both the king and the kingdom will be invisible for a period of time. Verse 23 parallels with verse 21: “And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.” Jesus is conveying that this Son of Man is going to be just as invisible as his kingdom, but it won’t always be that way. There will be a day when this thing becomes a literal, physical kingdom we can see and touch, and there will be a literal, physical king we can see and touch.

In verse 24, he gives us a sign to look for: “For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.” You have to keep this in the context of the question he was asked in verse 20: When is the kingdom of God going to come? He is answering about the day when the literal, physical kingdom of God will come.

“For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.” But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

He is conveying that this Son of Man is going to be just as invisible as his kingdom, but it won’t always be that way. There will be a day when this things becomes a literal physical kingdom we can see and touch. And verse 24 gives us a sign to look for:

“For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.”

But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Before this happens, there first has to be a period where the Son of Man is rejected, and there has to be this period where it’s all invisible.

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. Not the day he is revealed, but his days. And it has been his days for 2000 years now. This is the year of our Lord 2023; we have had 2023 years of our Lord. It is the days of the Son of Man right now and has been for 2023 years.

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, drank, married wives, were given in marriage, just like any other day. Everything just goes along as usual, day in, day out, year in, year out. These are the days going by.

But then there comes a day when suddenly, the Son of Man is revealed. He is not invisible anymore; it’s big, obvious, bright, and in your face. And so, if you read on for the next few verses, which I will not, Jesus carries on with this explanation down to the end of the chapter. Jesus is very plainly describing the events in which the Kingdom of God will come to earth in a natural, physical, and literal way – the start of that kingdom, which is to answer the question from verse 20.

So, there we have the context of this whole thing; this is all an answer geared towards explaining when the Kingdom of God will appear. William Branham has nothing to do with that, and a revelation of the Godhead has nothing to do with that either – that is just foolishness. These verses are clearly pointing to the second coming of Jesus Christ. If you read these verses and get something besides the second coming of Jesus Christ, then you are a heretic of the worst sort, engaging in serious blasphemy. This is not a minor, secondary thing; twisting these verses attacks the person of Jesus Christ, which is evil of the worst sort.

The answer is that this Son of Man is Jesus Christ. It’s Jesus, and specifically, Jesus at his second coming, when he comes to bring the Kingdom of God to earth in a literal, physical, and visible kind of way. This is not about God being manifested in human flesh as a prophet; it’s also not about a revelation of the Godhead – that is heresy.

And this brings home the seriousness of what the message preachers and William Branham himself have done with these verses. For anyone to insert William Branham into Luke 17:30 in any shape or form is blasphemy. Equally troubling is the fact that preachers have put themselves into that verse, claiming they and William Branham have played some role in revealing the Son of Man to us, putting themselves into a role that belongs to Jesus Christ alone.

Brothers and sisters, this is dangerous heresy, and if you think these things have not been preached at Faith Assembly in the past few years, you are mistaken. It’s just that you have a preacher who is so confusing and convoluted that you are missing the points he is trying to make. This has definitely been preached, printed, published, and disseminated in the last few years. May God forgive me; your preachers believe and teach that Luke 17:30 was fulfilled by William Branham, and that belief is a foundational element of the message.

But Luke 17:30 has nothing to do with William Branham or the so-called message of the hour. This is about the second coming of Jesus Christ. These verses are about our coming King, our Lord and Savior. This is not about God being manifested in human flesh as a prophet; it’s also not about a revelation of the Godhead – that is heresy.

This is what brings home the seriousness of what the message preachers, and William Branham himself, have done with these verses. For anyone to insert William Branham into Luke 17:30, in any shape or form, is blasphemy. Equally troubling is the fact that preachers we have known have also put themselves into that verse, claiming they and William Branham have played some role in revealing the Son of Man to us, also putting themselves into a role that belongs to Jesus Christ alone.

Brothers and sisters, this is dangerous heresy. If you think these things have not been preached at Faith Assembly in the past few years, you are mistaken. It’s just that you have a preacher who is so confusing and convoluted that you are missing the points he is trying to make. This has definitely been preached, printed, published, and disseminated still in the last few years. I know because I am the one who edited and published it. May God forgive me.

Your preachers believe and teach that Luke 17:30 was fulfilled by William Branham, and that belief is a foundational element of the message. But Luke 17:30 has nothing to do with William Branham or the so-called message of the hour. These verses are about the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is about our coming king, our Lord and savior.

Appeal

If you hear these things and they frighten you, disturb you, or leave you in doubt about what you need to do, let me give you the answer. Let me tell you what you must do. And it’s not pack up and move; it’s not start a fight; it’s not go live in sin; it’s not throw everything away.

What you must do is flee to Jesus Christ. Get back to the cross. Realize He is your one and only hope. Repent of taking these scriptures, like Luke 17:30, which are all about Jesus. Repent of twisting them to fit William Branham and give them back to Jesus.

We are not looking for another end-time prophet. We are not looking for a special end-time message. What you are looking for is Jesus, and what you’re seeking is the gospel. That is what is going to fix everything, and nothing short of that is going to work.

Amen.

As I bring this message to a close, I thank you for listening. I am praying for you all, and if you are enjoying this series, come back next week.

Our topic next week is going to be “Who is Cain’s father?” And if that is a topic that interests you, come back next week, and we will answer the question by the scripture: “Who is Cain’s father?”

Let me close in prayer.

Lord, we thank you for the Bible. We thank you for the Holy Spirit. We thank you for granting us clarity of understanding. Lord, in the days when we thought Luke 17 was about something besides your return to earth, we repent of that. We know you will hold accountable the wicked men who deceived us into such a false belief.

Lord, there are people today who are still ignorant. I pray you open their understanding. Help them to realize they are part of a system that is abusing, raping, and killing people. Help them to realize they are financially supporting that, and help them to realize that their moral support continues to fuel that wicked behavior.

If their eyes are not opened to the abuse going on around them, I pray in Jesus’ name the scales be lifted from their eyes. Let their eyes behold the dead. Let them recognize the destroyed lives. Let their minds comprehend the pain being inflicted and cause them to see the turmoil being suffered by those around them at the hands of wicked men.

Open their eyes to the false religion which compels it all to be that way. Lord, may they be enlightened by your truth because truly, the truth will set us free.

Let it be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.