CLOSING THE CHURCH AGE IN LAODICEA 2001

In 2001, I went on a tour of the “seven churches” of Asia with a small group.We went to the ruins of each assembly, in order, as they appear in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea)

Betty Cook had told me that she was going on this trip because Abba had instructed her to do intercession over each assembly location to “close the church age.” I agreed with her that He was closing the church age – for its pagan roots were turning towards apostasy. He is now concentrating on perfecting a remnant of the whole House of Ya’cob, to bring them to Himself as a spotless Bride. As those of Revelation 12:17, who have the witness of Yahushua Messiah, but guard the Torah of Yahuweh as the early believers did, this Bridal remnant follows Yahushua Messiah, and the teachings of His Apostles in the first century.

When Betty, the three others, and I, got to the ruins of the amphitheater of Laodicea, it was nearly sunset. The sky was cloudless, almost. Right in front of us was a cloud formed like a misshapen circle. I immediately saw that it was shaped like a location map of the seven assemblies. I grabbed Betty and said: “Look! The circle is the map of where we’ve been – and look, the circle is closed. The church age is closed!” She burst out in tears. I ran for my camera. I got a picture of this “ring” as the cloud turned from rose-colored to a faint gray. Surely it was our sign, that our intercession had been acknowledged by Yahuweh. Now Yahushua Messiah could concentrate on drawing to Himself those who go on with Him, returning to the ancient paths, and walking in the fullness of His Truth! The year 2000 Yom Teruah, a Shmittah year, began the second of the three final 7-year cycles before Messiah would return. The first began with the signing of the Oslo Agreement on September 13, 1993. The second began on a Yom Teruah, Smittah year, 7-years later (the Oslo Treaty was a seven-year treaty) September 29, 2000 Tishre 1 – going into 2001 on the Creation calendar. September 12, 2007, Tishre 1, Yom Teruah, a Smittah year, began the third and final 7-year cycle before Messiah comes – beginning the literal 70th “week” of Daniel.

Today, September 15, 2013, I was reading through an article on the Great Pyramid that Derek sent me yesterday: My mind went numb upon seeing what I report on below. It is His confirmation that what was done in October 2001 was His doing! Truly, He always confirms!

From: From http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/great.htm: The Great Pyramid

In restoring the revealed Word Brother Branham retraced the Gospel Light from the East through the Seven Church Ages to the Presence in the West; there on Sunset mountain in Arizona he was caught up into a constellation of those seven portions of the Spirit shortly before their work of quickening the PART-Word saints was completed at the end of the Laodicean Church Age. As they departed Westward they formed the Pillar of Cloud signifying Christ's imminent 'parousia' Coming promised in Matthew 24:3, 30; 26:64, Daniel 7:9, Acts 1:9-11 and Revelation 1:7, 14. At the close of Laodicea they left this earth and returned before the Throne of God, and as we read in Revelation 4:5, "Out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God" (I Corinthians 13:10).

From the article The Great Pyramid, giving Brother William Branham’s statements of his own experiences:

The Grand Gallery terminates at a Great Step beyond which, a level floor under a low passageway takes one to the Ante Chamber of the King's Chamber. Known as "Enoch's circle," the Ante Chamber is 10 feet long by 42 inches wide, by 12 feet high. Here we met the Prophet of Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7 who stood in the gap or breach after the end of the Laodicean Church Age and Christ's Mediation, but before the revelation of the Seven Seals by which he introduced us to the King (God's Only Provided Place of Worship, p. 33:217). Just before the passageway to the King's Chamber two granite beams cross the chamber, suspended just below the ceiling, one above the other, 52 inches above the floor.

This is incredible! The cloud in the picture below is identical to the cloud I saw over Laodicea in 2001 only turned counterclockwise, more like this picture:

Picture this: At the bottom of the left side is where Ephesus is located. Moving a little higher up the left side is where Smyrna is located. Moving towards the top is where Pergamum is located. Moving a little down towards the right side is where Thyatira is located. Moving a little further down the right side is where Sardis is located. Moving still a little further is where Philadelphia is located, and moving to the bottom of the right side, before the cloud takes a turn to the left, is where Laodicea is located. Look at this map of the seven assemblies, and see how this cloud, and the one Betty and I saw, trace the map of the seven assemblies. What is most amazing is that Branham also saw the cloud as announcing the Laodicea Age of apostasy!

THE SEVEN LAMPSTANDSARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES

Map from goodnewspirit.comTracing a ring of their locations makes a distorted ring, not a perfect circle, however both the 1963 cloud, and the 2001 cloud, seem to connect Laodicea and Ephesus, making the ring complete.

The gap is between the closing of the Laodicea Church Age and the opening of the seven seals. Abba had told me to go to Patmos, to be there September 29, 2000, a Yom Teruah, a Shmittah year, the second of the final three 7-year cycles before Messiah returns, to proclaim the opening of the seals. That doesn’t mean that the seals were opened on that day. I didn’t get to Patmos because I had come back from Africa in August with weakness from malaria. But, He sent me to Patmos May 11-14, 2001, to represent the Bridal remnant there. (Revelation 1:9) A little over 1 year later, Abba had commissioned Betty and I to proclaim the closing of the church age at Laodicea. By the cloud, he assured us it was finished!By the cloud of the same shape He confirmed to Brother Branham the identical same things. By the closing of the church age, the seals could be opened, the rider on the white horse could ride. In the meantime, Yahushua began gathering His set-apart ones, calling them out of the church system to return to His Abba’s Covenant Torah. William Branham also called the Bridal remnant out of the church system.

THE SUPERNATURAL CLOUD   

26 miles high and 30 miles wide:  “A lot higher and bigger than a cloud should be”  This supernatural cloud was formed on 28 February 1963 by seven Angels to proclaim the opening of the mysteries of the Seven Seals of the book of Revelation.  It was not the coming of the Lord as supposed by some.They later met with Brother Branham 40 miles northeast of Tucson, Arizona on March 7, 1963 as foretold by vision and told him to go back to Jeffersonville Indiana, where the mystery of the Seven Seals would be revealed to him. Mr. Gene Norman and Mr. Fred Sothmann were present with William Branham when this event occurred. 

Here is Fred Sothmann's account;Witness of the Visitation of Seven Angels  I happened to be privileged in 1963, to be at Sunset Mountain when that happened out there, which Brother Branham tells on tape.  Tells all about it before it ever happened, told in Jeffersonville and I believe in Phoenix, and we was out hunting pigs, Brother Gene Norman and myself and Brother Branham.  Well we heard this blast … it sounded like seven of them planes breaking the sound barrier at the same time, it was such a bang.  I thought “Mercy, they’ll hear that all over the country” and,  when we come back together, I could see at the very time that that blast went, there was the Pillar of Fire above Brother Branham … and I could see that Brother Branham, he looked different and truly he was different and he told Brother Gene and I something that we can’t tell but I happened to be privileged to be a witness at seeing this.  Fred Sothmann  Former TrusteeBranham Evangelistic CampaignsJeffersonville, IN.

Life Magazine, May 17, 1963

A very public announcement that God was about to do something of Dispensational importance

My note: I understand that this means it was a sign that Abba was moving us from the “age of grace” to the age of the Kingdom! There is a bridge between these two ages – where “grace” ends, and Torah is restored, and then the King comes to rule by Torah.

From William Branham.comThe Cloud 1963

July 28, 2006 by Martin 

On February 28, 1963, over in Arizona, U.S.A., a constellation of seven angels appeared to a man named William Marrion Branham in the form of a ring shaped-Cloud. These seven angels came from the presence of God revealing to him the hidden mysteries that were sealed in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. This was to inform the people of God of the perfect will of the Father in preparation for the oncoming millennial reign of Jesus Christ upon this earth. It was as they left Brother Branham that they formed this mysterious cloud which Life Magazine had featured in their May 17, 1963 issue and Science Magazine in their April 19, 1963 issue. The original glossy prints reveal the full face of the Lord Jesus Christ as the picture is viewed from the right side angle “like unto the Son of Man, His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow” (Rev.1:13).

Life Magazine

 Life magazine May 17 1963, p.112…And a High Cloud Ring of Mystery Hovering like a giant's smoke ring, a great cloud appeared at sunset over Flagstaff, Ariz, last Feb. 28 and set off a continuing scientific mystery. Watchers struck by the cloud's odd shape and huge size, took pictures, like these four, at different times and from widely scattered locations in the state. Dr. James McDonald, a meteorologist at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Tucson, has been accumulating the pictures. Using them as the basis for trigonometric calculation, he has made a startling discovery that the cloud was at least 26 miles high and 30 miles across – "a lot higher and bigger," he says, "than a cloud should be." The circle was too high to be made by a jet plane, and so far as Dr. McDonald can determine, there were no rockets, rocket planes or bombs being tested nearby that day. He hopes anyone else with pictures will lend them to him, for he would like some more clues about the cloud 26 miles up – no water droplets exist at that height to make a cloud. The photographs on the following pages were scanned from p.112 of Life magazine May 17, 1963.

 Science Magazine, April 19, 1963

Science Magazine 19 April 1963 Vol. 140 No. 3564 Cover Story:Ring-shaped cloud seen at sunset on 28 February 1963 in northern Arizona and areas of nearby states. The height, as estimated from four photographs made in Tucson, Arizona, about 190 miles to the south of the cloud (which appeared overhead near Flagstaff), is about 35 kilometers. This photo was taken by Clarence E. Peterson of Bremerton, Washington, while he was looking almost due north from near Camp Verde, Arizona. The unusual nature of the cloud was evident to observers who noted its striking luminosity long after the sun had set at ground level. It was at least 11 kilometers higher than the upper limit of possible jet contrail formation, and was at least 5

kilometers higher than previously reported nacreous clouds of the arctic type. Its true nature is still unknown; more photos are being sought for triangulation purposes. See page 292. Stratospheric Cloud over Northern Arizona Abstract. An unusual ring-shaped cloud was widely observed over northern Arizona near sunset on 28 February 1963. From a large number of observers' reports it is known to have appeared overhead near Flagstaff, Arizona. From initial computations based on four photos taken in Tucson, 190 miles south of the cloud, its altitude was approximately 35 kilometers. The most distant observation reported was made 280 miles from the cloud. The cloud remained sunlit for 28 minutes after local sunset. Iridescence was noted by many observers. Tentatively, the cloud may be regarded as similar to a nacreous cloud; but its unusually great height and unusually low altitude, plus its remarkable shape, suggest that it was a cloud of previously unrecorded type. Near sunset, on 28 February 1963, a cloud of unusual configuration and coloration was observed in widely scattered localities in Arizona and some surrounding states. The cloud took the form of a large oval ring (clear in the middle) with the long axis running north and south (Fig. 1 and cover photograph, this issue). It remained brightly illuminated well after the sun had set on high cirrus clouds to the west. From Tucson, 190 miles to the south, its angular elevation appeared to be about 6 degrees. A rough computation of its height, based on sunset geometry, (1) made immediately after the cloud entered the earth's shadow, led me to appeal by press and radio for confirmatory reports in order to establish the approximate location and to secure descriptions from the largest possible number of other observers. From approximately 150 reports, many communicated by persons well aware that they had seen a type of cloud unprecedented in years of skywatching, it was quickly established that the cloud lay overhead in the vicinity of Flagstaff, Arizona, that it exhibited iridescence of the sort associated with stratospheric nacreous clouds in the arctic (2,3), and that its internal structure was very peculiar. To observers nearly underneath, the colors green and blue were visible, and a pinkish cast was noted at times. A fibrous texture, described by several independent observers as resembling a "wood grain" appearance, was present over much of its northern extent, but its southern end was denser and more cumuliform. Its overall shape was compared by some (ranchers) to a horseshoe or a horsecollar if it was viewed from south; from the north it appeared as a closed loop with a long thin trail that could be seen extending northward, from the oval, and several observers in that sector compared its shape with that of a "hangman's noose." The cloud was seen from distances as great as 280 miles (near Douglas, Arizona and Albuquerque, New Mexico, respectively).

Many observers reported a second cloud off to the northwest of the main cloud, with shape very much like that of the main cloud, but only about a quarter as large. Correctness of these reports has been established from some of the first photographs that have come in from northern Arizona. The cloud was evidently moving generally south-eastward, though visual reports are in some conflict on this point; this point can only be resolved from further studies by triangulation. By fortunate coincidence, the cloud appeared within a few tens of miles of the U.S. Weather Bureau radiosonde station at Winslow, Arizona, and a high-altitude sounding had been completed there only an hour before the appearance of the cloud. A jet stream lay almost directly under the cloud and over Flagstaff, and there were peak winds of 98 knots from the northwest occurring over Winslow at an altitude of about 11 kilometers. The radiosonde run terminated at the 13-millibar level of atmospheric pressure (about 29 km), where the temperature was -46 degrees C. There was very little direction shear in the Winslow wind sounding, a condition known to favor formation of mountain waves and believed to be conducive to nacreous clouds, at least in Scandinavia (2). It is possible, therefore, that the San Francisco Peaks just north of Flagstaff disturbed the flow so that wave motion was set up in the stratosphere, but this remains a conjecture, pending further study of reports of first appearance. Whereas some recent studies (4) suggest strong local stratospheric cooling as a

prerequisite for the formation of nacreous clouds, the sounding at Winslow showed little departure from average temperature conditions in the lower and middle stratosphere. Photogrammetric analysis of the four photographs known to have been taken in the Tucson area have yielded elevation angles of the near point ranging from 5.9 to 6.2 degrees. Because the exact range to the nearest point of the cloud is not yet known to better than 10 or 15 miles in 190 miles, the exact height cannot yet be determined. However, the cited elevation angles plus allowance for earth curvature give a cloud height of 35 kilometers, possibly a bit higher if the range to the near point proves to be greater than 190 miles. This height is distinctly greater than that of reported Scandinavian nacreous clouds. Photogrammetric heights obtained over many years by Stormer and others (2,3) are no higher than 30 kilometers, and the majority lie between 22 and 28 kilometers. The estimated height of 35 kilometers rules out the possibility that the Flagstaff cloud could have been the condensation trail from a jet plane. The present American altitude record, made under the most favorable conditions directly above the home field by a Lockheed F-104 in 1959, is 103,395 feet (31.6 kilometers). Perhaps more conclusive is the fact that the upper limit of height for possible contrail formation (5) as indicated by the sounding from Winslow was just under 24 kilometers at the time of the cloud's appearance. These preliminary indications mark the Flagstaff cloud of 28 February as a most unusual phenomenon of considerable meteorological interest. Requests for photographs, still being made at time of this writing, have already brought promises of photographs from a total of 16 sites reasonably well dispersed around Arizona, so fairly precise data on the cloud's height, shape, and dimensions should be obtainable by triangulation. A conflict between heights estimated from the Tucson photos and from sunset geometry is under study (the indicated height based on available reports of fadeout time is about 25 kilometers). Premature fadeout may have been due to cirrus clouds between the cloud and the ray- tangency point, computed to lie at or very near Los Angeles. The hydrodynamics of the field of vertical motion that produced such a toroidal cloud form are very puzzling. Present estimates give the closed oval a length of about 60 kilometers and a width of about 30 kilometers, with a ring cross section of perhaps 3 to 4 kilometers in the horizontal. I am not aware that a cloud of such form and size has been observed at any level within the atmosphere before. Interesting questions about the source of the requisite water vapor are posed by its unprecedented altitude. (6) James E. McDonald Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson 1. S.K. Mitra, The Upper Atmosphere (Asiatic Society, Calcutta, ed.2, 1952). 2. E. Hesstvedt, Geofys. Publikasjoner Norske Videnskaps. Akad. Oslo 20, No. 10 (1959). 3. A. Y. Driving, Bull. Acad. Sci. U.S.S.R. Geophys. Ser. 3, English Transl. (1959), pp. 279-286. 4. Y. Gotaas, Geofys. Publikasjoner Norske Videnskaps Akas. Oslo 22, No. 4 (1961); A. Y.Driving and A. I. Smirnova, Bull. Acad. Sci. U.S.S.R. 5. H. Appleman, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 34, 14 (1953). 6. I thank Leon Salanave for alerting me to the cloud when it became visible in the Tucson sky and for further technical assistance, and I. E. Daniels and C. E. Peterson for permission to reproduce their photographs. The cooperation of the numerous Arizonians submitting reports is gratefully acknowledged.

Supported by the Office of Naval Research under contract NR 082-164. 20 March 1963

Strange cloud in Arizona 1963 - Article about William BranhamFrom Living Word Broadcast

  "It has baffled all but followers of a man who said was the appearance to him of the seven angels."  Reprint from

The Arizona Republic

  A significant Cloud-A few years ago a mysterious cloud was observed and photographed over Arizona. To 600 members of an Arizona church group it was a sign of the "soon-coming of Christ.  This is the cloud which followers of the late Rev. William Marrion Branham claim, is "one of the last signs in the heavens" heralding the return of Jesus.

By turning the picture on its right side, they say, one can see the outline of the face of Christ.

 Some differ with William Branham, yet there is no doubt he received one of the greatest visitations in this age. The largest paper in Arizona released this article on William Branham which is reproduced below.

The Strange Cloud

Shortly before sunset Feb. 28, 1963, a strikingly beautiful and mysterious cloud swept northward across Arizona. Some who saw the cloud, estimated to be 30 miles across and 26 miles high, observed that it remained bright 28 minutes after the sun set. Others saw myriad colors in its vapor-like structure.

    Within days more than 200 reports poured into the University of Arizona's Institute of Atmospheric Physics in answer to a request by Dr. James McDonald.

    The celestial phenomenon left waves of publicity in its wake. Both The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette printed stories. Science Magazine included it in the April 19, 1963 and LIFE carried it in its

May 17 edition of the same year.

    None of the publications had the answer to what it was, not even Dr. McDonald.

    "Tentatively," the Tucson atmospheric center's senior physicist said, "it may be regarded similar to a nacreous (iridescent) cloud. But is unusually great height and unusually low latitude, plus its remarkable shape, suggest that it was a cloud of previously unrecorded type. Many persons said it exhibited iridescence of the sort associated with the stratospheric nacreous clouds in the Artic.

    "It was above the limits of contrail formations," Dr. McDonald wrote in an article in the June 1963 issue of Weatherwise, "even those possibly made by a flight of the X-15." Besides, a check revealed there were no X-15 flights that day.

    The cloud, then, has continued to baffle everyone in Arizona except 600 in churches in Phoenix, Mesa and Tucson. To them it was a physical manifestation of seven angels appearing near Sunset Mountain 40 miles northeast of Tucson to William Marion Branham, an Indiana-born Christian evangelist.

    The purpose of the heavenly visitation, Mr. Branham's followers believe, was to tell him the time was ripe for him to reveal scriptural secrets locked in the book of Revelation for almost 2,000 years, and also to serve as a sign of the "soon-coming" of Jesus Christ to earth.

    According to his followers the experience was nothing out of the ordinary to the man who was to die on Christmas Eve two years later. It was just one of many visitations, strange dreams, visions, miracles and powers of healing God bestowed upon him, they say.

    Mr. Branham, according to what has been written about him and from personal accounts of those who knew him, was like a Biblical colossus who strode through the world wielding Moses' rod and wearing Elijah's mantle. they see in him a figure like John the Baptist rooting out sin and hypocrisy in the religious world and proclaiming the soon-return of Jesus.

    Fred H. Sothman, a 52 year-old Canadian wheat farmer who moved to Tucson in 1962 to be closer to the religious leader, was one of two persons with Mr. Branham that day the cloud appeared. Sothmann's account:

    "Reverend Branham and another brother, Gene Norman, and myself were well up into the mountains hunting javelina. I remember it was late in the afternoon, a clear warm day with not a cloud in the sky. The Three of us were spread out in different directions, perhaps about half a mile apart from each other. Then all of a sudden I heard this tremendous blast like a jet plane breaking the sound barrier, only much louder. Many rocks began to roll down the mountain not far from me. I instinctively looked over in the direction of Brother Branham, but couldn't actually see him for he was behind a knoll. But just above him I saw this strange circular-shaped cloud rise into the air. It was kind of small at first, but the higher it rose the bigger it became."

    Startled by the blast and the tumbling rocks, Southmann said he didn't grasp the significance of the cloud then.

    "But when Brother Branham and I got together a few minutes later." he said, "he told me that

seven angels appeared to him and had instructed him to go home (to Jeffersonville, Ind.) and reveal the meaning of the seven seals of Revelation (chapters 6 through 8)

    Sothmann was not surprised by Mr. Branham's explanation.

    "Everyone who knew Brother Branham knew that he had these experiences all the time," Sothmann said, "So neither I nor Gene Norman doubted him for a minute."

    The following account in Mr. Branham's own recollection of the experience as told by one of his biographers:

    "Reverend Branham bent over to pick a few sand burrs from his trouser legs and as he did so a mighty blast came out of the south, rocking the mountains so that the boulders rolled down the slopes. For a moment he was fearful that some hunter had shot him, he was so shocked by it all. Then there came in reality seven might angels like a (inverted) pyramid or the letter V swooping toward him with the speed of light. He seemed caught up in them, and with their awful thunder. Then a voice cried, "Go back East." He knew it was time to go back to Jeffersonville and preach the seven seals and reveal the unwritten mysteries of the thunders in the Book of Revelation."

    Within days Mr. Branham returned to Jefferson where in the Branham Tabernacle he expounded for seven nights on the meaning of the seals. He explained to his congregation his interpretation of who were the riders of the red, the white, the black and the pale horses and of the meaning of the great plagues and judgments of the last three seals, relating everything to history and modern times.

    His congregation here and abroad listened and believed, because they see in him a man whose powers exceed those of ordinary men, the last of the major prophets before the Second Coming. He is to them the messenger, or angel, promised in the Book of Malachi (chapter 4, verses 5 and 6) to the Laodicean Church Age, the last of seven which began with the Apostle Paul and including Martin Luther and John Wesley.

    The Figure 7 was important in Mr. Branham's life. He was 7 years old, for example, when he received the word, according to his biographers. And seven was the number of a series of continuous visions he received in June 1933.

    The first visions were the invasion of Ethiopia by Mussolini and the dictator's death at the hands of his own people, the rise of Hitler and the holocaust that followed it and the rise of the three isms and how the first two (Nazism and fascism) would be swallowed up by the third-- "Watch Russia, watch Russia," a voice admonished him, "Keep your eye on the King of the North." (Also, Rome will play an important part.)

    The fourth vision as the great advance in science and technology after World War II and both the fifth and sixth concerned women, the part they have played in the moral decay of the United States and then the rise of a beautiful but cruel woman to power (He assumes part of Harlot Woman of Rev. 17) either by religious means or perhaps by popular vote dominated by women.

    "The seventh and last vision was wherein I heard a most terrible explosion. As I turned to look I saw nothing but debris, craters and smoke over the land of America."

    Using these seven visions as a base, Mr. Branham predicted Christ would return to earth around 1977 to claim His bride, that is, the elect or hard core of Christian believers.

    "I am convinced," the Rev. Roy Carpenter, pastor of the Pentecostal Church of Mesa, said, "that William Branham is that Elijah-like spirit which Malachi prophesied would precede the Second Coming of the Lord." But as church history has borne out, there will only be a relatively few people who will receive God's message and God's messenger.

    "In the days of Noah, we are told that only eight people in the whole world were saved at the time of the flood, even though Noah preached about the flood for 120 years. In Sodom, only Lot and his two daughters were saved. And when the other six messengers, Paul, Irenias, Martin, Columbus, Luther and Wesley--were giving forth their messages, comparatively few in numbers believed them."

    Sothmann, on of the three trustees of the William Branham Evangelistic Association, recalled that after the incident of the cloud he was on another hunting trip with Mr. Branham near Sunset Mountain. On that occasion, he said, Mr. Branham predicted judgment in the form of three earthquakes would strike the West Coast. And he mentioned Alaska, Seattle and Los Angeles. On Good Friday of the same year  (1964) Anchorage was hit and on Good Friday a year later a milder earthquake shook Seattle.

    "Fishes and sharks will be swimming over where we are standing," Mr. Branham is quoted as saying when later he and Sothmann visited Los Angeles. A large portion of California, Mr. Branham predicted would slip into the sea.

    Who was this man who while he was predicting doom was offering salvation? Was he a charlatan, an egomaniac, a glory seeker or just a well-meaning preacher out of step with the established doctrines of the day? Or was he a man set apart?

    His followers, of course, believe the last and use the incidents which occurred during his life as the basis for their belief.

    His life which ended on Dec. 24, 1965, when a drunken driver killed him on a Texas highway, began in Indiana. When he was a boy of 7 on his father's farm in Kentucky a sudden strong wind rustled the leaves of the tree against which was resting. Out of the wind, which was localized in his vicinity, a voice spoke. "Never drink, smoke or defile your body in any way," the voice admonished, "for I have work for you to do when you get older."

    Later Mr. Branham told his followers that in his early years he tried to take a drink or smoke a cigarette but each time he was repelled by the recurrence of the wind. In June 1933 while he was baptizing a large group in the Ohio River near Jeffersonville "a blazing, whirling star appeared out of the heavens with the sound of rushing wind" and a voice spoke to him saying "as John the Baptist was the forerunner of the First Coming of Christ, so your message is the forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ."

    It was after that Mr. Branham secluded himself in a lonely cabin in Kentucky praying until he was exhausted. It was then he said an angel appeared--who was said to minister beside him all his life--and granted him two powers, that of being able to heal and that of being able to read men's hearts and thoughts. Both powers, his followers say, were demonstrated throughout the world.

    He was an easy man to talk to, his followers say, but often secluded in prayer, usually in behalf of someone who had asked him to, for as long as eight hours at a time. His experiences with his divinity were private, however. The 4,000 persons at the river in 1933, for example, heard the wind but none except him heard the voice.

    The Rev. Perry Green, pastor of the 400-member Tucson Tabernacle, points out that in the scriptures clouds have always played a prominent role, and they are either identified with the presence of God or the presence of heavenly witnesses, in other words, angels.

    "God Himself appeared in the form of a pillar of cloud when He led the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan," he said. "And God came down from heaven in a cloud and talked with Moses. God also spoke of times; Jesus was taken up into heaven in Clouds at His times; Jesus was taken up into heaven in clouds at His ascension; and the Bible says that when Jesus comes again, He'll come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

What I keep coming back to is that the shape of this cloud, making a ring like it does, is identical to the one Betty and I saw over Laodicea, giving us a sign that indeed the church age was closed, the seals could be released, and Abba was moving to do a new thing with His people. He began calling out: “Come out of her My people…” referring to the Revelation 17 whore – the Roman Catholic Church, under which the whole Evangelical and Charismatic and formerly Protestant world has been “restored.” It was a sign in 1963, and was a sign in 2001, and it is a sign to us now.It is interesting that the HAARP-producing “punch clouds” are a circular ring – just like this one. They appear before a HAARP-creat4ed storm hits – as in Christchurch, New Zealand ----------------------------------

2.28.2013 from: Voices of God RecordingsThe CloudWhat really happened on this day, fifty years ago? Scientists tried to explain it, but they offered no more than a few ideas. Skeptics still try, but they only use the failures of science as their justifications. The only true explanation came from the prophet of God, named William Marrion Branham:They took the picture, still they don't know what about it. Here sometime ago, everybody saying, "Looky here. This looks like this, and them Angels' wings, how they're folded in there."One day, turning it to the right, looking, there was Jesus Christ just as perfect as Hofmann ever drawn Him. It was standing there looking back down towards the earth, showing that He is Supreme Authority. The Heavens declare it, the Bible declares it, the Message declares it, all the same.65-0718E Spiritual Food In Due Season

The progression of events that led to the photograph started a few months earlier. At about 10:00 in the morning on December 22, 1962, Brother Branham was in his room in Jeffersonville and a vision of seven Angels in the shape of a pyramid came before him. The power of God lifted him up to meet them, and turned him eastward. He didn’t know the meaning of his vision, but he knew something great was about to happen.A couple weeks later, he was high in the Catalina Mountains of Arizona, asking the Lord what the vision meant. With his arms in the air, he felt something strike his hand. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful sword, with a pearl handle, a golden guard, and a glistening, razor-sharp blade. A Voice thundered out, “This is the Sword of the King,” representing the Word of God in the prophet’s hand.

The next month, a mysterious cloud spread itself across Arizona for a sign of vindication that God is with his servant, William Marrion Branham.Brother Branham did not know it at the time, but the cloud was photographed by numerous people in Arizona near the time the Angels met him in the mountains, about 40 miles northeast of Tucson. There, he received the fulfillment of the vision and returned back east, to Jeffersonville, where he would reveal the Seven Seals.

Months later, he saw the picture in the May 17, 1963 issue of Life Magazine and immediately recognized the cloud as the constellation of Angels that met him in the Arizona mountains.

One more article from: williambranham.com

 

February 1963Supernatural Sign In The Sky

       All down through human history God has use "signs" in his dealings with man. At no time has God ever given a "sign" just for the sake of giving a sign. There has always been, and always will be a "Divine Motive" and a "Divine Objective" behind EVERY SIGN that God sends. No

"sign" points to itself - it's designed to forward the beholder on further up the road, or to draw your attention to something else other than itself.All Bible readers are aware of the many times wherein God has used "signs" to get the attention of the people when He had some important Message for them. In Exodus 4:8 the Prophet, Moses was given "Two Signs". The Prophets themselves became "Signs", pointing the People to the "WORD For Their Day". The Pillar of Fire by night and the Pillar of CLOUD by day were "signs" of the Presence of God WITH the People of Israel in the Wilderness. In Exodus 31:17 we find that the keeping of the Saturday Sabbath became a "sign" of the covenant between 'God' and the 'children of Israel'.The Scriptures prophecy of "signs" in the Heavens above and in the earth beneath, pointing to the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for not recognizing "in THEIR DAY" the "signs of the times". They MISSED the First Coming of The Lord Jesus Christ BECAUSE they FAILED to rightly discern the "SIGNS" of "The TIMES" in which they lived.This Age in which we NOW live is NO EXCEPTION to the rule. TRUE to HIS own Pattern, God Prophesied of "Signs" to come in the last days pointing to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus. The MESSAGE which followed that 'sign' would ANNOUNCE to the Believers, "Behold The Bridegroom Cometh."On February 28, 1963, shortly before the sun set in the Western skies of Arizona, a "SIGN" appeared in the heavens. A strikingly Beautiful, YET MYSTERIOUS CLOUD swept Northward across the State. Startled by it's strange shape many people took pictures of it. Alerted to its presence, scientists began to study the Cloud. They issued a public call for copies of the pictures taken. Eighty-five different photographs of this cloud, taken from 35 different positions were received. After all their scientific data had been collected and studied, the CLOUD remained a MYSTERY. They calculated the CLOUD to be about 50 miles long, 30 miles wide and 26 miles high. Scientists stated that at 26 miles high it is impossible for a cloud to form because it is outside the earth's atmosphere. Careful investigation proved that there were no rockets, high flying aircraft or space equipment operating in the area at that time, to form such a Cloud.

This photograph appeared on the cover of "Science Magazine", 19th April 1963, in "Life Magazine", 17th May 1963, and in the "London Observer". The Encyclopedia Britannica also recorded details of this cloud in their 1965 year book.The reason for the interest was that the massive cloud hung in a blue sky at a high altitude in which no moisture exists to form a cloud. No feasible explanation was ever offered by scientific enquiries. To this day "That Cloud" remains a mystery to ALL except those who Believe WHAT God has done in these last days.

The ONLY Explanation For The CloudAccording to Scripture, as recorded in Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 17:30 and Revelation 10:7, God promised that in the last days before the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the Church, He would send a Prophet to restore the hearts of His children back to the fullness of His Word. Thus preparing them for the Resurrection and Rapture of the Bride of Christ.By "The WORD" and by "Signs and Wonders", even by the manifestation of the "Messiah Sign", William Marrion Branham has been vindicated to be that Prophet. Like John the Baptist, forerunning the FIRST COMING of the Lord Jesus, William M. Branham came in the Spirit and power of Elijah, as promised in the above Scriptures to forerun the SECOND COMING. Through this Prophet's ministry God confirmed HIS WORD for THIS DAY.About two months before the formation of The Cloud above Sunset Mountain, in Arizona, God called His Prophet aside on the morning of December 22nd. 1962 and showed him a Vision of Seven Mighty Angels coming from eternity to Commission him for the Opening of The Seven Seals of Revelation, chapters 5 to 8, and 10:1-7. The unveiling of the Mystery of the Seven Seals is of vital importance to every believer who awaits the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Resurrection which accompanies that Coming.During the first week of January 1963 Brother Branham, following the instructions given by God, through Another Vision arrived in Tucson, Arizona with his family. In that same month, at a Convention held in Phoenix, he related the details of "The Vision Of The Coming Of The Seven Angels" and told the people present that they were to watch because something was going to happen.And on February 28, 1963 it happened - about 40 miles north west of  Tucson - when Seven Mighty Angels came from the heavens at the speed of light. Brother Branham said the 'sound' was like the sound of a jet breaking through the sound barrier. He was caught up into the midst of these Seven Angels. When counting from left to right, it was the Seventh Angel who spoke saying: "Return to Jeffersonville! The Seven Seals of the Seven Mysteries will be Opened. One by one WE will bring the Message." Once again, an Angel from the Presence of God had come to Commission the Prophet to move forward into another phase of the End-Time Ministry. The Scientists and the World in general saw only a Mysterious Cloud, but the Prophet and the Bride saw a Cloud of Seven Angels, holding the Mystery of the Seven Seals, revealing Jesus Christ, the Heavenly Bridegroom to His earthly Bride.For a detailed account of the Vision and Actual Coming of the Angels, Please follow the following link to The Cloud Of Angels But before we close this page let's consider one more aspect of the Cloud of Angels. Let's look carefully at the shape of the Cloud formed by the Appearance of the Angels as they descended.

One day while looking at the picture of the "Cloud Of Angels", the Voice instructed Brother Branham to turn the picture clockwise to the right. It was then that he noticed the appearance of the head of Christ as depicted in Hoffman's "Christ at 33" - the picture shown at the top of our Home Page. But there was 'one' difference - the color of His hair. In the supernatural picture of the Cloud, His hair is as white as snow, fulfilling exactly Revelation 1:14...14. His head and his hair were WHITE like wool, as white as snow;..."John's Revelation of Jesus as depicted in Revelation Chapter one is that of a Judge. The White hair representing Supreme Authority and the golden girdle around the breasts indicates a judge, not a priest. The CLOUD is a true 'sign' and 'identification' of the End Time, 'vindicating' the End Time Prophet, the End Time Message, and "The Day Of Vengeance Of Our God".The original photographs and the glossy prints of The Cloud of Angels reveal the full face of the Lord Jesus Christ as the picture is viewed from the side (right photo). It should cause us, who desire to be found in the perfect will of the Lord, to ask God to reveal to us, by His Holy Spirit, the Truth of this supernatural cloud to our hearts. If the Lord has sent His Prophet, it is absolutely necessary for every child of God to be walking in the Light (Word) sent to us through that Prophet.Denominational, inter-denominational and non-denominational teaching may be opposed to such truths but God is not bound by the doctrines of men. His Word HAS come to pass exactly as recorded in the Word of God; It is absolutely necessary for us to receive whom God has sent. The Bible tells us... "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent Me." (John 13:20) If we have been 'Truly' filled with the Holy Ghost or seek such an experience, then God will surely cause us to receive what He has done. To write in detail of all the events surrounding this supernatural cloud picture would require a small book, and what has been said is intended only as a summary; For a detailed account of these things as told by Brother Branham himself, we recommend that you obtain the printed or recorded copies of the following Messages:

Is This The Time Of The End, Sirs?"December 30, 1962Branham TabernacleJeffersonville, Indiana

William Marrion Branham was a Christian minister, usually credited with founding the post World War II divine healing movement. Many Pentecostal Christians welcomed his evangelistic and healing ministry, and some considered him to be a prophet. WikipediaBorn: April 6, 1909, Cumberland County, Kentucky, United StatesDied: December 24, 1965