Bible Believers' Newsletter 793
"We focus on the present Truth – what Jesus is doing now. . ."
ISSN 1442-8660Christian greetings in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ; we are pleased you could join us in fellowship around God's unchanging Word.
Our previous Newsletter contained a link to our presentation The Second Coming of Christ. If you had difficulties viewing this was because we were making some minor adjustments so if the presentation was unavailable when you visited we apologize for the inconvenience. This is of course not the literal, physical return of the glorified Man from Galilee, whose precious feet will not touch this earth before the millennium: this introduces Christ's unseen second or 'parousia' Coming promised in the New Testament. If you would like to receive a free PowerPoint presentation on CD which you may study please advise your postal address.
Our main article is a further excerpt taken from Volume III of Brother Owen Jorgensen's anointed book, "The Life of William Branham," in Brother Branham explains the nature of God. If you would like to view and perhaps order these three volumes in soft cover or hard bound please visit supernaturalchristianbooks.com and pass on our greetings.
This Newsletter serves those of like precious faith. Whoever will receive the truth is welcome to feed their soul from the waters of the River of Life. Everything here presented should be confirmed personally in your own Bible.
Your brother-in-Christ, Anthony Grigor-Scott
Gog and Magog 'Protectors' of the City of London
Two giants named Gog and Magog are the "patron saints" or "protectors" of the Jews' City of London. . . Every year, on the second Saturday in November, they are paraded through the streets of the City. It is fitting, that the Babylonian fractional reserve banking system has found its continuation in certain Jewish families exiled from Spain to Normandy, thence to Amsterdam whence under William of Orange they conquered England and established the Bank of England, which they also govern. 'The City' is a square mile area of central London where the Bank of England and the financial district are located . . . it is like Vatican City and Washington DC which are sovereign nations within Italy and the United States. From their sovereign City State they now control the central banks of the European, American and Australian continents, and most nations. It is fitting, and no coincidence, that the symbolic overseers of 'The City' are a pair of effigies called Gog and Magog leading the Russian bear or "King of the North" prophesied in Ezekiel 38:2 – 39:11; Daniel 11:40. Full story: truth and fable
Comment: If you read the links you will understand that Rome will refinance the US dollar because Rome owns the US dollar and as it owns the United States itself.
Senior Shas Rabbi attacks Religious Zionists as 'Amalek'
July 14, 2013 — Rabbi Shalom Cohen, a senior member of the Council of Sages of the Sephardic Shas party attacked the religious Zionist sector over the weekend, calling its members "Amalek."
Rabbi Cohen, who is also dean of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem's Old City, said the vicious words over the weekend in a sermon delivered in the presence of former Chief Rabbi and Shas Spiritual Leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (pictured). His statement came during the Nine Days that precede the fast day Tisha B'Av, which this year on Monday evening and ends Tuesday night. . . Full story: israelnationalnews.com
Comment: One rabbi who reads his Bible, not the Talmud.
Russia mobilizes 160,000 Troops after US Officials confirm Israel took out Russian Missiles at Latakia Arsenal in Syria
July 13, 2013 — Russia's defense minister on Saturday said that up to 160,000 servicemen are involved in the large-scale exercises in the Eastern Military District, double the number initially reported. "The total number of servicemen involved in the snap drills was up to 81,000 last night, the figure this morning was up to 160,000 servicemen," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. The exercises also involve about 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 aircraft and 70 warships from the Pacific Fleet, Shoigu confirmed. These latter figures remain unchanged.
The Eastern Military District, which was formed in 2010, is considered as one of the four operational strategic commands of the Russian Armed Forces. Full story: investmentwatchblog.com
Comment: In a recent report from investigative journalist Richard Silverstein at the Tikun Olam blog, confidential sources within the Israeli military establishment revealed to him that the alleged bombing of a weapons depot in the Syrian town of Latakia, which sits beside the Russian controlled seaport at Tartous—was an Israeli operation, targeting advanced Russian-supplied defensive missile systems (S-300 or Yakhont), an operation that included direct assistance of opposition militants inside Syria (globalresearch.ca). See also presstv.ir for further consideration.
Russian MPs are drafting a new bill proposing up to five years in prison for justifying the crimes of Nazis and their collaborators as well as questioning the actions of the allies during WWII. . . The formula of the crime is defined as "denial of the sentence passed by the international military tribunal as well as the denial of the fact that the actions of the anti-Hitler coalition were aimed at preserving the international peace and security. . . Distribution of knowingly false information about the actions of the allied armies connected with charges with various crimes, including the artificial creation of evidence" is also listed as a criminal offense.
Put on your Spiritual thinking cap and you will identify Gog, the alien "Czar of Meshech and Tubal" manipulating Russians to hide and project their own criminal atrocities upon Hitler and Germany with knowingly false information, and recall the warnings of Daniel 11:40, Revelation 17:16-18; 18:17-19, and Brother Branham's "Watch Russia. Watch Russia, the king of the north".
Snowden/NSA Comment the New York Times would not Post
July 13, 2013 — At about 9:20 this morning I tried to comment on a New York Times Article regarding the Department of States efforts to have Latin American countries reject Edward Snowden. To post a comment you have to login to a New York Times account. I logged into my account and typed in the following comment (the links at the end of the comment were added so reader's could confirm the accuracy of statements I made, the hyper-links were added for this posting and were not in the comment):
Rice is the 18th Council on Foreign Relations NSA director, Petreaus was 18th CFR CIA director, Napolitano is the 1st CFR DHS director, Kerry is the 22nd CFR Secretary of State, the CFR run Carlyle group owns Booz-Allen the spy company Snowden worked for. Bill Richardson is a CFR member and the CFR took over the State Department in 1945 and have run it ever since. The CFR is the Military Industrial Complex. The CFR can use information gathered by NSA for CFR corporate member profit. CFR members in NSA can spy on target and kill American citizens. President Obama is surrounded by CFR members and is little more than a CFR puppet, every president since Wilson has been. Snowden is a hero. CFR corporate members have bought both houses of congress through legalized bribery we call lobbying. A grand jury should be convened to investigate the CFR for crimes against humanity as well as other fraudulent acts committed by CFR, Bank and Wall Street CEOs. Why isn't the CFR in the History Books? Council-on-Foreign-Relations-Chart.
A message appeared saying the comment had to be edited before being published and had a little box to check if I wanted the NYT Editor to contact me with their decision. . . Andrew M. Rosenthal has been the Editorial Page Editor of The New York Times since 2007. Andrew is a CFR member. Are New York Times editors shaping news stories to influence public opinion to Council on Foreign Relations ends? Does the New York Times hire NSA/CIA operatives as editors to monitor user comments?
Did you know that President Obama's National Security Policy has the US giving up its sovereignty and joining an international regime? Shouldn't the New York Times have published my comment? Shouldn't a grand-jury be convened to investigate the Council on Foreign Relations for crimes against humanity as well as other fraudulent acts committed by Council on Foreign Relations Bank and Wall Street CEOs.
US is pressing Latin Americans to reject Snowden.
Comment: Skype worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video and audio conversations. . . Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption . . . Microsoft helped NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal; The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail;
The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide; Microsoft also worked with the FBI's Data Intercept Unit to "understand" potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases. In July last year, nine months after Microsoft bought Skype, the NSA boasted that a new capability had tripled the amount of Skype video calls being collected through Prism . . . routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a "team sport".
The latest NSA revelations further expose the tensions between Silicon Valley and the Obama administration. All the major tech firms are lobbying the government to allow them to disclose more fully the extent and nature of their co-operation with the NSA to meet their customers' privacy concerns . . . (guardian.co.uk). You will not from the above links that the CEOs of Microsoft, Google, etc, are CFR members.
Human-Animal Hybrids: Sick and Twisted Chimeras are being created in Labs
July 12, 2013 — Did you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre human-animal chimeras? . . . Chinese scientists embedded genes for human milk proteins into a mouse?s genome and have since created herds of humanized-milk-producing goats. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Michigan have a method for putting a human anal sphincter into a mouse as a means of finding better treatments for fecal incontinence, and doctors are building animals with humanized immune systems to serve as subjects for new HIV vaccines. . .
Full story: thedailysheeple.com
The Nature of God Explained
By Owen Jorgensen
Starting in mid January 1961, William Branham preached a week in Beaumont, Texas; then a couple of nights in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; then two weeks in Long Beach, California, at the First Assembly of God Church. On Saturday morning, February 11, 1961, he spoke to several hundred people at a Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship breakfast held at Clifton's Cafeteria in Los Angeles. His Message was being videotaped for broadcast on television the following night.
Knowing that he would be addressing the nation, Bill used this opportunity to share a little of what he had learned from the seven church ages. He explained the difference between denominations and real Christianity, and showed how Satan has tried to defeat Christ by joining the church and deceiving it from within. Bill used John 15: 4 and 5 as his text, where Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." Usually this Scripture is applied to the individual Christian and his or her relationship with Christ. Today Bill took it a step farther, applying it to Christian churches through the ages and their relationships with Christ. As individuals gather into groups and collectively choose who they will follow, these groups produce fruits that reflect the ideas of their leaders.
To illustrate this point, he described an unusual tree he saw at Mr. Sharrit's house in Phoenix the previous week. Each branch of this tree bore a different kind of citrus fruit. When Bill asked Mr. Sharrit what kind of tree it was, he said it was an orange tree, but many other citrus branches were grafted into the trunk, and each branch bore fruit according to the tree from which it came. Bill had asked Mr. Sharrit if every branch would produce oranges next year. Mr. Sharrit told him that even though the trunk was an orange tree, each grafted branch would bear its own distinct citrus fruit, whether oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, lemons or limes; whatever the branch was in the beginning, that determined the kind of fruit it would produce. However, when the trunk of the tree grows a new branch, that branch will produce more oranges.
Bill then drew a parallel for his audience in Los Angeles. He said, "Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life. When this Tree started out in the Book of Acts, the branches all bore the same fruit?that is, they bore Holy Ghost filled, Bible-believing Christians. Then Satan infiltrated the church and used his influence to graft other branches into the trunk. Eventually these branches assumed names like Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and others. They bore lemons, grapefruits and whatever. You see, it uses the name of Christianity and it thrives off of the life in the parent Tree, but it bears its own denominational fruit. But if that orange tree ever puts out another limb, it will bear oranges like it did at the beginning."
Finishing his address, he stepped away from the microphone to shake hands with those near him. A General Overseer of the Assemblies of God denomination, standing near the microphone, said in a loud voice, "I don't think Brother Branham really meant that. After all, didn't Paul say we are all grafted into the tree?"
Bill turned to the Overseer and said, "I have to mean it, sir. It is 'Thus saith the Lord.' Paul did say we are wild olive branches grafted into a domestic olive tree (Romans 11:17-24). But an olive is an olive, so that's not what I'm talking about. God still wants oranges growing on an orange tree, not lemons, limes or grapefruits. I'm speaking to you in a parable."
At that moment a young man walked up and shook Bill's hand. "Brother Branham," he said, "my name is Danny Henry, and I just want to tell you I agree with you. I hope this doesn't sound sacrilegious, but your sermon could be the twenty-third chapter in the book of Revelation."
Bill thanked Danny for this compliment, although it embarrassed him a little because the book of Revelation has only 22 chapters, and God said nothing should be added to it (Revelation 22:18). Still, he knew what Danny meant. He was saying that Bill's message matched the Scriptures perfectly.
Danny Henry was wearing a suit coat over a white shirt. He had a bow tie around his neck. His dark hair, square jaw and handsome features made him look like a movie star. Later Bill learned he was a cousin to the actress Jane Russell. Now Danny put one arm over Bill's shoulder and asked, "Can I pray for you, Brother Branham?"
"Certainly, my brother," Bill replied.
Danny prayed only a few words in English before strange syllables flowed from his tongue. He was standing close enough to the microphone so that everyone in the dining room heard this melodic language. Whatever it was, it was not English. Thirty seconds later, Danny Henry stopped speaking and stared around the room as though disoriented.
Someone asked, "What language was that?"
"I don't know," Danny answered.
Someone else said, "He spoke in an unknown tongue."
A heavy-set woman who was sitting at a nearby table stood and said, "That wasn't an unknown tongue; it was French. I know because I was born in Lucerne, Switzerland, and French is my native language. My name is Annette Long and I now live in Louisiana. Young man, how did you learn such a peculiar French dialect?"
"I don't know any French," said Danny Henry, a little bewildered, "but this same thing happened to me last week at the businessmen's convention in Phoenix. They didn't teach us about things like this in the Baptist church."
At another table a man wearing glasses stood and said, "She's right; that young man spoke in a French dialect. My name is John Wildrianne and I was born in Liege, Belgium, so French is also my native language."
From the far side of the dining room, another handsome, dark-haired man walked forward and introduced himself as Victor Le Doux, a Frenchman who worked as a French interpreter at the United Nations building in New York. He said that he had also understood the young man's words.
"Wait," said Bill. "Before anyone says anything more, I want you people who know French to write out this prophecy. Then we'll compare what everyone wrote.
Someone brought paper and pens, and the three people sat at a table and wrote what they had heard. All three accounts matched, even down to the punctuation. The prophecy said:
"Because thou hast chosen the narrow path, the harder way, which thou hast walked of thy own choosing, thou hast picked the correct and precise decision, and it is My way. Because of this momentous decision, a huge portion of heaven awaits thee. What a glorious decision thou hast made. This in itself is that which will give, and make come to pass, the tremendous victory in love divine."
William Branham spent most of April 1961 in Illinois. He preached for a week in Bloomington at the Illinois Wesleyan University. On Saturday, April 22, he arrived in Chicago to begin a week-long faith-healing campaign sponsored by the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship. After his first meeting, he returned to his hotel room sometime after midnight. Outside a storm was blowing over the city. Lightning flashed intermittently, followed by great crashes of thunder rippling across the sky. Bill opened his suitcase to get his pajamas. Suddenly the room felt different, eerily charged with something supernatural. Soon a light appeared in mid-air and the Angel of the Lord stepped into the room.
With arms folded over his chest, the angel said, "Go and stand by the window."
Bill walked over to the window and looked out. Because the darkened glass was like a mirror, he could see both the storm outside and the reflection of the angel at the same time.
"The Chicago Ministerial Association has set a trap for you," the Angel said. "They will invite you to speak at a breakfast next Tuesday where they are going to challenge you on your doctrine of baptism. They are hoping to catch you off guard and embarrass you. Be sure to go, for I will be with you. Tomorrow morning Henry Carlson will take you to breakfast where you will sit with Tommy Hicks. This is what I want you to tell them. . .
The rain-streaked window blurred and deepened until it became a tunnel into another dimension?a dimension where he could see the future.
The next morning Henry Carlson, head of the Full Gospel Business Men's chapter in Chicago, called to ask, "Brother Branham, can I take you out to breakfast?"
"Yes, Brother Carlson. I want to talk to Tommy Hicks anyway."
"Brother Branham, I don't know that Brother Hicks will be there."
"Oh, he'll be there. The Lord showed me that and more in a vision last night. I'll tell you about it over breakfast."
When they got to the restaurant, there sat Tommy Hicks. They joined him at his table. After ordering their meals, Carlson said, "Brother Branham, next Tuesday morning I have you scheduled to speak at a breakfast in front of the Greater Chicago Ministerial Association. At least 350 ministers will be there. It will be a great opportunity for them to get to know you better."
Bill nodded, knowingly. "Yes, it does sound like a great opportunity. Brother Hicks, would you speak for me that morning?"
Tommy Hicks almost choked on a bite of toast. After clearing his throat with a swallow of orange juice, he said, "Oh, Brother Branham, I couldn't do that."
"Why not" I've done you many favors. "You are a doctor of divinity. How am I going to speak to all those educated men with my seventh grade education?"
Henry Carlson's face reddened. "Uh. . . Brother Branham . . . uh. . . Brother Hicks couldn't do that."
"Why?" Bill pressed. They didn't answer. "You know why, but you don't want to tell me. It's because those ministers have a question-trap set for me. They plan to challenge me on my doctrine of water baptism, the serpent's seed, and my position that 'speaking in tongues' is not the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Brother Carlson, for this breakfast you rented a hotel banquet room with green walls, didn't you."
"That's right."
"You're not going to get that place."
"But I've already paid a deposit on it."
"I don't care; it won't be available. That is 'Thus saith the Lord.' We are going to be in another building, in a room that has brown walls. I will sit at a corner table. Dr. Mead will sit on my right; and beside him will sit a Buddhist monk. Dr. Needle will sit on my left, and beside him will sit that old colored minister and his wife." Bill continued to describe where other ministers and their wives would be sitting.
"Mercy goodness!" said Tommy Hicks. "I don't think I'll even go."
"Yes, come on. You've seen the Lord in healing; now watch Him in battle."
As it turned out, the employee who had taken Carlson's deposit wasn't aware that an orchestra ensemble had already reserved the hotel's banquet hall for that Tuesday morning. Consequently, Carlson's money was refunded and he had to switch the ministerial breakfast to the Town & Country Restaurant. When Bill arrived, he was not surprised to find the room had brown walls.
Henry Carlson was surprised. After breakfast, he stepped up to the microphone and said, "Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce Brother Branham. You might disagree with his doctrine, but I'll say one thing about him: he is fearless in his beliefs. Three days ago he told me everything that's happened this morning, including where many of you would sit. Now, Brother Branham, the floor is yours."
Bill began by reading Acts 26:13-19, where Paul said, "I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision." Then he said, "I know you have asked me here this morning to challenge me on my doctrine. Very well, let's start with water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want someone to show me one place in the Bible where anyone was baptized any other way than in the name of Jesus Christ. Take your Bible, stand by my side and disprove anything I have taught on baptism."
All noise in the dining room hushed; not even a fork clinked against a plate. "Then if you can't disprove it, why don't you believe it? Or at least stay off my back."
Over the next hour, Bill explained his beliefs on water baptism, beginning with the nature of God. "I am not 'Jesus Only' and I'm not a Trinitarian; I am a Christian. The word trinity is not in the Bible. I do not believe there are three individual gods. I believe there is one God in three offices?Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?which is God condescending to men.
"In the Old Testament God appeared to Israel in the form of a Pillar of Fire, which was the logos, the Angel of the Covenant; which was Christ, because in John 8:58 Jesus said, 'Before Abraham was, I am.' Back under the law, He was so holy that if anyone touched the mountain where He was talking to Moses, that person would die (Exodus 19:10-25; Hebrews 12:18-21). That same God wanted to work the knowledge of Himself back into His creation. He could not come near them because they were sinful, and the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin; it only covered sin (Hebrews 9:6-9). So the same God that was the Pillar of Fire became flesh through His Son, and dwelt in a body called Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:9 says, 'In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' I Timothy 3:16 says, 'Great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh. . .' In John 14 Jesus told Philip, 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.' II Corinthians 5:19 says, 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.'
"God cannot be three persons; neither can Jesus be His own Father. Both extremes are wrong. Isaiah said, 'The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel,' which means 'God with us' (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). So, the Messiah will be God. Then it happened, just like Isaiah prophesied: the great Jehovah overshadowed a woman, created an egg in her, and through that blood cell came forth the body of Christ. Jesus was neither Jew nor Gentile. We are saved by the Blood of God (Revelation 1:5). Therefore, when we come to the altar and by faith put our hand upon His head, and feel His tearing and agony at Calvary, and confess our sins, believing that we are wrong and that He died in our place?then His Life comes back upon us. The Bible says that life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11; John 6:53). When Jesus died and His blood cells broke, it wasn't merely the blood of a man spilling; God's life was released. When the worshipper lays his hands by faith upon the Son of God and confesses his sins, the life of God (not the life of another man) comes back into the believer. The Greek word for this life is zo?, which is translated as eternal life, but literally means God's own life. Then we can recognize ourselves as sons and daughters of God.
"God is a spirit . . . and He created little Jehovah. He could have come as a full-grown man, but instead He came as a baby?Jehovah playing like a boy; Jehovah working as a carpenter; Jehovah hanging between heaven and earth, dying to redeem His children?not another person, but God Himself in the office of a son. Next He became God in us. We are part of Him. On the day of Pentecost the Pillar of Fire separated Himself amongst His Church (Acts 2:1-4). Jesus said in John 14:20, 'At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.'
"Now can you understand the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? God condescending... Jehovah God back there couldn't touch the human race because of His own law of holiness. So Jehovah God became sin for us and paid the price so that the same Jehovah God could come and live in us. It is God above us, God with us, God in us?not three gods, but one God. Professors go crazy trying to figure it out because it is a revelation. It has to be revealed to you.
"Now let's look at water baptism. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus said, 'Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Ten days later, in Acts 2:38 Peter said, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.' Is this a contradiction? I don't believe it is. Notice in Matthew 16 Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. Peter said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus said, 'Blessed are you, Simon, because flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. You got the revelation from My Father who is in heaven. Upon this rock . . . what rock? Upon this revelation, I will build My Church, and the gates of hell won't prevail against it.' Peter was standing there when Jesus said go baptize in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Ten days later he did exactly what Jesus said. He had the revelation of God, and the keys to the Kingdom. He knew that Father is not a name, Son is not a name, and Holy Ghost is not a name; they are the titles that show what He is. He is a Father; He is a Son; He is a Holy Spirit. Jesus said, 'Baptize in the N-A-M-E (singular), the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.' That Name is the Lord Jesus Christ.
"So, when I baptize, I recognize both parts: His titles and His actual name. I say, 'Father, as Thou has commissioned us to go unto all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I now baptize this person in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.' That covers both sides of the argument and lets me fellowship with all of you.
"To summarize the mystery of the Godhead: I believe that God our Father overshadowed a virgin called Mary and created in her a blood cell which brought forth Jesus Christ. He was the Son of God, the tabernacle in which God veiled Himself in flesh, manifesting Himself among us. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. That blood cell was broken at Calvary for the remission of our sins, and the Spirit went out of Him and came back upon the Church. The Holy Spirit (Christ, the logos) is in us now by the Holy Ghost baptism?Christ separated Himself, giving His life to each one of us that we might be the church of God."
When the meeting ended, Bill was surprised by the warm, even somewhat enthusiastic reception he received from these ministers. Many said that his Message helped them to understand the Godhead better, and some even said they would come to Jeffersonville and get baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. On this encouraging note, Bill left Chicago. His next meetings would be in northwestern Canada during the middle of May. Then he would travel farther north to hunt for a week in the Canadian Rockies with Ed Byskal.
Back in the Fall of 1959, William Branham got a letter from Reverend Ed Byskal of Dawson Creek, Canada, offering to take him hunting in northern British Columbia. Eighteen months later Billy Paul Branham wrote to Ed Byskal saying his father would like to take a vacation. Billy Paul suggested Ed Byskal arrange for a short faith-healing campaign in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and another campaign in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, for sometime in the spring of 1961. Afterward they would go hunting wherever Reverend Byskal wanted to take them. Ed Byskal promptly scheduled some meetings and arranged for a hunting trip in May.
Dawson Creek and Grande Prairie are two small towns situated over 500 miles north of the United States/Canadian border, and 75 miles apart on either side of the Alberta/British Columbia provincial line. (These towns lie on the western edge of the Canadian prairie, not far from the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains.) On May 14, 1961, Bill and Billy Paul drove to Grande Prairie, where they checked into a two-story motel. Then Bill called Reverend Byskal to let him know he had arrived. Soon he heard a knock on his door.
The man who entered looked very young. He was thin for his height, and his hair was thick and dark. A big smile covered his boyish face.
Billy Paul introduced him. "Daddy, this is Brother Byskal."
Sitting on the edge of his bed, Bill raised his right finger straight up and said, "You're Brother Byskal? I was expecting a fifty-year-old man. You're just a child."
The younger man blushed. "Well, I'm 27 years old."
Although Ed Byskal was young in his ministerial work, he was a seasoned hunter and woodsman. He grew up in northern British Columbia and spent much of his childhood exploring the rugged wilderness around him. He spent several years doing missionary work among the Indians, and then three and a half years as the pastor of a small Pentecostal church in Dawson Creek. One member of his congregation, Harvey "Bud" Southwick, had just become a certified guide for a large wilderness area about 400 miles north of Dawson Creek. That was the wilderness where Ed Byskal planned to take Bill when the meetings in Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek ended.
On Friday, May 19, 1961, Bill began his three-night campaign in Dawson Creek, preaching in the United Church building, which could hold several hundred people. That night the first person in the prayer-line was an elderly woman. Bill talked to her for a few minutes like Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. When the vision came, he said, "You are not standing here for yourself. You are praying for a man who is shadowed by death. He has cancer. The man doesn't live in this city. He lives north of here in a place called Fort St. John." Wide-eyed, the woman nodded and verified it was the truth. Bill continued, "Go your way and believe."
On Saturday night Bill moved quickly from his sermon into the prayer portion of the service. He did not call a prayer-line that night. When the visions began, he merely pointed to one person after another, telling them exactly what they were praying about and what their needs were?once, twice, thrice, four times. When he came to the fifth person, he said, "There's a lady sitting here on the right side. Can't you see that light over the woman? She has rheumatoid arthritis and a growth on her breast. She's from Fort St. John. Her name is Agnes. I don't know you. I've never seen you before in my life. If everything I've said about you is true, then stand up." Agnes stood and Bill said, "You have your request."
After two more visions, Bill urged everyone who was sick to accept their healing in Jesus' name; and he urged everyone to praise the Lord Jesus. The sanctuary filled with the melody of hundreds of people singing: "I love Him, I love Him, because He first loved me; and purchased my salvation on Calvary's tree." Suddenly Bill saw one more vision. His voice cut through the melody, "What's the matter, soldier boy? You're not going to commit suicide." The audience hushed, listening. Bill continued, "The Devil is lying to you, boy. You've only got a phobia. He's lying to you. He'll drive you insane if you believe him. I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to renounce the Devil and accept Jesus Christ as your healer. You'll go back a real man."
Other than using the term "soldier," Bill did not identify the person to whom this discernment was directed. When he came out of the vision, he led the congregation in a few more songs, and then closed the service. An explanation would come two days later in a most unexpected way.
The Alaskan Highway begins at Dawson Creek and runs northwest through 1,500 miles of wilderness to Fairbanks, Alaska. It was built during World War II as a military supply route. Although it is called the Alaskan Highway, most of its length is in British Columbia. At five o'clock on Monday morning Ed Byskal, Chris Berg and William Branham headed northwest along the Alaskan Highway toward their hunting destination 400 miles away.
They drove about 40 miles and were approaching the small town of Fort St. John, when Bill said, "Friday night a woman in the prayer-line was praying for a man in Fort St. John."
Ed Byskal said, "Brother Branham, that woman was a friend of my mother and father. I've known her since I was a little boy. Her name is Sister Klundt."
Their car was still about a quarter of a mile outside of Fort St. John, clipping along at 55 miles per hour. Bill pointed to a big white farmhouse on their right. "The man she is praying for lives in that house." Surprised, Ed Byskal could not answer, because he did not know. Having seen the pinpoint accuracy of Bill's discernment in Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek, he had no reason to doubt this further statement. It would be easy enough to verify later.
At noon they stopped to eat lunch in Fort Nelson, a tiny town carved out of the wilderness. They entered a caf? in a hotel. While they were waiting for their soup, they saw a 1938 Ford pickup truck park outside the caf?. Two men got out of the pickup?a tall, young man with dark hair, who was wearing the uniform of a United States Army private; and a shorter, older man with sandy-colored hair, who was wearing civilian clothes. They came in the caf?. The older man looked around, as if deciding where he should sit. When he spotted Bill, he smiled. While the soldier sat at a table near the door, the civilian strode over to Bill's table, stuck out his hand and said excitedly, "Hello, Brother Branham."
Startled, Bill shook the man's hand. "Do I know you?"
"No, but I know you. I was in your meetings at Dawson Creek. Do you remember the night you singled out that soldier?"
Puzzled, Bill looked across the table. "Brother Ed, do you remember that?"
"Yes, I do. You said, 'You're not going to commit suicide, soldier boy. That's the devil talking to you.'"
"That's right," the sandy-haired man agreed. Jerking his thumb over his shoulder, he added, "There is the soldier. He has tried to commit suicide three times in the past 14 months. The army doctors don't know what is wrong with him. They put him in my custody and I drove all the way from Fairbanks to get him to your meetings, but he wasn't able to get into the prayer-line. Brother Branham, would you pray for him here?"
"Sure," Bill said, just as the waitress arrived with their food. "Perhaps you could wait until after we've eaten our lunch."
"Certainly. We have to eat, too." The man returned to his table and ordered his meal.
When Bill finished eating, he walked over to the soldier's table and offered to pray for him outside. The soldier stood and both men left the caf?. They walked together along a wooden sidewalk to the edge of the hotel. Bill talked to the soldier a few minutes to contact his spirit. "Son, always remember that Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins." The soldier seemed both eager to listen, and yet at the same time strangely aloof. Soon Bill felt the angel of the Lord by his right side. Bill removed his battered cowboy hat and held it against his blue denim shirt. Immediately a vision pierced to the heart of the soldier's problem. Bill said, "I see you have a lovely Christian wife and two little children; but you've developed a crippling mental complex that has caused you to commit homosexual acts with young men." The soldier's face brightened into a smile. Thrusting his fist in the air three times, he cried, "I'm free! I'm free! I'm free!" They walked back to their vehicles, and the soldier said to the other men, "In all the world, only my wife knows everything this man told me. As soon as he revealed my secret, I knew I was free from my sins."
Later that day they arrived at their base camp near Muncho Lake. Bud Southwick was waiting for them. Bud was 40 years old. Before 1961 he had been a cattle rancher near Dawson Creek. That was where he gave his life to Christ one night after hearing Ed Byskal preach. Recently the Canadian government awarded him exclusive hunting-guide privileges to a large tract of wilderness in British Columbia. Now he and his wife Lela and their five sons were living in a wooden barrack left behind by highway construction workers. Bill Branham was his first client.
That night Ed Byskal filled the barrack with stories about the discernment and miracles he had seen in Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek. When he told them about Mrs. Klundt praying for a man with cancer who lived in a white farmhouse a quarter of a mile south of Fort St. John, Bud Southwick said, "I know the man who lives in that house. I've known him for years. His name is Ed Thomas, and I know he's dying with cancer." Ed Byskal nodded at this confirmation.
After listening to his pastor talk for an hour about the wonderful things he had seen God do in the last few days, Bud Southwick asked Bill if he could see a vision that would help his younger brother, who was having three or four epileptic seizures a day. Bill explained that he could not make a vision come; God sent them by His sovereign will. But he did promise Bud he would pray about it.
The next morning five men mounted their horses and rode into the wilderness?Bud Southwick and his eighteen-year-old son, Blaine; Ed Byskal, Chris Berg and Bill. Between them they led a string of 16 packhorses. At first the trail was relatively dry and easy to follow. They rode through valleys thick with shrubs and aspen groves along with scattered lodgepole pine trees and Engelmann spruce. As they moved higher into the mountains they saw more ponderosa pine trees, along with Douglas-fir and tamarack. Although the lower valleys were sprinkled with colorful spring flowers, the higher peaks still clung to their winter toppings of snow. That is where they were going to hunt for bear?in the high country. Unfortunately, three days into their trip a Chinook wind blew, rapidly melting the snow pack on the upper slopes, which in turn caused the lower rivers to swell until they became impassible. (A Chinook is a warm wind that sometimes blows across the northwest region of the United States in the otherwise colder months of winter). Disappointed, Bill agreed with Bud Southwick that they had to turn back.
The rising rivers and streams had made some parts of the trail boggy, and one of the packhorses strayed into a bog and got stuck. Dismounting, Bill waded through the mud, cut the pack off the horse's back and looped a rope around its neck. Tying the other end of the rope to his saddle horn, he stood beside his own horse and coaxed it forward, pulling the stranded horse out of the bog. Bill wiped the mud from his clothes as best he could; then he mounted his horse and wrangled the packhorse back on the trail. That is when he saw a man walking toward him through the air. Pulling back on his reins, Bill leaned back in his saddle and watched. The man fell into convulsions, kicking and thrashing, rolling over and over. When the man's convulsions stopped, Bill saw a wood burning stove and a burning shirt. Other details rounded out the story. Then the vision ended and he was again looking at pine trees on both sides of a muddy trail.
Spurring his horse forward, Bill galloped along the trail until he passed the string of packhorses and caught up with Bud Southwick. Then he pulled on his reins, slowing his horse until it matched the plodding steps of Bud's horse. The air was sweet with smells from moist dirt, bunchberry bushes, conifer trees, horse sweat and leather. As the two men rode side by side, Bill said, "Bud, I just learned your brother is about 30 years old and he's about six feet tall. He's had epilepsy since he was three years old. It's hereditary. Your grandfather had it too."
"That's right, Brother Bill. Did you see a vision?"
"Yes, Bud, and I have 'Thus saith the Lord' for you. Ask your brother to come up here to your cabin. The first time he has an epileptic fit, take the shirt he's wearing, throw it in your wood stove and say, 'This I do in the name of Jesus Christ.' As long as he believes, he'll never have another seizure. Do you believe me enough to do that?"
"Yes, I'll do it."
They set up camp around nine o'clock that evening. The sky was still bright with daylight. At that latitude during May the sun doesn't set. Around eleven o'clock at night the sky dusks for an hour while the sun makes a loop near the horizon and starts back up. After supper, Bill asked Ed if he would like to go for a walk with him. They took their guns just in case they saw some rabbits or partridges.
Ever since this trip began, Ed Byskal had been hoping for a chance to be alone with Bill so he could ask him three doctrinal questions. Now that he had his chance, he wasn't sure how to ask them. When he was 14, he sat near the front row in one of Bill's meetings and saw many miracles, including the eyes of a cross-eyed girl that went from crossed to straight in an instant. Since then he respected Bill's ministry and followed its progress through articles in various Christian magazines. But lately he had been troubled by rumors that Bill was teaching unorthodox doctrines. Ed could not understand how God could bless William Branham so mightily in his faith-healing ministry, and then forsake him in his teaching. They strolled along the trail, enjoying the sights and sounds of the forest, talking about many things. After a while they sat on a log to rest. Bill said, "Brother Eddie, this afternoon while I was riding, He came to me there on the trail. I believe you have three questions you want to ask me. The first question is about water baptism in Jesus' name; the second one is about the Godhead; and your third question is about the serpent's seed."
Ed Byskal was so astonished that he almost fell off the log. He felt as though he was standing before the judgment seat of God and nothing could be hidden. "That is true, Brother Branham. I have wanted to ask you those three questions for a long time." After Bill answered his first two questions satisfactorily, their conversation turned to the third. "Brother Branham, how can you say that Cain was not Adam's son? Genesis 4:1 says: 'Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bare Cain; and said, 'I have gotten a man from the Lord.'"
"Brother Eddie, that is exactly the truth; all life comes from the Lord. But you need to read the next verse, which says: 'And she again bare his brother Abel. . .' You see? Cain and Abel were twins. They had the same mother, but not the same father. The Bible is careful to say Adam knew his wife once, yet two children were born. Remember, at first the serpent wasn't a reptile. At first he was a mammal, a beast, so close in relationship to man that he could talk; so close that his seed could cross with the seed of a human. After Adam and Eve sinned, God changed the serpent into a reptile. In Genesis 3:15 God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. . ." Notice how the first enmity in the Bible was between Cain and his brother Abel. All you have to do is look at their natures to see which man was Adam's seed and which man was the serpent's seed. So in the very beginning the serpent added his genes to the human race and it was this mixing of genes that put a beastly nature into mankind. That is why a person needs to be born again by the spirit of God. When we become Christians, God gives us a new nature because our old nature is flawed (Romans 6:6; II Corinthians 5:16; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:10). Brother Ed, these things come by divine revelation. Just be sincere and pray about it; and I believe He will reveal it to you."
They reached Bud Southwick's cabin late the next afternoon. The following morning they packed their car and headed south. Bud followed them down to Fort St. John, got his brother and took him back to his cabin. The next morning, while Bud was down at the corrals feeding the horses, his brother fell into a seizure that sent him violently thrashing around the cabin's wooden floor. Lela Southwick's first instinct was to jump through the nearest window. Then she remembered what Bill had told her husband. Although she was a small woman, Lela straddled her brother-in-law and pulled at his shirt until the buttons popped. When she finally managed to pull the shirt off of him, she threw it in the fire, saying, "This I do in the name of Jesus Christ." Immediately he stopped thrashing and kicking. A minute later he was sitting up talking to her, sweating, but otherwise perfectly normal". nl793.htm
Pass it on . . . please send this article to someone you know
Brother Grigor-Scott is a non-denominational minister who has ministered full-time since 1981, primarily to other ministers and their congregations overseas. He pastors Bible Believers' tiny congregation, and is available to teach in your church.
Bible Believers' Church
Gunnedah NSW
Australia 2380e-mail Bible Believers URL Bible Believers' Website
PowerPoint presentation The Second Coming of Christ
Subscribe to Newsletter Unsubscribe from Newsletter
