Five or Seven Angels in Vision? Wm. Branham claimed to have had a vision on December 22, 1962, in which he said 5 angels appeared to him in the desert. He said that his son Joseph was also in the vision. In March 1963, Mr. Branham told his congregation that this vision had come to pass while he was hunting in Arizona. When Mr. Branham described how the angels appeared to him, he said that 7 angels met with him, not 5 as in his vision. Also, his son Joseph was not present at the time the vision was fulfilled.
Mr. Branham described this vision in detail in two sermons. The first was in the sermon, Reproach for the Word, preached on December 23, 1962, one day after his vision. The vision was undoubtedly still fresh in his mind. He made it quite clear that he saw 5 angels in the vision by saying that the number 5 represented grace:
And no more than the second group of birds come by, I looked to the west; and it looked like in a form of a pyramid, like two on each side with one in the top, came five of the mightiest Angels I ever seen in my life. Such a terrific speed I never seen... Their heads back and their pointed wings just sailing quickly...
But here they come. And they were so terrifically fast, till I thought when it lifted up... I heard that explosion like, or like a blast that went out, like a sound barrier; and when it did, I thought, "Well, this must mean that I'm fixing to be killed (See?) in a blast of some sort." And--and I--and while I thought on those things, I thought, "No, it wouldn't be that, because if it was a blast, it would've got Joseph too, because there he is still talking, thinking that I'm there. I can hear him. It wasn't that."
This is all still in the vision. It wasn't... See, it's in the vision. And then all at once, as I realized that I had been... They were around me. I couldn't see them, but I'd been brought into this constellation of a pyramid of them, inside this constellation of--of Angels, of five. And I thought, "Now, a death angel would be one, five would be grace." I was thinking that; I thought, "Oh, it's the--it's coming with my message. That's my second climax. They're coming to bring me the message from the Lord." And I screamed out with all of my might, as loud as I could, "Oh Jesus, what would You have me do?" And when I did, it just--just went away from me.
I--I--I haven't felt just right since. See? I was... All day yesterday, I had to stay in the house, almost feeling beside myself, I can't make my mind get clear, and the glory and power of the Lord... I was numb all over when it left me. I was trying to rub my hands, and I thought, "I can't catch my breath." And I walked around and--through the floor, and back and forth. And I thought, "What does it mean, Lord? What does it mean?"
And then I stopped and I said, "Lord God, Your servant is... I--I just cannot understand why. What was that? Make it known, Lord."...It just seem to just shakes me, that blasting, and that swift coming of those Angels, like that, five of them together in a constellation of them, like--kind of like a... Like I had that pyramid drawn here. It looked to be... First it looked like, kind of a... In the distance it looked kind of like that color of doves. And they were in a--in a--coming from this way. And they were looked like one, two, three, four, and then one right at the top, making five.
The Reproach for the Cause of the Word, December 23, 1962 (tape #62-1223)
The second time he publicly told of the vision was in the sermon, Is This the Sign of the End, Sir?, preached on December 30, 1962, exactly a week after Reproach for the Word. In this account he said he was not sure how many angels he saw in the vision because he didn't have time to count. He said that he knew that the number was between 5 and 7.
When the vision supposedly came to pass less than 3 months later, Mr. Branham said that 7 angels appeared to him according to his vision.
Whenever the testimony of this vision and its fulfillment is told by
followers of the Message, without exception they refer to the sermon, Is
this the Sign of the End, Sir?, ignoring Mr. Branham's testimony in the
sermon, Reproach for the Word, where he unambiguously said that 5
angels appeared in his vision. I have yet to speak with a Message believer who
can reasonably explain this glaring discrepancy. Whether 7 supernatural beings
visited Mr. Branham in the desert or not, his vision was truly a false
prophecy.
Posted December 10, 2001
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At the time Wm. Branham supposedly had his vision, he had no idea who the woman who died of a heart attack was. It's interesting that he would say that Marilyn Monroe was the woman he saw in his vision after he learned of her death. In spite of the plethora of conspiracy theories concerning her death, almost nothing in Mr. Branham's vision is consistent with any of the events, whether factual or speculative, surrounding Marilyn Monroe's death. For example: Mr. Branham said she died of a heart attack. There is no evidence whatsoever that she died of a heart attack. One fact that is accepted by the official coroner's report agrees and conspiracy theorists alike is that Marilyn Monroe died from a drug overdose--more specifically, acute barbiturate poisoning - combination of Nembutal and Chloral Hydrate, both prescribed for insomnia. The only disagreement is whether her death was a result of an accidental overdose, suicide or murder. In a 1986 interview, Thomas Noguchi, the coroner who performed her autopsy, said, “Monroe's liver actually had a level of stored barbiturates three to four times that of her blood. Yet her blood level was high enough -- equivalent to about forty or fifty capsules of regular-strength sleeping pills. For the average person, ten to fifteen are potentially lethal.” Mr. Branham said that she died a few seconds before 4:00 AM. Most estimates I've found place the time of her death at anywhere between shortly before midnight to 3:00 AM. She was pronounced dead at approximately 3:45 AM, well before 4:00! So why would Mr. Branham insist that Marilyn Monroe was the woman he saw in his vision? What is the relevance of Mr. Branham's alleged vision? It would seem this vision does more to cast doubt on Mr. Branham's prophetic gift than to vindicate him as a true prophet.
I was in the mountains a few weeks ago. And way back when I was coming home, we went back (the family and I) to rest a little, where we're going again, the Lord willing, next week. And then, back there one night, I saw a vision. And it was a--a lovely, pretty woman, looked young woman running; she had her hand here, and she was perishing with a heart attack, a beautiful woman. And she dropped and was gone. And the Angel of the Lord said, "Now, when you hear of this, remember, they're going to say that she committed suicide, but she died in a heart attack. And it's almost 4:00, so you just say 4 o'clock," and then He left me.
And I didn't wake the family up in the little cow camp (or where the cowboys stay, where we'd go back there to round up the cattle), I--I just let them sleep until morning. And then, the next day I mentioned it, and I said, "Some young woman, very attractive, is going to die in a heart attack." And on the road out two days later, there it come in on the radio that this Miss (I can't think of her name.) Monroe, Mrs. Monroe. I think that was her stage name, or whatever it was; her name was something else. And she had died, and they said she committed suicide.--William Branham
One Man’s Influence on Another, October 13, 1962 (tape #62-1013)
(http://www.astralgia.com/webportfolio/omnimoment/archives/interviews/noguchi.html)
Posted March 26, 2003