On December 24, 1965, a blessed period of time came to an end: The Lord God took home His servant and prophet. Filled with sorrow, I attended the funeral, which took place on Easter Monday, April 11, 1966. After all the tears and profound grief, a voice spoke repeatedly in my heart: “Now your time has come to go from city to city, to preach the Word and to give out the spiritual food.” I knew then that the time had come.

In April 1966 a new period began; one could also say: a continuation. But how was that possible? Commissioned by the Lord Himself, right after the funeral on April 12 and 13, 1966, I called the brothers together in Jeffersonville. My main concern was that the sermons, which had been recorded on audiotape, should be printed so that they could be translated into other languages. Roy Borders, who had been Brother Branham’s private secretary and whom I knew, was assigned the task of setting up the print shop. That is how “Spoken Word Publications” was founded.

If the faithful Lord would not have had His servant William Branham in Jeffersonville on June 11, 1933, we would have never heard about the message. If the same Lord would not have had His servant Ewald Frank in Jeffersonville in April 1966, the world would have never learned about the message.

In 1973 I made the journey to Jeffersonville together with our church leader and elder, Brother Leonhard Russ, and with Brother Erich Schwill. The brothers there showed us the place at the Ohio River where Brother Branham was baptizing when the supernatural happened. We also visited the Branham Tabernacle and the Spoken Word building.

Brother Branham’s youngest son, Joseph, was just 11 years old in April 1966. In 1980 he renamed “Spoken Word Publications” to “Voice of God, Inc.” By that time, I had already reached more than half the world with the message of the Word. In order to carry out a divine commission, a direct calling and sending must have been given beforehand.

I say this before the Lord God: From the moment the voice of the seventh trumpet angel was declared to be “the Voice of God” in Rev 10:7, the deification of the prophet had officially begun. Rev 10:7 does not say anything at all about the Voice of God. Rev 8 and 9 show the six trumpet angels who bring their judgments upon the earth. In Rev 10:7 we find the announcement of what will happen when the seventh angel sounds the trumpet: That is when the mystery of God comes to a conclusion, just as He declared it to His servants and prophets.

In Rev 11, after the two witnesses have completed their ministry and the temple has been built and measured, the seventh angel sounds the trumpet and the Kingdom is proclaimed: “And the seventh angel sounded (as announced in Rev 10:7); and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdomsof our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 11:15). Amen.

Everything that is reported about Rev 6 in the Seals and the further chapters is still in the future. Brother Branham said that everything that is written in the sixth and seventh seal falls into the time of tribulation. Rev 10 describes what happens when the Lord, as the Angel of the Covenant, sets His feet on land and sea. “And when (not in 1963) the seven thunders had uttered their voices … he lifted up his hand to heaven and swore …” (vv. 4-6). According to Dan 12:7, after the Angel swears, there are still 3½ years remaining until the end of that time period. Rev 10:7 shall forever remain in the singular form. Brother Branham always spoke of mysteries of God. The Apostle Paul did the same: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Cor 4:1).

The mystery of God is Jesus Christ, our Lord. The apostle emphasized it once more: “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col 2:2-3).

The first time I was asked the question about the seven thunders in Rev 10 was in Marseille in February 1980. I did not have an answer at that time, but the following morning, the Lord spoke to me with a commanding voice: “My servant, rise and read 2 Tim 4.” No one can imagine what goes on inside a person during such moments. Now the faithful Lord addressed these words to me personally. When I read the text: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (v. 2), it was clear to me that nothing is written about the seven thunders; therefore, it is not possible to preach about them.

It is my commission to preach solely the written Word. In the first three verses in Rev 1 we read: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (v. 3). Brother Branham emphasized the last four verses in Rev 22 around 150 times. If anyone adds anything to the written Word, that person will suffer the torments described therein, and should anyone take something away from it, that individual shall have his or her part removed from the book of life. That is why Brother Branham said, “Do not accept anything unless it is written in the Bible.”

Every preacher should carefully read 2 Tim 4 and examine himself to see whether verse 2 applies to him because he preaches only the Word of God, or whether verses 3 and 4 pertain to him and he preaches human fables. Those who do not respect each and every Word of God are condemned to believe their own interpretations and heresies (2 Ths 2:10-12).

I do not correct the prophet, but it is my sacred duty to correctly place all things that he said in regard to God’s Plan of Salvation into their divine order in the Scriptures. To all those who refer only to him and his quotes, I have to say what Peter said regarding Paul’s letters: “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Pet 3:16).

Brother Branham often spoke in the past tense about things that still lie in the future. But that is the way the entire biblical prophecy has been recorded. On the Isle of Patmos, John saw everything as if it had already happened. Still, only the spiritually ignorant are twisting the quotes, unto the spiritual destruction of their listeners.

Our Lord testified of John the Baptist that he was more than a prophet, yet no more than a man. “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” And then our Lord emphasized, “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (Mt 11:9+10). The same holds true for the word of William Branham. All of the apostles announced the Return of the Lord, but William Branham was given the direct commission of delivering the message that foreruns the Second Coming of Christ.

Still, he was just a human being, a man sent from God. The infallible and perfect parts were the divine gift of seeing visions and the prophetic ministry. As a human, he sometimes had certain personal perceptions of things. For instance, he was firmly convinced that everything he had been shown in visions in 1933 would be fulfilled by 1977; therefore, the Branham fanatics taught that everything would be over in 1977 and the Rapture would take place. But it remains forever true that no one knows the day or the hour.

On December 24, 1965, a blessed period of time came to an end: The Lord God took home His servant and prophet. Filled with sorrow, I attended the funeral, which took place on Easter Monday, April 11, 1966. After all the tears and profound grief, a voice spoke repeatedly in my heart: “Now your time has come to go from city to city, to preach the Word and to give out the spiritual food.” I knew then that the time had come.

In April 1966 a new period began; one could also say: a continuation. But how was that possible? Commissioned by the Lord Himself, right after the funeral on April 12 and 13, 1966, I called the brothers together in Jeffersonville. My main concern was that the sermons, which had been recorded on audiotape, should be printed so that they could be translated into other languages. Roy Borders, who had been Brother Branham’s private secretary and whom I knew, was assigned the task of setting up the print shop. That is how “Spoken Word Publications” was founded.

If the faithful Lord would not have had His servant William Branham in Jeffersonville on June 11, 1933, we would have never heard about the message. If the same Lord would not have had His servant Ewald Frank in Jeffersonville in April 1966, the world would have never learned about the message.

In 1973 I made the journey to Jeffersonville together with our church leader and elder, Brother Leonhard Russ, and with Brother Erich Schwill. The brothers there showed us the place at the Ohio River where Brother Branham was baptizing when the supernatural happened. We also visited the Branham Tabernacle and the Spoken Word building. 

Brother Branham’s youngest son, Joseph, was just 11 years old in April 1966. In 1980 he renamed “Spoken Word Publications” to “Voice of God, Inc.” By that time, I had already reached more than half the world with the message of the Word. In order to carry out a divine commission, a direct calling and sending must have been given beforehand.

I say this before the Lord God: From the moment the voice of the seventh trumpet angel was declared to be “the Voice of God” in Rev 10:7, the deification of the prophet had officially begun. Rev 10:7 does not say anything at all about the Voice of God. Rev 8 and 9 show the six trumpet angels who bring their judgments upon the earth. In Rev 10:7 we find the announcement of what will happen when the seventh angel sounds the trumpet: That is when the mystery of God comes to a conclusion, just as He declared it to His servants and prophets. 

In Rev 11, after the two witnesses have completed their ministry and the temple has been built and measured, the seventh angel sounds the trumpet and the Kingdom is proclaimed: “And the seventh angel sounded (as announced in Rev 10:7); and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdomsof our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 11:15). Amen.

Everything that is reported about Rev 6 in the Seals and the further chapters is still in the future. Brother Branham said that everything that is written in the sixth and seventh seal falls into the time of tribulation. Rev 10 describes what happens when the Lord, as the Angel of the Covenant, sets His feet on land and sea. “And when (not in 1963) the seven thunders had uttered their voices … he lifted up his hand to heaven and swore …” (vv. 4-6). According to Dan 12:7, after the Angel swears, there are still 3½ years remaining until the end of that time period. Rev 10:7 shall forever remain in the singular form. Brother Branham always spoke of mysteries of God. The Apostle Paul did the same: *“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.”* (1 Cor 4:1).

The mystery of God is Jesus Christ, our Lord. The apostle emphasized it once more: “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col 2:2-3).

The first time I was asked the question about the seven thunders in Rev 10 was in Marseille in February 1980. I did not have an answer at that time, but the following morning, the Lord spoke to me with a commanding voice: “My servant, rise and read 2 Tim 4.” No one can imagine what goes on inside a person during such moments. Now the faithful Lord addressed these words to me personally. When I read the text: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” (v. 2), it was clear to me that nothing is written about the seven thunders; therefore, it is not possible to preach about them. 

It is my commission to preach solely the written Word. In the first three verses in Rev 1 we read: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (v. 3). Brother Branham emphasized the last four verses in Rev 22 around 150 times. If anyone adds anything to the written Word, that person will suffer the torments described therein, and should anyone take something away from it, that individual shall have his or her part removed from the book of life. That is why Brother Branham said, “Do not accept anything unless it is written in the Bible.”

Every preacher should carefully read 2 Tim 4 and examine himself to see whether verse 2 applies to him because he preaches only the Word of God, or whether verses 3 and 4 pertain to him and he preaches human fables. Those who do not respect each and every Word of God are condemned to believe their own interpretations and heresies (2 Ths 2:10-12).

I do not correct the prophet, but it is my sacred duty to correctly place all things that he said in regard to God’s Plan of Salvation into their divine order in the Scriptures. To all those who refer only to him and his quotes, I have to say what Peter said regarding Paul’s letters: “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Pet 3:16).

Brother Branham often spoke in the past tense about things that still lie in the future. But that is the way the entire biblical prophecy has been recorded. On the Isle of Patmos, John saw everything as if it had already happened. Still, only the spiritually ignorant are twisting the quotes, unto the spiritual destruction of their listeners. 

Our Lord testified of John the Baptist that he was more than a prophet, yet no more than a man. “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” And then our Lord emphasized, “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” (Mt 11:9+10). The same holds true for the word of William Branham. All of the apostles announced the Return of the Lord, but William Branham was given the direct commission of delivering the message that foreruns the Second Coming of Christ. 

Still, he was just a human being, a man sent from God. The infallible and perfect parts were the divine gift of seeing visions and the prophetic ministry. As a human, he sometimes had certain personal perceptions of things. For instance, he was firmly convinced that everything he had been shown in visions in 1933 would be fulfilled by 1977; therefore, the Branham fanatics taught that everything would be over in 1977 and the Rapture would take place. But it remains forever true that no one knows the day or the hour.