Once more, hopefully for the last time, the subject of Rev. 10 shall be scripturally illuminated. At His first coming, God sent to His people Israel, a prophet as the preparer of the way, according to His promise in Mal. 3:1 (Mt. 11:7-15; Mk. 1:1-4). This is generally known. In the second part of the same verse in Mal. 3:1, which refers to the coming to His people Israel, it states the following about the “Angel of the Covenant,” who will then come to His temple: “… and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” – Indeed, it is Thus saith the Lord! Here it is not about the Return of Christ as Bridegroom, not about the Rapture of the Bride, and not about the marriage supper. This coming falls into the “day of the Lord.” The Holy Scripture confirms it: “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” (vv. 2-4).

In this text we are told precisely what will happen when the Lord as the Angel of the Covenant comes to His people Israel. At that time, He will purify the sons of Levi, and all offerings of Judah in Jerusalem will be pleasant unto Him. This brings us into the literal fulfilment. After the last message to the churches in Rev. 3 and this serious admonition to the believers: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ...,” the last church age comes to its end. Brother Branham repeatedly said, “The Church goes up with chapter 4 and returns in chapter 19.” Thereafter, John no longer sees the Son of Man walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, but he sees the Lord on the throne, surrounded by a rainbow: “… and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne …” (Rev. 4:2-3).

In Rev. 10 the Lord comes down as the Angel of the Covenant surrounded by a rainbow: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire …” (Rev. 10:1). Then the following comes to pass:

I. In His hand He holds the open book which was still sealed in chapter 5.

II. He sets one foot upon the sea and the other on the earth and cries with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.

III. Only then, when He as the Lion of the tribe of Judah has roared, the seven thunders utter their voices.

From the moment when He swears as the Angel of the Covenant, there are three and a half years left until the end of the time of tribulation and the beginning of the Millennium: “… and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” (Dan. 12:7b). That is Thus saith the Lord in His Word.

This coming, when He roars like a lion, is illuminated in at least three Scriptures. The first one is Jer. 25:30-36: “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.” (see also Isa. 63:1-6 and Rev. 14:14-20).

The second Scripture is Hos. 11:10: “They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.”

The third one is Joel 3:15-16: “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”

On March 17, 1963, Brother Branham read the Scripture from Rev. 10 out loud and then said the following in accordance with the aforementioned Scriptures: “If you notice that’s Christ (See?), ‘cause He in the Old Testament was called the Angel of the Covenant, and He’s directly coming to the Jews now, for the Church is finished.” That is correct. Not only is she finished, she is indeed raptured.

Here we see the Lord as the mighty Angel of the Covenant who is clothed with a cloud. It is the same cloud that accompanied Israel – the same Lord, the same Angel of the Covenant. The rainbow upon His head testifies of the covenant which He made with Israel. Yes, He roars from Mount Zion, from Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord in His Word. Everything else is an arbitrary interpretation (2. Pt. 1:20). Whoever does not believe the truth of the Word is damned to believe the lie. Only to the one who actually respects the Word of God can the Lord speak; only he who places what Brother Branham said into the right biblical context believes as the Scripture says. Amen. Only then are we the Word Bride. All thunder doctrines are unscriptural, for they are not found in the Bible, not testified therein. Woe unto him who adds to the completed testimony of the Holy Scripture (Rev. 22)!

According to Mal. 3:1b-5, the Lord comes to His temple at that time. This is the moment when the antichrist as the “son of perdition,” as the “adversary of Christ” who exalts himself above everything, comes to the temple in his arrogance. The Lord will then consume him with the spirit of His mouth (2. Ths. 2).

In Ezekiel, chapters 40-47, the temple is described and also the river which flows from the temple to En Gedi all the way into the Dead Sea. “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward …” In Zec. 14:20-21 it states that then even the pots in the temple will be sanctified. In Isa. 66:6 we read: “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.”

In Rev. 11 the ministry of the two witnesses is described. Right in verse 1 it states: “… Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” At that time, the temple, which was destroyed in the year ad 70, must be rebuilt.

The Jews at the Wailing Wall always end their prayer with this request: “Elohim Adonai, grant that the temple is built and that the Messiah comes.” Right in verse 2 it is written that at that time “the holy city” – which is always Jerusalem – shall be trodden down by the Gentiles for 42 months, that is three and half years. In Rev. 11:3 it states that the two witnesses will prophesy for 1260 days, which also add up to three and half years. Lest anyone comes to the conclusion that it is about the same three and half years, the separate time periods are on one hand identified as 1260 days for the ministry of the two prophets, and on the other hand as 42 months during which the city is trodden down. In the first three and half years, the two prophets have their ministry. The second three and half years are the time of the great tribulation, during which the persecution of the believers that were left behind, but especially the Jews, takes place: “… and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” (Rev. 13:5). After these three and half years of tribulation for Israel, the Millennium will be proclaimed. This is Thus saith the lord in His Word: “… and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit … And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Dan. 7:25-27).

In Rev. 10:7 we find the announcement that when the seventh trumpet angel blows his shofar, the mystery of God shall be finished, as He revealed it without fail to His servants, the prophets (Amos 3:7). Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, is the mystery of God revealed (1. Tim. 3:16). The Jews did not recognize it at that time but then they shall look upon the Him Whom they have pierced (Zec. 12:9-14). In Rev. 11:15 we find the fulfilment: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” It cannot be this way or that way – God’s Word is always and with every subject “Yes and Amen.”

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” (Eze. 37:26-28). And just as the numerous Scriptures declare it, so shall it be.

It has to be said once more: The first four seals refer to the antichrist power in its four stages (Rev. 6:1-8) parallel to the church ages (Rev. 2+3). The fifth seal shows the Jewish martyrs – including those from the Holocaust – at the altar and foretells that their blood shall be avenged and that their fellow servants and brothers will also suffer the same fate (Rev. 6:9-11).

With the sixth seal, we see the introduction into the day of the Lord: A strong earthquake takes place; the sun becomes dark and the moon turns into blood; the stars fall from heaven; and there it actually states: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:12-17). By now everybody realizes that the events which are described from that point on will take place only after the Rapture, during the time of the sixth and seventh seal. That includes all of the trumpet judgements and even the seven vials of wrath (Rev. 16). Then all that remains is the judgement over the great Babylon, which is attired in purple and scarlet (chap. 17+18).

Whosoever is part of the Bride Church thankfully does not need to worry about the things that will take place on earth during that time. Everything will be literally fulfilled just as it is written, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. The seventh seal (Rev. 8:1) is certainly not merely the silence in heaven. Right from verse 2 we are told what happens then: John at once saw the seven angels who stood before God, to whom were given seven trumpets. And straightaway we find out what kind of judgements strike the earth at the sound of each trumpet. Amen. For the last phase, everything is foretold in great detail, whether it is written in chapter 7, in chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, or thereafter. All these things will be fulfilled to the letter.

Once more, hopefully for the last time, the subject of Rev. 10 shall be scripturally illuminated. At His first coming, God sent to His people Israel, a prophet as the preparer of the way, according to His promise in Mal. 3:1 (Mt. 11:7-15; Mk. 1:1-4). This is generally known. In the second part of the same verse in Mal. 3:1, which refers to the coming to His people Israel, it states the following about the “Angel of the Covenant,” who will then come to His temple: “… and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” – Indeed, it is Thus saith the Lord! Here it is not about the Return of Christ as Bridegroom, not about the Rapture of the Bride, and not about the marriage supper. This coming falls into the “day of the Lord.” The Holy Scripture confirms it: “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.” (vv. 2-4).

In this text we are told precisely what will happen when the Lord as the Angel of the Covenant comes to His people Israel. At that time, He will purify the sons of Levi, and all offerings of Judah in Jerusalem will be pleasant unto Him. This brings us into the literal fulfilment. After the last message to the churches in Rev. 3 and this serious admonition to the believers: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches ...,” the last church age comes to its end. Brother Branham repeatedly said, “The Church goes up with chapter 4 and returns in chapter 19.” Thereafter, John no longer sees the Son of Man walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, but he sees the Lord on the throne, surrounded by a rainbow: “… and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne …” (Rev. 4:2-3).

In Rev. 10 the Lord comes down as the Angel of the Covenant surrounded by a rainbow: “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire …” (Rev. 10:1). Then the following comes to pass:

I. In His hand He holds the open book which was still sealed in chapter 5.

II. He sets one foot upon the sea and the other on the earth and cries with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.

III. Only then, when He as the Lion of the tribe of Judah has roared, the seven thunders utter their voices.

From the moment when He swears as the Angel of the Covenant, there are three and a half years left until the end of the time of tribulation and the beginning of the Millennium: “… and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” (Dan. 12:7b). That is Thus saith the Lord in His Word.

This coming, when He roars like a lion, is illuminated in at least three Scriptures. The first one is Jer. 25:30-36: “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.” (see also Isa. 63:1-6 and Rev. 14:14-20).

The second Scripture is Hos. 11:10: “They shall walk after the Lord: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.”

The third one is Joel 3:15-16: “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”

On March 17, 1963, Brother Branham read the Scripture from Rev. 10 out loud and then said the following in accordance with the aforementioned Scriptures: “If you notice that’s Christ (See?), ‘cause He in the Old Testament was called the Angel of the Covenant, and He’s directly coming to the Jews now, for the Church is finished.” That is correct. Not only is she finished, she is indeed raptured.

Here we see the Lord as the mighty Angel of the Covenant who is clothed with a cloud. It is the same cloud that accompanied Israel – the same Lord, the same Angel of the Covenant. The rainbow upon His head testifies of the covenant which He made with Israel. Yes, He roars from Mount Zion, from Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord in His Word. Everything else is an arbitrary interpretation (2. Pt. 1:20). Whoever does not believe the truth of the Word is damned to believe the lie. Only to the one who actually respects the Word of God can the Lord speak; only he who places what Brother Branham said into the right biblical context believes as the Scripture says. Amen. Only then are we the Word Bride. All thunder doctrines are unscriptural, for they are not found in the Bible, not testified therein. Woe unto him who adds to the completed testimony of the Holy Scripture (Rev. 22)!

According to Mal. 3:1b-5, the Lord comes to His temple at that time. This is the moment when the antichrist as the “son of perdition,” as the “adversary of Christ” who exalts himself above everything, comes to the temple in his arrogance. The Lord will then consume him with the spirit of His mouth (2. Ths. 2).

In Ezekiel, chapters 40-47, the temple is described and also the river which flows from the temple to En Gedi all the way into the Dead Sea. “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward …” In Zec. 14:20-21 it states that then even the pots in the temple will be sanctified. In Isa. 66:6 we read: “A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.”

In Rev. 11 the ministry of the two witnesses is described. Right in verse 1 it states: “… Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.” At that time, the temple, which was destroyed in the year ad 70, must be rebuilt.

The Jews at the Wailing Wall always end their prayer with this request: “Elohim Adonai, grant that the temple is built and that the Messiah comes.” Right in verse 2 it is written that at that time “the holy city” – which is always Jerusalem – shall be trodden down by the Gentiles for 42 months, that is three and half years. In Rev. 11:3 it states that the two witnesses will prophesy for 1260 days, which also add up to three and half years. Lest anyone comes to the conclusion that it is about the same three and half years, the separate time periods are on one hand identified as 1260 days for the ministry of the two prophets, and on the other hand as 42 months during which the city is trodden down. In the first three and half years, the two prophets have their ministry. The second three and half years are the time of the great tribulation, during which the persecution of the believers that were left behind, but especially the Jews, takes place: “… and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” (Rev. 13:5). After these three and half years of tribulation for Israel, the Millennium will be proclaimed. This is Thus saith the lord in His Word: “… and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit … And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Dan. 7:25-27).

In Rev. 10:7 we find the announcement that when the seventh trumpet angel blows his shofar, the mystery of God shall be finished, as He revealed it without fail to His servants, the prophets (Amos 3:7). Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, is the mystery of God revealed (1. Tim. 3:16). The Jews did not recognize it at that time but then they shall look upon the Him Whom they have pierced (Zec. 12:9-14). In Rev. 11:15 we find the fulfilment: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” It cannot be this way or that way – God’s Word is always and with every subject “Yes and Amen.”

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” (Eze. 37:26-28). And just as the numerous Scriptures declare it, so shall it be.

It has to be said once more: The first four seals refer to the antichrist power in its four stages (Rev. 6:1-8) parallel to the church ages (Rev. 2+3). The fifth seal shows the Jewish martyrs – including those from the Holocaust – at the altar and foretells that their blood shall be avenged and that their fellow servants and brothers will also suffer the same fate (Rev. 6:9-11).

With the sixth seal, we see the introduction into the day of the Lord: A strong earthquake takes place; the sun becomes dark and the moon turns into blood; the stars fall from heaven; and there it actually states: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:12-17). By now everybody realizes that the events which are described from that point on will take place only after the Rapture, during the time of the sixth and seventh seal. That includes all of the trumpet judgements and even the seven vials of wrath (Rev. 16). Then all that remains is the judgement over the great Babylon, which is attired in purple and scarlet (chap. 17+18).

Whosoever is part of the Bride Church thankfully does not need to worry about the things that will take place on earth during that time. Everything will be literally fulfilled just as it is written, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. The seventh seal (Rev. 8:1) is certainly not merely the silence in heaven. Right from verse 2 we are told what happens then: John at once saw the seven angels who stood before God, to whom were given seven trumpets. And straightaway we find out what kind of judgements strike the earth at the sound of each trumpet. Amen. For the last phase, everything is foretold in great detail, whether it is written in chapter 7, in chapter 8, chapter 9, chapter 10, chapter 11, or thereafter. All these things will be fulfilled to the letter.