Because of the rumours spread everywhere, the following state ment must be given: Never have I or any brother at the church in Krefeld or in any other church, city or country ever preached the polygamy doctrine. On the other hand, I met those who, with a smile, would ask, “What do you think about ‘Marriage and Divorce'?” My reply was and will always be, "I believe as the Scripture says, just as Brother Branham expounded it.” At such occasions it happened, that those who were asking then asserted that I and the brethren at the Krefeld church teach the polygamy doctrine. That was not, is not, and never will be.

There is no need for anybody to preach another sermon on that subject. We just need the fear of God and respect for His Word. Without realizing it, people don't pay any attention to what God actually revealed, but they keep on repeating old traditional thoughts. What God spoke through Moses and what Paul wrote, everyone can read in the Holy Scriptures. Also in the message of Brother Branham entitled Marriage and Divorce the subject is thoroughly dealt with. I have never preached one sermon about it and I don't intend to do so. According to his own statement, it was not only at the beginning and the end, but THUS SAITH THE LORD all the way through. We shouldn't add anything nor should we twist it; it is not even necessary to comment on it.

This is the oldest problem and goes back to Eve who was seduced by the serpent and became the first adulteress. This is the reason why Satan tries his hardest to confuse and prevent clarification coming into the hearts and thinking of the believers. If in spite of the profound teaching things are not clear, then it is because the Truth has not yet been made known personally to us. If we profess to believe what God said, then we cannot choose what we like to believe and what not. We are obligated to believe every Word.

As with all other doctrines, we also find the extremes in this case. Some profess that they have been restored physically to the condition which existed before the transgression, that is, the fall. Some even teach that women will bear their children without sorrow and pain, and henceforth the children of the coloured race will remain white. They say, “Christ has brought us back to the beginning before the fall.” The explanations are given in a comprehensive way. But those who propagate such teachings or believe them know it's a fantasy and not reality.

By God's grace we shall place every Word in its rightful connection and if we are sincere and humble, we shall also understand this difficult subject. From God's point of view the redemption has happened, death and hell are overcome. At the same time death and hell are still in existence. According to I Corinthians 15:54, death will be swallowed up in victory, when this corruption puts on incorruption, and mortality puts on immortality.

Some are of the opinion that the message was given for one reason only, that is to announce to all men and women, who were divorced and remarried several times, to be pardoned. Certainly that was a most important point in that message. A big load was taken away from all those who had long enough been tormented in their conscience and were in great need of an answer from God. They received from God direct forgiveness spoken by a divine commission. I don't recall another meeting where the hearts were more touched, where more tears were flowing and where more joy of forgiveness and praises from thankful hearts ascended to God Almighty.

Those who read the sermon prayerfully will notice the other things which are also contained therein. Some expressions and examples used are hard to understand. There are those who even say that Brother Branham did not use the right Scripture references; others say that the sermon should never have been published. But if we look at it the right way, we see everything illuminated from Genesis to Revelation in

The exposition is of great significance for all of us. We should not treat a case as we like, but judge from the Scriptural point of view. Actually the spirits are being separated. Nobody can continue in the old denominational tracks. We are forced to take the Holy Scriptures and everything Brother Branham said and get the clear, indisputable answer from God. We cannot go on in our wilfulness or pronounce our own judgment, we must acknowledge God's book of law. Sin is the transgression of God's law – nothing else. The Spirit of God will convict us upon the basis of God's law and commandments.

James 4:12 states, “There is only one lawgiver and judge…” HE can only judge according to His own book of law. Christ was put under the law to redeem those who were condemned by the law. HE took the curse of the law upon Himself, so that we may be set free.

God gave instructions for the natural and the spiritual realm in the Old and the New Testaments. Not one of us could claim to understand everything. Let us take just two scriptures, and you will see that the Lord gave one piece of advice and later another, which seems contrary to the natural mind. In Genesis 2:24 we read, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” This pertains to the beginning before the fall, right after Eve was taken out of Adam. This is the verse our Lord referred to in Matthew 19, when He said, “What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

While giving the law, the Lord said in Exodus 21:2-10 what should be done with a Hebrew servant. In the seventh year he could return and be free, but there were conditions connected with it, which we today could never understand: “If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.” One could rightfully ask why a family should be torn apart in such a way. How can we reconcile these two scriptures? No one today could comprehend the decision the Lord has made there. If the man decided to stay with his wife and family, he had to remain with his master, then his ear was pierced with an awl and he was marked a servant for ever (verse 6).

We comprehend why Brother Branham had to say that after the fall another covenant was made. He gave many scriptures to prove it. Those who speak up say, "That was in the Old Testament!” That is true, and thanks be to God that it is not so today. But we are meeting the same God in His Word all the time. Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New. Would not the Lord in principle have to say the same thing all the time in such a vital matter?

In Deuteronomy 24:1 the Lord permitted the man to give his wife a bill of divorcement. But there is no place where a woman could give a bill of divorcement to her husband. When Jesus was asked about this scriptures, He said in Matthew 5:32, “But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of for nication, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” Also in the New Testament the Lord doesn't change His pattern. HE does not permit the wife to do so with her husband. That is why Brother Branham emphasized that it has to stay in continuity. Whether in Matthew 5:32 or 19:9, I Corinthians 7:10 or other places, we clearly see the distinction made between man and wife in the New Testament also.

There is only one exception of which Paul writes to the Corinthians: if one part does not believe. “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God hath called us to peace.” (1 Corinthians 7:15). The guilt will be upon the unbelieving part, not upon the brother or the sister. Perhaps the two were not joined by God. Paul was so realistic, that he did not say, “You must fast and pray and believe;” but he wrote, “For what knowest thou, o wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, o man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” (verse 16). Compare this statement with those who hand out a recipe like a druggist.

The statement Brother Branham made, “A man can put away his wife and marry another, but not the woman put away her husband and marry another”, must be seen in the light of the Scriptures. Already in the year 1933 it was shown to him how women would forsake their God-given place. We live in a time of emancipation and of women's rights movements. For almost 6,000 years of history it must have been unthinkable that women would act as they do today. Thanks be to God for all our dear sisters who have found the right place towards their husbands. They need not worry at all how they stand before the Lord, they will be happy and blessed. They might have heaven on earth.

Certainly the possibility of divorce was not a suggestion for the men, but only permissive, if it cannot be avoided under all circumstances. Woe unto the man who only seeks an excuse to do it! Woe unto the woman who forces him to do so! Those women who believe shall take notice of the fact that God has given them a subordinate place. That is also valid throughout the New Testament. If they forsake their God-given place and try to take authority over the man, God's order is disturbed. A woman who does not consciously submit to her husband, is unconsciously submitting to the enemy. She then is in rebellion against the Word of God.

The Lord has warned them earnestly through that particular sermon. They should not think by themselves to be secure, because their husbands must depend on them. The Lord wants to establish His order among His people according to His Word. The husband must take his stand as the head of the wife, and Christ must be recognized by the husband as the head. A wife who is beheading herself does not know what she is doing. How many wives who claim to believe just ignore all the scriptural advice and actually tread God's Word underfoot, while still thinking themselves to be very spiritual! They say, the civil law has granted them this liberty.

The sermon preached by Brother Branham is never meant to give liberty to the husbands. It should be used to bring all things into God's original order. Moses, the Lord Jesus, Brother Paul and Brother Branham have all given the man his place and advised the wife as to her place. In I Corinthians 11 we read, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.” (verses 6-9)

The wives had to have long hair to show their submission to their husbands. That is the reason why Brother Branham made the statement that a man can divorce his wife, if she cuts her hair, and marry another one. It shows the seriousness of the matter. “For rebellion”, or disobedience, “is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:23) The idea is not to subdue the wives, not at all, but they must find and take their place. If someone is not willing to take this final correction, it could be that such a person will miss the last visitation of God upon His people.

Our dearly beloved Brother Branham was 100 percent in agreement with Paul and the whole Scripture. He said, “Therefore God doesn't permit her to teach or to do anything in the church, but sit still with a veiled head." Compare this with I Timothy 2:11-12, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” This is the ABC for all women. God is holy, He uttered every Word, and He means well. HE knows the reason and doesn't need to explain anything to anyone. If His Word penetrates into our soul and spirit, the fruit will be shown in our daily life. It will be manifested in the marriage, in the family and in the church. We are overwhelmed by the love of God, but also understand how earnestly He speaks to us. At the end everything must be brought and restored to its original place and order. Then we shall finally see the result of the prophetic message that was entrusted to us.

Because of the rumours spread everywhere, the following state ment must be given: Never have I or any brother at the church in Krefeld or in any other church, city or country ever preached the polygamy doctrine. On the other hand, I met those who, with a smile, would ask, “What do you think about ‘Marriage and Divorce'?” My reply was and will always be, "I believe as the Scripture says, just as Brother Branham expounded it.” At such occasions it happened, that those who were asking then asserted that I and the brethren at the Krefeld church teach the polygamy doctrine. That was not, is not, and never will be.

There is no need for anybody to preach another sermon on that subject. We just need the fear of God and respect for His Word. Without realizing it, people don't pay any attention to what God actually revealed, but they keep on repeating old traditional thoughts. What God spoke through Moses and what Paul wrote, everyone can read in the Holy Scriptures. Also in the message of Brother Branham entitled Marriage and Divorce the subject is thoroughly dealt with. I have never preached one sermon about it and I don't intend to do so. According to his own statement, it was not only at the beginning and the end, but THUS SAITH THE LORD all the way through. We shouldn't add anything nor should we twist it; it is not even necessary to comment on it.

This is the oldest problem and goes back to Eve who was seduced by the serpent and became the first adulteress. This is the reason why Satan tries his hardest to confuse and prevent clarification coming into the hearts and thinking of the believers. If in spite of the profound teaching things are not clear, then it is because the Truth has not yet been made known personally to us. If we profess to believe what God said, then we cannot choose what we like to believe and what not. We are obligated to believe every Word.

As with all other doctrines, we also find the extremes in this case. Some profess that they have been restored physically to the condition which existed before the transgression, that is, the fall. Some even teach that women will bear their children without sorrow and pain, and henceforth the children of the coloured race will remain white. They say, “Christ has brought us back to the beginning before the fall.” The explanations are given in a comprehensive way. But those who propagate such teachings or believe them know it's a fantasy and not reality.

By God's grace we shall place every Word in its rightful connection and if we are sincere and humble, we shall also understand this difficult subject. From God's point of view the redemption has happened, death and hell are overcome. At the same time death and hell are still in existence. According to I Corinthians 15:54, death will be swallowed up in victory, when this corruption puts on incorruption, and mortality puts on immortality.

Some are of the opinion that the message was given for one reason only, that is to announce to all men and women, who were divorced and remarried several times, to be pardoned. Certainly that was a most important point in that message. A big load was taken away from all those who had long enough been tormented in their conscience and were in great need of an answer from God. They received from God direct forgiveness spoken by a divine commission. I don't recall another meeting where the hearts were more touched, where more tears were flowing and where more joy of forgiveness and praises from thankful hearts ascended to God Almighty.

Those who read the sermon prayerfully will notice the other things which are also contained therein. Some expressions and examples used are hard to understand. There are those who even say that Brother Branham did not use the right Scripture references; others say that the sermon should never have been published. But if we look at it the right way, we see everything illuminated from Genesis to Revelation in

The exposition is of great significance for all of us. We should not treat a case as we like, but judge from the Scriptural point of view. Actually the spirits are being separated. Nobody can continue in the old denominational tracks. We are forced to take the Holy Scriptures and everything Brother Branham said and get the clear, indisputable answer from God. We cannot go on in our wilfulness or pronounce our own judgment, we must acknowledge God's book of law. Sin is the transgression of God's law – nothing else. The Spirit of God will convict us upon the basis of God's law and commandments.

James 4:12 states, “There is only one lawgiver and judge…” HE can only judge according to His own book of law. Christ was put under the law to redeem those who were condemned by the law. HE took the curse of the law upon Himself, so that we may be set free.

God gave instructions for the natural and the spiritual realm in the Old and the New Testaments. Not one of us could claim to understand everything. Let us take just two scriptures, and you will see that the Lord gave one piece of advice and later another, which seems contrary to the natural mind. In Genesis 2:24 we read, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” This pertains to the beginning before the fall, right after Eve was taken out of Adam. This is the verse our Lord referred to in Matthew 19, when He said, “What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

While giving the law, the Lord said in Exodus 21:2-10 what should be done with a Hebrew servant. In the seventh year he could return and be free, but there were conditions connected with it, which we today could never understand: “If his master have given him a wife, and she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.” One could rightfully ask why a family should be torn apart in such a way. How can we reconcile these two scriptures? No one today could comprehend the decision the Lord has made there. If the man decided to stay with his wife and family, he had to remain with his master, then his ear was pierced with an awl and he was marked a servant for ever (verse 6).

We comprehend why Brother Branham had to say that after the fall another covenant was made. He gave many scriptures to prove it. Those who speak up say, "That was in the Old Testament!” That is true, and thanks be to God that it is not so today. But we are meeting the same God in His Word all the time. Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New. Would not the Lord in principle have to say the same thing all the time in such a vital matter?

In Deuteronomy 24:1 the Lord permitted the man to give his wife a bill of divorcement. But there is no place where a woman could give a bill of divorcement to her husband. When Jesus was asked about this scriptures, He said in Matthew 5:32, “But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife, except for the cause of for nication, causeth her to commit adultery, and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.” Also in the New Testament the Lord doesn't change His pattern. HE does not permit the wife to do so with her husband. That is why Brother Branham emphasized that it has to stay in continuity. Whether in Matthew 5:32 or 19:9, I Corinthians 7:10 or other places, we clearly see the distinction made between man and wife in the New Testament also.

There is only one exception of which Paul writes to the Corinthians: if one part does not believe. “But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases; but God hath called us to peace.” (1 Corinthians 7:15). The guilt will be upon the unbelieving part, not upon the brother or the sister. Perhaps the two were not joined by God. Paul was so realistic, that he did not say, “You must fast and pray and believe;” but he wrote, “For what knowest thou, o wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, o man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” (verse 16). Compare this statement with those who hand out a recipe like a druggist.

The statement Brother Branham made, “A man can put away his wife and marry another, but not the woman put away her husband and marry another”, must be seen in the light of the Scriptures. Already in the year 1933 it was shown to him how women would forsake their God-given place. We live in a time of emancipation and of women's rights movements. For almost 6,000 years of history it must have been unthinkable that women would act as they do today. Thanks be to God for all our dear sisters who have found the right place towards their husbands. They need not worry at all how they stand before the Lord, they will be happy and blessed. They might have heaven on earth.

Certainly the possibility of divorce was not a suggestion for the men, but only permissive, if it cannot be avoided under all circumstances. Woe unto the man who only seeks an excuse to do it! Woe unto the woman who forces him to do so! Those women who believe shall take notice of the fact that God has given them a subordinate place. That is also valid throughout the New Testament. If they forsake their God-given place and try to take authority over the man, God's order is disturbed. A woman who does not consciously submit to her husband, is unconsciously submitting to the enemy. She then is in rebellion against the Word of God.

The Lord has warned them earnestly through that particular sermon. They should not think by themselves to be secure, because their husbands must depend on them. The Lord wants to establish His order among His people according to His Word. The husband must take his stand as the head of the wife, and Christ must be recognized by the husband as the head. A wife who is beheading herself does not know what she is doing. How many wives who claim to believe just ignore all the scriptural advice and actually tread God's Word underfoot, while still thinking themselves to be very spiritual! They say, the civil law has granted them this liberty.

The sermon preached by Brother Branham is never meant to give liberty to the husbands. It should be used to bring all things into God's original order. Moses, the Lord Jesus, Brother Paul and Brother Branham have all given the man his place and advised the wife as to her place. In I Corinthians 11 we read, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.” (verses 6-9)

The wives had to have long hair to show their submission to their husbands. That is the reason why Brother Branham made the statement that a man can divorce his wife, if she cuts her hair, and marry another one. It shows the seriousness of the matter. “For rebellion”, or disobedience, “is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:23) The idea is not to subdue the wives, not at all, but they must find and take their place. If someone is not willing to take this final correction, it could be that such a person will miss the last visitation of God upon His people.

Our dearly beloved Brother Branham was 100 percent in agreement with Paul and the whole Scripture. He said, “Therefore God doesn't permit her to teach or to do anything in the church, but sit still with a veiled head." Compare this with I Timothy 2:11-12, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” This is the ABC for all women. God is holy, He uttered every Word, and He means well. HE knows the reason and doesn't need to explain anything to anyone. If His Word penetrates into our soul and spirit, the fruit will be shown in our daily life. It will be manifested in the marriage, in the family and in the church. We are overwhelmed by the love of God, but also understand how earnestly He speaks to us. At the end everything must be brought and restored to its original place and order. Then we shall finally see the result of the prophetic message that was entrusted to us.