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p.3 Prophecy of Sharks in L.A. There are so many so called prophecies by William Branham that were vague, but some were clear and these are the ones we can see failure in. This prophecy was never fulfilled before Mr. Branham's death in 1965. William Branham and his son Billy Paul were once standing in front of the May Company in downtown Los Angeles. He told his son, " Billy, I may not be here but you won't be an old man until sharks will swim right where we are standing " (See The Acts of the Prophet, by Pearry Green, page 119). He was referring to his prophecy that California would one day sink into the ocean as the result of a catastrophic earthquake. Branham said that his son Billy Paul would not be an "old man" before the coming prophesied earthquake. Billy Paul Branham was born on September 13, 1935, making him an old man today. Everyone expected "The Big quake" to come at any time, but according to William Branham's prophecy this has already failed to come to pass. William Branham once told of a prophecy he made concerning Los Angeles: " That's solemn warning. We don't know what time. And you don't know what time that this city one day is going to be laying out here in the bottom of this ocean. 'O, Capernaum,' said Jesus, 'thou who exalted into heaven will be brought down into hell, for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, it'd have been standing till this day.' And Sodom and Gomorrah lays at the bottom of the Dead Sea, and Capernaum's in the bottom of the sea. Thou city, who claims to be the city of the Angels, who's exalted yourself into heaven and sent all the dirty filthy things of fashions and things, till even the foreign countries come here to pick up our filth and send it away, with your fine churches and steeples, and so forth the way you do; remember, one day you'll be laying in the bottom of this sea. You're great honeycomb under you right now. The wrath of God is belching right beneath you. How much longer He'll hold this sandbar hanging over that, when that ocean out yonder a mile deep will slide in there plumb back to the Salton Sea. It'll be worse than the last day of Pompeii. Repent, Los Angeles. Repent the rest of you and turn to God. The hour of His wrath is upon the earth. Flee while there's time to flee and come into Christ." (65-0429E Choosing of a Bride, Los Angeles, CA) In a later sermon, Branham spoke on this prophecy, explaining that he had no memory of it, or of him quoting Jesus' prophecy against Capernaum. While he made it imply it was the Holy Spirit speaking through him, it actually says the opposite. When a prophet does not remember what they said, are they under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Branham would often lose his consciousness when on stage and eventually made him detached from reality. The Alaskan Earthquake He said: “ And while in there Something struck me; I didn't know nothing for about thirty minutes. There was a prophecy went out. First thing I remember, Brother Mosley and Billy; I was out on the street, walking. And It said, 'Thou Capernaum, which calls yourself by the name of the Angels,' that's Los Angeles, city of angels (See?), the angels, 'which are exalted into heaven, will be brought down into hell. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom, that's been done in you, it would've been standing till this day.' And that was all unconsciously to me. ... “ And when I understood that, I went; I said, 'There is a Scripture about that somewhere.' And I went and found it was Jesus rebuking Capernaum by the seacoast. That night I looked up the Scriptures . … And you know that city by an earthquake sank into the Dead Sea. And Jesus stood, and said, 'Capernaum, if Sodom would've had the works done in it that you've had done in you, it would've been standing today. But now you must be brought down to hell.' And about two hundred or three hundred years after His prophecy, with all them coastal towns, every one of them still standing but Capernaum, and it lays in the bottom of the sea. A earthquake sunk it into the sea.” (65-0711 Ashamed, Jeffersonville, IN) But Capernaum never sank into the sea (and not by an earthquake) it is in ruins by the shoreline. Is this the Lord speaking through Mr. Branham in this inaccurate prophecy, or something else operating? “Capernaum, the only coastal city that He had visit, a earthquake sunk it in the sea. And you know that was a direct answer to California, to Los Angeles …” (65-0718M, Trying To Do God A Service Without Being The Will Of God, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) The Great Alaskan quake took place on March 27, 1964. Followers of the Message often cite the 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska as one of Branham's fulfilled prophecies. However, his first public comments about the earthquake were after it happened, there was no prediction. Branham’s first mention of the quake “And we're seeing just the catching of the last part, when we see things happening like's been happening in the world in the last few days: For instance, the great earthquake in Alaska. Never has been an earthquake like that in all the world. Did you notice? It come on Good Friday. And you know the last time the world was shaken was on Good Friday too, when our Master died; and it shook the whole world. And remember, it might be the sign of Him returning: He said that there'd be earthquakes in diverse places .” (64-409 Identified Christ of All Ages) He did not refer to any previous prophecy of impending judgment by him in this sermon, but certainly did after the fact. Branham did not tell anybody about any specific earthquake predictions on the west coast at that time. He would often speak after the fact telling people what he supposedly spoke prior. I said, "I want to tell you, it was a judgment sign. In a few days, a great earthquake's going to strike on the West. And it won't stop. California, Los Angeles will sink. It's going down . She'll slide right into the ocean." And two days after that, the Alaskan earthquake shook Alaska.” (65-1126, Works Is Faith Expressed, Life Tabernacle, Shreveport, LA) Notice what he claims, that it begins in California before Alaska, and that LA will sink then. Nothing like this happened. What did happen? Santa Cruz Harbor in California had waves reached as high 11 feet, sinking a hydraulic dredge and a 38 foot cabin cruiser and causing minor damage to the floating docks. San Francisco Bay: marinas in Marin County had strong currents from the tsunami that caused boats and floating piers to break loose and strike other craft. There was some damage that occurred in the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. Crescent City was the hardest hit with waves that reached as high as 20 ft. and destroyed half of the waterfront business district. Eleven persons lost their lives. Alaska was a different situation; the largest tsunami wave ever recorded was produced by the 1964 Alaska Earthquake measuring over 200 feet in height at Shoup Bay near the Valdez inlet. A few days Later? Branham said of his Sunset Mountain experience that this was all revealed to him. A couple of days later he claims we hear of an earthquake that struck in Alaska. I said, “ It's judgment striking the West Coast." Look at her today! Look what happened a few hours after that: Alaska sunk. And now the whole thing is going under .” (65-0718E, Spiritual Food In Due Season, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) “then two days after that, Alaska sunk, almost, up there. And up-and-down that West Coast has been the thunders and pushings, and everything happening. And one of these days she is going to slide beneath the ocean. … We're living in the hour of the Coming of the Lord. (65-0217, A Man Running From The Presence Of The Lord, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN; also 65-0711, Ashamed, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) “Two days after that, Alaska almost sunk beneath the earth.” (65-0219, This Day This Scripture Is Fulfilled, Park View Junior High School, Jeffersonville, IN) Which is it? Alaska sank or almost sank? Both are not true. Is this how God’s prophets speak? “when in Tucson the other day, just as I got back, a great earthquake had happened out there.” (65-0718M, Trying To Do God A Service Without Being The Will Of God, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) Branham continued to make his super-supernatural experience on Sunset mountain the prediction, claiming, “About two days after that, the earthquake almost sunk Alaska. What is this Light up on Sunset Mountain in the Coronado Forest of Arizona? What is this strange thing that happened up there” (65-0725E, What Is The Attraction On The Mountain?, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) His incident at Sunset Mountain occurred on March 1. Branham said the Alaska earthquake struck two days later, tells the people this is what was foretold him there. I said, "Judgment will strike the West Coast." Two days after that, Alaska almost sunk.” ( 65-1204, The Rapture, Ramada Inn, Yuma, AZ) But the Alaska quake did not happen until March 27, nearly a month later. As usual Branham took credit “as you know how the Message come, and the Lord told me what would happen in Alaska, and how down through California it would be” (65-0123, Broken Cisterns, Ramada Inn, Phoenix, AZ) The earthquake lasted approximately 4.5 minutes and is the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. history. It registered in all U.S. states except Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware. It is also the second largest earthquake ever recorded, next to the M9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960. It wasn't until long after the Good Friday earthquake of 1964 that Mr. Branham first mentioned his whirlwind incident at Sunset Peak as a prediction of judgment. In December 1964 (nearly 9 months after the Alaskan earthquake) Branham first publicly said that on that day at Sunset Peak, God told him that judgment was going to strike the west coast and that the Alaska earthquake was the fulfillment of this prediction:
“Stand there and see a whirlwind come out of the sky. It blowed a
mountain half in two, standing there where we was at; cut the top of
trees off and things like that. And a blast of Word come out and shook
there three times, said, "Watch it go to the west coast." Went right
over there and shook down Alaska. And coming right down the west coast
now. Just exactly.
Branham continued afterward claiming, "It was--It was Him. He was talking to me." God speaks by a whirlwind. See? And there was theater, the same Pillar of Fire that you see on the picture, standing there. And when It went up, they said, "What is it?" I said, "Judgment is striking the West Coast." Second day from there, Alaska like to sunk. See? It struck once, there, the first blow .” (65-0429E, The Choosing Of A Bride, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, CA) There is no evidence that Branham predicted the Alaskan earthquake of 1964. After the earthquake, he said the reason he didn't say anything was because he didn't want to start a panic. As a modern day Oneness Pentecostal prophet he took the position, “never let a good crises go to waste,” he continually related this to California. “the earth, the other day, split from the Aleutian Islands, or from Alaska, around the Aleutian Islands, about two hundred miles out into the sea, come back in at San Diego, went around Los Angeles, and come out at San Diego. And it's pulled loose several inches. Houses has toppled down. Motels has went in. " (65-0718M, Trying To Do God A Service Without Being The Will Of God, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) Speaking of a woman “And earthquakes, everywhere, and up-and-down the coast. And tidal waves in Alaska, and shaking up-and-down the coast, of earthquakes and things.” (65-0124, Birth Pains, Ramada Inn, Phoenix, AZ) Notice the exaggeration; some of the inaccurate things said by him, “Since that earthquake, there is a two- or three-inch crack that come in the earth, starting in 88Alaska , goes around through the Aleutian Islands, comes out about a hundred and fifty or two hundred miles in… (65-0711, Ashamed, Branham Tabernacle, Jeffersonville, IN) His relating of a whirlwind on the mountain 9 months prior became an opportunity to offer the explanation of God visiting him. As he often did, he filled in the blanks. After the earthquake Branham claimed that he had predicted it. Though much later, the Alaska earthquake provided for him the explanation for the explosions and the whirlwind that he and his friends claimed they saw in early March 1964. Here Branham gives details that are not in the Bible but makes his own words equivalent to the Bible. “And everything has been said, oh, even to the destruction of California, coming up now, and all these other things. And how I told them how many days it would be, how it would be where this big earthquake happened in Alaska, and that would be the beginning of the sign of time, and what would take place. And just word by word, what It said, it's never failed one time. You've never seen It fail. And It can't fail, because It's God's Words. "And Heaven and earth will pass away, but It can't fail." That's right.” (65-1125, The Invisible Union Of The Bride Of Christ, Life Tabernacle, Shreveport, LA) This was one month before he was killed in a fatal car accident. These are just a few examples out of many of what William Branham used to validate himself as a prophet. We should learn from this and apply it to today’s prophets that copy him as much as they possibly can because of their desire to be just like him. References: https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2014/3018/ http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1964GreatGulf.html |
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