William Marrion Branham: The Tent In the early days of the evangelist, there was a “battle of the tents.” Those caught up in the popularity contests worried about who had the bigger tent, in a way that can be compared to the “puffed up” description of the Bible. This contest has changed as the world changed. There are those who have bigger planes. There are those who have larger convention center meetings filled, and those who have bigger foundations. Not many of them even think about tents – nobody would really come to one in the heat of the summer like they did in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. The truth of the matter is, if Rev. Branham was alive today, he would not be looking for a big tent, there would simply be no need for one. Many cities, big and small, have convention centers. There are many sports arenas or covered fields. For the ministers with little or no money, there are places to rent that would cost very little from the tithing congregation. Still, ministers of today preach that “that tent” will be coming, and Rev. Branham will “ride that trail [healing campaign trail] again.” The healing campaign trail has become the idol of today for some of these people. The problem is that if they consider the reality of the world today, then it is a direct conflict with the testimony of Rev. Branham. Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 1 Even worse, the person that Rev. Branham appointed to fly the tent around in the plane he commissioned, Evan Moseley, has passed away. To the day of his death, Evan Moseley kept his plane ready for carrying a tent. It started with wishful thinking. He was not above borrowing or renting a tent, and started seeking others who would let him use theirs: We are really expecting someday for God to give us a tent or something that we can have services in. ACCEPT.GOD'S.GIFT_ TALLAHASSEE.FL 53-‐0219 One of these days I would like to come back to Jonesboro, go rent some big tent to seat about ten thousand people… SPEAK.TO.THE.ROCK_ JONESBORO.AR 53-‐0512 E-‐14 Someday, there's some of the brothers out on the field that... well, they-‐-‐they probably was a little more prosperous in the financial ways than I was, and they got great big tents…several of them has called me and told me I could have their tent , if I wanted to use it. Some of them seat as many at fifteen thousand. GOD'S.PROVIDED.WAY_ JONESBORO.AR 53-‐0513 E-‐5 There's one thing we need here in Phoenix, is either a great, big auditorium, seat eight or ten thousand people, or bring a tent ; that's the best… DO.YOU.NOW.BELIEVE_ PHOENIX.AZ 54-‐0307E I'd like to put up Jack Coe's big tent out here, seats about fifteen thousand… WHAT.THINK.YE.OF.CHRIST_ CHICAGO.IL 54-‐0321 …like come set up a big tent . I just got one in order the other day, seats fifteen thousand people: chairs and everything. THE.HAND.OF.THE.LORD.CAME.UPON.HIM_ LOUISVILLE.KY 54-‐0403 I have in my possession or can-‐-‐where I can get it at any time, a tent that'll seats fifteen thousand people, with all the seats and everything. EARNESTLY.CONTENDING.FOR.THE.FAITH_ LOUISVILLE.KY 54-‐0404M I would like to…have an old, big old tent set out here, that'll seat several thousand people… GOD.HAS.A.PROVIDED.WAY_ LVL.KY 54-‐0404E Later, Rev. Branham started wanting his own. In 1955, he started “planting the seed” that he needed a tent. I been thinking recently about maybe having a-‐-‐starting buying me a tent , a good size tent... WHAT.IS.THAT.IN.YOUR.HAND_ SAN.FERNANDO.CA 55-‐1120 Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 2 We're getting a tent , a nice, big tent , seat about twelve thousand people or better. FELLOWSHIP.WITH.GOD.THROUGH.RECONCILIATION_ STURGIS.MI 56-‐0120 We got some a new tent coming, seating several thousand people and some vans, and so forth, CONTENDING.FOR.THE.FAITH_ GEORGETOWN.IN 56-‐0200 And then back to begin in the big new tent seating sixteen thousand people, the new vans and things…E-‐10 And thinking of terms of the tent , and all this great expense…I'm borrowing a hundred thousand dollars to go with this tent…Yes, sir. It's from the Lord; it's from the Lord." HIDDEN.LIFE.WITH.CHRIST_ MINNEAPOLIS.MN 56-‐0213 But I am hoping, and trusting, and waiting till the day that I get my tent . I'm so alarmed about my tent . It's always been a problem to me...Now, we got the tent in making…E-‐32 God, hasten the day that when we can set up the tent... BEING.LED.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT_ MINNEAPOLIS.MN 56-‐0219 E-‐4 And it would be very fine place, sometime, to bring that big tent and set it up here…E-‐
50 When we get our big tent up out here somewhere… JEHOVAH.JIREH_ SIOUX.FALLS.SD 56-‐0224 E-‐2 I've got many services lined up, of these preaching services, before we start in the big tent . I got to go into Mexico…before we get started into the tent. JESUS.CHRIST.THE.SAME.YESTERDAY.TODAY.AND.FOREVER_ 56-‐0225 Then we go…from there, up into Anchorage, …but perhaps maybe by then, the tent will be ready to be on the road...I want to 'fore too long, the Lord willing, to put that tent right here in this Falls City…There's coming up a revival here pretty soon, a big tent meeting, I can just see it. MAKING.A.WAY_ JEFF.IN 56-‐0304 E-‐10 And in these kind of healing services that I'm having now, until I get into the tent , I'm just like a child with Christmas anticipations; I can hardly wait till I get in there. GOD.USING.HIS.GIFT_ SHREVEPORT.LA 56-‐0311E In of itself, wanting a tent is not all that bad. Wanting to seat larger crowds is the desire of every evangelist, the ability to reach more people. Here is the problem: The wishful thinking turned into the “Word” of the “Lord.” Rev. Branham used one of his loosely used “Thus Saith The Lord” predictions on the tent: One of these days I want to pitch that tent the Lord's going to give me, right outside of this side of Chicago… those things are not mythical. In contact with the Holy Spirit…when I come under His anointing, and He takes me away and shows me things, Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 3 I just got perfect confidence that it's just exactly right, 'cause it's never failed. And He will never say one thing outside what's written in this Bible. That's right. You watch it. Through the years, He's never said one thing at any time, unless it was absolutely Scripturally based on the Bible, THUS SAITH THE LORD. SHEPHERD.OF.THE.SHEEPFOLD_ CHICAGO.IL 56-‐0403 E-‐15 Not long after, wishful thinking turned into a vision: I was beneath and standing up above a great tent ; I never seen such a tent. WHAT.IS.A.VISION_ CHI.IL 56-‐0408A 17-‐3 I said, "Let's just have an American meeting somewhere." And I said I wanted to set that tent there for the first time. WHAT.IS.A.VISION_ CHI.IL 56-‐0408A And then when I come back in the tent , year from today or sometime, you come to the tent and give the testimony… BLIND.BARTIMAEUS_ COLUMBIA.SC 56-‐0414 I trust that by God's help, that next April…We'd like to bring the big tent , and seating some fifteen thousand, THE.DEEP.CALLING.TO.THE.DEEP_ COLUMBIA.SC 56-‐0415 When I come back with a tent , next year the Lord willing… EARNESTLY.CONTENDING.FOR.THE.FAITH.THAT.WAS.ONCE.DELIVERED.UNTO.THE.S
AINTS_ SPINDALE.NC 56-‐0419 ...after we get the Gospel tent we'll…have no morning service, so that people can attend their own church..That's the reason that by a vision the Lord has showed me to get this big tent… WHAT.VISIONS.ARE_ SPINDALE.NC 56-‐0421 Hoping someday that, God willing, we can get back up in this country with the tent… SHOW.US.THE.FATHER.AND.IT'LL.SATISFY_ SPINDALE.NC 56-‐0422 …expecting someday to visit the Carolinas in a tent service. The Lord has given me a-‐-‐a vision of having a tent… FAITH_ CHARLOTTE.NC 56-‐0427 we are hoping someday to be back, if God willing, with a tent , big tent… GOD'S.COVENANT.WITH.ABRAHAM_ CHARLOTTE.NC 56-‐0428 Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 4 when we get the tent...And I hope to see you again next year or whenever we can get the tent . JEHOVAH.JIREH_ CHARLOTTE.NC 56-‐0429 Got a big tent coming, seating about twelve thousand… GOD.PROVIDED.A.LAMB_ INDIANAPOLIS.IN 56-‐0614 ...I go down to La Crescenta, California, to set some things in order, which my tent is already made and ready to go out on the field now. REVELATION.BOOK.OF.SYMBOLS_ JEFF.IN 56-‐0617 And by a vision He told me about a tent that Brother Moore and them is going to California now to see to set in order the first time. THE.ARROW.OF.GOD'S.DELIVERANCE.SHOT.FROM.A.BOW 56-‐0801 Brother Sothmann asked me if I would kind of speak of the late vision concerning the tent THE.WORKING.OF.THE.HOLY.SPIRIT_ PRINCE.ALBERT.SK 56-‐0816 Over time, you can tell that the “vision” turned back into wishful thinking. It had not happened yet, though many times he said it would be happening quickly. Clearly, he hoped someone would pick up on his “seeds” he was planting and purchase that big tent for him: The Lord willing, I wish to have a great big tent… HEAR.YE.HIM_ LIMA.OH FRIDAY_ 57-‐0125 I'm ordering a tent to seat somewhere around eight to ten thousand people… THE.GREATEST.GIFT.IN.THE.BIBLE_ EDMONTON.ALBERTA 57-‐0811A E-‐6 I'd like to come…and set up a tent , DOOR.TO.THE.HEART_ HARRISONBURG.VA 58-‐0316E I'm going to try to get me a tent or something… THE.QUEEN.OF.SHEBA_ HARTFORD.CT SATURDAY_ 58-‐0503 E-‐5 You know, I'd like to bring a big tent and pitch it here for a little while, A.GREATER.THAN.SOLOMON.IS.HERE_ S.PINES.NC 58-‐0625 E-‐65 And this time, the Lord willing, I want to take what little we have accumulated in funds, and so forth, of myself, out in the... this foreign missions program, and get me a new tent , and some new equipment, and start on the field… BY.FAITH.MOSES_ JEFF.IN 58-‐0720M Then, again he tried with the vision: Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 5 And then some time ago I was in a vision, and I saw a large tent. Oh, it was a mammoth, big affair. LIFTING.HIM.UP.OUT.OF.HISTORY_ JEFF.IN 58-‐1001 E-‐4 But now, I don't say that He told me it would take place. Where I've seen in the vision, was in a tent . LIFTING.HIM.UP.OUT.OF.HISTORY_ JEFF.IN 58-‐1001 … to see if the new ministry that has been promised would come into existence in the tabernacle here before we hit the tent LOOKING.AT.THE.UNSEEN_ JEFF.IN 58-‐1003 …it's just go to continue on for awhile, until that tent comes in…I will continue on until that maybe the tent starts… LOOKING.AT.THE.UNSEEN_JEFF.IN. 58-‐1003 Oh, if God willing, I can just feel it in the wind. I'm going to have me a big tent one of these days, WHY_ CHAUTAUQUA.OH 59-‐0813 the Lord had spoke some time ago about...Ah, I suppose about three or four years ago (My wife, which is present now, would be able to know just the date. We have it wrote down.), that I seen a vision of a large tent or-‐-‐or something, that we're anticipating someday having, BALM.IN.GILEAD_ SAN.JOSE.CA TUESDAY_ 59-‐1124 In the sixties, you can tell it was quickly changing from “Thus Saith The Lord” to “maybe.” Nobody had picked up on the self-‐fulfilling vision seed he was planting, and nobody had bought him that tent. Since they would be raptured soon, why would they need to? The message was confusing the mission. If we ever get to come back, we'll…maybe come and pitch a tent outside the city… THE.QUEEN.OF.SHEBA_ TIFTON.GA 60-‐0110 And some of these days, the Lord willing, I'm going to get a big tent… WHAT.IT.TAKES.TO.OVERCOME.ALL.UNBELIEF.OUR.FAITH_ YAKIMA.WA 60-‐0729 I'll come back someday, the Lord willing. I'd like to bring a tent and set it up out here somewhere… WHY_ BEAUMONT.TX 61-‐0125 E-‐24 Why, maybe can-‐-‐we can get a tent and put it out here somewhere and seat twenty or thirty thousand people… BE.NOT.AFRAID_ TULARE.CA 61-‐0224 Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 6 …maybe over here at Washington, DC, this summer in a big tent, the Lord willing. ABRAHAM'S.COVENANT.CONFIRMED_MIDDLETOWN.OH 61-‐0318 So then it's wondering about a big tent meeting…if that comes, I want to really be…in Washington, DC, at the capital for a-‐-‐a meeting. Be my first tent meeting…put up a big tent. And as soon as he said, "big tent ," something kinda registered, maybe that's where the meeting place will be, at the capitol house. THE.TRUE.EASTER.SEAL_ JEFF.IN 61-‐0402 7 Someday I hope to get a tent that I've been wanting to get for so long. FROM.THAT.TIME_ SPOKANE.WA 62-‐0713 E-‐4 I would like to have a time if God permits before the end time, when I could set up a tent… A.TESTIMONY.ON.THE.SEA_ SALEM.OR 62-‐0720 E-‐12 I have promised to me, to start a nice big, new tent , trucks, trailers, and everything all paid for. Don't even have to take up offerings for it. GOD.HAS.A.PROVIDED.WAY_ VICTORIA.BC 62-‐0728 E-‐5 I'd like to come back on the island, set up a tent somewhere… PERSEVERANT_ VICTORIA.BC 62-‐0729 He started really pushing for it in 1963. It was if he were crying out, “Hey, come on, people! It was a vision! Send me the money!” And so far as I know, that every vision that He's ever give me has been fulfilled except the one…It looked to me like a tent. PRESENT.STAGE.OF.MY.MINISTRY_ JEFF.IN V-‐11 N-‐2 62-‐0908 16 I'd like to get a place sometime, the Lord willing, when a tent comes on the scene. And I believe that's soon now, soon I'm going worldwide. TESTIMONY_ SHREVEPORT.LA 63-‐1128M I have never had but one thing that He ever told me in my life that I know that hasn't happened yet, that some sort of a building or a tent…That hasn't happened yet as far as I know. HIS.UNFAILING.WORDS.OF.PROMISE_ PHOENIX.AZ 64-‐0120 He also started getting specific that it would NOT be a rented tent. He wanted one for his own ministry! I've asked the Lord, if it be His will, let me get a tent, set it up, and we don't have to rent anything. THE.VOICE.OF.THE.SIGN_ TULARE.CA 64-‐0214 7 Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 7 Some of these days, I'm going to get me a big tent PERSEVERANT_DALLAS.TX 64-‐0305 Some of these days I'm going to bring a big tent in this country, and pitch it up here… CALLING.JESUS.ON.THE.SCENE_ DENHAM.SP.LA 64-‐0319 196 I wish I had a way that I could come down here somewhere and…put a tent up… THE.VOICE.OF.THE.SIGN_ DENHAM.SP.LA 64-‐0321E 107 I've often wondered, sometimes…if I couldn't, one of these days, have a tent THE.IDENTIFICATION.OF.CHRIST.IN.ALL.AGES_ BIRMINGHAM.AL 64-‐0409 15 I'm thinking about coming back, pretty soon, and putting up a tent… SPIRITUAL.AMNESIA_ BIRMINGHAM.AL SATURDAY_ 64-‐0411 We hope to see the time, maybe in the near future, when maybe we could bring the tent here to the city… THIS.DAY.THIS.SCRIPTURE.IS.FULFILLED_ JEFF.IN 65-‐0219 16 I want to get my own tent and my stuff, like the Lord gave me a vision to, and I believe the time is just now at hand. And I want to see while I'm here, why we can't get the tent. 17…put up this tent…somehow or another, Lord, it may be You are driving us to that tent, to make that vision fulfill... ASHAMED_ JEFF.IN 65-‐0711 16 And then I'm here to get the trustees together…So I think I'm going to ask if we just can't get our tent…And I feel that that's what He's going to do. You know, there's a vision concerning that…When, He said it, He'll do it. TRYING.TO.DO.GOD.A.SERVICE.WITHOUT.BEING.THE.WILL.OF.GOD_ JEFF.IN 65-‐0718M And we are hoping, soon as possible…where we can bring all of us together, maybe under a big tent… THE.ANOINTED.ONES.AT.THE.END.TIME_ JEFF.IN 65-‐0725M 7 I hope that, soon as I can, we'll...get a place sufficient for that…or either put up a tent… THE.GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN 65-‐0801M Unfortunately, Rev. Branham did not realize that he was “trying to do a service without being the will of God”, and to this day, this “scripture” was not fulfilled. From what started out as wishful thinking to a request to borrow into to a prophecy and then a vision never happened. Copyright 2012, www.seekyethetruth.com 8