Speak To The Rock And It Shall Give Forth His Water
July 23, 1960 · Lakeport, California · Rev. William Branham
15It must have been a hot morning; everybody was all confused and flusterated, because all night long the cattle had bawled, and the—the children had cried, and the people had fussed and argued and quarreled. Poor Moses, it was a dreadful time for him. You see, he had come down into Egypt and had brought the children out according to the promise of God and was leading them to the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, with a promise of God to protect them and to supply everything they had need of until they reached this glorious land flowing with milk and honey.
Moses, a God-called servant, ordained prophet, Pillar of Fire over him, following him, confirming the words that he spoke by signs and wonders, on his road to the promised land with the children, a very definitely antitype, or type, rather, of the journey today. We are on our road to the promised land. And we are being led by the great Holy Spirit. As they was led in the natural, we are led in the spiritual to this great promised land that God made the promise and gave to us. God had promised them to supply all their needs. But their carnal mind had taken them out of the Divine will of God and had given them a desert route.
16That’s a whole lot of it today. That’s what’s the matter with many of our churches. They’ve taken the carnal, intellectual route and’s been cut off, the supplies of God’s blessings of healing and power, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and have took the desert route. Therefore, we have arguings, and fusses, and stews, and complaints. But those who are still remaining in the way, it’s joy unspeakable and full of glory with God, with His Pillar of Fire over them, with power, with joy, with signs and wonders. How that real borned again Church is moving on to the promised land, the promise of Eternal Life, a land flowing with Eternal Life, where there’s no more sickness, death, sorrow, nor nothing to harm.
17Now. But when carnal minds begin to come among them, it finally drove them off the main path into the desert. They made their fatal mistake when they failed to go on. They were on their journey, not very many miles, they could’ve made it in a few days with all this two million people out into the desert if they’d have stayed on the path. But when they come to a place called Kadesh-Barnea… Kadesh-Barnea at one time, I’m told, was a great judgment seat. It says a great spring or well there, many little wells, a perfect type of the church. The church is the judgment seat, where Heaven is the great Judgment Seat of God. And the little wells represent the little churches all out, and judgment begins at the house of God. See? Here’s where the judgment begins.
That’s why… I don’t see why so many complain that I speak too hard, and try to make people straighten up, and tell them the way they’re living, the way they’re dressing, and tell me I’m hurting my ministry, when the judgment seat is the house of God. That’s right. Here’s where it’s to begin at, right here where justice, and righteous, and judgment of God is to go forth from the pulpit.
This Great Warrior, Joshua
January 19, 1955 · Chicago, Illinois
9Notice, Joshua now, being first called, elected of God, when he was in the—the wilderness, when he come out of Egypt with the Israelites… And they could have journeyed in about five days across that little forty or fifty mile strip there, over into the promised land. And when they came out, God was leading them. And they went along fine until they begin to murmuring and complaining. God would provide, then they come up to the judgment seat, Kadesh-Barnea, and refused to accept God’s program, and turned back, wandering for forty years, because they did not believe God. They wouldn’t accept it.
Such a beautiful type of the Church today, that how that the same procedure, God just repeating history in another way. How the Church was called out, now in their journey, and could’ve went on over into the promise, but has refused. Now, a beautiful picture is before us.
Return & Jubilee
November 22, 1962 · Shreveport, Louisiana
50Yes, sir, they made a rashal mistake when they did that, and they wandered for forty years. That’s exactly what they done. They wandered for forty years when they wasn’t over five days from the promised land. It’s about forty miles from the Red Sea to where they crossed Jordan, about forty miles; they could have walked in three or four days and been into the promised land. But they made their own choice.
And the church would’ve been a church tonight, glorious, without spot or wrinkle, if the fathers would accepted and stayed with the Holy Spirit that God had brought them out of them organizations. But they went right back into it like a dog to its vomit and a hog to its wallow. They went right back again into that, and now we’ve wandered another fifty years, wandering in the wilderness.
Does God Ever Change His Mind About His Word?
April 18, 1965 · Jeffersonville, Indiana
177But God will prosper you. “Why, He blesses me.” I don’t doubt that. He blessed Balaam, too. See? Certainly He will. You’re walking in His permissive will, not His perfect will. God doesn’t change His mind, ’cause He blesses you.
He blessed Israel right out there for forty years. What did they do? Married wives, raised families, kissed the children, paid their tithes, lived right out there. And the God blessed them in the wilderness, fed them with the manna, on and on. And every one of them perished, ’cause they never kept His original, permissive…His original will, His Word. They took His permissive way.
Does God Ever Change His Mind About His Word?
April 18, 1965 · Jeffersonville, Indiana
95So therefore, God never changes His mind about anything, but He will permit you to go on. Now, this is a long ways around to get to what I want to say here about this. But, and, but, it’s, you’ll…I want you to understand it. See? God will permit you to do something, and even bless you in doing it, but still it isn’t His perfect will.
96God permitted Israel to take a law, in Exodus the 19th chapter. When grace had already give them a prophet, Pillar of Fire, a sacrifice lamb, a delivering power, but they cried out for a Law. It wasn’t God’s will, but it was injected because man wanted it. And he was cursed by the very law that he wanted.
97It’s best to have God’s will. That’s what He taught us. “Thy will be done. Thy Kingdom come. Thine will be done.” We must submit ourselves to His will and His Word. Don’t question It. Believe It. Don’t try to find a way around It.
Just take It the way It is. So many wants to go around, get some other way. And when you do, you find yourself going on, you find God blessing you, but you’re working in His permissive will and not in His perfect, Divine will.
98He permits it, as I said, but He will not—He will not let it be His perfect will; but He’ll make it work to honor and bless His perfect will.
Does God Ever Change His Mind About His Word?
April 18, 1965 · Jeffersonville, Indiana
159They know what God said about it Here. See? Sure, God said so. So they—they—they want to do it, anyhow, see. They try to find an excuse. “Well, I think it’s much better. It’s—it’s not…The wind don’t blow…” Yeah. But God said for a man to dress different from a woman. “If a woman put on a garment pertained to a man, it was abomination in His sight.” So it’s not right, yes, and you shouldn’t do it. No. See? So, therefore, it’s wrong.
160But, you see, they try to find an excuse, that, “The Lord told me to do this.” I don’t say He didn’t, but, look, it ain’t His perfect will. It’s got to be His permissive will. You see what it’ll do? It’ll pollute the whole bunch. It polluted all the camp.
161Notice here, God never changed His mind, His Word. But He is a good God, and He’ll give you the desire of your heart, though it be against His will. You believe that?
Look, God told Moses, “You go down there,” this anointed prophet. Said, “Go down there and speak to that rock.” It’s already been smitten.
162Moses went down there in his anger, picked up the rod, and said, “You rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” and smote the rock. The water didn’t come. He smote it again; it come. It was against God’s will. It broke every plan in the Bible; Christ had to be smitten second time. See? Christ was smitten once. It broke the whole plan. But He give him His permissive will. Then, after, he said, “See, we got the water for you. Yeah, I brought it for you, you bunch of rebels!”
163God said, “Come here, Moses. Come here. Come up here on top…You’ve been a faithful servant.” (Like the woman with the high heels, “You climbed,” see.) “Look over yonder. See the promised land?”
“O Lord!”
“But you’re not going over. You took My permissive will, down here at the Rock. You have glorified yourself, see, and not Me. You sanctified yourself. You didn’t sanctify Me. You didn’t keep My original Word, what I told you to do.” Yet, the waters did come.
You can lay hands on the sick and they recover. You can prophesy, or speak with tongues. But, the thing is, keep His original Word! God don’t change His mind, friend. You’ve got to keep His commission, His will. “Oh, well, that was for the disciples.”
A Man Running form the Presence of the Lord
February 17, 1965 · Jeffersonville, Indiana
129And remember, where Jonah went, God was in the boat; God was in the storm; God was in the fish. He went on being right along with Jonah until His perfect will was done. That’s right.
And if He’s ever after you, you might dodge over here, and dodge over there, but you’ll be miserable until you come back and do the thing you started out for Him to do at the first place. See? Don’t go, run from the Presence of God. Face up to it. You believe it’s the Truth, then let…If it is the Truth, it’s worth living for, dying for, anything else. And if He’s ever vindicated it to you, that it is the Truth, then we can’t run from it, nowhere. He’ll be right there, just the same. You can’t do it.
Faith (Africa Trip Report)
August 16, 1952 · Battle Creek, Michigan
12Then I… about two o’clock in the morning, somewhere along there, it was getting late, I said, “Well, they all…” I said, “We’re ou-… [Blank spot on tape—Ed.]…?… will.” I said, “Oh, He has a permissive will to permit something. But who wants to work God’s permissive will? I’d rather do what He wants me to do (See?), not be in His permissive will.”