The Ukraine Prophecy

Last night, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on neighboring country Ukraine.  News coverage for the next several weeks will certainly be focused upon the conflict as the world watches Russia invade Ukraine and expand its borders to consume its neighboring country.  The world will feel the impact; everything from stock markets to food prices will quickly show the consequences of the invasion.  Christians and non-Christians alike will join in unity in sending thoughts and prayers to the citizens of Ukraine who are caught in the middle of the conflict, some of which will die.

While non-cult members are thinking of the people in Ukraine, however, those who have been unduly influenced by William Branham's "Message" cult following will be focused elsewhere.  Branham Cult leaders will suddenly claim that William Branham "prophesied this would come", while cult victims will think back to all of the many indoctrinated mental responses to this scenario.  Children, those in families who remember and continue to "instruct" them in the cult doctrines, will fear that their mothers will be raped on the streets by the Russians while their fathers, sisters, and brothers are taken to Russian concentration camps.  This was the version of the "Message" that I grew up in, and for a child, these fears do almost as much damage as the actual conflict thousands of miles away.  According to Branham's prophecy, the Russian Empire (Former Soviet Union) would invade the Vatican, and shortly after, the United States would be completely destroyed.

I'll prove to you that communism is working straight in the hands of Almighty God to destroy the Roman... And remember, I say this as God's prophet: The Russian empire will drop an atomic bomb of some sort on the Vatican City and destroy it in one hour. THUS SAITH THE LORD. And the Bible said that God took them cruel-hearted men and put them in His hands, and they were instruments in His hands to fulfill His will, and to bring back to her exactly what she had coming to her. That's exactly. That's the Word.
Branham, William. 1954, May 13. Mark of the Beast. 54-0513

During the time William Branham was alive, Ukraine was known as Soviet Ukraine.  As part of the Soviet Union from 1919 to 1991, Branham's many statements about Russia would have included Ukraine as a part of the Russian Empire.  More than that, Ukraine was an example of the fear that William Branham and the white supremacy groups were using as a tool for recruiting members into their ideologies.  It was consumed by Russia into Communism.  The Ku Klux Klan, which William Branham said that he strongly supported and which mentored him through the official spokesperson and later Imperial Wizard Roy E. Davis, used the First and Second Red Scare of Communism to hold their victims captive through fear for a much broader agenda.  As part of the white supremacy agenda, the Klan and other white supremacy groups were strongly positioned against Communism, Catholicism, interracial marriage — all of which William Branham used as themes in his cult doctrine.  What Branham and other white supremacy leaders were not saying, however, was that the Soviets would invade the Soviets.  Self-implosion would not bring that fear to the shores of the United States, and would not be very helpful for recruiting.  As it relates to Braham's cult following of today, it would also not be very helpful for recruiting.  It is, however, helpful for retention by repurposing Branham's (and the white supremacy group's) original propaganda machine.

Simply put: It was not a "Ukraine Prophecy".

What modern-day Branham cult leaders won't do is inform their victims of the conflicting predictions Branham made while using other stage personas or while world conflict shifted to make the fear of Communism less powerful.  In 1962, for example, William Branham claimed to have been used as a mouthpiece by God (THUS SAITH THE LORD) to overturn his previous prediction of the Russian Empire (Soviet Union) demolishing the Vatican.  Following the Klan's propaganda shift towards religious attacks more heavily against Catholicism — especially during Catholic John F. Kennedy's run for election and presidency —  Branham began claiming that Russia was not the one to fear and communism was not going to spread as he had previously predicted.  Instead, it was Rome.

It isn't Russia. It's Rome. THUS SAITH THE LORD. Yeah. Show me a Scripture where communism, or anything else besides Rome, will rule.
Branham, William. 1962, Mar 11. The Greatest Battle Ever Fought. 62-0311

Cult leaders in Branham's "Message" cult never inform their victims that William Branham prophesied against his own prophecies on multiple occasions.  Claiming to be "God's Voice to you",[1] Branham became the mouthpiece for God to argue with Himself in an uncertain sound.  Instead, and using Branham's own deceptive tactics, these ministers will cherry-pick specific statements made by William Branham to capitalize on the fears of world conflict.  Exposing Branham's internal contradictions would not support retention; it would result in an exodus.  

What is most interesting about this situation, as it relates to the historical versions of William Branham's stage persona, is that in doing so these ministers are actually the target of William Branham's ridicule.  Though Branham was also using the same strategy, he later mocked ministers who were using fears of communism as a tool for holding audiences captive.  He said that they were not "staying with the Word".

Any prophecy don't stay with that Word... That's exactly. That's the reason I say today; no matter how good it looks, how many preachers are saying this, that, or the other, "Communism is going to take the world and throw it down." Don't you never try to fight communism. Fight Romanism. For, that's THUS SAITH THE LORD. The Lord said Romanism is going to rule, not communism. It's just a puppet.
Branham, William.  1962, Apr 22. The Restoration of the Bride Tree.

If you are a victim of William Branham's indoctrination, do not let the fear tactics of the modern-day "Message" cult leaders invade your thoughts.  For those of you who still believe William Branham to be a prophet, Branham himself mocked ministers who use fear of Russia and Communism.  Branham was very accurate in this one instance; they are "not staying with the Word."  These cult leaders are "just a puppet".

For those of you who are no longer members, remember that these types of fear strategies are in no way compatible with the Christian faith.  

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
- 1 John 4:18