In the Bible, no one—prophet or not—is described as infallible. But today, a lot of Christians treat Brother Branham as if he could never be wrong. On this page, we’re going to take a closer look at the idea of an infallible prophet. We'll use the Urim and Thummim as our guide and see if this doctrine really lines up with the Word of God.
Moses disobeyed God at Meribah (Numbers 20:12). David, a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), commited adultery (2 Samuel 11:4), and murder (2 Samuel 11:15) Jonah disobeyed and ran from God's command Jonah 1:3. Let's consider Peter. He's been with Jesus for years, walked, ate, and listened Him preached first hand. And yet, he denied Our Lord three times (Luke 22:61). Paul confronted him publicly for being a hypocrite (Galatians 2:11). And this is after the Pentecost. All these things happened and yet we love and respect these men. Men are not infallible. God permits these mistakes to happen so that He can shake our faith away from man:
Men are not infallible, but God is. Man, you get your mind on a man, he'll make a mistake. Maybe not willfully, but he'll do it. God permits him to do it so that He can shake your faith away from man. Our faith is not in the wisdom of man, but in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's where the true Seed of Abraham rests their promise. Because, they can only be the Seed of Abraham when they receive the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit they're not the Seed of Abraham. That same faith that was in Abraham comes into the believer. No matter what takes place or how contrary, the believer marches right on.—“Possessing The Enemy's Gates”, para. 35
So please don't mistake me as an anti-prophet when I say that our prophet is a man, and just like us, is fallible. He said this himself:
Now, I'm—I'm finite, and He is infinite, so He cannot make a mistake, I can, you can, our brethren can, we can all make mistakes, we are finite. Today, if I don't know more than I did last year, I'm not progressing any, but God cannot progress, because He is perfect to begin with, and every decision is perfect. —“Jesus Christ The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever”, para. 61
Brother Branham making mistakes doesn't make him less of a prophet. He is the seventh and the last messenger of the Last Age. There's no doubt about that. I want you, my brother or sister, to understand this, because this is important. I am bringing this up because I want you to understand that our prophet is just a man. The only man to be never has flaws in Him is Jesus Christ:
“Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”;—1 Peter 2:22
Which is a quote from prophet Isaiah:
And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.—Isaiah 53:9
Understanding this biblical truth is essential to recognizing man's inherent tendency to make mistakes. Even the prophet spoke of this many times:
He can't change because He's God. His first decision is perfect. He cannot change it. We are—we are finite. We make all kinds of mistakes. He's infinite and perfect. His first decision is a perfect decision, and has to ever remain the same, and we know it, Father.—“The Countdown”, para. 137
Now, yes, I meant…Forgive me, please. I…And—and, brethren, you on the tape out there, and friends, listen. I didn't mean to say that like that. I—I—I'm a minister of the Gospel. I, many times as I have preached that, I knowed that was seven thousand. I just happened to say seven hundred. I didn't mean just seven hundred. I meant, you…I just didn't read it out of the Scripture. It just come to my mind while I was talking, and I just said seven hundred instead of seven thousand. I make them mistakes all the time. I'm—I'm sure a dummy, so you forgive me. See? I didn't mean to do that. —“Questions And Answers On The Seals”, para. 230
Dogmatizing infallibility is blasphemous. It does not honor the prophet—on the contrary, it contradicts many of his own messages and, more importantly, it contradicts the Bible. This mindset is no different from Muslims deifying Muhammad as infallible, or Roman Catholics doing the same with the pope.
But the Lord sent me to pray for His sick children. And in there, what I do know about Him, I love to express it with all my heart. If I make mistakes, you pray for me. I'm not infallible. I'm your brother. And now I trust that God has done something; if He hasn't, may He do it yet tonight, speak some word or something that will cause you to believe on Him.—“Calling Jesus On The Scene”, para. 19
Now, we ourselves are finite, we can make many mistakes, and I make more than all, because we are finite, but He is infinite, and He cannot make a mistake. Now, I can promise you something, and with the very best of my ability I can say, "I really mean that," and then, but not be able to fulfill what I promised, because circumstances would alter cases, but not so with God, He cannot make a promise that He cannot fulfill.—“Sir, We Would See Jesus”, para. 43
To see more of the prophet's words about him being human, check this page, and for more of the Bible's passages about infallibility, check this page.
In 1 Kings 13:1-34, a young prophet from Judah is sent by God to deliver a message of judgment to the king of Israel.
Bro. Branham also spoke of this:
And we find out, this king died in disgrace, a leper. Then, he was a lesson to the young prophet, not to put his hopes upon any man, but to look to God only. When he begin to look at to a man for an example, this man failed, yet being a good man.—“Influence”, para. 63
So it's a lesson to us, tonight, to keep our minds upon God, regardless of what man it is. Let him be cardinal, priest, prophet, whatever he might be, he is not immune from mistakes and—and error, and even death, and sin. But there is One Who is, and that's Jesus Christ; He is the One.—“Influence”, para. 64
Check this page to read the compilation of biblical passages and some citations about the Urim & Thummim.