Spoken Word #04
Aaron’s Rod and Prayer cloths
Brian Kocourek
January 27th, 2008
This
morning we’ll read Brother Branham’s opening prayer from his sermon “The Spoken Word is
the Original Seed. We will begin at paragraph 5.where brother Branham is speaking yet
to the audience right before the prayer begins.
5. And
I had the privilege a few moments ago of talking to an old man and woman which we
know them as Brother and Sister Kidd who have been very faithful down through the years. And they stopped a few moments
ago. I told them to come by; I wanted to see them a minute; and what a privilege it was to talk to old
people that'd been preaching the Gospel when I was yet a baby. And the glorious old Gospel gets better all the
time as we near the end of the road.
6. And
now, there's some prayer cloths laying
here and I want to pray over them after a bit. And now, let us just bow our
heads a moment for a word of prayer.
Now,
before we go any further and begin brother Branham’s opening prayer, I hope you
noticed that he spoke of how he was going to pray over some prayer cloths.
You
know, I have some prayer cloths that brother Branham prayed over. In fact I
have a sheet that brother Branham laid hands on and we have given away many
pieces of this sheet for prayer cloths. I can recall one time when brother Howard Davis lay dying in bed with cancer, I went to
pray for him, and brought this prayer cloth I had received from br. Billy Paul perhaps 20 years before.
I
laid the prayer cloth on the center of His chest and laid my hands over it, and
while praying, I began to feel a vibration or pulsation between his chest and
my hand. After praying, I asked brother Howard if he
had felt that, and he said he did. I said, brother I don’t know what that was,
but I believe you are healed.
The
next day he went to the hospital for more x-rays and to his astonishment, the
x-ray showed only three dots on this lungs. Before
that the pervious x-ray showed his lung was completely full of white marks on
the x-ray. But this time the x-ray only showed three dots. Well, after about
six weeks he went for another x-ray and this time there were no white marks on
the x-ray, and he was pronounced totally healed.
Then
after about 6 months of good health, one day Br. Howard came to me before
service one Wednesday evening, and said it took him about 2 hours to get out of
bed that morning, because he could not move (I believe he said it was his right
side.) I told him, I believed he had a brain tumor, and it was pressing down on
a nerve. Now, I do not know what caused me to say that but we later come to
find out that what I said was exactly what he had. That night I prayed for him,
and when I did I felt led to lay my five fingers of my right hand across his
forehead, and then I prayed for his healing and rebuked that tumor spirit to
leave. I told him I believed the Holy Spirit answered our prayer, but I told
him that when he goes to the hospital to get it checked, they will find the
tumors, and they will want to give him radiation or chemo therapy. I told him
if he just waits it out, the tumor will dissolve because the life has left it. I
told him it could take months but they will dissolve through his blood stream,
but he may have another occurrence of that paralysis because until they are
completely dissolved a sudden jolt could cause them to do what they did before,
pres against a nerve and cause paralysis on the right side. But, I also told
him, if he goes through the chemo-therapy it will kill him. I told him he was
too old to undergo chemo and he wouldn’t last two weeks.
The
next day brother Howard went to the hospital for a brain scan and sure enough
he had some tumors in his brain. They placed red circles across his forehead, 5
red circles to be exact. The location of those circles was exactly in the same
locations where each of my fingers had pressed upon his forehead, where I touched
his forehead, and the largest tumor was where my largest finger had touched,
exactly in the same place on his forehead.
Now,
you may call that coincidence, but I call that God. And yes, they told him he
needed chemotherapy, and instead of waiting for the tumors to be dissolved by
his blood stream, he took the chemo and died within a very short period of time
after that. I do not recall the exact
amount of time that he lasted after taking that chemo-therapy, but I believe it
was only a couple weeks to my recollection.
I
talked to brother Vayle and said, you know brother Vayle, God had totally
healed this brother of cancer of the lungs, but then 6 months later he died of
this chemo because of the tumor in his brain.
I
will never forget his answer, he said, I was in meetings with brother Branham
where people that were blind received their eye site, and by the time they left
those meetings they were totally blind again. It’s all based on faith, and I if
they allow unbelief to enter in then whatever God healed them of will return.
So
we are talking about healing this morning, and about
the prayer cloths that brother Branham prayed over.
Did
you ever wonder what the origin of the prayer cloth was? I hope you know that
it was a biblical practice.
In
the new testament of course we see in the book of Luke
that a woman with an infirmity touched the hem of Jesus garment and received
her healing. Luke
8: 40-48 And it came to pass,
that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly
received him: for they were all waiting for him. 41 And,
behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a
ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that
he would come into his house: 42 For he had one
only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went
the people thronged him. 43 And a woman having an
issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians,
neither could be healed of any, 44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and
immediately her issue of blood stanched. 45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were
with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out
of me. 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid,
she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before
all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 48 And
he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith
hath made thee whole; go in peace.
And
we also see in the book of Acts that people were healed by taking from the Apostle
Paul pieces of his clothing that he wore and they were healed. Acts 19: 11- 12 “And God wrought
special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 So that from his body were
brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from
them, and the evil spirits went out of them.”
But
did you know that this practice was not confined to the new
Testament? We actually see the first time anything like this took place in
Scripture is when
Numbers 21: 4 And
they journeyed from
Now,
even before this story we see that Moses had a rod and Aaron had a rod which
they carried with them, and God performed many miracles using those two rods.
Now, the rod was part of their attire, so you could say it was a part of their
clothing, because they took it everywhere as a walking stick to make their walk
a little easier, I guess and also as a weapon in their hands for safety from
wild animals and wild men.
Exodus
4:1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they
will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD
hath not appeared unto thee. 2 And the LORD
said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he
said, A rod. 3 And
he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a
serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And the LORD said unto
Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his
hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
Now, from what I read in the Scriptures both Moses
and Aaron had a rod that they used in their ministries. Because Moses threw
down his rod and it became a serpent, and we know that Aaron’s rod though just
a dried out stick, it blossomed with new leaves on it showing that God had
chosen him above the other tribes to lead in the worship.
God has a provided way
62-0728 P:46 But when Moses threw his rod down, and
these fellows standing there with supersensory perception threw their rods
down, done the same thing that Moses done... Only, Moses was following the line
of God. And what happened? There's nothing the man could do. He'd fulfilled his
duty. When you do everything that you
can do in the line of duty, then it's God's business to provide a way to...?...
God will provide for Himself a sacrifice. See? And Moses threw his rod down, and Aaron threw his down; and they turned into serpents. And here
come the supersensory perceptionists, and throwed down their rods, and they turned. And then Moses
could do nothing else. Then God provided a way. Their rod eat
up the others. What happened to the rods? Did the snake get bigger, or what
happened? Oh, God still has a provided way, and He's able to make a way when
there's no other way. He is the way.
Church dedication 59-0708M P:19 No wonder the church natural today can't
believe in miracles. They've never come into the miracle working place where
they're at rest with God. There's where Aaron's rod budded, something that was
dead. An old dry stick off the desert in
that holiest of holies took new life, and bloomed blooms, and sprouted out, and
brought leaves. How? It was laying
in the holiest of holies. You can take a dead sinner, rotten, carnal in his
mind and in his thinking a criticizer of the power of God, and bring him into
the Presence of the Holy Ghost, there'll be something happen to him. Sure.
Entering into that lonely place with God... "He dwells," says Moses
in the next chapter, "in the thickness of the darkness." That's where
God dwells. That's where life stays. Is in the midst of the
rotten corruption. Where does the life stay? In the seed after it's
rotten. When it dies to itself it brings forth a new life. Where does God stay?
He will stay with you if you're ready to die out to yourself and give Him a
chance: service: body. intellectual: spirit, thoughts;
and soul, your faith in God: three room house.
Notice the following times we see Moses use his rod
in service before God.
Exodus 10:13 And
Moses stretched forth his rod over the
Exodus 9:23 And
Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and
hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the
Exodus 8:16 And
the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the
dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the
Exodus 7:19 And the LORD spake
unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the
waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds,
and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there
may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in
vessels of stone.
Exodus 4:20 And
Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to
the
Exodus 8:5 And
the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch
forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the
ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the
Exodus 7:20 And
Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and
smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the
sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to
blood.
Exodus 17: 9 And
Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with
the rod of God in mine hand.
Exodus 17:5 And
the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the
elders of
Exodus 7:10 And
Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had
commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants,
and it became a serpent.
Numbers 20:11 And
Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
We
see how many times God performed miracles using only a stick or rod as it was
called. And in fact the rod of each man was to be identified with his name
written on it. That is how God wanted to show
Numbers 17:1 And
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 Speak
unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to
the house of their fathers, of all their princes
according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3 And
thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of
the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5 And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom:
and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of
2 Kings 2: 1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would
take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. 2 And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I
pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to
11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and
talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of
fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a
whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father,
my father, the chariot of
God has a provided lamb
64-0620E P:21 And then how that she come up and fell down
at Elijah's feet, and Gehazi jerked her up; that
wasn't becoming around his master. And she revealed what was wrong. And Elijah
went down and raised up the little boy, by laying his
body upon the little fellow. And I want
you to notice the mother's faith too. She
laid the baby upon the bed that Elijah had been laying on. I want you
to...I want to clear up Paul's idea here to my way of thinking. You know, Paul put handkerchiefs upon the sick and
the afflicted, and aprons. I don't believe Paul was unscriptural. I think
here's where he got it. You remember what the first thing Elijah said to the Gehazi? "Take my staff and go lay it upon the
baby." He knowed everything he touched was
blessed. And so, you remember, Paul didn't pray over the handkerchiefs. They
just took off of his body. That was the people's faith. So, you see, he said,
"Take my staff and (if anybody salutes you, don't salute back) lay it on
the baby." But the woman's faith wasn't in the staff; it was in the
prophet. And she said, "I'll not leave you till... Sure as your soul
lives, I'm not going to leave you." So Elijah, to get rid of her, had to
go with her. So he went in and laid his body upon the little, dead baby, and it
sneezed seven times and come to life.
Now,
we know that Elisha received a double portion of the spirit that had been on
Elijah, and in the book of 2 Kings 13: 21 we read, And it came to pass, as
they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast
the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and
touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
So
we see that quickening power was still on those old bones of Elisha down in
that sepulchre.
Why are people so tossed about 56-0101 P:63
And now, after they left that second court, sanctification, they entered into this consecrated life,
entered into the Presence of God. And while they were in there, there's
where they had all these glorious things. What a very beautiful type that in there, anything dead
come in, lived again. Did
you ever think of that? They took
Aaron's rod and laid Aaron's rod in the presence of this holy place; and when
they did, in one night's time it budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds: in
one night's time. Think of it. In the
Presence of God this old dead rod, lying there in the Presence of God budded,
blossomed, and yielded almonds in one night. What was it then? What kind of
a rod was it? It was an almond tree rod. That's what he taken it from; the
stick was off of an almond tree. And you
are a stick some kind; and you was taken off the branch of humanity, which
was God's created son in the beginning. You may be fallen, dead, alienated from
God; but by that in creation, you were created to be a son of God. You may
bounce around, and be respected and honored out here in the courts, but if you ever get into that glorious place
and hid away with God, you'll yield what you're supposed to do.
Listen, I haven’t told this story for a long, long
time, because I have kept this kind of personal, and close to this church only.
But I believe that God is the same and changes not. And I believe in studying
for this message last night I learned something about an experience I had a
number of year ago.
It all took place back before brother Kash moved from
Anyway, I had gotten it somewhere around early fall,
and I left it in the garage. Well, I think it was a few months later, some time
around October or November that I had to go away to Long Island
Well, my wife went out to the garage and got her a
stick to keep in the bedroom in case some one tried to break into our home. She
put it under our bed under where I usually sleep. She forgot all about that
stick once I got home, and I slept on it for the next few months, and sometime
in March, right around Easter time, I was doing some Spring
cleaning and as I was cleaning under the bed, I noticed this stick laying
there.
Now, this stick had been cut down for more than 7 or
8 months, and I had completely debarked it so it was
smooth and had not a limb, nor any leaves on it. Just a dried
out stick. But when I pulled it out from under my bed, it had grown two
limbs which were two little leaves that
were growing out of this dried out old stick, and I new something special had
taken place but I didn’t have a clue. But you know how we are, we are so afraid
to tell others about what the Lord does, because we are afraid that they will
think we are trying to make something out of it. But I took that stick down to
church and I showed it to the church that next service,
and I still have that stick. And I didn’t claim anything by it, but thought it
was quite strange because the only time I had heard of that happening was with
the rod of Aaron that bloomed in the presence of the Lord.
After I took it out from under my bed, and showed it
to the church, I left it stand in the corner of the room in the basement, and
in a few weeks the leaves dried up and fell off. I wish I would have taken a
picture of it, but I am sure several of you out there can still remember when
that happened.
Now, what does that mean? I don’t know, but I
believe that the same God that caused Aaron’s rod to bud is the same God that
caused this rod to bud. You know it is strange how God works, but after that,
the doors begin to open up around the world to minister “the Doctrine of Christ”
and since then, the Lord has taken me around the world time and time again
teaching the doctrine of Christ to any and all who will listen.
Hidden life in Christ 55-1110 P:35 Watch.
There’s where they put Aaron’s rod. Not out there in the outer courts, they put it in here on the inside to select
who would be what priesthood. I know that speaks directly of Christ, but it
also types of the sinner. You take a man that’s diddle-dottled
along in church all of his life, and still dead in sin and trespasses...But
when that man was on the outside, that old rod, it was just an ordinary stick,
and it would been carried along in Aaron’s hand till it was dried up; there was
no life in it. That’s the man that’s cut off from God. That’s the man that’s
without Christ. That’s the man may be a member of a church, but knows no more
about God than a Hottentot would know about a
Egyptian knight; walking on. “Oh, I belong to church.” It was in Aaron’s hand.
Yeah, he was used, but dead. And when
that rod was put into the holiest of holies, into the consecrated place of God,
in the Presence of the Holy Spirit, you know what happened? It budded and
blossomed, and yielded almonds, all in one night. Hallelujah.
Now, I am sure that some will say that I am trying
to make something of myself by what took place. And if you might think that,
then you are no different than Joseph’s brothers who thought Joseph was trying
to make something of himself because he had those
dreams.
Look, you can’t make yourself anything more or less
than what God has made you. And if we are true steward’s
of His Doctrine and walk in His love and Grace, then we will never make
anything more of ourselves than he will make of us. But if we lift Him up He
said he would draw all men unto himself. So that’s the main theme that we
should have in our lives. To see what we can do to lift Up
the name of Christ to all men.
I didn’t ask to go to all these places. In fact I
would rather have a church large enough that I couldn’t get away from it, but
that is not what He has called me to do, and that is not what He has chosen for
me in this life. At least not yet, anyway. That’s
still my hope, that someday this little work will grow to the place that I will
be very busy with the local work of the ministry. But right now, my ministry is
most effective on the road.
I know one thing for sure,
if you get puffed up God will never use you. But that doesn’t mean that you
should shut up about what God has done for you either. Seems to me if brother
Branham had not shared with us what God did for him in his ministry we would
never have known most of what we do know about the working of the Holy Spirit
in this hour. But you see, His ministry was to declare
Him that He is here. And I guess you just can’t get me to shut up either. I
have seen too much evidence that he is still here with us.
I’ve seen storm abated in an instant just Like brother did. I’ve seen record heat wave turn cool
within hours of praying for it to drop by 30 degree. I’ve seen a miracle after
miracle and healing after healing, and you all know that a man can not do those
things. God is still on the scene and he is still here in the form of the
Pillar of Fire and he is still leading us to the Millennium. And yes, I have
seen with my own eyes a dead dried out stick come to life again. Why? Because God changes not. He is the same yesterday, today and
forever.
So does that make me somebody? No, Aaron was still
Aaron. He wasn’t Moses and never claimed to be. He was just a minister of
Moses. He was not the prophet of the hour. But he did serve the same Living God
that Moses served. He never tried to take Moses place. He knew his own
weaknesses and never professed to be anything other than one of God’s
ministers.
Hidden life 55-1006A P:41 In
this same place... We don't have much time, 'cause I got to hurry, but just for
another thought. In this same place they
put Aaron's rod, to make a decision who God had chosen
and who he hadn't. And that rod that
was a dead stick, in one night's time come to life, brought buds, brought
flowers, and brought almonds. It both come to life,
brought blossoms, and yielded fruits, a
very typical pattern of the sinner being brought to God into the holy place.
Remember that rod passed over every one
of those other elements, and it got inside the holy place still dead. But to abide... It
never come to life when they first brought it in
there. That's the reason the Holy Spirit's watched you since you received
the Holy Ghost, see you're attitude
towards His Kingdom. If it's been selfish motive, if the things that you've
thought of has been in-farther a denomination, or if it's doing farther, better
you, your position, if it's to make you
a man looked up to in the world, if it's to build you a big church some where,
or some popularity, or some other thing outside of increasing or in-bettering
the Kingdom of God, brother, something's wrong. Amen.
Church dedication 59-0708M P:19 No
wonder the church natural today can't believe in miracles. They've never come
into the miracle working place where they're at rest with God. There's where Aaron's rod budded, something
that was dead. An old dry stick off the desert in that holiest of holies took
new life, and bloomed blooms, and sprouted out, and brought leaves. How? It was laying in the holiest of holies. You
can take a dead sinner, rotten, carnal in his mind and in his thinking a
criticizer of the power of God, and bring him into the Presence of the Holy
Ghost, there'll be something happen to him. Sure. Entering into that lonely
place with God... "He dwells," says Moses in the next chapter,
"in the thickness of the darkness." That's where God dwells. That's
where life stays. Is in the midst of the rotten corruption.
Where does the life stay? In the seed after it's rotten. When it dies to itself
it brings forth a new life. Where does God stay? He will stay with you if
you're ready to die out to yourself and give Him a chance: service: body. intellectual: spirit, thoughts; and soul, your faith in God:
three room house.
Supernatural the 56-0129 P:31 Look, the
people who eat the manna out here on the ground was eating the same manna that
the high priest eat in under the Shekinah Glory.
But this manna withered away out on the ground, but that in the hidden place
never did wither away. It lasted through the spans of years. And a man who
walked in there, when the high priest went in beyond that veil, that veil that
separated the holiest from the holiest of holies, when he walked in there, the
veil dropped behind him, that man, he... It was even sound proof. He didn't... He was shut off from all
the world and the surroundings. He knowed
nothing in there but the living in the Presence of God. And a man or woman that ever walked into that Shekinah Glory of God, the whole world's shut off behind
him. No matter what the devil says, you don't pay any attention to it. And
He's living in a different atmosphere. He
lived in there where they put Aaron's rod. And it was nothing but an old dead
stick off of an olive tree. But once laid in the Presence of God, it yielded
what it was supposed to be in the beginning. In one night's time it budded,
blossoms, and brought almonds.
Now,
do you suppose that God would do the same thing today? I know that He is the
same yesterday today and forever, and I have seen the rod bud forth with two
leaves which is a witness. God witnessing with two leaves
that have bud forth from a dried old stick that he is the same yesterday, today
and forever.