Abraham Lincoln Monday, February 18, 2008

Abraham Lincoln was born in the mountains of Kentucky on February 12th, 1809, in a little one-room log cabin in Hardin County. His birth date was one-hundred years before Brother Branham’s, and he was born approximately one-hundred miles from where Brother Branham was born. Both were born in Kentucky, and both moved to Indiana at an early age.

Abraham Lincoln

In Brother Branham’s opinion, Abraham Lincoln was “one of the greatest men that Kentucky ever produced,” and he was his favorite among all the presidents. It was because of his godly character and stand for what was right that earned his respect from Brother Branham and from millions of people throughout the past centuries and still today. It is believed that some of the only books Abraham Lincoln had until he was a grown man were the Bible, and Pilgrim's Progress. He once made this statement about the Bible:

"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book." Abraham Lincoln Source: September 7, 1864 - Reply to Loyal Colored People of Baltimore upon Presentation of a Bible

It was his saintly mother and these books that helped to mold his character into what he became. Though his parents belonged to a small Baptist Church, Lincoln never would become part of any organization throughout his life, yet he remained a staunch believer in God and maintained his moral commitment to the Holy Word.

Brother Branham admired the fact that Lincoln had to come the hard way, from a poor uneducated family, splitting rails and writing in the dirt, to get to where he was.

Now, I--I think the greatest President, though, that we ever had, was Abraham Lincoln. Not because he was a Kentuckian, too, but it was because that the man come up from nothing. And all the books that man ever owned, from the time he was a young boy, until he was of age, almost, was the Bible and--and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. See, that molded into him (what?) that 'honest Abe.' He... What you read, what you do, molds your character. It--it tells what you are. And now, you see, he read where 'if you did wrong, you paid for it; if you did right, God would honor it,' and that molded him what he was. And his mother, a--a godly woman, too. He said, 'If there is any credit given anybody, it was a godly mother,' that raised him right. Now that made, I think, I would say at least one, if not the greatest, President that we had. He come up from nothing, and God made him President because he was an honest man and a good man. 64-0215 – Influences

Abraham Lincoln had very little schooling during his childhood, but at an early age he took a great interest in reading. Once he became of age, he made a constant effort to attain knowledge while working on a farm. He was self-taught in nearly all that he knew.

During a flat boat trip to New Orleans, Lincoln witnessed a disturbing scene of the cruel and inhumane way slaves were treated.

I was reading where Abraham Lincoln got off the boat down in New Orleans and during the day of slavery, and seen them taking a great big, burly colored man and his little wife, and his two kiddies, screaming, and crying, and praying. And they was auctioning him off there to breed him amongst bigger women, to bring forth a bigger bunch, healthier, fatter slaves. And that little mother standing there, and old Abraham Lincoln took his hat off of his head, hit his fist, and said, 'That's wrong. That man's a human, just the same as I'm a human. And someday I will hit that with all I've got, if it costs my life.' And he did. 52-0713A – Early Spiritual Experiences

Abe Lincoln built up a strong desire to end the wrong of slavery. He made the comment once: "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless." Abraham Lincoln

By the age of twenty-four he was studying law and had already been serving as a public advocate. It wasn’t long before his ceaseless ambition and honesty built him a reputation that was recognized abroad. “Honest Abe” served a faithful and successful career as a lawyer, and eventually became more active in the political field. He was married in 1842, to a lady by the name of Mary Todd, and had four children; all of which died, but one, while still in their youth. He served one term (1847-1849) as a member of the US House of Representatives. Still his compassion for a law abiding government and the abolition of slavery drove him to press his way to the top. In the presidential election of 1860, Lincoln was elected as the 16th president of the United States of America for the Republican Party.

Emancipation Proclamation

It wasn’t long after Lincoln became the Commander in Chief for the US that the Union began to dissipate, and the topic of ending slavery became heated. Hardly a month after President Lincoln delivered his First Inaugural Address in March 1861, the Civil War started when the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. This was the start of a four year battle that would end in the reconstruction of the Union, and the abolition of slavery.

President Abraham Lincoln fought the battle against slavery with valor and with the moral obligation that all men were created equal, and that he would not want done to others as he would not wish to be done to himself. His stand against slavery finally cost him his life in 1865, when he was assassinated.

Abraham Lincoln, when he was dying, he had an alternative. And when he... But when he was shot there in this great cathedral, and he was dying in his bed, he said, 'Turn my face towards the setting of the sun.' The sun was going down at evening. Lincoln was breathing, and the blood gurgling in his lungs. He'd always trusted God. He said, 'Hold up my hands.' And he held his hand. He said, 'Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name,' as he bowed his head and gave up the spirit. 53-0405S – Go Tell My Disciples

As an ending statement from our wise leader: "I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, "Speech at Chicago, Illinois" (July 10, 1858), p. 502.

For another President's Day article click here.