Branch Davidians
The Branch Davidians is a cult that split away from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Under David Koresh, the movement evolved into a doomsday cult. The group is traceable to a splinter sect that broke away from the Seventh-Day Adventists in 1942. The breakway cult was founded by Victor Houteff, who had joined the SDA church in 1919. His beliefs deviated from mainline church doctrine. This is clear in his "The Shepherd's Rod" which was published in 1930. In the book, he outlined errors he found with the church. Houteff believed that Christ return would occur when ar least a small of numers had been sufficiently purified. he believed himself to be a messenger sent by God to conduct this cleansing. He felt in order to accomplish this that he must reveal the secret information contained in the scroll of Revelation 5. This group has written on both sides a description of the events to occur when Christ returns and the world as we know it ends. The scroll had been protected by seven seals. Houteff felt that purifying a small group of Christians would trigger the second coming of Christ to Jerusalem, when the Downfall of Babylon would occur and the Kingdom of David would be established. Houteff founded the Mt. Carmel Center near Waco, TX with 11 followers in 1935 and called the group "The Shepherd's Rod. They attempted to recruit membership from within the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church with only modest success. In 1942, he broke completely away from the SDA because the SDA refused a grant conscientious objector status to its members during World War II. He selected the name Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists for his organization. After his death in 1955, control of the Davidians went to his wife, Florence. She moved the community to a new location farther from Waco. She prophesied that the 1260 days mentioned in Revelation 11:3 would end and the Kingdom of David would be stablished on Apr 22, 1959. Many followers sold their possessions and moved to Mount Carmel in anticipation of the end time. They were disappointed when it did not happen. The group almost did not survive this failyre and only a few dozen members survived. Many left to form the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Association which remians active to this dau. Florence Houteff left in 1962. benjamin Roden assumed control of the group and renamed it the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists. He proclaimed himself to be King David's successor. After his death in 1978, his wife Lois Roden took control. She had been receiving visions that God is both male and female, that the Holy Spirit was female, and that Chjrist would take the form of a woman at his second coming! A power struggle developed between Lois and her son George. vernon Howell joined the group as a handyman in 1981. In 1984, he married the daughter of a prominent member of the community, a fourteen year old named Rachel Jones. A series of power struggles resulted. George Roden through Howell off the property. Roden later dug a 25 year old corpse, placed it in the chapel and declared that the person that returned the corpse to life would be the next leader. Howell and his followers sneaked into the compound to photograph the casket. They were detected and a gun battle resulted between Howell and Roden. george was wounded and later imprisoned for violating a restraining order and for contempt of court. After Roden's imprisonment, Howell and his followers took control. they found an illegal drug laboratory on the premises which made met amphetamine and also a great deal of pronography. bothw were removed. Howell was later tried for attempted murder, but the jury could not reach a verdict. Amajor international recruitment drive was established in 1985. It was aimed at SDA members. This effort brought in members from all over the world. A number of buisinesses were created wihtin the compund. Gunes were purchased wholesale and legally resold at gun shows. There were 130 members living in Waco in Spring 1993. They were a multi-racial, multi-ethnic group. The group called themselves "The Students of the Seven Seals." In 1990 Howell changed his name to David after King David in the Bible and to Koresh after the Hebrw word for the Persian Cyrus. Koresh renamed Mount Carmel "Ranch Apocalypse" because of the blief that the final battle of Armageddon would start at the compound. The basic beliefs of the Branch Davidians follow those of the SDA church. They did add a numer of additional novel concepts which were centered on themselves and their leader. They believed that: God has provided a propeht whose pronouncements are to be regarded on a par with the Bible; Christ's deat on the cross provided salvation only for those who died before 32 CE. people who have died since will only be saved through the activities of the current prophet; that the lamb of God in Revelation 5:2 refers to David Koresh instead of Jesus Christ; that after the breaking of the seals, Christ would return to earth and a battle would occur in which their group would play a major role. Their group would thus ascend to heaven to be with God. During the standoff with the government in 1993 which brought an end to their lives; Koresh believed that the raid was in some way related to the war of Armageddon. The group led a communal, highly regulated and and disciplined life; raising early, living together, growing btheir own food, committing long intervals of time to Bible studyt. They published a periodical "Shekineth Magazine." They held conventions which were sybchronized into Jewish feast days defined in Leviticus 23. Following Koresh's "New Light" doctrine, he began to persuade married women within the group to join him as spiritual wives. This involved sexual access. Couples were required to seperate and be celibant. All but Koresh and his spiritual wives were required to remain celibate. Several of his wives were between ages 12-14. Ranch Apocalypse was a powder keg, awaiting only a spark. Some members of the group observed the approach of 76 heavily armed employees of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and interpreted it as related to the battle of Armageddon. The group believed that Armageddon would occur in 1995. However, this caused confusion when the ATF moved in in 1993. As the ATF approached, Koresh offered to surrender if his sermon was broadcast nationally. It was over the CBN network on March 2. However, he changed his mind after reciving a revelation that God wanted him to wait. During the siege. Koresh made repeated requests to communicate with Biblical scholars. He stated he would not surrender until given instructions by God. On April 14, he believed that he had received his instructions. he was instructed to write a description of the Seven Seals and then to surrender to FBi with his followers. he was apparently engaged in the middle of this task when the attack occurred five days later. The movement still continues in two splinter groups. One is an anti-Korewah and anti-government group which now controls the compound and has erected a museum on the site. The other group of about 24 members reveres the memory of Koresh and are still attempting to comprehend the events in Waco in the light of Bible prophecy. They anticipated that Koresh would return to earth on Dec 13, 1996, and that they would be reunited with the dead members. This did not materialize. The current Branch Davidian theology believes that the 2300 day interval prophesied in Daniel 8:14 began at the time of the mass deaths at Waco on Apr 19, 1993 and that on Aug 6, 1999 the cleansing of the sanctuary would occur, and five months of torment would begin. Again, the prophecy didn't materialize.
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