Branch Davidians - History

History

In 1929 Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant and a Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath School teacher, claimed that he had a new message for the church. He presented this message in a book, The Shepherd's Rod: The 144,000—A Call for Reformation. The Adventist leadership rejected Houteff's message as contrary to the Adventists' basic teachings and disfellowshipped (banished) Houteff and his followers.However, there is controversy over the method the leadership took to disfellowship Houteff.For a historical view of the leadership's aborted 7 day investigation of Houteff's teachings see "The Great Controversy over the Shepherd's Rod" (Tract #7).http://www.shepherds-rod.org/Tracts/trac007.html

In 1935 Houteff established his headquarters to the west of Waco, Texas. Until 1942, the movement was known as the Shepherd's Rod Seventh Day Adventists. When Houteff found it necessary to formally organize for legal purposes, he named the association the General Association of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists. The term Davidian reflects their belief in the restoration of the Davidic kingdom in Israel before Christ's second coming (advent) in the clouds of heaven. Houteff directed Davidians to work exclusively for the reforming of Seventh-day Adventists, in preparation for a large influx of converts when the church was purified.

The Davidians believe that the president of the church must be endowed with the spirit of prophecy by which to bring increasing Biblical truth to the movement. Thus, in 1955, after Houteff's death, the Davidians split over who had the qualifications to lead the reform movement. This dispute brought about the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, headed initially by Benjamin L. Roden.However, not all original Davidian Seventh Day Adventists joined Ben Roden's new movement. The name Branch reflects their belief that Branch is Jesus' new name. In the late 1960s, the group established its headquarters east of Waco, Texas, on the property previously occupied by the Davidians after they sold their property west of Waco in the early 1960s.

In 1958–59, The Branch became the first group of Christians to be granted landed immigrant status in Israel. They received permission to settle three villages there, though they lost two of them because not enough Davidians came to inhabit the villages. Due to their efforts, along with those of others (mostly Jews), the remaining village, Amirim, became the first vegetarian village in Israel, and remains such today. Being strict vegetarians, they established The Branch Organic Agricultural Association, one of the first organizations to encourage organic gardening in Israel, which produces an abundance of crops for the area and for Europe.

At around the same time, Ben Roden called for the church to keep the Lord's Supper and all of the Biblical feast days. In 1976, he called for the General Conference of SDAs to keep the Lord's Supper daily, at the same times of worship that were designated in ancient Israel (the 3rd and 9th hours of the day).Ben Roden died in 1978. In 1981, Lois Roden, Ben's wife, called for all members of the Branch to keep the Lord's Supper daily at those same times.

Although under the leadership of Victor T. Houteff the reform movement strictly confined its work among SDAs, under Ben Roden the work was extended outside the mother church. Many original Davidian Seventh Day Adventists did not share in many of Ben Roden's Branch Davidian movement beliefs. Roden was especially vocal in his opposition to Sunday blue laws, which Adventists identify as being an aspect of the "mark of the beast", as they support the concept of Saturday rather than Sunday worship.

In 1977, Ben Roden's wife, Lois, claimed to have a new message of her own, one element of which was the doctrine that the Holy Spirit is feminine in gender, causing much controversy in the group. That new message entitled her to a place in the leadership of the church, which her husband and others accepted. When Ben Roden died the next year, their son George tried to assume the leadership, claiming that he was the rightful prophet of the group. But Lois overcame his attempt, and a permanent injunction was issued against George, prohibiting him from attempting to act as president of the church.

In 1979, Lois Roden began publishing Shekinah magazine, which was a "sounding board" in which she presented articles from people of many different Christian, Jewish, and other backgrounds exploring the issue of the femininity of the Holy Spirit, and women in the ministry of the church. During the next several years she was written about in national and international newspapers, was on radio talk shows, and appeared on TV discussing her message. She distributed her literature at many different large religious meetings, including those held in various places when Pope John Paul II came to America in 1979.

In late 1982, and early 1983, she won an award from Religion in Media, and from another international Christian group for her work and for her magazine. A couple of months later, the Administrative building at their church headquarters which contained their printing department was destroyed by fire. Vernon Howell (who changed his name to David Koresh in 1990) later admitted starting the fire. He said he did it because God had told him to do so, and that he was instructed to tell Lois that, "the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown." Nahum 1:14.