Night Owl 9/Night Owl CD-ROM (NOPV9) (Night Owl Publisher) (1993).ISO/046a/wfexp5_9.zip/REFORMER.TXT

Text File | 1993-05-08 | 6KB | 121 lines

          From Miller's Prediction to Koresh's Rise
                           Phillip Arnn

Victor Houteff is hardly a household name. Yet he is the father of
a notable religious organization. Houteff's Davidian SDA movement
prospered for 26 years before it disbanded in 1961.

Houteff was born in Bulgaria in 1885. His family immigrated to the
United States and he became a member of the Seventh Day Adventist
Church in 1919. By the early 1930's, Houteff had developed Biblical
views which were in conflict with his fellow Seventh Day
Adventists.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church has adopted a unique doctrine
known as the investigative judgement of Christ. The belief was born
out of an attempt to explain the failure of William Miller's
prophecy for the return of Christ. Miller had set a date of 21
March 1843 to 21 March 1844 as the time of Christ's reappearing.
When the latter date had passed a new date was set for 22 October
1844. The date arrived ■ but Christ did not.

The next day a Millerite named Hiram Edson had a vision. He claims
his vision pictured Christ as entering the Heavenly Holy of Holies
to cleanse the Heavenly temple and to open a period of
investigating those who claimed to be God's people. (See
Apocalyptic Cry elsewhere in this issue). Christ's cleansing work
would cover the past sins of his people but they would have to keep
God's laws during a period of probation (The Great Controversy,
E.G. White p. 309).

After the probation period was over Christ would lay the sins of
the people (Adventists), on the Azazel (Satan) and their sin would
then be blotted out. An Adventist may be disfellowshiped for
breaking Old Testament food laws or for drinking or smoking. When
that is taken together with their belief that they are the
invisible and remnant church of God, salvation becomes conditional.
According to Jeriel Bingham, vice president of the Davidian Seventh
Day Adventists Association in Exeter, Missouri, Houteff sought to
be a voice of reformation within the Adventist Church.

Houteff held to the emphasis on justification by faith. He referred
to himself as a reformer after the teachings of E.J. Waggoner and
A.T. Jones. These two men had taught justification by faith in
Christ alone at the 1888 General Conference of the SDA. This was a
message which was not well received.

However, when examining Houteff's writings, he seems to hold to a
view of justification which teaches that Christ's righteousness is
actually imparted to the believer. Thus, the believer is able to
keep the law perfectly even as Christ had done.

Bingham says, another point of contention was the remnant seed
discussed in Revelation 12:17. The Adventists held that the
Saturday sabbath was the mark of the remnant of God, or the only
true church. The woman's seed mentioned in verse 17 is said to be
keeping God's commandments. Adventists felt that the seventh day
sabbath is the token of all of the moral law which is binding on
all believers.

The Adventists believed the great crowd of Revelation 6 were those
who would be brought into the Adventist Church during the time of
troubles just before Armageddon. Houteff believed the 144,000
believers of Revelation 7 and 14 were Adventists but he taught that
the great crowd were believers outside of the Adventist church.
Houteff was branded as a disruptive influence and disfellowshiped
in 1935.

Houteff and a handful of followers moved to Texas, near Waco. At
first they were called The Shepherd's Rod. In 1942 they
incorporated and took the name Davidian Seventh Day Adventist.
Houteff fully expected Christ to return during his life time. He
had always planned to settle his group in Israel but died in 1955,
before his dream was accomplished. His wife, Florence, took over as
leader of the group. She pronounced to Houteff's followers that on
22 April 1959 there would appear a great sign and the Lord would
return.

As the April 1959 date approached, nearly 1400 followers arrived in
Texas to await the sign and the Lord's return. The Lord did not
return but one of Houteff's former followers arrived claiming he
was the sign Florence had predicted.

The man was named Benjamin Roden, a west Texas businessman, who had
just returned from purchasing land in Israel. He was able to
convince some of the Davidians that he was a prophet and became the
leader of a new and separate movement. Roden called his group the
Branch Davidians.

Florence Houteff issued an announcement in 1961 that the Davidian
Seventh Day Adventists were disbanding. One of Houteff's associates
formed an organization called the Davidian Seventh Day Adventist
Association. This group is today located in Exeter, Missouri and
has continued Houteff's teachings against the legalism of  the
traditional SDA. Bingham stresses the importance of justification
by faith as an imputed righteousness as taught by the reformation.
However, the Branch Davidians, founded by Benjamin Roden, adopted
a narrow theology based on an expected imminent return of Christ.
Roden kept not only the Saturday sabbath but also instituted the
Jewish Old Testament feasts of Passover, Tabernacles and Atonement
as eight day observances. When Roden died in 1978, his wife, Lois,
became head of the group.

In 1981 a young man named Vernon Howell joined the group and
quickly gained influence. He had been raised under Seventh day
Adventist theology and had begun memorizing scripture as a child.
Howell had become obsessed with the book of Revelations and Old
Testament end time prophecy. He soon ran afoul of George Roden, the
son and heir apparent of Lois Roden. Howell was a quiet spoken and
polite young man while George Roden had a reputation as a bully.
The two men came to a near violent confrontation in 1985.

Roden forced Howell's group off the Texas property which the Rodens
had taken by squatters rights after the Houteff organization had
disbanded. The conflict between Roden and Howell culminated in a
shoot-out in 1987. Howell emerged from the conflict as the new
leader of the Branch Davidian group.

Things remained relatively quite until 28 February 1993. Fifty-two
days later fire swept through the compound and all but nine were
killed. David Koresh's Branch Davidians reached a tragic end.