Davidian Seventh-day Adventists

Davidian Seventh-day Adventist is a layman's reform movement that arose from within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The late Victor T. Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant who became a convert to the Seventh-day Adventist faith in 1919, founded the movement in the 1930s. Davidians are best identified and most widely known by the name of its first publication, The Shepherd’s Rod; however, the organization itself considers it incorrect to refer to the adherents of the movement by this title.

Although often confused with Branch Davidians (known for the stand off and fire of 1993 near Waco, Texas) the two groups are separate and distinct. Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists was begun by the late Benjamin Roden after the death of Davidian founder Victor T. Houteff in 1955. After Roden's death, the Branch Davidian Association was continued by Lois I. Roden. All beliefs and associations marked by these two individuals to the name Davidian qualifies the connection as Branch and not original Davidian, as it is not directly associated with the originator, Victor T. Houteff. Tenets not held in common with original Davidians include: the femininity of the Holy Spirit, The Branch as God's new name and the keeping of Feast days. After the passing of Lois Roden, Vernon Howell (who later changed his name to David Koresh) assumed control of the Branch organization and held additional beliefs that were not maintained by original Davidians.

Original Davidians adhere to the original message as it was presented under Victor Houteff. Houteff himself wrote, "Do not weave into 'The Shepherd's Rod' message your own interpretations of the Bible and of Sr. White's writings, nor any of your constructions on anything that is written therein before first submitting your points to this office."

Adherents to the writings of V. T. Houteff have often been referred to as "Shepherd's Rods", however the correct term is "Davidian Seventh Day Adventists". This name is derived from the title of a two-volume series authored by Victor Houteff, the first volume of which was released in 1929.

In both volumes of his original work Houteff made references to the biblical book of Micah:

"The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it," and

"Feed Thy people with Thy rod, the flock of Thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel." .

"The name, Davidian, deriving from the name of the king of Ancient Israel, accrues to this Association by reason of its following aspects: First, it is dedicated to the work of announcing and bringing forth the restoration (as predicted in Hosea 1:11; 3:5) of David's kingdom in antitype, upon the throne of which Christ, "the son of David," is to sit. Second, it purports itself to be the first of the first fruits of the living, the vanguard from among the present-day descendants of those Jews who composed the Early Christian Church. With the emergence of this vanguard and its army, the first fruits, from which are elected the 12,000 out of each of the twelve tribes of Jacob, "the 144,000" (Rev. 14:1; 7:2–8) who stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb (Rev. 14:1; 7:2–8), the reign of antitypical David begins."

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