An offshoot launched by Victor T. Houteff, a member of a Seventh-day Adventist church in Los Angeles, California, in 1929, popularly called the “Shepherd’s Rod,” after the title of his first publication. His organization took the name of “Davidian Seventh-day Adventists” in 1942. Houteff, who regarded himself as a divinely inspired messenger of God, set forth succinctly the primary subject of his teaching in his first publication as follows: “This publication contains only one main subject with a double lesson; namely, the 144,000 [of Rev. 7:4–9 ; 14:1 ] and a call for reformation” (The Shepherd’s Rod, first ed. [1930], vol. 1, p. 11).
In May 1935 Houteff and 11 followers (including children) migrated from California to Waco, Texas, and established a colony on a nearby farm, which they referred to thereafter as Mount Carmel Center. This center was intended to be the temporary headquarters for the assembling of the 144,000 sealed ones, preparatory to their transfer to Palestine as the re-established kingdom of David under a theocratic regime, there to direct the closing work of the gospel on earth prior to the second advent of Christ.
Prior to his death on Feb. 5, 1955, Houteff had appointed his wife to lead his flock until the Lord should choose another prophet to take charge of it. The Waco Tribune-Herald of Feb. 27, 1955, reported shortly after Houteff’s death that at one time there had been as many as 125 persons living at the Mount Carmel Center, including children and some invalids in the rest home.
Immediately after Houteff’s death the Shepherd’s Rod party began to break up into splinter groups. The main body, under Mrs. Houteff’s leadership, announced in print to the public that the prophetic period of 1260 days foretold in Rev. 11 would end on Apr. 22, 1959, and that on that date God would intervene in a remarkable manner in Palestine to clear out both the Jews and the Arabs for the establishment of the Davidic kingdom in that country. Responding to an official call to assemble at their Waco headquarters during Apr. 16–22, 1959, in readiness to move to Palestine as soon as Providence should indicate, several hundred persons gathered at the Mount Carmel Center to await the fulfillment of the prediction. When the date passed uneventfully, most of the people-disappointed, confused, and embarrassed-scattered slowly from Waco to begin life anew elsewhere as best they could. Some returned to the SDA Church, some lost all faith in the Bible and strayed off into the world, and some joined splinter groups, such as “the Branch” (which actually sent a few colonizers to Israel in a mission that has ended in failure). Some stayed with the Waco leaders to face the future.
Mrs. Houteff and her associate leaders frankly and publicly acknowledged in print on Dec. 12, 1961, and Jan. 16, 1962, that the Shepherd’s Rod party and its peculiar teachings were not sound. Finally, on Mar. 11, 1962, they resigned, declared the Davidian Association dissolved, closed their Mount Carmel Center, and put the property up for sale. Having done this, they scattered.
Subsequent to Mrs. Houteff’s disbanding of the organization, several groups persisted, each claiming to be the authentic successor to the Shepherd’s Rod party. One of these groups, calling themselves Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, established a center, again near Waco, which in 1984 came under the control of Vernon Howell, who in 1981 had been disfellowshipped from the Tyler, Texas, Seventh-day Adventist Church. Late Howell changed his name to David Koresh, a name adopted from the Semitic form of the name of Cyrus, the Persian ruler of the sixth century B.C. In addition to pressing his claim to the prophetic gift, he presented himself as a latter-day fulfillment of the roles of David and Cyrus as deliverers of God’s people.
Howell (Koresh) traveled widely, recruiting members for his community, especially in Australia and Great Britain. His special teachings, based on an interpretation of Ezekiel 9 and the seven seals of Revelation, led to a heightened sense of impending attack, for which in preparation a large quantity of firearms was stockpiled in the Davidian headquarters.
On Feb. 28, 1993, the Davidian community was surrounded by law-enforcement authorities, leading to extensive gunfire and the death of several persons, both within the building and of officers outside. A tense state of siege continued, until on Apr. 19, 1993, during an attack by officers, fire broke out in the building, destroying the wooden structure and killing approximately 90 persons inside.
Since destruction of the Branch Davidian community, several other splinter groups remain as remnants of the Shepherd’s Rod movement.