As with almost every other newspaper in North America, a large picture of the blaze filled much of the front page.
Clouds of black smoke rose above the flames in the large picture that illustrated the headline.
Within those flames the most notorious false christ of modern times died, apparently expecting soon to be resurrected. An estimated eighty-five of his followers, including seventeen children, perished with him.
"Watch out that no one deceives you," Jesus replied (v. 4). The remainder of the chapter records the ten signs He gave that would indicate the imminence of His return. One sign He mentioned three times—that of false Christs and/or false prophets. In each warning He used the word deceive:
A large proportion of the people who perished at the Koresh compound had been recruited from among Seventh-day Adventists. Will large numbers of Seventh-day Adventists also be among the many who will be deceived by other false Christs or false prophets as the tempo of final events accelerates? Can we learn lessons from the Waco tragedy that will help us face current challenges and avoid deceptions to come?
The Beginning of the Waco Tragedy
Back in 1929 a member of an Adventist church in Southern California, Victor Houteff, claimed that he had discovered "new light" about the 144,000. Leaders from the local conference, the union conference, and the General Conference examined his teachings and found error in them.
Houteff, strong-willed, persisted in spreading his views, bringing disunity into his congregation. On November 30, 1930, he was disfellowshipped.
Some fifty years earlier, when an Adventist pastor was advocating "new light," Ellen White suggested that Solomon's words be remembered (Prov 11:14) be applied: "The only safety for any of us is in receiving no new doctrine, no new interpretation of the Scriptures, without first submitting it to brethren of experience. Lay it before them in a humble, teachable spirit, with earnest prayer; and if they see no light in it, yield to their judgment, for 'in the multitude of counselors there is safety'" (Testimonies for the Church, 5:293).
Shepherd's Rod
After rejecting the counsel of church officials, Houteff founded an organization called "Davidian Seventh-day Adventists," which came to be known as The Shepherd's Rod. In May, 1935, he and a few followers went to Waco, Texas, and purchased some land, which they called Mt. Carmel. Shortly afterwards Houteff announced, "True we are establishing our headquarters on this mount that is found in prophecy, but our stay here shall be very short" (The Symbolic Code, August, 1935).
Houteff evidently expected that he and his followers would shortly be transferred to Palestine, and that from there 144,000 would take the gospel to all the world.
This was not to be for Mr. Houteff. He died on February 5, 1955, and his widow took over his flock. In November of 1955 the leaders discovered more "new light." The 1260 days of Revelation 11, they concluded, were literal days, which would end on April 22, 1959.
As they sought followers and finances, they preyed almost exclusively on Seventh-day Adventist members.
They fell far short of 144,000 converts. But on the predicted date, April 22, 1959, between 800 and 1,000 persons did assemble at Mt. Carmel, some of whom were merely curious onlookers. When nothing happened, special prayer meetings were held every day to plead with God to fulfill their hopes. But as the days lengthened into weeks and months, some went off with splinter groups. Others, in sincere repentance, returned to the Seventh-day Adventist church.
The Elements of Deception
Time Emphasis
The Shepherd's Rod people drew their prophetic conclusions, in part, from Revelation 11. They claimed to believe Ellen White's writings and quoted her selectively to support their interpretations. But they totally ignored warnings such as the following:
The prophet said, Beware!
The same paragraph contains a commission to the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist church:
"False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met and opposed, not because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood and are endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth" (ibid.).
Anyone who focuses on dates is to be met and opposed!
Rejected Previous Light
Despite their professed faith in Ellen White's writings, the Shepherd's Rod had no use for warnings such as these. They also rejected what Ellen White wrote in The Great Controversy chapter entitled "The Bible and the French Revolution," which recounts how the events of Revelation 11:1-13 were fulfilled in France during the closing years of the 1800s.
Because Adventist leaders would not accept the "new light" of the Shepherd's Rod, that organization sent the following message to the General Conference early in 1959:
Thus the Adventist church, because it rejected the Shepherd's Rod's "new light" on Revelation 11, could expect to be slain by God! (Does that sound a little like those within our denomination today who are charging that the official Seventh-day Adventist church has become Babylon?)
Resignations and Splinter Groups
After their "disappointment of 1959" the Shepherd's Rod leaders asked to meet with representatives of the General Conference. A committee of seven ministers was appointed, which met with seven Davidian leaders in 19 sessions, for a total of nearly 50 hours.
The General Conference group reminded the Davidian representatives that they had put their interpretations to the test with their 1959 prediction. The committee appealed to them to return to the Seventh-day Adventist church.
This appeal eventually got some results. In March, 1962, the leaders of the Shepherd's Rod resigned (The Review and Herald, May 17, 1962, p. 8). These resignations, however, led to splinter groups under new leaders. David Koresh's group became the most recent branch-off of a branch-off of a branch-off from the original Shepherd's Rod.
The Koresh Splinter
Koresh thought he had important "new light" on the seven seals of Revelation 6. He viewed himself, apparently, as God's instrument for opening the seals and bringing about the battle of Armageddon and the end of the world.
We have seen the tragic results.
The seven seals of Revelation 6.
The two witnesses of Revelation 11.
The 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14.
Time and again these have been favorite areas for speculation by people searching for sensational new light!
Time Speculation
As with the Shepherd's Rod, many times the quest for "new light" in Revelation leads to speculations regarding time. During her ministry Ellen White had to deal repeatedly with people who did "time study," and who came up with dates. In 1879 she warned:
Thirteen years later, in an 1892 article in Signs of the Times, Ellen White added this:
The context pointed out that "such men have arisen and do arise, and will continue to arise." "Some who listen to them," Ellen White continued, "who do not have spiritual discernment, will be misled by these false teachers, and be found fighting under the black banner of the adversary of God and man" (ibid.).
These deceived ones may call their conclusions "new light," but such "light" is darkness. Waco illustrates how terribly dark that "new light" can be.
A Current Example of Suggested Dates
Most Seventh-day Adventists cannot imagine themselves getting involved with a tragedy like Waco. Yet in the mid-1980s a certain jubilee group of Adventists made wide distribution of a 24-page paper that contained this front-page headline:
Currently another group, using jubilee calculations, is focusing on 1994 as a time when great disasters will begin. At one of my two churches, some members have been affected. That's why I am concerned; the divisiveness brought into my church has not been good.
Through an organization called "Wake Up America," a Seventh-day Adventist in Ohio has been teaching that the fulfillment of almost all of Revelation is still future and that the historical method of interpreting Revelation is wrong. The director, Larry Wilson, claims that Adventists have been wrong in our teachings about the leopard-bodied and lamb-horned beasts of Revelation 13. He sees both as still future. He teaches that the leopard-bodied beast will be a yet-to-develop coalition of seven religions — heathenism, atheism, mysticism, Judaism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism (Wilson, The Revelation of Jesus, 3:49). The lamb-horned beast he sees as a future physical appearing of Satan. Also still future, in his understanding, are the last four seals, all the trumpets, the bitter-sweet experience of Revelation 10, and the two witnesses of Revelation 11.
Time Predictions
Through his seminars, literature and videos Wilson has promoted his views widely. He says he is only doing "time study" — not date setting. But compare that claim with a few examples from his writings. Here is a prediction he published in the February, 1991 issue of his Day Star journal:
In his March, 1991 issue of the Day Star, Wilson moved the beginning of tragedies earlier to 1992, with expectations of a massive earthquake:
He acknowledged that it was "highly possible" that he could be wrong. Some months later, in a May, 1991 Day Star article entitled "New Light," Wilson wrote, "I now believe the 70th Jubilee year begins in March or April of 1994 instead of 1992. The effect of this change is that I now expect the earthquake of Revelation 8:5 to happen in 1994 instead of 1992" (p. 13). In March of this year he suggested that the devil would appear physically in "late 1996 if the trumpets begin in 1994. Keep in mind this is only a guess" (Day Star, March 1993, p. 3).
Daniells' Prediction
Do we need to wait until 1994 passes to draw a conclusion about such guesswork predictions? Such time setting, even without the precision of an exact date, brings to mind an experience from more than a century ago. In 1887 A. G. Daniells apparently made a statement to the effect that Christ would come within five years. Through Ellen White this message came to the church:
"Let no such remarks be made. They do no good." And, equally important, "Seek not to obtain a revival upon any such grounds."
Daniells accepted the reproof. Will current time-study advocates do the same?
The 144,000
Another similarity between Wake Up America and The Shepherd's Rod—along with suggested dates—is speculation about the 144,000.
Like the Shepherd's Rod, Wilson rejects the Seventh-day Adventist understanding of Revelation 11 as prophetic time — he sees this period as literal days:
Some months later, as already mentioned, Wilson concluded he had further "light" and that the Jubilee year would be 1994 instead of 1992.
But notice the word begin in the above statement: he apparently sees the proclamation of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14 as still future! Adventist leaders, including Ellen White, trace the beginning of the three angels' messages back to the 1840s. Wilson's interpretation negates everything the Seventh-day Adventist church has taught for the last 140 years about the three angels' messages of Revelation 14! And in this focus upon the 144,000 we have obvious similarities to what the Shepherd's Rod people taught back in 1959.
Another Deception
Looking ahead to the deceptions of the end time, Ellen White made this prediction:
"The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. 'Where there is no vision, the people perish' (Prov. 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony" (Selected Messages, 1:48).
This prediction mentions Satan working "ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies." Wake Up America's futurism cannot be reconciled with The Great Controversy. It can be accepted only by rejecting portions of The Great Controversy.
Steps to Apostasy
In Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, is a chapter entitled "The Nature and Influence of the 'Testimonies'" (pp. 654-691). Note, in particular, the following "steps to apostasy":
In light of where these steps lead, why would we consider taking any of them?
Why a Triple Warning?
Why did Jesus, in Matthew 24, warn the church three times that false teachings would deceive many? Did He foresee what is currently happening?
Consider these summary comparisons:
In the 1950s the Shepherd's Rod claimed that they had "new light" about the 1260 days of Revelation 11. They interpreted these days as literal—not prophetic as Seventh-day Adventists have taught for more than a century. Today the "Wake Up America" organization also teaches that the 1260 days of Revelation 11 are literal days.
The Shepherd's Rod had to deal with the clear explanations of Revelation 11 in The Great Controversy. In the summer of 1959 they claimed that "there is good reason to doubt that Mrs. White herself originated the teaching of Revelation 11 as it is given in Great Controversy" (The Shepherd's Rod Report, issued at Waco, Texas, in the summer of 1959, p. 25). In his November, 1991 An Open Letter to Seventh-day Adventists, Larry Wilson listed seven teachings found in The Great Controversy, and said, "I fully disagree with Mrs. White" (p. 9).
In the 1950s the Shepherd's Rod people expected that at least the beginnings of the 144,000 would gather at Waco, to be transported to Palestine. From Palestine the 144,000 would complete the gospel message. Today Wake Up America likewise puts a large emphasis on the 144,000 and teaches that they will take the gospel to every kindred, tongue, and people. This, Wilson teaches, is still future — with the 144,000 presumably ready to go by late 1993.
The Shepherd's Rod charged the General Conference with "shutting its ears" to "new light." As a result, they claimed, the "hypocrites in God's part of Christendom," namely, "the Adventist church," would be slain. In a November, 1991 Open Letter to Seventh-day Adventists, Wilson mentioned the Biblical Research Institute and the elders of the church and then charged that a future shaking will reveal that "the flock has been led to follow the programs and teachings of men and not the Word of God. And on that day, God will charge pastors of His flock with dereliction of duty" (p. 15).
The Shepherd's Rod set April 22, 1959 as a date when the 1260 years would end. Wake Up America teaches that 1994 will probably see the beginning of God's judgments.
A special edition of Day Star was sent to 65,000 Seventh-day Adventists in the spring of 1992. A chart in this issue shows the 144,000 and a "victorious multitude" in heaven at the end of the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12. The chart makes the 1335 days literal and has them begin in 1994.
A Warning Against Speculation
Isn't this far better than faith-destroying speculation?