No. Davidians and Branch Davidians are not the same organization neither do they share the same beliefs, congregate, and/or associate together. “The Branch Seventh-day Adventists,” as they were formerly known, are an off-shoot from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. Their founder was Benjamin Lloyd Roden (1902 – 1978). In 1959, he separated from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists to form “The Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists” as they are commonly known today. This off-shoot group came into being 30 years after The Shepherd’s Rod whose founder was Victor Tasho Houteff (1885–1955). See our Article: True or False - “The Branch Davidians/Shepherd’s Rod - Who are they?

No. This cannot be further from the truth. Shepherd’s Rod believers advocate that The Seventh-day Adventist Church is God’s remnant church and all should remain faithful to their local congregations and church conference. The Shepherd’s Rod advocates, as prophesied by both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, that the “tares and wheat” are co-mingled and will be until the angels of God remove the “tares” from among the “wheat.”

No, it does not, nor has it ever. The Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement (SDARM & IMS) and its factions are the proponents of the belief that the Seventh-day Adventist church has become part of Babylon. They are often confused with The Shepherd’s Rod that rejects this error. In fact, here is a quote from one of our publications, “The S.D.A. church is not Babylon. If it were we would have been duty bound to come out, but since it is not, we have no place to go.”—The Symbolic Code, Texas, 1935, Vol. 1, No. 14, pg. 8. If you would like to read more about our stance on this particular subject, read our article: Is the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon?

No. The Seventh-day Adventist church is where Shepherd’s Rod believers attend and worship as faithful Adventists. This is where they are baptized, hold membership, partake of communion services, and fellowship with their Adventist brethren.

The Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association is not an “off-shoot” as TheGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists claim. Its adherents are members of the SDA church and are duty bound to stay faithful to the denomination but “…sigh and…cry for all the abominations [sins] that be done in the midst thereof.” (Brackets and emphasis added) Ezekiel 9:4. In other words, Shepherd’s Rod believers have a message of “revival and reformation” to bear to the SDA church as revealed by both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, “The Lord's voice crieth unto the city [Church], and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod [message], and [God] who hath appointed it.” (Brackets and emphasis added) Micah 6:9. “Mark this point with care: Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen, are those ‘that sigh and cry for all the abominations that are done’ in the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such, and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they are represented as being in an agony, even sighing and crying.”—The Review and Herald, June 8, 1873, par. 5. For more information, read our Tract 1: Pre-"Eleventh Hour" Extra and Tract 7: The Great Controversy Over "The Shepherd's Rod".

No. This is false. Ezekiel 9 is carried out by the angels of God not men according to the Bible, Spirit of Prophecy, and the Shepherd’s Rod. We are uncertain as to the origin of this idea but it has been promulgated by church officials that are unfamiliar with the Shepherd’s Rod and refuse to look into it but are thus ready to spread misinformation and disinformation to prejudice the minds of both ministry and laity alike. We as faithful Seventh-day Adventists are not governed or actuated by violence but love for God, church, and our fellow man. Evaluate the statements below from the Bible, Spirit of Prophecy, and our publications regarding the ones who will be carrying out the separation of the “wheat and tares.”

Bible

• “He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. … The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” Matthew 13:28-30, 39

Spirit of Prophecy

• “Finite man is likely to misjudge character, but God does not leave the work of judgment and pronouncing upon character to those who are not fitted for it.  We are not to say what constitutes the wheat, and what the tares. The time of the harvest will fully determine the character of the two classes specified under the figure of the tares and the wheat.  The work of separation is given to the angels of God, and not committed into the hands of any man.”—Testimonies to Ministers, pg. 47

• “The looker-on may discern no difference, but there is One who said that the tares were not to be plucked up by human hands, lest the wheat be rooted up also. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then the Lord sends forth His reapers to gather out the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn, while the wheat is gathered into the heavenly garner. The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when the Lord gathers His own from among the tares. Those who have been members of the same family are separated. A mark is placed upon the righteous.”—Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895), Lt 64a, 1895, par. 13

The Shepherd’s Rod

• “…the Angels, not men, are to separate the good from the bad…”—Timely Greetings, 1950, Vol. 2, Nos. 45, 46, pg. 27

• “Therefore the angels, the reapers, whom Christ sends forth, include both him who does the sealing, or binding, and those who follow on to do the destroying (Ezek. 9:2, 5, 6), first in the church, then in the world.”—Tract 3: The Judgment and the Harvest (third-edition), 1942, pg. 66

Generally, the laity listen and believe what their ministers and church officials tell them without investigating for themselves to determine if the things they are being told are true and are thus acting as without a mind of their own. Ministers, elders, and laity alike are trekking perilously and are counseled against allowing prejudice to bar them from an honest investigation of purported truth.

•  “When new light is presented to the church, it is perilous to shut yourselves away from it.  Refusing to hear because you are prejudiced against the message or the messenger will not make your case excusable before God.  To condemn that which you have not heard and do not understand will not exalt your wisdom in the eyes of those who are candid in their investigations of truth.  And to speak with contempt of those whom God has sent with a message of truth, is folly and madness.”—Testimonies on Sabbath School Work, p. 60.

• “But beware of rejecting that which is truth. The great danger with our people has been that of depending upon men, and making flesh their arm. Those who have not been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves, or weighing evidence, have confidence in the leading men, and accept the decisions they make, and thus many will reject the very messages God sends to his people, if these leading brethren do not accept them.”—Gospel Workers, p. 126

• “The mind that depends upon the judgment of others is certain, sooner or later, to be misled.”—Education, p. 231

• “‘All ye are brethren.’ All are exposed to temptation, and are liable to error. Upon no finite being can we depend for guidance. The Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Upon this the weakest may depend, and those who think themselves the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they make Christ their efficiency. ‘Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.’ [Jeremiah 17:5].” Brackets added.—Desire of Ages, pg. 414

• “God will not condemn any at the Judgment because they honestly believed a lie, or conscientiously cherished error; but it will be because they neglected the opportunities of making themselves acquainted with truth.”—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 437

  If you would like to read more about if more truth was to come to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and what should be our attitude regarding “new light,” read our article: New Light

Tracing the church's history down through the ages, we find that if all had taken the same position as the questioner, the advancing Truth would never have reached the church in any period. Had God's messengers at sundry times failed to agitate their message in their own churches, how, then, would the various reformatory messages have reached His people? Is He not more interested in them than He is in the heathen? John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles, all sacrificed their lives in order to take their message to their own church. Why, then, should not the Davidians do likewise? 

“Against these men [Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter, Wesley], persecution raged with relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare the truth. Different periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God's people at that time. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried. The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an  emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands His servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls.”—The Great Controversy, p. 609.

Consequently, we dare not refuse to publish the special Davidian truth for the church today.

No, they do not. In like manner, Christendom doesn’t acknowledge Seventh-day Adventists as Christian. The former is just as erroneous as the latter. So, how does one determine who is a genuine Seventh-day Adventist?

“The true commandment keeping people of God show to the world a character of unspotted integrity, testifying by their own course of action that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Thus the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, through His obedience to the law of God, exalted and made that law honorable. God will surely condemn every member of every church claiming to be Seventh-day Adventist, who is not doing Him service, but through pride, selfishness, and worldliness is showing that the truth of heavenly origin has not worked a reformation in his character.

Those who have had opportunities to hear and receive the truth and who have united with the Seventh-day Adventist church, calling themselves the commandment-keeping people of God, and yet possess no more vitality and consecration to God than do the nominal churches, will receive of the plagues of God just as verily as the churches who oppose the law of God. Only those that are sanctified through the truth will compose the royal family in the heavenly mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him and keep His commandments.”—Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898), Lt 35, 1898, pars. 15, 18

The Shepherd’s Rod does not advocate or compose a new denomination apart from the Seventh-day Adventist church thus constituting an offshoot but a message of revival and reformation. In other words, the Shepherd’s Rod is a message (Micah 6:9) not a denomination. As members of the Seventh-day Adventist church, they believe and advocate it as God’s remnant. In regards to their additional title “Davidian” affixed to the name Seventh-day Adventist, it is representative of their belief in the Kingdom of David. It is no different than when the believing Jews acquired the title “Christian” representative of their belief in Jesus Christ. They did not cease to be Jews with this new designation. The same is true regarding Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. Nevertheless, it is a message from Adventists to Adventists. See the statements below regarding our denominational and organizational position from our publications as written by its founder, Victor Houteff:

“The purpose for which both [the 1934 and 1937 outgrowth of the Shepherd’s Rod organization] stand is the same—organized to carry the message to the church of the Laodiceans, not to raise up a denomination regardless of whence its members come.” Brackets added.—The Symbolic Code, Texas, 1939, Vol. 5, Nos. 6-12, pg. 11

“Through this personified prophecy [Hosea’s], we see that the Lord is not now calling forth a ‘new’ denomination, even though the ministry continues to take the membership rights from the adherents of this reformatory message.  Consequently, for its successful delivery to the entire sisterhood of churches, our banding ourselves into a body of workers as a movement within a movement, has been forced upon us.  In brief, we are to confine our message strictly to the old organization, as did the apostles with their message.  For the first three and a half years after the resurrection, they were commissioned to put forth all their effort in behalf of their parent organization only, the last in the Old Testament period; likewise, the Davidians are commissioned to put forth an all-out effort in behalf of their parent, the Laodicean organization, the last in the New Testament period.” Brackets and emphasis added. —Tract 4: The Latest News for “Mother” (third-edition), 1942, pg. 57

“No new denomination is advocated, on the contrary, such is unmitigatedly opposed.  And finally, irrefutable proof is brought forth that the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination has been the instrumentality of God since 1844 to carry on His work on earth, and that the Rod adds ‘power and force’ ‘to the third message.’—Early Writings, p. 277.” Emphasis addd.—The Shepherd’s Rod (pocket-edition),1945, Vol. 1, pg. 6

Believers in the Shepherd’s Rod message are baptized Seventh-day Adventist members that strictly adhere to all of the principles and precepts that pertain to this denomination and the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, to wit:

“The truth revealed here is of great importance to the church just now because of the foretold danger which God's people are soon to meet.  It calls for decided action on the part of the believers to separate themselves from all worldlings and worldliness; to anchor themselves on the Solid Rock by obedience to all the truth known to this denomination, if we must escape the great ruin.  ‘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.’ Micah 6:9.” Emphasis added.—The Shepherd's Rod, 1930, Vol. 1, pg. 5

“The term ‘organization,’ as used in the writings of ‘The Shepherd's Rod,’ has two different applications—one in the sense of an organization like the S.D.A. denomination,—organized to increase its membership regardless of the source; the other in the sense of an organization to concentrate its efforts only within the church.  We constitute the latter.  I am sure you know that nothing can successfully be accomplished by any group of people without their organizing themselves.  Even a common home can be well ordered only by having some organization—system.” Emphasis added.—The Symbolic Code, Texas, 1939, Vol. 5, Nos. 6-12, pg. 11

“I have never taught nor published anything to the effect that there is to be another church besides the seven churches of the Revelation, chapters Two and Three. These seven prophetic sections of church history cover the period while the wheat and tares are growing together. However, we do teach that the last, the Laodicean, is to be purified, and that this pure state of the seventh church is symbolized by the candle-stick of the fourth chapter of Zechariah which, true enough, is the eighth in number so far as candlesticks are concerned and which, though in one sense must be an eighth church, in another sense is still the seventh because it is made up purely of the members from the Laodicean church—the first fruits—before the ingathering of the second fruits, and that the tares, or those who failed to receive the seal are destroyed by the slaughter weapons as shown to Ezekiel in vision. Thus the last of the seven churches emerges from an undesirable state into a glorious one without becoming a new denomination. (See ‘The Shepherd's Rod,’ Vol. 2, p. 284).”—The Symbolic Code, Texas, 1936, Vol. 2, Nos. 5-6, pg. 10

“Satan never tells the truth; thus he has used his agents to spread many false reports such as the foregoing ones concerning Brother Houteff; who was a single man when, eighteen years ago, he came in contact with the Seventh-day Adventist message, and who at no time during these years has divorced any one, or married any one save the one with whom he now lives.

As to the matter of age, the following Biblical marriages represent a great disparity of years: Abraham, the father of the faithful, certainly took to himself a wife much younger than himself, for when he married the second time, he must have been over 140 years of age, as he was a hundred years old when Isaac was born (Gen. 21:5), and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebeccah (Gen. 25:20), at which time Sarah, Abraham's first wife was yet living (Gen. 24:67), and Keturah, his second wife, was evidently somewhere under forty years of age, for she bare him six sons (Gen. 25:1, 2), which facts present a difference of at least a hundred years between the ages of Abraham and his second wife.

Again, the Lord chose for His lineage, Boaz (a Jew), and old man, and Ruth (a Moabitess), a young woman (Ruth 3:10)—a union contrary to the principles held by Brother Houteff's critics.

Moreover, the Jewess, Esther, who was forbidden by the common rule of the Jews to marry outside of her own nation, was blessed in her affinity to the old Medo-Persian king, in that her nation was thereby preserved.

Still further, Joseph married the daughter of the idolatrous priest of Egypt, and Moses took for a wife an Ethiopian woman.

Thus we see from the above unions that no set rule can be fixed to govern each individual's case.  Moreover, had we lived in the days of the aforementioned unions, and had judged them by our own standards, we would have separated ourselves from Abraham, in whose bosom the righteous are protected from hell's burning torments (Luke 16: 23-25); from Joseph, in whom the life of the ancient world was spared; from Moses, by whose hand the first-born in Egypt were either spared or destroyed, and all Israel freed from the Egyptian bondage; from Esther, by which act we, as Jews, would have destroyed ourselves at the hand of the wicked Haman; and from Christ, Who is our only life.

Brother Houteff's marriage is far more in accordance with the accepted customs of today than were the above marriages in their day.  Abraham's case alone is sufficient to satisfy those whom the truth can convince.  Moreover, as God knew beforehand what Brother Houteff was going to do, then were his marriage to cast reproach upon the purifying message, thereby causing anyone to lose eternal life, God, for that one's life, and for His Own honor, would not have intrusted His message to Brother Houteff.

Still further, inasmuch as God has continued to reveal truth through Brother Houteff since his marriage, there should be no reason for anyone to doubt that God not only approved of his marriage, but also led him to take this step.

Some reason that in ancient times people lived longer than they do now, and that, therefore, great differences in the ages of husband and wife were then permissible.  However, we see no logic in such reasoning, for though the man lived longer then than he now does, yet the woman also lived longer in those days than she does today.

 Those who believe in Present Truth, yet continue to find fault with Brother Houteff's marriage, prove to us one of two things: either that they are shallow thinkers, or that they have no faith in what they believe, for the message teaches that we, as a part of the 144,000, shall never die.  Therefore, if God has ever had reason to sanction marriages involving great difference of ages, He must certainly have now.

The trouble is not with Brother Houteff's marriage, but rather with those who judge Brother Houteff by their own standards.  Had Brother Houteff married for the same reason that most others marry, then, of course, he could have taken a wife of almost any age, and it would have made no great difference to him.  But Brother Houteff's critics seem utterly to forget that he has a tremendous work, and that he does not need a wife able only to make a home for him, but rather one most able to assist him in his work.  Hence, an aged woman, or one without experience in the work, would be to him a hindrance rather than a help.  Therefore, God has provided for him a "helpmeet" that will really help him, as he cannot successfully carry on the work while single.

We have already seen that, in most cases, the root of the trouble lies either with those who profess to be friends of the cause of truth, but who, themselves, were not walking in the light before the sealing message found them, and are not doing so now, or with those who have openly been doing everything to make the truth of none effect. Some of these, while professing to believe, have opposed every advanced step which the message has made, while others have, on the one hand, divorced their first wives and married again, and, on the other hand, either objected to Brother Houteff's getting married, or felt hurt because he did not take them into counsel to decide for him whom he should marry!  Still others have married outside the truth, which facts prove that, by their own sins, they have been blinded, and that, as they zealously pick flaws in those who have "the words of life" for them, they are, instead of reforming, only descending deeper into darkness.  This is Satan's most effective way of working, for by so doing, he is able to keep them in their sins, away from the flock that follows the Good Shepherd's voice.

The greatest trouble with most S.D.A.'s is that they are baptized in the name of the denomination rather than in the name of the Trinity. Consequently, if they see that the church is doing something which, to them, is not pleasing, they withdraw themselves from its fellowship, renounce the truth, and thus turn their backs on eternal life to face eternal death!  Whereas, if Christ calls them to follow Him, and the church hears not His voice, they turn against Him to follow the church!

My brethren, make your decision on the merits of the message, itself, rather than on Brother Houteff's good or bad deeds.  God has not delegated anyone of you to decide for Him Brother Houteff's marriage.  Neither has He instructed any of you to take, as a criterion in settling your own case, Brother Houteff's marriage.  Who knows but what God is testing you, who, like Peter, thought that you would stand with the message, regardless of what might come; but who are now showing your true relation to it?

We trust that you will no longer allow the great deceiver—Satan—to confuse your mind and thus cause you falsely to accuse us, or to doubt that which goes from this office.  God's council to you is: ‘Hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.’  (Mic. 6:9.)

 ‘Arise, shine;’ ‘before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord...lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,’ ‘for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.’  (Isa. 60:1, 2; Mal. 4:5, 6.)

‘Behold upon the mountains the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!  O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.’  (Nah. 1:15.)

‘Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and when thou are converted, strengthen thy brethren.’  (Luke 22:31, 32.)

Hence, do not be found among those who attempt to steady the ark, or who may say: ‘You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way.  Let me tell you how to teach your message.’—‘Testimonies to Ministers,’ p. 475.

Take your eyes off Brother Houteff and look unto Jesus through the message He sends.  Anyone doubting the message because of Brother Houteff's marriage, would show not only great weakness, but also that he is following Brother Houteff instead of the message.  You should be no more concerned as to what Brother Houteff does, than you are concerned as to what the ancient prophets of the Bible did.  Be a student of the message instead of the messenger as you are a student of the Bible, rather a student of the prophets.  This is your only safety against being bitterly disappointed in the end.”—The Symbolic Code, Texas, 1937, Vol. 3, Nos. 5-6, pgs. 7-9. Note: This question was answered by Victor Houteff in 1937.

“The news broadcast throughout the sisterhood of churches and conferences in both home and foreign fields, that the author of ‘The Shepherd's Rod’ is not a Seventh-day Adventist, is the blackest falsehood. I have been in good and regular standing, a believer of the advent truth in all its precept without variation, from the day I first accepted the truth until now. Those who have read ‘The Shepherd's Rod’ will appreciate the fact that what I have stated is true. At the time the message of ‘The Shepherd's Rod’ came, I was both a member and officer in one of our churches. It was after the book had been written that my name was dropped from the church records by the church council with the support only of two laymembers out of about 200; at which time our conference president said to me: ‘I had to drop your name from the church records so that I can tell the churches that the book is not written by a Seventh-day Adventist.’

   Though our brethren think I am not now a Seventh-day Adventist, because they have (unlawfully) disregarded and deprived me my membership rights, how do they dare to say that ‘The Shepherd's Rod’ is not written by a S.D.A. when my name was still on the church books at the time the ‘Rod’ was written? And even now I am present to attend whenever possible the church where I had my membership at the time the message came, and similar is the case of each one who has connected with the message of the SRod.

   I repeat, it is not our names on the church books that make us true Seventh-day Adventists, but the keeping of the truth. If the only possible way the brethren have of casting reflections upon the message is by falsifying the facts, then they had better leave the responsibility of defending the truth wholly to God, Who is able to protect His people by TRUTH instead of falsehood.

   We are very much concerned to hear from every true Seventh-day Adventist. Please write and give us all the information which would be of help in the work. We must cooperate in spreading the message as soon as possible, for the time is shorter than we can realize. We pledge ourselves to help you in every possible way. We hope to hear from all our brethren who have not expressed their view in regard to the message.”—The Symbolic Code, California, 1935, Vol. 1, No. 8, pgs. 2, 3. Note: This was addressed by Victor Houteff in 1935.