About the Symbol of the Branch Davidians
When the Branch Davidian religious group was attacked by United States federal agents in 1993, they put up a blue and white flag with a Star of David on it. From their original beginnings as a splinter group from the Seventh Day Adventists, the Davidians have used the Star of David as their symbol.
Other People Are Reading
-
Identification
-
The Branch Davidians are one of a line of splinter groups that began when the original leader was excommunicated from the Seventh Day Adventist Church in the 1930s. Victor Houteff named his group the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, because the Messiah was to be a descendant of the Old Testament King David and bring about a restoration of David's kingdom.
Significance
-
Houteff's followers designed a Davidian flag that was green with a white disk on the left side and 19 white rays of varying lengths shooting out from the disk. A gray, six-pointed star with a gold lion on it was inside the disk. Smaller five-pointed gold stars stood around the perimeter of the larger star.
According to the book "Seeking a Sanctuary" by Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, the lion on this flag represented Christ, while the six-pointed star represented the throne of David and the 12 five-pointed stars symbolized the 12 tribes of Israel.
-
Features
-
Eventually a further schism among the Davidians created the Branch Davidian SDA, and in 1981, Vernon Wayne Howell joined this group and attracted a large group of followers. Howell became David Koresh in 1990.
The Branch Davidians living outside of Waco, Texas, in 1993, in a compound they called Mount Carmel, apparently did not regularly fly a flag. The only time it was seen by outsiders was after agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) surrounded the compound. This flag only had one symbol, the Star of David, figuring prominently on the dark blue background.
The Star of David is a major Jewish symbol, constructed of two interlocking triangles. The prevailing theory of its original Judaic meaning is it represents David's shield or the emblem on his shield.
Considerations
-
The ATF agents had arrived at Mount Carmel with a search warrant for illegal weapons. Steve Schneider, a Branch Davidian member who died in a gunfight with the ATF, told them beforehand that the six-pointed star symbolized the flying serpent with six wings as described in Isaiah 14:29 and 30:6.
A Branch Davidian who calls himself Andrew X98 told an interviewer in 2001 that the flag actually did not have the Star of David but rather an image of this flying serpent. He said Koresh believed he would help bring about the Sixth Seal from the Book of Revelation.
Effects
-
After the ATF attacked Mount Carmel and killed six Branch Davidians, group members fired back and killed four ATF agents. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents then surrounded the site for 51 days, a siege that ended on April 19 when they shot tear gas into the compound. Fires broke out and rapidly became an enormous blaze. It is still not entirely clear how they started, but the fires killed many Branch Davidians, and investigators discovered many others who had been killed from gunshot wounds that the religious group had apparently inflicted upon their own. In the end, approximately 80 members died, including 21 children.
The blue and white flag flew over the compound throughout the siege.
Time Frame
-
Branch Davidians planted 81 crape myrtle trees to symbolize their members who died. Members placed a stone marker with a victim's name by each tree.
A few years later, a new leader named Charlie Pace began a reformation of the Branch Davidians, and the group changed its name to The Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness. Pace did not think the trees were appropriate and said the markers made the trees idols, noting how visitors would sometimes kneel in front of the tree memorializing Koresh.
In 2006, Pace cut the Koresh tree down and broke the marker. On April 19 of that year, church members burned the root of that tree and replaced the stone with one that has the name Vernon Wayne Howell instead. They said this was an act of honor and provides a possibility of salvation for Howell, who had sacrificed himself to the sinful Koresh persona to fulfill Biblical prophecy.
-
Resources
- Photo Credit http://www.commons.wikimedia.org image
