, Victor Houteff died. With his mission incomplete and his prophetic claims unfulfilled, unease swept throughout the group. Houteff's wife, Florence, assumed leadership of the movement despite splintering within the group. One such splintered group, the Branch Davidians, led by Benjamin Roden, would later take control of the Davidian movement. Before this occurred, however, "Florence Houteff predicted that the time of God's judgement would fall on April 22, 1959. She believed this would be when the 1,260 days of Revelation 11 would be completed and on that day God would intervene in Palestine. Followers began to assemble at the New Mount Carmel, located east of Waco, and on April 16, 1959 prepared to move to the Holy Land." (Dallas Morning News)Roden named his faction the Branch Davidian SDA. Roden declared himself the fifth angel (Revelation 9:1), in the same vein as Houteff, who had declared himself the fourth angel (Revelation 8:12). He lead the Branch until his death in 1978, whereupon his wife, Lois Roden, assumed the role of the sixth angel (Revelation 9:16). Vernon Howell joined the group in 1981 and Lois expressed her belief that he would be the group's next prophet. However, George Roden, Lois's son, forced Howell and his followers out of Mount Carmel in 1984. In 1990, Vernon Howell changed his name to David Koresh. He chose his name from Isaiah 45, which states that Cyrus "was the only non-Israelite who was given the title 'anointed' or 'a messiah' or in Greek, ' a Christ'." The Branch Davidians embrace the core teachings of the Seventh-Day Adventists. The SDA Church follows most of the conservative Christian beliefs: creation, original sin, the virgin birth, the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, the divinity of Christ, the Trinity, belief in Satan as evil, the infallibility of Scripture, salvation by the atonement of Christ, etc. However, three major doctrinal differences exist, and they also deny the concept of "innate...
