mortality". They believe that when someone dies they remain unconscious until they are either resurrected into eternal life with God, which is only given to righteous Christians, or annihilated. A second resurrection will occur and the righteous will return to a newly cleansed earth and establish the New Jerusalem. Houteff interpreted current events as signs of the end of time. Under Roden, the Branch Davidians created a logo to represent their beliefs. In his writings, Roden focused on anti-Catholicism, recovery of Israelite festivals, and general conference reform. David Koresh ultimately became the leader of the Branch Davidians and ushered in a new era for this sect with his "New Light" doctrine and elevated prophetic status. Koresh furthered the work of his forefathers by continuing with the Adventist tradition, adopting a messianic role essential to human salvation, and ordaining the end time. With his focus on the Book of Revelation, Koresh desired to create a new lineage of God's children from his seed, making him the perfect mate for all female adherents. Koresh established what he called the House of David and in 1984 began taking "spiritual wives." Differing from past eras, he progressively linked his group's activities to an imminent future and not too past traditions. A key distinction within Koresh's era was his gradual revelation of the secrets of the seven seals in Bible study sessions, which convinced the group that they were living in the end time. In 1992, he renamed the Mount Carmel community "Ranch Apocalypse." Under Koresh's leadership, the group adopted a much more communal form of organization and recruited heavily from the young adult population. The "Mighty Men" were Koresh's lieutenants who held various responsibilities with in the community. Gradually, tension with the larger society increased as the Davidians moved toward prophetic movement organization. April 19, 1993 Koresh and about 75 of his followers...
