Latest / The Burros of Berea Podcast / Episode 309- Prophet of Fire- Part 1

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Episode 309- Prophet of Fire- Part 1 · The Burros of Berea Podcast

• 0:08
  To many Americans over the age of 35, the word
• 0:11
  Waco doesn't just name a place, it ignites a
• 0:14
  reaction. For some, it conjures images of government
• 0:18
  overreach, tanks rolling across Texas soil, agents
• 0:22
  and gas masks, flames rising in the background.
• 0:26
  For others, it evokes the terrifying potential
• 0:28
  of cults and religious extremism. From February
• 0:32
  28th to April 19th, 1993, the nation was fixated
• 0:37
  on a rural compound outside Waco, Texas. Americans
• 0:41
  watched as David Koresh, a leader of a religious
• 0:44
  sect known as the Branch Davidians, defied the
• 0:47
  federal government in a standoff that began with
• 0:49
  gunfire and ended in an inferno. On April 19th,
• 0:54
  tanks smashed into the Mount Carmel compound,
• 0:57
  CS gas was deployed, and by the end of the day,
• 1:01
  76 Davidians, including 19 children, were dead.
• 1:04
  Some burned, some suffocated. Two were unborn.
• 1:09
  What remained was ash, smoke, and a nation grappling
• 1:13
  with horror. But the road to Waco didn't begin
• 1:16
  with violence. It began with a boy named Vernon
• 1:19
  Howell. I'm Rick Welch, and this is Prophet of
• 1:23
  Fire. The man the world came to know as David
• 1:26
  Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell on August
• 1:29
  17th, 1959 in Houston, Texas. His mother, Bonnie
• 1:34
  Sue Clark was just 14 years old. His father,
• 1:38
  Bobby Wayne Howell, was 20. The two never married,
• 1:42
  and by the time Vernon turned 2, their relationship
• 1:45
  had already fallen apart. Bonnie's life quickly
• 1:48
  spiraled into instability. She married a man
• 1:51
  named Joe Golden, but that relationship was abusive
• 1:54
  and ended in divorce. Around 1962, overwhelmed
• 1:59
  and unable to cope, she moved to Dallas. leaving
• 2:02
  Vernon in the care of her mother and older sister.
• 2:05
  During this time, Vernon was told his grandmother
• 2:08
  was his mother and that Bonnie was simply his
• 2:10
  aunt. In 1964, Bonnie married a merchant marine
• 2:14
  named Roy Haldeman. With new stability in her
• 2:17
  life, she brought Vernon back home. But that
• 2:20
  meant telling the five -year -old boy the truth.
• 2:23
  The woman he thought was his aunt was in fact
• 2:26
  his mother. Vernon would carry the trauma of
• 2:29
  that revelation with him for the rest of his
• 2:31
  life. According to Koresh, this was also when
• 2:34
  another trauma began. He later alleged that he
• 2:37
  was sexually abused by a male relative of his
• 2:39
  mother. In July 1965, a new half -brother, Roger,
• 2:44
  was born. Shortly after, the Haldeman family
• 2:47
  moved to Richardson, Texas. While Vernon and
• 2:50
  Roger reportedly got along well, tensions between
• 2:53
  Vernon and his stepfather were constant and unresolved.
• 2:56
  Koresh described his early childhood as lonely.
• 2:59
  He struggled in school, not just socially, but
• 3:01
  academically. He had difficulty reading, poor
• 3:05
  eyesight, and what would likely be diagnosed
• 3:07
  today as dyslexia. He was placed in special education
• 3:10
  and given a cruel nickname by classmates, Mr.
• 3:13
  Ritardo. Quote, I stopped in my tracks when I
• 3:18
  heard it, end quote, Koresh would later say.
• 3:21
  Despite these challenges, Vernon Howell showed
• 3:23
  promise in two very different areas, mechanics
• 3:26
  and scripture. When his mother gave him a radio,
• 3:29
  He took it apart to see how it worked. As he
• 3:32
  got older, he became fascinated by cars. He even
• 3:36
  found and repaired an old guitar from a barn,
• 3:38
  igniting a lifelong passion for music. But it
• 3:41
  was the Bible that truly consumed him. Raised
• 3:43
  in the Seventh -day Adventist Church, Howell
• 3:45
  became obsessed with scripture. He listened to
• 3:48
  sermons, read Christian literature, and tried
• 3:50
  to interpret prophecy on his own. While other
• 3:53
  teenagers partied, Vernon was poring over Revelation
• 3:56
  and Isaiah. His devotion was intense, even isolating.
• 3:59
  but it also laid the groundwork for a spiritual
• 4:01
  worldview that would come to define him and his
• 4:04
  followers. At around age 19, Howell entered a
• 4:07
  relationship with a 16 -year -old girl who became
• 4:10
  pregnant. The girl's family, believing he was
• 4:12
  unfit to be a father, moved away and cut off
• 4:15
  all contact. Howell never met the child. Shortly
• 4:19
  afterward, he claimed to have been born again
• 4:21
  in the Southern Baptist Church. But it wasn't
• 4:23
  long before he returned to the church of his
• 4:25
  upbringing, rejoining the Seventh -day Adventist
• 4:28
  congregation. At age 20, he began dating 15 -year
• 4:31
  -old Sandy Berlin, the daughter of a church pastor.
• 4:34
  The relationship lasted two years. During that
• 4:37
  time, Howell believed God had spoken to him,
• 4:39
  literally. One day, while praying, he opened
• 4:42
  his Bible to Isaiah 3416 and read, quote, None
• 4:46
  should want for her mate, end quote. He believed
• 4:50
  this was a divine message. Sandy was meant to
• 4:53
  be his wife. Howell told the pastor his intentions.
• 4:56
  The man was horrified. He forbid Howell from
• 4:59
  ever speaking to his daughter again. Howell ignored
• 5:02
  the command. The congregation, increasingly disturbed
• 5:05
  by his behavior and sexual obsession, expelled
• 5:08
  him. By summer 1981, Vernon Howell was out of
• 5:11
  work, out of favor, and running out of options.
• 5:15
  So he headed for Waco, Texas, to a remote religious
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  compound called Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel was
• 5:21
  the home of the Branch Davidians, a splinter
• 5:23
  group of the Davidian Seventh -day Adventists.
• 5:26
  Founded by Benjamin Rodin, in the 1950s. The
• 5:30
  group had passed leadership to his wife, Lois
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  Rodin, following his death in 1978. Lois was
• 5:36
  in her 60s when Howell arrived. He was 21. What
• 5:40
  he lacked in theological credentials, he made
• 5:42
  up for in raw passion. He immersed himself in
• 5:45
  study and soon began preaching. His style was
• 5:48
  strikingly different from other Adventist preachers.
• 5:51
  Howell wore jeans, t -shirts, sweatpants. He
• 5:54
  spoke plainly, emotionally, and often with a
• 5:57
  rough edge. One of his sermons compared sin to
• 6:00
  a booger on your finger. Quote, You're driving
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  down the road at 50 miles an hour, trying to
• 6:04
  flick it off, and it just keeps sticking to your
• 6:07
  other finger. I know what I'm talking about,
• 6:09
  you see? End quote. It was crass, but relatable.
• 6:14
  And to many listeners, especially the outsiders,
• 6:17
  the former addicts, and the broken, Howell's
• 6:20
  words felt more real than anything they'd heard
• 6:22
  from a pulpit. He called himself a sinner too,
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  a, quote, blemished sacrificial goat, end quote.
• 6:29
  One of his closest followers, Livingston Fagan,
• 6:32
  later said, quote, when you criticize David for
• 6:35
  something he did, you are really only criticizing
• 6:38
  yourself, end quote. The message clicked. Howell
• 6:42
  attracted followers not just from Texas, but
• 6:44
  from all walks of life. Race, nationality, and
• 6:48
  background didn't matter. He spoke to anyone
• 6:50
  who would listen, and once they listened, many
• 6:53
  never left. As Howell's following grew, so did
• 6:56
  his confidence. He studied the Book of Revelation
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  obsessively and began to speak of a coming messianic
• 7:01
  figure, the Lamb who had opened the seven seals.
• 7:05
  At first, he preached about that figure, but
• 7:08
  soon it became clear. He believed that figure
• 7:11
  was him. He married Rachel Jones, a teenage member
• 7:15
  of the group. Her father, Perry Jones, became
• 7:18
  one of Howell's strongest allies. Their union
• 7:21
  gave him both a personal and political foothold
• 7:23
  within Mount Carmel. With Lois Rodin's support,
• 7:26
  he began to teach his own interpretations, ones
• 7:29
  that diverged from traditional Adventist theology.
• 7:32
  He claimed to be receiving visions, new messages,
• 7:35
  prophetic insight, but not everyone was convinced.
• 7:38
  Lois' son, George Rodin, believed he was the
• 7:41
  rightful successor. It would escalate over the
• 7:44
  next few years into threats, gunfire, and ultimately,
• 7:47
  death. But at this point, Vernon Howell was well
• 7:50
  on his way to becoming someone else entirely.
• 7:53
  A new identity was forming. One that drew from
• 7:55
  ancient prophecy, royal bloodlines, and divine
• 7:58
  destiny. In the next episode, we will see how
• 8:02
  Vernon Howell transformed into a leader that
• 8:04
  challenges others for authority. He ultimately
• 8:07
  is driven out of Mount Carmel and lives in exile.
• 8:09
  But during that time, he builds a global following
• 8:12
  from Australia to the United Kingdom. And when
• 8:15
  he returns, it's not with questions. It's with
• 8:18
  guns, a resurrection contest, a shootout, and
• 8:22
  a name change that signals his ultimate transformation.
• 8:26
  I'm Rick Welch, and this is Prophet of Fire.