Latest / The Burros of Berea Podcast / Episode 310- Prophet of Fire- Part 2

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Episode 310- Prophet of Fire- Part 2 · The Burros of Berea Podcast

• 0:08
  In our previous episode, a young Vernon Howell
• 0:11
  enters the branch of Indian world as a passionate
• 0:12
  believer and tireless student. But beneath the
• 0:15
  devotion lies ambition, and a desire to lead.
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  Now, in 1983, he's about to declare something
• 0:21
  that will alter the future of Mount Carmel forever.
• 0:24
  I'm Rick Welch, and this is Prophet of Fire.
• 0:28
  It starts with a revelation. Vernon Howell tells
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  a small circle that God has chosen him. Not just
• 0:35
  to study scripture, not just to teach. but to
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  prophecy. He claims to have received a divine
• 0:41
  gift, a direct conduit to the voice of God. There
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  are no burning bushes, no thunderous signs from
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  the sky, just howl, speaking with the authority
• 0:50
  of a prophet. It was a quiet but seismic shift.
• 0:54
  At the time, the branch Davidians are led by
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  a woman named Lois Rodin. She's in her late 60s,
• 1:00
  the widow of Benjamin Rodin and a powerful figure
• 1:02
  in her own right. She believes God is both masculine
• 1:05
  and feminine and publishes spiritual materials
• 1:08
  out of Mount Carmel that reflect her unique theology.
• 1:11
  But Lois is aging, and there's no clear successor.
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  Her son, George Rodin, believes it should be
• 1:17
  him. Vernon Howell, on the other hand, has a
• 1:20
  different view. He believes God is grooming him
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  to take over. And in a move that would cause
• 1:25
  whispers and outrage alike, Howell begins a relationship
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  with Lois, one that some say turns romantic.
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  David Thibodeau, who would later survive the
• 1:34
  Waco siege, wrote in his memoir, A Place Called
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  Waco, that he believed Howell and Lois were sexually
• 1:39
  involved. Whether that's true or not, one thing
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  is certain. Lois gives Howell permission to preach
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  his own message, a new gospel, one that he names
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  The Serpent's Root. The Serpent's Root centers
• 1:51
  on Howell's interpretation of the Book of Revelation
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  and End Times Prophecy. It speaks of an impending
• 1:56
  judgment, a chosen people, and a messiah. And
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  soon Howell begins telling people that God wants
• 2:01
  him to father a child with Lois, a child destined
• 2:04
  to be the chosen one. This creates deep divisions.
• 2:08
  George Rodin, furious at Howell's growing influence
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  and emboldened by his own lineage, sees Howell
• 2:13
  as a usurper, an opportunist trying to steal
• 2:16
  his mother's movement. The rivalry becomes more
• 2:19
  than theological, it becomes personal. But Howell
• 2:22
  keeps pushing forward. This was the true reason
• 2:25
  he married Rachel Jones. He claimed it was by
• 2:27
  divine revelation. but in reality, it was a political
• 2:30
  move. For a time, the marriage seems to ease
• 2:34
  tensions at Mount Carmel. There's a temporary
• 2:36
  peace between the Howell and Rodin factions,
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  but that calm is short -lived. In 1983, a devastating
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  fire sweeps through the Mount Carmel press and
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  administration building, valued at half of a
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  million dollars. George Rodin blames Howell,
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  accusing him of arson, but Howell denies it emphatically.
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  He claims no human hand lit that fire. It was
• 2:58
  divine judgment, he says, a sign from God that
• 3:01
  the old ways are being cleansed. The truth behind
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  the fire is never determined, but it marks a
• 3:07
  turning point. Soon after, George Rodin drives
• 3:10
  Howell and his followers off the Mount Carmel
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  property at gunpoint. They flee east to Palestine,
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  Texas. There, Howell and roughly two dozen followers
• 3:18
  begin living in buses, tents, and makeshift shelters.
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  For the next two years, this rugged encampment
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  becomes their new spiritual headquarters. Life
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  in Palestine is harsh. There's no running water,
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  no electricity. They cook over campfires and
• 3:32
  sleep under thin tarps. But for Howell, this
• 3:35
  exile serves a purpose. He uses the time to consolidate
• 3:38
  power, expand his teachings, and most importantly,
• 3:41
  recruit. Howell begins recruiting across the
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  globe. California, the United Kingdom, Israel,
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  Australia. He writes long, intricate letters
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  to potential followers. Some arrive curious,
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  others desperate. Many stay. And soon, Hal has
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  disciples from multiple continents, all believing
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  he's been chosen by God. In 1985, Hal travels
• 4:05
  to Israel. He walks the ancient streets of Jerusalem,
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  and while there, he experiences what he later
• 4:11
  describes as a vision. In it, he is told that
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  he is Cyrus, the Persian king who liberated the
• 4:17
  Jews from Babylon, a biblical messiah, a king
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  chosen not by men, but by God. Victor Hotev,
• 4:24
  the founder of the original Davidian movement,
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  believed the Davidic Kingdom would one day be
• 4:28
  re -established in Israel. But Howe's vision
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  redirects to prophecy. He now claims that the
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  new Davidic Kingdom will rise not in the Middle
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  East, but in the heart of Texas. By 1990, he
• 4:40
  declares Mount Carmel itself to be the prophetic
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  center of God's end time plan. Waco, Texas is
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  the New Jerusalem. The battle between good and
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  evil, he warns, will begin right there. But before
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  that prophecy can be fulfilled, there's still
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  the matter of reclaiming Mount Carmel. Lois Rodin
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  dies in 1986. George Rodin assumes control, and
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  the divide between the two factions deepens.
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  George remains in possession of the land, while
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  Howell and his group remain exiled. Then comes
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  one of the strangest and darkest episodes in
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  Branch Davidian history. In 1987, George Rodin
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  exhumed at least one corpse from the Mount Carmel
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  Cemetery. He claimed he was moving the graveyard.
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  Howell claimed Rodin was challenging him to a
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  resurrection duel. Whoever could raise the dead
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  would prove to be the true leader. Howell reports
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  the incident to police, hoping to charge Rodin
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  with illegal exhumation. But the authorities
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  want proof. A photograph. A body. So Howell makes
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  a bold decision. He and seven armed followers
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  return to Mount Carmel to try and get that proof.
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  They are caught. A gunfight breaks out between
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  Howell's group and Rodin. When the sheriff arrives,
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  Rodin is pinned down, wounded behind a tree.
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  Howell and his followers are arrested and charged
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  with attempted murder. At trial, Howell claims
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  he was only trying to collect evidence of a crime.
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  His followers are acquitted, and in Howell's
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  case, the jury deadlocks. The judge declares
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  a mistrial. Two years later, George Rodin's instability
• 6:02
  reaches a breaking point. In 1989, he murders
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  a man named Wayman Dale Adair, striking him in
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  the head with an axe after Adair claimed he was
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  the true messiah. Rodin claims the man was sent
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  by Howell to kill him. He is declared legally
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  insane and committed to a psychiatric hospital
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  in Big Spring, Texas. With Rodin gone and owing
• 6:21
  thousands in unpaid taxes on the Mount Carmel
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  property, Howell sees an opportunity. He and
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  his followers raise the money, buy back the land,
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  and finally reclaim their spiritual home. But
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  Mount Carmel is not as they left it. Tenants
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  who had leased parts of the compound under Rodin's
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  rule had installed a meth lab. Howell reports
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  it to local police and demands it be cleared
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  out. It's an ironic twist. especially considering
• 6:44
  future allegations that would link Mount Carmel
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  to weapons and illegal activity. It's around
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  this time that Vernon Howell begins to transform,
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  at least in name. In May 1990, he files a petition
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  in California Supreme Court to legally change
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  his name. The reason listed? Publicity and business
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  purposes. On August 28, 1990, the name change
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  becomes official. Vernon Howell is now David
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  Koresh. David, to symbolize his spiritual descent
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  from King David, the Messianic bloodline, and
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  Quresh, the Hebrew form of Cyrus the Great, the
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  ancient king who delivered the Jews. In one calculated
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  legal move, Quresh has rebranded himself as a
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  prophetic figure ordained by both Jewish and
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  Christian lineage, a messiah, a king, a servant
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  of God. But not all of his visions are theological.
• 7:34
  Quresh becomes obsessed with the pop icon Madonna.
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  According to multiple accounts, he tells his
• 7:39
  followers that God has spoken to him once again.
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  The message? quote, I will give thee Madonna,
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  end quote. The line between prophecy and delusion
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  blurs. By now, Quresh is surrounded by devoted
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  followers. He is their teacher, their prophet,
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  their messiah. His influence is total, but his
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  doctrine is becoming increasingly extreme and
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  increasingly dangerous. In our next episode,
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  Quresh tightens control over his followers, begins
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  stockpiling weapons, and preaches of an impending
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  apocalypse. But this time, the world will be
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  watching. I'm Rick Welch and this is Prophet
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  of Fire.