There were some Davidians who were surprised at the death of Brother Houteff, but bear in mind that many also believed that he would never die since Elijah the prophet never died. However, they failed to realize that Elijah is a type of the 144,000 who will never die, not one man. They also failed to consider the example of John the Baptist who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, yet also died. Also bear in mind that the source, 10 SC No. 5 was written by an uninspired person who may have not fully understood the message themselves. As you are aware, nowhere in the original writings of the Shepherd’s Rod does Brother Houteff say he would not die despite the fact that many tempted him with this even while he was living. His reply was always, “show me in my writings where it says that I can never die”. This ridiculous claim was made by the false branch prophet Ben L. Roden who later died in 1978 proving him to be a counterfeit. Remarkably, many of the poorly studied Davidians who thought Brother Houteff would never die ended up following after the Roden’s bogus branch. Unfortunately the enemies of the Rod often falsely attribute the blunders of the office seekers and usurpers that arose after 1955 to Brother Houteff. One has to be wise and thoroughly acquainted with the original Rod message to refute such charges. If there is anything else we can help you with, please let us know.

May God bless you wisdom and understanding to stand strong for the Truth, come what may.

In that blessed hope, The Publishers

Thank you for your question. The Rod’s position about the spirit appearing as Samuel in the verses you gave is the same as the Spirit of Prophecy since the two messages are in complete harmony with each other and the Holy Bible. Here is an excellent quote that makes plain who is behind this appearance of Samuel.

“When Saul inquired for Samuel, the Lord did not cause Samuel to appear to Saul. He saw nothing. Satan was not allowed to disturb the rest of Samuel in the grave, and bring him up in reality to the witch of Endor. God does not give Satan power to resurrect the dead. But Satan’s angels assume the form of dead friends, and speak and act like them, that through professed dead friends he can the better carry on his work of deception. Satan knew Samuel well, and he knew how to represent him before the witch of Endor, and to utter correctly the fate of Saul and his sons.” — S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 2, p. 1022.8