In 1993 the world witnessed a pivotal moment in its history. Sadly, the enormity of this many failed to comprehend at the time and today, over two decades later, still few truly grasp. We are speaking about the attack against a church community at Waco, Texas by agents of the US Federal Government. This occurred in a country where the separation of church and state was enshrined as a fundamental principle of its constitution defining its national identity. This was also a nation that for many years viewed itself as a beacon of light and freedom to the world. In the immediate aftermath of this momentous tragedy, fuelled by the government’s attempt to cover-up its nefarious actions, there emerged a visible crisis of confidence in America’s governance and leadership. How could this not be since the actions of the government struck at the very heart of the nation’s conscience. In the years that followed, the effects of this have revealed itself in the US political process as well as America’s foreign policy in its dealings with the nations of the world. As the world approaches the culmination of this still unfolding drama this article reviews this crisis from the perspective of one who was there.
Soon after the attack on the Branch Davidian community, America saw the rise of the militia movement. This culminated in the subsequent bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City on the second anniversary of the Waco event. It was also one year after the shameful trial of surviving members of our community in San Antonio, Texas. At the time of the bombing I was held along with a colleague from Waco at a federal correctional facility in Oklahoma. We were both on the compound on the morning of the bombing having arrived there several months earlier. I recall watching the scenes on local television. Immediately we were taken out of the general population and placed in the special housing unit. I remember asking one of the guards what was going on but he was reluctant to answer my questions. Within a few days we were placed on a bus to a transit centre in Oklahoma City. There we were held for several weeks before being moved to another facility. This would not be the only time throughout my almost 15 year ordeal in the US Justice System that I would experience this type of sudden movement. In any case my colleague and I were separated and I ended up at a facility in Oxford, Wisconsin. It became clear to me this was about control. Our being kept on the move made it more difficult to communicate or be contacted by outsiders.
Two years later in the 1996 re-election of the then president Clinton this crisis of confidence in US governance and leadership further revealed itself. Less than 49% of the electorate participated in that election. We also saw the increasing role of lobbyists and political advertisement in driving the political process. This increased corporate contribution and the low voter participation raised serious concerns about the legitimacy of this particular election. But these were of course muted and Clinton was given a second term. There were other issues that dogged the Clinton presidency further fuelling the crisis of confidence such as Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Whitewater, the White House travel Office scandals and the economic liberalisation policies associated with NAFTA. Clinton’s economic policies produced short term gains and proved helpful in his re-election despite his other shenanigans. However, it can be said these significantly contributed to what would later result in the 2008 economic crash.
In any event, this crisis of confidence continued to reveal itself in the 2000 election between George Bush Junior and Al Gore. You will recall Bush won the electoral vote while Gore won the popular vote. In addition to the crisis of leadership this also spawned a crisis in the political process itself. Although the election was eventually decided in favour of Bush by the US Supreme Court it created a significant problem. It left Bush with a tainted mandate and no clear direction of travel by which to govern undermining the prospects of his presidency being successful. This is where the events of 9/11 shortly after Bush took office in 2001 conveniently came into play. It served to create a paradigm shift in an attempt to deal with both these crisis in one foul swoop. The idea of “America under attack” would provide the president, as commander and chief, the mandate to defend the country and oblige the citizenry to rally around the president as their patriotic duty. Whether or not the political masters were sufficiently forward thinking and proactive to have orchestrated such an event remain a question.
At the time of the September 11 event I was held at a high maximum security facility in the State of Illinois. This was known among prisoners as “little Alcatraz” because of how hard it was to get out once you were sent there. Needless to say I was there the longest of all the facilities I was sent to. As the event unfolded I recall prison official making rounds ostensibly to monitor the response of prisoners. I also published an article challenging the emerging official narrative. Nevertheless, the effect of 9/11 was to defuse what was and remains a deep-seated ineptitude in, and potential collapse of, the US governance. It created a diversion that would last both Bush’s terms and into his successor, President Obama’s.
This did not however address the underlying issues highlighting a disconnection between the ruling elite and the American people. The crisis of confidence remained simmering under the surface. The disastrous Bush war, in addition to the Clinton liberal economic policies in pursuit of NAFTA significantly contributed to creating the 2008 economic crash. These major moves were more to do with concealing the ineptitude of governance and leadership from the people rather than any real threat from supposed enemies. But they weren’t without unintended consequences both at home and abroad. In the former they gave rise to the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. In addition the more recent social unrest, arising from the police killing of the unarmed black teen in Ferguson Missouri and other such killings stemming from an increasingly violent and abusive policing culture. Popular disaffection with the leadership and governance in America was here shown to be very much alive.
Fundamentally, this crisis exposed the shift away from the rule of the people, integral to democracy, to a corporate oligarchy and a political class determining what’s best for America in spite of the people. They deluded themselves (while also seeking to delude the people) into thinking they serve the interests of the people above their own self interests. With the creation of what can be described as this ruling “aristocracy” the people invariably become the servants of the government rather than the reverse. The peculiar character this would ultimately take is not difficult to imagine given America’s past history with slavery. Power does indeed corrupt. It seemingly has completely corrupted those who wield it, to such degree they regard themselves as indispensable; as though they are the very power itself.
This change in American governance appears to be cultural in nature. It is not disconnected from the inequality of wealth and how power is distributed in America. The unrestricted capitalism, going back to the Clinton reforms of the economic infrastructure gave the power to the corporate elite at the expense of the people. While the constitution has built-in protections for the rights of minorities in relation to democracy this appears not to be the case in matters of economics. This has allowed one class to use its power and position to advantage itself at the expense of other classes. This change is also reflected in the security issues that have arisen, both at home and abroad. I recall during Madeleine Albright’s tenure as Secretary of State the open acceptance of the idea that the US military was not only for the defence of the nation should it come under attacked at home but also for defending US interest around the world. The military would therefore become the strong arm of corporate America as it pursues its international interests. In effect, America declared war on the rest of the world in pursuit of its selfish ends. The military industrial complex, the NSA spying on citizens, the militarization of domestic policing agencies and infrastructure and the foreign wars all become evidence of this.
The US government constantly needs to justify itself. America has a population of just over 300 million people. The cost of governance in terms of the Federal, state and local government is over $6 trillion. Half of this is federal, which also borrows around an additional one trillion. Is this value for money? In comparison China has a population of over 1.3 billion people. This is over four times the size of America yet its government cost around $2.5 trillion. Something doesn’t add up. The US government is seemingly constituted not merely for the governance of its own people but increasingly, it appears, for the government of the rest of the world also. But, without their consent! The idea of sovereignty of the nations doesn’t seem to figure in its thinking as it plants its military bases throughout the world in pursuit of its hegemonic agenda.
What we are seeing here was written of in the prophecies of the bible long ago. With respect to the Waco event, the attack against David Koresh and our community was also prophesied. There was a clear and detailed scriptural narrative leading up to, during and after the event. The prophet Daniel referred to this stating,
“And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, [many] days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And [some] of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make [them] white, [even] to the time of the end: because [it is] yet for a time appointed.”1
Notice where it states, “…they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, and by captivity, and by spoil [many] days.” This was what the world witnessed in the events of Waco in 1993. It even notes the flames that destroyed our place of worship on April 19th, 1993. Though not without its extreme moments, my period in captivity was quite and education with regard to the true condition of America.
This attack against us was carried out by an entity described in the verses of Daniel 11 as the King of the North. Christ referred to this entity describing him as the eagles that gather around the carcase, “….For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”2 An eagle is a bird of prey. They came against us at our home in Waco to prey upon us. Habakkuk wrote of this as it were in the voice of David Koresh stating, “…they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to destroy the poor secretly…”3 The Psalms in expressing the thoughts of God’s anointed noted their subtle campaign of slander and demonisation aimed at manipulating public sympathy against David and our community. In one reference it states,
“False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not”4
Further,
“For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel against me, [David Koresh] they devised to take away my life.”
The text continues with David’s response, “But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said thou art my God. My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.”5
This event is further spoken of in Psalms 2 from a different angle,
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”6
Our attackers didn’t want the Seven Seals message (referred to here as the bands and the cords) David Koresh was anointed of heaven to give.7 Nevertheless, by fighting against us they were in fact fighting against God. The text continues,
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.”8
Where it states, “He that sitteth in the heavens…” relates to Rev. 4 & 5 where the apostle John goes to heaven and sees the one sat on the throne with the book sealed with seven seals in his right hand. David Koresh was anointed of heaven to reveal the meaning of the seals here on earth and to perform certain acts pertaining to it. Where it also states, “Then shall he speak to them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure…” relates to the opening of the 6th seal noted in Rev. 6:12-17. This is the next event in this unfolding drama. It was put on hold after the attack against our community to enable the sealing of the 144,000 and the preparation of the great multitude that are also to be saved as noted in Rev. 7.
We see in the book of Daniel that after the Waco event the focus shifts to our attackers; referred to as the King of the North. The entity playing the role of the King of the North in the present time is shown here to be, on the face of it, America. The king of the north is a military power. Daniel writes concerning this following his attack against our community at Waco stating,
“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.”9
Note where he states, “…But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces…” Through the rest of chapter 11 Daniel notes how he goes on the military rampage particularly in the Middle East. This is spoken of by other prophets such as Habakkuk and Joel.10
The Waco event happened under the Clinton presidency whilst the adventure in the Middle East took place under Bush Junior. Some would say in continuation of his father before him in the first Gulf war. In any event, like Babylon under Belshazzar and Rome at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, America having rejected the message of God concerning the Seven Seals lost any legitimacy it held. In the courts of heaven it has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. In the years since the Waco event it has been in a frantic but vain struggle to retain its hold on power. This raises the spectre of this culminating in a nuclear war synonymous with what the prophet Daniel further describes as the “…time of trouble, such as never was…”11
The significance of the Waco event in all of this needs further clarification. The separation of church and state is an important tenet in the preservation of freedom. It is not for the Church to determine matters of the State. Equally, it is not for the secularists’ State to determine matters of Faith. Historically we have also seen the results of the State and Church union in the form of the Roman Catholic Theocracy. The resulting inquisition reminds us of what this produces. You will further recall how this came about. After having unsuccessfully persecuted the fledgling church, the collapsing secular Roman State in desperation infiltrated, subverted and embraced Christianity in a bid to hold the State together. Additionally, it is not for the State or the Church to unilaterally take it upon itself to set the boundaries of Church/State separation. As well as avoiding natural bias, this allows the space and freedom for either to function and manifest itself. The scripture speaks of the separation between the Holy and the Unholy, the clean and the unclean, the righteous and the unrighteous as a matter of course. At Waco the US government took it upon itself to determine the legitimacy or illegitimacy of our Faith.
In times past we have seen that in matters of Faith there are occasions where those of faith are called upon of God to act in ways out of the common order of things. When Mary turned up pregnant of the Holy Spirit 2,000 years ago rather than believing the account she gave of her condition she was judged by the unbelieving and indeed the “religious” as being a fornicator. In the matters of David Koresh and the children he bore at Waco this too was out of the common order of things. Although not of a virgin birth like Mary, the women who gave their womb for the birthing of the children at Waco was in connection with something God had ordained. This was in relation to the Judgement of the world and the 24 elders shown around the throne in Rev. 4. In continuation of the plan of salvation relative to the Judgement, they too were to come into humanity. How God would effect this is of His own choosing. Of course, the corrupt unbelieving minds of our attackers and detractors could not in a million years see the real truth of this. Much like those in Christ day could not (would not) see the truth of the virgin birth. This is in spite of the fact that both these events were prophesied. The corrupted unbelieving mind could only see what they regard as fornication/sexual promiscuity. That was not, of course, what this is about. As with the birthing of Christ 2,000 years ago, what God was doing with the birthing of these children at Waco has profound and far reaching consequences for the future of mankind and indeed creation itself. To catch a glimpse of the meaning of this is a mark of spiritual enlightenment. When it is fully revealed to the world they will loathe themselves for the evil of their minds and hearts. We see hear how the foolishness of God is way beyond the wisdom of men.
The crisis of confidence in the leadership of America we’ve been discussing continues to reveal itself further on the World stage. Events now unfolding in the world such as those relating to America’s actions towards China, Russia and Iran are of significant moment. In addition to events relating to developments in the South China Sea, Ukraine and Iran’s Nuclear energy program there are other far reaching moves taking place in world affairs. From an economic standpoint the recent push for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) reveal the desperation of America in its bid to maintain economic dominance in the world. These moves come in the face of the rising BRICS group of nations with the New Development Bank and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank challenging the existing banking order of the World Bank and the IMF currently dominated by the West. With the prospects of China becoming the largest economy and the failure of the existing world banking system to reform itself in the face of changing economic reality the crisis of American leadership is further exposed.
In the face of its moral decline and loss of influence America has sought to secure itself at home as well as sure up its world hegemony in a bid to maintain its position in the world. Increasingly this has become untenable despite the use of force and coercion. The added prospect of civil unrest among the people is a further cause of great fear for the ruling elite. Particularly in light of the fact that revolution is a heritage of the American people and the right of the people to bear arms remains. America appears to have become locked in the thinking that the use of force and violence will always bring the results it wants. The problem here is when it turns against YOU! Of course we know the Bush war on Iraq was a disaster. Yet there is a seeming state of denial on the part of those who were involved in orchestrating it, but yet still retain influence allowing them to shield themselves from accountability. The present leadership under President Obama seems handicapped by all this. As a consequence the world is left adrift, as though sleep walking into a catastrophe of unprecedented proportion. The moral stamina and wise leadership needed to avert this is woefully absent from America. As crisis upon crisis unfold in world affairs the prospects of this being avoided becomes more and more unlikely. The prophet Daniel saw the endgame for the King of the North. Although he seeks to change times and laws to prolong his rule, “…yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”12
For believers, this is about looking past what now looks to be inevitable. Those of us who have followed on to know the whole truth of God now look beyond the temporal to the eternal. The event of the Judgement paves the way for the bringing in of the Kingdom of God here on earth as foretold in bible prophecy. The Kingdom of God is to appear on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem by supernatural means. The scriptures speak extensively concerning this.13 The knowledge of it is crucially important. It provides believers with a vision of Life beyond the extremes of desolation that the “Time of Trouble” brings.14 This is further underlined in the Revelation where it is written,
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”15
The information Christ has made available through the scriptures for this moment of crisis was given for our good. It informs our understanding strengthening our faith through this most difficult time that the world is about to witness. It behoves us to take advantage of these provisions given for our welfare.
Livingstone Fagan is one of a few surviving members of the Mount Carmel community. He met David Koresh while completing a post-graduate degree at a theology seminary west of London. He subsequently visited the Mount Carmel Community in Waco, Texas on several occasions prior to the assault in 1993. He was there when the initial attack occurred on February 28th. During the ensuing 51-day siege he came out to serve as theological spokesperson for the group. The majority of the members perished in the flames on April 19th, including his wife and mother. A year later he was among a small number of survivors detained and tried in what was an obvious political trial. Although acquitted of the false charges brought against them they were nevertheless given excessively long prison terms. This was subsequently overturned by the US Supreme Court. He returned to England in the summer of 2007 after almost 15 years. Since his return he has taken part in television, radio and newspaper interviews. In addition to writing articles he has also written a couple of works on the group’s theology.
[B} SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:
1 Dan. 11:33-34; compare Isa. 57:1, 2; Rev. 6:9-11 etc
2 Mt. 24: 27, 28; compare also Habakkuk 1:5-10, note the reference to eagles in verse 8
3 Hab. 3:14
4 Psalm 35:11
5 Psalm 31:13-15
6 Psalm 2:3
7 Isa. 41:25, (compare Zech. 2:1-5ff; Isa. 41:2; 42ff etc )
8 Psalm 2: 4, 5.
9 Dan. 11:36-38
10 Hab. 1:5-10; Joel 1-2
11 Dan. 12:1,
12 Dan. 11:45
13 Isa. 2:2-4; 25:6-9; Micah 4:1-3; Ezek. 36; Dan. 2: 34, 35, 44, 45; 7:9-27; Zech. 14; Ps. 72; Mt. 25:31-46; Rev. 21:10-27; 22:1-5, 6, 7, et el. This is a supernatural event, something quite apart from what we now see taking place in Palestine under the Israeli occupation.
14 Dan. 12:1; Mt. 24:21, 22; etc
15 Rev. 3:10
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