David Koresh’s Pilgrimages to Israel: Messianic and Political Perspectives

David Koresh’s visits to Israel – at least three in number – were crucial in shaping his theological development, self-conception, and apocalyptic vision. With each journey, both Koresh’s sense of purpose and the trust his followers placed in him intensified. His increasingly cohesive apocalyptic vision intertwined spiritual salvation with a radical political agenda. This potent blend of messianic fervour and political ambition would later contribute to the disastrous events surrounding the ATF raid on Mt. Carmel on February 28, 1993 and the following 51-days siege by the FBI.
In his first visit, in 1983, Lois Roden, the previous leader of the Branch Davidian sect, initiated him into the group, in a sense through a geographical baptism into its apocalyptical aspirations. On his second visit, in 1985, Koresh travelled with his newly married wife, Rachel Jones, the daughter of Perry Jones, a longtime Branch Davidian. According to some accounts, the couple hoped that their first son, Cyrus, would be born during this visit. Although this did not happen, Koresh claimed to have received a transformative vision while staying on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. This revelatory experience not only cemented his self-proclaimed role as the Messiah but also marked a dramatic rebirth, as he transformed from his birth name, Vernon Howell, into the iconic name by which history remembers him: David Koresh.
The whereabouts where Koresh received his vision, on Mt. Zion in the modern Jewish State of Israel, is intertwined with Koresh’s understanding of his messiahship: the ancient Cyrus (Hebrew Koresh) was a Persian king who, after defeating ancient Babylon, allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple. For that, he was considered by the biblical Prophet Isaiah to be God’s messiah (Isaiah 45:1). The Modern Koresh will be his typological counterpart: He will lead the Jews to victory against Modern Babylon (The United States of America). Thus, there would be no more fitting place to receive his role than a stone-throw from where the third temple were to be built by the contemporary Koresh. While it remains unclear when exactly did Koresh first disclose the details of his vision to his followers, their testimony was unequivocal: he returned from Israel a different man. 
Koresh’s third and final visit, in 1990, revised and solidified his apocalyptic beliefs. I was able to ascertain that during this visit he met with officials from the Israeli Ministry of Interior and the Jerusalem City Council to discuss the possibility of relocating his group to Israel. While these meetings were actually sham setups orchestrated by a local rabbi aiming to entrap Koresh into making incriminating statements that could justify deportation, Koresh was unaware of this ploy. Thus, Koresh understood these encounters as clear signs that his plans were beginning to materialize, and the involvement of a Jewish rabbi seemed to him as a sign from God that he is on the right track. During this visit, Koresh also made significant efforts to recruit Israeli Jews to his movement. Koresh was initially able to persuade 14 individuals. Even though only two actually came to Mt. Carmel – with just one ultimately joining the group – this small but notable foray into Israeli recruitment underscored the expanding political dimension of his ideology. His apocalyptic vision demanded that he would form an alliance with the Jewish state, and this seemed to be taking form. Since never before had Israeli Jews played any role in the Branch Davidian movement, even this relatively modest success seemed to him to be signalling the approach of a new era for the group.
Despite the significance of these events, the specifics of what transpired during each visit and their impact on Koresh and the Branch Davidians remain inadequately understood. Existing accounts, scattered across monographs, articles, and online sources, have yet to integrate the available evidence into a cohesive narrative. My research seeks to address this by both synthesizing the dispersed primary evidence and incorporating previously untapped sources, including Hebrew-language publications and firsthand interviews with individuals who encountered Koresh during his visits.
In this paper, I will present my preliminary findings to construct a coherent picture of how Koresh’s pilgrimages not only solidified his self-conception as the Messiah but also delineated a striking political dimension in his vision – one that cast the modern State of Israel and the United States as pivotal players in an unfolding cosmic drama. His radical Christian Zionism was infused with the conviction that global alliances would dramatically shift, with the United States – once considered a steadfast ally of Israel – morphing into a formidable adversary, probably at the instigation of the United Nations. According to Koresh’s apocalyptic prophecy, it would be his movement that would rally to lead the battle on the Israeli side. While the initial phase of the prophesied conflict would see Koresh perish and Israel appear to be on the verge of defeat, it is precisely at this moment of utter despair that divine intervention is foretold to occur, overturning the tide of battle, and securing eternal victory for the people of God. As these themes increasingly resonate within contemporary evangelical pro-Israel movements, the study of Koresh’s pilgrimages offers not only historical insight but also a lens through which to examine emerging political-religious dynamics.