 April 14, 1999
Israel braces for influx of
end-of-millenium pilgrims, sects
___By Elaine Fletcher
___Religion News Service
___JERUSALEM (RNS)-- Brother David shakes a tambourine while a lady named Grace plays the harpsichord, and the group breaks into an old gospel tune.
___It is a blustery cold winter evening in the Holy Land. But two dozen men, women and children from all over the world have gathered here in this tiny living room in Bethany, an Arab enclave on the edge of Jerusalem, to pray and wait --wait for the Messiah to return.
___There is Sharon, a 53-year-old grandmother from California; Kalite, a mother of two from Australia; and Emma, a Hungarian Jew who believes in Jesus--all of whom decline to give their last names. Kathy Frank and her three children ages 17, 14 and 11, are among the most recent newcomers to Brother David's millennial community, known as the "House of Prayer."
___"I don't necessarily
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BROTHER SOLOMON, a retired teacher who moved his "The House of David" church from Brooklyn to Bethany, the Jerusalem suburb, about five years ago, says he expects hordes of Christian millennialists to descend on Jerusalem before the end of the year seeking refuge from the plagues of the last judgment.
| think Jesus is coming back in the year 2000, but something is coming," said Frank, a former alcohol and drug counselor from St. Peters-burg, Fla., who arrived with her family a month ago and now plans to stay, well, until eternity.
___"The stage is being set for the end times," she added. "Something incredible is going to be happening. And whatever it is, I believe we're supposed to be here to help."
___That's the view of about a hundred or more millennially-minded Christians who have quietly filtered into the Holy Land in recent years from the United States, Europe and even Africa. While their numbers are still few, these believers say their hopes and expectations are shared by millions around the world, and some predict many more faithful will join them as the big date draws nearer.
___Brother Solomon, a one-time Seventh-day Adventist who leads another millennial Christian group operating just down the street from the "House of Prayer," is among those expecting a human tidal wave to begin heading toward Jerusalem any time now.
___"This year should touch it off," predicts the lanky retired teacher who moved his Brooklyn-based church, "The House of David," to Bethany five years ago. He expects hordes of Christians to descend on Jerusalem seeking refuge from the last plagues of the final judgment--plagues which are part of his carefully plotted timeline to the end.
___"By next year, at Passover 2000, we believe the judgment of the living will end," Brother Solomon said. "Forty-nine days after Passover, the plagues will
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BROTHER DAVID, another sect leader, says, "The Lord spoke to me and told me to go to the Mount of Olives and prepare the way for the Lord's coming." (RNS photos)
| begin. And soon after that the Lord will come to take 144,000 believers up to heaven in the Rapture along with a great multitude. Until that rapture happens, the only place of safety from the seven last plagues will be in Jerusalem and the Holy Land."
___"Everyone always wants to walk in the footsteps of Jesus," noted Sharon.
___A former inventory consultant for an electronics firm, Sharon came to Israel in 1992, after receiving what she describes as a direction from God.
___The first week after her arrival, Sharon met up with Brother David, the former owner of an upstate New York trailer park who had sold his business and given all of the money to charity before coming to Israel in 1980.
___Sharon became a partner in Brother David's ministry. But they were the target of arson attacks and harrassment by Jews and, ultimately, the police became involved. Brother David was arrested for being in the country illegally but after nine months in jail, the Israeli authorities abandoned their efforts to deport him.
___Soon after being released, Brother David settled in Bethany --ground zero for Christian end-time scenarios involving the Messiah's return.
___"The Lord spoke to me and told me to go to the Mount of Olives and prepare the way for the Lord's coming. We have signs showing that the coming of the Messiah is very near," said Brother David, 58, who now rents run-down apartments from East Jerusalem Arab landlords, renovates the properties and sublets them to Christian pilgrims who are visiting, or living, in the Holy Land.
___At least in technical terms, members of the millennial groups are permitted to remain in Israel and the West Bank only as tourists here for brief visits. In reality, a slow trickle of pilgrims is arriving that is determined to remain at all costs, even if they run afoul of Israel's tough laws barring most Christian immigration.
___"I'd rather be called a civil disobedient than a God disobedient," said Brother David in an impromptu sermon to his followers at the Wednesday evening prayer meeting in Bethany.
___Tensions with the government rose following the recent arrest and deportation of 14 members of the Colorado-based "Concerned Christians" cult by Israeli authorities.
___The group, led by the elusive leader Monte Kim Miller, was suspected by police of planning some kind of violent activities to hasten the apocalypse. After the Concerned Christians were deported, Israeli police began visiting the homes of the millennial groups in Bethany as well.
___Both Brother David and Brother Solomon insist their followers have nothing to do with the Denver-based organization and they are opposed to any kind of violent action to hasten the end times.
___"We believe in leaving things in the hands of God," Brother David said.
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