Eliyahu ben David

If you want to listen for yourself go here Tsiyon Beginnings and click on the audio mp3.

Be warned! He talks about 'feelings' a lot.

I have been listening to more of this podcast and although he is quite cagey about his 'religion' and doesn't' mention it by name I have been able to determine that he was a JW, or Jehovah's Witness. That of course explains the early schooling and ministry.

He goes on to say that he had a dream where G-d came to him and said to him, I know who you are, it's your birthday!"

Another one who had a vision. Great! not.....

Lulav said:

He doesn't sound very Jewish to me..................................

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Agreed.

Lulav said:

I have been listening to more of this podcast and although he is quite cagey about his 'religion' and doesn't' mention it by name I have been able to determine that he was a JW, or Jehovah's Witness. That of course explains the early schooling and ministry.

He goes on to say that he had a dream where G-d came to him and said to him, I know who you are, it's your birthday!"

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Good find, Lulav. Has he actually ever come out and said he was Jewish?
Or is he just implying it by the name he uses?

I really have nothing against him at all, let him teach what he wants and if people want to learn from him, great. But if he is implying or outright stating he's a Jew....another story altogether.

ChavaK said:

Good find, Lulav. Has he actually ever come out and said he was Jewish?
Or is he just implying it by the name he uses?

I really have nothing against him at all, let him teach what he wants and if people want to learn from him, great. But if he is implying or outright stating he's a Jew....another story altogether.

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That I can't answer, I only listened to the one podcast that I posted about, however I think that the implication by his 'name' goes deeper when you take into account what this 'announcement' on that podcast spoke about.

I have never heard about this kind of thing before and since this was a couple years ago I don't know if there is any info out there (haven't looked yet) but this screams of Jewish replacement to me.

His wife Dawn, word for word :

"It is time for a historic meeting to take place, for the first time in well over 1,000 years.

I'm talking about the believing house of David family reunion and counsel meeting to be held in 2009.

All believing descendents of King David living anywhere in the world are invited to participate in the meeting. All such persons and anyone else interested in this event can get more information online. Just take the Tent of David link from our Tzion website at www.tsiyon.org. Stop by for more information about the believing house of David Family reunion and council meeting today. "

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:o:o

First of all, I apologize for resurrecting this thread from the dead. Hopefully you'll forgive me.

Eliyahu Ben David IS in fact Steven Butt, the polygamist from Maine and later southern Utah.

I present you with some links, including pictures, as evidence. Note that my post count is to low to post links, so you'll have to paste and delete the space before the ".com". If someone that can wants to post the actual links, please do.

i.imgur .com/HWtA5.jpg
Pictures of Eliyahu, which are publicly available, contrasted with a few from my personal album.

The Eliyahu pictures were obtained from his Vimeo and Amazon accounts respectively.

i.imgur .com/aMnUQ.jpg
picture of 'Eliyahu' and three wives with assorted children. At the time this picture was taken, his forth wife had not joined the family. Notice that Dawn, his co-host from his radio show, is sitting right of him. I've placed the only picture I could find of her from his website above her for comparison. (Granted, its not the best. If anyone can find a better pic of 'Eliyahu' Dawn, be my guest.)

Additionally, Steven Butt has appeared in newspapers and news broadcasts in the past.

news.google .com/newspapers?id=0TIfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0c8EAAAAIBAJ&dq=polygamy%20circleville&pg=1735%2C5570370
Heres a link to a newspaper article by the AP, which was sold to a few smaller newspapers. The picture is fuzzy (taken from microfilm I suspect), but Dawn stands on the left of him.

He also did an episode of the CBS show 48 Hours when the program was more news centred. There's video of him out there somewhere if anybody can find it.

Steven Butt is not only a know and pretty vocal polygamist, but also a convicted child abductor and wife beater, as evidenced by this News article.

i.imgur .com/wSPpc.jpg

I've been told the article was published in The Portland Press on April 24, 1993. I haven't seen the microfilm myself, however. If someone whose library carrys old microfilms of The Portland Press can verify, that would be great.

Essentially, Eliyahu Ben David is Steven Butt, and is either a con man or crazy. He is currently doing in Texas (where Tsyion Heights is located) what he tried to do in Utah. That is, grow up a bunch of followers around him that will listen to his every word. It didn't work in Utah. Who knows if it will work in Texas.

By the way. He is not Jewish. Everything he learned about Judaism he learned on the Internet.

RelevantData said:

By the way. He is not Jewish

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Definitely not.

Everything he learned about Judaism he learned on the Internet.

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Not always the most reliable source of information.

We all had a discussion concerning this Steve Butts person before. Wish I could remember from what.......

It turns out He's a polygamist no longer. I've been told by someone close to him that he left most of his family in the Northwest fleeing an inquiry by Child Protective Services. I guess there were concerns relating to physical abuse and neglect on the part of himself and his wife Dawn. He is currently only married to Dawn.

I wonder how many of his followers know about his past?

Greetings;

I am a newcomer, having been referred to this site a few days ago by another person when I was looking for information to better understand observed inconsistencies with Eliyahu. I don't know if they are a member or if they just found the info via search.

Sorry to resurrect a "dead thread" if I am out of place here. Forums are rather new to me.

I met with E and Dawn this past fall as part of a trip to determine if we were comfortable to work together in ministry. It was inconclusive though we had a pleasant face to face visit prior to the sudden evacuation due to a forest fire. We discussed this on a recent partner's teleconference, Monday, Nov. 28, available at his site if he has left that up and available, including my portion of the many conversations, which at this point may be unlikely as they were very complimentary to me at the time.

I have verified with the Portland Public Library Reference Librarian that the news clipping regarding the jury trial of one Steven J. Butt is indeed from the Portland Press Herald of April 24, 1993 via microfilm. Susan Flaherty, Reference Librarian, Portland Public Library, Portland Maine; She can be reached at (207) 871-1700 should anyone else want to confirm it. No picture was found.

I have looked at the photos provided in the links that were under both names and they do indeed, appear to be the same person that I met face to face.

I would like to communicate with the person who said they know him under both names if possible.


In Yeshua Messiah may we all find Truth, even when His servants struggle.

@SAM Wis: You can ask your questions here, or PM me.To PM here, just click on my handle up about this post. You'll get a drop down menu. One of the options is to PM me.

On another note, My original post was deleted for posting links with less then 50 posts. Now that I have 50+ posts, I reproduce it below:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
First of all, I apologize for resurrecting this thread from the dead. Hopefully you'll forgive me.

Eliyahu Ben David IS in fact Steven Butt, the polygamist from Maine and later southern Utah.

I present you with some links, including pictures, as evidence. Note that my post count is to low to post links, so you'll have to paste and delete the space before the ".com". If someone that can wants to post the actual links, please do.

Pictures of Eliyahu, which are publicly available, contrasted with a few from my personal album.

The Eliyahu pictures were obtained from his Vimeo and Amazon accounts respectively.

picture of 'Eliyahu' and three wives with assorted children. At the time this picture was taken, his forth wife had not joined the family. Notice that Dawn, his co-host from his radio show, is sitting right of him. I've placed the only picture I could find of her from his website above her for comparison. (Granted, its not the best. If anyone can find a better pic of 'Eliyahu' Dawn, be my guest.)

Additionally, Steven Butt has appeared in newspapers and news broadcasts in the past.

Heres a link to a newspaper article by the AP, which was sold to a few smaller newspapers. The picture is fuzzy (taken from microfilm I suspect), but Dawn stands on the left of him.

He also did an episode of the CBS show 48 Hours when the program was more news centred. There's video of him out there somewhere if anybody can find it.

Steven Butt is not only a know and pretty vocal polygamist, but also a convicted child abductor and wife beater, as evidenced by this News article.

I've been told the article was published in The Portland Press on April 24, 1993. I haven't seen the microfilm myself, however. If someone whose library carrys old microfilms of The Portland Press can verify, that would be great.

Essentially, Eliyahu Ben David is Steven Butt, and is either a con man or crazy. He is currently doing in Texas (where Tsyion Heights is located) what he tried to do in Utah. That is, grow up a bunch of followers around him that will listen to his every word (and bleed them dry financially). It didn't work in Utah. Who knows if it will work in Texas.

By the way. He is not Jewish. Everything he learned about Judaism he learned on the Internet.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you RelevantData.
It won't allow me to PM.
Well, if your original post was deleted, it was still somehow available when I was directed to it last week!
I am hopeful that you will be able to retain this info online as it provides a connecting point to information that otherwise might not match up.

RelivantData: I know this man personally and I need to clarify some further information. I wish to communicate with you privately regarding this matter. As a new member, I cannot PM you directly. Can you PM me in order for us to communicate privately? Thank your for your consideration with this.

I was able to track down an old puff piece Steve Butt did with 48 hours. You can watch it here.

You'll notice Dawn is wife number three. If this isn't absolute proof of Eliyahu's true identity, I'm not sure what is.

And with that, I think I'm done with this hunt. Thanks for putting up with me.

Relevant Data:

As sad as this is, I do thank you for your investigative work here. Yes, I do see that this piece confirms without a doubt that EliYahu and Steve Butt are the same person.

Just a point to clear up our position: it is not that someone having a background in polygamy would keep us from further relationship with their ministry. Our question is whether or not any such issues were handled and resolved in a way that is pleasing to our Abba. I believe people will need to make their own prayerful determination on that point.


At the least, it may prevent vulnerable people from potential harm.
Watching and praying in Messiah,
SAM Wis

RelevantData said:

I was able to track down an old puff piece Steve Butt did with 48 hours. You can watch it here.

You'll notice Dawn is wife number three. If this isn't absolute proof of Eliyahu's true identity, I'm not sure what is.

And with that, I think I'm done with this hunt. Thanks for putting up with me.

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Thanks for finding this....it definitely removes any doubt about who "EBD"
really is. I will never understand why people feel the need to present
themselves as something other than what they truly are.

I so appreciate the information posted here. Thank you for sharing.

Shalom all;
Just an update note here.

Eliyahu ben David has posted his current newsletter with statements that there has been a "personal attack" against him.

To my awareness, there has not been what I would term any kind of "attack."

What I am aware is happening is this:

A definite connection has been established between his legal identity as Steven Butt and his current public identity as Eliyahu ben David.

Steven Butt has a public and documented history as the founder of a polygamous organization, Be Free, while Eliyahu ben David has a public identity as the founder of a group, Tsiyon Heights Messianic Radio or Road to Tsiyon, based on returning the remnant led by the House of David and Eliyahu, to Tsiyon, presenting a personal "form" of Messianic Judaism.

He has refused to discuss, confirm or deny this connection with me as a ministry partner (formerly) when I inquired, and to my knowledge did the same when other inquires were made, including with other ministry partners, now former partners in some cases.

This raises two questions, not fully answered:

1) His personal accountability and willingness to be open

2) His reason for concern that the two identities have been confirmed
to be the same person.



May our Abba keep us back from presumptuous sin.

I am in agreement with Sam Wis as I do not understand why this man believes he is being personally attacked. As I mentioned before, I know this man personally and I personally requested verification of this information from Eliyahu. He refused to answer me one way or the other and he stated that this topic was "irrelevant" to his work. He believes this topic has been brought as an "attack from the enemy" and it is being used to distract his members from the purpose of his ministry.

I was very disappointed with his "no response" and I do not understand why he will not give a straight answer to this information. The comments on this forum have simply been inquiries of his past and his real identity. The information that has been revealed has not only been factual but put forth in a positive nature. How would Eliyahu base such information as a personal attack?

At this point, I have no other choice (as do other former Tsiyon partners) but to question his motives and what is he trying to hide? I also have to question what his current ministry really stands for. I have personally withdrawn my support of Tsiyon.