Maxim Rudometkin

Maxim Gavrilovich Rudometkin (c.1818–1877) is believed by members of the Molokan Jumpers and leapers (Прыгуновъ и Cкакуновъ) sect as the King of the holy Seven Spirits of God and leader of the New Israelites.

The date of his birth was anywhere from 1808 (as one Historian claims) to 1818. The earliest we know of him is in his birthplace, which is in the village of Algasova near the city of Morshansk, in what is now Tambov Oblast in south-central Russia. When he was eight years old his family left the Orthodox faith and joined the Spiritual Molokan faith (Not the Constant or Postoyan) in the village of Nikitino. Again, the date is unknown because we do not know for sure what his exact birth date is. As he grew older he started to learn wagon wheel making; this was his trade during his stay there. Soon he was married to a girl of the same faith by the name of Maodrea Matvevna and they had three sons by the name of Ermalie, Alexie and Vassily.

In 1848 he received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Soon after in a vision, in which the Lord almighty and his Son told him that he was to be appointed to govern God's people on earth during the 1000 years of paradise. Soon after this (according to a Russian Historian) Maxim and other people who were gathered for church all saw a vision in which sun's rays came down from heaven and descended upon Maxim and said that because he had fulfilled all of God's desires he would be given the new title of "King of Spirits". And it was during this time that all who saw the vision were filled with the Holy Spirit and jumped and leaped like King David in the Bible.

According to certain files, in the year 1850 more than half of the Molokans of Transcaucasia accepted Maxim Gavrilovich as "King of Spirits". The authorities started to worry because the Molokans were even starting to challenge the Orthodox faith. Like the inquisitions they decided to round up the ringleaders of the Jumpers and Leapers sect and send them to correction facilities. In September 1858 he was exiled to the Solovetsky Monastery for preaching against the Orthodox Church, Czar and their desire to worship God in Spirit and Truth. He was then moved to the Suzdal Monastery prison where he survived for 9 years in a pit in the ground. It was there that he died in 1877, although a few of his followers believe that he was taken up into heaven because he himself prophesied that he would never die. Those few believe that he remains alive to this day and is living at the farthest ends of the earth.

In these prisons or correction facilities, he smuggled out pages of his writings with instructions to his followers, and his teachings, on pages of tea paper about 4 × 3½ in size. These writings were then compiled in the early 20th century and published in a book called "Spirit and Life, Book of the Sun" (Духъ И Жизня, Книга Солнца) which is considered by most Molokans to be holy.