Chapter 7:
The Kingdom Foretold

THY KINGDOM COME

In speaking of the coming of Kingdom of God, on earth, His Holiness Jesus Christ, in Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9 through 10, said: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that this utterance of Christ was fulfilled, when He returned ‘in the glory of His Father’: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father” (Matt 16:27). That the Kingdom of God had not yet come when Christ First walked upon the earth, is shown in John, chapter 18, verse 36, where it is written: “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

In the Holy Qur’án, chapter 83, verse 6, Prophet Muhammad referred to that Day as: “A Day when (all) mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds,” while the Holy Bible had spoken of it as a Day, when He, the “Glory of the Lord,” the “Everlasting Father,” the “Prince of Peace,” the “Lord of Hosts,” would reign, on earth, for a ‘thousand years’: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Rev 20:4)

The Bahá’i Faith furthermore reveals that, the Second Advent of Christ, was fulfilled, upon coming of Bahá’u’lláh, “The Glory of God”:

Whoso layeth claim to a Revelation direct from God, ere the expiration of a full thousand years, such a man is assuredly a lying impostor. We pray God that He may graciously assist him to retract and repudiate such claim. Should he repent, God will, no doubt, forgive him. If, however, he persisteth in his error, God will, assuredly, send down one who will deal mercilessly with him. Terrible, indeed, is God in punishing! Whosoever interpreteth this verse otherwise than its obvious meaning is deprived of the Spirit of God and of His mercy which encompasseth all created things. Fear God, and follow not your idle fancies. Nay, rather, follow the bidding of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Wise. Erelong shall clamorous voices be raised in most lands. Shun them, O My people, and follow not the iniquitous and evil-hearted.

(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Page: 32)

The Dispensation of Baha’u’llah will last until the coming of the next Manifestation of God, Whose advent will not take place before at least “a full thousand years” will have elapsed. Baha’u’llah cautions against ascribing to “this verse” anything other than its “obvious meaning”, and in one of His Tablets, He specifies that “each year” of this thousand year period consists of “twelve months according to the Qur’an, and of nineteen months of nineteen days each, according to the Bayan.”[1]

The intimation of His Revelation to Baha’u’llah in the Siyah-Chal of Tihran, in October 1852, marks the birth of His Prophetic Mission and hence the commencement of the one thousand years or more that must elapse before the appearance of the next Manifestation of God.

(Baha’u’llah: Aqdas: Notes, Pages: 195-196)

…the Revelation identified with Baha’u’llah abrogates unconditionally all the Dispensations gone before it, upholds uncompromisingly the eternal verities they enshrine, recognizes firmly and absolutely the Divine origin of their Authors, preserves inviolate the sanctity of their authentic Scriptures, disclaims any intention of lowering the status of their Founders or of abating the spiritual ideals they inculcate, clarifies and correlates their functions, reaffirms their common, their unchangeable and fundamental purpose, reconciles their seemingly divergent claims and doctrines, readily and gratefully recognizes their respective contributions to the gradual unfoldment of one Divine Revelation, unhesitatingly acknowledges itself to be but one link in the chain of continually progressive Revelations, supplements their teachings with such laws and ordinances as conform to the imperative needs, and are dictated by the growing receptivity, of a fast evolving and constantly changing society, and proclaims its readiness and ability to fuse and incorporate the contending sects and factions into which they have fallen into a universal Fellowship, functioning within the framework, and in accordance with the precepts, of a divinely conceived, a world-unifying, a world-redeeming Order.

A Revelation, hailed as the promise and crowning glory of past ages and centuries, as the consummation of all the Dispensations within the Adamic Cycle, inaugurating an era of at least a thousand years’ duration, and a cycle destined to last no less than five thousand centuries, signalizing the end of the Prophetic Era and the beginning of the Era of Fulfillment…

(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Page: 100)

The Cause of God hath come as a token of His grace. Happy are they who act; happy are they who understand; happy the man that hath clung unto the truth, detached from all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.

(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Page: 139)

THE CITY OF MY GOD

“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Rev 3:12)

“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;” (Rev 21:10-11)

They that valiantly labour in quest of God’s will, when once they have renounced all else but Him, will be so attached and wedded to that City that a moment’s separation from it would to them be unthinkable. They will hearken unto infallible proofs from the Hyacinth of that assembly, and receive the surest testimonies from the beauty of its Rose and the melody of its Nightingale. Once in about a thousand years shall this City be renewed and re-adorned.

Wherefore, O my friend, it behooveth Us to exert the highest endeavour to attain unto that City, and, by the grace of God and His loving-kindness, rend asunder the “veils of glory”; so that, with inflexible steadfastness, we may sacrifice our drooping souls in the path of the New Beloved. We should with tearful eyes, fervently and repeatedly, implore Him to grant us the favour of that grace. That city is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation. In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus the Gospel; in the days of Muhammad the Messenger of God the Qur’an; in this day the Bayan; and in the dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest His own Book - the Book unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book which standeth amongst them all transcendent and supreme. In these cities spiritual sustenance is bountifully provided, and incorruptible delights have been ordained. The food they bestow is the bread of heaven, and the Spirit they impart is God’s imperishable blessing. Upon detached souls they bestow the gift of Unity, enrich the destitute, and offer the cup of knowledge unto them who wander in the wilderness of ignorance. All the guidance, the blessings, the learning, the understanding, the faith, and certitude, conferred upon all that is in heaven and on earth, are hidden and treasured within these Cities.

(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 198-200)

CALL out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. O how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation - a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: `Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.’ Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Baha who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Page: 89)

The Most Great Law is come, and the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David. Thus hath My Pen spoken that which the histories of bygone ages have related. At this time, however, David crieth aloud and saith: `O my loving Lord! Do Thou number me with such as have stood steadfast in Thy Cause, O Thou through Whom the faces have been illumined, and the footsteps have slipped!’

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 89-90)

The time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Page: 111)

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. No sooner, however, had the Day Star of His Revelation manifested itself in the heaven of God’s Will, than all, except those whom the Almighty was pleased to guide, were found dumbfounded and heedless.

O thou that hast remembered Me! The most grievous veil hath shut out the peoples of the earth from His glory, and hindered them from hearkening to His call. God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, `the Kingdom is God’s’, may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 111-112)

O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the effulgence of the world’s great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of one and the same throne. This wronged One hath, ever since the early days of His life, cherished none other desire but this, and will continue to entertain no wish except this wish. There can be no doubt whatever that the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods ofyour vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and revealed unto you. To this beareth witness the Tongue of Grandeur from His habitation of glory.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Page: 114)

The world’s equilibrium hath been upset through the vibrating influence of this most great, this new World Order. Mankind’s ordered life hath been revolutionized through the agency of this unique, this wondrous System - the like of which mortal eyes have never witnessed.

Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths. Take heed that ye do not vacillate in your determination to embrace the truth of this Cause - a Cause through which the potentialities of the might of God have been revealed, and His sovereignty established. With faces beaming with joy, hasten ye unto Him. This is the changeless Faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Let him that seeketh, attain it; and as to him that hath refused to seek it - verily, God is Self-Sufficient, above any need of His creatures.

Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are weighed, and their fate determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize this truth. Say: Through it the poor have been enriched, the learned enlightened, and the seekers enabled to ascend unto the presence of God. Beware, lest ye make it a cause of dissension amongst you. Be ye as firmly settled as the immovable mountain in the Cause of your Lord, the Mighty, the Loving

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 118-119)

O ye peoples of the world! Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy for My creatures. Thus hath it been sent down from the heaven of the Will of your Lord, the Lord of Revelation. Were any man to taste the sweetness of the words which the lips of the All-Merciful have willed to utter, he would, though the treasures of the earth be in his possession, renounce them one and all, that he might vindicate the truth of even one of His commandments, shining above the Dayspring of His bountiful care and loving-kindness.

From My laws the sweet smelling savour of My garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of victory will be planted upon the highest peaks. The Tongue of My power hath, from the heaven of My omnipotent glory, addressed to My creation these words: `Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.’ Happy is the lover that hath inhaled the divine fragrance of his Best-Beloved from these words, laden with the perfume of a grace which no tongue can describe. By My life! He who hath drunk the choice wine of fairness from the hands of My bountiful favour, will circle around My commandments that shine above the Dayspring of My creation.

Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!...

Whenever My laws appear like the sun in the heaven of Mine utterance, they must be faithfully obeyed by all, though My decree be such as to cause the heaven of every religion to be cleft asunder. He doth what He pleaseth. He chooseth; and none may question His choice. Whatsoever He, the Well-Beloved, ordaineth, the same is, verily, beloved. To this He Who is the Lord of all creation beareth Me witness. Whoso hath inhaled the sweet fragrance of the All-Merciful, andrecognized the Source of this utterance, will welcome with his own eyes the shafts of the enemy, that he may establish the truth of the laws of God amongst men. Well is it with him that hath turned thereunto, and apprehended the meaning of His decisive decree.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 119-121)

This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favours have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness. It behoveth them to cleave to whatsoever will, in this Day, be conducive to the exaltation of their stations, and to the promotion of their best interests. Happy are those whom the all-glorious Pen was moved to remember, and blessed are those men whose names, by virtue of Our inscrutable decree, We have preferred to conceal.

Beseech ye the one true God to grant that all men may be graciously assisted to fulfil that which is acceptable in Our sight. Soon will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things unseen.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 121-122)

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 65:25)

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6)

In Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10, it is said:

“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.”

This rod out of the stem of Jesse might be correctly applied to Christ, for Joseph was of the descendants of Jesse, the father of David; but as Christ found existence through the Spirit of God, He called Himself the Son of God. If He had not done so, this description would refer to Him. Besides this, the events which he indicated as coming to pass in the days of that rod, if interpreted symbolically, were in part fulfilled in the day of Christ, but not all; and if not interpreted, then decidedly none of these signs happened. For example, the leopard and the lamb, the lion and the calf, the child and the asp, are metaphors and symbols for various nations, peoples, antagonistic sects and hostile races, who are as opposite and inimical as the wolf and lamb. We say that by the breath of the spirit of Christ they found concord and harmony, they were vivified, and they associated together.

But “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” These conditions did not prevail in the time of the manifestation of Christ; for until today various and antagonistic nations exist in the world: very few acknowledge the God of Israel, and the greater number are without the knowledge of God. In the same way, universal peace did not come into existence in the time of Christ - that is to say, between the antagonistic and hostile nations there was neither peace nor concord, disputes and disagreements did not cease, and reconciliation and sincerity did not appear. So, even at this day, among the Christian sects and nations themselves, enmity, hatred and the most violent hostility are met with.

But these verses apply word for word to Baha’u’llah. Likewise in this marvelous cycle the earth will be transformed, and the world of humanity arrayed in tranquillity and beauty. Disputes, quarrels and murders will be replaced by peace, truth and concord; among the nations, peoples, races and countries, love and amity will appear. Cooperation and union will be established, and finally war will be entirely suppressed. When the laws of the Most Holy Book[2] are enforced, contentions and disputes will find a final sentence of absolute justice before a general tribunal of the nations and kingdoms, and the difficulties that appear will be solved. The five continents of the world will form but one, the numerous nations will become one, the surface of the earth will become one land, and mankind will be a single community. The relations between the countries - the mingling, union and friendship of the peoples and communities - will reach to such a degree that the human race will be like one family and kindred. The light of heavenly love will shine, and the darkness of enmity and hatred will be dispelled from the world. Universal peace will raise its tent in the center of the earth, and the blessed Tree of Life will grow and spread to such an extent that it will overshadow the East and the West. Strong and weak, rich and poor, antagonistic sects and hostile nations - which are like the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and kid, the lion and the calf - will act toward each other with the most complete love, friendship, justice and equity. The world will be filled with science, with the knowledge of the reality of the mysteries of beings, and with the knowledge of God. (`Abdu’l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 62-64)

Behold the disturbances which, for many a long year, have afflicted the earth, and the perturbation that hath seized its peoples. It hath either been ravaged by war, or tormented by sudden and unforeseen calamities. Though the world is encompassed with misery and distress, yet no man hath paused to reflect what the cause or source of that may be. Whenever the True Counsellor uttered a word in admonishment, lo, they all denounced Him as a mover of mischief and rejected His claim. How bewildering, how confusing is such behaviour! No two men can be found who may be said to be outwardly and inwardly united. The evidences of discord and malice are apparent everywhere, though all were made for harmony and union. The Great Being saith: O well-beloved ones! The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. We cherish the hope that the light of justice may shine upon the world and sanctify it from tyranny. If the rulers and kings of the earth, the symbols of the power of God, exalted be His glory, arise and resolve to dedicate themselves to whatever will promote the highest interests of the whole of humanity, the reign of justice will assuredly be established amongst the children of men, and the effulgence of its light will envelop the whole earth.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 163-164)

Furthermore, how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the Divine springtime, breathing from the Ridvan of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity, and have drunk from the cup of His singleness!

This is the significance of the well-known words: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together.”[3] Behold the ignorance and folly of those who, like the nations of old, are still expecting to witness the time when these beasts will feed together in one pasture! Such is their low estate. Methinks, never have their lips touched the cup of understanding, neither have their feet trodden the path of justice. Besides, of what profit would it be to the world were such a thing to take place? How well hath He spoken concerning them: “Hearts have they, with which they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not!”[4]

(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Pages: 112-113)

THE LORD WILL ROAR FROM ZION

“And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.” (Amos 1:2)

…”through the tongue of the Prophets two or three thousand years before.” God, “faithful to His promise,” had, “to some of the Prophets” “revealed and given the good news that the ‘Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land.’” Isaiah had, in this connection, announced in his Book: “Get thee up into the high mountain, O Zion that bringest good tidings; lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: ‘Behold your God! Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him.’” David, in his Psalms, had predicted: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.” “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” Amos had, likewise, foretold His coming: “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 183)

Carmel, in the Book of God, hath been designated as the Hill of God, and His Vineyard. It is here that, by the grace of the Lord of Revelation, the Tabernacle of Glory hath been raised. Happy are they that attain thereunto; happy they that set their faces towards it.

(Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 145)

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “The LORD will roar from Zion” (Amos 1:2)

“As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.” (Jeremiah 46:18)

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

“The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken…Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence…He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth…Hear, O my people, and I will speak…I am God, even thy God.” (Psalms 50:1-4,7)

IT SHALL BLOSSOM ABUNDANTLY

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “It shall blossom abundantly” (Isa 35:2)

In Isaiah[5], we read, “…Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down; Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.” Isaiah also says, “…The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellence of our God.”[6] It is interesting to compare this last verse with its Arabic version which, when translated literally, into English, reads as follows: “God will render to Lebanon its glory: the Baha of Carmel and Sharon shall be manifested, and they shall see the glory of God, the Baha of our Lord.”[7] When Jesus spoke to the Jews who were familiar with these terms, He told them that He would return “in the glory of the Father.” 

(Abu’l-Qasim Faizi, An Explanation of the Greatest Name, p. 5)

“It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.” (Isaiah 35:2)

Isaiah saith: “The Lord alone shall be exalted in that Day.” Concerning the greatness of the Revelation He saith: “Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.” And in another connection He saith: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom bundantly, and rejoice even with joy andsinging: the gloryof Lebano shal given unto it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God.”

These passages stand in need of no commentary. They are shining and manifest as the sun, and glowing and luminous as light itself. Every fair-minded person is led, by the fragrance of these words, unto the garden of understanding, and attaineth unto that from which most men are veiled and debarred. Say: Fear God, O people, and follow not the doubts of such as shout aloud, who have broken the Covenant of God and His Testament, and denied His mercy that hath preceded all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth.

And likewise, He saith: “Say to them that are of a fearful heart: be strong, fear not, behold your God.” This blessed verse is a proof of the greatness of the Revelation, and of the greatness of the Cause, inasmuch as the blast of the trumpet must needs spread confusion throughout the world, and fear and trembling amongst all men. Well is it with him who hath been illumined with the light of trust and detachment. The tribulations of that Day will not hinder or alarm him. Thus hath the Tongue of Utterance spoken, as bidden by Him Who is the All-Merciful. He, verily, is the Strong, the All-Powerful, the All-Subduing, the Almighty. It is now incumbent upon them who are endowed with a hearing ear and a seeing eye to ponder these sublime words, in each of which the oceans of inner meaning and explanation are hidden, that haply the words uttered by Him Who is the Lord of Revelation may enable His servants to attain, with the utmost joy and radiance, unto the Supreme Goal and Most Sublime Summit - the dawning-place of this Voice.

(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Pages: 146-147)

THE MOUNTAIN OF HIS HOLINESS

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “the mountain of his holiness” (Ps 48:1)

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” (Psalms 48:1-2)

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1-2)

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.” (Isaiah 62:1,3)

“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God….And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:3,5)

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That which had been announced in the holy Writ of God, the Most Exalted, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved, is made manifest.”

(Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 48)

All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: `Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.’

Seized with transports of joy, and raising high her voice, she thus exclaimed: `May my life be a sacrifice to Thee, inasmuch as Thou hast fixed Thy gaze upon me, hast bestowed upon me Thy bounty, and hast directed towards me Thy steps. Separation from Thee, O Thou Source of everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my remoteness from Thy presence hath burned away my soul. All praise be to Thee for having enabled me to hearken to Thy call, for having honoured me with Thy footsteps, and for having quickened my soul through the vitalizing fragrance of Thy Day and the shrilling voice of Thy Pen, a voice Thou didst ordain as Thy trumpet-call amidst Thy people. And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things.’

No sooner had her voice reached that most exalted Spot than We made reply: `Render thanks unto thy Lord, O Carmel. The fire of thy separation from Me was fast consuming thee, when the ocean of My presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all creation, and filling with delight all things visible and invisible. Rejoice, for God hath in this Day established upon thee His throne, hath made thee the dawning-place of His signs and the dayspring of the evidences of His Revelation. Well is it with him that circleth around thee, that proclaimeth the revelation of thy glory, and recounteth that which the bounty of the Lord thy God hath showered upon thee. Seize thou the Chalice of Immortality in the name of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, and give thanks unto Him, inasmuch as He, in token of His mercy unto thee, hath turned thy sorrow into gladness, and transmuted thy grief into blissful joy. He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears.

`Call out to Zion, O Carmel, and announce the joyful tidings: He that was hidden from mortal eyes is come! His all-conquering sovereignty is manifest; His all-encompassing splendour is revealed. Beware lest thou hesitate or halt. Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that hath descended from heaven, the celestial Kaaba round which have circled in adoration the favoured of God, the pure in heart, and the company of the most exalted angels. Oh, how I long to announce unto every spot on the surface of the earth, and to carry to each one of its cities, the glad-tidings of this Revelation - a Revelation to which the heart of Sinai hath been attracted, and in whose name the Burning Bush is calling: “Unto God, the Lord of Lords, belong the kingdoms of earth and heaven.” Verily this is the Day in which both land and sea rejoice at this announcement, the Day for which have been laid up those things which God, through a bounty beyond the ken of mortal mind or heart, hath destined for revelation. Ere long will God sail His Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Baha who have been mentioned in the Book of Names.’

Sanctified be the Lord of all mankind, at the mention of Whose name all the atoms of the earth have been made to vibrate, and the Tongue of Grandeur hath been moved to disclose that which had been wrapt in His knowledge and lay concealed within the treasury of His might. He, verily, through the potency of His name, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the Most High, is the ruler of all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 3-5)

This is the Day in which He Who held converse with God hath attained the light of the Ancient of Days, and quaffed the pure waters of reunion from this Cup that hath caused the seas to swell. Say: By the one true God! Sinai is circling round the Dayspring of Revelation, while from the heights of the Kingdom the Voice of the Spirit of God is heard proclaiming: “Bestir yourselves, ye proud ones of the earth, and hasten ye unto Him.” Carmel hath, in this Day, hastened in longing adoration to attain His court, whilst from the heart of Zion there cometh the cry: “The promise is fulfilled. That which had been announced in the holy Writ of God, the Most Exalted, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved, is made manifest.”

(Baha’u’llah: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Pages: 48-49)

The voice and the lamentation of the true Faith have been raised. It calleth aloud and saith: “O people! By the righteousness of God! I have attained unto Him Who hath manifested me and sent me down. This is the Day whereon Sinai hath smiled at Him Who conversed upon it, and Carmel at its Revealer, and the Sadrah at Him Who taught it. Fear ye God, and be not of them that have denied Him. Withhold not yourselves from that which hath been revealed through His grace. Seize ye the living waters of immortality in the name of your Lord, the Lord of all names, and drink ye in the remembrance of Him, Who is the Mighty, the Peerless.”

(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Page: 38)

“the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion” (Ps 48:2)

NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “for out of Zion shall go forth the law” (Isa 2:3)

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:2-4)

“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” (Rev 21:22-24)

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that “the last days” prophecy of Isaiah, in chapter 2, verses 2, 3, and 4, related to the time when Christ returned: “in the glory of his Father” (Matt 16:27); in “the Glory of God.” (Rev 21:23)

It has been Promised that: “…he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law …he shall judge among the nations…nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:3-4), and “…the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.” (Rev 21:24)

The Bahá’i Faith further reveals that this Promise of peace and tranquillity “among the nations,” that “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks,” will be fulfilled within the Dispensation of Baha’u’llah (“The Glory of God”,) and in the light of guidance of His Words:

The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and tranquillity of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be universally realized. The rulers and kings of the earth must needs attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world’s Great Peace amongst men. Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should resolve, for the sake of the tranquillity of the peoples of the earth, to be fully reconciled among themselves. Should any king take up arms against another, all should unitedly arise and prevent him. If this be done, the nations of the world will no longer require any armaments, except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of maintaining internal order within their territories. This will ensure the peace and composure of every people, government and nation. We fain would hope that the kings and rulers of the earth, the mirrors of the gracious and almighty name of God, may attain unto this station, and shield mankind from the onslaught of tyranny. ...The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have adopted one universal language and one common script. When this is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and absolutely essential. It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.... That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.

(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Pages: 249-250)

Thus, the Bahá’i Faith reveals that the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is “the law,” that was “…to go forth… out of Zion… from Jerusalem,” that would secure peace, tranquillity, brotherhood, and harmony among the nations of the world:

“for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3)

Mount Carmel was extolled by the prophet Isaiah almost three thousand years ago, when he announced that “it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” Now, with the coming of the Lord of Hosts, His devoted servants throughout the world have been summoned to the momentous undertaking with which the fulfillment of this ancient promise is associated. As they dedicate themselves to this mighty task, let them draw inspiration from these Words of Bahá’u’lláh: “Carmel, in the Book of God, hath been designated as the Hill of God, and His Vineyard. It is here that, by the grace of the Lord of Revelation, the Tabernacle of Glory hath been raised. Happy are they that attain thereunto; happy they that set their faces towards it.”

Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated January 4, 1994, to all National Spiritual Assemblies

(Compilations, NSA USA - Developing Distinctive Baha’i Communities)

In the crowds of visitors from every land thronging the stairs and pathways each day and the stream of distinguished guests who are welcomed to the World Centre’s reception rooms, perceptive minds already sense the dawning fulfillment of the vision recorded twenty-three hundred years ago by the prophet Isaiah: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.”

(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 142)

…the distinguished Orientalist, Prof. E. G. Browne of Cambridge, was granted his four successive interviews with Baha’u’llah, during the five days he was His guest at Bahji (April 15-20, 1890), interviews immortalized by the Exile’s historic declaration that “these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the `Most Great Peace’ shall come.” “The face of Him on Whom I gazed,” is the interviewer’s memorable testimony for posterity, “I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.” “Here,” the visitor himself has testified, “did I spend five most memorable days, during which I enjoyed unparalleled and unhoped-for opportunities of holding intercourse with those who are the fountain-heads of that mighty and wondrous spirit, which works with invisible but ever-increasing force for the transformation and quickening of a people who slumber in a sleep like unto death. It was, in truth, a strange and moving experience, but one whereof I despair of conveying any save the feeblest impression.”

(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Page: 194)

In the course of one of those interviews, Bahá’u’lláh revealed these Words:

...Praise be to God that thou hast attained!... Thou hast come to see a prisoner and an exile.... We desire but the good of the world and happiness of the nations; yet they deem us a stirrer up of strife and sedition worthy of bondage and banishment.... That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be strengthened; that diversity of religion should cease, and differences of race be annulled - what harm is there in this?... Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the “Most Great Peace” shall

come.... Do not you in Europe need this also? Is not this that which Christ foretold?... Yet do we see your kings and rulers lavishing their treasures more freely on means for the destruction of the human race than on that which would conduce to the happiness of mankind.... These strifes and this bloodshed and discord must cease, and all men be as one kindred and one family.... Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind....

(Baha’u’llah: Peace, Page: 157)

With the coming of Bahá’u’lláh (the ‘Glory of God’), the earth has finally reached the stage when all these prophecies will be fulfilled. Within this Dispensation mankind will finally reach true peace. In the words of Bahá’u’lláh: “… these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the Most Great Peace shall come.”

(Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 10)

BY THE WAY OF THE GATE

The Shrine of The Báb (The Gate) on Mount Carmel: “the gate that looketh toward the east” (Ezek 43:1)

“Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory… And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.” (Ezekiel 43:1-2,4)

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that Christ Himself pointed out that “east” was the direction from which He would appear in the Day of His Second Coming, when He returned in the “glory of his Father” (Matt 16:27). Speaking of that day, He said: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt 24:27) Isaiah, in like manner, spoke of the wondrous Figure who would come ‘from the east’; Isaiah said that it was God Himself: “Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings” (Isaiah 41:2) In a similar fashion, Ezekiel, foretold that “the glory of the LORD’ (i.e. , Bahá’u’lláh) came into the house by the way of the gate(i.e., The Báb)” (Ezekiel 43:4)

Set thine heart towards Him Who is the Point of adoration for the world, and say: O peoples of the earth! Have ye denied the One in Whose path He Who came with the truth[8], bearing the announcement of your Lord, the Exalted, the Great, suffered martyrdom? Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth and is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified.... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God Himself were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned.... Blessed be the king whose sovereignty hath withheld him not from his Sovereign, and who hath turned unto God with his heart. He, verily, is accounted of those that have attained unto that which God, the Mighty, the All-Wise hath willed. Ere long will such a one find himself numbered with the monarchs of the realms of the Kingdom. Thy Lord is, in truth, potent over all things. He giveth what He willeth to whomsoever He willeth, and withholdeth what He pleaseth from whomsoever He willeth. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the Almighty.

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 29-30)

The Forerunner of the Faith was Mirza ‘Ali-Muhammad of Shiraz, known as the Báb (The Gate) Who proclaimed on May 23, 1844, His twofold mission as an independent Manifestation of God and Herald of One greater than Himself[9], Who would inaugurate a new and unprecedented era in the religious history of mankind.

(Shoghi Effendi, Summary Statement -The World Religion)

Mirza Ali Muhammad, Who afterwards assumed the title of Báb (i.e. Gate), was born at Shiraz, in the south of Persia, on the 20th of October 1819 A.D. He was a Siyyid, that is, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

(Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 12)

He made Himself known as the Qá’im, the High Prophet or Messiah so long promised, so eagerly expected by the Muhammadan world. He added to this the declaration that he was also The Gate (that is, The Báb) through whom a greater Manifestation than Himself was to enter the human realm.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. xxix)

The Báb declared Himself at the beginning of His mission to be the “ Báb” by which He meant to be the gate or forerunner of “Him Whom God will make manifest”, that is to say Bahá’u’lláh, Whose advent the Shí’ahs also expected in the person of “the return of Imam Husayn”.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Unfolding Destiny of the British Baha’i Community, p. 426)

CONSIDER the manifold favours vouchsafed by the Promised One, and the effusions of His bounty which have pervaded the concourse of the followers of Islam to enable them to attain unto salvation. Indeed observe how He Who representeth the origin of creation, He Who is the Exponent of the verse, ‘I, in very truth, am God’, identified Himself as the Gate [Báb] for the advent of the promised Qá’im, a descendant of Muhammad, and in His first Book enjoined the observance of the laws of the Qur’án, so that the people might not be seized with perturbation by reason of a new Book and a new Revelation and might regard His Faith as similar to their own, perchance they would not turn away from the Truth and ignore the thing for which they had been called into being.

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 119)

Raise the cry: “Awake, awake, for lo! the Gate of God is open, and the morning Light is shedding its radiance upon all mankind!”

(Marzieh Gail, Dawn Over Mount Hira, p. 66)

“Verily I say, I am The Báb, The Gate of God…”

(Marzieh Gail, Dawn Over Mount Hira, p. 163)

His name, The Báb, meant the door or gate. His teaching, He said, was to open the door or the gate to a new age of unity in which men would recognize one God and worship in one religion -- the same religion which all of God’s prophets had taught from the beginning of time. It would be an age in which all men would live as brothers.

(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 16)

The Báb did everything in His power to assist His followers so that they would know where to turn after His own martyrdom. He clearly announced that He was the Promised One, but that He stood in relation to a succeeding and greater (Messenger) as did John the Baptist to the Christ. He was the Forerunner of One more mighty than Himself. He (The Báb) was to decrease; that Mighty One was to increase. And as John the Baptist had been the Herald or Gate of the Christ, so was (He) the Báb the Herald or Gate of Bahá’u’lláh.”

(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 163)

The Báb was the Gate by which Bahá’u’lláh, the Glory of God, entered into the hearts of men.

(William Sears, Thief in the Night)

GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON HIS SHOULDER

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel, the Baha’i World Center, Haifa, Israel:”The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isa 9:7)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that the prophecy of Isaiah, in chapter 9, verses 6, and 7, was fulfilled, when Christ returned: “in the glory of his Father” (Matt 16:27); in “the Glory of God” (Rev 21:23), (Ezek 43:1-2).

This is a prophecy that has often been regarded as referring to His Holiness Jesus Christ. However, a study of the Holy Scriptures reveals that:

1. Christ disclaimed bearing the government upon His shoulder, when He said:

“…My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36)

“Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? …Render…unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” (Matt 22:17-21)

2. Christ disclaimed being “The mighty God,” for even though that He said, that He, and the Father were one in Their Purpose, still, He considered Himself different from God:

“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18)

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:” (John 5:19)

“…for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)

“My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;” (John 10:29)

3. Christ disclaimed being “The everlasting Father,” when He called Himself “the Son of God”:

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?…And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt 16:13,16-17)

“Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:36)

4. Christ disclaimed being “The Prince of Peace,” when He said:

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matt 10:34)

“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but Rather division:” (Luke 12:51)

…It is clear and evident that the term “Heavenly Father” has been in use only among the Christian and Jewish peoples. Other nations, such as the Zoroastrians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists, do not use this phrase, and a great many of them have never heard of it. The origin of this term is in the Old Testament. From it, this term has entered into the New Testament which is born of the former Book. Therefore we must look at the testimony of the Old Testament concerning the “Heavenly Father”, and be prepared to accept its description as authentic and not to follow the imaginations of the learned.’

…Chapter 9, verse 6 of Isaiah,…is as follows:

‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’

(Verse 7): ‘Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’

…these words testified that a son would be born who would save the Children of Israel from abasement and misery, and would be described by the following attributes: first, a ‘Counsellor’ who counsels the people; second, ‘the mighty God’ which means the Supreme Manifestation of God and the greatest Primal Word; third, ‘the everlasting Father’, throgh whom all human beings from the beginning till the end have been created and born of His sovereignty and omnipotence; fourth, ‘the Prince of Peace’, through whose Revelation te foundation of the oneness and unity of the human race would be laid, and the ills of dscord and war which cause the destruction o the world and the deradation o the umrace would be eliminated. From this clear and explicit verse it is clear that the ‘Heavenly Father’ will appear in the form of the human temple, will be born of a mother and be known by the Greatest Name. It appears that in other passages of the Holy Books one may not be able to find a statement about the ‘Heavenly Father’ as explicit and evident as this one.

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 4, p. 267)

This is one of the prophecies[10] that has often been regarded as referring to Christ…but a little examination will show how much more fully and aptly it applies to Bahá’u’lláh. Christ has, indeed, been a light-bringer and Savior, but for nearly two thousand years since His advent the great majority of the people of the earth have continued to walk in darkness, and the children of Israel and many other of God’s children have continued to groan under the rod of the oppressor. On the other hand, during the first few decades of the Bahá’í era, the light of truth has illumined the East and the West, the gospel of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man has been carried into all countries of the world, the great military autocracies have been overthrown, and a consciousness of world unity has been born which brings hope of eventual relief to all the downtrodden and oppressed nationalities of the world. The great war which from 1914 to 1918 convulsed the world, with its unprecedented use of firearms, liquid fire, incendiary bombs and fuel for engines, has indeed been “with burning and fuel of fire.” Bahá’u’lláh, by dealing at great length in His Writings with questions of government and administration, and showing how they may best be solved, has “taken the government upon His shoulders” in a way that Christ never did. With regard to the titles “everlasting Father,” “Prince of Peace,” Bahá’u’lláh repeatedly refers to Himself as the manifestation of the Father, of whom Christ and Isaiah spoke, whereas Christ always referred to Himself as the Son…

(Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 215)

The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous... This is the day whereon the Rock (Peter) crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: `Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!...’

(Baha’u’llah: Proclamation of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 84-85)

MY SERVANTS SHALL DWELL THERE

The Seat of the Universal House of Justice on Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel: “and mine elect shall inherit it” (Isa 65:9)

“Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.” (Isaiah 62:11-12)

“And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.” (Isaiah 65:9)

“…and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.” (Ezekiel 48:35)

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that these prophecies, were fulfilled, upon the formation, and the establishment of the Bahá’i World’s Administrative Center, “The Universal House of Justice,” on Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.

The assignment of a world governing body, consisted of nine members, each elected from a Bahá’i world community, diligently, and collectively engaging in consultation upon all kinds of matters and isues, pertaining to the well being, peace, and prosperity of all the inhabitants of the earth:

“and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there,” “And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD,” “and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.”

The men of God’s House of Justice have been charged with the affairs of the people. They, in truth,are the Trustees of God among His servants and the daysprings of authority in His countries

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 26-27)

In the abundance of Our grace and loving-kindness We have revealed specially for the rulers and ministers of the world that which is conducive to safety and protection, tranquillity and peace; haply the children of men may rest secure from the evils of oppression. He, verily, is the Protector, the Helper, the Giver of victory. It is incumbent upon the men of God’s House of Justice to fix their gaze by day and by night upon that which hath shone forth from the Pen of Glory for the training of peoples, the upbuilding of nations, the protection of man and the safeguarding of his honour.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Page: 125)

We have enjoined upon all mankind to establish the Most Great Peace - the surest of all means for the protection of humanity. The sovereigns of the world should, with one accord, hold fast thereunto, for this is the supreme instrument that can ensure the security and welfare of all peoples and nations. They, verily, are the manifestations of the power of God and the daysprings of His authority. We beseech the Almighty that He may graciously assist them in that which is conducive to the well-being of their subjects.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Page: 126)

From the beginning of time the light of unity hath shed its divine radiance upon the world, and the greatest means for the promotion of that unity is for the peoples of the world to understand one another’s writing and speech. In former Epistles We have enjoined upon the Trustees of the House of Justice either to choose one language from among those now existing or to adopt a new one, and in like manner to select a common script, both of which should be taught in all the schools of the world. Thus will the earth be regarded as one country and one home. The most glorious fruit of the tree of knowledge is this exalted word: Of one tree are all ye the fruit, and of one bough the leaves. Let not man glory in this that he loveth his country, let him rather glory in this that he loveth his kind. Concerning this We have previously revealed that which is the means of the reconstruction of the world and the unity of nations. Blessed are they that attain thereunto. Blessed are they that act accordingly.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 127-128)

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matt 16:27)

O people of God! That which traineth the world is Justice, for it is upheld by two pillars, reward and punishment. These two pillars are the sources of life to the world. Inasmuch as for each day there is a new problem and for every problem an expedient solution, such affairs should be referred to the Ministers of the House of Justice that they may act according to the needs and requirements of the time. They that, for the sake of God, arise to serve His Cause, are the recipients of divine inspiration from the unseen Kingdom. It is incumbent upon all to be obedient unto them. All matters of State should be referred to the House of Justice, but acts of worship must be observed according to that which God hath revealed in His Book.

(Baha’u’llah: Tablets of Baha’u’llah, Page: 27)

WILL SET MY SANCTUARY IN THEIR MIDST

The “Sanctuary”of Bahá’u’lláh,”The Glory of God,” is a place of great beauty and joy in the vicinity of the garden of Bahji, Akka, in the midst of Israel.

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that, Ezekiel, concludes this prophecy with God’s Promise that the Shrine of the Messiah shall be eternally placed in Israel:

“I will make a covenant of peace with them...and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” (Ezekiel 37:26)

It is historically evident that no one knows where His Holiness Moses lies buried. There is yet much doubt and dispute about the resting-place and the tomb of His Holiness Jesus Christ. But, the exact spot and location of the Shrine, the resting-place, the “tabernacle,” or the “sanctuary” of Bahá’u’lláh is known. It has been placed in the “midst” of Israel “for evermore”.

Each year thousands upon thousands of people visit this Sacred spot. The Christian writer, Arthur Moore, says that it is a “place of international pilgrimage. On Sundays and holidays the citizens of Haifa of all faiths come for rest and recreation...” (Appreciations of the Bahá’í Faith, p. 60.)

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall blossom as the rose.” (Isaiah 35:1)

“The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.” (Isaiah 60:13)

These beautiful gardens and holy places which were raised up by the pen of Bahá’u’lláh lie on the north side of Mount Carmel, looking across the Bay of Haifa toward the white sands of ‘Akká. Here on the north side of the mountain is being built all the future institutions of the Bahá’í Faith at its world center.

(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 226)

Surrounding these beautiful Shrines and gardens are orange, lemon, and pomegranate trees. Beautiful coloured paths of red and white stone wind through multi-coloured flowers, graceful lawns, and dark green hedges. Wherever the feet of Bahá’u’lláh walked can be found these lovely gardens.

The Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh, the sanctuary where he is buried, is a place of great beauty and peace. It lies in the center of giant circle with many walks leading to it. This land was once an arid desert, but now it blossoms out in splendor. It is perfumed by rose, hyacinth, jasmine and geranium. Smooth white stones from the Sea of Galilee make a pathway directly to the door of his Shrine. Three hills carpeted in crimson shelter his sanctuary from wind and storm. These sacred Shrines are surrounded by cedars of Lebanon, fir trees, pine trees, cypress, box, and olive trees.

Isaiah had foretold: “...his rest shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10) In still another chapter, Isaiah prophesies: ‘’...the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”(60:1) And a few verses later he foresees the following: ‘The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.’ (Isaiah 60:13)

Bahá’u’lláh’s name means ‘the Glory of the Lord’. The place of his ‘rest’ had been made glorious, as well as the place where his feet had walked.

Isaiah also prophesies: ‘I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry lands springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.’ (Isaiah 41:18-20) [William Sears, Thief in the Night, p.161-163 ]

A glimpse of the beautiful garden of Bahji: “the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary” (Isa 60:13)

Baha’u’llah ordains His resting-place as the Qiblih[11] after His passing. The Most Holy Tomb is at Bahji, Akka. Abdu’l-Baha describes that Spot as the “luminous Shrine”, “the place around which circumambulate the Concourse on high”.

In a letter written on his behalf, Shoghi Effendi uses the analogy of the plant turning in the direction of the sun to explain the spiritual significance of turning towards the Qiblih: ...just as the plant stretches out to the sunlight - from which it receives life and growth - so we turn our hearts to the Manifestation of God, Baha’u’llah, when we pray; ... we turn our faces ... to where His dust lies on this earth as a symbol of the inner act.

(Baha’u’llah: Aqdas: Notes, Page: 169)

It was in that same mansion that the distinguished Orientalist, Prof. E. G. Browne of Cambridge, was granted his four successive interviews with Baha’u’llah, during the five days he was His guest at Bahji (April 15-20, 1890), interviews immortalized by the Exile’s historic declaration that “these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away and the `Most Great Peace’ shall come.” “The face of Him on Whom I gazed,” is the interviewer’s memorable testimony for posterity, “I can never forget, though I cannot describe it. Those piercing eyes seemed to read one’s very soul; power and authority sat on that ample brow.... No need to ask in whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before one who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain.” “Here,” the visitor himself has testified, “did I spend five most memorable days, during which I enjoyed unparalleled and unhoped-for opportunities of holding intercourse with those who are the fountain-heads of that mighty and wondrous spirit, which works with invisible but ever-increasing force for the transformation and quickening of a people who slumber in a sleep like unto death. It was, in truth, a strange and moving experience, but one whereof I despair of conveying any save the feeblest impression.”

(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Page: 194)

THE TABERNACLE OF GLORY

The Shrine of The Báb and the tall Cyprus trees, on Mount Carmel

“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God..” (Rev 21:3)

‘Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.’ (Micah 7:14)

My records showed that when Bahá’u’lláh was released from captivity in the final years of his life, he pitched his tent in a small wood in the midst of Carmel. Seated in that tiny clump of cypress trees on the side of that stony, barren mountain, Bahá’u’lláh pointed out the spot where the shrine of the Báb, his herald, should be erected[12]. From there he poured out his teachings to his followers. He fed the people and his flock with his words of love and kindness:

‘The world is but one country, and mankind its citizens...Let not a man glory in this that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind.’

[The Promised Day is Come, Shoghi Effendi, 1941, p. 118.]

There in the midst of Carmel, Bahá’u’lláh linked his own mission with that of Jesus. He addressed the following words to that holy mountain where the feet of Christ had walked:

‘Render thanks unto Thy Lord, O Carmel. The fire of thy separation from Me was fast consuming thee, when the ocean of My presence surged before thy face, cheering thine eyes and those of all creation...He, verily, loveth the spot which hath been made the seat of His throne, which His footsteps have trodden, which hath been honoured by His presence, from which He raised His call, and upon which He shed His tears.’

[Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, Section xi.]

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Page 125]

Furthermore, the laying of the foundation-stone of the Báb‘s Mausoleum, the Martyr-Herald of Bahá’u’lláh, on Mt. Carmel, by Abdu’l- Bahá, Who has been designated by Bahá’u’lláh Himself as “the Most Mighty Branch,” in His Will and Testament, is, the fulfillment of the great Prophecy of Zechariah, in chapter 6, verse 12:

“Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:”

In Isaiah[13], we read, “...Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down; Sharon is like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.”

Isaiah also says, “...The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellence of our God.”[14] It is interesting to compare this last verse with its Arabic version which, when translated literally, into English, reads as follows: “God will render to Lebanon its glory: the Baha of Carmel and Sharon shall be manifested, and they shall see the glory of God, the Baha of our Lord.”[15] When Jesus spoke to the Jews who were familiar with these terms, He told them that He would return “in the glory of the Father.”[16]

(Abu’l-Qasim Faizi, An Explanation of the Greatest Name, p. 5)

AND THE LAMB IS THE LIGHT THEREOF

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:” (Rev 21:23)

“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Rev 21:22-23)

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:2)

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” (Rev 14:1)

“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 40:5)

“And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.” (Ezekiel 20:48)

The Bahá’i Faith has revealed that, in the Holy Texts of our past, such terms as the “lamb of God,” bear the inner significance of symbolizing the Ultimate Sacrifice. Thus, it is that the Scripture in John, chapter 1, verse 29, portrays His Holiness Jesus Christ as “the Lamb of God,” Who took away “the sin of the world”.

However, this portrayal of the sacrificial lamb continues on in the Book of Revelation, when, “the son of man,” or “Christ,” is once again to become the lamb of God, suffering the ultimate sacrifice, a martyrdom. That is, when He came in “the glory of his Father” (Matt 16:27), “the glory of the LORD” (Isaiah 40:5), and ‘the glory of God’: “for the glory of God (Baha’u’llah) did lighten it, and the Lamb (The Báb) is the light thereof.” (Rev 21:23)

This ultimate sacrifice took place in the city of Tabriz, in Persia (modern Iran), when the glorious crown of martyrdom was placed upon the head of The Báb.

In a short period of time, not only The Báb, as the Herald and Forerunner of the Supreme Manifestation of God, but also tens of thousands of His followers suffered martyrdom in the path of the “Great Being,” awaited by the followers of all Faiths. The Báb spoke of this “Great Being” as “Him Whom God shall make manifest”; the Holy Bible refers to Him as Christ come “in the Glory of His Father,” and His name is “The Glory of God,” or in the tongue of His native land,

Bahá’u’lláh. Thus, The Báb suffered martyrdom in the path of Bahá’u’lláh, just as John the Baptist suffered martyrdom in the path of Christ.

Say: In this Day the City of God hath appeared and is seen in full adornment. This is the City wherein the God of All is become manifest. Reflect upon the words of John, wherein he hath prophesied of the Holy City: “And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it. And the City hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the Glory of God (Bahá’u’lláh) did lighten it”[17] and so on.

Take the rod of resignation in the name of God and guide the erring people, with entire severance, to the great City of God, that peradventure the wanderers may attain to the real native land and the blind ones may receive discerning sight. Verily, He is the Powerful to do that which He willeth. All things are in the grasp of His Power. Verily, He is the Mighty! 

(Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 117)

The belief that one day man will attain the presence of his God is based on the Holy Scriptures of the past. In the Qur’án there are many references to this theme. In fact this is the clearest and most important promise given by the Prophet of Islam. The great Bahá’í scholar, Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, states that any man of insight who has a true knowledge of the Qur’án will bear witness that at least one-third of that Book deals with the advent of the great Day of God.

The following verses are only a few examples among many: ‘As for those who believe not in the signs of God, or that they shall ever meet Him, these of my mercy shall despair, and for them doth a grievous chastisement await’;[18] and ‘let him then who hopeth to attain the presence of His Lord work a righteous work’;[19] and again ‘They who bear in mind that they shall attain unto the presence of their Lord, and that unto Him shall they return’;[20] and yet again ‘He ordereth all things. He maketh His signs clear, that ye may have firm faith in attaining the presence of your Lord.’[21]

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 2, p. 16)

Further search uncovered additional evidence that the title ‘Glory of the Lord’ or ‘Glory of God’ would be the new name by which the Messiah could be identified in the latter days…Christ Himself links the hour of His return with this same wondrous Figure ‘the Glory of the Lord’ or the ‘Glory of God’. He promises that in the last days He will appear in this very likeness of God, and in His glory: ‘For the Son of man shall come in the Glory of his Father.’[22]

This vision of the ‘Glory of God’ promised by Christ and seen by St. John an Isaiah, is identical with the vision whch came to Ezekiel. e saw the’Gloy God’ on more than one occasion, and associated it with a Promised One who would come into His House in a latter day. His coming, Ezekiel said, was:

‘…the appearance of…the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face…’[23]

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 40)

This is the Day whereon He Who is the Revealer of the names of God hath stepped out of the Tabernacle of glory, and proclaimed unto all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth: “Put away the cups of Paradise and all the life-giving waters they contain, for lo, the people of Baha have entered the blissful abode of the Divine Presence, and quaffed the wine of reunion, from the chalice of the beauty of their Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High.”

Forget the world of creation, O Pen, and turn thou towards the face of thy Lord, the Lord of all names. Adorn, then, the world with the ornament of the favors of thy Lord, the King of everlasting days. For We perceive the fragrance of the Day whereon He Who is the Desire of all nations hath shed upon the kingdoms of the unseen and of the seen the splendor of the light of His most excellent names, and enveloped them with the radiance of the luminaries of His most gracious favors - favors which none can reckon except Him, Who is the omnipotent Protector of the entire creation.

(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Pages: 32-33)

OUR GOD SHALL COME

A magnificent sunset at the Shrine of The Báb, on Mount Carmel: “Our God shall come,and shall not keep silence” (Ps 50:3)

“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.” (Psalms 50:2-4)

Indeed such a consummation, He assures us, had been actually prophesied “through the tongue of the Prophets two or three thousand years before.” God, “faithful to His promise,” had, “to some of the Prophets” “revealed and given the good news that the ‘Lord of Hosts should be manifested in the Holy Land.’” Isaiah had, in this connection, announced in his Book: “Get thee up into the high mountain, O Zion that bringest good tidings; lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings. Lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah: ‘Behold your God! Behold the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him.’”[24] David, in his Psalms, had predicted: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.”[25] “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.”[26] Amos had, likewise, foretold His coming: “The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.”[27]

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 183)

Describing the pre-eminent nature of His Revelation, Bahá’u’lláh writes:

Say: This is an Announcement whereat the hearts of the Prophets and Messengers have rejoiced. This is the One Whom the heart of the world remembereth and is promised in the Books of God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. The hands of the Messengers were, in their desire to meet Me, upraised towards God, the Mighty, the Glorified... Some lamented in their separation from Me, others endured hardships in My path, and still others laid down their lives for the sake of My Beauty, could ye but know it. Say: I, verily, have not sought to extol Mine Own Self, but rather God Himself were ye to judge fairly. Naught can be seen in Me except God and His Cause, could ye but perceive it. I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned…

(Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha’u’llah v 3, p. 119)

Bahá’u’lláh, I learned, wrote over one hundred volumes, addressing many letters to the leaders of the world’s governments and religions. Was this not the promise in the Psalms: ‘Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.’ (Psalms 50:2-3)

The world administrative centre of Bahá’u’lláh’s Faith is on the north side of Mount Carmel, one of the most beautiful situations and views in all of Israel. Thus the new Zion fulfilled the prophecy of the Psalms for the last days: ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. ‘Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.’ (Psalms 48:1-2)

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part iii, Sect. 9, p 151]

HE SHALL COME FROM ASSYRIA

Map of the stages in Bahá’u’lláh’s exiles, from Tehran to ‘Akká (January12, 1853 – August 31,1868)

The manner of His coming, and each step along His path to Israel, was set down in detail by Micah in the same chapter: “In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.”[28]

The exact number of years during which the Mission of the promised Messiah would last are also foretold by Micah: “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew Him marvelous things.”[29] These startling and prophetic words were all fulfilled by Bahá’u’lláh in the following manner:

1. He was born in Persia, once part of the ancient kingdom of Assyria; thus He came from Assyria.

1. He was driven in exile to Baghdad, modern metropolis of Mesopotamia. It is near the site of the ancient capital, Babylon, which was queen of the region in Biblical times.

1. Bahá’u’lláh withdrew out of the city into the fields and mountains, as Christ had gone into the desert. After a period of prayer and meditation, He returned to Baghdad (successor of Babylon) to make His declaration that He was the promised Redeemer of mankind.

1. He came to the Holy Land and dwelt in the midst of Carmel;[30] from there His flock was fed by the rod of His teachings, for Mount Carmel is the world center of His Faith, and the site of many of its holy places.

1. Bahá’u’lláh came from Assyria to Babylon. He was then marched over land as a prisoner, and finally shipped by sea to the fortified city of Constantinople. He was later exiled further, and came by sea to the fortified city of ‘Akká. For two years He was confined in a cell in the fortress prison. After nine years within the prison walls of ‘Akká, Bahá’u’lláh was at last permitted to leave the shadow of the fortress and go out to the river which flowed around an island in the garden of Ridvan. As a prisoner, He was shipped across the Black Sea to Constantinople, and via the Mediterranean Sea to Haifa and ‘Akká. Bahá’u’lláh withdrew into the mountain of Sar Galu outside of Baghdad to pray before announcing His Mission, and in the last years of His life, Hepitched His tent on the side of Mount Carmel, called by Isaiah the “mountain of God.”

1. From the time Bahá’u’lláh’s Mission began, until the day of His death in The Holy Land, exactly forty years elapsed, which was precisely “according to the days of thy [the Jews] coming out of the land of Egypt” ; during these forty years Bahá’u’lláh poured out His teaching as Almighty God “shewed Him marvelous things.” Bahá’u’lláh had come to Israel “by way of the sea” as prophesied by Isaiah. He was sent as a prisoner to the great stone fortress in the valley of Achor, now called ‘Akká, as foretold by the Book of Hosea: “And I will give her vineyard from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.”[31]

(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 225)

Millennial Bible scholars were well aware of this special promise for Assyria and Elam and Persia, but they could not understand it. Reverend H. Bonar, speaking as one of fourteen Christian clergymen at a special conference on the Second Coming of Christ called Our God Shall Come, declared: ‘There is another nation reserved for blessing and restoration. Elam.[32] I take these as the overlooked specimens of a certain class of God’s doings in the latter days, when the whole earth is given to Christ for His inheritance.’ Bonar accepts these prophecies concerning Assyria, Elam and Persia, although, as he says, ‘I cannot venture on giving any reason why Elam, or Assyria, should be so especially blessed in the latter days...’ [‘Our God Shall Come’, Addresses on the Second Coming of the Lord, Horatius Bonar, 1878.]

(William Sears, Thief in the Night)

All glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on high, were heard calling aloud: “Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.”

(Baha’u’llah: Gleanings, Page: 14)

When the stream of words reached this stage, the sweet savours of true knowledge were shed abroad and the day-star of divine unity shone forth above the horizon of His holy utterance. Blessed is he whom His Call hath attracted to the summit of glory, who hath drawn nigh to the ultimate Purpose, and who hath recognized through the shrill voice of My Pen of Glory that which the Lord of this world and of the next hath willed. Whoso faileth to quaff the choice wine which We have unsealed through the potency of Our Name, the All-Compelling, shall be unable to discern the splendours of the light of divine unity or to grasp the essential purpose underlying the Scriptures of God, the Lord of heaven and earth, the sovereign Ruler of this world and of the world to come. Such a man shall be accounted among the faithless in the Book of God, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

(Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 105)

FOR OUT OF PRISON HE COMETH TO REIGN

The Prison of ‘Akká in the Holy Land: “and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth” (Hosea 2:15)

In the Book of Hosea it was promised that:

‘I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth...’ (Hosea 2:15)

When will this come to pass? It seemed clear to me that it would be in the last days when Israel would be forgiven for having turned away from the Messiah in His first coming, and would have embraced His truth in the time of His second coming.

Hosea says: ‘I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy: and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.’ (Hosea 2:23)

Hosea foretells that this will take place at the time of the end. First the valley of Achor will become a place of hope and refuge. Then Israel will return from disbelief, and seek their Beloved (David) from the stem of Jesse (seed of Abraham).

‘Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.’ (Hosea 3:5)

I had already learned that the ‘latter days’ and ‘the time of the end’ were synonymous. I had also learned that they began in 1844, the year of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh’s Faith, and the year of the beginning of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land.

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part 3, p. 144]

I found in my research, that no one knows for certain where the valley of Achor is. The Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible suggests that it might lie between Hyrcania and Gilgal in the wilderness of Judah west of the Dead Sea. George Adams Smith’s Historical Atlas of the Holy Land for the University of Aberdeen makes the guess that it lies along what is now the river W. el Qelt near to Jericho and Gilgal on its way to the Jordan above the Dead Sea. However, both mark the spot with a ‘?’. Ever since the day that Achan and his family had been stoned and buried in the land of Achor, it had been a place unwanted and forsaken. Their sin of disobedience to the law of God had brought this punishment upon them.

Since Achor means trouble, and the valley of Achor the valley of trouble, there seemed little doubt that this was another symbol showing that when the Jews turned to the Messiah in the last days, their suffering and troubles would be ended. Such a day is foreshadowed by Joshua concerning the valley of Achor, when he said: ‘The Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger.’ (Joshua 7:24-26)

In the last days, Bahá’u’lláh was sent, a prisoner and an exile, to the fortress of ‘Akká, the old city of Acco, the ancient Ptolemais, the St. Jean d’Acre of the Crusaders.

It has been described as ‘the most detestable in climate’ and ‘the foulest in water’. Here, in what was once the land of Canaan, Bahá’u’lláh suffered cruel imprisonment and persecution at the hands of Turkish authorities. It was indeed a valley of trouble. I saw the words which Bahá’u’lláh himself wrote about this valley:

‘Know thou, that upon Our arrival at this Spot, We chose to designate it as the “Most Great Prison”. Though previously subjected in another land (Persia) to chains and fetters, We yet refused to call it by that name...Ponder thereon, O ye endued with understanding!’ (God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 185)

On another occasion Bahá’u’lláh wrote of the prison of ‘Akká:

‘None knoweth what befell Us, except God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing!’ (God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 187)

In this valley of trouble (Achor), Bahá’u’lláh declared in his writings that his ‘sufferings have now reached their culmination.’ (That ‘Akká was intended by Hosea is attested by Shoghi Effendi in God Passes By, p. 184.)

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part 3, p. 145-146]

“He (God) shall prolong his days...” (Isaiah 53:10)

Bahá’u’lláh’s days were prolonged. He was born in 1817 and passed away in the Holy Land in 1892.

In the last years of his life, Bahá’u’lláh was released from his prison cell. He came out of the prison-city of ‘Akká and walked on the sides of Mount Carmel. His followers came from afar to be with him, and to surround him with their love, fulfilling the words of the prayer of David spoken within a cave:

“Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.” (Psalms 142:7)

These events in the valley of ‘Akká with its strong fortress prison had been foreshadowed in Ecclesiastes (4:14): “For out of prison he cometh to reign...”

Bahá’u’lláh, I had found, had written that ‘whatsoever hath been announced in the Books hath been revealed and made clear.’ He declared that the Ancient Beauty ‘ruleth upon the throne of David’ and that the ‘Most Great Law is come.’ [God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 230.]

Alongside my record of the prophecies which the Messiah would have to fulfil concerning the ‘plain of Sharon’, the ‘valley of Achor’, and the sacred mountain ‘Carmel’, I wrote: Fulfilled.

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part iii, Sect. 10, pp. 158-159.]

The Bahá’í House of Worship to be built upon Mount Carmel, and which will be open to the people of all nations and faiths, will look down upon both the plain of Sharon and the valley of ‘Akká (Achor), as foreshadowed by the prophet Isaiah: “Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people who have sought me.” (Isaiah 65:10)Bahá’u’lláh had been sent to the prison of ‘Akká because it was believed by the religious leaders of Persia and Turkey that He would die there and be forgotten. The atmosphere was so foul that proverb said of the spot: “If a bird flies over ‘Akká, it dies!” His enemies did not realize that by driving Him there in exile, they were fulfilling the prophecies of sacred Scripture.

(William Sears, Release the Sun, p. 225)

O handmaid of God! It is recorded in the Torah: And I will give you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. This valley of Achor is the city of ‘Akká, and whoso hath interpreted this otherwise is of those who know not.

(Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 161)

‘Akká, itself, flanked by the “glory of Lebanon,” and lying in full view of the “splendor of Carmel,” at the foot of the hills which enclose the home of Jesus Christ Himself, had been described by David as “the Strong City,” designated by Hosea as “a door of hope,” and alluded to by Ezekiel as “the gate that looketh towards the East,” whereunto “the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East,” His voice “like a noise of many waters.” To it the Arabian Prophet had referred as “a city in Syria to which God hath shown His special mercy,” situated “betwixt two mountains ... in the middle of a meadow,” “by the shore of the sea ... suspended beneath the Throne,” “white, whose whiteness is pleasing unto God.” “Blessed the man,” He, moreover, as confirmed by Bahá’u’lláh, had declared, “that hath visited ‘Akká, and blessed he that hath visited the visitor of ‘Akká.” Furthermore, “He that raiseth therein the call to prayer, his voice will be lifted up unto Paradise.” And again: “The poor of ‘Akká are the kings of Paradise and the princes thereof. A month in ‘Akká is better than a thousand years elsewhere.” Moreover, in a remarkable tradition, which is contained in Shaykh Ibnu’l-’Arabi’s work, entitled “Futuhat-i-Makkiyyih,” and which is recognized as an authentic utterance of Muhammad, and is quoted by Mirza Abu’l-Fadl in his “Fara’id,” this significant prediction has been made: “All of them (the companions of the Qa’im) shall be slain except One Who shall reach the plain of ‘Akká, the Banquet-Hall of God.”

(Shoghi Efendi: God Passe By, Page: 184)

Praised be Thou, O my God! Thou seest me shut up in this Prison, and art well aware that I have entered it solely for Thy sake and for the sake of the glorification of Thy word and the proclamation of Thy Cause. I cry out to Thee, this very moment, O Thou Who art the Lord of all worlds, beseeching Thee, by Thine undoubted Name, to attract the hearts of Thy servants unto the Day-Spring of Thy most excellent titles and the Dawning-Place of Thy most resplendent signs.

(Baha’u’llah: Prayers and Meditations, Page: 111)

Meditate on the world and the state of its people. He, for Whose sake the world was called into being, hath been imprisoned in the most desolate of cities (‘Akká), by reason of that which the hands of the wayward have wrought. From the horizon of His prison-city He summoneth mankind unto the Dayspring of God, the Exalted, the Great. Exultest thou over the treasures thou dost possess, knowing they shall perish? Rejoicest thou in that thou rulest a span of earth, when the whole world, in the estimation of the people of Baha, is worth as much as the black in the eye of a dead ant? Abandon it unto such as have set their affections upon it, and turn thou unto Him Who is the Desire of the world. Whither are gone the proud and their palaces? Gaze thou into their tombs, that thou mayest profit by this example, inasmuch as We made it a lesson unto every beholder. Were the breezes of Revelation to seize thee, thou wouldst flee the world, and turn untothe Kingdom, and wouldst expend all thou possessest, that thou mayest draw nigh unto this sublime Vision.

(Baha’u’llah: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, Page: 56)

The great stone fortress in the valley of Achor on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, now called ‘Akká, the Prison City, as foretold by the Book of Hosea (2:15).

THE HOLY CITY, NEW JERUSALEM

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven…”(Rev 21:2)

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Rev 21:1-3)

“One day the Earth will be changed to a different Earth, and so will be the Heavens, and (men) will be marshalled forth, before Allah, the One, the Irresistible;” (Qur’án 14:48)

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Cor 15:52)

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” (2 Peter 3:10)

Unique and stupendous as was this Proclamation, it proved to be but a prelude to a still mightier revelation of the creative power of its Author, and to what may well rank as the most signal act of His ministry - the promulgation of the Kitab-i-Aqdas.

Alluded to in the Kitab-i-Iqan, the principal repository of that Law which the Prophet Isaiah had anticipated, and which the writer of the Apocalypse had described as the “new heaven” and the “new earth”, as “the Tabernacle of God”, as the “Holy City”, as the “Bride”, the “New Jerusalem coming down from God”, this “Most Holy Book”, whose provisions must remain inviolate for no less than a thousand years[33], and whose system will embrace the entire planet, may well be regarded as the brightest emanation of the mind of Baha’u’llah, as the Mother Book of His Dispensation, and the Charter of His New World Order.

(Bahá’u’lláh: Aqdas: Other Sections, Page: 12)

O thou seeker after the Kingdom! Every divine Manifestation is the very life of the world, and the skilled physician of each ailing soul. The world of man is sick, and that competent Physician knoweth the cure, arising as He doth with teachings, counsels and admonishments that are the remedy for every pain, the healing balm to every wound. It is certain that the wise physician can diagnose his patient’s needs at any season, and apply the cure. Wherefore, relate thou the Teachings of the Abha Beauty to the urgent needs of this present day, and thou wilt see that they provide an instant remedy for the ailing body of the world. Indeed, they are the elixir that bringeth eternal health.

The treatment ordered by wise physicians of the past, and by those that follow after, is not one and the same, rather doth it depend on what aileth the patient; and although the remedy may change, the aim is always to bring the patient back to health. In the dispensations gone before, the feeble body of the world could not withstand a rigorous or powerful cure. For this reason did Christ say: `I have yet many things to say unto you, matters needing to be told, but ye cannot bear to hear them now. Howbeit when that Comforting Spirit, Whom the Father will send, shall come, He will make plain unto you the truth.’[34]

Therefore, in this age of splendours, teachings once limited to the few are made available to all, that the mercy of the Lord may embrace both east and west, that the oneness of the world of humanity may appear in its full beauty, and that the dazzling rays of reality may flood the realm of the mind with light.

The descent of the New Jerusalem denoteth a heavenly Law, that Law which is the guarantor of human happiness and the effulgence of the world of God.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Selections ... `Abdu’l-Baha, Page: 59)

O ye beloved of God! O ye children of His Kingdom! Verily, verily, the new heaven and the new earth are come. The holy City, new Jerusalem, hath come down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven, veiled, beauteous, and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on earth. The angelic company of the Celestial Concourse hath joined in a call that hath run throughout the universe, all loudly and mightily acclaiming: `This is the City of God and His abode, wherein shall dwell the pure and holy among His servants. He shall live with them, for they are His people and He is their Lord.’

He hath wiped away their tears, kindled their light, rejoiced their hearts and enraptured their souls. Death shall no more overtake them neither shall sorrow, weeping or tribulation afflict them. The Lord God Omnipotent hath been enthroned in His Kingdom and hath made all things new. This is the truth and what truth can be greater than that announced by the Revelation of St. John the Divine?

He is Alpha and Omega. He is the One that will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life and bestow upon the sick the remedy of true salvation. He whom such grace aideth is verily he that receiveth the most glorious heritage from the Prophets of God and His holy ones. The Lord will be his God, and he His dearly-beloved son. Rejoice, then, O ye beloved of the Lord and His chosen ones, and ye the children of God and His people, raise your voices to laud and magnify the Lord, the Most High; for His light hath beamed forth, His signs have appeared and the billows of His rising ocean have scattered on every shore many a precious pearl.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Selections ... `Abdu’l-Baha, Pages: 12-13)

We are told in the Holy Scripture that the New Jerusalem shall appear on earth. Now it is evident that this celestial city is not built of material stones and mortar, but that it is a city not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens.

This is a prophetic symbol, meaning the coming again of the Divine Teaching to enlighten the hearts of men. It is long since this Holy Guidance has governed the lives of humanity. But now, at last, the Holy City of the New Jerusalem has come again to the world, it has appeared anew under an Eastern sky; from the horizon of Persia has its effulgence arisen to be a light to lighten the whole world. We see in these days the fulfilment of the Divine Prophecy. Jerusalem had disappeared. The heavenly city was destroyed, now it is rebuilt; it was razed to the ground, but now its walls and pinnacles have been restored, and are towering aloft in their renewed and glorious beauty.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Paris Talks*, Page: 84)

…what is most frequently meant by the Holy City, the Jerusalem of God, which is mentioned in the Holy Book, is the Law of God. It is compared sometimes to a bride, and sometimes to Jerusalem, and again to the new heaven and earth. So in chapter 21, verses 1, 2 and 3 of the Revelation of St. John, it is said: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

Notice how clear and evident it is that the first heaven and earth signify the former Law. For it is said that the first heaven and earth have passed away and there is no more sea - that is to say, that the earth is the place of judgment, and on this earth of judgment there is no sea, meaning that the teachings and the Law of God will entirely spread over the earth, and all men will enter the Cause of God, and the earth will be completely inhabited by believers; therefore, there will be no more sea, for the dwelling place and abode of man is the dry land. In other words, at that epoch the field of that Law will become the pleasure-ground of man. Such earth is solid; the feet do not slip upon it.

The Law of God is also described as the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. It is evident that the New Jerusalem which descends from heaven is not a city of stone, mortar, bricks, earth and wood. It is the Law of God which descends from heaven and is called new, for it is clear that the Jerusalem which is of stone and earth does not descend from heaven, and that it is not renewed; but that which is renewed is the Law of God.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages: 67-68)

To His Day[35] Jesus Christ Himself had referred as “the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory.”[36] To the hour of His advent St. Paul had alluded as the hour of the “last trump,” the “trump of God,”[37] whilst St. Peter had spoken of it as the “Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.”[38] His Day he, furthermore, had described as “the times of refreshing,” “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy Prophets since theworld began.”

(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, Page: 96)

THE MOST MIGHTY BRANCH

“Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place…and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (Zechariah 6:12-13)

In the Suriy-i-Ghusn (Tablet of the Branch) the following verses have been recorded:

“There hath branched from the Sadratu’l-Muntaha[39] this sacred and glorious Being, this Branch of Holiness; well is it with him that hath sought His shelter and abideth beneath His shadow. Verily the Limb of the Law of God hath sprung forth from this Root which God hath firmly implanted in the Ground of His Will, and Whose Branch hath been so uplifted as to encompass the whole of creation. Magnified be He, therefore, for this sublime, this blessed, this mighty, this exalted Handiwork!... A Word hath, as a token of Our grace, gone forth from the Most Great Tablet - a Word which God hath adorned with the ornament of His own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that is therein, and a sign of His greatness and power among its people ...Render thanks unto God, O people, for His appearance; for verily He is the most great Favor unto you, the most perfect bounty upon you; and through Him every mouldering bone is quickened. Whoso turneth towards Him hath turned towards God, and whoso turneth away from Him hath turned away from My beauty, hath repudiated My Proof, and transgressed against Me. He is the Trust of God amongst you, His charge within you, His manifestation unto you and His appearance among His favored servants... We have sent Him[40] down in the form of a human temple. Blest and sanctified be God Who createth whatsoever He willeth through His inviolable, His infallible decree. They who deprive themselves of the shadow of the Branch, are lost in the wilderness of error, are consumed by the heat of worldly desires, and are of those who will assuredly perish.”

(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 134-135)

He is, and should for all time be regarded, first and foremost, as the Center and Pivot of Baha’u’llah’s peerless and all-enfolding Covenant, His most exalted handiwork, the stainless Mirror of His light, the perfect Exemplar of His teachings, the unerring Interpreter of His Word, the embodiment of every Baha’i ideal, the incarnation of every Baha’i virtue, the Most Mighty Branch sprung from the Ancient Root, the Limb of the Law of God, the Being “round Whom all names revolve,” the Mainspring of the Onenss of Humanity, the Ensign of the Most Great Peace, the Moon of the Central Orb of this most holy Dispensation - styles and titles that are implicit and find their truest, their highest and fairest expression in the magic name Abdu’l-Baha. He is, above nd beyond these appellations, the “Mystery of God” - an expression by which Baha’u’llah Himself has chosen to designate Him, ad which, while it does not by any means justify us to assign toHim the station of Prophethood,indicates how i the pesonoAbdu’l-Baha the incompatible characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have been blended and are completely harmonized.

(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Page: 134)

Abdu’l-Baha’s own statements, in confirmation of this warning, are no less emphatic and binding:

“This is,” He declares, “my firm, my unshakable conviction, the essence of my unconcealed and explicit belief - a conviction and belief which the denizens of the Abha Kingdom fully share: The Blessed Beauty[41] is the Sun of Truth, and His light the light of truth. The Báb is likewise the Sun of Truth, and His light the light of truth... My station is the station of servitude - a servitude which is complete, pure and real, firmly established, enduring, obvious, explicitly revealed and subject to no interpretation whatever... I am the Interpreter of the Word of God; such is my interpretation.”

(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Page: 133)

Though moving in a sphere of His own and holding a rank radically different from that of the Author and the Forerunner of the Baha’i Revelation[42], He, by virtue of the station ordained for Him through the Covenant of Baha’u’llah, forms together with them what may be termed the Three Central Figures of a Faith that stands unapproached in the world’s spiritual history. He towers, in conjunction with them, above the destinies of this infant Faith of God from a level to which no individual or body ministering to its needs after Him, and for no less a period than a full thousand years, can ever hope to rise.

(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Pages: 131-132)

“I affirm,” is Abdu’l-Baha’s own written comment on the Tablet of the Branch, “that the true meaning, the real significance, the innermost secret of these verses, of these very words, is my own servitude to the sacred Threshold of the Abha Beauty[43], my complete self-effacement, my utter nothingness before Him. This is my resplendent crown, my most precious adorning. On this I pride myself in the kingdom of earth and heaven. Therein I glory among the company of the well-favored!” “No one is permitted,” He warns us in the passage which immediately follows, “to give these verses any other interpretation.” “I am,” He, in this same connection, affirms, “according to the explicit texts of the Kitab-i-Aqdas [44] and the Kitab-i-’Ahd[45] the manifest Interpreter of the Word of God... Whoso deviates from my interpretation is a victim of his own fancy.”

(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha’u’llah, Page: 138)

MY COVENANT SHALL STAND FAST

A colorful view of the “Sanctuary”of Bahá’u’lláh,”The Glory of God,” at Bahji, ‘Akká, the Holy Land: “my first-born… my covenant shall stand fast with him.” (Ps 89:27-28)

“Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them…and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” (Ezekiel 37:26)

‘...he shall see his seed...’ (Isaiah 53:10)

Bahá’u’lláh did see his ‘seed’. He wrote a special document called the Book of the Covenant, in which he appointed his eldest son to be the Centre of his faith after his own passing. This very event was also foretold in the prophecies of the Psalms which proclaim: “Also I will make him my first-born higher than the kings of the earth...and my covenant shall stand fast with him.’ (Psalms 89:27-28)

The ‘first-born’ son of Bahá’u’lláh, was named ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, which means ‘the servant of Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’u’lláh appointed him as his own successor in his Will and Testament. He called ‘Abdu’l-Bahá the Centre of his Covenant.

Professor E. G. Browne said of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: ‘Seldom have I seen one whose appearance impressed me more...One more eloquent of speech, more ready of argument, more apt of illustration, more intimately acquainted with the sacred books of the Jews, the Christians and Mohammadans, could, I should think, scarcely be found...These qualities, combined with a bearing at once majestic and genial, made me cease to wonder at the influence and esteem which he enjoyed even beyond the circle of his father’s followers. About the greatness of this man and his power, no one who had seen him could entertain a doubt.’ [A Traveller’s Narrative, Browne, p. xxxvi.]

The well-known Bible scholar of Oxford University, the Reverend Dr. T. K. Cheyne, arranged a meeting for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá at Manchester College, Oxford.Dr.Cheyne himself invited the public in an advertisement in the Oxford newspaper. In the Preface of his book The Reconciliation of Races and Religions, Cheyne mentions the fact that the Hungarian sage Vambery was a believer in Bahá’u’lláh. Of his own belief, Cheyne says, ‘I should express my own adhesion to the Bahá’í leader in more glowing terms.’ Cheyne is mentioned on the title page of his book as a member of ‘the Bahá’í Community’.

This is the same Christian clergyman and Bible scholar who wrote: ‘If there has been any prophet in recent times, it is to Bahá’u’lláh that we must go. Character is the final judge. Bahá’u’lláh was a man of the highest class -- that of prophets.’

[Appreciations of the Bahá’í Faith, p. 18.]

[William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part iii, Sect. 10, pp.157-158.]

The Will of the divine Testator is this: It is incumbent upon the Aghsan (1), the Afnan (2) and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book: `When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.’ The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch [Abdu’l- Bahá]. Thus have We graciously revealed unto you our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful.

(Bahá’u’lláh: Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Page: 221)

“Aghsan” (plural of Ghusn) is the Arabic word for “Branches”. This term is used by Baha’u’llah to designate His male descendants. It has particular implications not only for the disposition of endowments but also for the succession of authority following the passing of Baha’u’llah (see note 145) and of Abdu’l-Bahá. Bahá’u’lláh, in the Book of His Covenant, appointed Abdu’l-Baha, His eldest son, as the Centre of His Covenant and the Head of the Faith. Abdu’l-Bahá, in His Will and Testament, appointed Shoghi Effendi, His eldest grandson, as the Guardian and Head of the Faith.

(Bahá’u’lláh: Aqdas: Notes, Pages: 196-197)

2. The descendants of The Báb.

O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghsan (Branches), the Afnan (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abha Beauty[46] to turn unto Shoghi Effendi[47] - the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, - as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghsan, the Afnan, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the Interpreter of the Word of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendents.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Will and Testament, Page: 11)

Unto the Most Holy Book[48] every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 19)

O ye the faithful loved ones of Abdu’l-Baha! It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote-Trees, that no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree. For he is, after Abdu’l-Baha, the Guardian of the Cause of God, the Afnan, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause and the beloved of the Lord must obey him and turn unto him. He that obeyeth him not, hath not obeyed God; he that turneth away from him, hath turned away from God and he that denieth him, hath denied the True One.

(`Abdu’l-Baha: Will and Testament, Page: 25)

They (Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá) have also, in unequivocal and emphatic language, appointed those twin institutions of the House of Justice and of the Guardianship as their chosen Successors, destined to apply the principles, promulgate the laws, protect the institutions, adapt loyally and intelligently the Faith to the requirements of progressive society, and consummate the incorruptible inheritance which the Founders of the Faith have bequeathed to the world.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 19-20)

The Passing of Shoghi Effendi - After prayerful and careful study of the Holy Texts bearing upon the question of the appointment of the successor to Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Cause of God, and after prolonged consultation which included consideration of the view of the Hands of the Cause of God residing in the Holy Land, the Universal House of Justice finds that there is no way to appoint or to legislate to make it possible to appoint a second Guardian to succeed Shoghi Effendi.

(The Universal House of Justice, Wellspring of Guidance, p. 11)

“Future Guardians are clearly envisaged and referred to in the Writings, but there is nowhere any promise or guarantee that the line of Guardians would endure forever; on the contrary there are clear indications that the line could be broken. Yet, in spite of this, there is repeated insistence in the Writings on the indestructability of the Covenant and the immutability of God’s Purpose for this Day.

“One of the most striking passages which envisage the possibility of such a break in the line of the Guardians is in the Kitab-i-Aqdas itself:

`The endowments dedicated to charity revert to God, the Revealer of Signs. No one has the right to lay hold on them without leave from the Dawning-Place of Revelation. After Him the decision rests with the Aghsan (Branches), and after them with the House of Justice - should it be established in the world by then - so that they may use these endowments for the benefit of the Sites exalted in this Cause, and for that which they have been commanded by God, the Almighty, the All-Powerful.’”

(From a letter of the Universal House of Justice to Hands of the Cause of God, Continental Boards of Counsellors and National Spiritual Assemblies, December 7, 1969)

(Multiple Authors: Lights of Guidance, Pages: 313-314)

From this passage it may be seen that after the days of Bahá’u’lláh, authority is devolved firstly to the Aghsan, which are the lineal descendants of Bahá’u’lláh, and subsequently to the Universal House of Justice.

THE FINAL BATTLE OF GOOD AGAINST EVIL

The Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel, “the mountain of the LORD’s house” (Isa 2:2-4)

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:2-4)

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled…And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (Rev 20:1-4)

“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” (Rev 16:15-16)

“The word occurs only in Revelations (16:16) as a Greek translation of the term claimed to be Hebrew. It represents the location of the final cosmic battle ofthe forces of good and of evil, according to the apocalyptic view of the writer. However, no such term appears elsewhere in Hebrew, and there is no mountain known to ancient or modern by that name. Megiddo (the city) is situated at the north end of the major pass through Mount Carmel range.” (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, P 64)

“…the plain of Megiddo, stretching along the northern slopes of Mt. Carmel to the Plain of Acco…” (Op Cit p 227)

Map 3 of the Oxford Companion to the Bible, p 880, shows the dominant mountain nearest the city of Megiddo to be Mt. Carmel overlooking the pass to the sea where great battles were fought in ancient times.

[Note: “The New Testament continues this imagery using the term ‘heavenly Jerusalem’ or ‘Zion’ metaphorically in reference to…the place of God’s dwelling.” (Rev 14:1) (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, p 1166.]

The Great War

Both Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá on many occasions foretold with surprising accuracy the coming of the Great War of 1914-1918. At Sacramento, California, on October 26, 1912, Abdu’l-Bahá said: -- “Today the European continent is like an arsenal. It is a storehouse of explosives, ready for just a spark, and one spark could set aflame the whole of Europe, particularly at this time, when the Balkan question is before the world.”

In many of His addresses in America and Europe He gave similar warning. In another address in California in October 1912 He said: -- We are on the eve of the Battle of Armageddon referred to in the sixteenth chapter of Revelation.

(Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Baha’u’llah and the New Era, p. 243)

The Families of the Earth Shall Be Blessed

The next proof by which Bahá’u’lláh was to be tested concerned the ‘seed of Abraham’. The millennial scholars were agreed that when the Messiah came, He would be of this sacred ‘seed’. I checked the antecedents of Bahá’u’lláh to see if he fulfilled this important requirement.

I had already discovered one remarkable way in which Abraham and Bahá’u’lláh were linked together, as set out in Section 3. I now found another statement which linked them together and demonstrated that Bahá’u’lláh was descended from the Father of the Faithful. This said: ‘He derived His descent, on the one hand, from Abraham through his wife Katurah, and on the other from Zoroaster, as well as from Yazdigird, the last king of the Sassian dynasty. He (Bahá’u’lláh) was moreover a descendent of Jesse, and belonged, through His father, Mirza ‘Abbas, better known as Mirza Buzurg – a nobleman closely associated with the ministerial circles of the Court...to one of the most ancient and renowned families of Mazindaran.’

(God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi, p. 94)

Thus Bahá’u’lláh was of the ‘seed’ of Abraham, being descended through Abraham’s third wife, Katurah. This in itself I found to be a most interesting clue, for among the writings of the British Israelites, as well as among those of some millennial scholars, reference is made to the fact that the latter-day Messiah would be descended from Katurah, the third wife of Abraham.

In the latter days of His life, Abraham took Katurah to wife. In the latter days in the life of His House, Israel, it is promised that the sons of Katurah, with all the young lions of her family shall stand for the Lord God in the land of Israel.

This belief was based upon the prophesies in Ezekiel which speak of the battle of Armageddon. When the great princes of evil come down from the north from the land of Gog and Magog against ‘my people of Israel’, the Lord promises that:

‘Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee (Gog), Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey?’ (Ezekiel 38:13)

Then, promises the Lord, He will destroy Gog, with the help of these faithful ones:

‘I will rain upon him (Gog), and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.’ (Ezekiel 38:22)

This is the same description given for the last days by Revelation, and the Second Epistle of Peter, when the ‘Lord will come as a thief in the night’. These young lions of Sheba and Dedan who will be in Israel at the side of the Lord, are the promised descendents from the line of Katurah, Abraham’s third wife. This descent is given in the book of Genesis:

‘Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him...Jokshan...and Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan.’ (Genesis 25:1-3)

Ezekiel says that all this will take place in ‘the latter years’. (Ezekiel 38:8)

In the chapter preceding the account of the descendents of Sheba and Dedan, Ezekiel foretells that the two Houses of Israel will be united in that day. This, Ezekiel declares, will be part of the ancient Covenant which God made with Abraham. This prophecy foreshadows the reunion in the last days, not only the physical union of Judah and Israel, but also the symbolical reunion of the two spiritual Houses of Judaism and Christianity. The Lord tells Ezekiel:

‘I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all...’ (Ezekiel 37:21, 22)

In the very year in which Bahá’u’lláh’s faith began (1844), the Edict was signed which permitted this gathering of the children of Israel. Since the day of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival as a prisoner in Israel, the Holy Land has become an independent State, and one nation. Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings declare that one of the fundamental principles of his faith is the union of the Jews and Christians.

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part 3, p. 132-135)

THE COMING OF MICHAEL ARTHA

The “Sanctuary”of Bahá’u’lláh,”The Glory of God,”: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me… but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me…in the latter days:” (Dan 10:13-14)

Further search uncovered additional evidence that the title ‘Glory of the Lord’ or ‘Glory of God’ would be the new name by which the Messiah could be identified in the latter days. The Book of Revelation, which, as we have already seen, gave the date of 1844 (1260) for the end of the ‘times of the Gentiles’, and which promised the new name and the new city, also confirms the name or title of Him Who will be the central Light of that new city of God. St. John declares:

‘And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem ... and the city had no need of the sun ... for the Glory of God did lighten it.’ (Rev 21:2,23)

Christ Himself links the hour of His return with this same wondrous Figure ‘the Glory of the Lord’ or the ‘Glory of God’. He promises that in the last days He will appear in this very likeness of God, and in His glory:

‘For the Son of man shall come in the Glory of his Father.’ (Matthew 16:27)

This vision of the ‘Glory of God’ promised by Christ and seen by St. John and Isaiah, is identical with the vision which came to Ezekiel. He saw the ‘Glory of God’ on more than one occasion, and associated it with a Promised One who would come into His House in a latter day. His coming, Ezekiel said, was:

‘... the appearance of ... the Glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face.’ (Ezekiel 1:28)

It was this same ‘Glory of God’ that appeared to Daniel as well. When Daniel had his vision of the last days, he spoke movingly of the Prince, Michael, who came to help him, Michael who would stand up for the children of God at the time of the end. When Daniel had his vision, he was unable to bear the glory of it. In his own words:

‘... I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.’ (Daniel 10:15)

The meaning of the word MICHAEL when translated into English is: One who looks like God. Thus, it appeared, that Daniel, too, had seen the ‘Glory of God’. I uncovered another important clue which seemed to confirm the belief that this Figure seen by Daniel was identical with the one promised by Christ Himself for the time of His return. Christ clearly explained the conditions of His second coming. He foretold that in that day everyone would see

‘... the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven...’ (Matthew 24:30)

This exact same picture was given by Daniel as the vision he saw of the ‘latter days’. In fact, in almost the exact same words Daniel said:

‘... one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven...’ (Daniel 7:13)

Furthermore, in that same chapter, for the second time, I found that Daniel foretold the hour when this would take place. This wondrous event, the coming of the Messiah, Daniel promised, will come to pass after

‘...a time and times and the dividing of time.’ (Daniel 7:25)

There seemed to be no end to the references that brought me back to the year 1844. Here once again I had found that same prophecy of 1260 days, forty and two months, three and a half years, and now, ‘a time and times and the dividing of time’. Students of Scripture agreed that all these phrases referred to one period of time, namely 1260 years. This meant that I had found another reference to when the Messiah would come. According to Daniel, He would appear in the year 1260, and I knew already that in the calendar of the land in which Daniel saw his vision (Persia), the year 1260 coincided with the year 1844 of the West. Daniel and Christ both had promised the coming of the ‘Son of man.’ Daniel had been overwhelmed and fallen to the ground because of the glory of his vision. In other places too numerous to detail, I found this same prophecy of the coming of the ‘Glory of God.’ Isaiah promised the faithful that

‘...The Glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.’ (Isaiah 58:8)

And again:

‘Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ... I the Lord am thy Savior and thy Redeemer ...’ (Isaiah 60:1,16)

I was satisfied that I had uncovered sufficient evidence to indicate that the title by which the Messiah would be known when He appeared would be:

‘the Glory of the Lord.’

This would be the new name, just as Christ, ‘the Anointed One’, had been the old name. In making the investigation into His name, I had also discovered additional information pointing to His coming with this new name in the year 1844. I felt I was making progress.

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 40-43)

Daniel also foretells the suffering that will follow the coming of the Messiah in THE TIME OF THE END. He prophesies that this suffering will last until His truth has been accepted. He uses the same words as Jesus, Joel and Revelation. He warns that in the day of the coming of the new Messiah,

‘...there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time...’ (Daniel 12:1)

In these prophecies, Daniel links Christ inseparably with the One Who has the appearance of the ‘Glory of God’. Speaking of this TIME OF THE END, Daniel promises that:

‘...at that time shall Michael stand up...and at that time thy people shall be delivered.’ (Daniel 12:1)

My next assignment was to identify this Michael who would deliver the children of God in the last days. The answer can be found in chapter ten of Daniel. There Daniel speaks of the overpowering vision which came to him in the land of Persia, and he says:

‘But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me...’ (Daniel 10:13)

In the next verse, Daniel is told that this vision concerns THE TIME OF THE END and:

‘...what shall befall thy people (Israel) in the latter days.’ (Daniel 10:14)

Then the Lord makes the following promise to Daniel:

‘I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth...’ (Daniel 10:21)

In this very same verse, Daniel is told by the Lord that only Michael, the Chief Prince of Persia, understands the meaning of this latter day vision. The Lord says to Daniel:

‘...and there is none that holdeth with me (God) in these things, but Michael your prince.’ (Daniel 10:21)

Michael is obviously a prince of Persia, but a spiritual prince, and unlike the prince of the kingdom of Persia who resisted Daniel. The Lord calls Michael ‘your prince’ in speaking to Daniel.

The name Michael, translated into English, means One who loos like God. This is yet another ay of saying ‘th Glory f Gd It is interesting to note that Daniel, like Ezekiel, fell to the earth, overcome, when he beheld the glory of this Messenger. Daniel says:

‘And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground and I became dumb.’ (Daniel 10:15)

The same thing happened to Ezekiel when he beheld the ‘Glory of God’ who came from the East.

The final chapter of Daniel speaks of THE LAST DAYS, and says yet again:

‘And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who standeth for the children of thy people..and at that time thy people shall be delivered...’ (Daniel 12:1)

There could no longer be any doubt but that Michael was a spiritual prince, a representative of God. Could he be the Messiah? Would he come at the time foretold, which I had already ascertained from the Bible? The next question, therefore, was: When would this wonder take place? When would Michael, Prince of Persia, Who looked like God, appear and deliver the people?

Daniel was told when this would take place:

1. ‘In the latter days...’ (Daniel 10:14)
2. ‘At the time of the end shall be the vision.’ (Daniel 8:17)
3. ‘The words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’ (Daniel 12:9)
4. ‘Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.’ (Daniel 12:4)

Then in vision, Daniel sees the last days, and the coming of the ‘ancient of days’, the Promised One Who will unseal the books. Daniel says:

‘...ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgement was set, and the books were opened.’ (Daniel 7:10)

In this same chapter Daniel says that in this hour

‘...one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven.’ (Daniel 7:13)

A few verses later Daniel repeats:

‘...the Ancient of days came, and judgement was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints (believers) possessed the kingdom.’ (Daniel 7:22)

In this same chapter, Daniel says that this will come to pass following:

‘a time and times and the dividing of time.’ (Daniel 7:25)

This we know to be three and a half years, or 1260 days; or in the measure of biblical prophesy: 1260 years.

In the final chapter of Daniel, it is said again that Michael, Prince of Persia, the Ancient of days, will stand for the people of the Lord, and deliver them in the hour when the books are unsealed. This also will take place, Daniel prophesies, after:

‘...a time, times, and a half.’ (Daniel 12:7)

Therefore, we again come to this same identical time of 1260 years. In Persia, the land where Daniel wrote his prophecy, the land of Michael, Who looks like God, the year 1260 is identical with the year 1844 of the calendar of the West.

Thus, once again, I learned:

1. that the year 1844 would be the time for the appearance of the Messiah;
2. that He would be ‘One Who looks like God’ or ‘the Glory of God’;
3. that He would appear in the land of Persia.

I now had two converging clues, of time and place, in The Case of the Missing Millennium.

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, p. 76-79)

I studied the story of the young Persian student to whom the Báb had made his first announcement. He, too, had sought the One promised by the Báb. He went to Teheran, and inquired among the people.

‘Is there any person who is distinguished above all others in this city? Someone who is renowned for his character?’

He was told that there was only one such person.

‘What is his occupation?’

‘He cheers the disconsolate and feeds the hungry.’

‘What of his rank and position?’

‘He has none apart from befriending the poor and the stranger.’

‘What is his name?’

‘He is Husayn ‘Ali, Bahá’u’lláh.’

‘His age?’

‘Eight and twenty.’

(The Dawnbreakers, Nabil, pp. 104-106 (paraphrase))

In this way, too, I learned that his name was Husayn ‘Ali, just as the name of Christ was Jesus. Jesus was known by the title of Christ (in English, ‘the Anointed’). Husayn ‘Ali was known by the title of Bahá’u’lláh (in English, ‘the Glory of God’).

Bahá’u’lláh was born in Persia, the land in which Daniel had seen his vision of the Prince Michael whose name means ‘One who looks like God’.

When Daniel was told to ‘seal the books’ until THE TIME OF THE END, he also was promised:

‘At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Thy people...’ (Daniel 12:1)

Bahá’u’lláh was born in the province of Mazandaran in Persia. This part of Persia had long been known a land of future promise. It has been written of Mazandaran:

‘There are many legends regarding the province. It was said that there would grow a celestial tree, with branches reaching to heaven. The fruit of this tree would be for the life of the nations. Many people travelled to this region hoping to find the wonderful tree. Another legend was that the king of war and hatred had been imprisoned in one of these high mountains.’

(Star of the West Magazine, Vol. xiv, p. 291)

The author of this account goes on to explain that these were symbolic parables of the coming of a Great Figure from that province, who would bring peace to mankind.

Similar legends were noted in Revelation and in Daniel. Daniel in the very chapter in which he prophesies that Michael, who looks like God, will deliver the people in the last days, also prophesies that it will be the great RESURRECTION DAY as well. A similar RESURRECTION DAY is promised by Christ at the time of His return.

F. Hudgings, scholar of Jewish prophecy, writes of these present days in his Zionism in Prophecy:

‘Yes, it seems that we are actually in the “time of the end”, exactly as the Prophet (Daniel) saw it in vision.’

Husayn ‘Ali, Bahá’u’lláh. It was a strange name to me. It took me some time to get used to it. Gradually the story of his life melted away my original coolness. The name was oriental, from the Middle East. I realised of course that I had reacted exactly as the Roman historian who had praised the Emperor for ‘stamping out the cult of the Nazarene’. He, too, as a westerner, had objected to the strange oriental name. Yet in reality all the Messengers of God had come from the East with names that were strange at first.

About this time I came across a most remarkable statement. Or so it seemed to me. It had been written, not by a follower of the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh, but by a Bible scholar of Oxford University and a well-known Christian clergyman. He wrote: ‘If there is any prophet in recent times, it is to Bahá’u’lláh that we must go. (He) was a man of the highest class -- that of prophets.’

(Cheyne, cited Appreciations of the Bahá’í Faith, 1947, p. 18)

I read the account of Dr. J. Estlin Carpenter in his book Comparative Religions in which he asked the pointed question: “Has Persia, in the midst of her miseries, given birth to a religion that will go around the world?’

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part II, Chap. 6, pp. 102-104)

O KINGS OF THE EARTH!

The Lower Terrace at the sacred Threshold to the Shrine of The Báb on Mount Carmel: “…the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones…and the kings of the earth upon the earth”(Isa 24:21)

I had one last point of proof. Christ Himself had foretold that when the Messiah came, the Spirit of Truth, He would glorify His, Christ’s, name.

Had Bahá’u’lláh done this? In order to come to this final evidence, I had set aside two important proofs:

1. ‘He shall unseal the Books.’
2. ‘He shall topple the unjust kings from their thrones.’

The fulfilment of these two proofs made such a thrilling and dramatic story, that I was not only able to write Fulfilled beside them, but I have felt impelled to write a separate book about each, so that you too, might enjoy the same delight which I felt when discovering these astonishing stories. The first of these two books I have called The Wine of Astonishment.

On the eve of the declaration of his Mission, Bahá’u’lláh wrote his Book of Certitude. This book, he himself said, offered to mankind the ‘Choice Sealed Wine’ whose seal is of ‘musk’. It broke the ‘seals’ of the ‘Book’ referred to by Daniel, and disclosed the meaning of the ‘words’ destined to remain ‘closed up’ till the ‘time of the end’.

Bahá’u’lláh wrote over a hundred volumes. This Book of Certitude was completed in the space of two days and two nights, a continuous outpouring. His words have been described as ‘a rushing torrent’.

A historian who was living at the time of Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, has testified that the words which ‘streamed from his lips...in a single day and night’ were the equivalent of a large volume. Moreover, ‘As to those verses which He either dictated or wrote Himself, their number was no less remarkable than either the wealth of material they contained, or the diversity of subjects to which they referred.’

I found the following eye-witness account of a business man of Shiraz, Persia, who knew both the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. He says:

‘I bear witness that the verses revealed by Bahá’u’lláh were superior, in the rapidity which with they were penned, in the ease with which they flowed, in their lucidity, their profundity and sweetness to those which I, myself, saw pour from the pen of the Báb when in His presence. Had Bahá’u’lláh no other claim to greatness, this were sufficient, in the eyes of the world and its people, that He produced such verses as have streamed this day from His pen.’

In his writings, Bahá’u’lláh ‘unseals’ the truth and the ‘hidden meanings of those subjects which have long troubled and confused mankind, such as:

The Day of Judgement

Resurrection

Baptism

The Eucharist

The Trinity

Reincarnation

The Creation of the World

Proofs of the Existence of God

Life After Death

The Immortality of the Soul

The Story of Adam and Eve

Good and Evil

The Son of God

The Father

Heaven and Hell

The Stars Falling from Heaven

The Darkening of the Sun and the Moon

The Day of God

The City of God

The Seal of the Prophets

The Return

These and many other subjects are revealed in their true meaning by Bahá’u’lláh, whose fresh and clear explanations harmonize with science and education and broaden the outlook of humanity. These have been explained in detail in the Book The Wine of Astonishment. The second of these two books I have called Fire in the Sky. It tells the story of Bahá’u’lláh’s letters to the kings and rulers of the world. (Published as The Prisoner and the Kings)

Bahá’u’lláh addressed them saying:

‘O Kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your expenditures and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is wholly and grossly unjust...lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather, choose for them that which ye choose for yourselves...Your people are your treasures. Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the robber. By them ye rule, by their means ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon them! How strange, how very strange!’

In another place Bahá’u’lláh wrote to the kings and rulers:

‘O kings of the earth...Compose your differences, and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened, and that your minds and hearts may be tranquillised. Heal the dissensions that divide you...and ye be the emblems of justice amongst them (mankind).’

And again:

‘If ye stay not the hand of the oppressor, if ye fail to safeguard the rights of the downtrodden, what right have ye then to vaunt yourselves among men?’

Bahá’u’lláh informed the monarchs of the world by whose authority he spoke, saying:

‘I am the One Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose name both the Torah (of Moses) and the Evangel (of Christ) were adorned...’

Bahá’u’lláh addressed letters to:

• Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria
• Napoleon III of France
• Kaiser William I of Germany
• Czar Nicolaevitch Alexander II of Russia
• The Sultan ‘Abdu’l-Aziz of Turkey
• Násiri’d-Dín Sháh of Persia
• Queen Victoria of Britain
• The Presidents and Rulers of the Republics of the West
• The Religious Leaders of the Christians, Jews, Muslims and Zoroastrians
• The followers of Christ, Moses, and Mohammed The peoples of the world

Napoleon III cast Bahá’u’lláh’s letter aside scornfully, saying, ‘If this man is of God, I am two Gods!’ Shortly after, Napoleon fell from power as prophesied by Bahá’u’lláh, and ended his days in exile, after suffering a humiliating imprisonment.

Only one of these sovereigns responded, even in the slightest measure. It was Queen Victoria in Great Britain. This dynasty is the only one which still remins today of those once-mighty monarchies. Bahá’u’lláh foretold that Queen Victria would have a long and successful regn, although at thetime her ealt wprecarious and she was not in favour because of her German consort. Of far more arresting interest is the fact that still another Sovereign, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, became a follower of Bahá’u’lláh. I found these words of Queen Marie of Rumania concerning Bahá’u’lláh and his Faith, quoted in the Toronto Daily Star, May 14th, 1926:

‘It (Bahá’u’lláh’s Faith) is Christ’s message taken up anew...No man could fail to be better because of this Book. I commend it to you all.’

She was quoted in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, September 27th, 1926 as follows:

‘Those who read their Bible with “peeled eyes” will find in almost every line some revelation.’

She also wrote in a personal letter:

‘These Books (the writings of Bahá’u’lláh’s Faith), have strengthened me beyond belief...The Bahá’í teaching brings peace and understanding.’ (Appreciations of the Bahá’í Faith, pp. 12-13)

Bahá’u’lláh declared that he saw ‘abasement hastening after’ those unjust rulers who neglected the rights and welfare of the poor and humble among their subjects. They would, he said, be made an ‘object lesson’ for the world.

Three were assassinated and two went into exile, the royal thrones of all but one were overthrown! These events, I found, were all foretold for the day of the coming of the Messiah, and were part of the proof expected by the millennial scholars. It had been written in Scripture of the Messiah:

1. Psalms: ‘He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.’ (Psalms 76:12)
2. Job: ‘He shall break in pieces mighty men without number...’ (Job 34:24)
3. Isaiah: ‘The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.’ (Isaiah 14:5) ‘And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.’ (Isaiah 24:21)

In the very chapter of Daniel, in which he speaks of the time of the end, saying:

‘...behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven...’ (Daniel 7:13)

Daniel also says:

‘I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit (upon His throne)...’ (Daniel 7:9)

I found over twenty specific prophecies in sacred Scripture which referred to the overthrow of the kings of the earth in the day of the coming of the Messiah.

The welfare and happiness of the under-privileged, the down-trodden, the common man was a favourite theme of Bahá’u’lláh. He had great love for those who suffered from hunger and persecution. He warned the rulers of earth:

‘Know ye that the poor are the trust of God in your midst. Watch that ye betray not His trust, and ye deal not unjustly with them and that ye walk not in the ways of the treacherous.’

Bahá’u’lláh’s own words set the seal to those winds of adversity which have swept across the face of the earth since 1844, dethroning monarchs, extinguishing dynasties, and uprooting age old kingdoms:

‘God hath not blinked, nor will He ever blink His eyes at the tyranny of the oppressor. More particularly in this Revelation hath He visited each and every tyrant with His vengeance.’

This astonishing story concerning the downfall of kings and the fulfilment of prophecy is told with all of its dramatic detail in the book Fire in the Sky.

Beneath the two proofs:

1. the Messiah shall unseal the Books, and
2. He shall topple the unjust kings from their thrones, I wrote: Fulfilled.

(William Sears, Thief in the Night, Part iii,Sect. 12, pp. 165-171)

In the Kitab-i-Aqdas (The Most Holy Book), that priceless treasury enshrining for all time the brightest emanations of the mind of Baha’u’llah, the Charter of His World Order, the chief repository of His laws, the Harbinger of His Covenant, the Pivotal Work containing some of His noblest exhortations, weightiest pronouncements, and portentous prophecies, and revealed during the full tide of His tribulations, at a time when the rulers of the earth had definitely forsaken Him - in such a Book we read the following:

“O kings of the earth! He Who is the sovereign Lord of all is come. The Kingdom is God’s, the omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Worship none but God, and, with radiant hearts, lift up your faces unto your Lord, the Lord of all names. This is a Revelation to which whatever ye possess can never be compared, could ye but know it. We see you rejoicing in that which ye have amassed for others, and shutting out yourselves from the worlds which naught except My Guarded Tablet can reckon. The treasures ye have laid up have drawn you far away from your ultimate objective. This ill beseemeth you, could ye but understand it. Wash your hearts from all earthly defilements, and hasten to enter the Kingdom of your Lord, the Creator of earth and heaven, Who caused the world to tremble, and all its peoples to wail, except them that have renounced all things and clung to that which the Hidden Tablet hath ordained....”

“O kings of the earth! The Most Great Law hath been revealed in this Spot, this Scene of transcendent splendor. Every hidden thing hath been brought to light, by virtue of the Will of the Supreme Ordainer, He Who hath ushered in the Last Hour, through Whom the Moon hath been cleft, and every irrevocable decree expounded.

“Ye are but vassals, O kings of the earth! He Who is the King of Kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you unto Himself, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Take heed lest pride deter you from recognizing the Source of Revelation; lest the things of this world shut you out as by a veil from Him Who is the Creator of heaven. Arise, and serve Him Who is the Desire of all nations, Who hath created you through a word from Him, and ordained you to be, for all time, the emblems of His sovereignty.

“By the righteousness of God! It is not Our wish to lay hands on your kingdoms. Our mission is to seize and possess the hearts of men. Upon them the eyes of Baha are fastened. To this testifieth the Kingdom of Names, could ye but comprehend it. Whoso followeth his Lord, will renounce the world and all that is therein; how much greater, then, must be the detachment of Him Who holdeth so august a station! Forsake your palaces, and haste ye to gain admittance into His Kingdom. This, indeed, will profit you both in this world and in the next. To this testifieth the Lord of the realm on high, did ye but know it.

“How great is the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will arise to aid My Cause in My Kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark, the Ark which God hath prepared for the people of Baha. All must glorify his name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountainhead of blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, O people of Baha, your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance.

“O rulers of the earth! Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing, the Faithful.

“Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of them that comprehend. Should anyone among you take up arms against another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest justice.”

“O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of God, `I go away, and come again unto you’? Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: `When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.’ And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. Ye continue roving with delight in the valley of your corrupt desires. Ye and all ye possess shall pass away. Ye shall, most certainly, return to God, and shall be called to account for your doings in the presence of Him Who shall gather together the entire creation....”

To Pope Pius IX, Baha’u’llah revealed the following: “O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained.... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him [Jesus] without a clear token or proof. On His right hand flow the living waters of grace, and on His left the choice Wine of justice, whilst before Him march the angels of Paradise, bearing the banners of His signs. Beware lest any name debar thee from God, the Creator of earth and heaven. Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined.... Dwellest thou in palaces whilst He Who is the King of Revelation liveth in the most desolate of abodes? Leave them unto such as desire them, and set thy face with joy and delight towards the Kingdom.... Arise in the name of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, amidst the peoples of the earth, and seize thou the Cup of Life with the hands of confidence, and first drink thou therefrom, and proffer it then to such as turn towards it amongst the peoples of all faiths....

“Call thou to remembrance Him Who was the Spirit [Jesus], Who, when He came, the most learned of His age pronounced judgment against Him in His own country, whilst he who was only a fisherman believed in Him. Take heed, then, ye men of understanding heart! Thou, in truth, art one of the suns of the heaven of His names. Guard thyself, lest darkness spread its veils over thee, and fold thee away from His light.... Consider those who opposed the Son [Jesus], when He came unto them with sovereignty and power. How many the Pharisees who were waiting to behold Him, and were lamenting over their separation from Him! And yet, when the fragrance of His coming was wafted over them, and His beauty was unveiled, they turned aside from Him and disputed with Him.... None save a very few, who were destitute of any power amongst men, turned towards His face. And yet today every man endowed with power and invested with sovereignty prideth himself on His Name! In like manner, consider how numerous, in these days, are the monks who, in My Name, have secluded themselves in their churches, and who, when the appointed time was fulfilled, and We unveiled Our beauty, knew Us not, though they call upon Me at eventide and at dawn....

“The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty. Turn your faces towards Him, O concourse of the righteous! ...This is the day whereon the Rock [Peter] crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord, the All-Possessing, the Most High, saying: `Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!...’ My body longeth for the cross, and Mine head waiteth the thrust of the spear, in the path of the All-Merciful, that the world may be purged from its transgressions....”

“Erelong will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones. He, verily, encompasseth all things. He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent.

(Shoghi Effendi: The Promised Day is Come, Pages: 25-74)

For more references, please refer to the Book: “THE PROCLAMATION OF BAHA’U’LLAH” (SUMMONS TO THE KINGS AND RULERS OF THE WORLD; SUMMONS TO THE WORLD’S RELIGIOUS LEADERS, and, THE GREATANNOUNCEMENT TO MANKIND). Also, the Book: “THE PROMISE DAY IS COME”.