Bahá’í World/Volume 9/By the Mouth of His Prophets
21.
BY THE MOUTH OF HIS PROPHETS
BY MAYE HARVEY GIFT
SCRIPTURAL PROPHECY PROVIDES A KEY TO THE MEANING OF OUR AGE
IN the kaleidoscope of today’s worldshaking happenings it is possible to discover plan and purpose, in spite of the deepening gloom and increasing chaos. To the seeing eye, the fierce gales of unleashed passions and the devastating whirlwinds of international lawlessness indicate the death pangs of a corrupt and outworn order of society, and, at the same time, the birth pangs of a new and worthier day. It is possible to trace the unfolding pattern of a way of living better suited to the needs of the twentieth century: a way of life that recognizes the inherent excellency of the human soul, and of its capacity for developing a social order based upon justice and cooperation. This plan and this purpose have been the theme of the sacred Books of all ages. It is the function of their prophecies to provide the key to what the bewildered mind of man sees chiefly as an all-consuming conflagration, a ruthless wiping out of centuries of human achievement.
By prophecy we do not mean indiscriminate foretelling unrelated to spiritual values. Too often has prophecy been discredited through misuse and misunderstanding. It has been made to bolster up all kinds of imaginings impossible of fulfillment. It has been shown, in a too literal application, to be contradictory to science, and to fail in its prediction of specific times and events. For those reasons humanity has been deprived of the vision and assurance that a true understanding of the significance and terminology of prophecy engender, for it, like all the arts and sciences, has a distinctive vocabulary.
The sacred Books have within themselves a satisfying explanation of the nature and the function of prophecy: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” (I John 4:1.) “No prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet. 1:21.) ”He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is true . . .” (St. John 7:18.) “And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” (Deut. 18:18.) “Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7.) ”And now I have told you before it is come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” (St. John 14:29.) Through chosen instruments, purified from the passions of self, God has transmitted His guidance for the continuing development of mankind. It is for this reason Peter speaks of prophecy as “a lamp shining in a dark place,” to which we may well take heed. Today, as never before, we are in need of such guidance, for the wisdom of the wise men has perished, and the understanding of the prudent been veiled.
During the past century we have witnessed the
transformation of prophecy from
ignominy into a scientific and dependable
factor for understanding the trend of human
evolution. During this period the
sacred Books of the great world religions
have been translated and become generally
available, making evident their common
Source. In the light of this realization, these
words of Bahá’u’lláh regarding His present
day Revelation: "This is the changeless Faith
of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the
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future,” (GI. 136) seems most reasonable
and logical. During this period mankind
has been endowed in a mysterious way with
a new spirit of search, and a new insight
and capacity betokening maturity, with its
ability for conscious cooperation with
evolutionary forces. During this period man
has discovered the futility of a material
civilization without the restraining and
guiding power of vital spiritual standards.
He must arise and seek these, for upon
them his very existence depends.
SACRED BOOKS AVAILABLE
So we see the Jew poring over his great Source-Book, the Torah, re-living his race history, glorious and tragic. His heart is perplexed, but strangely exalted by those mighty verses on the “Day of God.” This is, if he can but realize it, the message of his Book to the Jew of the twentieth century. Refined by suffering, illumined by a new understanding of those ancient words, he is to return to Zion and play his destined part in drawing the human race into an indissoluble unity through the power of the Spirit of God. The Christian perusing the Gospel may be confused over its practical application after the lapse of centuries, but what about the message of the Kingdom? That glorious way of life is to be established at the consummation of the age. That is the wingéd message of Jesus to His twentieth century followers. In like manner the Muslim searches the familiar Suríhs of his beloved Qur’án. They may lack a certain quickening power until he reads those verses reverberating with “The Great Announcement.” This is the message of Muḥammad to his storm-tossed followers of the twentieth century. Are not these three stirred by one and the same message? Is it not that this day has been envisaged by the various prophets of the past, its details recorded in the imperishable Scriptures, to be observed and understood in the day of fulfillment?
THE BOOK THAT IS SEALED
Understood, but how? We still find ourselves in the position of those of whom Isaiah wrote: “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of the book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed: and the book is delivered unto him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.” (29:11-12.) It is as if we were surrounded by medical books and scientific equipment, yet were powerless to apply them to a specific situation. We would acknowledge the need of the skill and wisdom of the physician.
The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh proffers this indispensable assistance: a consistent interpretation of prophecy based, not upon one, but upon all the sacred Books, and applied with undeviating accuracy to present—day conditions. The "Day of God” is indeed none other than the day of "The Kingdom,” and both are synonymous with the day of “The Great Announcement” or "The Hour.”
THIS DAY OF GOD
The sacred Books describe this particular era in seemingly contradictory terms. This has added to the confusion of the man seeking to penetrate the mysteries of the spirit through the unaided power of the intellect. They depict a twofold process, one integrating, the other disruptive. The former represents the birth of the ideals and institutions worthy of the Day of God; the latter is indicative of “a civilization that has refused to answer to the expectations of a new age, and is consequently falling into chaos and decline.” (The World Order of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 170.) In reality, these both result from a new infusion of divine energy throughout the world. “The same sun that makes the flowers to spring and the trees to bud, causes also the decay and disintegration of what is dead and useless; it loosens the ice and melts the snow of winter, and sets free the flood and the storm that purify the earth.” (Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 6.)
Bahá’u’lláh explains it as the dual effect
of the Word of God. “The Word is the fire
of God which, glowing in the hearts of
people, burns away all things that are not
of God.” (Words of Wisdom.) “This is
the fire which, in the same moment, kindleth
the flame of love in the breasts of the
faithful, and induceth the chill of headless in
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the hearts of the enemy.” (Íqán, p. 205.)
The Qur’án says: "And when the great
predominant calamity shall come, on the
day when man shall remember what he
strove after, and hell shall be brought out
for him who sees! And as for him who was
outrageous and preferred the life of this
world, verily, hell is the resort! But as for
him who feared the station of his Lord, and
prohibited his soul from lust, verily, Paradise
is the resort!” (Suríh 79:34-40.) In
the Gospel perhaps the most dramatic picture
is of the judgment of the nations according
to how they ministered to the
hungry, the naked, the imprisoned. The
sheep on the right who fulfilled these
obligations inherit the Kingdom prepared for
them from the foundation of the world.
The goats on the left are deprived and
punished. In another parable, both the wheat
and the tares grow together until the harvest
when the tares are destroyed and the
wheat conserved. The Torah also presents
both aspects of this fateful day. “The Lord
shall roar out of Zion . . . and the earth shall
shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his
people and the strength of the children of
Israel.” (Joel 3:16.) "Behold the Lord’s
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between
you and your God, and your sins have hid
his face from you, that he will not hear.”
(Isa. 59:1-2.)
MY PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
Another double thread of prophecy illumines the pathway of search. One strand is that of the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world; the other, their return to their homeland and to their God. It is the second strand which grips our attention. “And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them: and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; and they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land . . .” (Amos 9:14-15.) “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury . . . and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. And they shall be my people and I Will be their God: And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever.” (Jer. 32:37-39.) This generation is witnessing a large-scale return to Palestine, and an almost unbelievable rehabilitation of that long desert land. The spiritualization of this great people is not yet brought to completion, but circumstances are withdrawing all sources of reliance save God from them, and indeed from all the peoples of the world. With their rich background, the Jews may be among the first to recognize the significance of this, and prepare to take a place of pre-eminence in service to a heart-sick world. The day of their return is the Day of God, and is one with the day of the Kingdom and of the Great Announcement.
Other utterances concerning that Day
have a singularly familiar ring. (1) At the
“time of the end: many shall run to and fro
and knowledge shall be increased.” (Danl.
12:4.) This is a day of constant movement
of peoples, of universal unrest, and of
unending discoveries and material progress.
(2) “This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come. For men shall be
. . . disobedient to parents . . . truce-breakers
. . . despisers of those that are good, traitors
. . .” (2 Tim. 3:1-4.) That this is a day of
irresponsibility and of disrespect for authority,
no one can doubt. (3) That day is forecast as a
time of world-engulfing war, with
fire pouring from the skies, a time of other
tribulations, famine, earthquakes, in fact
of all kinds of destruction. We are witnessing
these conditions on all sides. (4)
It is to be a time of general spiritual blindness.
”Behold the days come, saith the Lord
God, that I will send a famine in the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. And
they shall wander from sea to sea, and from
the north even to the east, they shall run
to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12.)
”A day shall be witnessed by My people
Whereon there will have remained of Islám
naught but a name, and of the Qur’án
naught but a mere appearance. The doctors
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of that age shall be the most evil the world
has ever seen.” (An authentic Muḥammadan tradition.)
Neither the fundamentals of the sacred Books
nor the station of
the Prophets revealing them are understood,
nor are their teachings generally applied.
(5) The Scriptures warn of self-seeking
false prophets who shall appear. How numerous
are today’s movements appealing to
the human ego!
A very definite event which is to mark the close of an era is recorded by Matthew: (24:14) “And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” There is not one remote corner into which the glad tidings of the coming Kingdom has not penetrated!
WORLD FEDERATION
So far we have dealt chiefly with the disintegrating forces, for according to the parable, the tares are first gathered and destroyed, then the wheat preserved. Or in a different vein: the tottering structure is first razed and the ground cleared before the new building the architect has already designed, can be reared, and appear in all its matchless perfection.
This resplendent twentieth century edifice, this house builded upon a rock, is none other than The Federation of the World. This is what Jesus spoke of as the Kingdom, wherein God’s will should be carried out: evidently the application of spiritual principles to all human institutions and relationships. The prophets of the Torah sang of it as the new and everlasting covenant graven upon the hearts of men, of which Micah continues: “The law shall go forth of Zion . . . And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares . . . nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (4:2-3.) It is envisioned in these authenticated sayings of Muḥammad: “In the latter days a grievous calamity shall befall My people. . . . So fierce will it be that none can find a shelter. God will then send down One of My descendants, One sprung from My family, Who will fill the earth with equity and justice, even as it hath been filled with injustice and tyranny.” (W. O. B., p. 179.)
In “The Unfoldment of World Civilization” Shoghi Effendi enumerates certain high lights of the World Commonwealth revealed by Bahá’u’lláh for this age. This new type of government is to be composed of a world legislature, thoroughly representative, a world executive, backed by an international force, and a world tribunal of unquestioned authority. It will develop a world metropolis, and a highly perfected system of intercommunication, facilitated by an auxiliary language. The economic resources of the entire globe will be well organized and equitably distributed, causing inordinate wealth and grinding poverty to disappear, and the interdependence of capital and labor to be everywhere acknowledged. The energy and expense now dissipated on war will be used to stimulate the well-being of all men, physically, intellectually and spiritually. Science and religion Will work hand in hand, and a liberated press will be a most potent educational influence. But the essential foundation is the universal recognition of one God, the fundamental oneness of all His Revelations to the human race, and the realization that it is only through the agency of His energizing spirit that this new fabric of culture will be woven.
Groups of people throughout the world
are exerting themselves assiduously to bring
various elements of this world civilization
into being. These budding efforts constitute
the constructive side of life today.
The League of Nations, despite its inherent
weaknesses and the unworthy motives exhibited
by its members which have caused
its present eclipse, is, nevertheless, man’s
first steps toward collective security. More
effective measures are being widely discussed
and urgently advocated. The pressing need
of a world language is daily more apparent,
and Esperanto as well as other experiments
are endeavoring to meet this requirement.
The economic problem is being attacked
from countless angles: profit-sharing,
collective bargaining, arbitration, in fact,
numerous joint governing efforts, wider industrial
training of youth, and vocational guidance;
more equitable taxation, through graduated
income and inheritance taxes; and more
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general recognition of the importance of
improving agricultural conditions. Endeavors
for the increase of man’s general
well-being are numerous and well-known.
THE KING OF KINGS
To what extent have the sacred Books foreshadowed these constructive ideals? There is an unceasing paean of joy over the approaching era of peace. The old age is to close with a war of such fury as to be described as "with burning and fuel of fire.” Then, we quote Isaiah: “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 forever.” (9:5-7) Isaiah and Micah portray a peace involving methods and institutions for its practical application. How can the law go forth except through legislative channels? How can strong nations afar off be rebuked, and peace established unless there be an adequate force under a world executive? How can the kingdom be instituted with justice and judgment except through an unchallengeable international tribunal?
A universal language is also forecast. "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:9) "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one.” (Zech. 14:9) There is promise of economic security and plenty. “They shall sit every man under his vine and fig tree: and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Micah 4:4) “I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field . . . and the desolate land shall be tilled . . . And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden . . ” (Ezek. 36:29-34) Even improved physical health is foreseen. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth . . . And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and in joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days . . .” (Isa. 65:17-20) “And the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick:” (Isa. 33:34)
Interwoven with many of the prophecies of this momentous Day, is the promise of one common Faith and of the coming of the King. Over and over, these mighty themes are reiterated. ”Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isa. 56:7) “The Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains . . .and all nations shall flow unto it.” (Isa. 2:2) “And other sheep have I, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” (St. John 10:16)
On this second theme history confirms prophecy, for whenever the spiritual law has been revitalized and the foundation of a great civilization laid, it has been through the appearance of a Messenger of God, a Moses, a Buddha, a Jesus, a Muḥammad, and has been based upon His teachings. A noted Oriental authority on comparative religion says that it is clear to those who ponder deeply the prophecies of sacred literature, that they are above all a collection of songs rejoicing over the coming to earth of The Lord of Hosts, The Spirit of Truth, The Glorious One. An ever-growing multitude is accepting Bahá’u’lláh as the heavenly Physician Who reveals and applies the divine remedy to the sick body of the world; as the Prince of Peace upon Whose shoulder is the government, for nothing comparable to His World Order has issued from any other source. What more to be desired climax than the return of this vital spiritual guidance in the person of The Promised One of all the Scriptures, with His teachings for both the spiritual and social regeneration of mankind!
May the "rose petals of truth” perfume the nostrils of all those who truly seek to fathom those mysteries hidden from the foundation of the world!