Edition:Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era (1923)/Prophecies Fulfilled by the Bahā’ī Movement
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CHAPTER XIII
PROPHECIES FULFILLED BY THE BAHA'I MOVEMENT
- As to the Manifestation of the Greatest Name (Baha’u’llah) : This is He
whom God promised in all His Books and Scriptures, such as the Bible, the Gospels and the Qur’an.’’"—‘ABDU’L-BAHA.
Interpretation of Prophecy.
The interpretation of prophecy is notoriously difficult, and on no subject do the opinions of the learned differ more widely. This is not to be wondered at, for, according to the revealed writings themselves, many of the prophecies were given in such a form that they could not be fully understood until the fulfilment came, and even then, only by those who were pure in heart and free from prejudice, Thus at the end of Daniel’s visions the seer was told :—
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased . . . and I heard, but I understood not: then said I, ‘O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ and he said, ‘Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the end of the time.’ ”—Daniel xii. 4-10.
If God sealed up the prophecies until the appointed time, and did not fully reveal the interpretation eyen to the prophets who uttered them, we may expect that none but the appointed Messenger of God will be able to break the seal and disclose the meanings concealed in the casket of the prophetic parables, Reflection
on the history of prophecies and their misinterpretation in previous
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ages and dispensations, combined with the solemn warnings of the prophets themselves, should render us very chary of accepting the speculations of theologians as to the real meaning of these
_ utterances and the manner of their fulfilment. On the other hand, when someone appears who claims to fulfil the prophecies, it is important that we examine his claim with open, unprejudiced minds. Should he be an impostor, the fraud will soon be discovered and no harm will be done, but woe to all who carelessly turn God’s Messenger from the door because He comes in an unexpected form or time.
The life and utterances of Baha’u’llah testify that he is the Promised One of all the Holy Books, who has power to break the seals of the prophecies and to pour forth the “Sealed choice wine” of the divine mysteries. Let us hasten, then, to hear his explanations and to re-examine in their light the familiar but often mysterious words spoken by the prophets of old.
The Coming of the Lord.
The “ Coming of the Lord” in the “last days” is the one
“ far-off divine event”? to which all the prophets look forward,
about which their most glorious songs are sung. Now what is
meant by the “ Coming of the Lord”? Surely God is at all
times with His creatures, in all, through all, and over all ; “ Closer
is He than breathing, nearer than hands and feet.” Yes, but men
cannot see or hear God immanent and transcendent, cannot realize
His Presence, until He reveals Himself through a visible form and
talks to them in human language. For the revelation of His
higher attributes, God has always made use of a human instrument. Each of the prophets was a mediator through whom God
visited and spoke to His people. Jesus was such a mediator, and
the Christians have rightly regarded His appearance as a coming
of God. In Him they saw the Face of God and through His
lips they heard the Voice of God. Baha'u'llah tells us that the
“Coming” of the Lord of Hosts, the Everlasting Father, the
Maker and Redeemer of the world, which, according to all the
prophets, is to take place at “the time of the end,” means no
other than His manifestation in a human temple, as He manifested
through the temple of Jesus of Nazareth, only this time with a
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fuller and more glorious revelation, for which Jesus and all the former prophets came to prepare men’s hearts and minds.
Prophecies about Christ.
Through failing to understand the meaning of the prophecies about the dominion of the Messiah, the Jews rejected Christ. ‘Abdu’l-Baha says :—
“The Jews still await the coming of the Messiah, and pray to God day and night to hasten His advent. When Jesus came they denounced and slew Him, saying: ‘This is not the One for whom we wait. Behold when the Messiah shall come, signs and wonders shall testify that He is in truth the Christ. The Messiah will arise out of an unknown city. He shall sit upon the throne of David, and behold He shall come with a sword of steel, and with a sceptre of iron shall he rule. He shall fulfil the Law of the Prophets. He shall conquer the East and the West, and shall glorify His chosen people the Jews. He shall bring with Him a reign of Peace during which even the animals shall cease to be at enmity with man. For behold the wolf and the lamb shall drink from the same spring, and all God’s creatures shall be at rest... .’
“Thus the Jews thought and spoke, for they did not understand the Scriptures nor the glorious truths that were contained in them. The letter they knew by heart, but of the life-giving Spirit they understood not a word.
“ Hearken, and I will show you the meaning thereof: Although Christ came from Nazareth, which was a known place, He came also from Heaven. His body was born of Mary, but His Spirit came from Heaven. The sword He carried was the sword of His tongue, with which He divided the good from the evil, the true from the false, the faithful from the unfaithful, and the light from the darkness. His Word was indeed a sharp sword! ‘The throne upon which He sat is the Eternal Throne from which Christ reigns for ever, a heavenly throne, not an earthly one, for the things of earth pass away but heavenly things pass not away. He re-interpreted and completed the Law of Moses and fulfilled the Law of the Prophets. His Word conquered the East and the West. His Kingdom is Everlasting. He exalted those Jews who recognized Him. ‘They were men and women of humble birth, but contact with Him made them great and gave them everlasting dignity. The animals who were to live with one another signified the different sects and races, who, once having been at war, were now to dwell in love and charity, drinking together the Water of Life from Christ the Eternal Spring.” —Paris Talks, p. 48.
Most Christians accept these interpretations of the Messianic
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prophecies as applied to Christ; but with regard to similar prophecies about the latter-day Messiah, many of them take up the same attitude as the Jews, expecting a miraculous display on the material plane which will fulfil the very letter of the prophecies,
Prophecies about the Bab and Baha’u’llah.
According to the Baha’i interpretation, the prophecies which speak of “ the time of the end,” the “‘last days,” the coming of the “‘ Lord of Hosts,” of the “‘ Everlasting Father,” refer especially, not to the advent of Jesus Christ, but to that of Baha’u’llah. Take for instance, the well-known prophecy in Isaiah :—
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. . . . For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with buming and fuel of fire. 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 of 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.”—lIsa. ix. 2-7.
This is one of the prophecies that has often been regarded as
referring to Christ, and much of it may quite fairly be thus applied,
but a little examination will show how much more fully and aptly
it applies to Baha’u’llah. Christ has, indeed, been a light-bringer
and Saviour, 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 others 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 Baha'i 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 haye been overthrown, and a League of
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Nations has been born which brings hope of speedy relief to all the downtrodden and oppressed nationalities of the world. The great war which has just convulsed the world, with its unprecedented use of fire-arms, liquid fire, incendiary bombs and fuel for engines, has indeed been “‘ with burning and fuel of fire”? Baha'u'llah, 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,” Baha’u’llah 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 ; and Baha’u’llah declares that his mission is to establish peace on earth, while Christ said: “I came not to send peace but a sword,” and as a matter of fact during the whole of the Christian era wars and sectarian strifes have abounded.
The Glory of God.
The title “ Bah@’u’llah ” is the Arabic for “ Glory of God,” and this very title is frequently used by the Hebrew prophets for the Promised One who is to appear in the last days. Thus in the 40th chapter of Isaiah we read :—
“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 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 be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plam: and the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”
Like the former prophecy, this has also been partly fulfilled
in the advent of Christ and His forerunner, John the Baptist ;
but only partly, for in the days of Christ the warfare of Jerusalem
was not accomplished ; many centuries of bitter trial and humiliation were yet in store for her. With the advent of the Bab and
Baha'u'llah, however, the more complete fulfilment is beginning
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to appear, for even already brighter days have dawned for Jerusalem, and her prospects of a peaceful and glorious future seem now to be reasonably assured.
Other prophecies speak of the Redeemer of Israel, the Glory of the Lord, as coming to the Holy Land from the East, from the rising of the sun. Now Baha’u’llah appeared in Persia, which is eastward from Palestine, toward the rising of the sun, and he came to the Holy Land, where he spent the last twenty-four years of his life. Had he come there as a free man, people might have said that it was the trick of an impostor in order to conform to the prophecies ; but he came as an exile and prisoner. He was sent there by the Shah of Persia and the Sultan of Turkey, who can hardly be suspected of any design to furnish arguments in favour of Baha’u’llah’s claim to be the “ Glory of God” whose coming the prophets foretold.
The Day of God.
The word “ Day” in such phrases as “ Day of God” and
“Last Day” is interpreted as meaning “ Dispensation.” Each
of the great religion-founders has his “ Day.” Each is like a
sun. His teachings have their dawn, their truth gradually
illumines more and more the minds and hearts of the people until
they attain the zenith of their influence. Then they gradually
become obscured, misrepresented and corrupted, and darkness
overshadows the earth until the sun of a new day arises. The
day of the Supreme Manifestation of God is the Last Day, because
it is a day that shall never end, and shall not be overtaken by
night. His sun shall never set, but shall illumine the souls of
men both in this world and in the world to come. In reality none
of the spiritual suns ever set. "The suns of Moses, of Christ,
of Muhammad, and all the other prophets are still shining in
Heaven with undiminished lustre. But earth-born clouds have
concealed their radiance from the people of earth. ‘The Supreme
Sun of Baha’u’llah will finally disperse these dark clouds, so that the
people of all religions will rejoice in the light of all the prophets,
and with one accord worship the one God whose light all the
prophets have mirrored forth.
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Prophecies about ‘Abdu’l-Baha.
In the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah, are several references to a man called the Branch. ‘These have often been taken by Christians as applying to Christ, but are regarded by Baha’is as referring especially to ‘Abdu’l-Baha. It is a usual custom in Persia to call the eldest son of the family “the greatest branch,” and ‘Abdu’l-Baha, as the eldest son of Bah@’u’llah, is commonly known among the Baha'is under this title. Baha’u’llah, in his writings, frequently refers to himself. as the Tree, or the Root, and to ‘Abdu’l-Baha as the Branch. ‘Abdu’l-Baha himself writes :—
‘© ‘Abdu’l-Baha is the Centre of the Covenant of God, the Branch which is suBservient to the Tree. The essential is the Tree, the foundation is the Tree and the universal reality is the Tree.”—Svar of the West, vol. viii. No. 17, p. 325.
The longest Bible prophecy about the Branch is in the 11th chapter of Isaiah :—
“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 . . . 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 with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. . . . 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. . . . And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
‘Abdu’l-Baha remarks about this and other prophecies of the Branch :-—
“One of the great events which is to occur in the day of the manifestation of that incomparable Branch, is the hoisting of the standard
of God among all nations, meaning that all the nations and tribes will come
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under the shadow of this divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation, ‘The antagonism of faiths and religions, the hostilities of races and peoples, and the patriotic differences, will be eradicated from among them. All will become one religion, one faith, one race, and one single people, and will dwell in one native land, which is the terrestrial globe. Universal peace and concord will _ be realized between all the nations. The incomparable Branch will gather together all Israel—signifying also that in this cycle the Jewish people who are scattered to the east and west, south and north, will be assembled together in the Holy Land.
«Now see: these events did not take place in the Christian cycle, for the nations did not come under the one standard which is the divine Branch. But in this cycle of the Lord of Hosts all the nations and peoples will enter under the shadow of this flag. In the same way, Israel, scattered all over the world, was not reassembled in the Holy Land in the Christian cycle; but in the beginning of the cycle of Baha’u’llah this divine promise, as is clearly stated in all the books of the prophets, has begun to be manifest. You can see that from all parts of the world tribes of Jews are coming to the Holy Land; they live in villages and lands which they make their own, and day by day they are increasing to such an extent that all Palestine will become their home.”—Some Answered Questions, p. 75.
Since the above was written, Palestine has passed out of the hands of the Turks, and the “ Allied and Associated Powers” have endorsed the policy of re-establishing a national home for the Jews in Palestine.
Since the great war we have also had the establishment of the League of Nations, and an international congress for the purpose of arranging simultaneous reduction of armaments. ‘These are great advances towards the fulfilment of the part of the prophecy referring to international peace.
The Day of Judgment.
Christ spoke much in parables about a great Day of Judgment, when “the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father ; and shall reward every man according to his works ” (Matt. xvi. 27). He compares this Day to the time of harvest, when the tares are burned and the wheat gathered into barns :—
“So shall it be at the end of the world (consummation of the age).
The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out
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of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”—Matt. xiii. 40-43.
The phrase “ end of the world” used in the Authorized Version of the Bible in this and similar passages has led many to suppose that when the Day of Judgment comes, the earth will suddenly be destroyed, but this is evidently a mistake. The true translation of the phrase appears to be ‘‘ the consummation or end of the age.” Christ teaches that the Kingdom of the Father is to be established on earth, as well as in Heaven. He teaches us to pray: “ Thy Kingdom come ; Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” In the parable of the Vineyard, when the Father, the Lord of the Vineyard, comes to destroy the wicked husbandmen, he does not destroy the vineyard (the world) also, but lets it out to other husbandmen, who will render Him the fruits in their season. The earth is not to be destroyed, but to be renewed and regenerated. Christ speaks of that: day on another occasion as “ the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his Glory.” St. Peter speaks of it 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 the world began.” ‘The Day of Judgment of which Christ speaks is evidently identical with the coming of the Lord of Hosts, the Father, which was prophesied by Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophets ; a time of terrible punishment for the wicked, but a time in which justice shall be established and righteousness rule, on earth as in heaven.
In the Bah@’i interpretation, the coming of each Manifestation
of God is a Day of Judgment, but the coming of the
supreme Manifestation of Baha’u’llah is the great Day of
Judgment for the World-cycle in which we are living. The
trumpet-blast of which Christ and Muhammad and many other
prophets speak is the call of the Manifestation, which is sounded
for all who are in heaven and on earth—the embodied and the
disembodied. The meeting with God, through His Manifestation, is, for those who desire to meet Him, the gateway to
the Paradise of knowing and loving Him, and living in love
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with all His creatures. Those, on the other hand, who prefer their own way to God’s way, as revealed by the Manifestation, thereby consign themselves to the Hell of selfishness, error and enmity.
The Great Resurrection.
The Day of Judgment is also the Day of Resurrection, of the raising of the dead. St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians says :—
“ Behold I show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortality must put on immortality.’—1 Cor. v. 51-54.
As to the meaning of these passages about the raising of the dead, Baha’w'llah writes in the Book of Igan :—
“ By the words ‘ life’ and ‘ death,’ recorded in the Books, is meant
life through faith, and death through unbelief. It is owing to the lack
of comprehension of this meaning that in every Manifestation the generality
of people refused to believe, were not directed by the Sun of Guidance,
and did not follow the Eternal Beauty. . . . Jesus said: ‘ Ye must be
born again,’ and in another place He said: ‘ Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God ; that which
is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit ’ (John iii. 6).
The interpretation of this is that whosoever is not quickened by the water
of divine knowledge and by the Holy Spirit of Jesus is not fitted to
enter the Supreme Kingdom. ... The essence of the meaning is
that those servants who are born of and quickened by the spirit and
breath of the appearances of holiness in every Manifestation, to them
can be attributed life, resurrection, and entrance into the Paradise
of Divine Love; while to others is ascribed death, heedlessness,
and entrance into the fire of unbelief and Divine Wrath. . . . Were ye
to taste a little of the clear water of Divine Knowledge, ye would know
that the real life is the life of the heart and not the life of the body ;
for both animals and men share in the life of the body; but the real life
is assigned to possessors of brilliant souls who drink from the ocean of
faith and partake of the fruit of assurance. This life is not followed by
death, nor this immortality by mortality; as it is said: ‘ A true believer
is alive both in this world and the world to come.’ If by ‘ life’ be meant
the outward life of the body, it is evident that death overtakes that.”
(Pp. 80-85.)
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According to the Baha'i teaching the Resurrection has nothing to do with the gross physical body. That body, once dead, is done with. It becomes decomposed and its atoms will never be recomposed into the same body.
Resurrection is the birth of the individual to spiritual life, through the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed through the Manifestation of God. ‘The grave from which he arises is the grave of ignorance and negligence of God. ‘The sleep from which he awakens is the dormant spiritual condition in which many await the dawn of the Day of God. ‘This dawn illumines all who have lived on the face of the earth, whether they are in the body or out of the body, but those who are spiritually blind cannot perceive it. The Day of Resurrection is not a day of twenty-four hours, but an era which has now begun and will last as long as the present world-cycle continues. The morning star of that day is the Bab; its sun is the supreme Manifestation of Baha’u’llah, and its moon is ‘Abdu’l-Baha—a star, a sun and a moon which will know no setting, and will continue to shine in the spiritual world when all traces of the present civilisation will have been wiped
off the surface of the globe.
Return of Christ.
In many of His conversations Christ speaks of the future Manifestation of God in the third person, but in others the first person is used. He says: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself” (John xiv. 2). In the first chapter of Acts we read that the disciples were told, at the ascension of Jesus : “‘ This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Because of these and similar sayings, many Christians expect that when the Son of Man comes “in the clouds of heaven and with great glory” they shall see in bodily form the very Jesus who walked the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and bled and suffered on the cross. They expect to be able to thrust their fingers into the prints of the nails on his hands and feet, and their hands into the spear-wound in hisside. Butsurelya little reflection on Christ’s own words would dissipate such an idea. The Jews
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of Christ’s time had just such ideas about the return of Elias, but Jesus explained their error, showing that the prophecy that “ Elias must first come” was fulfilled, not by the return of the person and body of the former Elias, but in the person of John the Baptist, who came “in the spirit and power of Elias.” “ And if ye will receive it,” said Christ, ‘this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” ‘The “return” of Elias, therefore, meant the appearance of another person, born of other parents, but inspired by God with the same spirit and power. These words of Jesus may surely be taken to imply that the return of Christ will, in like manner, be accomplished by the appearance of another person, born of another mother, but showing forth the Spirit and Power of God even as Christ did, Baha’u’llah explains that the “coming again”? of Christ was fulfilled in the advent of the Bab and in his own coming. He says :-—
“Tf the sun of to-day say, ‘I am the sun of yesterday!’ it is true; and yet if, according to daily sequence, it say, ‘I am other than the sun of yesterday,’ this is also true. Likewise consider the days: if it be said that all the days are the same, it is correct and true; and if it be said that according to name and designation they differ from each other, this also is true, as thou seest. For though they are the same, yet in each one there is a name, quality and designation which is different from the other. By the same method and explanation, understand the stations of separation, difference and oneness of the Holy Manifestations, so that thou mayest comprehend the interpretations of the Words of the Creator of the Names and Attributes, conceming separation and union.”—Book of Ighan, p. 15.
‘Abdu’l-Baha says :—
“ Know that the return of Christ for a second time doth not mean
what the people believe, but rather signifieth the One promised to come
after Him. He shall come with the Kingdom of God and His Power
which hath surrounded the world. This dominion is in the world of
hearts and spirits, and not in that of matter; for the material world is
not comparable to a single wing of a fly, in the sight of the Lord, wert
thou of those who know! Verily Christ came with His Kingdom from
the beginning which hath no beginning, and will come with His Kingdom
to the eternity of eternities, inasmuch as in this sense ‘ Christ ’ is an expression of the Divine Reality, the simple Essence and heavenly Entity, which
hath no beginning nor ending. It hath appearance, arising, manifestation
and setting in each of the cycles.” —Tadlets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahd, vol.i. p. 138.
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The Time of the End.
Christ and his apostles mentioned many signs which would distinguish the times of the “‘ Return” of the Son of Man in the glory of the Father. Christ said :—
“ And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. . . . For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled . . . for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, uszi/ the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.”—Luke xxi. 20-24.
Again He said :—
“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ’; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these things are the beginning of sorrows. ‘Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And +his gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come.” —Matt. xxiv, 4-14.
In these two passages Christ foretold in plain terms, without veil or covering, the things that must come to pass defore the coming of the Son of Man. During the centuries that have elapsed since Christ spoke, every one of these signs has been fulfilled. In the last part of each passage he mentions an event that shall mark the time of the coming—in one case the ending of the Jewish exile and the restoration of Jerusalem, and in the other the preaching of the gospel in all the world. It is startling to find that both of these signs are being literally fulfilled in our own times. If these parts of the prophecy are as true as the rest, it follows that we must be living now in the “ time of the end” of which Christ spoke.
al aa a hh lll lal
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Muhammad also mentions certain signs which will persist until the Day of Resurrection. In the Qur’dén we read :—
“When Allah said: ‘O Jesus! Verily I will cause thee to die, and exalt thee towards me, and clear thee of the charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who follow thee (i.e. Christians) above those who disbelieve (Jews and others) until the Day of Resurrection; then to Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning that in which you differed.’”—Siarat iii. 54.
“The Hand of God,’ say the Jews, ‘is chained up.’ Their own hands shall be chained up—and for that which they have said shall they be cursed. Nay! outstretched are both His hands! At His own pleasure doth He bestow gifts. ‘That which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief of many of them; and We have put enmity and hatred between them that shall last until the Day of Resurrection. Oft as they kindle a beacon fire for war shall God quench it.”—Siirat v. 69.
“ And of those who say, ‘ We are Christians,’ have We accepted the Covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were taught ; wherefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them that shall last until the Day of Resurrection ; and in the end will God tell them of their doings.’—Strat v. 17.
These words also have been literally fulfilled in the subjection of the Jews to Christian (and Muslim) peoples, and in the sectarianism and strife which have divided both Jews and Christians among themselves during all the centuries since Muhammad spoke. Only since the commencement of the Baha'i era (the Day of Resurrection) have signs of the approaching end of these conditions made their appearance.
Signs in Heaven and Earth.
In the Hebrew, Christian, Muhammadan and many other Scriptures, there is a remarkable similarity in the description of the signs which are to accompany the coming of the Promised One.
In the Book of Joel we read :—
- And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and
fire, and pillars of smoke. ‘The sun shall be turned into darkness, and
the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come.
For behold, in those days, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah
and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them into_the
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valley of Jehoshaphat (Jehovah judgeth) and will plead with them there . .. multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : for the Day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. ‘The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the strength of his people.”
Christ says :—
“ Immediately after the tribulations of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” —Matt. xxiv. 29, 30.
In the Qur’an we read :—
- 'When the sun shall be shrouded,
And when the stars shall fall, And when the mountains are made to pass away And when the leaves of the Book shall be unrolled, And when the heaven shall be uncovered, And when hell shall be made to blaze.”—Sirat Ixxxi.
In the Book of Igan Bahi@’u'llah explains that these prophecies
about the sun, moon and stars, the heavens and the earth, are
symbolical and are not to be understood merely in the literal
sense. ‘The prophets were primarily concerned with spiritual, not
with material, things ; with spiritual, not with physical, light.
When they mention the sun, in connection with the Day of
Judgment, they refer to the Sun of Righteousness. ‘The sun is
the supreme source of light, so Moses was a sun for the Hebrews,
Christ for the Christians, and Muhammad for the Muslims.
When the prophets speak of the sun being darkened, what is
meant is that the pure teachings of these spiritual Suns have become
obscured by misrepresentation, misunderstanding and prejudice,
so that the people are in spiritual darkness, ‘The moon and stars
are the lesser sources of illumination, the religious leaders and
teachers, who should guide and inspire the people. When it is
said that the moon shall not give her light or shall be turned into
blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven, it is indicated that the
leaders of the churches shall become debased, engaging in strife
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and contention, and the priests shall become worldly-minded, concerned about earthly instead of heavenly things.
The meaning of these prophecies is not exhausted by one explanation, however, and there are other senses in which these symbols can be interpreted, Baha’u’llah says that in another sense the words “sun,” ‘“‘moon,” and “stars” are applied to the ordinances and instructions enacted in every religion. As in every subsequent Manifestation the ceremonies, forms, customs and instructions of the preceding Manifestation are changed in accordance with the requirements of the times, so, in this sense the sun and moon are changed and the stars dispersed.
In many cases the literal fulfilment of these prophecies in the outward sense would be absurd or impossible; for example, the moon being turned into blood or the stars falling upon the earth. The least of the visible stars is many thousand times larger than the earth, and were one to fall on the earth there would be no earth left for another to fall on! In other cases, however, there is a material as well as a spiritual fulfilment. For example, the Holy Land did literally become desert and desolate during many centuries, as foretold by the prophets, but already, in the Day of Resurrection, it is beginning to “rejoice and blossom as the rose,” as Isaiah foretold, Prosperous colonies are being started, the land is being irrigated and cultivated, and vineyards, olive groves and gardens are flourishing where half a century ago there was only sandy waste. Doubtless when men beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks, wildernesses and deserts in all parts of the world will be reclaimed ; the scorching winds and sandstorms that blow from these deserts, and make life in their neighbourhood well-nigh intolerable, will be things of the past ; the climate of the whole earth will become milder and more equable ; cities will no longer defile the air with smoke and poisonous fumes, and even in the outward, material sense there will be ‘‘new heavens and a new earth.”
Manner of Coming.
As to the manner of His coming at the end of the age, Christ
said :—
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% And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet . . . then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.”— Matt. xxiv. xxv.
Regarding these and similar passages Baha'u'llah writes in the Book of Igan :—
“The purpose of the word ‘ heaven ’ is none other than to denote the exaltation and loftiness which is the station of the appearance of those Daysprings of Holiness and Dawning-places of Pre-existence. Although these Ancient Beings outwardly appear from the wombs of mothers, yet in reality they descend from the Heaven of Command ; and although they dwell upon the earth, yet they recline upon the couch of Significances ; and while walking upon the earth, they soar in the skies of Nearness. ‘They journey in the land of Spirit without motion of foot, and fly upward to the summit of Oneness without wing... .
“By ‘cloud’ is meant things contrary to the egotism and desire of men, as mentioned in the verse: ‘Ye therefore, whenever a messenger comes to you with that which your souls desire not, proudly reject him, and accuse some of imposture and slay others’ (Qur’an S. 11). Such clouds are, for instance, the changing of ordinances, substitution of laws, removal of customary rules and ceremonies, and the pre-eminence of common people who become believers over the learned who deny 3 likewise also the appearance of that Eternal Beauty in accordance with human limitations, such as eating, drinking, poverty, riches, glory, abasement, sleeping, waking and similar things which cause people to doubt, and hinder them from accepting the Manifestation.
As clouds prevent the eyes of men from viewing the phenomenal sun, so the above conditions hinder the people from apprehending that Ideal Sun. . . . As these Temples of Holiness were subject to outward indigence and adversity and also to natural and bodily necessities, such as hunger, thirst, and incidental happenings, the people would become bewildered in Saharas of doubt and suspicion and in deserts of imagination and perplexity, wondering: ‘How could one come from God, claim predominance over all in the earth, and ascribe to Himself the motive of the creation of beings . . . and yet be afflicted by such trifling matters?’ For it is heard how every Prophet and his companions suffered adversities such as poverty, diseases and contempt; how the heads of their followers were sent as presents in the cities; how they were prevented from that whereunto they were commanded, and each of them suffered by the hand of the enemies of religion, to such an extent that the latter inflicted upon them whatever they desired... .
The Lord of Might hath made all these conditions which are con+
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trary to impure souls and opposed to the desire of people, as a test and standard by which He tries His servants and distinguishes the righteous from the wicked, the believer from the denier. . . .
“ As to His saying : ‘ And will send His angels,’ etc., these ‘ angels ’ are souls who through spiritual power have burned human qualities by the fire of Divine Love and become characterized with the attributes of the Exalted ones and Cherubim. . . .
“ As the people of Jesus did not attain to these meanings, and these signs did not outwardly come to pass as they and their divines understood, they have not believed in the Holy Manifestations from that day until the present; therefore they have been deprived of the sacred bounties and veiled from the wonderful Words of Eternity. ‘This is the condition of these servants in this Day of Resurrection. ‘They have not even understood that if in any age the signs of a Manifestation were to appear in the phenomenal world in conformity with that which is recorded in the traditions, no one would dare to deny or oppose them, nor could the pious and the unjust, the sinner and the righteous be distinguished. Be just; for instance, if these statements recorded in the Gospel should be literally fulfilled, and Angels descend with Jesus the Son of Mary from the phenomenal heaven in a cloud, who would dare to deny, and who would be able to reject or dispute? Nay, rather, such agitation would suddenly seize upon the people of the world that they would not be able to speak a word, much less to deny or accept.” —Book
of Ighan, pp. 44-58.
According to the above explanation, the coming of the Son of Man, in lowly human form, born of a woman, poor, uneducated, oppressed and set at naught by the great ones of the earth—this manner of coming is the very touchstone by which He judges the people of earth and separates them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. “Those whose spiritual eyes are opened can see through these clouds and rejoice in the “ power and great glory,”—the very glory of God—which He comes to reveal ; the others, whose eyes are still holden by prejudice and error, can see but the dark clouds and continue to grope in gloom, deprived of the blessed sunshine.
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in... .
But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when
he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap. . . .
For behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven ; and all the proud,
yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble. . . . But unto you that
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fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings.”—Mal. iii. iv. :
Notre.—The subject of fulfilment of prophecy is such an extensive one that many volumes would be required for its adequate exposition. All that can be done within the limits of a single chapter is to indicate the main outlines of the Baha’I interpretations. ‘The detailed Apocalypses revealed by Daniel and St. John have been left untouched. Readers will find certain chapters of these dealt with in Some Answered Questions (see Bibliography). In the Book of Ighan, by Baha’u’llah, Baha’i Proofs, by Mirza Abu’l-Fadl, and in many of the Tablets of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha further explanations of prophecies may be found.
