The Lord is One/Text

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Cover phmo: Star Cluster, courtesy of

Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories

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by Seymour Weinberg

B.-\I~I.-VI PUBLISHING TRUST

Wilmette, Illinois

Printed in U.S.A.

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The well—known author, Pierre Van Paassan, speaking before a completely filled auditorium at the Brooklyn Jewish Center some years ago, declared: “There are two great prophecies in the Old Testament. One deals with the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the other with the establishment of world peace. The fact that the prophecies dealing with the return of the Jews to the Holy Land have been fulfilled, gives us the assurance that those dealing with world peace will also be realized.”

The certitude expressed in these words testifies to the renewed faith engendered by a thoughtful contemplation of the restoration of Israel. What perspective can one arrive at, as he gazes upon the vast historical process associated with the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, other than that the destiny of this people is in the hands of a higher Power? A brief survey of the highlights of this dynamically unfolding drama affirms with unmistakable clarity the existence of an underlying Divine Plan.

More than 3000 years ago, while leading His people to the Promised Land, Moses revealed the outstanding features of this Divine Plan. Re [Page 6]fcrring to the ultimate destiny of the Jewish people He declared: “That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have compassion upon thee, and return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord hath scattered thee.” (Deut. 30:3)

This prophecy of the scattering and return was reaffirmed many times by the other Old Testament Prophets. The greatest of these, Isaiah, categorically asserted that the Almighty would “assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12)

The fulfillment of the initial stage of this portentous prophecy occurred with the destruction of the Temple, the razing of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews to all four corners of the globe. A people, whose civilization had during the reign of Solomon achieved such splendor that, in the words of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, “even the Greek philosophers journeyed to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of its sages,” were now severed from their homeland, and entered upon a period of humiliation and persecution that was destined to last for well—nigh 2000 years.

In commenting upon this precipitous turn of events during the course of an address on religion and civilization delivered at San Francisco’s Temple—Emanuel in 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stated: “From this review of the history of the Jewish

[Page 7]people we learn that the foundation of the religion of God laid by His Holiness Moses was the cause of their eternal honor and national prestige, the animating impulse of their advancement and racial supremacy and the source of that excellence which will always command the respect and reverence of those who understand their peculiar destiny and outcome. The dogmas and blind imitations which gradually obscured the reality of the religion of God proved to be Israel’s destructive influences causing the expulsion of these chosen people from the Holy Land of their Covenant and promise?”

Many years earlier, while still a prisoner in Palestine, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had predicted that the Jews would, in this age, return to the Holy Land to the extent that all Palestine would become their home.”

First Signs of the Return

The first signs that the promise of the return would be realized appeared in the eighteenth century when the various nations of Europe and America, one after another, granted the Jews many civil and legal rights which had been denied them during the previous centuries. Its focus became sharper in the year 1844 with the signing by the Turkish Government of the “Edict of Toleration.” This edict permitted the Jews to return to the Holy Land,

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from which they had been rigidly excluded for 1260 years. The process of the return was further intensified in 1867, when the followers of the Jewish Faith were given the right to own real estate in Palestine. Its momentum continued to be accelerated as groups of Jews from various countries, responding to the inspiration of their hearts, and without the stimulus of any organized program, voluntarily settled in the Holy Land.

In l9l7 with the issuance of the Balfour Declaration, the Government of Great Britain declared that it viewed with favor “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The “return” received the almost unanimous moral and financial support of world-wide Jewry as a result of the rise of Hitlerism, and the subsequent persecution of the Jews. Indeed it may be said that the sacrifiee of the murdered multitudes and the suffering of the pitiful survivors of this persecution created a moral force which eventually led to the resolution of the United Nations for the establishment of the State of Israel and to its subsequent recognition by the leading nations of the world. The permanency of this “return” has been demonstrated again and again by the new state’s ability to withstand the attacks of its hostile neighbors and by its amazing growth and progress.

[Page 9]Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy

As one reviews this entire historical panorama with its remarkable fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, he is led to pay homage to the relevancy and wisdom of the Old Testament. Might not a closer perusal of this sacred scripture unfold a deeper understanding of the present world crisis which is threatening to engulf all humanity? For in the Old Testament the prophecies pertaining to the return of the Jews are synchronized with those prophecies relating to the establishment of world peace and the founding of a world-embracing Divine civilization, sustained by the unifying power of a universal world faith.

“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.” (Isaiah 11:9)

“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord and his name one.” (Zechariah 14:9)

“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

[Page 10]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 2:24)

“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)

If these prophecies are valid, what is preventing their fulfillment? Must humanity undergo the same intense suffering which afflicted European Jewry before its divine destiny will be realized—or can the present generation learn from the lessons of the past?

The Warning that Precedes Crisis

One lesson which the Old Testament teaches again and again is that before every great crisis in human affairs, before every earthshaking calamity and judgment,

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[Page 11]God has always given His warning and guidance before the calamity. God spoke to Noah before the Hood, giving Him a detailed plan for the building of an ark. This ark became the instrument for the continuance of life and the salvation of humanity.

This same principle operated with respect to Jonah and Nineveh, Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses and the Egyptians, and the Hebrew Prophets and ancient Israel. Has it ceased to operate in today’s world at a time when humanity faces not the possibility but the probability of a world—wide calamity unparalleled in recorded history, a calamity whose potential destructive power recalls the judgment so vividly described in the twenty—fourth chapter of Isaiah? Is there not then a prophetic Voice for our time, clearly illuminating the path ahead and guiding mankind safely to the promised land of the future — the Divine world civilization?

Appearance of the Promised Teacher

In Haifa, Israel, about halfway up Mt. Carmel, there stands a majestic golden—domed building which is integrally connected with an affirmative answer to this vital question. An inquiry about the meaning of this unusual structure reveals that Israel is holy not only to Judaism,

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Christianity and Islam, but that it is also the administrative and spiritual center of the youngest world religion, the Bahá’í Faith.

It may come as a surprise to many to learn that the mysterious process of world religion repeated itself in the nineteenth century with the birth of this new world Faith. Yet, the challenging historical pattern of the great religions—that of Messianic expectancy, the appearance of the promised Teacher, His claim to being the Messenger of God, the revelation of Holy Scripture, and the eventual triumph of His Cause despite overwhelming opposition and persecution —— did reoccur, and almost in our own time.

An examination of the history of this young Faith reveals that it arose out of the Messianic traditions in the Faith of Muhammad—a religion which affirms the Divine Missions of Abraham, Moses and Jesus — in the same way that Christianity emerged from Judaism. Its Forerunner, the youthful Bab, who proclaimed the coming of the great Messiah, suffered martyrdom under circumstances offering a remarkable parallel to the execution of John the Baptist and the crucifixion of Christ. Over twenty thousand of its first followers chose death, often through excruciating torture, rather than renounce their newly—won faith. A life of suffering and sacrifice, so typical of the past religious

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Founders, repeated itself in the life of its Founder, Bahá’u’lláh (Glory of God), who like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad before Him was also a descendant of Abraham. The workings of a mysterious destiny eventually exiled Bahá’u’lláh from His native land of Persia, where His Faith was first proclaimed, and banished Him from place to place until He was finally imprisoned by the Sultan of Turkey in the fortress-city of ‘Akká, Palestine, the very city designated by the Prophet Hosea as “a door of hope.” From this prison in the Holy Land, and in direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy (Isaiah 2:3, 4), Bahá’u’lláh directed His warnings and teachings to the political and religious leaders of the nineteenth century world — they in whose hands lay the immediate destiny of mankind — and He was ignored. The contrast between these warnings and teachings and the ominously-threatening nuclear holocaust hovering over mankind today, demonstrates conclusively that the fateful theme underlying the biblical dramas of Noah and the Ark and the Hebrew Prophets and ancient Israel has repeated itself in our time.

In His Message Bahá’u’lláh declared that, through the providence of God mankind has entered a new age, the age of world unity. A higher degree of faith and a more universal consciousness are absolutely necessary, He said, if man is to function successfully in this new

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[Page 14]clay. The projection of the racial prejudices and narrow nationalistic attitudes of the past into the new era, and the continued insistence upon limited religious loyalty and understanding will bring unparalleled suffering to mankind. In this new age, Bahá’u’lláh affirmed, “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.”

The Oneness of Religion

The universal understanding of religion which He inculeatcd stressed that all the great world Faiths are part of the plan of God. There is only one religion of God, Bahá’u’lláh explained further, but this religion is a dynamic, progressive Faith restated from age to age by the great Teachers, such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad to meet the needs of the age for which they come. Although seemingly different, these great Teachers possess the same Reality and reflect the same Light. If we would observe with discriminating eyes, He declares, we would “behold them all abiding in the same tabernaele, soaring in the same heaven, seated upon the same throne, uttering the same speech and proclaiming the same Faith.“ The eternal purpose of their teachings is “to heal the sickness of a divided hu I4

[Page 15]manity” by creating love and unity among the members of the community. In this new era when the world is pressed to become one community, the restatement of the Religion of God for our age, which Bahá’u’lláh declared God had commissioned Him to reveal, demonstrates clearly the fundamental oneness of religion and the fundamental oneness of mankind. It provides for the effective unity and reconciliation of the great world religions through the establishment of a universal world faith.

To Queen Victoria, Bahá’u’lláh specifically wrote: “That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and the mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician.“ That He was the “all-powerful and inspired Physician,” the “Father,” “Counsellor,” “Prince of Peace,” “Lord of Hosts” promised by Isaiah, that it was His Revelation which the Old Testament Prophets had extolled as the “Day of God,” Bahá’u’lláh affirmed in passage after passage of unequalled beauty and power. Addressing the Jewish people specifically He wrote:

“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

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of bygone ages have related.”“

That the long-awaited Messiah, the “Father” promised by Isaiah, who would rule upon the throne of David, could have appeared seems too incredible to believe. Did we ever really expect this promise to be fulfilled— especially in our own time? Yet, if the assertion that the Messiah has come challenges our sense of reality, can it be said to be any more fantastic than the fact that an accident or the judgment of one individual can set into motion the unimaginably destructive process of thermonuclear war? What of the successful reestablishment of the State of Israel in our day — a hope and yearning that was transmitted through faith from century to century despite the seemingly utter impossibility of ever realizing such a consummation? It is clear that the signs and portents of our age require every devotee of truth and justice, every lover of humanity, and every believer in Almighty God to consider carefully the claims of the Founder of the first great world Faith to make its appearance in the world in over 1260 years.

The Unfoldment of God’s Plan

To be a Jew is to share in the history, traditions and devotions of a unique people, and to be loyal to the

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[Page 17]highest ideals of that tradition. It is clear that in ancient Israel the religion of God was indissolubly linked with the national life of the people. The Holy Scripture, however, made it very clear that God’s religion would not remain the exclusive possession of one people, but would grow and extend its influence until it embraced all mankind. T0 attempt to preserve the religion of God in a crystallized exclusive outward form, instead of growing with it and imbibing its inner spirit, was to invite disaster, not for the religion, but for the nation. Moses, Himself, sharply reminds us of this in the following passages:

“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” (Deut. 18:15)

“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee . . . and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end

of the earth even unto the other.” (Deut. 28:15, 28:63, 64)

God’s religion, in point of fact, continued to unfold through time. Its twin functions of elevating and ennobling the nature of man and meeting the social needs of an ever 17

[Page 18]evolving humanity were extended to include a much wider circle of mankind. It continued to prepare its followers for the appearance of the great Messiah, who would establish the Universal Divine Civilization, the Kingdom of God on earth. That the missions of Jesus Christ and Muhammad were associated with this high purpose was acknowledged by the great Jewish philosopher Maimonides, and was clearly set Iiorth by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the son of Bahá’u’lláh and the authorized Interpreter of His Teachings during the course of His address at the Temple—Emanuel in San Francisco.

“Throughout Europe,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained, “there was not a copy of the Old Testament; but consider this carefully and judge it aright; through the instrumentality of Christ, through the translation of the New Testament, the little volume of the Gospel, the Old Testament, the Torah, has been translated into six hundred languages and spread everywhere in the world. The names of the Hebrew prophets became household words among the nations, who believed that the children of Israel were verily the chosen people of God, a holy nation under the special blessing and protection of God, and that therefore the prophets who had arisen in Israel were the Daysprings of Revelation and brilliant stars in the heaven of the will of God.

“Therefore His Holiness Christ really promulgated Judaism for He

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[Page 19]was a Jew and not opposed to the Jews. He did not deny the Prophethood of Moses; on the contrary He proclaimed and ratified it. He did not invalidate the Torah; He spread its teachings. That portion of the ordinances of Moses which concerned transactions and unimportant eonditions underwent transformation, but the essential teachings of Moses were revoieed and confirmed by Christ without change?”

Eternal and Temporary Aspects of Religion

Earlier in the same address, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had elucidated this same point, declaring:

“Each of the divine religions is separable into two divisions. One concerns the world of morality and the ethical training of human nature. It is directed to the advancement of the world of humanity in general; it reveals and inculcates the knowledge of God and makes possible the discovery of the verities of life. This is ideal and spiritual teaching, the essential quality of divine religion and not subject to change or transformation. It is the one foundation of all the religions of God. Therefore the religions are essentially one and the same.

“The second classification or division comprises social laws and regulations applicable to human conduct. This is not the essential spiritual

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quality of religion. It is subject to change and transformation according to the exigencies and requirements of time and place.“

If one is fair in his judgment, can he deny that with the appearance of Christ, the universalizing process of the religion of God entered a new and vital stage in its evolution? Who knows to what heights the Hebrew nation would have risen, had it hearkened to God at that critical point in the evolution of His Faith? Who knows how much further advanced the world itself would now be if a spirit of dedication to truth instead of outward conformity had prevailed at that time?

The past cannot be undone and the destruction of the Temple and the obliteration of Jewish national life some seventy years after Christ’s birth are now facts of history. A knowledge of the past is important insofar as it prevents the same or similar mistakes from recurring. The nation of Israel exists today because of the loyalties and strengths of the Jewish people, but primarily because of the mercy of God. Despite the past, God was faithful to His Promise. He restored their nationhood. Exactly as foretold in the eleventh chapter of the Prophet Isaiah, this great event took place during the “reign” of “the Promise of all ages”Bahá’u’lláh the Lord of Hosts.

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[Page 21]The Security of all Nations

The promise of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land has now been substantially realized. Its further efflorescence depends primarily upon the fulfillment of that other great prophecy in the Old Testament, the establishment of world peace and “the proclamation of the reign of righteousness and justice upon the earth.” Indeed, the future wellbeing and security of all nations and peoples is indissolubly linked to the attainment of this supreme aim.

The Bahá’í Faith, “the mightiest instrument” which God has ordained for the accomplishment of this glorious goal, has now firmly established itself in more than 250 countries of the world. It has won to its fold Jew, Christian, Moslem, Hindu, Buddhist and Zoroastrian, white and colored, European and Asiatic, and has emerged as a closely-knit, organically—united world civilization in embryo. This world community, founded upon the principle of the oneness of mankind, freed from all racial, religious, national and class prejudices, and embracing the diverse religions, races and nations of the world, offers a visible demonstration to an unbelieving world, that world order, world unity and world peace can be achieved.

“O, how blessed the day,” Bahá’u’lláh has exclaimed, “when, aided by the grace and might of the one true God, man will have

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[Page 22]freed himself from the bondage and corruption of the world and all that is therein, and will have attained unto true and abiding rest beneath the shadow of the Tree of Knowledge!” And again, “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.”‘“

“The time foreordained 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.”“

[Page 23]REFERENCES

. Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.358

Some Answered Questions, p.76

. Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.250

. Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.52

. Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.255 The Promised Day is Come, pp.78_. 79

Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.361

. Promulgation of Universal Peace, p.359

. Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p.78

. Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp.l0, ll . Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp.l2, 13

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