 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater Lesson one of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh in a sequence of four lessons. The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh in a sequence of four lessons compiled by Isabella D. Briddingham, February 1902. The teachings are simplicity itself. One, to believe in the glad tidings of the coming of God. Two, to confess his oneness and singleness. Three, to be naturalized into his attributes. Four, to come near the knowledge of God. And there is nothing to man but to attain these great ends. Abdu'l Bahá'u'lláh a boss. Lesson one, the foreshadowing of the coming of the kingdom. In the present day there is comparatively little atheism. While many have rejected what is known as Orthodox belief, yet in this age there is a recession in the tide of infidelity. Back of the law has recognized its founder. Back of effect is a cause. Back of life the bestower of life. And to an extent of which it is not itself cognizant, the world is seeking light. This explains the existence of the many new forms of religious thought which are now developing. So unmistakably has the supreme pen recorded upon all things visible, the majestic proofs of the invisible, that this planet is but a type of greater things, much of which, owing to man's present imperfection, is yet in cipher. Four hundred years before Christ Plato said, the visible things are but a blotted copy, a shadow of eternal ideas. Jesus Christ used physical illustrations in order to impart the highest knowledge of God. Since our environment is material in character, every messenger or prophet from God has made use of material figures in order to convey to our understanding certain spiritual realities. Thus the appearance of the founder of each dispensation is the Son of Truth, newly arising upon the horizon of the darkened spiritual heavens and bringing forth a new day of light. When this heavenly Son fulfills its mission, it disappears. The rays of its divine knowledge gradually grow dim and indistinguishable, and when light is lost, darkness dominates all things, corruption of the word results. And in its path follows the night of doubt, when dogma, creed, and division occupy the attention and the contention of mankind, all of which causes many to lose hope and to ask, what is truth? But this divine discontent is the preparation in those hearts in order that they may welcome the breaking of a new day, when light shall be restored in greater beauty than ever before. In all creation, man is the greatest kingdom. The soul of man is the seed of God, because it alone contains the essence of immortality. The beginning, i.e. seed planting, is the same for each soul, but this world spoils that soul. Heredity is but an earthly product. A perfect man is fivefold. Within this kingdom exists the element to the mineral, vegetable, animal, intellectual, and spiritual being. The material body of man is a vehicle for communication, a thing of sensation and feeling, a symbol by its construction of greater things, and above all, it is a temple. Breath animates it and sustains its physical existence. Food and water are the material helpers, the body at every instant passing through the cycle of loss and renewal, circulating through it its channels weaving like a vine with its branches, from and returning to that wonderful center the heart is the blood, and in that blood exists an indescribable, impalpable substance which is spiritual in its characteristics. Science tells us that it exists only in the living blood, but not in the blood after death. Deposited within the temple are the pearls of God's secrets and the gems of his knowledge, and the crown jewel therein is the essence of light. Heaven and earth alone are in this kingdom. But it is man alone the only portion of creation who is able to understand the things of God who is out of harmony, and because on this one dominant discordant note all creation is jarred upon and travaileth together. The dumb animals all about him are in many respects monumental examples to him. He alone in whom dwells the essence of immortality is faithless and asleep at his post. There is a well mighty pray that he be permitted to exist throughout the duration of God's dominion and not become as the beasts which perish. Christ predicted this when he said, When the Son of man cometh, will he find faith on the earth? St. Luke 18.8 Man alone can attain the sublime heights of union with the infinite, when the soul hungers for the knowledge of its God, and it drinks from the unadulterated cup of immortality, and the crystal draft in its action upon the soul resembles a drop of elixir upon a piece of copper, which cleansing from all impurity transmutes it into pure gold. Thus, through spiritual evolution, man arises from the animal station, the station of sensation which is our Satan, and attains the station of intellect, then dies to that station and arises in the station of spirit. It has been said that the last degree of reason is the first degree of love. When the immortal seed has thus gained its growth, and has been clothed upon with the new garments, it stands victorious over spiritual death, and discovers its inheritance to consist of the holiest fruits of the kingdom of the Father. This is the reality of the new birth. This is the true resurrection. This is the redemption of the body. This is regeneration. The way thither is only through faith and deeds. Faith must be founded upon knowledge, and after knowledge arises service. Fasting is one of the deeds. The fast of the soul is the first and greater one to keep, and then the others follow. Nineteen hundred years ago, our great master Jesus Christ walked the earth in the station of perfect radiance. He found only a few illiterate fishermen who were able to comprehend that radiance, and to them he taught the mysteries of the kingdom, giving them to drink of the pure wine from that heavenly kingdom, feeding them with the very body and blood of its sacred secrets, that even as he was its vine, they might become its branches, that even as he was the son of the new heavens of the Christian dispensation, they might become its moon and stars. And then he passed out of the world, leaving it in the same general clouds of spiritual darkness as profailed when he came into it, and he left the trust of his holy mission and teachings in their hands. And today that little band of simple unlearned men and women shine down through the centuries as the moon and stars. Peter the Rock was the moon of that heaven, for he established the Church of Christ, and Christ said, The clouds also signify the veil of flesh, the body, and a new dawning point of the light, that there are many signs which foretoken the near-arising of the sun upon our spiritual night very few who are all-thoughtful or reasoning will deny. The question is, what is the meaning of the meaning of the word, the meaning of the word, the question as to how that deliverer is to appear is also absorbing the thought of many, and out of these many thoughts is crystallizing one predominating belief. Since Jesus Christ said, the coming of the Son of Man would be as silently as a thief, St. Matthew 24-43, and unobserved, St. Luke 17-20, it is impossible that there should be any material pump or demonstration. We are told by Jesus that the Son of the former spiritual heavens will darken, and that the light of its moon and stars will fall. Also it is prophesied that at this time the heavens will be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. What is this fire? We find the answer in Hebrews 12-29, for our God is a consuming fire. The end of the world in the original Greek is the conclusion of the age. It means that a definite cycle or period is perfected, and at its close the day when God shall reign will arise. The deliverer of the earth will be seen and known, for he is to come and dwell with his people, and they, the flock of his pastor, are men, and he is to be their shepherd and their God, Ezekiel 34-23 to end. Some may say that this refers to Jesus Christ. Was His appearance the time in which the covenants of universal peace was fulfilled? It is quite true that through the spiritual upliftment of His presence and teachings He gave the secret of His abiding peace to His disciples. But He said, I came not to send peace, but a sword. Also, in His great parable of the Lord of the Vineyard Jesus Christ renews this prophecy, as found in Saint Mark 12th chapter, four parties there being mentioned, two of which are the Father and the Son. In Zechariah we have many important prophecies concerning this time. And in its last chapter, verse 9, the declaration is made that the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one. The prophetic utterances of the Psalms give us many proofs. It is said that the second and the 72nd Psalms were never fulfilled. These announce that the king and the king's son are to come. Isaiah tells us, 30-20, that thine eyes shall see thy teachers. Prophecy always declares that this is to be the time of judgment, of sifting the nations. 1 Chronicles 1633 Acts 1730-31, Isaiah 3028, Amos 9-9, etc. of separating the wheat from the tares and of restoration and restitution. Acts 321 Clearly there can be nothing to be restored in the supreme heavens. Therefore the promised one must appear upon the earth, be visible to all, and in a manner that it may be possible for all to know Him and to receive of Him. God Himself has been teaching us to recognize the perfection of His laws, which law's man alone has abused. In reason the deliverer can only come to us in one way, born of a woman, born under the law, a chosen one whom God will send, and in whom the divine word will incarnate. And by its manifestation, thus upon earth, restore all things and renew the heavens and the earth, and all that therein is. Jesus Christ also warns us against the false Christs, which are rising upon all sides. This alone is sufficient proof that God will manifest Himself in the flesh at the end of the age. Through every revelator the same light shines, through each the same word, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting manifests. The personality, Jesus tells us, is nothing. The personality is but the pure and polished mirror, which chosen of God, prepared of God, and sent by God appears among mankind, and this mirror receives the bounty of His light and reflects it out unto mankind. This was the light of Moses, and this was the light of Jesus. But in the advance of Revelation the light of Jesus was much greater. This light in every age is the reality of the messenger sent of God. The word which speaks through that personality is that revelation through which we come into a knowledge of our God. This is the incarnated word. The personality and the garment of another name are physical. The power of the word manifested in and bringing the light through that personality is our means of communication with God. In the third and fourth chapters of the book of Malachi we also find that a forerunner is to appear, declaring the near approach of this day and preparing the way of the Lord. The spirit and power of Elijah were manifested in John the Baptist, yet in the first chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John he declared, I am not he. The prophecies regarding the coming of this herald, as found in Malachi, identify it with this time of sifting and of judgment. It is to be the time of the refining fire. It is the day in which God shall appear. Perfection shall reign and shall judge the earth. Who is this who is to arise in the midst of spiritual night? Malachi declares, it is to be the Son of righteousness. Whom did Jesus say this was? He said, I will return in the kingdom of my Father. Whose message did Jesus bring? The message of his Father. When they besought him at Capernaum, not to depart from them, he said, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent, Saint Luke 442-43. He was sent to preach the coming of the Father's kingdom, not of his own kingdom, to announce the advent of the Lord of the Vineyard. He taught his little band of disciples to pray for the coming of that kingdom. We find that Jesus often prayed to the Father. It is very true that he said, I and my Father are one. Jesus Christ was a mirror in which the light of the Son shone, and which reflected that light, and by this union and communion they were one. This is why he said, I am in the Father and the Father in me, and also he who hath seen the Son hath seen the Father. If a bar of iron is heated in the fire, it will become characterized with the characteristics of the fire. It is in the fire and the fire is in it. Jesus also said, My Father is greater than I, Saint John 1428. Likewise he said, Saint Luke 1819. Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one. That is God. He said, Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Saint Mark 1229. Jesus told his disciples that he did nothing of himself, but the Father dwelling in him did the works. Saint John 1410. That if the disciples had faith, they could do even greater works than he did. Saint Matthew 2121 etc. He said the word which they heard was not his, but the Father's. He talked only of the Father, of the coming of whose glorious day he was the faithful witness. He proclaimed to all that this was to be the dispensation of the Fatherhood of God. In his last sublime hours, he said that he was not alone because the Father was with him, Saint John 1632. Certain of his last words were, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And yet he expected to go to the Father, the record of him, as a man approved of God among you, through many mighty works which God did by him, which are the words of Saint Peter spoken on the day of Pentecost, and those of Saint Paul and Hebrews concerning the beloved, which tell us that the captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering. Do not, in the slightest degree, impair the power and majesty of this wonderful messenger sent by the Father. They who wrote these records of his life gladly walked in his lowly but glorious footsteps, even unto martyrdom, his foes being their foes as Saint Paul chronicles in 1 Thessalonians 2.15, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us. Jesus Christ was the Word of God, the Son of God, the Mystery of God, his utterances have founded the Christian dispensation, and for 1900 years have been the light of the Occident. But if we believe in this light, we must believe in his prophecies, clinching the words of Christ, we further find who is to come, and where, in the 9th chapter of Isaiah and the 6th verse, 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. He is to come in the flesh, the government, a spiritual government, is to be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called wonderful counsellor, the mighty God. Did Jesus claim this? The everlasting Father, did Jesus say I am the Father, and my Father is greater than I, and I go unto him, the Prince of Peace. 1900 years ago was not the dawn of universal peace. Today the world is looking for this glorious culmination of the ages, wherein mercy and truth shall meet together, righteousness and peace shall kiss each other. Psalm 85-10. In the first two verses of the 9th chapter of Isaiah we find a prophecy concerning the people of the lands of Zebulun and Naftali by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. And upon them is to shine a great light. This is the light of the mighty God, the everlasting Father, who is to come. Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem are not by any sea. Nazareth, the most northerly of the three localities, is 21 miles southeast of the city of Acre on the Mediterranean Sea, and some miles west of the little sea of Galilee, which is a small inland lake, 13 miles in length. In the earliest ages of Christianity, Nazareth was quite overlooked by the church. It did not contain a single Christian resident before the time of Constantine, and the first Christian pilgrimage to it took place in the 6th century. Also, the region where the light is located is beyond Jordan. Galilee too, a Hebrew word signifying a circle or a circuit, was originally applied, Joshua 27, to a small district belonging to the Jewish tribe of Naftali. But biblical history informs us that at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ, the term Galilee embraced the whole northern portion of Palestine from the Mediterranean Sea to the river Jordan. There are two Bethlehems laid down in some of the biblical maps of Palestine. One has to do with the time of the early kingdoms of Judah and Israel. This Bethlehem is the most northerly one, and its location is about as far west from Nazareth as Nazareth is west of the Sea of Galilee. But the birthplace of Jesus Christ was Bethlehem of Judea. It was in the territory of Judah, or Judea, and was located several miles south of Jerusalem. And, as is Jerusalem also, some miles inland and west of the Dead Sea. Judea was the name of the third district of Palestine. It was south of the district of Samaria. This is the Judea over which Herod the Great reigned when the star arose in his territory. Occasionally, the name Judea was applied to the whole of Palestine. The pathway of Jesus touched but briefly upon the northern Mediterranean coast, the traces of his holy footsteps being principally inland. His was not the time of judgment or of establishing justice. Isaiah 9.7 Many prophets did prepare the way for his coming, and he prepared the way for the coming of his Father. In Revelation 21, which is the revelation of Jesus which he gave to Saint John, we find who is to come. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, the new spiritual conditions. The new spiritual Jerusalem is to descend as a bride out of heaven. And, verse 3, God himself is to dwell with his people and be their God. In the same chapter 2, who are to be the light and the temple are promised, God and the Lamb. Jeremiah says, 3021 of this holy age, their nobles shall be of themselves and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, or, as the revised version which brings out these great truths so clearly records, shall be of themselves and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them. In Titus 213 we find the appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ are to be looked for. As late as the middle of the fourth century the purity of this knowledge had been preserved and was witnessed to by the Nicene Council. We are told that David delivered to his son the building of a temple to be reared without the sound of a hammer so that no earthly temple can be so reared. There is more than a finite ancient order of symbolism in this. The covenant of God is renewed in his sacred books. Throughout the ages every prophet has foretold the signs and redeclared God's promises concerning this great day. The Bible itself was written for it. Out of the many signs foreshadowing the approach of this period it is difficult in one lesson to select a few to present. Saint Paul said judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the councils of the hearts. 1 Corinthians 4-5 Jesus Christ has also declared that nothing that was hidden but should be manifested Saint Mark 4-22 have we not this? In Saint James the fifth chapter there are eight verses and second Timothy the third chapter first five verses we have many things recorded concerning these conditions when men shall be lovers of themselves instead of lovers of God and having only a form of godliness. Also in first Timothy fourth chapter and first five verses many are to depart from the faith and announce new doctrines and beliefs. We find the same in third chapter of Zephaniah to all those who in that day believe and is appearing. In Micah 3-11 and in other places those who dishonor God by taking money in exchange for teachings of him are warned as to what the result of this corruption will be did Christ or his disciples teach for money? Was there higher a thing of dollars? You have made my father's house the house of merchandise and one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat ye come buy wine and milk without money and without price for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord Isaiah 55 1 and 8 In Zechariah 8-10 we have three for tokens no hire for man nor any for beast I came in because of the affliction for I said all men everyone against his neighbor In Joel 2-28-29 we have the promise of a great psychic quickening and we hear of many who ignorant of its sacredness are corrupting it in various ways In Daniel 12-4 knowledge shall be increased knowledge through all awakened channels knowledge of sciences philosophy arts etc and knowledge of our God Let us go to Saint Matthew 24th chapter and the 21st chapter of Saint Luke if we read these with God like eyes and ears we need look no further for Jesus herein took up the signs given by the prophets throughout the cycle of prophethood which would they declared announce the dawn of the great day of God and he himself reiterated them false Christs are to abound wars and rumors of wars kingdom rising against kingdom famine, plague, pestilence and great tribulation all of these are both material and spiritual one great sign Jesus gave that of the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place and he referred to Daniel who has predicted this in his 12th chapter and then we find this abomination of desolation to be the complete degradation of the Jews of which the rising of Muhammad was the symbol and this is all fulfilled and completed downfall and scattering now knowing the signs of their deliverance are upon the earth they are gathering home to the city of Jerusalem the generation of which Christ speaks is a spiritual one and refers to the creation or generation of his dispensation Saint Matthew 24 34 God said the sword of the Lord is filled with blood Isaiah 34 6 why? because many shall doubt and shall curse the light while its appearance there will be much opposition, persecution and martyrdom these will be the days of tribulation through which the robes of God's own beloved will be made white it has happened in the founding of every dispensation but in this time there will be such a time of trouble as never before was known in the world because this is to be the universal truth and therefore all religions will oppose it distress and great affliction will be the portion of each and all these things will come to warn the peoples of the earth that unless they believe in him when he comes the spirit will be taken from them and they will become as lamps without lights to the unbeliever it will be a time of agony to the believer a time of purification the shadow of these things is upon the earth in Amos 8 11 we find a great prophecy 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 but listen to God's promise in Joel 3 18 and it shall come to pass in that day the mountains shall drop down new wine and the hills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim three are to come the world who will prepare the way of God by opening the hearts of the people that they may believe in him when he comes the promise won himself and his glorious son and heir this is the dawn of the seventh great creational day a new generation is to appear when the throes of a world's spiritual birth are at their height one will arise as its great deliverer and then will be born the era of the most great peace and we shall be led out of the land and into the land of freedom in that glad hour there shall be but one fold one shepherd one Lord upon the earth and his name one end of lesson one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater lesson two of the revelation of Baha'u'llah in a sequence of four lessons lesson two the bob when religion goes down and irreligion prevails I take my birth to establish it again sometimes mankind does not realize this until the light has shown and departed such was the case 1900 years ago within the past 60 years a trinity of revelators has appeared upon the earth these are the promised ones of God there has been the proclaimer of the coming of truth the bob the revelator of all truth Baha'u'llah the deliverer of all truth Abdul Baha the bob was a young merchant born in Shiraz, Persia a descendant of Muhammad he bore very early in life the marks of a supernatural power which attracted and impressed all who came in contact with him it was the early dawn of the light but the darkness comprehended it not the word bob is Arabic and means the gate in May 1844 which corresponds with our time times and a half a time in the last chapter of the prophetic book of Daniel he declared his mission and delivered his message his mission was that of a forerunner and herald his message was the announcement of the coming of the perfect one who, although upon earth was yet veiled to mortal vision by whose will he moved and to the bond of whose love he clung craving only that his life might be accepted of him as a sacrifice the utterances of the bob although so youthful and so uneducated moved all hearts and many believed on his words the Muhammadans arose to destroy his influence and persecution of himself and his followers began to appear on all sides the divines and scholars by both collective and individual effort endeavored to quench this fire but all efforts were as nothing in its presence many learned ones sought him for the purpose of pure investigation and surrendered to the proofs of his claims one said the season of spring and wine has arrived and search after knowledge after reaching the known is culpable this man of note Mullah Muhammad Ali went forth from the presence of the bob proclaiming from the pulpit his newly found joy advising all to drink from the cup of clear water and wrote his own confession of faith and allegiance to the bob and then himself became a target for the malign arrows of Muslim hostility so powerful became the message of the bob so great the results appearing from his words that grievous persecution, plot and intrigue arose against him and his rapidly augmenting band of believers but all fell harmless and abortive and finally the divines instead of seeking to investigate his claims began to avoid him in pulpit and in private they declared the bob an injurer to religion and state the Muslims combined and resorted to arms against him and his faithful ones who rallied together upon the defensive although the bobbies were feeble in number starved in body under the long siege of cruelty successively uprising against them and an army of living skeletons yet they used to meet their procedures fresh from a preparatory night of worship reading and intoning the sacred texts of the new dispensation with sweet and strange utterances and antiphonally chanting in perfect music both spiritually and physically their new alleluia allahu abha under the power of this exaltation of soul on the following day they would meet the enemy and conquer finally reduced to a state of siege through a dastardly intrigue of the muhammadans they were drawn into a so-called truce and when entirely unarmed half famished and faint with food placed before them to add to their torture their treacherous adversaries fell upon them and massacred the majority of them even thus they gained their wish which was to die in the path of their beloved such was their unfallowing trust in god scores of such incidents are chronicled only after many dire experiences such influence was brought to bear upon the authorities that this greatest of heralds this undaunted and buoyant spirit the bob as the source of all this disturbance was imprisoned for nine months in the castle of maku which was situated upon an almost inaccessible mountain summit but even there god took care of him and raised up friends in some of his attendants from thence he was removed to the castle of cherique need eyes state that notwithstanding this rigor of persecution and even although under the close personal guard of his implacable enemies the light which he brought could not be confined but spread incessantly and his believers increased in numbers and in steadfastness neither hunger nor thirst nor stripes nor imprisonment nor anything even unto death produced any effect upon them throughout persia the might of the bob's declaration absorbed all thoughts and the bob lifted above all the tumult by the light within his soul restricted himself in his prison cell to repeating his great message concerning and meditating upon the one of whose coming he was the honored herald this is one of his meditations though the ocean of woe rages on every side the bolts of fate follow in quick succession and the darkness of grief and affliction invade soul and body yet is my heart brightened by the remembrance of thy countenance and my soul as a rose garden from the perfume of thy nature even while imprisoned he was summoned before the government tribunal at Tabriz in vain they tried to condemn him by his own words finally one doctor inflicted a brutal scourging upon him and after this indignity which he bore with meekness and non-resistance a sublime proof of the greatness of his mission they returned him to the prison castle of Cherique the extraordinary increase in the number of his followers awoke the alarm of the muslims and later on church and state clasped hands and held riot against the faith combining by every method possible to be devised the uproot of the bob's some great personages about this time allied themselves with heart and soul to the cause among whom was that gifted and beautiful woman Khurtul Ain the daughter of a sage and Mirza Muhammad Ali of Mazandaran these new accessions arose to serve the faith with such power that not could put them down great slaughters of the bobbies followed countless cruelties some too horrible to mention were inflicted their defenceless homes were plundered they were ambushed and shot down their bodies ripped open exposing their vitals they were burned with hot irons to a crisp they were cut by many swords and fell, bleeding at every pore they were sawn asunder after life had departed their heads were cut off their bodies were hacked and trodden upon but in the face of all the severest trials and torture they bore aloft the banner of the faith the shunam paralleled in modern times joy's supernal reigned in their souls while all about them existed the reign of destruction the Muhammedans are divided into two great branches the Sunites of Turkey and the Shiites of Persia and these are subdivided into many sects but no great disturbances had ever existed among them until the bobber rose and declared himself when this occurred the darkness became manifest through and opposed to the light but that light shone clearer and ever yet more clear unto the end of this sublime life it has been said of the bob that his words so intoxicated his followers with the wine of divine love and wisdom that they forgot all beside and earthly things became as nothing the bob was a thirst for martyrdom in the cause of the great tidings which he had declared and this cup overflowing with the gift of God was granted him on the 8th of July 1850 in the morning he was suspended by ropes and a regiment of soldiers ordered to fire upon him none of the shots took effect the slender ropes alone being cut and when the smoke cleared away he was found nearby unharmed again his enemies suspended him and gave orders to the soldiers to fire these however made their excuses and another regiment was summoned and their follies liberated his victorious spirit which passed to the beyond and rested in the presence of God blessed is the body which is cut into pieces for the sake of faithfulness six months before his departure the bob sent a sealed epistle to a disciple named Haji Suleiman Khan instructing him to break the seal only when a grievous sorrow and affliction befell him when the sacrifice of the bob's life took place and this disciple heard the report of the muskets he knew that this was the event predicted and broke the seal of a letter the contents announced that six months from the date of writing the bob would suffer martyrdom at Tabriz the date fell exactly on that day the letter also gave instructions as to the disposition of his body the disciples went by night to the sentinels who stood guard over the body as it lay in the moat outside of the city walls with the body of a follower who had determined to die with him bribed these sentinels and bore the bodies away shrouded in white silk and placed in a chest they were later removed to Tehran and in the recent past arrangements were made for a shrine and an interment elsewhere thus the bob fulfilled his holy mission since revelation is progressive the station of the herald is progressive and the light which appeared through the bob and gave its bounties unto all was a fitting dawn preceding the splendor so soon to envelop the world the cycle of the bob was the cycle wherein he trained and developed the people for the meeting of God and therefore he called himself the supreme lord after his departure the fires of persecution were renewed and thousands of his followers were massacred and helpless women and little children were ruthlessly trodden down and destroyed but the word through this great enunciator kindled not only the heart of Persia but spread to other parts of the world and many knowing the signs came to seek its light and to become confirmed in its great reality and to bear to other lands its fragrance the history of the cycle of the bob is the history of blood but as one has spoken of these martyrdoms their blood and clay have formed the foundation stones of this heavenly temple and verily we know that the foundations of this faith will never be destroyed the bob's first believer was Mullah Hussein of Bushrua a most eminent far eastern divine who sought him for the purpose of investigation and became so filled by the power of the utterances of the bob that he went forth at once to proclaim his message thus he was called the bobble bob which means the gate of the gate also he was called the first letter of the living there being 18 letters or the first believers who gathered about the bob the bob was the 19th he was also the first point meaning the point of revelation and of the creational book of god he left many writings and proofs of the greatness of his mission and one special book of prophecy called Al Bayan the exposition the whole purport of his words and writings was to prove to the people that he was only a messenger of glad tidings of a greater one through whose revelation universal peace would be established it was to be the day of the reign of god this message was his joy and comfort in the darkness of his prison he said I am a letter out of that most mighty book a dew drop from that limitless ocean and when he shall appear my true nature my mysteries riddles and intimations will become evident and the embryo of this religion shall develop through all the grades of its being and ascent attain the most comely of forms and become adorned with the robe of blessed be god the best of creators he said the whole bayan revolves around the saying of him whom god shall manifest and that the bayan and such as our believers yearn more after him than the yearning of any lover after his beloved also if one should hear a single verse from him and recite it it is better than that he should recite the bayan a thousand times the bob likewise said oh remnant of god I am holy sacrificed unto thee I am content with curses in thy way I crave not but to be slain in thy love and god the supreme suffice as an eternal protection the bob fulfilled muslim prophecy in being the return of the twelfth imam he fulfilled zoroastrian prophecy as the dawn of the new day when three chosen ones should appear the first of this trinity of manifestation was to be like the dawn he fulfilled his relightish prophecy as Elijah the name Elijah has a spiritual significance and is the symbol of the mission and message of the forerunner it says my god is Jehovah the bob fulfilled christian prophecy as the angel who with the sound of a trumpet would perceive the coming of the son of man the voice of the trumpet is the voice of the incarnated word which spoke through the bob and his cycle is the time of the first resurrection revelation four one resurrection is a spiritual awakening in this body of the dust when the voice of the trumpet calls us and we arise out of our graves to know god years ago declared of the bob that in him shall be the perfection of moses the preciousness of jesus and the patience of Job his saint shall be abased in his time and their heads exchanged as presents to their enemies they shall be slain and burned and shall be afraid and fearful and dismayed the earth shall be died with their blood and wailing shall prevail among their women these are my saints indeed the bob never saw the one who's coming he was the heavenly courtier and herald his knowledge of him was all from god but he said of him that no fire was more intense than the fire of turning away from him it has been almost 60 years since the angel first sounded the trumpet call throughout the earth and in response to it thousands of the elect have been gathering from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other the bob's little day of between five and six wonderful years as men count years has passed and his holy mission has ended for the effulgence of the revelation of him whom god has manifested but how a law today is illuminating the world for he has come the one who was covenanted has come and he has declared to the nations and kingdoms of the earth I am ready the father has come his day break everywhere letter from akka Muhammad Ali of Tabriz who suffered death with his master the bob written to his brother who desired him to recant he is the compassionate oh thou who art my kibla my condition thanks to god has no fault and to every difficulty succeeded ease you have written that this matter has no end what matter then has any end we at least have no discontent in this matter nay rather we are unable sufficiently to express our thanks for this favor the end of this matter is to be slain in the way of god and oh what happiness is this the will of god will come to pass with regard to his servants neither can human plans avert the divine decree what god wills comes to pass and there is no power and no strength but in god oh thou who art my kibla the end of the world is death every soul tastes of death if the appointed fate which god mighty and glorious is he have to creed overtake me then god is the guardian of my family and thou art my executor behave in such wise as is pleasing to god and pardon whatever has proceeded from me which may seem lacking in courtesy or contrary to the respect do from juniors and seek pardon for me from all those of my household and commit me to god god is my portion and how good is he as a guardian end of lesson 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater lesson 3 of the revelation of Baha'u'llah this is the simplest of messages and therefore the greatest for greatness is always characterised by simplicity truth is simplicity itself the revelation of Baha'u'llah is the revelation which writes all wrong for it comes from the world which writes the wrongs of this one the revelation of Baha'u'llah is the revelation which writes all wrong for it comes from the world which writes the wrongs of this one it's mission is one of love and fragrance of peace on earth goodwill to men it has appeared for the purpose of unifying and cementing together into one great family all the nations of the earth it's followers must become the servants of all and the cup bearers of the divine knowledge unto all they are messengers who are rewarded only by god their service is pure in his sight to serve humanity is to serve god it's virtues are those revealed 1900 years ago by jesus christ it is not a new faith but faith renewed not a new light but light restored it is truth rescued from the scaffold and placed upon its throne it's one keynote is the fatherhood of god the sacred manuscript of the ages the bible with the search light of this message turned upon its pages is crowned with the all illuminating beauty of god and becomes our guide to this revelation what is this revelation in profane history in magazine in current literature and in encyclopedia it is variously represented and misrepresented but in one of the newest books in religions of the world it has been included as one and the latest religion because the bob heralded this daybreak of splendor those who are not clearly informed call it bobism whenever religion goes down and irreligion prevails god chooses one who shall come according to the laws of the flesh and through whom he will manifest himself to restore religion again and thus to found what is called a new dispensation without a new revelation and a new law whenever the divine word incarnates it is known by its manifestation and man understands and knows it only when spoken through one whom he sends also man understands that word only so far as his purity and sincerity permit while god's spirit never leaves the earth and has always pervaded it since first in the beginning brooded upon the waters yet the word at intervals manifests in a human temple to restore light and to establish a new heaven and earth revelation as all in this age of intelligence fully realize is progressive the prophets were the simple messengers of god that was the cycle of prophethood jesus christ was the son of god his was the cycle of sonship muhammad was the seal of all prophetic revelation whether through israelite prophet or through jesus therefore muhammad's was a special mission this is the age of the fatherhood of god jesus christ taught this progression in revelation in the parable of the lord of the vineyard four parties are chronicled in this parable the lord of the vineyard the dishonest husband the servants or prophets the lord of the vineyard at the close of the cycle the lord of the vineyard is himself to return and reestablish truth the lord of hosts is his name muhammad's mission will be explained later suffice it to state that this is not a muhammadin sect for the muhammadins are its chief persecutors this fact speaks for itself in the progress of revelation the time has come when the signs of the dawn of a new dispensation are coming upon the earth when the times are being fulfilled all hearts who hunger for the lighter watching with great earnestness the rapid evolution of these signs as laid down by the prophetic sacred books of the entire earth the world is looking for the promised one to bring new conditions and to restore that light a day star has again appeared in the east in its day thousands gathered out of every nation the sage, the scientist, the philosopher and the babe in years the learned and the ignorant the Jew, muhammadin, christian buddhist and zoroastrian the atheist and the agnostic the unitarian and the trinitarian all are walking as little children in its light worshiping and adoring the one true god is this a thing at which to scoff offenses must come but woe unto him by whom they come even scoffers for no real prophecy but for those whose spiritual ears are hearing the sound of the trumpet which is the voice of the spirit whose spiritual eyes are enlightened to behold the beauty of this arisen day star and to understand the brightness of its coming whose spiritual nostrils are inhaling the holy fragrance from that white spot which is perfuming all regions whose dry bones are being clothed the new by the recreative power of that word unto these great and great for the gates of the boundless kingdom are opened night is turning in today and the veil of ignorance is being removed from off the face of the earth the revelation of bahá'u'lláh covers half a century in the year 1817 two years before the birth of the bob a son was born in Nur near Tehran, Persia Nur itself means light he was of ancient royal lineage a son of an ex vizier from his youth he was held in regard and honour by even the wise and although uneducated whenever he appeared in any assemblies where questions of divinity and points of metaphysics were being discussed by the learned and scholarly those present would receive proofs of his discernment and wisdom so far beyond the natural limitation of the human race that they were astonished at his utterances he spoke as one having authority as time passed the influence of these utterances began so to pervade the minds of his hearers that a great number both of the wealthy and the lowly the erudite and the ignorant became enkindled and gave up all to follow with joy his teachings the wisest found themselves as nothing before him and upon the other hand even the little children understood and followed him and towards these tender lambs of the fold he was most loving the divines of the region of Neur sent two of their most distinguished representatives to him to subdue by force of argument the fire of his words but so did these words move their hearts that they too abandoned altered chair preferment wealth and renown and went out proclaiming the cause as time passed on thousands of the most spiritually illuminated the most intellectually developed and reasoning accepted his revelation and thus were forged the first golden links in this chain of faith now encircling the world like Abraham of old he established in the process of time his holy household type of the great household of humanity whose keeper is the one who watching over Israel slumbers not nor sleeps but how Allah has unsealed the sacred manuscripts of the world and many holy books which contain the mysteries of God yet like Jesus of old he was never educated and like him he knew all things and needed not that any man should teach him to this bear witness the most learned of his countrymen the hearts of the followers of that great herald the bob after his martyrdom began to turn towards Baha'u'llah he was recognized by all as the center but not the declared center nine years after the bob had declared him to the world Baha'u'llah declared himself to a few of his disciples the renewal of this light and with more powerful manifestation than ever before rekindled the fires of persecution to such an extent that under the pressure a few of the bobbies were yet babes in the realities of non-resistance and meekness and wearied with cruelty and injustice plotted to take the life of the Shah and this resulted in the open destruction of many of them Baha'u'llah who although able to dominate all law yet because he was the burden bearer for all had become subject to all law sought the summer court of the Shah and gave himself up to show how great was his horror and grief for such an act but the Mohammedans bitterly prejudiced through feeling temperament and religion against the bobbies confined this holy one in a dungeon in Tehran for months he was chained together with a number of others and in whatever movement one of them made the remainder were compelled to participate so that not only dungeon and chains but also unrest was his portion from thence he was exiled to Baghdad in this exile now begun his fulfilled prophecy for he was never subject to an earthly potentate with his holy household he was removed thither and for 11 years he remained in and around Baghdad Baghdad is in Turkey in Asia through it run the Euphrates and Tigris rivers it is also a part of Mesopotamia behold who is this that come up from Edom with died garments from Bosra this that is glorious is his apparel travelling in the greatness of his strength I that speak in righteousness mighty to save Isaiah 63 1 Edom and Bosra are significant words the descendants of Ishmael and of Esau as is well known are Mohammedans Obadiah will furnish you with light upon their future and saviours are to appear verse 21 of the 11 years which follow Bahá'u'lláh's exile to Baghdad a greater portion were spent by him alone among the Iraq mountains of that district his holy family being in the town these years were spent in meditation and in prayer when his power became known in one place he would remove to another through this time he lived like a hermit on a little rice when he was at Baghdad the shakes of that place invited the shakes of Persia to meet with them and discuss some means by which they could face Bahá'u'lláh and confound his words which they all witnessed were like a rolling ocean so that not could withstand them they decided to demand of him a miracle one of the shakes was appointed to seek him and make the request of him the shake entered his presence and listening to his words himself believed and asked of Bahá'u'lláh what shall I go and say to them Bahá'u'lláh instructed him to tell them to select any miracle which they desired and he would perform the same he returned to them with the message and also with the report of the wonderful wisdom of Bahá'u'lláh's saying it is of God the shakes began to discuss what miracle they would demand of him and fell into disagreement and the assembly broke up without sending him any further message and this was the greatest miracle of all the most learned of the shakes and their authority upon all important points met with them but when he learned the purport of their assembling he refused to be a part of it stating that he honored Bahá'u'lláh and left them he then wrote to Bahá'u'lláh asking his forgiveness and also begging him to forgive those wolves who were persecuting him at one time a thousand Muhammadan devines came to argue with him and he defeated them all in the spring of 1863 Bahá'u'lláh was removed from Baghdad to Constantinople at which latter place he lived for five months before he left Baghdad in 1863 nineteen years after the Bahá'u'lláh's declaration he declared himself openly sojourning for twelve days in a beautiful garden there called Resvan by this most great spirits appearing the whole world attains a new life the whole material world is quickened through the birth of his human form and the spiritual realms of experience or spiritual manifestation from this most great annunciation went forth the breezes which have vitalized the life of the universe after the temporary sojourn in Constantinople again the government exiled him to Adrianople which lies in Turkey and Europe inland and northwest of Constantinople this removal occurred during the latter part of the same year of 1863 and at that time this blessed one declared to the earth that he was its promised deliverer from that spot between the year 1863 and 1869 he continued his great work of founding the new day the son of which amid bloodshed and martyrdom was arising upon the world he sent to all the rulers and great ones of the earth the announcement of his perfect presence declaring that for the sake of his eternal love to his creatures he had turned his footsteps from the invisible to the visible world and veiled his splendor in the body of the dust and that the way into the open gates of the kingdom of God was prepared for whosoever would walk therein the prophecy of this great invitation is found in Saint Luke 14th chapter beginning with the 16th verse and they all began with one consent to make excuse these tablets revealed at this time to the rulers of history he sent these tablets to the Tsar to the Pope to the emperor of Germany to Napoleon III of France to England's queen and to others upon reading the tablet revealed to her Queen Victoria said if this is of God it will stand and if not there is no harm done the Tsar said one of his nobility to investigate the source of the tablet received by him in the accounts of his mission that the Tsar became stirred with visions of the most great peace the Pope received the message with scorn and a second tablet was sent warning him that because of his act his temporal power would soon be taken from him in 1870 the Franco-German war broke out the French troops were withdrawn from Rome King Emmanuel walked in with his soldiers and made the Pope a virtual prisoner in the Vatican Frederick III and crowned Prince of Germany during a pilgrimage to Syria ignored Acre, the Holy City and the Great Invitation and for this he was warned in a message from Baha'u'llah that he should never rule his country he was crowned on his sick bed and died three months later without having actually ruled Germany a single day Baha'u'llah revealed in a tablet to this sovereign the following concerning his empire Oh banks of the river Rhine we have seen ye drenched in gore because the swords of retribution were drawn against ye and ye shall have another trouble and we hear the lamentation of Berlin though it be today in manifest glory he revealed to a prominent Turk named Rais the following tablet the land of mystery Adrianople and what is beside it will be changed and shall pass out of the hands of Turkey and commotion shall appear and lamentation shall arise and trouble shall become manifest on all sides he also uttered the following judgment upon Turkey personified in Constantinople Oh point which liest on the shore of two seas the throne of injustice has been fixed in thee thou shalt perish and those people that are within thee shall lament the messengers who conveyed the tablet to Egypt were made prisoners and sent into exile and the tablet was ignored Baha'u'llah predicted the downfall of the Khediv Ishmael Pasha and that these messengers in a short while would be released and would stand in the presence of their beloved master General Gordon soon after in his political campaign in Egypt released those men and gave them permission to return home and the events connected with the downfall of the Khediv at this time are the property of history the third read the tablet addressed to him and threw it away saying if he is God I am two gods Baha'u'llah addressed to him a second tablet containing the following because of what thou hast done a fair shall be changed in thy kingdom and thy empire shall depart from thine hands as a punishment for thine actions then shalt thou find thyself in manifest loss and commotion thou shalt seize the people there unless thou arises to assist in this matter and follow us the spirit in this straight way thy glorious made thee proud by my life verily it shall not endure but shall pass away unless thou takest hold of this firm rope we have seen humiliation hastening after thee while thou art of those that sleep that tablet is a sufficient proof it was revealed when Napoleon was so powerful that he said on this globe I am the one God in such a time was this tablet written the world knows the downfall of Napoleon the third of his dethronement his exile and his death Baha'u'llah sent a tablet to the shore of Persia at a later period from Acre a youth bore it travelling on foot to Tehran and gave it to the shore as the latter rode through the streets he gave it not as a petition but as a command sent to him saying a command from one whose authority is higher than yours the shore learned the authorship and contents of the letter but the young messenger Badi the wonderful was branded to death with red-hot bricks when the executioners were lifting these red-hot bricks with iron tongs to put them upon his body he declared that he welcomed this martyrdom and seized them with his own hands and applied them to his bosom this youth knowing that his life might thus be sacrificed had sought the privilege of being the bearer of this tablet from the beloved Tehran Baha'u'llah blessed and promised that justice should reign therein during the close of 1868 the perfect one was exiled from Adrianople to Acre and there placed under the most great imprisonment for nine years two of these being in the prison proper in that city and seven under close guard in another building while he was under this confinement pilgrims from Persia and India would walk from their native towns and provinces to see him these pilgrimages sometimes covering six and seven months and under all the vicissitudes of weather and arriving footsore and weary would linger outside of those prison walls until they received just one look from their beloved from the window of his cell and then returned home their hearts forever refreshed by that light Baha'u'llah said that even though they can find him in a dungeon they would find him riding upon the clouds of heaven and so it was in being the cup bearer of this great message that cup is so filled with gems that there is an embarrassment in selecting what first to share after realisation of its priceless contents once takes possession of the soul of man that soul becomes a thirst to renew the cup forever and ever as to miracles from this holy source there are no limits and they are greater than any that ever before existed but these are never the highest or the most conclusive evidence they are only a demonstration for those who witness them the penetration and power of the word to change the heart of man turning it to God to such a degree as to render it indifferent to all lesser attractions is the unanswerable proof the Muhammadan's once cursed the Christians but through this revelation they have learned to revere and honour Jesus Christ as the Son of God and understand and believe our Bible quite as well as we do and are able to teach this truth from its pages and now one word about Muhammadan's mission his manifestation and prophetic utterances had prepared the way for the coming of the one in whom is perfection and by Muhammadan's texts alone do his followers believe this great and holy reality and then learn to look upon the inhabitants of the world as their brethren the Father's name is written in the forehead of every Muhammadan who believes in the reality of Muhammadan's teachings and who thus for sakes its present corruptions and declares for the light of God as manifested in this great day was Muhammadan's mission for naught and this light of God shining for all the world which will lift the Orient out of mortal degradation and spiritual ignorance and rescue it from eternal loss after Bahá'u'lláh with his holy household endured for nine years the extremes of hardship and persecution in the prison of Acre and when they could find no fault in him by the power of God the guarding doors were thrown open and once more he was but an exile for fourteen years he abode in the suburbs of Acre Acre is a Turkish prison city on the east coast of Syria and used for the incarceration of convicts those representatives who by command of the Sultan and the Shah met to consult as how this mysterious power in their midst could be curbed decided that owing to its unhygienic conditions this place would soon end his life those representatives by whose word he was brought there themselves died in a few months and for him the desert blossomed as the rose thus he laid the glorious foundations of the faith in his forty years manifestation and wanderings, or there about nineteen years his departure revealed a new testament declaring his son Abbas Effendi to be his successor and then amid the heartbreak of his followers he left the temple of the body and ascended to the heaven from whence he came his is the trust of delivering that revelation to the earth and of building the temple of the new Jerusalem in the presence of this exaltation of the fulfilled covenant in manifestation the world is asleep just so it was nineteen hundred years ago God's messenger then was slandered and abused and his foes were those of his own household for his own received him not and so it will be in these days but now is then my sheep hear my voice the station of this day the soul that which hath ever preceded it therefore know its greatness surely hath shown forth from the orient and his signs have appeared in the occident, awake by the breezes of God verily they have blown in the world blessed is whoever hath found their fragrance and is of the assured it is for each one to investigate this truth for the sake of your soul beware how you oppose it there is no middle ground the responsibility rests upon the possessor the divine knowledge until he offers it to others and then the responsibility rests upon those to whom it is offered prayer will show you the truth this is the truth the beloved hath gone down into the garden to gather lilies end of lesson three this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain if you would like more information if you are a volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this recording by Nicholas James Bridgewater lesson four of the revelation of Baha'u'llah in a sequence of four lessons lesson four proofs of the revelation of Baha'u'llah the bible is three fold in the character of its contents first its books of history second its records of laws and ordinances third its books of prophecy it is with a third division of its contents that we have principally to do in this period of their fulfillment let us first turn to its earlier register in Genesis 15.5 God promised a great posterity to Abraham Abraham had two sons his firstborn Ishmael being the son of Hagar whom the angel of the Lord Genesis 16.12 declared would be a wild man and his hand against every man and every man's hand against him and that he should dwell in the presence of all his brethren and Genesis 17.20 God promised that twelve princes and a great nation should be born from him with Isaac the second son a covenant was to be established Genesis 17.21 which promise was later fulfilled Genesis 26.3.5 through the influence of Sarah Isaac's mother Ishmael and Hagar became outcasts from their home and these wanderers turned their footsteps to the wilderness of Parin where they dwelt and where Ishmael married an Egyptian wife it says in Genesis 21.20 that God was with the lad both biblical and profane historians coincide in the belief that that great nation promised to Ishmael out of Arabia for his descendants people the northern and western parts of that country and eventually formed the chief element of the Arabian nation see also Genesis 15.18 the history of Abraham second son Isaac who married Rebecca is well known he had two sons Esau and Jacob through duplicity Jacob secure both Esau's birthright and blessing yet Isaac bestowed the following benediction upon Esau as found in Genesis 27.39.40 behold thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above and by thy sword shall thou live and shall serve thy brother and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion revised version break loose that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck Esau married a daughter of Ishmael Genesis 28.9 Esau is Edom Genesis 36.8 Edom is a portion of northwestern Arabia and adjoining Syria in the 17th century it was overcome by the Arabs and has since shared the fortunes of Arabia its capital was Bosra the Greek form of Edom is Idumea the maps identify Mount Sayer with Edom biblical commentators have repeatedly asserted that Esau also was a thorough Bedouin and son of the desert unto Isaac was born Jacob and unto Jacob was born 12 sons out of whom were to come not one nation as promised to Ishmael but many nations and kings these sons were the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel from both Ishmael and Isaac there were therefore to be brought forth 12 promised great descendants from the tribe of Judah by lineal descent David the king was born and later also by lineal descent from him was born Mathat who according to biblical history was the common grandfather of Joseph and Mary the genealogical records found in Saint Matthew and Saint Luke pertaining to the ancestry of Jesus Christ are not in harmony but the three mentioned facts remain uncorrupted Jesus Christ was to be of the seed of David and his kinsmen according to the flesh and as such he was recognized as we find recorded in Romans 1 3 but we find that David has also a spiritual significance for in the 110th Psalm we read a statement made by the king concerning it and when the Pharisees declared to Jesus in Saint Matthew 22nd chapter that Christ was the son of David Jesus himself makes the following reply quoting King David's own words from the Psalm referred to how then doth David in spirit call him Lord saying the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool if David then call him Lord how is he his son and no man was able to answer him a word neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions David spiritually means the beloved and is therefore a symbol of divine love in Genesis 49 10 we have a prophecy of Jacobs as he blessed his 12 sons he said the sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a law giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be this has been said to refer to Jesus Christ but Jesus came out of Judah and the star of Bethlehem did not abrogate but perfected the glory of Judah only a fragment of the people gathered to him for 1900 years the world has paid homage to the sceptre of the lion of the tribe of Judah when the days are fulfilled it will depart Genesis 49 1 and now Shiloh have come and all nations are flowing unto him Isaiah as already quoted accurately locates the place from which this light shall shine unto the world by the way of the sea out of the rose garden of acre in the second chapter of Daniel we find that king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of an image which is formed of four different metals the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron the feet part of iron and part of clay Daniel to whom God gave the interpretation of this dream explained it as follows Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom at that period was in a condition to have strength and power and this was typified by the head of gold an inferior condition of the kingdom was to follow symbolized by the silver a third one of brass and bearing extensive rule a fourth one of iron it is especially in connection with the end and subdivision of this fourth condition that a certain great event is promised this age of the kingdom is to be of iron which will have the power of subjugation divided into two limbs at the very end of its existence it will break away into many divisions and these will be part of iron and part of clay it is a human kingdom for they are not to mingle with mankind but shall not cleave to one another or amalgamate for although they are the outgrowth of preceding conditions yet they are opposed to each other at this period a stone cut out without hands will smite the image upon his feet which is present and its former conditions they are to be as the chaff before the wind and the stone which destroyed them is to be the kingdom which the god of heaven shall set up and which shall stand forever the Muhammadan religion combines church and state and governs both it is long been divided into two branches the Shiites of Persia and the Sunites of Turkey in the latter days they are all one in believing in Muhammad as their prophet yet they will not intermarry or intermingle with one another this Muhammadan religion forms the limbs and feet of the image the Shiites are more spiritual than the Sunites and therefore are stronger in the eyes of God the stone is the everlasting kingdom of Baha'u'llah God has founded this kingdom Jesus Christ in Saint Matthew 24 15 warns us the closing events of his dispensation will come to pass when the abomination of desolation shall be perfected this refers to the completion of the degradation and scattering of the Jews which has attained its culmination and by the signs of their Torah they know that their day of desolation has ended and for them the gates of the kingdom have opened Muhammad declared himself 10 years prior to the establishment of Muhammadan time 622 AD Muhammadan and Jewish years are each lunar and are each 354 days in length the Jewish year contains 6 months of 30 days and 6 months of 29 days if we turn to Daniel 12 11 we will find the prophecy to which Jesus referred when he gave us the signs of the end of the days at which time his scepter as the Judean lawgiver would depart and one would appear whose scepter adorned with the jewels of love, peace and concord would dominate the world in this 11th verse of 12th chapter of Daniel it speaks of the destruction of the daily sacrifice and the appearance of the abomination of desolation in 70 AD Titus conquered Jerusalem but at that time the daily sacrifice was not really destroyed for although it was not celebrated in Jerusalem yet the Jews continued to celebrate it secretly and this was never annulled until Muhammadanism invaded Jerusalem and banished the Jews from all Syria the appearance of Muhammadan was the symbolic fulfillment of this prophecy in these 1290 days we have 1290 lunar years that lunar time underlies all biblical calculation is a fact so widely recognized as the require no proof Ezekiel tells us that the days are appointed us for years Ezekiel 4-6 if we take these 1290 lunar years and multiply by 354 the number of days of the lunar year we reduce them to lunar days and then if we take 365 the number of days of the solar year and divide this into the lunar days we will thus reduce them to solar years but the more rapid and entirely accurate method is to take 3 years from every 100 and the years proportionally from the fraction of 100 and this result to 622 AD when Anohegira or lunar time was established and we have 1873 now Muhammadan declared himself 10 years solar time prior to this and if we subtract 10 years from 1873 we find 1863 this is the year in which the deliverer of the earth declared himself to all its peoples the beginning of that year at Baghdad and the latter part of the same year at Adrianople the Bob's declaration took place in 1260 Anohegira he fulfilled Muhammadan prophecy when he declared himself at that time the Muhammadan's in Persia India, Algeria, Syria all dreaded this year as boating no good to them it was a common remark in Egypt and with that year the spirit of the Arab was gone let us examine the times appointed by Jesus Christ in the 12th chapter of Revelation and there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun the emblem of Persia and the moon, the emblem of Turkey under her feet this is the symbol of the Muhammadan religion upon her head is a crown of 12 stars these are the 12 Imams after the departure of the 12th Imam which Arab theologian state was in 260 AH a thousand years were to elapse and then the great Imam Mahdi would appear the Muhammadan dispensation would fall and God would reign on the earth then in the 12th chapter of Revelation in the 12th chapter of Revelation in the 12th chapter of Revelation in the 12th chapter of Revelation in the 12th chapter of Revelation in the 12th chapter of Revelation God would reign on the earth thrice the trumpet would sound the first trumpet was exactly fulfilled in Anno Hegira 1260 when the barber rose and declared his wondrous message as the forerunner and herald of one greater than he the child in Revelation 12th chapter which was born of the woman was Muhammad the wilderness to which the woman flees in the 6th and 14th verses is the spiritual wilderness of Arabia and all the world if at all familiar with oriental history knows of the marvelous rise of the Muhammadan dispensation and how for hundreds of years thereafter in science arts and literature Arabia led the Orient and Ishmael's 12 princes became entirely fulfilled in the 12 Imams God prepared for that religion a place where it should be nourished a thousand two hundred and three days i.e. 1260 years this is lunar time reduce it to solar time as in the 1290 years the result is 1222 years the Bob declared himself 1260 years lunar time Anno Hegira and the Anno Hegira began 622 AD solar time and the 622 solar years to 1222 solar years and the result is 844 solar years thus is fulfilled the appointed date in the 6th verse of the 12th chapter Revelation in the 14th verse of the same chapter another date is set time biblically signifies 360 days years 2 times 720 days a half a time add these all together and you have again 1260 and this time is the same as the time times and a half appointed in Daniel 127 this 360 days is also lunar out of a more complicated system of computing time Meton of Athens who lived about 400 years before Christ evolved this clear method the following is the process by which it is reached every 19 years the moon completes a cycle it's new moon falling on the date of the new moon 19 years previously it lacks but the very slightest fraction of the complete cycle of 19 years the square of 19 is 361 as there is this slight fraction the one year is dropped making a cycle of 360 years this cycle is the root and basis of all time reckoning and underlies all biblical and astronomical calculations it is the golden cycle of the ancients also revelation 11-2 bring these months to lunar years we have the 1260 lunar years and in verse 3 again 1260 lunar years these prophecies refer to the Mohammedan dispensation and the two witnesses were Mohammed and Ali for no other witnesses arose between the advent of Jesus Christ and the present time in the book of Daniel we find another date recorded Daniel was a state officer in the courts of three successive Babylonish kings in the reign of Belshazzar the time when the sanctuary shall be cleansed of the transgression is given in a vision to Daniel as found in 8th chapter verse 13 and 14 2300 Biblical years are here stated in round numbers from this period in Daniel's life to the birth of Jesus Christ there were 500 years and from Jesus Christ's appearance until the beginning of last century when the son was born there were 1800 years making a total of 2300 years there are also various methods which various Bible students give by which one arrives at the exact date of 1844 AD these Bible students well known to the religious world and entirely uninformed of these great days at the time of his writing places himself on record in a work of his own and which exhaustively teams with corroboration of the holy import of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh by saying that the Bible with unwarying persistency returns to the date of 1844 the year 1844 glad the hearts of the people of God for in that year the Bob in the splendor of his great mission declared himself as a messenger and declared that the one of whom he was but the herald was upon the earth and would in time manifest himself to his flock and at the time of that annunciation the third of this great trinity was born Abdul Bahá'u'lláh, our master who dwells in the city of light by the blue and tideless sea well made the hearts of all the universe seen and unseen rejoice and sing together and celebrate this blessed year about which all prophecy has revolved Moses prophesied that three religions and four manifestations of God must transpire before the day of God we find this in Deuteronomy 33.2 and he said the Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Sayer unto them he shined forth from Mount Paran thousands of saints from his right hand when a fiery law for them referenced the Genesis 2741 will divest the mind of any confusion in connecting Esau with this prophecy concerning Sayer Sinai refers to Moses and the mosaic dispensation Sayer to Jesus Christ and the Christian dispensation Mount Paran to Muhammad and the Mohammedan dispensation and the fourth is the appearance of Bahá'u'lláh Isaiah said that in this day he should be called God 25.9 also 9.6 two rules by which we are to be guided in knowing what prophecies belong to the dispensation of Jesus the Son and what prophecies belong to the final day of God the Father are as follows those which predict the degradation of the Jews belong to the day of Jesus Christ and of Muhammad and those which predict the period of their restoration belongs to Bahá'u'lláh the Lord of Hosts is his name out of hundreds of proofs we select a few which give the master Abdu'l-Bahá to us as he who is to rebuild Jerusalem in Daniel 7th chapter beginning with the 9th verse to the 14th inclusive we find the following I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as snow and the hair of his head like the pure wool his throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him thousands, thousands ministered unto him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him the judgment was set and the books were opened I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame as concerning the rest of the beasts they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time I saw on the night visions and beheld one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed this is the vision of the book of ages which is unsealed and the son receives from the father an everlasting kingdom and dominion in Micah fifth chapter first four verses the two appearances of Christ are recorded he the word which has gone forth in manifestations throughout the eons of existence is one day to be ruler of Israel but he gives up the Israelites until she which travaileth have brought forth after this the scattered Israelites shall return and he shall stand and feed the flocks of God and the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name with the Lord his God and they shall abide for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth and this man shall be the peace now read carefully Isaiah chapter 4 verse 2 Isaiah chapter 11 verse 12 verses Isaiah chapter 22 from 20th verse to end Isaiah chapter 30 26 verse Isaiah chapter 60 verses 20 and 21 Jeremiah chapter 23 verses 5 to 8 Jeremiah chapter 33 verses 14 to 16 Zechariah chapter 3 verses 8 to 10 Zechariah chapter 6 from 12th verse to end Hebrews 4 8 St John chapter 3 the branch so often spoken of by the Israelite prophets has indeed branch from the tree of life the father has come with the son this is the return of the lion of the tribe of Judah this is the return of the lamb that once was slain by once suffering death by martyrdom now he returns on the throne at the right hand of the father and he is the sign of the end the glory of the lamb we are told in Revelation 21 chapter are to lighten the heavenly city the spiritual flock of Baha'u'llah we find in this same chapter that God himself is to be with us and to dwell among us it is said that every revelation doubles in progressiveness in this day the veil is to be removed from the entire earth love, peace, faith and deeds and knowledge of our God of the kingdom of Shiloh the reasons for this revelation are as follows until today the sacred books of all religions have been sealed today their seals are broken therefore it is the cycle for teaching and for bringing every religion into a knowledge of and concord with all others in this day all the inhabitants of the world will be gathered into one nation universal peace will prevail and war will cease there will be a general language union and harmony will reach the highest conditions all will be gathered under the tent of peace Baha'u'llah is the trainer of the whole universe his teachings are the cause of the life of the worlds the unity and harmony of the creatures the agreement of the people and the universal peace today we stand in the presence of this great revelation and to decide whether we will have this Christ or not man's mere assertion that he believes in God will not save him for the devils also believe in tremble such believers are as well as without water when the spirit of the infinite manifests in the temple of man to resist that word deny it, to persecute it is as death to the one who attempts these things in the second epistle of Saint John we are told that at the beginning of the Christian dispensation many there are in the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh this is a deceiver and an antichrist as it was then so it will be now 1900 years ago many things were blasphemously spoken against God's messenger and son thus it will be in the present time in that day when Jesus stood before the tribunal of Pilate in the presence of his accusers the chains of a common felon bound him yet he was the son of God sacred history always repeats itself and the greater the light the greater will be made visible the darkness the greater the truth the greater the falsehood of the opposer the more perfect the way into God the more terrible the doom of the one for whom the way has been opened but who walketh not therein and who is of those who are afar but unto those who believe he is precious end of lesson 4 end of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh in a sequence of four lessons by Isabella D. Briddingham recorded by Nicholas James Bridgewater