Good evening
I would like to end days's work at the PC describing the much brighter views at the tenth chapter of John from Patmos
Thus we leave the old world of darkness, of tyranny to behold the wonderful scene of "another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow was upon His head, and His face was as it were the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire." 10:1
"Cloud" means the cloud of man's doubts, unbeliefs, fears and misconceptions as I have said before. One of the proofs of His station as a Prophet is that He shines through the clouds and causes them to melt away and vanish. Even as the seven prismatic colours, when blended, form a ray of pure light, so the light of the seven great religious systems, symbolically, each having its own individual spiritual colour, when blended, becomes the pure white light of unity and truth. This mighty angel had the rainbow of light of all the seven Revelators on His head, opening the way for the Promised One to blend them all and to uplift them into the pure white light of truth for the New Day
"And he had in his hand a little book open" 10:2. And Mrs Moffett says: What a mighty and portentous statement!
Never before in all human history, never before in all the Sacred Writings, never even in the consciousness of man had there been such a powerful, sweeping statement regarding the Book! For the first time in the Bible it states that the Book is open.
The Book, already established, is the Word of God as revealed by all of His Chosen Messengers, not just by one of Them. One would then imagine it to be a huge book. This, however, is a little Book, since the actual words of all the Revelators put together, excluding all the history, the admonitions of man and his conceptions, all of human origin, would make only a small book. Now at last, this wondrous Book, the Word of God, is opened! The One on the Throne, Bahaullah, had given the Lamb, the Bab,Who was slain, the little Book sealed with the seven seals, to open. At last, praise be to God, after all the slowly unfolding centuries, the Book is open!
The Bab set His right foot on the sea, symbolic of no more separation, and His left foot on the earth, symbolic of the world-wide establishment of His Revelation. According to Shoghi Effendi, this was "a Revelation destined to blossom forth, in a later period into the flourishing institutions of a world-wide administrative System, and to ripen, in the Golden Age, as yet unborn, into mighty agencies functioning in consonance with the principles of a world-unifying, world-redeeming Order" (God Passes By pp59-60)
The bab announced His Mission (publicly) during His persecutions, in 1848,( Privately to one first disciple in 1844) when He was brought to Tabriz for trial before a soslemn assembly of ecclesiastical dignitaires for so-called heresy. The Bab, having seated Himself in the seat reserved for the heir to the throne, gave His historic and breathtaking answer to the question put to Him by the leaders of that assembly. In firm and ringing tones He stated: (from God Passes By)
I am, I am, I am the Promised One!
I am the One Whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at Whose mention you have risen,
Whose advent you have longed to witness,
and the hour of Whose Revelation you have prayed
to God to hasten.
Verily, I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both
the East and the West to obey My Word, and to play allegiance
to My person.
The Bab, then, with great dignity and firmness disbanded the meeting by Himself rising and leaving the room. There was great consternation, humiliation and bitter resentment, on the part of the dignitaries. Why were they not happy then? They were not happy because they were in a sense, the return of the Pharisees.
So, this is the mighty angel of chapter 10 in the Book of Revelation!
"And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are and the
earth, and the things that are therein, that there should be time no longer" .
That was the end of the Adamic cycle. And the beginning of a new universal cycle. It was in the evening of May 22, 1844, that the Bab raised his hand to Heaven and made the astounding Declaration that the Cycle had ended, that a new Day had dawned, and that He was the Prophet-Herald of One greater than Himself, Who would be made manifest, and Who would be the Originator of a new Universal Cycle. (G.P.B.) p 93.
When a Prophet of God appears, He institutes a new measurement of time, and a new calendar. So, you see nothing is forgotten in this Dispensation. There is circling about 200 of them by now. Bahaullah took the calendar of the Bab, modified it, established its authority and declared it as the calendar for the great New Bahai Cycle. I have previously described that calendar. Remember?
Many countries of the world are now beginning to consider the growing imperative need for a world calendar, and it will soon be necessary for all to agree on a calendar that will be adequate for all and free from the objections and associations of those of the past.
"Great, great is the Cause"says Bahaullah. It is such an astonishing thing that has occurred. The Bahai Cycle has such a vast extent that not even now will I tell you, unless you ask to know! It is truly staggering!
The Christians are talking about a millennium, Bahais do not. The extension of the Age of the Maturity of mankind is tremendous.We are standing just on its threshold. That is on the threshold of the Age of World Peace, the Golden Age..
"And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel and ....eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey"...And I...ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.!" 10:8-10
What does this mean? Does it not mean to take the truth as revealed by all the Revelators? Is it not sweet to the taste but difficult and bitter to live it? With persecutions and all, or the need to change one's habits. To be put to proof of one's faith?.
When it becomes part of our inner being, then it becomes sweet within, and then nobility becomes the accent of our lives. And you will be a steadfast unwavering believer in the Unity of God.
Abdu'l-Baha explains the proof of nobility in these soul-stirring words:"The necessity and the particularity of the assured and the believing ones is to be firm in the Cause of God and withstand the hidden and evident tests. Thanks be to God that you are distinguished and made eminent by this blessing. Anybody can be happy in the state of comfort, ease, health, success, pleasure and joy, but if one will be happy and contented in the time of trouble, hardship and prevailing disease, it is the proof of nobility."
Bahaullah explains how to attain the goal of nobility in these words:" When a true seeker determines to take the step of search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the illusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy." (Book of Certitude) Why get rid of all acquired knowledge. Because Gods knowledge is the standard knowledge of all other knowledge. With the basic knowledge of God, then there will be set a golden edge on all other acquired knowledge.
I would like to add that the seeker should never neglect the need to pray, and to pray eagerly, until you are calm or clear in your head and heart.. Then you will be aided to overcome the obstacles. And one should always remember that the tests of God always are proportionate to one's capacity.He never tests us beyond our power.
Is there any Remover of difficulties save God?
Say: Praised be God! He is God!
All are His servants,
and all abide by His bidding.
Say: God sufficeth all things above all things
and nothing in the heavens
or in the earth
but God sufficeth.
Verily, He is in Himself
the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.
Bab
Thank you for your company today!
Bye and good night to you friends
Greetings from
Laila
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