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Hello all readers
I will tell you a little about the rod which is a reed.And about the ark of His Testament.
Jesus says the purpose of the book is " to show unto His servants things that must shortly come to pass."
These events have occurred since 96 A.D. as He foretold:.
"And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood saying, Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein."
A reed is a hollow stick, which was used in Biblical times as a measuring rod. The only flawless measuring rod for judging a temple or people is the Messenger of God, the Prophet and the Law which He brings. That is the measuring rod.
Here He is commanded to measure the temple and the altar and them that worship closest to the Word of God and to the Law of God. These are the ones who should be measured first.
Abdu'l-Baha has likened the reed to a perfect man..."when the interior of a reed is empty and free from all matter, it will produce beautiful melodies, and as the sound and the melodies do not come from the reed, but from the flute-player who blows upon it, so the sanctified heart of that blessed being is free and emptied from all save God... and is the companion of the Divine spirit.Whatever he utters is not from Himself, but from the Real Fluteplayer, and it is a divine inspiration. That is why he is likened to a reed; and that reed is...the rod of the Divine Shepherd (God) by which He guards His flock, and leads them about the pastures of the Kingdom (Some Answered Questions pp 53,54)
Abdu'l-Baha also said: "The purport is this, that certain souls guided (people) with a rod of the plant, that is, a reed wherewith he shepherded the sheep, like unto the rod of Moses; others trained (the people) with the rod of iron and drove them, as in the time of Muhammad (the scptre of Muhammad was the sword). In this greatest Day the rod of the plant and the rod of iron are changed into a rod which is of pure gold and is from the endless treasuries of the Kingdom of God.(Tablets of AB )
"But the court which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles(non-Jews); and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." 11:2. The key is given in Hezekiel 4:6, "I have appointed thee each day for a year." "Forty and two months" then, would be 1260 years, referring to the complete Muhammadam Dispensation.
Surprised?
There are many references in the Bible foretelling the 1260 years, which can only be understood historically as the Dispensation of Muhammad. This will be truly staggering the minds of many people.
The year 1260.A.H. lunar time, corresponds to 1844 A.D. solar time which is when the Bab made His declaration. The year 1844 is symbolically referred to more often than any other date in the Sacred Writings.Very often in the Islamic writings and also in the Christian, as we can see here.
"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophecy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sack-cloth." 11:3.
There it is again, the 1260 days, which is the complete Muhammadan Dispensation.
Some might think the Bible is not the Bible anymore when they see Muhammad and His reign pop up in it again and again. I would answer the sceptics by reminding them of that the three holy men of Zoroasters Faith cared 100 % more for the guiding star , leading them straight into the birth place of Jesus than the Jews themselves. And they took the trouble to walk a long way. The messengers of God are united: Muhammad has said, "If you do not believe in Jesus and ...the Holy Prophets (of Israel) you are not worthy of believing in Me." Jesus said to the Pharisees, "If you had believed in Moses, you would have believed in Me!" Bahaullah said, "if you had believed in Jesus you would have believed in Me."
So we must not try to avoid other Messengers, they are in complete agreement with each other. This is solid rock, it is of no use protesting.You will just hurt yourself trying to kick away this huge corner stone of God's eternal Faith.
I think it is just fashinating to discover new and unheard of things.
"The two witnesses", Abdu'l-Baha said, are Muhammad and Ali (S.A.Q) Muhammad was the "Sun" of His Dispensation; Ali was the "Moon", reflecting His light, being the first one to herald the station of Muhammad.
"These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before God of the earth." 11:4.
These two witnesses of God and have the power to "to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy" they are given power by God but they will be overcome by the" beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit"(pit of ignorance and error) and which "shall make war against them...and "kill them"." 11:5-7.
That they are "standing before God of the earth", signifies that they are standing in the service of God and educating the creatures of God, such as the wild, barbarous tribes of Arabia, who were educated in such a way that they reached the highest degree of knowledge known in those days, and their fame became world wide.
These witnesses brought the Law of God. If one failed to observe the Law, or belittled it, that very Law would become the means of his destruction. Abdu'l-Baha said that" in this prophecy, "rain" means bounty". The Law and Teachings of Muhammad which They can either give or withhold."the beast that ascendeth"..is as I have said, the Bani-Umayya, who attacked them. This means that the "beast" destroyed the love of God in the spiritual life of people, treading under foot the true Message of Muhammad until only a lifeless body would remain, in the hands of the official Ulama, (the theologians of Islam), just like the Mosaic Faith was taken by the Pharisees and were turned into the works of the "Devil" "(Jesus).
"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.And they of the peoples and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on earth." 11:8-10.
Sodom and Egypt, the place where also our Lord was crucified," Abdu'l-Baha explains "is the region of Syria, and especially Jerusalem, where the Bani-Umayya then had their dominions...and it was here that the Religion of God and the divine teachings first disappeared, and a dead body without spirit remained."
And again we see the days of the 1260 years ,the entire length of the Dispensation of Muhammad. The body was not completely destroed, as the outward form, including prayer and fasting was still preserved, but the spiritual teachings of morals, conduct and knowledge of the divine mysteries had disappeared. In the "Bahaullah and the New Era" (p 17) we can read about the true condition"It was like the darkest hour before the dawn, when the few lamps and candles that remain alinght do little more than make the darkness visible."
"And after three days and a half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood up on their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them., Come up hither. And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them" 11:12
After the three and one half days, 1260 years, Christ here foretells that the law of God revealed by Muhammad and taught by Ali, would again have life and bounty from heaven and would illumine the darkness. Now the scene changes. In fulfillment of this animating prophecy, a Morning Star named the Bab appeared in Persia, in 1844, Whose light began to push back the bilnding clouds of darkness. The Light of Truth shone forth, the Holy Breezes were diffused...bringing joy, gladness and progress for a New Age.
"Come up hither!" 11:12 It was as though God was calling His Chosen Messenger, the Bab and His most devoted disciple, Quddus. The Bab also like Christ raised the Call of God, delivered His Message, revealed His Law and like His Holiness the Christ, would attain the sublime station of Martyrdom. Quddus, likewise was martyred.
Like the crucifixion of Christ, the martyrdom of the Bab is one of the nmost soulstirring dramas of all human history.
You can find the story among my articles.
Shoghi Effendi states, at the very moment the shots were fired, a violent gale swept the city, obscuring the light of the sun and blinding the eyes of the people. In Shiraz(birthplace of the Bab), an earthquake as foretold in v.13 of this chapter, occurred after the Babs execution in Tabriz, threw the whole city into turmoil and wrought havoc among its people - a havoc greatly aggravated by cholera, famine and other afflictions (God Passes By p 53).
We remember the earthquake at the time of the martyrdom of Christ, when the veil of the temple was rent.
By this foul deed, the prison square of Tabriz became a second Calvary. The enemies of the Bab enjoyed a guilty thrill of triumph, thinking they had severed the root of the Babi Faith. But their triumph was shortlived; they did not realize that the Tree of Truth can not be severed by material acts, nor can the creative organic processes set in motion by Divine Revelation be twarted.
"And the same hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand, and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God in heaven." 11:13.
When this earthquake took place in Shiraz in the province of Fars, it is said by Abdu'l-Baha that "all the remnant lamented and cried day and night, and were occupied in glorifying and praying to God. They were so troubled and affrighted that they had no sleep nor rest at night." (Some Answered Questions p.65).
The second "Woe "is past.(the first "Woe" is the Coming of Muhammad). "and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. The third "Woe" refers to the great Day of the Manifestation of the Lord of Hosts, Bahaullah, which came "quickly"= after only nineteen years after that of the Bab.
It's not difficult to see that everything fit in!
We are holding in our own hands the 100% unlocking of a 2000 year old mystery!
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying,We give thee thanks O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wert and are to come; because thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reingned." 11:15-17.
The seventh angel is a human being endowed with heavenly attributes who will proclaim the Manifestation of the Lord of Hosts and the Kingdom of God upon the earth. "
Abdu'l-Baha"Such is the Day of God. For all the days which have come and are gone were the days of Abraham, Moses and Christ, or of the other Prophets; but this Day is the Day of God, for the Sun of Reality will arise in it with the utmost warmth and splendour." (S.A.Q. p 67)
We already know who are the elders, the disciple of the Bab
"And He shall reign -forever and ever-" this means "for a great cycle" This word is translated from an Aramaic word meaning "for a great cycle". So the Light of Bahaullah will interpenetrate for a very long time " for a great cycle".
"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldst destroy them that destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament; and there were lightenings and voices and thunderings and an earthquaske and great hail."
The nations were angry, for the disturbing teachings of the prophets opposed the iniquities and corruptions of their affairs and of their lives.
"the time of the dead that they should be judged" refers to the Judgement Day, when all things are measured and tried and tested, and when the spiritually deaf, dumb and blind are deprived and the destroyers are measured and destroyed.
A beautiful statement is that the"temple of God was opened in heaven" and the "ark of His testament" became visible.
This refers here to Abdu'l-Baha, the Center of Bahaullahs Covenant. (G.P.B.) p 239).
Moreover Abdu'l-Baha is glorified by Bahaullah in certain passages of His Writings as the "Ark of Salvation" and as"The Cord stretched betwixt the earth and the Abha Kingdom "(Gods Divine heavenly Kingdom) (G.P.B. p 239)
"The temple od God was opened in heaven" means also that by the diffusion of the divine teachings, the appearance of these heavenly mysteries...the doors of success and prosperity will be opened in all directions, and the signs of goodness and heavenly benedictions will become manifest." 11:19 (S.A.Q p70).
"And there were lightnings and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake and great hail." 11:19 means that after the appearance of the Book of the Testament(Bahaullahs) there will be be the thunder of the violation of the Covenant, there will be earthqakes of doubts and the hails of torment will beat upon the violators of the Covenant and even those who profess belief will fall into trials and temptations." (S.A.Q. p 71)
How much must man quaff of the cup of suffering and be deprived, ere he turns his heart to God?
Christ proclaimed, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
That will do for the time being
I hope you enjoy these Keys for the solving of these ageold mysteries.
Bye for now
Kind regards from
Laila
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