One-Third of the Believers Cut Off

The Promise - Unfulfilled?

There seems no room for doubt that the hour had at last come upon the earth. Imagine the profound disappointment and disillusionment when Christ did not appear in the clouds of heaven with His angels, the trumpet did not sound, the dead did not arise from the grave, the stars did not fall from heaven, the sun did not suddenly go dark, the moon did not turn to blood.

Could it be that God had not fulfilled His own promises to mankind? Or had mankind misinterpreted the signs-looking for literal fulfillment and ignoring the numerous statements indicating that He would come as a thief in the night? All of the evidence still pointed to 1844 as the year of the second Advent, so the probability must be that man had not looked in the right places, that, instead of a fanfare of trumps sounded by the heavenly hosts over London, New York, Baghdad, Beijing, He had returned quietly and set out on His mission.

Finding the Unknown

How do you find someone whose identity you do not know, whose whereabouts is a mystery? Each race of mankind thought that the Messiah would be one of them. Each religion thought that He would be of their beliefs. Each thought that he would be called by the name He was formerly called. Christ had warned against those He called false prophets, who would use His name. Isaiah 62:2 says, "thou shalt be called by a new name," as the followers of Christ had been called Christians rather than Jews.

A New Name

Isaiah 65:15 clearly states that the followers of the Messiah of the last days will bear a different name. "The Lord God shall . . . call His servants by another name." Revelation¹⁷ confirms this prophesy of Isaiah concerning a new name for the followers of the Messiah of the last days - "To him that overcometh will give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."

"Him that overcometh¹⁸ will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."

"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."¹⁹

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it; for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name."²⁰

"He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."²¹

Earlier in Revelation 3:2-3, Christ tells St. John the Divine "Be watchful . . . if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come upon thee."

Not According to the Expectations of Any Man

A New Jerusalem

In Isaiah 35:2 it is written “ . . . the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the Glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Later, Isaiah promises that God will raise up 'a righteous man fromthe east'. ²² and again, "And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of God hath spoken it."²³

One group among the millenarian scholars of 1844 was so certain that 'the Glory of God' would appear on the side of Mount Carmel, as foretold by Isaiah, that they sold all they owned and sailed for the Holy Land.

St. John the Divine, declares²⁴ "And I John saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem . . . and the city had no need for the sun for the Glory of God did lighten it." Matthew said, ²⁵ "For the Son of man shall come in the Glory of His Father." Christ promised this vision of the 'Glory of God' and this same vision was seen by St. John and Isaiah as well as Ezekiel (1:28). Chapter 12 of Daniel speaks of Prince Michael of Persia (Michael means 'one who is like God' in Hebrew) who will come in the last days.

The Glory of the Lord

Sufficient evidence has been uncovered to indicate that the title (or name) by which the Messiah would be known when He appeared would be "The Glory of the Lord." This would be the new name, just as Christ, 'the Anointed One' had been the old one.

Where will He be From?

If the year of the Second Advent can be found in the Bible, and the name or title of the Messiah can also be found-might not the Bible also disclose the place from where He will arise?

"I will wait for the God of my salvation²⁶ . . . In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria." Assyria was a mighty empire in which the prophets Daniel and Micah lived. Its territory covered modern Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and parts of Turkey and Iran.

I have already mentioned Daniel's reference to Prince Michael of Persia, but there are other references to the east. Ezekiel says about the arrival of the Messiah in Jerusalem, "And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east."²⁷ Christ was born in the south of Jerusalem and grew into adulthood in the north, traveled mainly in the west. So this reference could not be to him but must refer to another.
Isaiah said that it was God Himself Who had "raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to His foot, gave the nations before him and made him rule over kings."²⁸ In Matthew Christ says of His own return, "For as the lightening cometh out of the east . . . so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be."²⁹ Daniel³⁰ gives Elam (now part of Iran) as the place of vision in the last days. Jeremiah says "And I will set my throne in Elam . . . saith the Lord."³¹

East of Israel and Iraq (the lands of the Jewish prophets) and west of India (the land of the Buddha) lies Persia.

Prophesies About His Time on Earth

The Bible makes many statements concerning the actions of the Glory of God and His time on earth.

1. He shall come from Persia.
2. He shall go to the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the land of Babylon.
3. He shall withdraw from the city into the barren places as Christ had gone into the desert in the day of His first coming.
4. He shall openly proclaim His mission in Babylon [or its modern equivalent - Baghdad], and there He shall 'redeem' Israel and the world.
5. He shall come from the Tigris and Euphrates valley to the Holy Land, Israel, as Abraham had. He shall make the same journey from the land of the Chaldees to the promised land of Canaan.
6. He shall come from a fortified city to a fortified city on His journey to Israel.
7. He shall come out of the 'fortress' and journey to the freedom of the 'river'.
8. On His journey from the east to Israel He shall come from 'mountain to mountain'.
9. The land of Israel shall be desolate when He comes, but will later 'blossom as the rose'.
10. He shall dwell in the 'midst of Carmel' and from there He shall 'feed His flock' with His teachings.
11. His ministry on earth shall last for exactly 'forty years'.
12. He shall come to the valley of Achor [modern Acre or Akká] where He shall be found by those who 'have sought' him in the last days.
13. The place where His feet have walked in the Holy Land, Israel, shall 'be made glorious'.
14. The place of His 'rest' or 'sanctuary' or tomb shall become beautiful with trees, paths, and flowers.
15. He shall come from the 'seed' of Abraham.
16. He shall 'glorify' Christ in the day of His coming.
17. There shall be signs in the physical heavens in the day of His appearance.
18. He shall 'unseal the books' and explain their 'hidden meanings' so that all may understand.
19. He shall overthrow the power and thrones of wicked kings.
20. He shall set up a spiritual 'kingdom' in all parts of the world -the Kingdom foretold by Christ in His prayer "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

The Báb

On 23rd May 1844 CE, in the city of Shiraz, Province of Fars, Persia, a young man, descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through both His father and mother, announced Himself to a young visitor that He was the Promised One of the Ages and that He was precursor to One even more powerful than Himself who would announce Himself ere 19 years had passed.

This young man of Shiraz was Siyyid 'Alí-Muhammad and He would be known to history as the Báb or Gate. The Báb said³² "verily I say, this is the Day spoken of by God in His Book . . . Ponder the words of Jesus addressed to His disciples, as He sent them forth . . . 'Ye are even as the fire which in the darkness of the night has been kindled upon the mountain top. Let your light shine before the eyes of men. Such must be the purity of your character and the degree of your renunciation, that the people of the earth may through you recognize and be drawn closer to the heavenly Father who is the Source of purity and grace."

"(V)erily I say, immensely exalted is this Day above the days of the Apostles of old. Nay, immeasurable is the difference! You are the witnesses of the Dawn of the promised Day of God . . . Scatter throughout the length and breadth of this land, and, with steadfast feet and sanctified hearts, prepare the way for His coming . . . Has he now established the ascendancy of Jesus, poor and lowly as He was in the eyes of men . . . Arise in His name, put your trust wholly in Him, and be assured of ultimate victory."³³

Báb means Gate or Door and Christ has said in the Book of John, chapter 10, verses 2 through 16 "But he that enterest in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep . . . And other sheep have I which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." The Báb was martyred by a Persian firing squad at noon on 9th July 1850, in the barracks square at Tabríz, Persia. During His brief ministry on earth the Báb had said"Look ye upon the Sun of Truth . . . This, verily, is the thing We promised thee . . . Wait thou until nine [years] will have elapsed . . . I am the first servant to believe in Him and in His signs."³⁴ "Glorified art Thou, O my God! Bare thou witness that, through this Book, I have covenanted with all created things concerning the Mission of Him Whom Thou shalt make Manifest . . ."[the Messiah]. ³⁵

One Fold and One Shepherd

In Tihrán, the capital of Persia, lived a young man (28 years old) named Mírzá Husayn-'Ali, called by His neighbors Bahá'u'lláh [the Glory of God], friend of the poor and the stranger. The word 'Mírzá' indicates a person of royal ancestry. In front of the name it shows descent from a former royal dynasty and at the end of the name as a member of the current royal dynasty. Thus His title shows Him as descendent of the ancient rulers of Persia-a prince. Husayn, His given name, is the Arabic equivalent of Michael. Prince Michael of Persia.

Shortly after His declaration the Báb gave Mullah Husayn, the first person to believe in Him and the First Letter of the Living, a letter to carry to Tihrán. The Báb's instructions were that God would guide his feet to the person the letter was addressed to. The notation was to "Him Whom God Would Make Manifest". After prayer, fasting and meditation Mullah Husayn delivered the letter to Bahá'u'lláh-Who immediately accepted it.

An interesting prophesy concerning the Messiah of the Age is that He would be of the 'seed' of Abraham. In this Judeo-Christian world of ours most people know that Abraham had two wives -- Sarah and Hagar the Egyptian. Sarah became the mother of Isaac and the grandmother of Israel. Hagar was the mother of Ishmael, ancestor of the Arabs.

However, following the death of Sarah, Abraham took a third wife, Katurah.³⁶ And Katurah had six sons. Before he died Abraham gave Katurah and her sons "gifts, and sent them away . . . unto the east country."³⁷ The people of Mázindarán, living along the south coast of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran, have long claimed to be descendants of Abraham through Katurah.

Bahá'u'lláh was born in Mázindarán, as was the Persian prophet Zoroaster [whose priests, the three magi, blessed Christ at His birth with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh]. He was a descendent of Yazdigird, the last Zoroastrian king of Persia. In His ancestry He fulfilled the prophesies of Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Genesis concerning the blessings of God upon all the descendants of Abraham.

Ezekiel chapter 43, verse 4 says "And the Glory of the Lord came into the house by way of the Gate whose prospect is toward the east." Or, as it could also be"And Bahá'u'lláh came into the house by way of the Báb, whose prospect is toward the east." rendered

In 1852 Bahá'u'lláh, along with other Bábí's [as followers of the Báb were called] was placed in prison in Tihrán by the Shah [or King] of Persia. While in prison God revealed to Him that He was the One Whom God would make manifest.

In 1853 He was exiled from Persia to Turkish Iraq and the City of Baghdád. While in Baghdád He spent two years living in the wilds of Kurdistan, meditating.

Finally, in 1863, the Persian Consul in Baghdád convinced the Governor to order Bahá'u'lláh away from Baghdád to the imperial court at Constantinople.

Adib Taherzadeh writes: ³⁸  "The love and admiration of the people for Bahá'u'lláh was fully demonstrated on the day of His departure from His 'Most Great House' in Baghdad. Then His majesty and greatness were evident to both friend and foe. The news of His forthcoming departure for Constantinople had spread rapidly among the inhabitants of Baghdad and its neighboring towns, and large numbers wished to attain His presence and pay their last tributes to Him. But soon it became apparent that His house was too small for the purpose. When Najib Pasha, one of the notables of the city of Baghdád heard of this, he immediately placed his garden-park, Najíbiyyíh, at the disposal of Bahá'u'lláh. This beautiful garden, designated by His followers as the Garden of Ridván [Paradise], was situated on the outskirts of Baghdád, across the river from Bahá'u'lláh's house."

"Thirty-one days after Naw-Rúz, on 22 April 1863³⁹, in the afternoon, Bahá'u'lláh moved to this garden, where He remained for twelve days. On the first day He declared His Mission to His companions. These twelve days are celebrated by the Bahá'ís as the Festival of Ridván."