# The Apocalypse: An Exegesis

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Robert Riggs, The Apocalypse: An Exegesis, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> The Apocalypse:
> An Exegesis
> by Robert Riggs
> 1998-12
> 
> Table of Contents
> DISCLAIMER ↩............................................................................................................................2
> FOREWORD ↩..............................................................................................................................2
> INTRODUCTION ↩......................................................................................................................3
> CHAPTER 1 - THE GREATEST NAME ↩...................................................................................10
> CHAPTER 2 - LETTERS TO ANCIENT FAITHS ↩....................................................................16
> CHAPTER 3 - LETTERS TO RECENT FAITHS ↩......................................................................21
> CHAPTER 4 - THE INVISIBLE ZODIAC ↩................................................................................25
> CHAPTER 5 - THE BOOK OF SEVEN SEALS ↩........................................................................28
> CHAPTER 6 - THE BOOK IS OPENED ↩..................................................................................32
> CHAPTER 7 - GOD'S SERVANTS ARE SEALED ↩...................................................................35
> CHAPTER 8 - THE FATE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH ↩.....................................42
> CHAPTER 9 - THE FALL OF CHRISTENDOM ↩.....................................................................46
> CHAPTER 10 - INTERLUDE ↩...................................................................................................50
> CHAPTER 11 - THE COURSE OF ISLAMDOM ↩......................................................................52
> CHAPTER 12 - THE TRAVAIL OF THE WORD ↩.....................................................................58
> CHAPTER 13 - THE RISE OF THE CALIPHATE ↩...................................................................61
> CHAPTER 14 - THE WORLD-STAGE IS SET ↩........................................................................66
> CHAPTER 15 - HIS NAME REVEALED ↩.................................................................................72
> CHAPTER 16 - THE END OF THE AGE ↩.................................................................................74
> CHAPTER 17 - MYSTERIES REVEALED ↩...............................................................................80
> CHAPTER 18 - THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON ↩............................................................83
> CHAPTER 19 - THE TRIUMPH OF BAHA'U'LLAH ↩..............................................................86
> CHAPTER 20 - SATAN BOUND ↩..............................................................................................91
> CHAPTER 21 - THE HOLY CITY ↩.............................................................................................95
> CHAPTER 22 - EPILOGUE ↩...................................................................................................104
> APPENDIX A: SOME NUMBER SYMBOLISM ↩....................................................................109
> NOTES ↩.....................................................................................................................................111
> NOTES TO APPENDIX A ↩.......................................................................................................127
> SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ↩................................................................................................139
> DISCLAIMER                                                 ↩
> The opinions and interpretations expressed in this book are strictly those of the author, and do not
> represent official opinions or interpretations of any agency of the Bahá'í Administrative Order.
> 
> FOREWORD                                                  ↩
> The original exegesis of the Apocalypse, written by the author, was reviewed by the Bahá'í Universal
> House of Justice and was approved by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. It was
> published and copyrighted by Philosophical Library of New York in 1981 under the title THE
> APOCALYPSE UNSEALED. Since its publication, the publisher has gone out of business and the work
> is out of print. There have been many requests for copies of THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED that
> could not be satisfied.
> This present work represents an attempt to overcome some of the errors and valid criticisms of the
> original work and to incorporate new knowledge that the author has acquired over the past fifteen
> years. It includes several additions and modifications that, in the author's opinion, do not violate the
> spirit of the original work. However, the present work has not been presented for review to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. The reader is therefore advised to be critical of the
> opinions and interpretations expressed herein and to reject any that seem at variance with his own
> beliefs as a Bahá'í. The author has made an attempt to point out all significant divergences between the
> original work and this new work.
> Every reasonable attempt has been made to make the new exegesis free of copyright entanglements
> by alterations in the original wording, by the deletion of major portions of the original work, and by
> the introduction of new material. As far as the author is concerned, the reader is permitted to make
> duplicate copies and to distribute them, provided (1) that he/she makes no attempt to obtain a
> copyright, and (2) that he/she does not realize a monetary profit, and (3) that the ENTIRE work,
> including this FOREWORD, is reproduced and distributed, and (4) that no alterations and/or
> additions to the text are to be made without the author's approval. Sections of the text of this work up
> to 1,000 words in length may be quoted and/or reprinted for the purposes of criticism or commentary
> without the express permission of the author, provided the source(s) of the quote(s) is/are given.
> 
> In BAHA'I NEWS, No. 77, September 1933, Shoghi Effendi tells us that only the words of 'Abdu'l-
> Bahá [regarding biblical exegesis] are truly authoritative, but that if his statements cannot be
> discovered, we are free to tentatively accept the opinions of scholars.
> 
> <2017 Re-formatted to PDF document, spell checked, document navigation links added by Ernie
> Jones.>
> 
> INTRODUCTION                                           ↩
> 
> PREFACE
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá has told us that there are many meanings to every word of the Apocalypse. {1} It is,
> therefore, axiomatic that this effort does not reveal all the meanings and nuances latent in this
> astonishing Book. Nor do I make apologies for my first effort, THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED,
> published over fifteen years ago. At that time, it was the best that I could achieve. Since then,
> hopefully, I have gained some added knowledge and new insights. This new effort may remedy some of
> the weaknesses of my earlier work.
> It is my hope and wish, as it was fifteen years ago, that this work will inspire other Bahá'í
> commentators and scholars to continue the work of exegesis, not only of the Apocalypse, but of other
> Sacred Writings. The Books are unsealed- it is simply a matter of applying one's mind to uncovering
> the precious jewels that once lay hidden beneath the dross that millennia of 'idle fancies and vain
> imaginings' have placed over them.
> The discussion, for the most part, will be informal. Unless otherwise noted, the King James Version
> (KJV) will be used, but with occasional references to the REVISED ENGLISH BIBLE (REB), the
> REVISED STANDARD VERSION (RSV), and the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV). Actually,
> there are no irreconcilable disagreements between these versions, but certain nuances may affect the
> interpretation.
> To avoid cluttering up the text, most biblical and other references will be appended at the end of the
> book. Notes will be identified by braces around the number; for example {3} means Note number 3.
> Also I have made an effort, in many cases, to distinguish my own comments with square brackets:
> [comment]. Hopefully, this will reduce some of the confusion between commentary and text, but the
> reader is always invited to study the biblical text for himself to see if he agrees.
> The letters 'BH' will stand for 'Bahá'u'lláh,' the letters 'AB' will stand for ''Abdu'l-Bahá,' the letters
> 'SE' will stand for 'Shoghi Effendi.' For example, the claim of Bahá'u'lláh that He manifests the
> 'Beginning and the End...,' etc. will be identified as '-BH: GWB, pp 54, 168', meaning that the words
> are attributed to Bahá'u'lláh, and can be found in GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF
> BAHA'U'LLAH, pages 54 and 168.
> 
> AN OPTION FOR THE READER
> 
> Bahá'ís are neither numerologists nor astrologers; nor do they indulge in any occult practices,
> unless prayer and meditation be considered 'occult.' However, Bahá'ís do recognize that the
> Manifestations have employed number and astrological symbolism in the Sacred Writings, sometimes
> to conceal, at other times to reveal, spiritual realities.
> Ancient esoterica is not everyone's strong suit. The paragraphs that follow may require some careful
> study by the uninitiated. Unless one has a penchant for it, I suggest that the reader move on to Chapter
> 1 and return to this Introduction as he/she deems necessary.
> 
> ASTROLOGICAL SYMBOLISM
> 
> This is probably the most difficult subject for the casual reader to understand. The perplexed are
> invited to read HAMLET'S MILL, a classic exposition of the subject co-authored by the great de
> Santillana, a professor of philosophy at MIT when I took his course in the forties. Also, if one is
> fortunate enough to find a copy, I recommend ASTRONOMY by Dr. Arthur M. Harding. This book was
> 
> the first to open my eyes to the inescapable conclusion that the Bible is adorned with astrological
> symbolism. But only 'Abdu'l-Bahá seems to have recognized that astrological symbolism is absolutely
> essential for an understanding of the Apocalypse.
> Because it is essential, I am forced to present a brief introduction to the subject, knowing full well
> that the serious reader will have to pursue the subject elsewhere.
> 
> According to ancient astrological theory, the fixed stars were located on an enormous crystalline
> 'celestial sphere.' A band of stars demarcated the region on the celestial sphere through which traveled
> the sun and the other six known planets ('wanderers'). This band was called the zodiac ('circle of
> beasts'), and consisted of 12 constellations of fixed stars. The names of the twelve constellations or
> 'signs' were and are still called:
> 
> ZODIACAL ORDER; SIGN OR CONSTELLATION; ENGLISH NAME
> 
> 1; Aries; Ram
> 2; Taurus; Bull
> 3; Gemini; Twins
> 4; Cancer; Crab
> 5; Leo; Lion
> 6; Virgo; Virgin
> 7; Libra; Scales
> 8; Scorpio; Scorpion
> 9; Sagittarius; Archer
> 10; Capricornus; Goat
> 11; Aquarius; Water Bearer
> 12; Pisces; Fishes
> 
> The zodiac was considered to be the 'true earth.' The stars and planets that inhabited the true earth
> were called the 'lords of time,' the originators of history, with earthbound man playing the role of mere
> spectators to 'earthshaking' cosmic events.
> Since the earth is tilted on its axis, we have the four seasons of the year, caused by the angle at
> which the sunlight reaches the earth. The more nearly overhead the sun appears at noon, the hotter
> the day. During the summertime, the sunlight reaches the earth at a steep angle; during wintertime,
> the sunlight reaches the earth at a shallow angle.
> The four seasons are related to the four 'corners' or 'pillars' of the sky. These 'pillars' are the
> constellations in the zodiac where the sun is located at the equinoxes and solstices. The equinoxes are
> the two events during the year when the days and nights are of equal duration, roughly March 21, the
> Spring equinox, and September 21, the Fall equinox. The two solstices are the events when the day is
> longest and shortest, roughly June 21, the Summer solstice, and December 21, the Winter solstice.
> If one connects the 'four corners' of the zodiac with imaginary straight lines, one obtains the 'square
> earth.'
> At first thought, it would seem that the four corners of the square earth should remain fixed
> throughout all eternity. Alas, this is an error. Actually, since the earth rotates on its axis, it is subject to
> what is called the 'gyroscopic precession effect.' Everyone who has spun a toy top has witnessed the
> gyroscopic precession effect that causes a tilted top to 'precess' about its vertical axis at a relatively
> slow rate. Since the earth is tilted on its axis, it too precesses. The rate is very slow, one complete cycle
> of precession requiring roughly 25-thousand years.
> A little reflection should convince the reader that the gyroscopic precession effect will cause the
> equinoxes and solstices to precess also, with the dawning place of the sun at, say, the Spring equinox,
> to move along the zodiac. This movement is called the Precession of the Equinoxes.
> The 12 signs of the zodiac are envisioned as 12 'doors' or 'houses.' Because of the Precession, the sun
> 
> enters a different 'house' at springtime about once per 2-thousand years and causes us to enter a new
> astrological 'Age.' The phenomenon was well known to the ancient astrologers, and it was used as a
> title of the Age of human history in which one lived. If the sun rose in Aries at the Spring equinox, it
> was called the Age of ARIES. If the Spring equinox was in Pisces, it was called the Age of PISCES, etc.
> Actually, every astrological Age had a double name, e.g. ARIES-Libra, PISCES-Virgo, etc. The double
> name comes from the names of the constellations or 'signs' where the sun rises at both the SPRING
> and Fall seasons of the year. Modern astrologers say that we are now entering the Age of AQUARIUS-
> Leo or Leo- AQUARIUS.
> This isn't quite the whole story, since the Precession will cause the sun to complete the whole 'circle
> of beasts' and to reappear in Aries at Springtime after a 'time circle' of about 25-thousand years.
> Accustomed as we are in the post-Newtonian world to open-ended 'linear time,' the ancient concept of
> circles ('infinities') of time is difficult to grasp. However, mind-boggling Bahá'í Era concepts such as
> the relativity of time, black holes, and oscillating universes, are forcing us to accept the validity of such
> paradoxes, at least in the physical realm. Apparently, the ancient astrologers held analogous concepts
> applicable to the realm of the spirit.
> The numerical order of the Precession is opposite to the zodiacal order. That is, the constellation
> seems to gradually lag behind the equinoxes. For example, during the Age of Pisces, the Spring
> equinox was in Pisces, the twelfth sign in the zodiacal order. Now the Spring equinox occurs in
> Aquarius, the eleventh sign in the zodiacal order. This fact will become significant in later chapters.
> 
> Next, we consider some astrological symbolism in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 49 is a word picture
> describing the signs of the zodiac and are correlated with the names of the 12 tribes:
> 
> Reuben, 'boiling over with water,' is Aquarius (the Water Bearer)
> Simeon and Levi, 'the brethren,' are Gemini (the Twins)
> Judah,'the lion's whelp,' is Leo (the Lion)
> Zebulon, 'who shall dwell at the beach of the sea,' is Pisces
> (the Fishes)
> Issachar, 'a gelded donkey lying down in the cattle pens (REB),'
> is Taurus (the Bull)
> Dan, 'a serpent in the way,' is Scorpio (the Scorpion)
> Gad, 'a troop shall press upon him; but he shall press upon their
> heel,' is Aries (the Ram). [Aries, being the first sign of
> the zodiac, 'presses upon their heel' in the circular
> zodiac.]
> Asher, 'the weigher of bread,' is Libra (the Scales)
> Nephtali, 'a hind let loose,' is Capricorn (the Goat)
> Joseph, 'whose bow abides in strength,' is Sagittarius (the
> Archer)
> Benjamin, 'ravening as a wolf, devouring his prey by morning,
> dividing the spoil at night,' is Cancer (the Crab)
> 
> The 12 sons have been named but one sign remains- Virgo (the Virgin). This sign is 'veiled,' and is
> correlated with Dinah, Jacob's daughter (Gen 30:21).
> 
> In addition to the names 'Pisces,' etc., the ancient Jewish astrologers named the signs of the zodiac
> after the twelve tribes in the manner suggested in Genesis. Thus the name of the first sign was
> 'Gad/Aries'; the second sign was 'Issachar/Taurus', etc.
> 
> It is hoped that this brief discussion will permit the reader to move on. An effort will be made to
> elaborate on the subject as the Apocalypse unfolds.
> 
> LETTER-NUMBER MYSTICISM
> 
> Gematria
> 
> Gematria is the name given to one form of letter-number mysticism that was extensively used in
> ancient mystical literature. It flows naturally from the fact that ordinary letters were used BOTH as
> letters and as numbers. The result was that some numbers would spell significant words, and some
> words had significant numerical values. Gematria was used in the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic
> languages. The letters with their numerical equivalents are given in the following Table:
> 
> Numbers 1 through 9:
> 
> 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9:
> 
> Greek:
> alpha; beta; gamma; delta; epsilon; stigma*; zeta; eta;
> theta
> 
> Hebrew:
> aleph; beth; ghimmel; dallet; hay; waw; zayn; hayt; tayt
> 
> Arabic:
> alif, hamza; beh; jim; dal; ha; waw; ze; he; ta
> 
> Numbers 10 through 90:
> 
> 10; 20; 30; 40; 50; 60; 70; 80; 90:
> 
> Greek:
> iota; kappa; lambda; mu; nu; xi; omicron; pi; goppa*
> 
> Hebrew:
> yod; khaf; lammed; mem; noun; sammekh; ayn; phay; tsadde
> 
> Arabic:
> ye; kef; lam; mim; nun; sin; ain; fe; sad
> 
> Numbers 100 through 900:
> 
> 100; 200; 300; 400; 500; 600; 700; 800; 900:
> 
> Greek:
> rho; sigma; tau; upsilon; phi; chi; psi; omega; sampi*
> 
> Hebrew:
> qof; raysh; sheen; tay; final khaf; final mem; final noun;
> final phay; final tsadde
> 
> Arabic:
> qaf; re; shin; te; se; khe; zai; dad; za
> 
> Number 1000:
> 
> Greek:
> (none)
> 
> Hebrew:
> large aleph
> 
> Arabic:
> ghain
> 
> * The Greek letters stigma, goppa and sampi were used only in numerical work. In literary works,
> the numerical values 6, 90, and 900 were generated by a combination of other letters.
> 
> By 'literal value' I mean the gematrical value. It is obtained by totaling the numerical values of the
> letters in the word or phrase. For example, the Greek letter 'Alpha' has the value 1. The Greek letter
> 'Omega' has the value 800. Therefore 'the Alpha and the Omega' has the literal value of 801.
> An important case is the name Bahá'. In Arabic it is spelled 'Beh, alif, ha, hamza.' Its literal value is
> (2 + 1 + 5 + 1) = 9.
> The fundamental idea of gematria is explained by Plato in his CRATYLOS: the force of a name is to
> found in its numerical value, while words and phrases of the same value may be substituted without
> loss of meaning.
> 
> By 'archetypal value' I mean the value obtained by 'cabalistic contraction.' It is obtained by
> successively adding the numerical components of a number until a single digit is obtained. For
> example, the archetypal value of 801 is (8 + 0 + 1) = 9. Another example: the archetypal value of 7,637
> is obtained by first adding (7 + 6 + 3 + 7) to obtain 23. Then add the resulting numerical components
> (2 + 3) to obtain 5. Thus the archetypal value of 7,637 is 5.
> 
> SOME NUMEROLOGY
> 
> The significance of the numbers Four and Seven should be discussed very briefly to better
> understand why these two numbers were used extensively in ancient sacred literature. Among the
> ancients, the Four was considered representative of the World of Man. For example, there were 4
> 'elements' (fire, air, earth, water); 4 societal levels (man, village, city, nation); 4 seasons (spring,
> summer, fall, winter), 4 eras of human growth (infancy, youth, maturity, old age); and 4 eras of
> historical growth (gold, silver, bronze, iron). The list goes on. Today, we recognize, e.g., that 4 colors
> are needed to color a political map (without colonies) {4}, and, essentially, anything that can be 'explained' (i.e. 'taught from a plane surface') through appropriate definitions, can be reduced to 4 initial
> categories.
> Seven was a highly spiritual number, the union (sum) of heaven (3) and earth (4). Some ancients
> considered 7 to be the 'number of opportunity.' {5} As a symbol of opportunity, recall that animals
> entered Noah's ark by sevens. {6} Some considered 7 to be the 'number of expiation and sacrifice.' For
> example, Jacob spent 7 years in servitude for Leah and 7 more years for Rachel {7}; the Ark of the
> Covenant was in the land of the Philistines for 7 months {8}; and the Israelites were in bondage for 7
> decades. {9} As the number of 'trial and punishment,' recall that 7 years was the legal limit of slavery
> under Mosaic law. Again the list goes on, and the influence of the Four and the Seven appears to have
> been felt throughout the entire ancient world.
> 
> TRIANGULAR VALUE
> 
> The 'triangular value' of a number is obtained by summing all the numbers 'contained' in a number.
> For example, the triangular value of 4 is (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) = the decade 10. In the ancient Pythagorean
> and Hebraic schools, the number 4 was highly regarded because it contained all the numbers
> necessary to create the decade. And since all numbers higher than 9 were considered to be emanations
> of the archetypal numbers 1 through 9, then the 4 was therefore a 'primal number' from which all other
> numbers could be generated. Even today we can see evidence of the ancient canon in the 4 points of
> the Christian Cross, the 4 Central Apostles, the Squared Circle {2}, etc.
> 
> KLIMA
> 
> 'Klima' was an extension of the concept of the triangular value into the realm of letter-mysticism. In
> particular, certain 4-letter words were highly regarded as 'generators' from which other entities could
> be derived. An important example is the Tetragrammaton 'YHWH' (Jehovah).
> To make use of this principle, the 4 letters contained within the word are first arranged into a
> triangle:
> 
> Y
> YH
> YHW
> YHWH
> 
> Next, we assign the gematrical values to the combinations of letters. By the Hebrew gematria, the Y
> (Yod) has the value 10; the H (Hay) has the value 5; the W (Waw) has the value 6. Therefore, the
> Tetragrammaton has the values:
> 
> 10      Sum = 10
> 10, 5      Sum = 15
> 10, 5, 6 Sum = 21
> 10, 5, 6, 5 Sum = 26
> 
> Now we make use of the fundamental idea of gematria as explained above: the force of a name is to
> found in its numerical value, while words and phrases of the same value may be substituted without
> loss of meaning. In this case, any word or phrase that has the values 10, 15, 21, or 26 can be substituted
> for a row of the Tetragrammaton. Other combinations are also valid. In particular, 'Adam' has the
> value 45 while 'Eve' has the value 15. Thus Adam can be derived by summing the four tens in the first
> column plus the 5 in the last column; Eve can be derived by summing the three fives in the second
> column. Other important numbers are immediately evident, such as the 40 (= the years in the
> wilderness, etc.) in the first column, the 12 (= the signs of the zodiac, the sons of Jacob, etc.) in the
> third column. The 'Number of Man' {3} is Five and can be seen in the fourth column.
> The numerologically important number 72 is the value obtained by the total klima of YHWH, that
> is, by summing the numbers (10 + 15 + 21 +26). It is related to the 'Divided Name of YHWH' obtained
> from Exodus 14 verses 19, 20, 21. Each of these verses has 72 letters in the Hebrew. Writing these three
> verses one above the other, verse 19 right to left, verse 20 left to right, and verse 21 right to left,
> produces 72-three letter names of God. Also called the 'Schemhamphoras.'
> 
> PROPHETIC TIME SCALES
> 
> The following temporal terms are found in prophetic biblical writings:
> 
> A 'prophetic day' is usually taken as a year. Most biblical scholars justify this definition by quoting
> Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, in which it is said that a day of the Lord is equal to a year. But in
> recognizing that a number-archetype may be involved, 'one' prophetic day may equal 1 year, or 1
> decade, or 1 century, or 1 millennium {10}, etc. Usually, calendar years are intended, but in one
> instance (11:8-10), the 'day' is a 'prophetic year' or a 'time' (see below).
> 
> An 'evening and a morning' is taken as an EXACT 'prophetic day.' The justification for this
> definition is that it works well in the one place it is encountered: Daniel 8:13.
> 
> A 'prophetic week' is usually taken as seven calendar years. But again, if 'seven prophetic days' are
> intended, it might mean 7 years, or 7 decades, or 7 centuries, or 7 millennia, etc.
> 
> A 'prophetic' month is taken as 30 calendar years. The 30 day month can be inferred by correlating
> Genesis 7:11, 24, and 8:4.
> 
> A 'prophetic year' is taken as 360 calendar years. It is based on the 360 day calendar of ancient
> Mesopotamia and Egypt. The use of the 360 day calendar in biblical allegory can be inferred by
> correlating the dates in Genesis 7:11, 24, and 8:4.
> 
> A 'time' is taken as 360 years. (The word 'time' is from the Hebrew 'mowed,' conventionally a year
> of calendar time, but more generally, a 'fixed time' or season.) The length of the year can be inferred
> from the context, but is usually a lunar year. The justification for this definition of the word 'time' is (1)
> the use of the lunar calendar in the ancient Near East, and (2) to allow a calendar year for each 'day' of
> the 360-day 'prophetic year.'
> 
> The word 'times' is taken as 2 'times,' that is, 720 lunar years. The justification for this definition is
> the dual form of the Hebrew word in Daniel 12:7 in which 'times' is clearly 2 'times.'
> 
> A 'lunar year' is the time required for 12 lunations, equal to 354.367 days.
> 
> A solar year is the time between equinoxes or solstices, equal to 365.242 days.
> 
> There are 1.03069 lunar years in a solar year.
> 
> A NOTE CONCERNING TITLES
> 
> The epithet 'messiah' (Hebrew 'mashiyach') means 'anointed,' a title applied to kings, priests, and
> other potentates in the Hebrew world. Originally, the term 'messiah' simply meant 'ruler.' In later
> Hebrew history, the term 'Messiah' became identified with the 'Messiah' of the Age of Redemption.
> The word is found in Daniel 9:25, 26 where it is widely considered a prophecy of the Advent of Jesus
> among both Christian and Bahá'í commentators.
> The word 'Messias,' found in John 1:41 and 4:25, is a Greek spelling of 'Messiah.'
> The epithet 'Christ' (Greek 'Christos') is the Greek equivalent of 'Messiah' and also means
> 'Anointed.'
> The word 'Lord,' in most of the Old Testament, means 'Jehovah.'
> In Genesis 15:2, 8 and 18:3, the word 'Lord' is the Hebrew 'Adown,' meaning 'Sovereign.'
> Daniel uses the word 'Lord' in various forms: 'Adown,' 'Adonay,' and 'Jehovah,' where 'Adonay' is an
> emphatic form of 'Adown.' Daniel 2:47 uses the epithet 'Lord of kings,' where 'Lord' is the Chaldean
> 'Mare,' a 'domineering Master.'
> All of the New Testament, except Revelation 6:10, uses the word 'Lord' = Greek 'Kyrios,' meaning
> 'supreme in authority, ' a 'controller.' This was the most popular epithet for Jesus in the early Christian
> 
> world and likened him to a mystery deity. Revelation 6:10 uses the word 'Lord' = Greek 'Despotes.' an
> 'Absolute Ruler.'
> 'King' in most of the Old Testament is the Hebrew 'melek' = 'king.' Daniel uses the Chaldean form of
> 'melek' to refer to the king of the Chaldeans.
> 'King' in the New Testament is from the Greek 'basileios' = 'king.' The word is found in Matthew
> 27:11-42; Mark 15:2, 9-32; Luke 19:38, 23:2, 37-38; John 1:49, 12:13-15, 18:33-39, 19:3, 14-21. Since all
> 'kings,' among other epithets, bore the title 'anointed,' the word 'basileios' implied a higher rank than
> 'christos.'
> In 1 Timothy 6:15, Paul uses the epithet 'King of kings and Lord of lords' in connection with the
> Second Coming of Christ, but apparently reserves the title for the Supreme Being.
> In Revelation 17:14, we find the epithet 'Lord of lords, and King of kings.' In Revelation 19:16 we
> find the epithet reversed and capitalized: 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.' The reversing of
> the epithet suggests that the 'Lamb' of 17:14 is not the same Figure as 'Faithful and True' of verse 19:16.
> In fact, 17:14 refers to the Bab while 19:16 refers to Bahá'u'lláh. Collectively, they are the 'Twin
> Manifestation.' (In the context of astrological symbolism, Gemini opens the door to the future and is
> the 'Alpha' or 'Beginning.' Gemini also closes the door to the past and is the 'Omega' or 'Ending.' Thus
> the 'Alpha' is the 'twin' of the 'Omega.')
> 
> CHAPTER 1 - THE GREATEST NAME                                                                        ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> The Book opens with a brief preface explaining that the Revelation is from Jesus Christ and is
> delivered by his angel to John. The events in the prophecy are to commence very soon, but the time
> duration of the prophecy is not specified. [The date of the Revelation is circa 104 CE.]
> John first relays a message of grace and peace to the 7 Divinely revealed Churches [Faiths] of the
> region called 'Asia,' a region roughly equivalent to the modern Middle East. Each of the 7 Churches is
> under the aegis of a Spirit, the prophetic spirit of a Divine Revelator, who is seated before the heavenly
> throne.
> The 7 Spirits also represent the name 'Bahá'u'lláh' and are Manifestations of the single Spirit of
> Bahá'u'lláh. Additionally, the 7 Spirits relate to the 7 planets, the 'gods' that astrologers considered to
> be the 'Executors of the Divine Will.'
> Jesus reveals some of his roles, while John warns that "he will come with clouds" [obscuring veils,
> trouble, divine mercy, etc.]. When he does return, all those with [spiritual] eyes will "see" him and
> realize he has been re-Manifested.
> The Lord then reveals that He is the "Alpha" and the "Omega," which has the archetypal value of 9.
> He is the "beginning"and the "ending," suggesting among other things, that his name is hidden in the
> first and last words of the Revelation ("Apocalypse" and "Amen"), both of which have an archetypal
> value of 9. He also reveals for the first of 9-times that He is the "Pantocrator."
> John is then commanded by a loud trumpet-like voice to write down in a book what he "sees" and
> send it to the 7 Churches of Asia: Sabaean [Peace], Jewish [Benevolence}, Hindu [Law], Zoroastrian
> [Light], Buddhist [Truth], Christian [Brotherly Love], and Muslim [Justice]. Turning to see the
> speaker of the voice, he sees Bahá'u'lláh standing amidst 7 golden candlesticks. He holds 7 stars in his
> right hand, and explains that he is the "first and the last," etc.. He also reveals that he has the "keys of
> hell and death" [the power of judgement].
> John is again commanded to "write down" what he sees. The 7 "stars" are revealed to be the
> "angels" [Revelators] of the 7 Churches. The 7 stars equate to the planetary 'gods.' The 7 stars also
> represent the name 'Husayn-'Ali, the proper name of Bahá'u'lláh. Furthermore, the 7 "candlesticks"
> are revealed to be the 7 Churches. The word picture that John writes down is thereby revealed to be a
> form of the Greatest Name Emblem of the Bahá'í Faith.
> 
> PREFACE:
> 
> The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must
> shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record
> of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things he saw. Blessed is he that
> readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
> therein: for the time is at hand. -Rev. 1:1-3
> 
> Modern translations read "the time is at hand," etc. as meaning that the events of the prophecy are
> to start unfolding in the near future. The total duration of the prophecy is not defined by these verses,
> and in fact will span about 19 centuries.
> 
> SALUTATION:
> 
> John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you and peace, from him which is, and
> which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before the throne; - Rev 1:4
> 
> The term 'Asia' could refer to either the Roman Province of Asia or to the larger Region of
> continental Asia. The Roman province of Asia was limited to modern Asia Minor. In the early centuries
> CE, the Region of Asia included India and Arabia, but did not include modern Asiatic Russia or the Far
> East.
> If one interprets it as the Province, then the 7 churches which, for some reason, Jesus addresses this
> mighty Book, have a literal meaning that is obvious. If one enlarges the scope of the term 'Asia' to
> include the whole Region, then the prophecy has a broader, more profound meaning. In the broader
> sense, the 7 Churches of Asia then represent those religions of Asia and of the Prophetic Cycle {1} that
> will have living followers at the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh.
> The 7 Spirits before the throne also has multiple meanings. The names 'Bahá'u'lláh' and
> 'Husayn-'Ali' (the proper name of Bahá'u'lláh) both have seven letters in Arabic, and the Master,
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá {2} has given the name 'Bahá'u'lláh' as one meaning of the 7 Spirits. It should be pointed
> out that the 7 Spirits also have an astrological significance that will become evident later on.
> "Him which is, which was, and which is to come" is one name for the Lord God and derives from
> ancient Jewish mysticism. The phrase implies a cyclicity of time that is related to astrological Ages.
> Another possible meaning of the phrase "Him which is, which was, and which is to come" is God as His
> recurring Manifestations.
> Bahá'u'lláh has explained to us that God educates mankind in phases. Each phase is approximately
> a thousand years in duration and is ushered in by a Revelator who holds undisputed sway during the
> Age.
> Before 1844 CE there were 7 revealed monotheistic Faiths in the Region known as Asia. They were:
> 
> FAITH; REVELATOR
> 
> Sabaean; Unknown
> Jewish; Moses
> Hindu; Krishna
> Zoroastrian; Zoroaster (Zarathustra)
> Buddhist; Gautama Buddha
> Christian; Jesus Christ
> Muslim; Muhammad
> 
> If we include the Babi and Bahá'í Faiths revealed after 1844 the list has 9 members. The Apocalypse
> is addressed to the 7 Divinely revealed Faiths of the Region of Asia and reveals the Advents of the Bab
> and Bahá'u'lláh.
> Another meaning of the Jewish Menorah may be revealed here. The 7 candlesticks of the Menorah
> are named Peace, Benevolence, Justice, Light, Truth, Brotherly Love, and Harmony [or Law?]. It will
> become evident that their names are probably correlated with the names of the 7 Churches.
> 
> And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of
> the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath
> made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
> Amen. - Rev 1:5-6
> 
> The message is also from Jesus Christ, [who, incidentally, was the "morning star" (verse 22:16) of
> the astrological Age of Pisces]. Jesus Christ is a faithful witness that these things will come to pass.
> Jesus was the first to be raised from the spiritually dead during his ministry.{3} He is the spiritual
> Prince of the kings and rulers of the earth. By sacrificing his blood (spiritual life-force) Jesus raised the
> early Christians from spiritual death.
> In the symbolism of the Apocalypse, such terms as 'death' and 'life' usually refer to 'spiritual death,'
> etc. ('Leave the dead to bury their dead.'{4}) Death means to be devoid of spiritual awareness and to be
> without belief in God; sleep means the slumber of heedlessness, to be temporarily devoid of spiritual
> awareness; life means to have entered the paradise of the love of God.
> Sin can have various aspects: disobeying God's laws as revealed by His Manifestation; enslavement
> to animal passions and motivations; attachment to the contingent world of attributes and duality.
> 
> HE WILL COME WITH CLOUDS:
> 
> Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all
> kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so. Amen. -Rev 1:7
> 
> Again, 'spiritual' should be associated with the word 'eyes.' Eventually, everyone with spiritual
> vision will know that the Christ has been re-Manifested. Whether one blames the Jews, or the Romans,
> or both for the Crucifixion is irrelevant, since the spiritually astute of every nation will become aware.
> The "wailing" of the nations reflects the sorrow experienced because of their lost opportunity to
> recognize and obey him.
> Clouds means troubles and a veil between man and heaven. Because the Manifestation comes in a
> human body and with human limitations, such things cast doubts in men's minds and act as veils.
> Clouds can also symbolize Divine mercy, the annulment of counter-productive laws, the abrogation of
> former Dispensations, and the repeal of useless rituals and customs. "I have come in the shadows of
> the clouds of glory, and am invested by God with invincible sovereignty." -BH {5}
> Jesus sometimes referred to those who have eyes and yet do not see.{6} Bahá'u'lláh explains that
> the sincere seeker will be rewarded with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind.{7}
> The fact that there will be a delay between his appearance on earth and his eventual acceptance by
> the peoples of the existing spiritual generation is made clear in Luke and Isaiah. {8} The term
> 'generation' (Greek 'genea') as used in Luke and elsewhere has among its meanings 'an historic age.' In
> allegorical usage, a generation is a Day of Creation or a Lord's Day. The word may be modeled after the
> Hebrew word 'olam,' meaning an 'infinity' or 'world.'
> 
> THE ALPHA AND OMEGA INTRODUCES HIMSELF:
> 
> I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and
> which is to come, the Almighty. -Rev 1:8
> 
> The phrase "Alpha and Omega" has many meanings. Most succinctly, it refers to The Word of God
> {9}, including the appearance of the Lord God as His successive Manifestations. One can also perceive
> another significance to the phrase, indicating that every Manifestation is the beginning of the new Age
> and the ending of the former Age. In the Apocalypse, the phrase refers specifically to Bahá'u'lláh.{10}
> The sum of the letters "Alpha" and "Omega" has a literal value of either 801 or twice-666,
> depending upon the Greek version of the text. In either case, the archetypal value is 9, the Number of
> Bahá'. Bahá'u'lláh used the number 9 as a seal, since the name Bahá' has the literal value of 9 by the
> Arabic gematria.
> The "beginning and the ending" is another clue to the identity of the speaker. It suggests that we
> investigate the beginning and ending words of the Book. These words, in the Greek text, are
> "Apocalypse" and "Amen." The first word has the literal value of 1512 and an archetypal value of 9; the
> last word has the literal value of 99, which also has an archetypal value of 9.
> Furthermore, the Greek word for 'Beginning' is 'Arche' which has a literal value of 709; the Greek
> word for 'Ending' is 'Telos' which has a literal value of 605. The sum of these two values is 1314, which
> also has an archetypal value of 9.
> Isaiah {11} explains that both God and His Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, are the First and the Last.
> Other Old Testament passages identify the Latter Day Redeemer or Ransomer as the Lord of Hosts,
> the Holy One of Israel, and the King of Glory (= Bahá').{12} Bahá'u'lláh explains that he is both the
> Beginning and the End, and both Stillness and Motion. {13}
> His Holiness Bahá'u'lláh bears many titles, some of which have been given him by other
> Manifestations and prophets and are ascribed to Bahá'u'lláh by those Bahá'ís who have entered by
> another faith. Some examples:
> 
> Jewish- Lord of Hosts, King of Glory, the Holy One of Israel
> Hindu- Tenth Avatar, Immaculate Manifestation of Krishna, Kalki,
> Vishnu Yasha
> Buddhist- Fifth Buddha, Buddha Maitreye
> Christian- Spirit of Truth, Return of Christ
> Zoroastrian- Shah Bahram
> Muslim- The Great Announcement, Return of Christ, Return of Imam
> Husayn
> Babi- Essence of Being, Remnant of God, Omnipotent Master,
> Crimson all-encompassing Light
> 
> Other titles have been ascribed by Bahá'u'lláh to Himself in order to explain his mission to
> mankind. Among these are: Ancient of Days, Voice From the Burning Bush, Well Spring of Revelation,
> Day Star of Divine Revelation, Sun of Truth, Bird of the Throne.
> For the first of 9-times in the Apocalypse, verse 8 identifies the Alpha and Omega as the Almighty,
> that is, 'The Pantocrator.'
> 
> JOHN IS COMMANDED TO WRITE THE APOCALYPSE:
> 
> I John who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of
> Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus
> Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. Saying,
> I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest write in a book, and send it unto
> the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto
> Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. -Rev 1:9-11
> 
> The names of the 7 Churches of Asia represent 7 Divinely revealed Faiths. While the prejudiced
> 
> reader of imperial Rome might have been tempted to restrict the term 'Asia' to the Roman Province of
> that name, in the unprejudiced view, the entire Region of Asia extending through Palestine, Arabia,
> Persia and India must be included.
> The root meanings of the names of the 7 Churches are indicative of their salient characteristics:
> 
> APOCALYPSE; ROOT MEANING; SYMBOLISM; FAITH
> 
> phesus; Family Hearth; Peace; Sabaean
> Smyrna; Myrrh; Benevolence; Jewish
> Pergamos; Parchment; Law, Harmony {14}; Hindu
> Thyatira; Cyprus Tree; Light {15}; Zoroastrian
> Sardis; Stone; Truth; Buddhist
> Philadelphia; Brotherly Love; Brotherly Love; Christian
> Laodicea; Just People; Justice {14}; Muslim
> 
> We shall not digress to justify the salient characteristics attributed to the 7 Churches. There are
> numerous excellent works on the subject of comparative religion. {16}
> 
> JOHN SEES THE ALPHA AND OMEGA:
> 
> And I turned to see the voice that spake to me. And being turned. I saw seven golden candlesticks; And
> in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to
> the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as
> white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as they burned in a
> furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. -Rev 1:12-15
> 
> The Figure is that of Bahá'u'lláh. He stands among the 7 candlesticks representing the 7 Churches of
> Asia. His garment to the foot signifies his heavenly attributes, and in those attributes, he resembles the
> Son of Man: "The voice of the Son of Man is calling aloud from the sacred vale: 'Here am I, here am I,
> O God my God!" -BH {17} His golden girdle symbolizes a new Faith and his spiritual power. His white
> hair like purest wool identifies him as the Head of Days, that is, the Ancient of Days. And because of
> his great tribulations, the hair of Bahá'u'lláh had literally become snow white. "The Pen of Holiness ...
> hath writ upon my snow-white brow .. " -BH {18} His eyes have been described by witnesses as 'flames
> of fire.'
> His feet of brass are contrasted to those of Nebuchadnezzar's vision in Daniel {19}. Nebuchadnezzar
> dreamt of an image that had feet of part iron, part clay- a weakened metal that soon broke beneath the
> forces of history. In John's vision, the feet are of fine brass and are sufficient to endure 'forever.' The
> sound of many waters describes Bahá'u'lláh as the Well Spring of Revelation.
> In his TABLET OF ALL FOOD, Bahá'u'lláh reveals that the spiritual worlds are of different degrees.
> In one of these several worlds, the world of the All-Highest Dominion, the dwellers therein, God's
> Chosen Ones, are closely identified with God, manifesting His attributes, speaking His voice, and are
> identified with Him. "The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who is the
> Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one
> and the same." -BH {20} In another spiritual world, the plane of Divinity, the Heavenly Court, the
> Manifestations are as utter nothingness compared to God.
> The different spiritual worlds accounts for the seeming paradox between the vision described in
> verse 13 and a similar vision in Daniel. {21}. In Daniel's vision, the Ancient of Days with "head like
> pure wool" sits on the heavenly throne in the plane of Divinity, the Heavenly Court, while "one like the
> Son of man" (KJV) is brought before Him to receive 'glory,' 'an everlasting dominion,' etc. In the
> version of Rev 1:13, the 'one like the Son of man' also has hair like wool, etc. The paradox is resolved by
> the concept of different spiritual worlds: In Daniel's vision, it is God Who sits on the throne while
> 
> 'Husayn- 'Ali (later to be given the title Bahá'u'lláh) is brought before Him. John's vision is of the All-
> Highest Dominion, it is in this lower spiritual world where Bahá'u'lláh exhibits the same attributes as
> the Lord God.
> 
> HIS APPEARANCE:
> 
> And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his
> countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And
> he laid his right hand upon me, saying to me, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that liveth,
> and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death. -Rev
> 1:16-18
> 
> The 7 stars are the 7 'Governors' or Revelators of the 7 Churches, and also represent the name,
> 'Husayn-'Ali (the proper name of Bahá'u'lláh). Since the 7 stars spell a single word, they are actually
> the Manifestation of a single 'star,' the star of 'Husayn-'Ali.
> The 7 stars is an allusion to the 7 planets, which, according to the theories of the ancient
> astrologers, were the true Governors of the world of man, the Executors of the Divine Will.
> The right hand is the hand of power and might. As the Spirit of Truth, he speaks with the Sword of
> Truth, double-edged because it separates the true from the false and the good from the wicked. "Aid ye
> your Lord with the sword of wisdom and utterance." -BH {22}
> The sun symbolizes Divinity, the Manifestations of God, and His Faith. "From Him all the Suns
> [Manifestations] have been generated, and to Him they will all return. " -BH {23} His sun-like
> countenance describes Bahá'u'lláh as the Sun of Truth. Many witnesses have testified that it was
> extremely difficult to gaze upon his dazzling countenance.
> The Holy Spirit as evidenced through Jesus Christ and Muhammad seemed to have died before the
> Advents of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. But God lives forever and has the power to resurrect man from the
> death of unbelief and to return him from the hell of remoteness. "Paradise is on your right hand, and
> hath been brought nigh unto you, while Hell has been made to blaze." "Followers of the Gospel, behold
> the gates of heaven are flung open." "No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth
> of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation." -BH {24}
> 
> A WORD PICTURE:
> 
> Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be
> hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
> candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which
> thou sawest are the seven churches. -Rev 1:19-20
> 
> The 7 stars are revealed to be the 'Governors' or Revelators of the 7 Divinely revealed Faiths. Among
> other things, John is commanded to "write down" the things that "are now" (REB). Chapter 1 of the
> Apocalypse is a word picture. 'Writing down' these things reveals the Greatest Name Emblem of the
> Bahá'í Faith. The upper level represents the Plane of Divinity, the Heavenly Court. The second level
> represents the All-Highest Dominion, the plane of the Manifestations, the third and lowest level
> represents the plane of the Churches. They are connected by the Name of Bahá'u'lláh who stands
> among the 7 Churches and holds the 7 Governors of the 7 Faiths in his right hand of might and power.
> In the Greatest Name Emblem, the stars or Governors are represented by only two, the Bab and
> Bahá'u'lláh, whose missions are to unify the Seven Churches through the single Spirit of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> CHAPTER 2 - LETTERS TO ANCIENT FAITHS                                                             ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> In this chapter, letters are addressed to the Sabaean, Jewish, Hindu and Zoroastrian Churches.
> (Letters to the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim Churches will be presented in the next chapter.)
> The letters are addressed to the Manifestations and the devotees of the Churches as they will exist
> at the end of the Piscean Age. Each of the Churches has strayed from its pristine purity and vitality.
> The speaker in each of these first four letters is God, speaking through Bahá'u'lláh.
> The Sabaean Church is extolled for its good works, patience, rejection of Covenant-breakers, etc.,
> but is chastened because it has strayed from its original teachings. Therefore, Bahá'u'lláh threatens to
> come quickly and extinguish the Sabaean Church, unless it repents and reverses its course.
> Moses and the Jewish Church are extolled for the "true Jews" within its fold, for those who do good
> works and are spiritually rich, and who have withstood tribulation and poverty over the centuries. But
> he condemns the "synagogue of Satan," and warns the Jews that many of them will be imprisoned and
> tried for 10- lunar years by the "devil" [Hitler]. Those who persevere, remain faithful to God, and
> overcome the false teachings within the Church, will be rewarded with a "crown of life," nor will they
> be hurt by the "second death" [the rejection of Bahá'u'lláh, the Messiah of the Last Day].
> Krishna and the Hindu Church are extolled for their good works, even in the place "where Satan
> [Shiva] dwells." Bahá'u'lláh also extols the Hindus for holding fast to the name of Brahma during the
> turbulent days of Lord Buddha; but he chastens them for holding the doctrine of Baal [Shiva] with his
> fertility rites, and to a large pantheon of gods and demons. Bahá'u'lláh warns them to overcome these
> and other false teachings, or else he will come quickly, and combat them with the Sword of Truth. To
> those who do overcome, he will give them the "hidden manna" of the Word of God, and a new name,
> 'Bahá'í,' a name whose import will be known only to the devotee.
> Zoroaster and his Church are extolled for their good works of charity, faith, etc., and are
> complimented for doing even better than they did at their beginning. Nevertheless, they are chastened
> for their idolatry and other decadent practices, and for their witness to Satan [Ahriman]. Those who
> have not "known the depths of Satan," who overcome false teachings, etc., will receive no further tests,
> but will be rewarded with the "morning star," the Bab, who will appear in their midst, and who is
> destined, with his devotees, to rule the nations with a "rod of iron."
> 
> The following letters in Chapters 2 and 3 are addressed to the 7 Churches of Asia as they are
> characterized at the end of the Age of Pisces. In contrast to their pristine purity, each of the Churches
> has become corrupted. The Speaker is the Spirit of God speaking through the Manifestation. Their
> style suggests an equivalence between the Manifestation and His Church, and the Savior seems to be
> identical to the saved. "Nay, all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of their Will,
> and move and have their being through the outpourings of their grace." "That some are near (to God)
> and others are far (from God) is to be ascribed to the Manifestations themselves." -BH {1}
> The first five letters are addressed to the Founders of the Sabaean, Jewish, Hindu, Zoroastrian and
> Buddhist Faiths. All of these Faiths were revealed during the Age of Aries and their Dispensations had
> been ended by the beginning of the Piscean Age.
> But there is a special role that is played by Bahá'u'lláh. In THE YOUTH OF PARADISE, Bahá'u'lláh
> identifies Himself as the Word upon which depended the souls of all the Prophets of God and His
> Chosen Ones. Thus, only Bahá'u'lláh has the power to speak to and for the Revelators of the first five
> Faiths.
> There is sometimes an apparent ambiguity as to which Manifestation is doing the speaking; the
> intermingling of Voices points out their essential unity. "Inasmuch as these Birds of the celestial
> Throne are sent down from the heaven of the Will of God, and as they all arise to proclaim His
> irresistible Faith, they therefore are regarded as one soul and the same person ... They all abide in the
> same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech,
> 
> and proclaim the same Faith ..." -BH {2}
> 
> A LETTER TO EPHESUS:
> 
> Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his
> right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works and thy
> labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them
> which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience,
> and for my name's sake hast laboured and hast not fainted. -Rev 2:1-3
> 
> The letter is addressed to the now forgotten Revelator of the Church of Peace, the Sabaean Faith.
> Apostles are trusted messengers. To faint means to grow weary.
> 
> Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore
> from whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
> and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou
> hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
> saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
> midst of the paradise of God. -Rev 2:4-7
> 
> God, speaking through Bahá'u'lláh, is threatening to remove their Faith from the earth because they
> have strayed from their original teachings. Indeed, the Divinely revealed Sabaean Faith, not to be
> confused with the Mandaeans of southern Iraq, is now extinct. Originally, Abraham may have been a
> follower of the ancient Sabaean Faith whose Revelator has been lost to history. The remnants of this
> ancient Faith are the idolaters of Africa.
> Nicolas was probably a convert from Antioch.{3} His followers, Nicolaitanes, were Covenantbreakers of the early Christian Church, and here signify the Covenant-breakers of any Divinely
> revealed Faith. Nicholas maintained that the acceptance of Jesus Christ placed the believer above the
> laws and morality of non-Christians, and that one's standard of behavior became largely a matter of
> personal inclination.
> God promises the sincere Sabaeans that they will receive spiritual life, light, and sustenance
> through God's Manifestation, the Tree of Life, Bahá'u'lláh.{4}
> 
> A LETTER TO SMYRNA:
> 
> And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was
> dead, and is alive; I know thy works and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the
> blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear none
> of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may
> be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown
> of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh
> shall not be hurt by the second death. -Rev 2:8-11
> 
> The message is addressed to Moses, the Revelator of the Jewish Faith. The Jewish Faith was
> probably the first to recognize the benevolence of God. He distinguishes between those Jews who are
> materially poor but spiritually rich, and those who are materially rich but spiritually poor. A true Jew
> loves God and obeys His laws. Those who exalt themselves before Him and refuse to obey His laws are
> of the synagogue of Satan.
> The Jews are informed that some of them will be imprisoned by the "devil" for a period of 10 days.
> We recall that in biblical prophecy, a 'prophetic day' usually represents a year of calendar time. The
> prophecy warns them of their 10-year tribulation under Hitler and the Nazi regime. The holocaust
> 
> began with the 'Nurnberg laws on citizenship and race,' 15 September 1935, and ended with the
> destruction of the Third Reich in May 1945, a period of 10-lunar years.
> The Spirit of Bahá'u'lláh, promises that the 'true Jews' who persevere through their tribulation and
> overcome the false teachings within their church will be rewarded with spiritual salvation and eternal
> life. They can avoid the "second death" by their acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh. Their 'first spiritual death'
> resulted from their rejection of Jesus the Messiah.
> 
> A LETTER TO PERGAMOS:
> 
> And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write: These things saith he which hath the sharp sword
> with two edges; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou
> holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my
> faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. -Rev 2:12-13
> 
> These words are addressed to Krishna and the Hindu Faith. The most conspicuous characteristic of
> the Hindu Faith is its emphasis on the universal spiritual Law of Karma. In Greek, "Antipas" means
> literally 'against all,' and refers to the great reformer of the ancient Hindu world, Lord Buddha. "Where
> Satan dwells" generally refers to a degraded spiritual condition, but more specifically to the worship of
> Shiva.
> The modern Hindu Faith, although theoretically monotheistic (or more correctly, 'trinitarian'), has
> a de facto pantheon that includes the deity Shiva the 'Destroyer.' The Hindu representations of Shivahis fierce demeanor, trident, serpents, human skulls, fire, phallic symbol, etc.- remind us of the
> Western representations of Satan 'the Enemy.'
> Tradition says that Lord Buddha was accidentally killed by a meal of poisoned mushrooms in the
> home of Cunda, a smith. However, poison was one method that had been used by a jealous cousin
> Devadatta and his henchman in previous attempts on Lord Buddha's life. Verse 13 indicates that Lord
> Buddha was actually martyred, thereby revealing the true nature of His death.
> The sincere Hindus are cited for maintaining the name of God (Brahma) even during their period of
> spiritual decay.
> 
> But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
> who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto
> idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,
> which thing I hate. -Rev 2:14-15
> 
> The infamous Jezebel, wife of Ahab, king of Israel, introduced the idolatrous doctrine of "Balaam"
> (plural of Baal) into Israel in the 9th century BCE. {5} While little is known for certain about the Baal
> cult, it appears that he represented the male fertility principle in nature and that his rites may have
> had sexual undertones. It is probable that Shiva is Baal under a different name. The wording of verse
> 14 suggests that the worship of Shiva may not be acceptable to the Heavenly Court.
> In contrast to Shiva, the Hindu pantheon also includes the benevolent deity Vishnu 'the Preserver.'
> According to Hindu theology, Lord Krishna was the last of several Avatars (Manifestations) of Vishnu
> prior to Lord Buddha.
> Verse 15 again censures those who use 'salvation' as an excuse for unprincipled behavior.
> Besides the literal meanings, allegorical and symbolic meanings can be attached to certain phrases
> and words. For example, 'idol worship' is equivalent to the modern day doctrine of materialism. "To
> eat things sacrificed to idols" means to believe in (to 'swallow') idolatrous teachings, just as the
> consuming of the bread and the wine of the Eucharist symbolizes the acceptance of Jesus Christ's
> teachings and His blood sacrifice. "To commit fornication" means to accept false doctrine or to
> participate in obscene rituals.
> 
> Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
> He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will
> I 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. -Rev 2:16-17
> 
> Hidden manna refers to Divine Revelation- spiritual sustenance from heaven, the Word of God and
> Reality, hidden until revealed by Bahá'u'lláh. " ... That which is preeminent above all other gifts, is
> incorruptible in nature, and pertaineth to God Himself, is the gift of Divine Revelation ... It is, in its
> essence, and will ever so remain, the Bread which cometh down from Heaven." -BH {6} This
> "Heavenly Bread" is promised to those who overcome the false teachings within the Hindu Faith.
> In antiquity, it was a custom to present invited guests with 'tesserae'- small pieces of stone, bone,
> ivory or mosaic. These tesserae were also used to perpetuate a friendship or to make a union more
> sacred. The privilege of friendship could be extended to others carrying the tessera by a simple
> process: the tessera was broken into two parts and each party wrote his own name or secret inscription
> on his own piece. Mutual pledges were made, the pieces were exchanged, and no one knew the name
> inscribed on his piece except the possessor. Such secret tesserae were probably carried by early
> Christians during their travels to introduce them to fellow Christians.
> The Bab presented His followers and Bahá'u'lláh with a scroll often called the 'White Stone.' The
> Bab had inscribed it with a pentacle composed of 360 derivatives of the word 'Bahá'.' The scroll
> revealed the name of the new Manifestation to follow the Bab. Only those who accept the Bahá'í
> Revelation understand the meaning of the "new name."
> "New name" (Greek 'kainon onoma') has a literal value by gematria of 432 and an archetypal value
> of 9 ( that is, 4 + 3 + 2 = 9). 'Bahá'' has the literal value of 9 by the Arabic gematria, and Bahá'u'lláh
> used the number 9 as a seal to many of his Tablets.
> 
> A LETTER TO THYATIRA:
> 
> And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his
> eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 19 I know thy works, and charity, and
> service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. -Rev 2:18-19
> 
> [REB 19 "I know what you are doing, your love and faithfulness, your service and your endurance;
> indeed of late you have done even better than you did at first."]
> 
> This letter is addressed to Zoroaster and His Church of "Thyatira." Zoroastrianism, once with a vast
> number of devotees throughout the entire Middle East, is now the smallest of the world's living
> religions. Today, its most conspicuous characteristic is its cult of the Eternal Flame: fires laced with
> 'thyine' fuels, and kept burning in places of worship.{7}
> The title 'Son of God' has undergone an evolution in meaning since ancient times. In the pre-
> Christian Gentile world it meant 'Redeemer.' Pharaohs and other potentates of the ancient world bore
> the title, and it was even a part of the Roman Imperial cult, beginning with Augustus (63 BCE - 14 CE),
> who received the title 'Divi Filius' (Latin = 'Son of God') by decree of the Senate. Nevertheless, devout
> Jews considered it an act of blasphemy for mere humans to adopt it; moreover, conjoining the titles
> Messiah and Son of God implied that the Messiah was not inferior in dignity to Caesar.
> To Jesus, 'Son of God' and 'god' were epithets for "one unto whom the Word of God came." Jesus
> makes this clear when he answers certain Jews who accused him of blasphemy:
> 
> Jesus answered 'Is it not written in your law, "I said: You are gods"? It is those to whom God's word
> came who are called gods- and Scripture cannot be set aside. Then why do you charge me with
> blasphemy for saying, "I am God's son," I whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world? -REB:
> John 10:34-35
> 
> The "law" that Jesus quotes is
> 
> [God says:] 'This is my sentence: Though you are gods, all sons of the Most High, yet you shall die as
> mortals die, and fall as any prince does.' -REB: Psalm 82:6-8
> 
> In other words, a 'Son of God' is One to whom the word of God came and who is consecrated by the
> Father.{8} This is precisely what is meant by a 'Divine Revelator' or a 'Manifestation of God.'
> In spite of their small numbers, the sincere Zoroastrians are renowned for their beneficence,
> prosperity, education, and charitable works designed to alleviate misery without distinction of race or
> religion. In verse 19, Bahá'u'lláh extols them for their good attributes at the end of the Piscean Age.
> 
> Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which
> calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat
> things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her space to repent her fornication; and she repented not. Behold
> I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they
> repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am
> he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
> -Rev 2:20-23
> 
> Originally, the Zoroastrian Faith was free of idols. Their Supreme Deity was Ormazd (Ahura
> Mazda), the God of Goodness, Wisdom and Spiritual Light. However, under the reign of the Persian
> king Artaxerxes II (405-359 BCE), the god Mithra and idols of Anahita, a fertility goddess, were
> introduced. The historical causes of this momentous deviation away from idol-free monotheism are
> unknown. However, verse 20 suggests that there may have been a 'prophetess' involved, a woman
> analogous to Jezebel, who introduced idolatry and other unwholesome elements into their religious
> practices; the subject deserves further study by historians. Today, the Zoroastrian Faith has a large
> pantheon of gods and demons.
> Bahá'u'lláh threatens to cast the Zoroastrian 'Jezebel' into the bed of misery and shame, along with
> the idolatrous followers who participate in her false doctrine. Her spiritually dead descendants will
> disappear from the earth.
> 
> But unto you I say, and unto the rest of Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and have not
> known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put none other burden. But that which ye have already
> hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him I will give
> power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they
> be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that
> hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. -Rev 2:24-29
> 
> [REB 24 "And now I speak to the rest of you in Thyatira, all who do not accept this teaching and have
> had no experience of what they call the deep secrets of Satan. On you I impose no further burden.]
> 
> Beginning in the Sassanid period of Persia (226-631 CE), an insidious doctrine crept into the
> Zoroastrian Faith- 'dualism,' by which Ahriman 'the Destroyer' (Satan) was elevated to a rank equal in
> power to that of Ormazd 'the Preserver' (God). Modern Zoroastrians tend to minimize this aspect of
> their religion, but ever since the Middle Ages the co-equal power of Satan has been used by them to
> rationalize the evil tendencies in Man. One suspects that the 'depths of Satan' have been experienced
> by more than a few 'devotees' of every religion.
> The Bab, the Forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh, was manifested in that part of Persia where the Zoroastrian
> Faith is centered. The 'Morning Star' is the Herald of a new Day of God, and represents the Bab. His
> Advent resulted in great upheavals in Persia and neighboring countries. The verses prophesy the final
> 
> dissolution of all the nations of the world and their spiritual domination by the faithful who accept the
> Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.
> The 'rod of iron' is a symbol of spiritual dominion, it is not a sword of conquest. " ... though the
> revelations of My grace and bounty have permeated every atom of the universe, yet the rod with which
> I can chastise the wicked is grievous ..." -BH {9} ".... 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 a rod of iron and drove them, as in the time of Muhammad ..." -AB {10}
> 
> CHAPTER 3 - LETTERS TO RECENT FAITHS                                                               ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> These three letters are addressed to the Buddhist, Christian and Muslim Faiths.
> The first Church, being the last of the waning Age of Aries, is delivered by God through His
> Manifestation, Bahá'u'lláh. The last two Churches, being those of the waxing Age of Pisces, are
> delivered by God speaking through His Manifestations Jesus the Messiah and Muhammad the Seal.
> Lord Buddha and his Church are admonished for being a 'dead' religion, even though they profess
> to be 'alive.' Their works are not perfect before God, and if they do not watch, the Buddha Maitreye will
> enter and depart the world stage unseen, like a thief. But there are a few Buddhists who have remained
> true to their original teachings, and, if they are able to overcome the false teachings within their Faith,
> they will be allowed to walk with Bahá'u'lláh in Nirvana.
> Jesus lauds his true devotees for keeping his Word and for not denying his Name, even though they
> have little strength left at the end of the Piscean Age. Also, he will cause those insincere Jews, the
> "synagogue of Satan," to worship at their feet. Because the sincere Christians have been loyal, they will
> not be tested by the ordeal of receiving the Divine Reaper, Bahá'u'lláh, within their midst. The Return
> of Christ will occur quickly after the Piscean Age, and those Christians who are able to overcome the
> false teachings within the Church will be rewarded by a new name, 'Bahá'í.'
> Muhammad severely admonishes his devotees for being "lukewarm" in their propagation of the
> Muslim Faith during the Piscean Age; but he promises those true Muslims who are able to overcome
> the false teachings within the Church, that they will be allowed to sit with him on his heavenly throne,
> just as he sits with 'Allah.
> 
> A LETTER TO SARDIS:
> 
> And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of
> God and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be
> watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works
> perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou has received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.
> If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I
> will come upon thee. -Rev 3:1-3
> 
> This letter is addressed to the Church of Stone (Sardis), a symbol of Truth. The most conspicuous
> characteristics of modern Buddhism are its astonishing megalithic statues of the Buddha, and the
> worship of His effigies and sacred relics. In various forms, the Buddhist Faith has spread throughout
> the entire world.
> Lord Buddha was the Revelator of the 'Fourfold Noble Truth,' and His mission was to reform the
> polytheistic and often destructive tendencies within the Hindu Faith that had been accreted over the
> centuries. His work was not completed, and Buddhism had, itself, become assimilated into Indian
> 
> Hinduism by the 6th century CE.
> The verses reveal that the original work of the Church is no longer vigorous, and that the Faith,
> though outwardly alive, is inwardly dead. Furthermore, even though they profess to watch for the
> Advent of the Great Buddha Maitreye, He may enter and depart the world 'unseen,' like a thief, and at
> an Hour that they least expect.
> 
> Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with
> me in white: for they are worthy. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. -Rev 3:4-6
> 
> Raiment, garment, clothing, etc. mean the character or attributes of the soul. "Say; From My laws
> the sweet smelling savor of My garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of victory will
> be planted upon the highest peaks." "Clothe thyself with the essence of righteousness, and let thine
> heart be afraid of none except God." -BH {1} Verse 4 alludes to those hypocrites among the Buddhists
> who defile their red and saffron robes by violating their true purposes.
> The Book of Life is the list of those deserving Nirvana and eternal life. "O thou who art the fruit of
> My Tree and the leaf thereof! ... Wert thou to scan the pages of the Book of Life thou wouldst, most
> certainly, discover that which would dissipate thy sorrows and dissolve thine anguish." -BH {2}
> The first five letters were addressed to the Revelators and their Churches Who appeared in the past
> astrological Age of Aries. A review of those letters will show that they are all 'read' by Bahá'u'lláh, who
> was described by a word picture in Chapter 1.
> The last two letters, addressed to the Churches of Brotherly Love and Justice, are to be read by their
> own Revelators of the new Age of Pisces, that is, by Jesus and Muhammad. The Apocalypse reveals the
> events of the new Age during which they will have autonomy and supreme spiritual authority. Only the
> Ancient of Days, the Manifestation 'with the seven stars in His right hand,' has power over past
> Revelators whose authority had been terminated at the end of the Age of Aries, and may read their
> letters.
> 
> A LETTER TO PHILADELPHIA:
> 
> And to the church of 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; 8 I know
> thy works: behold, I have set before the an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast little
> strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. -Rev 3:7-8
> 
> [REB: 7 'To the angel of the church at Philadelphia write: ..... 8 .... I know your strength is small, yet
> you have observed my command and have not disowned my name. ....]
> 
> The letter is addressed to the Revelator of the Church of Brotherly Love, that is, "Philadelphia." It is
> read by Jesus. A new descriptor is introduced: the "Key of David." Since the letter is being read by
> Jesus Christ, He extols the true Christians for keeping "my" word and not denying "my" name.
> The Key of David is the power to close the old Age and to open the new Age. In astrological
> symbolism, each Age is indicated by a 'door' in the zodiac. When a new constellation appears at the
> 'door of Spring,' a new Age commences and is reflected in the world of man by 'corresponding' events
> through the formula 'as above, so below.' Jesus explains that He has opened a new Age of history, and
> no man has the power to turn back the movement of time. More will be said about the "door" in later
> verses.
> Jesus also reveals that He is aware of the weakness of the Christian Church at the end of the Age of
> Pisces. In spite of the great number who call themselves 'Christians,' the number of devotees who
> actually practice the true teachings of Jesus are relatively few. Doctrinal and theological disputes,
> 
> beginning with the rift between Peter and Paul, have weakened their position and have produced a
> proliferation of sects numbering in the thousands, each sect claiming to represent the 'true' teachings
> of Christ. Brotherly love, the foundation stone of the Christian Church, is rarely evidenced between the
> members of opposing sects, and their power to influence the course of human history is almost
> negligible.
> 
> Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;
> behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10
> Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
> which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. -Rev 3:9-10
> 
> [REB: 10 Because you have kept my command to stand firm, I will also keep you from the ordeal that
> is to fall upon the whole world to test its inhabitants.]
> 
> During His ministry on earth, Jesus was a radical reformer attempting to cleanse Judaism and the
> Temple of 'satanic practices.' The 'temple gang' eventually succeeded in having their own Messiah
> nailed to the cross. It was only after the total destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, that the 'true
> Judaism' promoted by Jesus became the accepted norm by the Jews in exile. Although much of the
> early Christian zeal has become sublimated into less revolutionary channels, there are still some
> sincere Christians, and Jews, who remain engaged in 'cleansing the Temple.'
> The Christians are promised that they will be spared from the ordeal that will come to test all the
> inhabitants of the world. And yet all the inhabitants of the world (including Christians) are to be
> 'tested' by this ordeal.
> What is to be the nature of this test? The test is to be the same as it has always been, and the same
> as it was in the early days of the Christian Church, that is, the test of overcoming the false teachings
> within the Church and of recognizing the new Manifestation of God when He appears. But in contrast
> to the early Christian Church, the new test is to be worldwide, not limited by geographical and
> communicational constraints.
> Indeed, the Christian world was spared from participating in the ordeal that is to test all humanity.
> Contrary to the expectations of most Christians, the new Manifestation did not appear in a Christian
> country, but in a Muslim country! Even the Christian regiment that was commanded to execute the
> Bab was protected from doing so through Divine intervention, a miraculous event that was observed
> by thousands and has been attested to by many reliable witnesses.
> 
> Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man may take thy crown. 12 Him that
> overcometh 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 hath an
> ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. -Rev 3:11-13
> 
> [REB: 12 Those who are victorious I shall make pillars in the temple of my God; they will remain there
> for ever.]
> 
> A crown is a symbol of reward and authority. It will be given to those Christians who overcome the
> false teachings within the Church, and they will become 'pillars' (spiritual supports) for the rest of
> those in the Church.
> "New" is repeated for emphasis. The new Jerusalem will not be called Christianity, and the new
> Manifestation will not be named Jesus Christ.
> Indeed, the new name of God will be Bahá'; the new Jerusalem will be called the City of Bahá', and
> the new Manifestation will be named Bahá'u'lláh. "O Concourse of the Son (Christians)! Are ye hidden
> from myself because of my name?" "Once in about a thousand years shall this city be renewed and
> 
> readorned ... That City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation."
> -BH {3}
> The word 'Jerusalem' means 'Sacred Peace.' In the Greek gematria, 'Jerusalem' has a literal value of
> 864 and an archetypal value of Nine. {4} 'New name' has a literal value of 432, which also has an
> archetypal value of Nine.
> 
> A LETTER TO LAODICEA:
> 
> And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and
> true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
> I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue
> thee out of my mouth. -Rev 3:14-16
> 
> This letter is written for the Revelator and His Church of 'Just People' (Laodicea), and is read by
> Muhammad, the Comforter. "The Amen" is an appropriate title for Muhammad, since He is the 'Seal'
> of the Prophets. Also he affirmed and echoed the Reality of Jesus Christ, even claiming to BE Jesus in
> spirit. In the Qur'an, God addresses Muhammad, the Messenger of God, saying "We made you a
> Witness, a Herald of good news [gospel], and a Warner." As a Manifestation, He is the beginning of a
> new Day of God, a Source of creation in the world of man.
> Muhammad admonishes His devotees for being "lukewarm" in their promotion of the Cause of
> God. In spite of their less-than-zealous promotion of Islam, early Muslims were noteworthy for their
> positive acts of tolerance and justice.
> 
> Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not
> that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me
> gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and
> that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
> see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. -Rev 3:17-19
> 
> [REB: 19 All whom I love I reprove and discipline. Be wholehearted therefore in your repentance.]
> 
> During the years of rapid expansion of Islam under the infamous Houses of Umayyah and 'Abbas,
> the primary objective of the caliphate was the collection of taxes on non-Muslims and the acquisition
> of wealth by the corrupt Caliphs and their cohorts. As a consequence, the true purpose of Islam was
> 'beclouded' and has remained obscured to this day.
> Gold is purified by fire; man is purified by spiritual suffering and repentance.
> 
> Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to
> him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
> throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let
> him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. -Rev 3:20-22
> 
> Muhammad stands and knocks at the "door" (the new Age) that was unlocked by Jesus with the
> "Key of David." He speaks in the same spirit as Jesus, and promises to share spiritual sustenance with
> anyone who recognizes that spirit. He also alludes to His mystical flight from the Rock Moriah to the
> 'Seventh Heaven' where He sat with 'Allah on His throne.{5}
> 
> CHAPTER 4 - THE INVISIBLE ZODIAC                                                                     ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> John is permitted to see the far side of the celestial sphere, the new heaven as it will appear the
> during the Age of Leo-Aquarius. Bahá'u'lláh, representing God the Father, is seen in glory upon a
> central throne on the crystalline surface.
> Instead of the usual 12 thrones surrounding the central throne, there are twice the usual number.
> [This is because of the Twin Manifestation, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh, that will appear at the dawn of the
> Leo-Aquarian Age.] Also, John sees that the 7 planetary 'gods' are actually the 7 Spirits that were
> introduced in Chapter 1. [The 7 stars are the Governors of the Revelators of 7 Churches, in whatever
> Age they are manifested, and in particular, the 7 Churches of Chapter 1.]
> The new pillars of the Leo-Aquarian Age [corresponding to the sun's house at the two solstices and
> two equinoxes] are Leo, Taurus, Aquarius, and Flying Eagle. [The last pillar has replaced Scorpio for
> reasons that will be explained later.]
> 
> The four new pillars will exert their influences during the Age of Leo-Aquarius in various ways, one
> example being the 4 Central Figures of the Bahá'í Faith.
> 
> The letters were written for the Revelators Who appeared in Asia during the Ages of Aries and
> Pisces.{1} Their Advents probably appeared in the same temporal sequence as listed in the Apocalypse.
> Now John will have a preview of the Age of Leo- Aquarius.
> 
> JOHN SEES THE KING OF THE LEO-AQUARIAN AGE:
> 
> After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice I heard was as it were
> of a trumpet talking to me; which said, come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be
> hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on
> the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow
> round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. -Rev 4:1-3
> 
> [REB: 1 ... and the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ...]
> 
> John is invited to see the far side of the celestial sphere, the 'Upper World' or 'Celestial Pavilion',
> and to have a preview of great secrets that will be disclosed after the Age of Pisces. In accordance with
> first century cosmology, the outermost 'heaven' is represented as a vast crystalline sphere. The
> Celestial Pavilion appears to John to be a 'sea of glass' as he stands on its outer surface.
> The voice like a trumpet is that of the heralding angel, verse 1:10. John is invited to enter the "door"
> into the Age "hereafter," that is, the Age following Pisces. In astrological terms, the name of this future
> Age is Leo-Aquarius.
> In this far distant Age, John sees Bahá'u'lláh in His role as the King of Glory. His appearance on the
> throne signifies His mission as the World Redeemer, the Unifier of Mankind: the jasper appears in
> many colors, but especially the color of the human heart; the sardine appears to be red or brown,
> depending upon how it is viewed, and signifies the hidden unity behind the material and spiritual
> realms.
> The emerald shimmers with a color that blends with every other color; the rainbow bright as an
> emerald is God's eternal Covenant, renewed in every Age, and it shimmers with the 'colors' of the
> seven Faiths.
> 
> THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS:
> 
> And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty
> elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. -Rev 4:4
> 
> The imagery of much of the Apocalypse reflects the ancient cosmological theory that the Supreme
> Being exerts His influence over the world of Man through the zodiac and astrological influences. The
> theory derives from ancient Chaldaea (neo-Babylonia) and Jewish theologians may have been
> influenced by the theory during the Babylonian Captivity. Astrology was considered 'science' until
> remarkably recent centuries. 'Abdu'l-Bahá' {2} warns us that the theories of the astrologers are not to
> be accepted literally but do have profound symbolic value.
> John sees the twenty-four Elders seated around the throne of Bahá'u'lláh in correspondence with
> the signs of the zodiac. Before the Bahá'í Dispensation, there were only 12 Elders (holy Figures) seated
> about the heavenly throne. For example, Jacob had 12 sons, there were 12 chiefs of tribes under Moses,
> Jesus had 12 Apostles, there were 12 Imams of Islam, and Buddha the Healer had 12 divine guardians
> {3}. But in the Dispensation to be unveiled in the Age of Leo-Aquarius, there are to be twice-twelve of
> these holy Figures!
> Why is this? It is because the Bahá'í Dispensation is actually 'doubled' by the Twin Manifestation:
> the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. Thus in the Bahá'í Dispensation there are to be TWO holy Figures for every
> sign of the zodiac, instead of the usual one! {4} The twice-twelve Elders are to be the 'channels'
> through which the heavenly Manna is to be dispersed throughout the world of Man.
> 
> THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD:
> 
> And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of
> fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. -Rev 4:5
> 
> Lightning is the anger and wrath of God. Thunder is the sound of the violation of the Covenant.
> Voices are the utterings of the doubters and hypocrites who fall into trials and temptations. {5}
> As explained in Chapter 1, the 7 lamps of fire and the 7 Spirits have two meanings. In one sense they
> represent the two 7-lettered names (in Arabic) of Bahá'u'lláh, Husayn-'Ali; in a second sense they
> represent the 7 Revelators of the 7 Faiths of Asia.
> The 7 lamps of fire before the throne, to the outward eye, represent the 7 planets, which popular
> myth considered to be 7 lamps carried by angels across the dome of heaven. However, John learns that
> the 7 planets are not the true Governors of the world of man, but that the world is actually controlled
> by the seven Spirits of God. The seven Spirits correspond to the Divine Revelators Who manifest the
> Spirit of Bahá'.
> 
> THE FOUR PILLARS OF THE LEO-AQUARIAN AGE:
> 
> And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto a crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and
> round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a
> lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was
> like a flying eagle. -Rev 4:6-7
> 
> To the outward eye, the far side of the crystalline celestial sphere appears as a sea of glass. But to
> the inward eye, the sea of glass like unto a crystal is clear and pure- symbolic of the Ocean of Truth. "O
> people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which all seas have proceeded, and unto
> which every one of them will ultimately be united." -BH {6} Bahá'u'lláh reflects perfectly the attributes
> of God from the mirror-like surface, and no one can distinguish between the Light of God and His
> Manifestation reflected on the throne.
> 
> The four beasts with "eyes" (stars) before and behind are creatures of the zodiac. They correspond
> to the four corners or pillars that will support the Age of Leo-Aquarius, the advent of cosmic time that
> will announce the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. In astrological terminology, the four corners of an Age
> are the signs corresponding to the equinoxes and solstices. They are listed in their correct precession
> order:
> 
> BEAST; SIGN; PRECESSION ORDER; PILLAR (DAWNING TIME)
> 
> Lion; Leo; 9; Autumnal equinox
> 
> Ox (RSV); Taurus; 12; Summer solstice
> 
> Man; Aquarius; 3; Spring equinox
> 
> Flying Eagle; Scorpio; 6; Winter solstice
> 
> Leo, whose number is 9, is listed first to signify the kingship of Bahá'u'lláh during the Age. Leo was
> also the point of origin of the Great Star Fall of 11 November during the autumn of 1833 that seemed to
> announce the sixteenth birthday of Bahá'u'lláh.
> The more ancient name Flying Eagle is substituted for the name Scorpio for reasons that may prove
> interesting. The subject will be revisited later. Flying Eagle should not be confused with Eagle, another
> constellation that is not a member of the zodiac.
> Besides supporting the corners of the Age of Leo-Aquarius, the four beasts have other meanings. In
> the world of Lahut (the Plane of Divinity, the Heavenly Court){7}, it is God Who sits on the throne and
> the four pillars are the Four Central Figures of the Bahá'í Dispensation:
> 
> Leo = the Lion of Judah, Bahá'u'lláh
> 
> Ox = the Servant of Bahá', 'Abdu'l-Bahá'
> 
> Man = the Man Child, the Bab
> 
> Flying Eagle = the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi
> 
> In the world of Jabarut (the All Highest Dominion){7}, it is Bahá'u'lláh who sits on the throne, and
> the four pillars are earthly rulers, paragons of virtue, who will accept Bahá'u'lláh and thereby secure
> the Cause.
> 
> And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they
> rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
> -Rev 4:8
> 
> The six wings allude to the ancient Hebrew Messengers of God who had thrice-two wings. Full of
> eyes within signify great spiritual insight. The Lord God Almighty (the 'Pantocrator') is thrice-holy. He
> is Manifested in every Age, past, present and future.
> 
> PRAISE TO THE KING:
> 
> And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for
> ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship
> him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O
> 
> Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they
> are and were created. -Rev 4:9-11
> 
> In many of His Tablets Bahá'u'lláh proclaims, "I am God." This identity with God is in the realm of
> His attributes and not of His essence. Bahá'u'lláh recites the words of God to His Manifestation,
> "There is no distinction whatsoever between Thee and Them; except that they are Thy servants and are
> created of Thee." And, "But for Thee, I would not have created the heavens." "... He Who is the
> Monarch of all names is come, He at Whose bidding every single name hath, from the beginning that
> hath no beginning, been created ..." -BH {8}
> If one 'writes down' the word picture of this Chapter, a beautiful mandala is created. It is a form of
> the 'quadratura circuli' (squared circle) that has been used throughout the world for many Ages to
> symbolize the unification of heaven and earth and the realization of inner wholeness. Thus John sees
> that man's feeble conception of the phenomenal cosmos is a mere symbol of the 'hidden mandala,' the
> Divine Order that is hidden, yet implicit, in the arrangement and laws governing the universe.
> 
> CHAPTER 5 - THE BOOK OF SEVEN SEALS                                                                ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> John sees a scroll with 7 seals in the right hand of Bahá'u'lláh, some of the words have obvious
> meanings while others are hidden. The scroll is actually the Apocalypse, which contains the future
> history of the Piscean Age.
> A mighty angel calls for someone worthy of opening the scroll. Bahá'u'lláh, the Lion of Judah, will
> sit on the Throne of David during the Leo-Aquarian Age; he has prevailed and wins the right. But he
> offers the book to the Bab, who will bear the title "the Lamb who was slain" during the Leo-Aquarian
> Age. The Bab is found worthy of receiving the scroll from Bahá'u'lláh and revealing its contents.
> 
> THE BOOK OF SEVEN SEALS:
> 
> And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside,
> sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open
> the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth,
> was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found
> worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. -Rev 5:1-4
> 
> The 'book' or 'scroll' is none other than the Apocalypse itself, revealed by Jesus to John circa 104
> CE, and reveals the Age of Pisces. The future spiritual history of the Piscean Age will be revealed in 7
> unsealed phases.
> 
> THE LION OF JUDAH:
> 
> And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David,
> hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. -Rev 5:5
> 
> [NIV: 5 "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able
> to open the scroll and its seven seals."] {1}
> 
> The title of 'Lion' represents the emblem of authority associated with Judah/Leo. In Genesis we
> read
> 
> "Judah, a lions whelp. ... The sceptre will not pass from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet,
> until he receives what is his due and the obedience of the nations is his. ... he washes his cloak in wine,
> his robe in the blood of grapes. Darker than wine are his eyes, .... ." -Gen 49:9-12 (REB)
> 
> The title 'Lion' has been attached to several potentates in Jewish history. In Ezekiel we read:
> 
> 'Raise a dirge over the rulers of Israel and say: What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She
> made her lair among the young lions and reared her cubs...' -Ezekiel 19:1-2 (REB)
> 
> One of the 'Lions' was Joseph {2} ; later, another 'Lion' was brought "in a cage" before the king of
> Babylon:
> 
> 'he was put into prison that his roar might never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.' -Ezekiel
> 19:9
> 
> This 'Lion' was Mattaniah-Zedekiah {3} who was brought to Babylon "bound in bronze fetters."
> Zedekiah's sons were "slain before his eyes," then he was blinded.
> 
> Indeed, after Jehoaiakim, there was no direct male descendent of David to sit on the 'Throne of
> David.' Furthermore, the kingdom of David cannot be restored on the male descendence of David! God
> placed a proviso on His oath that He would set up a prince among David's lineal male descendents on
> the Throne of David:
> 
> "The Lord swore this oath to David, an oath which he will not break: 'A prince of your own line I will
> set up on your throne. If your sons keep my covenant and heed the teaching that I give them, their
> sons in turn for all time will occupy your throne.' " -Ps 132:11-12 (REB)
> 
> Sad to say, one of David's descendents broke a Commandment and violated the Covenant. In the
> 7th century BCE, the king Manasseh imported an idol of the pagan deity Asherah into the Holy of
> Holies.{5} The prophet Jeremiah was delegated the authority of giving the descendents of David a
> second chance. That failing, the male line, at least, was cut off forever. {6}
> 
> Furthermore, in addition to the kings of Israel, the Covenant was also broken by the people of
> Israel:
> 
> "You have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms to which you yourselves had agreed
> before me; so I shall treat you like the calf which was cut in two for all to pass between the pieces, the
> officers of Judah and Jerusalem, the eunuchs and priests, and all the people of the land." -Jeremiah
> 34:18-19 (REB)
> 
> Many claim that Jesus sits on the Throne of David through his descendence from David on his
> mother's side. Be that as it may, the Davidic king, if one had existed with the Advent of Jesus, would
> only "prepare a lamp for my anointed one." {7} Indeed, Jesus posed the paradox of the 'Anointed One'
> being of higher rank than David and that the Messiah is not a descendent of David.
> 
> ... 'How can the scribes maintain that the Messiah is a son of David? It was David himself who said,
> when inspired by the Holy Spirit, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I put your
> enemies under your feet.'" David himself calls him "Lord"; how can he be David's son?'-Mark 12:35-37
> (REB) {8}
> 
> There is no record of Jesus, BY HIS OWN WORDS, claiming to sit on the WORLDLY Throne of
> 
> David. In fact, Jesus disavowed this claim:
> 
> ..... [Pilate asks] 'So you are the king of the Jews?'.... Jesus replied, 'My kingdom does not belong to
> this world. If it did, my followers would be fighting to save me from the clutches of the Jews. My
> kingdom belongs elsewhere.' -REB: John 18:33-36
> 
> But if Jesus was a descendent of David, and if a descendent of David cannot sit on the WORLDLY
> Throne of David, how could Jesus be the Messiah?
> 
> The answer is that Jesus the Messiah, like every other Manifestation of God, sits on a SPIRITUAL
> throne and not on a WORLDLY throne. Just as David claimed kingship, and Melchizedek claimed
> priesthood, not through ancestral lineage, but through a direct bestowal from God {10}, Jesus claimed
> his authority from a higher source:
> 
> "I do nothing on my own authority, but in all I say, I have been taught by my Father." -John 8:28
> (REB)
> 
> As a 'priest of the order of Melchizedek,' the authority of Jesus did not terminate with his
> crucifixion nor with his genetic line of descent.
> In contrast to Jesus, Bahá'u'lláh revealed, unequivocally {9}, that he, Bahá'u'lláh, "ruleth upon the
> throne of David." Some may consider Bahá'u'lláh's claim to the Throne of David to be valid on genetic
> grounds, since he is of the same line as David but is not descended from David. Bahá'u'lláh is
> genetically descended both from Abraham and from Jesse, the father of David, and there are no
> legitimate claimants to the throne through David's male descendents.{4} But God's (broken) contract
> with David concerned only David's lineal male descendents. Nor is there any evidence that Bahá'u'lláh
> claimed the Throne of David through genetic descendance; Bahá'u'lláh spoke of his authority as
> descending from the 'Ancient Root' {20} Similarly, we find Jesus claiming
> 
> "I am the root and the offspring of David, .." Rev 22:19
> 
> The Ancient Root is apparently the Root of the Tree of Life, the 'Sacred Lote-Tree.' {21} The Family
> of Prophets are the Fruits of that Tree, and they are all related to one another in some mysterious way
> known only to God and to themselves.
> Jesus, the Messiah, will sit on the Throne of Heaven during the Piscean Age {11}, but Jesus does not
> triumph over the nations as prophesied in Genesis. {12} After the Piscean Age {13}, the sovereignty of
> Jesus will be terminated, and it is Bahá'u'lláh who sits on the Throne of Heaven as the King of Glory,
> and it is he who also bears the title the Lion of Judah, the Root of David.
> 
> The words in Genesis:
> 'he washes his cloak in wine, his robe in the blood of grapes. Darker than wine are his eyes, .... .' -REB:
> Genesis 49:11-12
> 
> refer to Bahá'u'lláh's red cloak and his stunning eyes. The "blood of grapes" also refers to his role as the
> Lord of the Vineyard, the Divine Reaper:
> 
> 'Who is this coming from Edom, from Bosrah with his garments stained red, striding along with
> mighty power?' It is I proclaiming victory, I, who am strong to save. 'Why are your garments all red,
> like the garments of one treading grapes in the winepress?' -REB: Isaiah 63:1-2
> 
> When Bahá'u'lláh was exiled to Iraq, his entire property was confiscated, including his clothing. His
> loved ones pieced remnants of cloth together to make him a cloak. It was dyed red.{14}
> 
> In the Ages prior to Leo-Aquarius, the Lion was not one of the Pillars of the Age. But in the future
> Age that John is permitted to glimpse, he is told that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has 'triumphed,'
> and can now open the scroll. That is, since Leo is now dominant at the Fall equinox, the previous Age
> of Virgo-Pisces now lies before him like an open book.
> The four corners of the Piscean Age are Pisces/Zebulon, Sagittarius/Joseph, Virgo/Dinah, and
> Gemini/Simeon-Levi. The influence of these signs during the Piscean Age will become evident as the
> seals are broken. In the Leo-Aquarian Age, the four corners are to be Leo/Judah, Taurus/Issachar,
> Aquarius/Reuben, and Flying Eagle/Manasses. {15} The dominance of the signs in our future history
> will become evident during the next two millennia.
> 
> THE LAMB WITH SEVEN HORNS AND SEVEN EYES:
> 
> And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
> stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of
> God sent forth into all the earth. -Rev 5:6
> 
> [REB: 6 Then I saw a Lamb with the marks of sacrifice on him, standing with the four living creatures
> between the throne and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, the eyes which are the seven
> spirits of God sent to every part of the world.]
> 
> Aries the Ram or 'Lamb' is the first sign of the zodiac. In the twenty centuries immediately
> preceding the Age of Pisces, Aries was the sun's dawning house at Springtime. {16} However, the
> inexorable precession of the equinoxes caused the dawning point of Spring to enter Pisces at about the
> time of the Manifestation of Jesus the Messiah. Thus the 'Lamb was sacrificed' to make way for the
> new AGE. But astrologers say that Spring always occurs under the SIGN of Aries, regardless of the
> CONSTELLATION where the sun resides during that season. Thus, since the constellation at Spring is
> never Aries, it can be said that the Lamb is always 'sacrificed' each time a new Age occurs. The 'Lamb'
> is therefore a perfect symbol for Supreme Sacrifice, and some astrologers even suggest that the
> religious ritual of lamb-sacrifice began in the Near East at about the same time as the Age of Aries.
> Be that as it may, we observe that a Sacrificial Hero seems to be necessary for the birth of any
> Divinely revealed Faith. Most of these Sacrificial Heroes are known from the historical record, and, in
> some Dispensations, such as those of Jesus Christ and the Bab, the Manifestation himself may actually
> climb the 'lofty summit of great martyrdom.'
> But the Lamb that John sees in his vision of the Leo- Aquarian Age has special attributes: 7 'horns'
> and 7 'eyes.' A 'horn' is a 'handle,' that is, a name. The 'eyes' are stars, and the 7-stars represent the
> Seven Spirits of God that are sent to EVERY PART OF THE WORLD. Thus it is clear that the Lamb of
> the Leo-Aquarian Age consummates the Sacrificial Heroes of all 7-Churches, regardless of the names
> by which they may be called.
> 
> There is one Figure in the Leo-Aquarian Age who meets these requirements- the Bab. As Jesus
> opened the 'door' to the Age of Pisces, the Bab (= 'Gate') opened the 'door' to the Age of Leo-Aquarius.
> His Supreme Sacrifice opened the door that permitted the Manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh, Who holds the
> seven stars in His right hand of power. Bahá'u'lláh, the Lion of the Leo-Aquarian Age, passes the scroll
> to the Bab, the Lamb of the Leo-Aquarian Age. Thus we see that the power to open the scroll actually
> comes from Bahá'u'lláh.
> It was the Bab Who broke the seals of prophetic works by being the first Manifestation to reveal the
> occult meanings of certain crucial symbols used in those texts. But the Bab broke the seals in another
> way, by fulfilling certain prophecies of the texts, and in particular, parts of the Apocalypse. The
> unsealing that was begun by the Bab was continued by Bahá'u'lláh, as will become evident as the scroll
> is unrolled.{17}
> 
> PRAISE TO THE LAMB:
> 
> And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he
> had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having
> every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. -Rev 5:7-8
> 
> THE NEW SONG:
> 
> And they sung a new song, saying. Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for
> thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
> people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the
> earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and
> the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
> thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches,
> and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven,
> and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
> saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four
> beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever
> and ever. -Rev 5:9-14
> 
> [REB 9-10 "and they were singing a new song: 'You are worthy to receive the scroll and break its seals,
> for you were slain and by thy blood you bought for God people of every tribe and language, nation and
> race. You have made them a royal house of priests for our God, and they shall reign on earth."]
> 
> The new song is the message of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. ".... the divines and doctors ... have ...
> refused to incline their ears unto the divine Melody." -BH {18} Unlike the messages of previous Ages,
> the Leo-Aquarian message is to be directed to the people of EVERY tribe and language, nation and
> race, not primarily directed, for example, to the tribes of Israel, nor to the speakers of Hebrew, Greek,
> Arabic of Sanskrit, nor to Persians, Indians, Americans, Semites or Caucasians.
> Although the Bab has earned the right to break the seals, the grant to do so comes from the One on
> the throne. "... whatsoever My Previous Manifestation and Harbinger of My Beauty (the Bab) hath
> revealed hath been My Revelation and the proclamation of My Cause." -BH {19}
> 
> CHAPTER 6 - THE BOOK IS OPENED                                                                      ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> The breaking of the first six seals will reveal a synopsis of the Piscean Age. The seventh seal (not to
> be broken until Chapter 8) will reveal a detailed spiritual history of the Piscean Age in 7 further stages
> of revelation.
> The breaking of the first four seals will reveal the venomous forces that will dominate the world of
> man. These forces are (1) Corruption of the Word of God, (2) Warmongering, (3) Economic Injustice,
> and (4) Ungodliness.
> The breaking of the fifth seal will reveal the fate of the righteous.
> The breaking of the sixth seal will reveal the fate of the mischief makers.
> 
> THE FIRST SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of
> the four beasts saying, Come and see. -Rev 6:1
> 
> [REB: 1 "... I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ...]
> 
> One of the Four Pillars invites John to "come and see" what is destined to happen in the Age of
> Pisces.
> 
> And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto
> him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. -Rev 6:2
> 
> Several clues have been given in previous verses that identify this venomous force, notably in the
> letters to the 7 Churches. Looking back over the Age of Pisces we observe that there was only one
> villain that rode a white horse- perverted religion. He began his career feigning virtues as white as the
> driven snow. Corruption of the Word of God was the secret weapon of this proud villain, and there was
> no part of the world that was safe from his arrows of false propaganda.
> Who gave the crown to the rider of the white horse? It was given to him by Jesus and the other
> Manifestations of God, but the rider betrayed the trust:
> 
> The Lord said to me, 'Equip yourself again as a shepherd, a worthless one; for I am about to install a
> shepherd in the land who will neither care about any that are gone missing, nor search for those that
> have strayed, nor heal the injured, nor nurse the sickly, but will eat the flesh of the fat beasts and throw
> away the broken bones. -REB: Zechariah 11:15-16
> 
> THE SECOND SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went
> out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the
> earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. -Rev 6:3-4
> 
> The zodiacal wheel rolls onward: John now sees a blood-colored horse ridden by the Maker of War.
> As Pride was the secret heart of the rider of the white horse, it is Lust for Power that motivates this
> rider. He holds in his hand the Sword of Conquest.
> 
> THE THIRD SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo
> a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the
> midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny;
> and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. -Rev 6:5-6
> 
> [REB: 6 ... 'A day's wage for a quart of flour, a day's wage for three quarts of barley-meal! But do not
> damage the olive oil and the vine!]
> 
> The black horse reveals the dark attributes of this force. Greed and Envy will motivate this horse's
> rider, and he holds in his hands the unbalanced scales of Economic Injustice. The victim of the
> transaction is permitted survival rations for his labors, but is denied the commodities of luxury.
> 
> THE FOURTH SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. 8
> And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with
> him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
> hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. -Rev 6:7-8
> 
> [REB: 8 There as I looked was another horse, sickly pale; its rider's name was Death, and Hades
> followed close behind. To them was given power over a quarter of the earth, power to kill by sword and
> famine, by pestilence and wild beasts.]
> 
> We are primarily interested in the 'hidden' or spiritual meanings of the words on the INSIDE of the
> scroll: The pallid horse has the color of Indifference, and its rider is the Death of Unbelief. Death and
> hell have the power to kill the spirit of man with the rapier of sin, deprivation of the Word of God, the
> sickness of despair, and ungodly leadership (beasts of the earth).
> 
> THE FIFTH SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the
> word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying. How
> long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on earth?
> And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest
> for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were,
> should be fulfilled. -Rev 6:9-11
> 
> The martyrs of the Piscean Age are found to be hidden "under the altar," revealing the true
> perpetrators as the priesthood itself. The martyrs, including Christians, Muslims, and the righteous of
> other Faiths, must wait a short time until the martyrs of the Leo-Aquarian Age have shed their blood
> also. (About twenty to thirty thousands have been martyred for the Causes of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.)
> 
> THE SIXTH SEAL IS OPENED:
> 
> And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun
> became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto
> the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the
> heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out
> of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains,
> and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the
> rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face
> of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is
> come; and who shall be able to stand? -Rev 6:12-17
> 
> These verses contain several symbols used by the prophets:
> 
> Earthquake- Shaking of the worldly order. {1}
> 
> Sun, moon, stars- The 'heavenly hierarchy' of prophets, church leaders, saints, priests, elders, .. {2}
> 
> 'Heavens rolled up like a scroll,' etc.- Removal of the heavenly order. {3}
> 
> Mountains, valleys- Peoples, nations, religions, institutions. {4}
> 
> Dens, islands, rocks- Strongholds, places of safety. {5}
> 
> If the divines of the Age of Pisces accept the new Manifestation, they will become enlightened;
> otherwise, they will become 'darkened' and their teachings will turn from water into blood; the world
> hierarchy of church potentates, leaders and clergy will lose their power; nations, religions and
> institutions will disappear.
> "In another sense, by the terms 'sun,' 'moon,' and 'stars' are meant such laws and teachings as have
> been established in every Dispensation, such as the laws of prayer and fasting ... Hence, it is clear and
> manifest that by the words 'the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
> stars shall fall from heaven' is intended the waywardness of the divines, and the annulment of laws
> firmly established by Divine Revelation ..." -BH {6} "Speed out of your sepulchers. How long will ye
> sleep? ... The earth has quaked with a great quaking, and cast forth her burdens ... the mountains have
> become like flocks of wool ... the people are sore vexed at the awful majesty of the Cause of God.
> Witness how their houses are empty ruins, and they themselves a drowned host ... The All-Merciful
> hath come down in the clouds of knowledge, clothed with manifest sovereignty ... The heaven of every
> religion hath been rent, and the earth of human understanding been cleft asunder, and the angels of
> God are seen descending ... The mountains have passed away, and the heavens have been folded
> together, and the whole earth is held within His grasp ..." -BH {7}
> 
> CHAPTER 7 - GOD'S SERVANTS ARE SEALED                                                             ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> Before the opening of the seventh seal, the four angels who will control the square earth during the
> Age of Pisces-Virgo are ordered to avoid hurting the inhabitants of he world until the righteous have
> been 'sealed.' The order is given by Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, who will ascend from the
> east during the Age of Pisces.
> The sealed will include twice-72 multitudes of souls from every nation, race, Age, Faith and culture.
> This is twice the usual number of former Ages, because of the Twin Manifestation that will appear at
> the beginning of the future Age of Leo- Aquarius.
> John is informed that the twice-72 multitudes are arrayed in 'white robes' because they have
> overcome the great trial of overcoming the false teachings within their Faiths.
> 
> GOD'S SERVANTS ARE SEALED:
> 
> And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four
> winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I
> saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud
> voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth,
> neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their foreheads. -Rev 7:1-3
> 
> Wind is the holy Breath of God that is wafted over the worlds of matter and spirit. These verses
> portend the wrath of God during the Age of Pisces; but the 'wind' will blow again in the Age of Leo-
> Aquarius: "Out of thee (Baghdad House) hath gone the Breath of the All-Glorious, a Breath that hath
> breathed over all created things, and filled with joy the breasts of the devout that dwell in the mansions
> of Paradise." -BH {1}
> Earth or soil is the world of man. " .... the clouds of truth will continue to the end that hath no end
> to rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality their favors and bounties ..." -BH {2}
> The Tetrad of angels will control the corners of the square earth during the Piscean Age. As
> 
> explained previously, the corners are called Pisces, Sagittarius, Virgo and Gemini. The influence of
> these 4 signs will become evident as the scroll is unrolled.
> The Angel of the East is Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, not yet manifested in the first
> century CE, Who, as we shall see in Chapter 9, will command His followers not to hurt the righteous.
> The sea is the spiritual existence of man and the sources of inspiration. "The seas of Divine wisdom
> and divine utterance have risen under the breath of the breeze of the All-Merciful." A tree is a source of
> spiritual guidance. A tree can also represent a nation. "Advance, O people, with snow-white faces and
> radiant hearts, unto the blest and crimson Spot, wherein the [Tree of Guidance] is calling: 'Verily there
> is none other God beside Me, the Omnipotent Protector, the Self-Subsisting." ... "Ye are the fruits of
> one tree, and the leaves of one branch." - BH {3}
> 
> THE 144-THOUSAND:
> 
> And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed a hundred and forty and
> four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. -Rev 7:4
> 
> 'Israel' means literally 'he who strives with God.' Ancient Hebrew mystics considered Israel to be a
> microcosm of humanity, and Israel's history of spiritual struggle as representative of all mankind.
> In astrological works, the 12 'parts' of the human organism were correlated with the 12 signs of the
> zodiac. In a similar way, the 12 tribes of Israel were considered to be mystically correlated with the
> zodiac and stellar influences over the world of man. For example, the 12 loaves of the shewbread and
> the 12 precious stones of the breastplate of the High Priest represented both the 12 signs of the zodiac
> and the 12 Tribes.
> As explained in the Introduction, the correlation of the 12 Tribes with the zodiac are given in
> Genesis {4} where the blessings of Jacob on his sons are word pictures describing the astrological
> signs.
> What is the meaning of 'sealed.' It means that it shall be made manifest at some later time. The
> sealed souls of verse 4 are to be manifested in the Age of Leo-Aquarius, and after the events of the
> Piscean Age that are to commence with the breaking of the 7th seal.
> In allusive language, the Greek word for 'thousands' ('chiliades') can mean 'multitudes,' in the same
> way that we sometimes use the word today. (E.g., "There were 'thousands' of people at the gathering.")
> Thus one reading of the number in verse four is '144 multitudes.' The correctness of this reading is
> supported by verse 9, since in that verse, John sees "a great multitude which no man could number ....
> before the throne." The number '144' will come up again in verse 21:17 and has profound significance.
> Cabalistically, it has an archetypal value of Nine {5}, the seal of Bahá'u'lláh. Less obviously, 144, and its
> half-value 72, have astrological, mystical and mathematical significance.
> Let's consider the astrological significance first. According to astrologers, each sign of the zodiac
> emits six types of influence that determine the course of history and personality types. For example, in
> addition to the overriding sign under which a person is born, a personality can be influenced by a
> combination of:
> 
> (1) masculine or feminine
> (2) diurnal or nocturnal
> (3) commanding, melancholy, phlegmatic or sanguine
> (4) earthy, airy, fiery or watery
> (5) hot or cold
> (6) dry or wet
> 
> Thus in pre-Leo-Aquarian Ages, there were seventy-two (6-times-12) of these types of influence
> radiating from the total zodiac. But in the Age of Leo-Aquarius, there are twice the usual number of
> 'Elders seated abound the throne' {6}. Consequently, the number of influence types is doubled to
> 
> produce 144.
> The mystical significance of 72 will be considered very briefly. It is a number that appears in
> marvelous ways throughout the spiritual history of Man. For example:
> 
> There were 72 Elders under Moses endowed with prophetic ecstasy.{7}
> Some traditions say that Noah had 72 followers.
> Some versions of Luke 10:1 give 72 as the number of disciples of Jesus.
> By the Pledge of 'Aqabah, 72 heroes of Medina fought for Muhammad.
> Jewish legend says that 72 angels from heaven chopped off the Serpent's hands and feet.
> According to the Hadith of Muhammad, there would be 72 sects of Islam.
> 72 is the traditional number of Jewish scholars who translated the Septuagint.
> The followers of Zoroaster were commanded to wear girdles made of 72 threads.
> There are 72 stupas, each containing a sculptured Buddha, atop the great temple at Borobudar,
> Java.
> 72 of the disciples of Confucius had mastered the six arts.
> 72 Muslim companions fell with Imam Husayn on the Plain of Karbila.
> In fulfillment of a prophecy, 72 Babi companions fell with Mullah Husayn at Fort Shaykh Tabarsi.
> {22}
> 72 was the number of Bahá'ís exiled to 'Akka. {23}
> 
> According to ancient Hebrew mysticism, there are 72 hidden names of 'YHWH' (the Hebrew
> 'Tetragrammaton,' or 'Yahweh.'){8} 72 is also associated with YHWH by 'klima,' an esoteric form of
> number symbolism.{9}
> Lastly, we consider very briefly the mathematical significance of 72. This number may be related to
> the 'M-pire map problem' studied by modern mathematicians: {10} Consider a map of only one
> country. It can be distinguished by a single color. Now suppose that there are many adjacent
> autonomous countries. It now requires just 4 colors to distinguish the countries from each other. Next
> suppose that each country has one colony that should be colored the same as the mother country. It
> now requires 12 colors. If each country has twelve colonies, it now requires 72 colors.
> The sequence is suggestive of astrological theology: That is, the Figure on the Throne is single. He
> engenders 4 Central Figures; who, in turn, engender 12 Elders; who in turn, engender 72 disciples; and
> so on. Thus the sequence may represent the growth pattern of a perfectly bonded movement, each
> neophyte being distinguished by the sequence of 'gates' through which he/she enters the movement. In
> the case of Rev 7, the movement is Divine, the only kind in which the members can be said to be truly
> bonded.
> Thus we see another meaning of the word 'sealed.' The term implies that the members of a Divinely
> revealed Faith are all perfectly 'bonded' to the Manifestation, and hence to God.
> 
> TWELVE-THOUSAND FROM EACH TRIBE:
> 
> Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
> Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of
> the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve
> thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve
> thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed
> twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were
> sealed twelve thousand. -Rev 7:5-8
> 
> For reasons already stated, the number of the sealed of each tribe is 12 multitudes, twice the
> number of past Ages. Also, the ordering of the list of tribes differs from that in Genesis.{11}
> Furthermore, Manasses has been substituted for Dan in the Genesis listing.
> 
> Why is Manasses substituted for Dan? We recall that the more ancient name Flying Eagle was also
> substituted for the name Scorpio in Rev 4:7. Thus the substitution is actually Manasses (Flying Eagle)
> for Dan (Scorpio).
> Modern astrologers still assign both 'scorpion' and 'eagle' attributes to the sign, and the application
> to personality type depends upon the person's physiognomy. Apparently, in the New Age, eagle
> attributes are to triumph over scorpion attributes. Let us revisit the descriptor of Dan in Genesis:
> 
> ".. a viper on the road, a horned snake on the path ..." -REB: Gen 49:17
> 
> Not a pleasant picture, and astrologers often equate Scorpio with the Serpent in Eden. The case is
> augmented by the prayer following Dan's descriptor:
> 
> "I wait in hope of salvation from you, Lord." - REB: Gen 49:18
> 
> Salvation from what? It can only be salvation from the influence of Scorpio. Remember that
> astrological theology postulates that God works through the zodiac and astrological influences. In
> order to solve the 'problem of evil' (i.e., How can a totally benevolent Creator allow evil to exist?), there
> must be at least one zodiacal sign with malevolent attributes. That sign must be Scorpio, since none of
> the remaining signs seem to have had the power to harm man in such a baleful manner. The 'Serpent,'
> or his equivalent, has slithered his way into many verses of the Bible and other sacred texts and
> religious art.
> The substitution of Flying Eagle for Scorpio becomes even more interesting when we analyze the
> descriptors of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. It was the expressed intention of Jesus that the 12 Apostles
> would replace the 12 Tribes as the arbiters of history {13}, and in a later chapter {14} we will find the
> names of the Apostles inscribed on the foundations of the New Jerusalem. Let us consider whether
> Jesus chose the Apostles in accordance with the zodiacal signs:
> Admittedly, the record is scanty, but the existing evidence suggests that He did so. Using Luke's list,
> {15} Peter the Fisherman is the Fishes; Mary (veiled) is the Virgin; Levi the Tax Collector is the Scales;
> Simon the Zealot is the Ram; Thomas the Doubter is the Bull; James and John are the Twins; Judas
> Iscariot the Betrayer is the Scorpion.
> James and John are especially convincing, since Jesus called them "sons of thunder" {16},
> apparently alluding to the belief among sailors of the time that Gemini watched over them during
> storms and reassured them with the "voice" of thunder. Less apparent is Andrew, also a fisherman,
> who might be the Water Bearer. Judas, son of James, might be the Crab. We know virtually nothing
> about the remaining three Apostles of Luke's list who would have to be correlated with the Lion, the
> Archer and the Goat.
> Assuming that our hypothesis is correct, what does this tell us about Judas the Betrayer? It implies
> that Judas Iscariot WAS CHOSEN TO BE THE BETRAYER in the great drama of the Crucifixion. This
> would add meaning to the statement of Jesus:
> 
> ... "Have I not I chosen the twelve of you? Yet one of you is a devil." -REB: John 6:70
> 
> It would also explain the puzzling episode recounted in John: {17}
> 
> ... "Do quickly what you have to do." -REB: John 13:27
> 
> Apparently, Judas was COMMANDED to do what he had to do as his part in the Divine drama.
> 
> The rationale for the order of the Tribes in verses 7:5-8 becomes clear when we recognize that the
> list is astrological. The list refers to Spiritual Generations, which is, which was, and which is to come
> (Rev 1:4).
> 
> To prove this {24}, we first recall that Rev 4:7 informs us that the new Age is to have Leo as its
> leading sign, with its fall-SPRING equinoctial axis at Leo-AQUARIUS. An inspection of the list of
> Tribes in verses 7:5-8 reveals that, indeed, Leo-AQUARIUS corresponds to the first two Tribes, that is:
> 
> (1) Judah- (2) REUBEN = Leo-AQUARIUS
> 
> The next two names in the list correspond to the Age of ARIES- Libra:
> 
> (3) GAD- (4) Asher = ARIES-Libra
> 
> The first four names inform us that the equinoctial axes are to be specified in the list, and
> apparently without prejudice as to the order of the equinoxes. Thus, we are invited to coalesce all the
> names in the list of Tribes to correspond to the equinoctial axes:
> 
> ORDER IN REV 7:5-8; TRIBAL NAMES = EQUINOCTIAL AXIS
> 
> 1, 2; JUDAH, REUBEN = LEO-AQUARIUS OR AQUARIUS-LEO
> 3, 4; GAD, ASHER = ARIES-LIBRA OR LIBRA-ARIES
> 5, (12); NEPHTALI, (BENJAMIN) = CAPRICORN-CANCER or CANCER-CAPRICORN
> 6, (9); MANASSEH, (ISSACHAR) = FLYING EAGLE-TAURUS or TAURUS-FLYING-EAGLE
> 7 & 8, (11); SIMEON & LEVI*, (JOSEPH) = GEMINI-SAGITTARIUS or SAGITTARIUS-GEMINI
> 10; ZEBULON, [DINAH]* = PISCES-[VIRGO]*
> 
> * Note: SIMEON & LEVI correspond to the single sign GEMINI, while [DINAH] is 'veiled' and
> corresponds to the veiled sign [VIRGO]. See INTRODUCTION.
> 
> Why are the equinoctial axes arranged in this particular order? The answer can be found by
> referring to a circular astrological diagram of the new heaven:
> 
> Future Ages:      New Age:      Past Ages:
> 
> LEO
> |
> CANCER | [VIRGO]
> |
> |
> GEMINI        |       LIBRA
> |
> |
> TAURUS------------|------------FLYING EAGLE
> |
> |
> ARIES        |      SAGITTARIUS
> |
> |
> PISCES |         CAPRICORN
> |
> AQUARIUS
> 
> THE NEW HEAVEN
> 
> Starting at LEO, and ignoring [VIRGO] for the moment, it will be seen that the list of Ages
> circulates between Present, Past and Future:
> 
> ASTRO-AGE; Precession Order
> 
> LEO-AQUARIUS; New Age (Present)
> 
> LIBRA-ARIES; First Past Age
> 
> CANCER-CAPRICORN; First Future Age
> 
> FLYING EAGLE-TAURUS; Second Past Age
> 
> GEMINI-SAGITTARIUS; Second Future Age
> 
> PISCES; Last Future Age
> 
> Let us take a closer look at [VIRGO]. It is skipped in the counting because [DINAH] is 'veiled' and is
> never explicitly listed among the Tribes.
> 
> Why are only six equinoctial axes defined in the list? The answer to this question can be found in
> Genesis:
> 
> He called the light day, and the darkness night...; and God saw all that he had made, and it was very
> good. Evening came, and morning came; it was the sixth day. - REB: Genesis 1:5, 31
> 
> God created the world in six 'days.' A 'day' is a 'morning and an evening.' In astrological terms, a
> 'Day' is an Age, and an Age is identified by a Spring equinox (a 'morning') and a Fall equinox (an
> 'evening'). Thus there are only six 'Days of Creation' in the zodiacal calendar, while God rests on the
> Seventh Day:
> 
> ...; on the seventh day, having finished all his work, God blessed the day and made it holy, ... REB: Gen
> 2:2-3
> 
> This brings to mind a very interesting prophecy of Jesus in Mark:
> 
> "... who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers
> and children, and land -- and persecutions besides; and in the age to come eternal life. But many of the
> first will be last, and the last first." - REB: Mark 10:30-31
> 
> Jesus' words may imply, among other things, that many of those who are the first to accept his own
> Manifestation may be the last to accept the Manifestation of the Age to come. But his parable in
> Matthew ends with the same enigmatic prophecy:
> 
> "So the last will be first, and the first last." -REB: Matt 20:16
> 
> Jesus' prophecy concerns the age to come, that is, the advent of the Future Age. While many
> interpretations may be given to his parable in Matthew, it also gives us a clue that the Past will become
> Future and the Future will become Past. This 'Copernican inversion' of the zodiac will convert the Age
> 
> of PISCES from First Past into Last Future.
> But there are even more interesting implications of Jesus' prophecy. If we list the next 'Seven Days'
> in their future sequence beginning at the Age of PISCES, they were:
> 
> First Day: PISCES-[VIRGO]
> Second Day: AQUARIUS-LEO
> Third Day: CAPRICORN-CANCER
> Fourth Day: SAGITTARIUS-GEMINI
> Fifth Day: SCORPIO-TAURUS
> Sixth Day: LIBRA-ARIES
> Seventh Day: LEO-AQUARIUS*
> 
> *Note: Again skipping veiled [VIRGO].
> 
> But in the New Age, the sequence of the next 'Seven Days' becomes:
> 
> First Day: LEO-AQUARIUS
> Second Day: CANCER-CAPRICORN
> Third Day: GEMINI-SAGITTARIUS
> Fourth Day: TAURUS-FLYING EAGLE
> Fifth Day: ARIES-LIBRA
> Sixth Day: PISCES-[VIRGO]
> Seventh Day: AQUARIUS-LEO
> 
> Indeed, we now see the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy: "So the last will be first, and the first last."
> LEO-AQUARIUS, the last 'Day' of the old zodiac, has become the first Day of the new zodiac.
> Furthermore, PISCES-[VIRGO], the first Day of Creation in the old zodiac, has become the last Day of
> Creation in the new zodiac. Finally, we see that LEO has now become both the first and the last sign.
> 
> The prophecy of Jesus: "... and in the age to come eternal life. ...," informs us that 'eternal life' is to
> occur in the Age of LEO-AQUARIUS, not during his own Age of PISCES-[VIRGO]. Why is this?
> 
> We recall that the Day of Bahá'u'lláh is the 'Day not followed by Night.' In all previous Ages, the Sun
> of the Manifestation was beclouded by ensuing 'darkness.' But in this New Age, the Divine Light will
> prevail and the Sun of Truth will never set.
> There is yet an another implication of the 'Day not followed by Night.' There are now two 'Suns' in
> the spiritual heaven, not one Sun. In the old zodiac, AQUARIUS would have been the 'Sun' and LEO
> would have been the 'Moon'. But the Twin Manifestation produces Two Suns at the Spring equinox,
> not to be followed by a Moon at the Fall equinox.
> 
> PRAISE TO GOD AND THE LAMB:
> 
> After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds,
> and people and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and
> palms in their hands; 10 And cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
> the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders,
> and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen:
> Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our
> God for ever and ever. Amen. -Rev 7:9-12
> 
> [REB: 10 "and they shouted aloud: 'Victory to our God who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb!"
> 
> The righteous of all Ages, nations, races, and cultures will be saved. The palm fronds signal glad
> tidings and victory.
> As the Manifestation of God the Father, Bahá'u'lláh sits upon the throne while the Manifestation of
> the Lamb Consummate, the Bab, stands at the center of the throne.
> 
> And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are they which are arrayed in white robes? and
> whence came they? 14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which
> came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of
> the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and
> he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. -Rev 7:13-14
> 
> [REB: 13 "One of the elders turned to me and asked, ..."; 14 ".... 'They are those who have passed
> through the great ordeal; ...]
> 
> The great ordeal is the same in every Age and Dispensation, and is summarized in Chapter 6. The
> ordeal is to overcome the false teachings within the Church; to avoid hypocrisy, false pride, the thirst
> for power, greed, envy, and the temptations of the flesh. Above all, one must recognize the sovereignty
> of the Manifestation, to accept the Sacrifice of the Lamb by submitting one's own ego to the Will of
> God.
> 
> They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
> For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
> fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. -Rev 7:16-17
> 
> The scorching heat of the sun is the ubiquitous tribulation of the righteous. Water is spiritual grace
> and knowledge. "O My servants! Whoso hath tasted of this Fountain hath attained unto everlasting
> Life, and whoso hath refused to drink therefrom is even as the dead." "Say, O ye who are as dead! The
> Hand of Divine bounty proffereth unto you the Water of Life. Hasten and drink your fill. Whoso hath
> been reborn in this Day, shall never die; whoso remaineth dead, shall never live." - BH {18}
> As for hunger, "Glorified be He, Who is the Creator of all names and attributes! Cast into the fire
> the tree that hath rot and dried up, and abide under the shadow of the green and goodly Tree, and
> partake of the fruit thereof." -BH {19}
> God will dwell with man through the Bahá'í Universal House of Justice. "These are they who are
> blessed by the Concourse on high, who are glorified by the denizens of the everlasting Cities, and
> beyond them by those on whose foreheads Thy most exalted pen hath written, 'These! The people of
> Bahá'. Through them [the Universal House of Justice] have been shed the splendors of the light of
> guidance." -BH {20}
> 
> CHAPTER 8 - THE FATE OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH                                                 ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> The future history of Christendom during the Piscean Age will be revealed in 7 phases, each
> announced by a heralding angel.
> Chapter 8 reveals the fate of the early Christian Church and will be announced by the first 4 heralds.
> An altar angel precedes the opening of the first seal. His censer prepares the earth with a downpour
> of violence that will accompany the Piscean Age.
> The first herald announces the first great persecution of Christians, 110-238 CE.
> The second herald announces the second great persecution of Christians, 249-311.
> The third herald announces the embitterment of Christianity by Constantine the Great, beginning
> 
> circa 325 CE.
> The fourth herald announces the Dark Age of Christendom, circa 408-1054.
> John then hears the voice of the Flying Eagle. The Piscean Age is more than half finished at the end
> of the Dark Age and the Flying Eagle is "mid-heaven" on its way to its pillar at the Leo-Aquarian
> Winter solstice. It warns of three "Woes" [Days of the Lord] that will be announced by the last three
> heralds. The three Woes are to be the Advents of Muhammad, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> A PAUSE BEFORE THE PROPHECIES:
> 
> And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
> And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. -Rev 8:1-
> 
> The silence of half an hour separates the preamble of the first 7 chapters from the prophecies of
> future historical events that are to "shortly come to pass."
> 
> THE ALTAR ANGEL IS INTRODUCED:
> 
> And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him
> much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was
> before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended
> up before God out of the angel's hand. -Rev 8:3-4
> 
> A new actor, the 'altar angel,' is introduced. The altar angel will reappear in Chapter 14, and his
> significance will become more apparent at that time. Meanwhile, recall that at the great Temple in
> Jerusalem, the altar of burnt-offerings was located in the court of the children of Israel. However, only
> the Sadducee priests were allowed to enter the court and perform the oblations and sacrifices. The
> Gospels tell us that the priesthood was not especially friendly toward Jesus, and with the destruction
> of the Temple in 70 CE, the sacrifice came to an end. Now, in the heavenly realm, John sees that the
> sacrifice has been re-instituted, but now on Jesus' terms. The Apocalypse was revealed to john circa 7-
> decades after the Crucifixion and one-half-of-7 decades after the Fall of Jerusalem.
> The golden censer indicates great piety; incense or perfume is the fragrance of communion with
> God. "Thus counselleth you the All-Knowing, the Faithful. We shall always be with you; if we inhale
> the perfume of your fellowship, Our heart will assuredly rejoice, for naught else can satisfy us." -BH {1}
> 
> FIRE IS CAST ONTO THE EARTH:
> 
> And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there
> were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the
> seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. -Rev 8:5-6
> 
> Fire is variously a symbol of sacrifice, of purification, of the rebuke of God, of destruction or
> torment. The voices are of those who fall into trials and temptations. Thunder accompanies the
> violation of the Covenant, and the lightning flashes are the wrath and anger of God. These are
> accompanied by the earthquake of doubts. -AB {2}
> The Covenant is to be violated during the Age of Pisces. Indeed, there have always been violators of
> the Covenant. Among Christian theologians there are still burning questions concerning the
> Successorship to Jesus, and the roles of Peter and Paul. Equally hot questions surround the
> Successorship to Muhammad.
> 
> THE FIRST TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon
> the earth: and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. -Rev 8:7
> 
> Verses 7 through 9 concern the impending series of persecutions of the Christians by Rome from
> 110 until 311 CE. It was during an earlier persecution that John was banished to Patmos where he
> wrote the Apocalypse.
> The persecutions of the early Christians can be divided into 3 series. A minor persecution began
> under the Emperor Nero in 64 CE as a result of his blaming the Christians for the Great Fire of Rome.
> The first great persecution began in 110 CE, about 6 years after the writing of the Apocalypse, as a
> result of the Roman State stigmatizing Christianity as a crime. This persecution lasted sporadically
> until 238 CE. In the last phase of this persecution, attempts were made to destroy the clergy as
> propagators of the Faith.
> Hail and fire mingled with blood represent great tests from heaven and wrath accompanied by
> death. "Green grass" are the righteous Christians; "trees" are their spiritual leaders. Verse 7 says that
> all the righteous Christians and one-third of the spiritual leaders will be destroyed during the first
> great persecution, 110-238 CE. {3}
> 
> THE SECOND TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea:
> and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea,
> and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. -Rev 8:8-9
> 
> These verses warn of the second great persecution of 249-311 CE. Initiated by the emperor Decius,
> it was continued with increased vigor under the emperor Diocletian. The cause of this persecution was
> primarily an attempt to reverse the course of social decay and decline in Roman morality through a
> revival of the ancient pagan cult. This last and most severe of the anti-Christian campaigns resulted in
> executions, torture, book and church burnings on a large scale.
> As previously noted, a mountain is a religion. The ship was an early symbol of a church, a 'refuge of
> safety and peace in a sea of chaos.' The influence of Pisces is apparent here- "the creatures which are in
> the sea" are floundering souls. Just as some grass is 'green,' some fishes are 'alive' and will have
> become followers of Jesus.
> 
> ... "Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men." -REB: Matt 4:19
> 
> When the second herald sounds, the great mountain of Christianity will seem to have been sent
> flaming into the sea of destruction and chaos. The sea will become as death-blood, and one-third of
> those Christians who are in the sea of tribulation will lose their spiritual life. One third of the churches
> will be destroyed.
> 
> THE THIRD TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it
> fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is
> called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the
> waters, because they were made bitter. -Rev 8:10-11
> 
> Constantine the Great, ended the persecutions and made Christianity the official Faith of Rome.
> Wishing to consolidate his empire with the aid of Christianity, he was determined to bring an end to
> 
> the theological and doctrinal disputes, often querulous, that had plagued the Christian Church since
> the rift between Peter and Paul. He called the Council of Nicea in 325 CE to resolve these disputes.
> Although the Nicene Creed that 'defined' a Christian came out of this council, the quarrels between the
> several factions became embittered beyond resolution. Numerous heresies and schisms resulted from
> Constantine's totalitarian policy. His policy was continued by most of his successors, and eventually
> resulted in the Theodosian Code of 438 that inflicted the death penalty on those who denied the
> doctrine of the Trinity! In various forms, many of the bitter arguments between the early Christian
> factions persist to this day.
> Christianity was divided into three major streams- the Eastern stream flowing from Constantinople,
> the Western stream flowing from Rome, and the third stream flowing from the schismatic Asian and
> African churches. Constantine 'the Great Star,' had his greatest influence over the "third of the waters"
> flowing from Constantinople. Eventually, the policy initiated by Constantine resulted in the bitter
> Schism of 1054 that decisively split the Eastern and Western streams of the Church. Constantine
> became a "fallen star" and "Wormwood."
> Rivers and fountains are the mainstreams of spiritual guidance. "From time immemorial even unto
> this day, all the kindreds and peoples of the earth have clung to ... fanciful and unseemly thoughts, and
> thus have deprived themselves of the clear waters streaming from the springs of purity and holiness. .."
> "They drink of the tainted water, and know it not." -BH {5}
> 
> THE FOURTH TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the
> moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not
> for a third part of it, and the night likewise. -Rev 8:12
> 
> The prophecy concerns the period of history known as the Dark Age of Europe that began with the
> invasion of the West by the Visigoths under Alaric the Bold in 408. The smiting of the West resulted in
> a third part of the "sun, moon and stars" (the 'heavenly hierarchy') being cut off from the mainstream
> of Christianity. The result was a malevolent darkening of the Church that lasted about 6 centuries.
> Two baleful episodes during the Dark Age will be mentioned very briefly. One was the Photian
> Schism of 869. The schism resulted from a clash between pope Nicholas I of Rome, and Photius, the
> patriarch of Constantinople. It concerned a number of theological issues, but, in particular, the
> 'trichotomy dispute.' According to trichotomism, man is composed of body, soul and spirit. As a result
> of the schism, Western man, dogmatically, has only a body and a soul (dichotomism ). The mind of
> Western man became more firmly controlled by the papacy, with profound effects felt to this day.
> Some effects have been the 'mindless soldier' and the ascendance of materialism in the West.
> The nadir of the Church was probably reached in the middle of the tenth century when the papacy
> fell under the de facto control of two women of ill repute, Theodora and Morozia. This period of papal
> history is called the 'Pornocracy.'
> Verse 12 says that the Church will become darkened for a third part of the Lord's Day and the third
> part of the ensuing night. The Lord's Day commenced with the Advent of Jesus Christ (circa 5 BCE)
> and ended with the Advent of Muhammad (circa 613 CE), a period of about 617 years. Thus the day
> will be darkened for one-third of the Lord's Day (about 206 years), or the period from 408 to 613 CE.
> A "Night" is the period between two Divine Revelations when the Sun of Truth is not manifest
> among men. {6} The Sun of Muhammad was eclipsed by the usurpation of the caliphate by the House
> of Umayyah in 661, and did not shine again until the Declaration of the Bab in 1844, a period of about
> 1183 years. Thus the prophecy says that the Dark Age will end after another 394 years, the period from
> 661 until 1055. This last date is very close to the Great Schism of 1054.
> 
> THE THREE WOES TO COME:
> 
> And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe,
> woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,
> which are about to sound!. -Rev 8:13
> 
> [REB: 13 "As I looked, I heard an eagle calling with a loud cry as it flew in mid-heaven: ...]
> 
> In 1054 CE, the constellation Flying Eagle (aka Scorpion) was about midway between its original
> position that it had at the beginning of the Piscean Age and its future position that it would take as a
> Pillar (corner) of the Leo-Aquarian Age. John "hears" the eagle warning of three more "Woes" to come.
> Ezekiel tells us what a Woe is:
> 
> "Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! For the day is
> near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen." -Ez 30:2-3
> 
> A Woe is a Lord's Day, that is, the Advent of a Manifestation of God. 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us,
> "Therefore it is certain that the day of woe is the Day of the Lord; for in that day woe is for the
> neglectful, woe is for the sinners, woe is for the ignorant." -AB {4}
> The Advent of Jesus the Messiah was one such Woe. But now John is told that three more Woes will
> be announced in the Apocalypse. The three Woes to come will be the Advents of Muhammad, the Bab
> and Bahá'u'lláh.
> In astrological symbolism, the three Woes correspond to the 'fiery triplicity,' that is, Sagittarius,
> Aries and Leo. The wrath of God that will attend Sagittarius the Archer will be announced in Chapter
> 9. The wrath of Aries the Lamb has been previewed in 6:16. The wrath of Leo the Lion will be the
> subject of the last 9 Chapters.
> 
> In each Dispensation, 'wrath' attends the judgement of the mischief makers of the dying civilization.
> Following His role as a 'bringer of the wrath of God,' the Manifestation assumes His role as a Pillar of
> the Age. That is why the signs of Jesus are both a Lamb and a Fish, and the signs of the Bab are both a
> Lamb and a Man.
> 
> CHAPTER 9 - THE FALL OF CHRISTENDOM                                                                ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> Chapter 9 describes the impact of Islamdom on Christendom.
> 
> The 5th herald announces the catastrophe experienced by Christendom following the Ascension of
> Muhammad, the first Woe. The forces of the illegitimate caliphate overpower the schismatic Asian and
> African churches. The duration of the "plague" is given as 150 years, beginning with the Fall of
> Jerusalem in 637 and ending with the peak of the Muslim empire under Caliph Harun ar- Rashid in
> 786. The secret king of the illegitimate caliphate is Abu-Sufyan, the arch-enemy of Muhammad and
> patriarch of the infamous House of Umayyah.
> The 6th herald announces and describes the Fall of Constantinople and Eastern Christendom to the
> Ottoman Turks in 1453. The duration of the power of the Ottomans is given as 391 years, to be
> terminated by the Advent of the Bab, the second Woe, in 1844.
> The rest of Christendom, infected by idolatry and other perversions, does not repent. The result is
> the Protestant Reformation and the decay of Christendom into thousands of sects.
> 
> THE FIFTH TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the
> key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as
> the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
> And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and to them was given power, as the
> scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded of them that they should not hurt the grass
> of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of
> God in their foreheads. -Rev 9:1-4
> 
> The Muslim invasions of Asian and African Christendom began circa 633 CE. While ferocious
> fighters of idol worshipers and other enemies of monotheism, the early Muslim warriors were noted
> for their justice and tolerance of other monotheistic Faiths, notably Sabaeanism, Christianity and
> Judaism. It is important to understand that the aggressive invasions by Islamdom were not instigated
> by Muhammad but by the Caliphs (Successors) following the Ascension of Muhammad.
> The question of the Successorship was the historical origin of the Shi'ah and Sunni divisions of
> Islamdom. The first 4 Caliphs, often called the Rightly-Guided, generally followed the policy enjoined
> by Muhammad. However, according to Shi'ah belief, Muhammad had actually chosen His son-in-law
> 'Ali as His Caliph. Although 'Ali later arose to His appointed station, He was assassinated under
> mysterious circumstances before He could consolidate His power. The caliphate fell to the Umayyad
> pretender, Mu'awiyah, the son of Abu-Sufyan who was the arch-enemy of Muhammad. The course of
> political intrigue set in motion by Abu-Sufyan eventually achieved success, and, by beclouding the
> principles of Islam, Abu-Sufyan became a "fallen star."
> While the Shi'ah have tenaciously promoted a caliphate based on the legitimate descendants of 'Ali,
> the Sunni have argued that the caliphate should go to the one most qualified for the position.{1}
> The bottomless pit is the 'pit of error.' -AB {2} The smoke arising from the pit symbolizes
> obscurement. The Sun of Truth was obscured, and the atmosphere of nearness to God was stifled by
> the smoke. "As for them who have disbelieved in Him, they shall be in the shadow of a black smoke."
> -BH {3}
> The plague of mounted Arabian warriors are described as "locusts." The scorpion was a quickfirer
> that permitted rapid discharge of arrows. (Apparently, in the 7th century zodiac, 'scorpion tendencies'
> still dominated over 'eagle tendencies.')
> Grass, green things and trees are the commoners, the righteous people and their spiritual leaders.
> The command not to hurt the righteous was given by Muhammad. {4} We recall that in Chapter 7,
> verse 3, Muhammad 'sealed' the righteous.
> 
> FIVE MONTHS OF TORMENT:
> 
> And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five
> months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those
> days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
> -Rev 9:5-6
> 
> A 'prophetic day' is a year of calendar time, and a 'prophetic month' is 30 calendar years. Therefore
> five "months" are 150 calendar years. The Muslim Empire was carved out in a space of about 150 years
> from the Fall of Jerusalem in 637 until the peak of the empire under Caliph Harun ar-Rashid in 786.
> 
> THE HORSEMEN DESCRIBED:
> 
> And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it
> were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of
> 
> women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of
> iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And
> they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men
> five months. -Rev 9:7-10
> 
> John describes the appearance of the mounted Arabian warriors as locusts, their quickfirers as
> scorpions, their arrows as stings, and their chariots as wings.
> The influence of Sagittarius the Archer is seen here. The constellation Sagittarius has Scorpio
> following 'in its tail' and is adjacent to the Southern Crown in the night sky. The word picture of
> Sagittarius corresponds faithfully to modern astrological descriptors. We recall that Sagittarius is one
> of the four corners of the Piscean Age, and also belongs to the fiery triplicity.
> 
> THE DESTROYER:
> 
> And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew
> tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. -Rev 9:11
> 
> [REB: 11 ".... whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek Apollyon, the Destroyer.]
> 
> The "Destroyer" was Abu-Sufyan, the arch-enemy of Muhammad and His Revelation, the patriarch
> of the detestable House of Umayyah, and the progenitor of the illegitimate caliphate. It was during the
> Umayyad dynasty that the insidious practice was introduced of fabricating traditions ascribed to
> Muhammad, maligning and denigrating 'Ali. Several minions were bribed into corrupting and
> distorting Muslim doctrine, text, belief and practice.
> 
> THE FIRST WOE IS PAST:
> 
> One woe is past; and behold there come two woes more hereafter. - Rev 9:12
> 
> The Woe that is past is the Advent of Muhammad. The two remaining Woes are to be the Advents of
> the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> THE SIXTH TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is
> before God. Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in
> the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a
> day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. -Rev 9:13-15
> 
> [REB: 15 "... they had been held in readiness for this very year, month, day, and hour."]
> 
> (The Jewish altar of burnt offerings had a horn extending from each of its four corners. An oath was
> contracted by seizing a horn of the altar with the right hand. The symbolism of the Four can be found
> in the Introduction.)
> We recall that the 4 angels have been introduced in Rev 7:1. They correspond to the 4 'corners of the
> square earth' and therefore control the events that are to transpire during the Age of Pisces. They were
> 'held back' by Muhammad from 'hurting the earth' until the servants of God were sealed. Now they are
> to be loosed to do their damage to the world of man.
> The prophecy concerns the Fall of Constantinople and Eastern Christendom in 1453. For about
> three hundred years prior to their arrival in Eastern Europe, Islamdom seemed to have been 'bound' to
> the Euphrates river system with Eastern Christendom safely protected from further incursions behind
> 
> the formidable Taurus mountain range. The Ottoman Turks, probably the most warlike of the Muslim
> dynasties, ended this false sense of security when they skirted the Taurus and crossed the Hellespont
> in 1357.
> By the year 1453, Christendom was again divided into three streams represented by the Eastern
> Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the anti-papist Christians who would soon become known as the
> Protestant branch. The Fall of Constantinople was said to have 'cut off one-third of Christendom.'
> How long will the 4 angels have the power to do their damage? The answer is given in verse 15: for a
> "year, month, day, and hour." In calendar time, the computation is as follows:
> 
> 'PROPHETIC TIME' = CALENDAR TIME
> 
> 1 'prophetic year' = 360 calendar years
> 1 'prophetic month' = 30 calendar years
> 1 'prophetic day' = 1 calendar year
> 1 'prophetic hour' = (to be determined)
> ........................................................…
> Total time = 391 calendar years + an 'hour'
> 
> We separate the term 'hour' to be discussed in more detail.
> 
> The duration of the wrath of the 4 angels is to be approximately 391 calendar years. Adding 391 to
> 1453, the date of the Fall of Constantinople, produces 1844, the date of the Declaration of the Bab and
> the Second Woe. The Second Woe ended the Dispensation of Muhammad and the power of the 4
> angels who controlled the world of man during the Age of Pisces.
> We now investigate the meaning of the "Hour."
> The "Hour' has already been encountered {5} and will be seen again in later chapters. {6} The term
> refers to the 'Hour of Judgement,' that is, the moment when the Manifestation declares His mission.
> Thus at verse 15, the meaning of the "Hour" is the moment of the second Woe. Eastern Christendom
> fell to Islamdom on May 30, 1453. The Declaration of the Bab was on May 23, 1844, almost exactly 391
> years later.
> 
> A TEST OF CREDULITY:
> 
> And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the
> number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having
> breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone; and the heads of the horses were as the heads of
> lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. -Rev 9:16-17
> 
> [REB: 16 "And their squadrons of cavalry numbered twice ten thousand times ten thousand; this was
> the number I heard."
> 
> Two-hundred-million cavalry troops is enough to stretch the credulity of even the most committed
> literalist. By comparison, the Allies were able to muster only about one-percent of this number of
> fighting men for the D-Day invasion during World War II.
> Very little of the Apocalypse should or can be taken literally. The rare places that literal
> interpretations apply serve as guideposts to assure the seeker that he is on the right path. As in
> Chapter 7, we are again forced to recognize that the number is occult, not literal. John simply 'hears'
> the number, he does not actually 'see' an endless array of 200,000,000 men on horseback.
> The significant number is the archetypal value of 'two'. The verse should be read as 'two large
> armies.' Constantinople was taken by two separate armies under the command of the Ottoman Sultan
> Mehmet II: his own army of Muslim regulars and an independent army of Christian Janissaries. In his
> 
> vision John describes their colorful breastplates as "fiery red, turquoise, and sulphur-yellow ... " (REB)
> In the imagery of the first-century, he sees fifteenth-century flared cannons as "horses" with mouths
> that roar like lions. The description of the sulphurous (brimstone) smoke that issues from their
> mouths is chemically accurate.
> 
> By these three was a third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
> which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails
> were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. -Rev 9:18-19
> 
> Mehmet employed Urban, an Hungarian engineer, to construct the cannons for the assault. The
> largest of these was 26 feet long and fired a ball weighing over half-a-ton! John explains, quite
> accurately, that the breeches (tails) of the cannons (horses) contain projectiles (serpent's heads) that
> strike the enemy with great force.
> 
> THE STATE OF THE SURVIVORS:
> 
> And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their
> hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of
> wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their
> sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. -Rev 9:20-21
> 
> [REB: 20 "The rest of mankind who survived these plagues still did not renounce the gods they had
> made, ...]
> 
> John describes the state of affairs in Christendom and the Church following the Fall of Eastern
> Christendom. Idolatry, in the form of worship of icons and reliquaries, had existed in the Church since
> the Dark Age. By 1453, the practice had further degenerated into the worship of idols of the saints.
> Another defilement was the selling of indulgences, the payment of money as a substitute for penitence.
> The result of these and other abuses was the depressing history of the Reformation. The period is
> notable for the disastrous Thirty Years War (1618-1648) between Protestants and Catholics, and the
> Black Mass. Witches seemed to abound everywhere, with tens-of-thousands, real or imagined, being
> tortured and burnt at the stake. Ultimately, the Christian Church disintegrated into the thousands of
> sects that we see today.
> 
> CHAPTER 10 - INTERLUDE                                                                             ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> Chapter 10 is an interlude, a resting space between the prophecies concerning Christendom and
> Islamdom.
> The mighty angel of Bahá'u'lláh, the Lion of Judah, descends from the heavens with clouds, the
> rainbow of the Covenant, and his face shining in midday splendor. His legs "like pillars of fire" allude
> to the two "blazing" bronze pillars that stood before Solomon's Temple, with occult names that
> prophesied the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh.
> One of Bahá'u'lláh's works, THE HIDDEN WORDS, is shown to John. The "little book" actually
> reveals the hidden words of the 7 Manifestations of the 7 Churches, who speak in 7 'thunderous voices.'
> John proceeds to write down these words but is told to 'seal them up' because the time for their
> revelation has not yet arrived. Bahá'u'lláh tells John that he must wait, but that the hidden purpose of
> God will be revealed in the future at the trumpet blast of the seventh herald.
> The "voice from heaven" then commands John to "swallow" [believe in] the Hidden Words. When
> 
> he does so, he discovers that the words are easy to say but difficult to live by.
> Finally, John is told that he must start over, to prophesy a second time concerning the spiritual
> history of the Piscean Age, but this time to the peoples of Islam.
> 
> THE MIGHTY ANGEL OF THE COVENANT:
> 
> And I saw 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. -Rev 10:1
> 
> [REB: 1 ".... and his legs were like pillars of fire."]
> 
> The mighty angel is Bahá'u'lláh. As explained previously, every Manifestation comes with the
> 'clouds' of glory that signal both the bounty of heaven and the dread of judgement. The rainbow about
> His head is the eternal Covenant that is renewed with each Day of God. His countenance shines as the
> Sun at median splendor. {1}
> His legs that shine like fire remind us of the two magnificent bronze pillars that stood before
> Solomon's Temple that Solomon named 'Boaz' and 'Jachin' {2}. Possibly symbolic of the pillars of
> cloud and fire that guided the Hebrews through the wilderness {3}, they also have occult significance.
> For one, the words literally mean 'Boaz will establish.' Boaz was the grandfather of Jesse, and the
> great-grandfather of David. {4} Bahá'u'lláh is a descendant of Boaz and Jesse; as such, He is the
> 'Branch out of the Stem of Jesse,' and the 'Scion from the Root of Jesse.' {5} Among many marvelous
> things, Isaiah prophesied that all the nations of the world will 'seek Him out' and that "His abode will
> be glorious," probably a reference to Bahá'u'lláh's sacred Shrine on the plain of Sharon.
> If one pronounces the initial letters of 'Boaz' (Beth) and 'Jachin' (Ayn) in Hebrew, the sound is
> 'Bahá'.' And, further, the gematrical values of these two letters are 2 and 70, with the mystic sum of 72.
> The archetypal value of 72 is Nine {6}, the seal of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> THE LITTLE BOOK:
> 
> And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the
> earth. -Rev 10:2
> 
> The little book is the Word of God as revealed by the Manifestations. Although the words in the
> little book are remarkably few, their implications cannot be written into any number of tomes.
> Bahá'u'lláh wrote just such a little book, THE HIDDEN WORDS, which He "clothed in the garment of
> brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous …"
> Bahá'u'lláh rests his feet upon both the sea and the earth. Obvious astrological idiom is seen here:
> the zodiac is divided into two halves, 'dry land' and the 'waters below.' Bahá'u'lláh straddles the Ages,
> looking down from the heavens with his right foot on the 'waters below' and His left foot on the 'dry
> land' of the zodiac.
> The symbols have other meanings: the sea is chaotic, filled with uncertainty and danger; dry land is
> relatively stable, more certain and secure. More will be said about these symbols in later chapters.
> 
> THE LION OF JUDAH ROARS:
> 
> And cried with a loud voice, as a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their
> voices, And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice
> from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them
> not. -Rev 10:3-4
> 
> [REB: 3 "... when he shouted, the seven thunders spoke."
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, as the Pillar of Lion/Judah during the Age of Leo-Aquarius, roars with the thunderous
> voices of the Manifestations of the Seven Churches of Asia. Again, the words are remarkably few in
> number, and John proceeds to write them down. However, he is warned not to do so, since the Words
> must remain Hidden until the Piscean Age is completed.
> 
> A SWORN OATH:
> 
> And the angel which I saw upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, 6 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 therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time
> no longer: 7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the
> mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants and prophets. -Rev 10:5-7
> 
> [REB: 6-7 .... "There shall be no more delay; when the time comes for the seventh angel to sound his
> trumpet, the hidden purpose of God will have been fulfilled, as he promised to his servants the
> prophets."]
> 
> There was a delay of more than 18 centuries following Jesus' prophecy of the Kingdom, and more
> than 12 centuries following the prophecy by Muhammad. Now, with the blast of the 7th trumpet, the
> delays will have been finished, the purpose of Creation will be revealed, and the promised Kingdom
> will become a reality.
> 
> JOHN 'SWALLOWS' THE LITTLE BOOK:
> 
> 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 which standeth upon the sea and the earth. And I went unto the
> angel, and he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in
> thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in
> my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. -Rev 10:8-10
> 
> John is commanded to 'swallow,' that is, to accept the commands and precepts of the Prophets. He
> discovers that their beautiful words are easy to say, but difficult to actually live by.
> 
> JOHN IS COMMANDED TO PROPHESY A SECOND TIME:
> 
> And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
> kings. -Rev 10:11
> 
> John has just prophesied to Christendom, now he must prophesy once again, this time to
> Islamdom.
> 
> CHAPTER 11 - THE COURSE OF ISLAMDOM                                                               ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> This and the following two chapters describe events meaningful to Islamdom.
> The chapter opens with a warning to John that Jerusalem will be under the dominion of Gentiles
> until the year 1260 of the Muslim lunar calendar. But during that time, the spiritual Holy of Holies will
> 
> be left intact, and that the perfections of the souls within that spiritual temple should be measured
> with a spiritual measure.
> God, through Bahá'u'lláh, tells John that He will confer the power of prophecy to His two
> Witnesses, Muhammad and 'Ali, for all those 1260 lunar years. They will have the same Prophethood
> as Moses and Aaron.
> After they have completed their work, the loathsome House of Umayyah will ascend from the pit of
> theological error and destroy all the good works that Muhammad and 'Ali will have accomplished.
> Nevertheless, the outward body of observances of Islam will be kept alive, even though the living spirit
> will have left the Faith.
> But in the year 1260 of the Muslim calendar, the Religion of God will be 'resurrected,' and
> Muhammad and 'Ali will be re- Manifested in the Persons of the Bab and his leading disciple, Quddus.
> Great fear and frenzied excitement will seize the Muslim world. Both the Bab and Quddus will be
> martyred and ascend to heaven in 'clouds of glory' in the presence of their enemies.
> After their Ascension, and during the Dispensation of the Bab, a great earthquake will shake Shiraz,
> the Bab's birthplace. 7-thousand people will be killed.
> The Bab's Advent marks the second Woe. The third Woe, the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh, will follow very
> shortly after the second.
> True to the promise of the angel of Bahá'u'lláh in Chapter 10, the blast of the seventh heralding
> angel announces the Kingdom of God on earth. The heavenly Temple is opened, and John sees that the
> Ark of the Covenant still exists in the spiritual realm.
> The Covenant will be broken once again.
> 
> MEASURING THE TEMPLE OF GOD:
> 
> 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. But the court which is without the temple
> leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under
> foot forty and two months. -Rev 11:1-2
> 
> The mighty angel of Chapter 10 is still speaking to John.{1} As explained previously, the Arabic
> name of the mighty angel is 'Bahá'u'lláh,' which translates into English as 'The Glory of God.' On earth
> He is also called the 'King of Glory,' and in the angelic realm of Daniel and the Apocalypse, He is
> sometimes called 'Michael.'{11}
> The "reed" ("cane" in REB) is the rod of the Divine Shepherd, used to guide the weak. John is
> instructed to use it as a cubit to discover the conditions, perfections, behavior and attributes of those
> who are to dwell inside the Holy of Holies. But he is told that the court of the temple, that is, the
> physical temple, is to be overrun by the Gentiles for 42 "months."
> We recall that a 'prophetic month' equals 30 calendar years. Thus 42 'months' are 1260 calendar
> years. Since the prophecy concerns Islamdom, and since the lunar calendar is to be used in that realm,
> the period of time is to be 1260 lunar years as measured in the Muslim calendar. 1260 AH {2} is
> identical to 1844 CE, the date of the Declaration of the Bab and the second Woe. The Bab declared the
> end of the Dispensation of Muhammad.
> John is being told that the holy city Jerusalem and the material Holy of Holies is to be given to the
> Gentiles for the duration of the Dispensation of Muhammad, but that the spiritual Holy of Holies is to
> be left inviolate.
> When Jerusalem was taken by the great Caliph Umar in 637 CE, the Christian Bishop Sophronius
> placed a condition upon the bloodless surrender of Jerusalem- that the Jews must be strictly excluded
> from the Holy Land. In principle, Umar agreed to this condition, but permitted about 70 Jewish
> families to remain as residents. In the year 1260 AH, the Edict of Toleration was promulgated by the
> Ottoman Turks, allowing the Jews to legally reenter the Holy Land, thereby ending the 'time of the
> Gentiles.' Throughout this period the spiritual Holy of Holies, that is, the Law of God, was respected
> 
> and left inviolate.
> On a more mundane level, Umar erected a shrine (the Dome of the Rock) over the Rock Moriah, the
> physical location of the Holy of Holies, for the exclusive use of Muslim worshipers. Also, he left the
> inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to Christian worship, while the outer court of the church
> was given to Muslim worship.
> 
> THE TWO WITNESSES:
> 
> And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
> threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks
> standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their
> mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
> -Rev 11:3-5
> 
> [REB: 4 "They are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand in the presence of the Lord of the
> earth.]
> 
> God will confer the power of prophecy to His two Witnesses, Muhammad and 'Ali, for 1260 lunar
> years, terminating at the year 1844 CE. Their teachings will not seem to be new: Muhammad's
> spiritual laws (brotherly love, humility, reverence, justice, etc.) will correspond to those of the Gospel,
> while most of the laws relating to the material world (fasting, forms of worship and prayer, marriage,
> divorce, etc.) will correspond to those of the Pentateuch. Therefore, their teachings will be clothed in
> old raiment (sackcloth).
> Muhammad and 'Ali are to be God's sources of spiritual sustenance and light, like olive oil that is
> both a food and a fuel for lamps. If anyone shall try to harm His two Witnesses, fiery words of the Lord
> will issue from their mouths and their enemies will be put to flight.
> In this chapter we experience the influence of Gemini, The Twins, one of the astrological pillars of
> the square earth during the Age of Pisces.
> 
> THEIR POWERS:
> 
> These have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have the power
> over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. -Rev
> 11:6
> 
> Muhammad will have the same Prophethood as Moses, while 'Ali will be delegated the same power
> as Aaron {3}. Thus, jointly, they will have the power to cut off the rain of heavenly bounty {4}; to turn
> the waters of spiritual life into death blood {5}; and to smite the world with various plagues as often as
> they will {6}.
> 
> THE BEAST FROM THE BOTTOMLESS PIT:
> 
> And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit
> shall make war against them, and kill them. -Rev 11:7
> 
> [REB: 7 "... will wage war on them and will overcome and kill them.]
> We have already had a portent of these events when we discovered some of the nefarious tactics of
> the Umayyah in Chapter 9. Muhammad had prophesied:
> 
> "We will bring to them a beast from the earth. It will speak to them, for mankind would not be
> convinced of our signs." -Qur'an 27:82
> 
> After Muhammad and 'Ali will have performed all that which God has commanded them to do, the
> House of Umayyah will ascend out of the pit of error, determined to destroy the Revelation of
> Muhammad and the Reality of 'Ali. They will succeed in their designs and gain the victory, so that the
> virtues and perfections diffused by the power of these two Witnesses shall be entirely dispelled.
> 
> THE 'BODIES' OF THE TWO WITNESSES LIE 'DEAD':
> 
> 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 people 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 to one another: because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. -Rev 11:8-10
> 
> [REB: 8 "Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, whose name in prophetic language is
> Sodom, or Egypt, ...]
> 
> A 'prophetic day' is also a 'time,' and a 'time' is 360 calendar years. Therefore 3 1/2 "days" are 1260
> calendar years.
> The Religion of God will lie as a dead body without spirit in the region of the Middle East that is
> under the control of the Umayyah. The region will become the land of Sodom (sin) and Egypt
> (materialism). The nations, tribes, and peoples of Islamdom will make a spectacle of the Religion of
> God, clinging to the outward appearances by not allowing the "body" of observances to be destroyed.
> This they will do for 1260 lunar years, the entire Dispensation of Muhammad. The other peoples of the
> earth, including the branches of Christendom, will rejoice to see the corruption of morals that will
> infect the peoples of Islamdom; they will assist each other (give gifts) in their struggles with Islamdom,
> because the powerful utterances of Muhammad and 'Ali had been a torment to them.
> 
> THEIR 'REVIVAL':
> 
> And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their
> feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. -Rev 11:11
> 
> In the year 1260 AH, the Divine teachings, heavenly virtues, perfections, and spiritual bounties of
> Muhammad and 'Ali will be renewed by the appearance of the Bab and Quddus. Great fear will seize
> the populace.
> The relationship between the Bab and His young Apostle, Quddus, was the same as that between
> Muhammad and 'Ali, or Moses and Aaron. Although the Bab had 18 Apostles, called 'Letters of the
> Living,' Quddus was the Bab's most devoted Apostle and next in spiritual rank beneath the Bab. The
> Religion of God was renewed by the Bab with the help of Quddus and His other Apostles during a sixyear ministry from May 23, 1844 until His public Martyrdom at midday, July 9, 1850. His public
> declaration that He was the One foretold by numerous prophecies of Islam and other Faiths, and that
> He was the Forerunner of the Promised One of All Ages (Bahá'u'lláh) caused great fear among the
> Muslims, leading to armed attacks, confiscation of property, torture, and martyrdom of tens of
> thousands of His devotees.
> 
> THEY ASCEND 'IN A CLOUD':
> 
> And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to
> heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. -Rev 11:12
> 
> The voice from the invisible heaven called the Bab and Quddus to ascend in a 'cloud of glory.' The
> Bab was publicly martyred by a regimental firing squad on July 9, 1850. The smoke from the 750 fire
> arms was so dense that it blotted out the light of the sun at noontime. (Miraculously, the first regiment
> of Christian soldiers were unable to hit their mark, fulfilling the Bab's own prophecy that no one would
> be able to take His life until His full testimony had been completed.) After being tortured to death,
> the body of Quddus was destroyed by fire. Multitudes of enemies witnessed their fates, many testifying
> to their greatness and perfection.
> 
> A GREAT EARTHQUAKE:
> 
> And the same hour was there 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 of heaven. -Rev 11:13
> 
> Indeed, there were two earthquakes during the "Hour" of the Bab: the first occurred the day after
> His Martyrdom and shook Istanbul, the seat of the caliphate. The earthquake of verse 13 destroyed
> much of Shiraz, the birthplace of the Bab. This second earthquake occurred about one year prior to the
> Advent of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> THE SECOND WOE IS PAST:
> 
> The second woe is past, and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. -Rev 11:14
> 
> The Hour of the Bab is past. The Hour of Bahá'u'lláh will follow very shortly.
> Again we see the influence of Gemini in the Twin Manifestation, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. The
> Advent of Bahá'u'lláh occurred in the year Nine of the Babi Dispensation. Shortly after Bahá'u'lláh
> received His Revelation, some close confidants were informed of the Great Announcement. The Babi
> Dispensation lasted another ten years, after which Bahá'u'lláh made a public Declaration of His
> mission in the Garden of Paradise, in the proximity of ancient Babylon and modern Baghdad.
> There is great mystery here. For the first time in recorded history, the Dispensations of two
> Manifestations overlapped in mundane time. Also astonishing is the very short period between the
> Ascension of the first Twin and the Advent of the second Twin.
> Two mystic numbers are expressed in the Twinship: Nine and Nineteen. Besides Nine being the
> year of His Advent, Nine is the gematrical value of the word 'Bahá',' and is the seal of Bahá'u'lláh.
> The number Nineteen is especially associated with the Bab, since He and His Apostles numbered
> 19, and His Dispensation lasted 19 years. Nineteen is also the 'mystery of the Qur'an.' Through
> modern, computer-aided research, it has been discovered that the Qur'an conceals the number 19 in
> such recondite abundance, that the Divine inspiration of the Qur'an can hardly be doubted.
> 
> THE SEVENTH TRUMPET BLAST:
> 
> And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this
> world are become kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. -Rev
> 11:15
> 
> [REB: 15 .... 'Sovereignty over the world has passed to our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for
> ever.']
> 
> During the Age of Pisces, the world was under the dominion of venomous forces represented by the
> Four Horses of the Apocalypse: perversion of the Religion of God, warmongering, economic injustice,
> and un-Godliness. Now, in the Age of Leo-Aquarius, the sovereignty will pass to God the Father and
> 
> His Anointed One. Unlike former prophetic Cycles, the Cycle initiated by Bahá'u'lláh will encompass
> all the Ages of the zodiac. {12}
> The word 'Christ' is possibly the least understood word in the lexicon. 'Christos' is the Greek
> equivalent of 'Messiah,' ( Heb. 'Mashgiah') meaning, literally, 'Anointed.' Originally, the term meant
> simply a king, and was a Jewish regal title. In the messianic period at the close of the Age of Aries, it
> gradually became identified with the King of the Age of Redemption, and was applied to Jesus of
> Nazareth by the early Christians.{7}
> Of course we are interested in the term as used in the Apocalypse, realizing that God can 'anoint'
> whomsoever He chooses. A powerful clue is given in Isaiah {8}, where the Lord 'anoints' king Cyrus of
> Persia, "before whom doors will be opened and no gates barred." (REB) Like David, Cyrus had the
> power to open a new door of history, and it is in this sense that the term 'Christ' is correctly applied to
> Jesus and to all of the Lord's 'Anointed.' The 'Return of Christ' means the 'return' of the Perfect Holy
> Mirror, the One who will reflect the attributes of God and thereby renew the Ages.
> The Bab opened a new door of history and is, therefore, a 'Christ.' But the title is applicable to each
> and every Manifestation of God, and is applicable to Bahá'u'lláh as well. We find Bahá'u'lláh
> instructing: "Make this known unto them [the servants of God], that nothing whatsoever may shut
> them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: 'All dominion is thine O Thou
> Begetter of the Spirit [Jesus]'...' -BH {9}
> 
> GOD IS PRAISED:
> 
> 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 wast, and art to
> come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry,
> and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest
> give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and
> great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. -Rev 11:16-18
> 
> With the seventh trumpet blast, the Lord of the Age will assume power in the name of God. The
> twice-twelve Elders of the Age of Leo-Aquarius, who are seated around the throne of Bahá'u'lláh,
> prostrate themselves before Him and give thanks to God, Who is eternal, and never dies, in spite of His
> seeming death in times of great personal distress and corruption of the world of man. Now, the Lord
> will assume power over the earth, and reward each man and woman according to that which they truly
> deserve. The nations and peoples of the world who oppose Bahá'u'lláh will be angry, because God's
> teachings do not agree with what they expected through their own idle fancies and vain imaginings. All
> who fail to follow His precepts and commands will be deprived of everlasting bounty, and veiled from
> the light of the Sun of Reality. The righteous will be distinguished by endless bounty, making them
> shine on the horizon of eternal honor. The spiritually dead will be deprived, making manifest the
> blindness of the blind, and the ignorance of the people of error.
> 
> GOD'S SANCTUARY IS OPENED:
> 
> And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his
> testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
> -Rev 11:19
> 
> [REB: 19 God's sanctuary in heaven was opened, and within his sanctuary was seen the ark of his
> covenant. ...]
> 
> John sees that the true sanctuary of God is in heaven, not on the Rock Moriah, and that the spiritual
> Ark of the Covenant still resides there, as it always has. When the Temple of God in heaven is opened,
> 
> the Divine teachings will be diffused in all directions. The Book of His Testament and the Epistle of the
> Covenant will be reestablished. There will be a great storm of the spirit. There will flash the lightnings
> of the anger and wrath of God. The thunder of the violation of the Covenant will resound, and an
> earthquake of doubts will shake the world of man. A hail of torments will beat upon the violators of the
> Covenant, and even those who professed belief will fall into trials and temptations.
> The physical Temple was destroyed by Titus in 70 CE. The cherished Ark of the Covenant had
> mysteriously disappeared many centuries earlier, and its fate is not known to this day. {10}
> The Covenant was again violated by the 'archbreaker' Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, a half-brother of
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
> 
> CHAPTER 12 - THE TRAVAIL OF THE WORD                                                               ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> This chapter reveals the travail of the Law of God during the Dispensation of Muhammad. {1}
> The constellation Virgo (the Virgin) is seen in the heavens. Besides representing the parallel cults of
> Mary and Fatima during the Age of Pisces-Virgo, she represents the Law of God during the
> Dispensation of Muhammad.
> John also sees the constellation Draco (the Dragon), blood- colored to symbolize war. It is identified
> as the illegitimate caliphate initiated by the House of Umayyah that conquers 7- dominions and has 10
> un-repeated names, destroys one-third of the saintly lineage of Muhammad, and keeps a watchful eye
> to prevent the rebirth of the true Law of God.
> Nevertheless, the Law delivers a child, the Twelfth Imam, who disappears mysteriously without a
> trace. The Twelfth Imam is destined to 're-appear' as the Bab in the year 1260 AH.
> In the meantime, the Law will find refuge in the remote wilderness areas of Arabia where she is to
> be kept alive and well until the Advent of the Bab.
> John then witnesses a great spiritual 'war' in the heavens, symbolically represented by astrological
> constellations such as Leviathan, Hercules, Leo and Scorpio. Michael, the angel representing,
> Bahá'u'lláh, the Lion of Judah, wins in the conflict over the evil forces of the Dragon, [who is actually
> under the control of Scorpio, the Serpent of Genesis]. Again, the significance of this triumph is
> recounted- since it foretells the Kingdom of God on earth.
> The House of Umayyah and their successors in the Muslim world, seeing that they have lost the
> spiritual war, persecute the remaining devotees of the true Law. Scorpio, no longer a dominant force in
> the heavens, is replaced by the astrological sign Flying Eagle. The "great Eagle" 'assists' the Law of God
> by 'flying her' into the wilderness for her safety during the 1260 'days' until her child, the Twelfth
> Imam can reenter the world as the Bab. The influence of the great Eagle is experienced on earthly
> plane as Muhammad; his two wings are 'Ali and Fatima.
> 
> THE WOMAN IN THE SUN:
> 
> And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
> feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and
> pained to be delivered. -Rev 12:1-2
> 
> Here we see the constellation Virgo, one of the pillars of the square earth during the Age of Pisces.
> In Christendom, Virgo was manifested as the cult of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Islamdom, Virgo
> was manifested as the cult of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad and the wife of 'Ali. In this chapter,
> Virgo has yet another meaning- the Law of God. She is clothed in the sun, a symbol of Persia, and has
> the moon, a symbol of Turkey, beneath her feet. The twelve stars are the Twelve Holy Imams of Islam.
> According to Shi'ah belief, the Twelve Imams were the rightful spiritual leaders of Islamdom, their
> 
> progenitors being 'Ali and Fatima. The first eleven Imams are known to have been martyred, but the
> Twelfth Imam mysteriously disappeared while still a child in the year 260 AH.
> Various prophecies portended that the Twelfth Imam would 'return' in the year 1260 AH (= 1844
> CE). In fulfillment of these prophecies, the youthful Bab appeared in that year, claiming to be the
> Return of the Twelfth Imam. Thus, the "child" in verse 2 is both the Twelfth Imam and his 'reappearance' in the human temple of the Bab.
> 
> THE RED DRAGON IN HEAVEN:
> 
> And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and
> ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
> and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
> delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. -Rev 12:3-4
> 
> Another stellar constellation, the Dragon (Draco) is introduced. The Dragon is located near the
> north celestial pole. In verse 3, the Dragon has the color of war, and is identifiable as the House of
> Umayyah through his descriptors:
> A 'head' is that on which a crown is placed, that is, a dominion. The Umayyah ruled 7 dominions: 1.
> the Roman-Byzantine dominion around Damascus (Palestine and part of Syria); 2. the dominion of
> Sassanid Persia (Iran, Mesopotamia, and part of Syria); 3. the dominion of Egypt; 4. the dominion of
> Africa (Tunis, Morocco and Algeria); 5. the dominion of Arabia; 6. the dominion of Andalusia (Spain);
> and 7. the dominion of Turkestan-Transoxania (Sogdiana).
> A 'horn' is a 'handle,' that is, a name. The Umayyah had 15 commanders and chiefs, but only ten
> UN-REPEATED names. These names were 1. Abu-Sufyan, 2. Mu'awiya, 3. Yazid, 4. Marwan, 5. 'Abd
> al-Malik, 6. al-Walid, 7. Sulayman, 8. Umar (II), 9. Hisham, and 10. Ibrahim.
> The "tail of the dragon" is the last of the Umayyad chiefs, Marwan II, who destroyed one-third of
> the 'heavenly stars' (saintly lineage) of Muhammad. The Umayyah were ever watchful to prevent the
> recurrence of the Law of God.
> 
> THE BIRTH OF THE MAN CHILD:
> 
> And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was
> caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled unto the wilderness, where she hath a
> place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
> -Rev 12:5-6
> 
> The Law of God is manifested as the Twelfth Imam, who is "caught up unto God" beyond the reach
> of the caliphate. The Bab, the 'Return of the Twelfth Imam', is destined to have power over all nations,
> ruling them with a "rod of iron", just as Muhammad had done. The Law of God 'flees' into the vast
> desert wilderness of Hijaz and the Arabian peninsula, where she will be kept alive and safe until 1260
> AH, the date of the Return.
> 
> THE WAR IN HEAVEN:
> 
> And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought
> with his angels, 8 and prevailed not; neither was there place found anymore in heaven. And the great
> dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he
> was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. -Rev 12:7-9
> 
> [REB: 7-8 ".... The dragon with his angels fought back, but was too weak, and they lost their place in
> heaven."]
> 
> The 'war in heaven' involves several constellations, among them: The Water Serpent or Leviathan
> (Hydra), Hercules (the Kneeler), and the Man With the Serpent (Ophiucus-Serpens). Leviathan is
> adjacent to the Lion (Leo) in the heavens, while Hercules kneels with his club raised over the head of
> the Dragon. Ophiucus is in mortal combat with the Serpent, which is adjacent to the Scorpion. Verse 7
> equates the Dragon, the Serpent, the Devil and Satan as the same evil force in different guises,
> represented by the Scorpion, the "horned snake on the path" {2}. Michael, the "Great Captain" {3},
> commands the righteous forces in the epic conflict, and is represented by the Lion.
> The Precession of the Equinoxes is accompanied by another phenomenon: the Precession of the
> Poles. When the Great Pyramid of Giza was built at the dawn of the Age of Aries, Thuban in the
> Dragon was the north star. Now, two astrological Ages later, the Dragon has lost his eminence in the
> northern sky to be replaced by the Little Bear. Also, the Scorpion is to be replaced by the Flying Eagle
> in the new heaven.
> 
> THE VICTORY OF MICHAEL:
> 
> And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the Kingdom of
> our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
> before God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
> testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. -Rev 12:10-11
> 
> With the overthrow of the caliphate, the Anointed One, Bahá'u'lláh, will be able to establish the
> Kingdom of God on earth. The false accuser of the true Muslims (who are the spiritual brothers of true
> Christians), will have been divested of his title 'The Successor' to Muhammad. This will be made
> possible by the Sacrifice of the Lamb Consummate, the Bab. He and His devotees, numbering in the
> tens-of-thousands, will be put to death; but even under the most horrible of tortures, they will not
> waver in their testimony to the Cause of God.
> 
> "WOE" TO THE EARTH:
> 
> Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and the
> sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a
> short time. -Rev 12:12
> 
> Again we see the influence of Pisces in the metaphor of the inhabitants of the 'sea' of humanity.
> 
> PERSECUTION OF THE HEAVENLY WOMAN:
> 
> And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought
> forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into
> the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the
> face of the serpent. -Rev 12:13-14
> 
> [REB: 14 ".... where she was to be looked after for three and a half years, ...]
> 
> With the demise of the Scorpion, the Flying Eagle will become the pillar of the new Age to come.
> Meanwhile, on the earthly plane, the Law of God is given the assistance of 'Ali and Fatima, the two
> 'wings' of the "great eagle" Muhammad. After the diversion of the past several verses, it is again
> explained that the Law of God will find a place of refuge in the vast desert wilderness of Hijaz and
> Arabia until 3 1/2 'times.' Since a 'time' is 360 lunar years, the date in the Muslim lunar calendar is
> 1260 AH.
> 
> (The period of 3 1/2 times is also specified in Daniel.{4})
> 
> And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be
> carried away by the flood. And the earth helped the woman and the earth opened her mouth, and
> swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. -Rev 12:15-16
> 
> The House of Umayyah attempts to deceive the world with a flood of false propaganda (tainted
> water) concerning the Revelation of Muhammad. But the vast desert and its hardy peoples prevent the
> Law of God from being destroyed.
> Astrologically, Virgo was on 'dry land' during the Age of Aries. The Precession threatened to send
> her to the 'waters below.' However, she safely became the pillar at the Fall equinox during the Age of
> Pisces.
> 
> And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to war with the remnant of her seed, which keep
> the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. -Rev 12:17
> 
> Failing to destroy the Law of God, the Umayyah attempt to destroy those who believe in the true
> Message of the Prophet. A true Muslim follows God's commandments as revealed in the Qur'an, and
> bears witness to the Reality of Jesus Christ. In Sura 5, God says:
> 
> And when I taught thee (Jesus) the Scripture, and Wisdom, and the Law, and the Evangel: .... and thou
> didst heal the blind and the leper, by my leave; and when, by my leave, thou didst bring forth the dead;
> and when I withheld the children of Israel from thee, when thou hadst come to them with clear tokens:
> and such of them as believed not said, "This is nought but plain sorcery;" And when I revealed unto
> the Apostles, "Believe on me and my Sent One (Jesus)," they said, "We believe; and bear thou witness
> that we are Muslims." -Qur'an 5:110-111 [Rodwell translation]
> 
> CHAPTER 13 - THE RISE OF THE CALIPHATE                                                          ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> This chapter describes the rise of the illegitimate caliphate following the murder of 'Ali.
> John sees the House of Umayyah as a 'beast,' rising from the abyss, and now crowned with a 'name
> of blasphemy.' He also sees that the empire created by the Umayyah resembles past empires in the
> region in various ways.
> John learns that the House of Umayyah is destined to be nearly destroyed, leaving only one
> dominion, Spain, under their reign. [Curiously, the Cordoban caliphate, to be re-constituted under
> their House in Spain, will also have ten un-repeated names of chiefs.] The oecumene is amazed at their
> great military prowess that seems to come from Satan himself. Their House will be noted for their
> ungodliness, but the dynasties they spawn by their illegitimate usurpation of the caliphate will
> continue to have political power for the entire duration of Muhammad's Dispensation, ending in the
> year 1260 AH (1844 CE).
> All the oecumene, excepting only those people who are truly righteous, will admire the House of
> Umayyah.
> Nevertheless, the House of Umayyah will be overthrown by yet another 'beast,' the House of 'Abbas.
> The new regime will be every bit as powerful as its predecessor. It will govern the empire, except for
> Spain, with such great severity that the oecumene will prefer the neo-Umayyad dynasty in Spain over
> the 'Abbasids. The 'Abbasid period will exhibit great technical and scientific skills.{1} The House of
> 'Abbas will resemble its predecessor in many ways, as if it were the mirror image of the House of
> Umayyah.
> 
> The financial strength of the House of 'Abbas will rest upon the hypocritical collection of two taxes
> imposed on non-Muslims, the poll and business taxes.
> The reader is invited to guess the name of blasphemy. If he succeeds in this pastime, he will
> discover that the literal value of the name is 666. The solution to the riddle is 'The Caliph.'
> 
> THE FIRST BEAST WITH THE 'NAME OF BLASPHEMY':
> 
> And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and
> ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. -Rev 13:1
> 
> [NIV: 1 And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea ...]
> 
> The Dragon, aka Satan the Deceiver, waits near the sea of humanity during the Age of Pisces, ready
> to give his power to the House of Umayyah, the beast that will control seven dominions and will have
> ten un-repeated names. The Umayyah will gain control of the caliphate and will bear a name of
> blasphemy, 'The Caliph.' The name means 'The Successor to Muhammad,' and was a sacred title. This
> supreme office combined both the temporal and spiritual authority in early Islamdom. To assume the
> title illegitimately was and is an act of blasphemy.
> 
> THE BEAST DESCRIBED:
> 
> And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as
> the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. -Rev 13:2
> 
> The terms leopard, bear and lion refer to a prophecy in Daniel.{2} In Daniel's prophecy, the leopard
> represents the empire of Alexander the Great; the bear represents the empire of Media-Persia; the lion
> represents the empire of Chaldea (neo-Babylonia.)
> The Umayyad empire resembled Alexander's in its extent, prosperity, and the leopard-like alacrity
> of its conquests. However, its true strength lay in its control of Media-Persia, the reticent bear. In its
> roaring boasts, it resembled a lion {3}, and had its capital within the confines of old Chaldea.
> 
> THE WOUNDED HEAD THAT HEALED:
> 
> And I saw one of its heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the
> world wondered after the beast. -Rev 13:3
> 
> The 'accursed Umayyah' were overthrown by the 'Abbasids in 749 CE. The destruction of the
> Umayyah seemed total, but one of the Umayyah, 'Abd Al-Rahman, known as the 'Falcon of the
> Quraysh,' managed to escape to Andalusia (Spain), where he set up a neo-Umayyad dynasty, the
> Cordoban Caliphate, that lasted for another three centuries. Thus Andalusia was the wounded head
> that healed.
> The ten horns were also healed. The Cordoban Caliphate came to an end in 1031 after it had
> spawned 18 neo-Umayyad Caliphs. Yet, again, it had only 10 un-repeated names: 1. Abd Al-Rahman, 2.
> Hisham, 3. Hakam, 4. Muhammad, 5. Munzir, 6. Abdullah, 7. Hijib Al-Mansur, 8. 'Abdu'l-Malik, 9. Al-
> Mahdi, and 10. Sulayman.
> 
> THE END DATE OF BEASTLY POWER:
> And they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast: and they worshipped the beast,
> saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a
> mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and
> two months. -Rev 13:4-5
> 
> A 'prophetic month' is 30 years. Therefore forty-two 'months' is 1260 years.
> The oecumene will admire the caliphate, whose power seems to rest upon an alliance with the Devil.
> The military prowess of the caliphate will be leopard-like, resembling that of Alexander the Great.
> Although the office of the caliphate will be occupied by several dynasties, the fraud initiated by the
> Umayyah will continue for the entire Dispensation of Muhammad, until 1260 AH.
> The impression made by the caliphate upon the rest of the world was profound and sometimes
> baleful. Dark Age Christendom initiated a series of countermeasures in an attempt to overtake the
> technology and military power of Islamdom. In the shadowy recesses of the council chambers of that
> era, it is difficult to see what actually transpired, but the elimination of the 'human spirit' as a third
> part of Man has already been alluded to. Some historians see an abrupt shift away from spirituality in
> the West and towards a more materialistic society. Other historians discern the seeds of material
> progress in the 9th century that would flower in the 11th.
> 
> And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and
> them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome
> them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon
> the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
> foundation of the world. -Rev 13:6-8
> 
> The Umayyah were noted for their hypocrisy, economic and social injustice, and their luxurious
> lives dedicated to the pleasures of the flesh. They suppressed the descendants of Muhammad and the
> Holy Imams, and dominated a vast array of peoples covering most of the oecumene. Their military
> power was supreme.
> The "Lamb" represents the principle of Sacrifice that has existed since the beginning of time,
> necessary for the renewal of the Ages and the manifestation of a higher reality. Regardless of which
> CONSTELLATION appears at the Spring equinox, it is said that Spring always appears under the SIGN
> of Aries. Thus, symbolically, the Lamb has always been 'slain' to permit a new Age to commence.
> In the Bahá'í Dispensation, the names in the Book of Life are written by the Center of the Covenant,
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the 'Most Great Branch' from the 'pre-existent root.' {4}
> 
> A LAW OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION:
> 
> If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that
> killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the saints. -Rev
> 13:9-10
> 
> [REB: 10 .... This calls for the endurance and faithfulness of God's people.]
> 
> John learns the Law of Divine Retribution that will destroy the beast. The Umayyah continued to
> decay in spirituality and power, eventually experiencing the same fate that they had meted out to
> others. Except for 'Abd Al-Rahman, the Umayyah were hunted down and executed. Even the corpses
> of their dead Caliphs, except for the pious Umar II, were exhumed and desecrated.
> 
> THE SECOND BEAST:
> 
> And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke
> as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and
> them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. -Rev 13:11-12
> 
> The second beast is the House of 'Abbas. It will come to power on the ruins (earth) of the first beast,
> and will have two names (horns) of power: 'The Caliph' and 'The Sultan.' {5} It, too, will utter
> preposterous lies and blasphemies. By comparison, the revived neo-Umayyad dynasty in Spain will
> seem far less aggressive and more palatable to Christendom; Western civilization will gain much from
> its relations with Muslim Spain.
> 
> THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST:
> 
> And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of
> men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do
> in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on earth, that they should make an image to the
> beast, which had the wound by the sword, and did live. -Rev 13:13-14
> 
> At its apex, the 'Abbasids exercised all the power of the Umayyah, and revived the dying empire that
> had been mortally wounded and yet lived on in Spain. The 'Abbasid period, commemorated in the
> fable 'The Arabian Nights,' is noteworthy for its advanced science and technology. Very early they
> learned the use of gunpowder and Greek fire, employing spectacular devices in warfare such as
> burning globes and javelins that were propelled over long distances.
> The 'image' which the 'Abbasids created was their imitation of the Umayyah. Not only did they
> imitate them in their outward trappings and lifestyle, their history imitated the Umayyah as well. Both
> came to power by deception and fraud. Both occupied the caliphate for about a century, and both kept
> in power through terror and intrigue. Both began their careers enjoying a vast empire, yet each ended
> up in control of a single domain.{6}
> Curiously, both the neo-Umayyad and 'Abbasid Caliphs continued the pattern of 10 un-repeated
> names. From their usurpation of power in 750 until their loss of power to the Turks in 861, the
> 'Abbasid Caliphs bore ten names: 1. As-Saffa, 2. Al-Mansur, 3. Al-Mahdi, 4. Al-Hadi, 5. Ar-Rashid, 6.
> Al-Amin, 7. Al-Ma'mun, 8. Al-Mu'tasim, 9. Al-Wathiq, and 10. Al-Mutawakkil.
> Also, the first Turkish dynasty, the Seljuks, who seized the caliphate from the 'Abbasids in 861,
> might be said to have produced a line of potentates with 10 un-repeated names, although the last years
> of their sovereignty were confused by pretenders to the office. The mainstream Seljuk Caliphs bore the
> following names: 1. Malik, 2. Toghrul, 3. Alp, 4. Barkiyaroq, 5. Mahommed, 6. Sinjar, 7. Mahmud, 8.
> Masud, 9. Sulayman, and 10. Arslan.
> With the fall of the Seljuks, the pattern of ten horns seems to have been broken. After the fall of the
> 'Abbasids and before the Turks imposed their rule on North Africa, there was a power vacuum that
> permitted the independent and brilliant Fatimid Caliphate to flourish from 909 until 1171. This
> caliphate, centered at Cairo, claimed a line of descent from the House of 'Ali through the Sixth Imam.
> The Fatimids fared better: they begot 14 Caliphs with 14 un-repeated names. Nor did the final Turkish
> dynasty, the Ottoman, exhibit the ten horn pattern. From 1230 until the destruction of the caliphate in
> 1924, the Ottomans begot 32 Caliphs, again with 14 un-repeated names.
> 
> And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both
> speak, and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. -Rev 13:15
> 
> The second beast, the House of 'Abbas, was able to revive the image of the first beast, the House of
> Umayyah, so that it seemed to be alive again. The 'Abbasids enforced their new regime with great
> severity, ruthlessly murdering even those who had helped them to gain power.
> 
> THE TWO STIGMATA:
> And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right
> hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save that he had the mark, or the
> name of the beast, or the number of his name. - Rev 13:16-17
> 
> [REB: 17 and no man was allowed to buy or sell unless he bore this beast's mark, either name or
> number.]
> 
> The 'marks' or stigmata were two taxes imposed on non-Muslims. The 'kharaj' was a business and
> land tax imposed on the working ('right') hand; the 'jizya' was a poll tax imposed on the 'forehead.'
> Trading was forbidden by non-Muslims unless they had paid either the poll tax (assessed by the 'name'
> of their Faith) or the business tax (assessed by the 'number' of their business). Originally, the modest
> kharaj and jizya were intended as benign symbols of religious tolerance and as gentle encouragement
> to convert to Islam. Under the Umayyad and 'Abbasid Caliphs, the kharaj and jizya were radically
> transformed into sources of great personal wealth and were used as capital for imperial expansion.
> Many non-Muslims fled the realm of the beast to avoid paying these taxes.
> 
> A TEST OF INTELLECTUAL SKILL:
> 
> Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number
> of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. -Rev 13:18
> 
> [REB: 18 (This calls for skill; let anyone who has intelligence work out the number of the beast, for the
> number represents a man's name, and the numerical value of its letters is six hundred and sixty-six.)
> 
> The reader of the Apocalypse is challenged to work out the gematrical value of the 'name of the
> beast.' From verse 1, we understand that it is a title, since it rests upon "seven heads." Also, the title
> must be sacred, since its expropriation by the beast was an act of blasphemy. And, since the text of the
> Apocalypse is in Koine Greek, the answer should be in Koine.
> From the various clues in this and other chapters of the Apocalypse, we guess that the solution is
> probably 'The Caliph.' We test this conjecture by transliterating the Arabic name into Koine to
> determine whether its gematrical value is, indeed, 666.
> We must define certain transcriptions for the purpose of presenting the result in English letters:
> 
> [ARABIC] [KOINE] [GEMATRICAL VALUE] [TRANSCRIPTION]
> 
> [Al (definite article)] [' + Omicron] [70] ['O] [
> Kef] [Kappa (soft)] [20] [K]
> [alif] [alpha] [1] [a]
> [lam] [double lambda (hard)] [60] [ll]
> [ye] [epsilon + iota (diphthong)] [15] [ei]
> [fe] [phi] [500] [ph]
> 
> Transcribed: The Caliph = 'O Kalleiph
> Gematrical value: 70 + 20 + 1 + 60 + 15 + 500 = 666
> 
> There are several other concurrences that lend credence to this solution. A few will be noted here,
> while some others will be noted where appropriate.
> 
> a. The date of the usurpation of the caliphate by the House of Umayyah was 661 CE. Most biblical
> scholars, in agreement with the Gospel of Matthew, place the Birth of Jesus sometime prior to the
> death of Herod the Great who died in the year 4-5 BCE. Placing the 'true' historical date of His Birth at
> about 5 BCE, and accounting for the missing zeroth year in BOTH the Christian and common
> calendars, {7} places the origin of the illegitimate caliphate at about 666 'ANNO DOMINI.'
> 
> b. The Arabic equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon name 'God' is ''Allah.' In the Arabic gematria, ''Allah'
> has the value 66. The number '6' is deemed to be the 'number of mediation' by numerologists. Thus
> '666' has as one of its meanings, 'The Mediator to 'Allah.' The illegitimate caliphate blasphemously
> claimed that role to be their own.
> 
> c. In itself, the number '666' suggests 'successorship,' since 600 is the decadal successor of 60, and
> 60 is the decadal successor of 6.
> 
> d. Attempts to transliterate the Greek number 666 into Arabic produce words meaning 'the spy' or
> 'the sensual.' Both appellations are descriptive of the Houses of Umayyah and 'Abbas.
> 
> Before leaving the subject, there is one more possible clue, derived from numerology, that might be
> apparent in the number 666. Besides being the 'number of mediation,' 6 is also called the 'number of
> beauty.' The Greek word for 'beauty' is 'kallos.' Thus, if one makes this connection, the first four letters
> are common to the words 'kallos' and 'kalleiph.'
> 
> CHAPTER 14 - THE WORLD-STAGE IS SET                                                                  ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> Chapter 14 sets the world stage for the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh, the World Judge and Savior. But first,
> those with the seal of God are introduced.
> John then hears the new song, sung by the twice-72 multitudes, the firstfruits from all Ages and
> nations who are to be redeemed in the Leo-Aquarian Age. To be rescued, they must accept the
> redeeming grace of the Sacrificial Hero, regardless of the Age and the name by which he is called.
> Another requirement is that they must not be seduced by a counterfeit of the true Word of God.
> Then John sees a sequence of 3 warning angels, [probably] representing 3 of the Warners,
> Manifestations who warned of the coming of the Divine Reaper and World Redeemer. The first three
> may be Krishna, Buddha, and Muhammad.
> The Divine Reaper is then introduced, followed by a fourth angel [Jesus Christ?], who asks
> Bahá'u'lláh to reap the harvest of the Ages. The Divine Reaper is followed by a fifth angel, who ALSO
> has the power to reap the harvest of the Ages. This is clearly the Bab. Finally, a sixth angel, the altar
> angel [Zoroaster?] of Rev 8:3, is re-introduced who asks the Bab to cast in his sickle also.
> The chapter ends with a riddle to test the reader's spiritual insight and intellectual credulity. The
> solution to this riddle is 49-lunar years, the duration of Divine Revelation at the opening of the Leo-
> Aquarian Age.
> 
> THE LAMB ON ZION:
> 
> And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and four
> thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. -Rev 14:1
> 
> The verse recalls Chapter 7 in which twice-72 multitudes of God's servants, from all Ages, races and
> nations are to be found acceptable to God the Father in the new Age of Leo-Aquarius.
> The word 'Zion' has several meanings. Physically, it was the site of the royal palace of David and
> Solomon's Temple. Because of this association, the word has come to mean the imaginary 'center' of
> Jewish national life, and even the Jewish people themselves. On the religious plane, 'Zion' stands for
> the Jewish Theocracy of God, the aspiration of the ancient Jewish devotees, that once established,
> would set the Model for the establishment of a World Theocracy.
> The Lamb is seen standing on 'Zion,' meaning that the Lamb is manifested in the physical world
> 
> and fulfills the ancient aspirations of the Jewish people to establish a Model Theocracy.
> The Apocalypse tells us several things about the Lamb. For one, it has "seven horns and seven eyes"
> (5:6) and represents the "Seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." During the Age of Leo-
> Aquarius, it stands in the midst of the throne and four beasts, and has been 'slain ' since the
> foundation of the world (13:8). In 13:11 we have learned that a lamb has two 'horns,' and thus has two
> names of power. In 5:12 we learn that the Lamb has been 'slain,' and yet we find the Lamb alive and
> well in 14:1.
> The astrological aspects of the Lamb have already been discussed. In the heavens, the Lamb is the
> sign of Aries that has always been 'sacrificed' to make way for a new Age. Also we have discussed the
> necessity of a Sacrifice on the earthly plane to correspond to the heavenly sacrifice, invariably
> represented by a Sacrificial Hero, whose earthly name is discoverable in every Dispensation.
> But what are the two names of power implied by 13:11? They must be 'The Successor' and the 'The
> Sovereign,' the very names blasphemously usurped by the beast of the Apocalypse. 'Ali was the
> Sacrificial Hero of the Dispensation of Muhammad. As The Successor, His rightful role was to have
> been the Successor to Muhammad; as The Sovereign, His role was to have been the Center of the
> Covenant.
> In the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh, we have twice-twelve Elders seated around the throne, and thus
> there are two members of every station in the zodiacal wheel. The Bab, after fulfilling the role of the
> Lamb during His own Dispensation, has become one of the Pillars of the new Age- the 'Water Bearer.'
> Then who are the two Sacrificial Heroes who will bear the title of 'Lamb' during the Dispensation of
> Bahá'u'lláh? There are two such Heroes, one has been sacrificed, while the other remains alive and well
> to "stand on Zion" in 14:1. The Lamb who was 'slain' was Mirza Mihdi, the 'Purest Branch.' The Lamb
> who remains alive and well is 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the 'Most Great Branch.' As 'Ali was supposed to have
> done during the Dispensation of Muhammad, 'Abdu'l-Bahá bears two titles; he is the Successor to
> Bahá'u'lláh and the Center of the Covenant. -SE {1}
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá is shown alive on Zion with those who have the seal of his natural and spiritual Father,
> Bahá'u'lláh. As prophesied by the Jewish prophets of old, the Model Theocracy, is to be established in
> the Holy Land. "Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and the land
> thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation." -BH {2}
> As the Manifestation of the Father, Bahá'u'lláh is the spiritual Father of the other Manifestations of
> the past. Bahá'u'lláh reveals, "In this most mighty Revelation, all the Dispensations of the past have
> attained their highest, their final consummation." "He it is," referring to Himself, "Who in the Old
> Testament hath been named Jehovah, Who in the Gospel hath been designated as the Spirit of Truth,
> and in the Qur'an acclaimed the Great Announcement." "But for Him, no Divine Messenger would
> have been invested with the robe of prophethood, nor would any of the sacred scriptures have been
> revealed." "Be fair, ye peoples of the world, is it meet or seemly for you to question the authority of one
> Whose presence 'He Who conversed with God' (Moses) hath longed to attain, the beauty of Whose
> countenance 'God's Well-beloved' (Muhammad) had yearned to behold, through Whose potency the
> 'Spirit of God' (Jesus) ascended to heaven, for Whose sake the 'Primal Point' (the Bab) offered up His
> life?" -BH {3}
> "Concerning the Manifestations that will come down in the future 'in the shadows of the clouds,'
> know verily that in so far as their relation to the source of their inspiration is concerned, they are
> under the shadow of the Ancient Beauty (Bahá'u'lláh). In their relation, however, to the age in which
> they appear, each and every one of them 'doeth whatsoever He willeth." -AB {4}
> 
> THE NEW SONG IS SUNG AGAIN:
> 
> And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and
> I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3 And they sang as it were a new song before the
> throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could hear that song but the hundred
> and forty four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. -Rev 14:2-3
> 
> [REB: 2 I heard a sound from heaven like a mighty torrent or a great peal of thunder: what I heard was
> like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They were singing a new song before the throne and the four
> living creatures and the elders, and no man could learn it except the hundred and forty-four thousand
> ransomed from the earth.]
> 
> The voices of the twice-72 multitudes from all Ages and cultures who have been found acceptable to
> God sing out the Leo-Aquarian message, but only the redeemed can understand or learn it. {5}
> The City of Bahá', like 'Zion,' is a MODEL Theocracy. In the Apocalypse, it is called the New
> Jerusalem. Only the twice-72 multitudes who are 'redeemed from the earth' will be its firstfruits. It is
> NOT, therefore, a 'world government' and has no secular aspirations.
> 
> These are they which are not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
> Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God
> and the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of
> God. -Rev 14:4-5
> 
> Those 'clerics' who sell a counterfeit of the true Word of God in order to acquire material wealth are
> likened to harlots. To become defiled by harlots means to become willingly seduced by the fraud.
> The Sacrificial Hero has had many names and appears in a different physical body with a new name
> in each Dispensation. In one Dispensation, the Lamb is Jesus Christ; in another He is the Bab, or
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá. The undefiled will follow the Lamb in every Age and Dispensation. The firstfruits are the
> first to hear the new Song and to follow the new Law. Their mouths will not spread false doctrine.
> 
> THE FIRST SUPPORTING ANGEL:
> 
> And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them
> that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud
> voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that
> made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. -Rev 14:6-7
> 
> Once again we are reminded [by Krishna? {6}] that the Good News is a wellspring of guidance
> available in every Age; it is eternal and not limited to any special people or culture. The Judgement is a
> two-edged sword: it is a punishment for the defiled and a salvation for the innocent.
> 
> THE SECOND SUPPORTING ANGEL:
> 
> And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, that great city, because she made all
> nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. -Rev 14:8
> 
> The next angel [Buddha?] informs us of the downfall of 'Babylon.' The word 'Babylon' (Heb 'Bab-el')
> means literally 'Gate of God.' 'Jerusalem' means literally 'Sacred Peace.' Both names are sacred and
> symbolize the City of the Word of God. The Word of God, though originally the Holy City, through
> corruption, becomes the Wicked City. '
> 
> How the faithful city has played the whore!" REB: Isaiah 1:8
> 
> Jerusalem is transformed into Babylon and vice versa as the Holy City decays and is renewed in
> successive Dispensations.
> The use of Babylon as a symbol of the corrupted Word is based upon the story of the Tower of
> Babel.{7} It was at this place that the babble of tongues was supposed to have originated. It requires
> 
> the addition of only a single letter to convert Bab-el = Gate of God, into Bal-bel = Confusion.
> Bahá'u'lláh reveals that the corruption of the Word of God does not result from the conscious
> falsification or forgery of the Sacred Texts, but from misinterpretation through idle imaginings and
> vain desires. {8}
> Old Testament prophecies foretell that in the last days the Word will be renewed at Babylon.{19}
> But Jeremiah prophesied that the site of old Babylon will be a ruin. Bahá'u'lláh revealed His mission
> and renewed the Word at the new Babylon, modern Baghdad, in 1863. The word 'Baghdad' means
> literally 'Gift of God.'
> 
> THE THIRD SUPPORTING ANGEL:
> 
> And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his
> image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the
> wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation: and he shall be
> tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
> -Rev 14:9-10
> 
> The third angel [Muhammad?] warns those who willingly accept the validity of the Umayyad and
> 'Abbasid dynasties, and those who willingly pay the taxes that are the hidden agenda of the caliphate.
> They shall receive spiritual torments that cannot be extinguished; their sufferings will be witnessed by
> the immaculate souls in heaven in the presence of 'Ali, the Sacrificial Hero.
> 
> And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day or night,
> who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12 Here is the
> patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. -Rev
> 14:11-12
> 
> [REB: 12 This calls for the endurance of God's people, all those who keep his commandments and
> remain loyal to Jesus.]
> When the illegitimate caliphate conquered the oecumene, non-Muslim devotees such as Christians,
> Jews, Zoroastrians and Sabaeans, were given three choices: pay the business and head taxes, leave the
> domain of the Muslim empire, or declare their allegiance to Islam. Failure to choose one of these three
> distasteful alternatives placed the devotee at great risk to person or property.
> Those who chose the last alternative, who pretended to be Muslims, were called the Mawali
> (Clients). The Mawali, who "received the mark of his name," are also condemned, since their
> acceptance of Islam was not based upon a sincere belief in the teachings of the Prophet but was simply
> a matter of expediency. In their failure to flee the Empire, Christian Mawali became disloyal to Jesus
> and willing allies of the Caliph. Young male Mawali often became warriors in the Muslim army.
> 'Fire and brimstone' describes the unquenchable and agonizing spiritual torment of remoteness
> from God. "Separation from Thee, O Source of everlasting life, hath well nigh consumed me, and my
> remoteness from Thy presence hath burned my soul." "Some have made haste to attain the court of the
> God of Mercy, others have fallen down on their faces in the fire of Hell, while others are lost in
> bewilderment." "They hasten forward to Hell fire, and mistake it for light." "Smoke" is an obvious
> sign of spiritual torment. "The moon of idle fancy hath been cleft, and the heaven hath given out a
> palpable smoke." "What smoke more dense and overpowering than the one which hath now
> enshrouded all the peoples of the world, which hath become a torment unto them, and from which
> they hopelessly fail to deliver themselves, however much they strive?" -BH {9}
> 
> And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
> from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow
> them. -Rev 14:13
> 
> To 'die in the Lord' means to die from self in order to live in God. "He who hath attained this station
> is sanctified from all that pertains to the world ... This is the plane whereon the vestiges of all things
> are destroyed in the traveler, and on the horizon of eternity the Divine Face riseth out of the darkness,
> and the meaning of 'All on the earth shall pass away, but the face of thy Lord ...' is made manifest."
> -BH {10}
> The 'Spirit' is that Source of Divine power that transforms mere humans into sons of God, and lifts
> the worldly wayfarer from the abode of dust to the heavenly homeland. The 'dead in the Lord' of the
> last days will be instrumental in bringing forth the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> ONE LIKE THE SON OF MAN:
> 
> And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having
> on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. -Rev 14:14
> 
> [NIV: 14 .... , and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man."]
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh, the King of Glory and the Divine Reaper, is described as one like a Son of Man,
> descending to earth on a heavenly throne.
> This echoes verse 1:12 {11} in which one "like a son of man" comes with the "clouds of heaven." We
> have already discussed the symbolism of clouds as representing glory, trouble, bounty and veiled
> obscurement. The meaning of the 'Son of Man' may require further explanation.
> The title was based upon the concept of a Divine prototype or primordial Man. According to this
> belief, the true home of Man is in heaven. At each Advent, God sends a Messenger, a Son of Man, to
> redeem mortal man from his prison of worldliness and to renew human history.{12}
> The Son of Man also calls himself the Shepherd, the Truth, the Light, and other titles familiar to
> readers of the New Testament. The concept of Man was important in Hebrew and Gnostic theology
> and was even incorporated in the FOURTH ECLOGUE of Virgil. In many ways, the concept resembles
> that of the Avatar of Hindu theology, and implies a cyclicity of history that can also be inferred from
> astrological theology.
> In the first century BCE, the return of the Son of Man was widely anticipated. With his Advent,
> Jesus claimed the title as his own, and prophesied another return of the "Son of Man in the glory of his
> Father." {14} But the modifying phrase 'one like unto' in verse 14:14 suggests that the title 'Son of Man'
> will no longer be understandable in its original context at the end of the Piscean Age. Indeed, today the
> title is not generally understood, and most Christians would claim that the title belongs exclusively to
> Jesus Christ.
> It might be argued that the title does not rigorously apply to Bahá'u'lláh, since He is not the
> Manifestation of the Son, but of the Father. {15}
> 
> THE FOURTH SUPPORTING ANGEL:
> 
> And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Thrust
> in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap: for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he
> that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. -Rev 14:15-16
> 
> The next angel requests Bahá'u'lláh to 'thrust in his sickle and reap.' Mankind is likened to a
> vineyard as in the parable of Jesus Christ. The parable of the vineyard is found in all three synoptic
> Gospels.
> 
> In the Matthew (REB) version {13}, Jesus tells of a landowner of a vineyard who lets it out to tenant
> vine-growers and goes abroad. When the harvest season approaches, the landowner sends his servants
> 
> to the tenants to collect the produce that is due to him. Each of his servants are abused, some killed.
> Finally he sends his son, who is also killed. When the Lord of the Vineyard returns from abroad, he will
> 'bring those bad men to a bad end' and 'hand the vineyard over to other tenants'.
> 
> The Lord of the Vineyard, the owner of the vineyard of Man, lets out His vineyard to the priesthood
> [tenant vine-growers]. He disappears from the scene [goes abroad]. When the end of the Dispensation
> arrives [the harvest season approaches], the Lord sends his Messengers [servants] to the priesthood to
> collect the souls of his devotees [produce] that is due to Him. Each of his Messengers are abused, some
> killed. Finally he sends His son [Jesus Christ], who is also killed. When the Lord of the Vineyard
> [Bahá'u'lláh] returns from abroad, he will 'bring those bad men to a bad end' and abolish the former
> priesthood' [hand the vineyard over to other tenants].
> The World Center of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is located on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. The
> word 'Carmel' means the 'Vineyard of God,' and may be mystically correlated with the parable of Jesus.
> Other prophecies in the Bible suggest that Carmel will be connected with Bahá'u'lláh. For example, in
> Isaiah, {16} the 'Rod out of the stem of Jesse,' and the 'Scion from the root of Jesse' refer to
> Bahá'u'lláh; the 'Branch' refers to 'Abdu'l-Bahá; the 'holy mountain' refers to Carmel.
> In verse 14:14 above, an angel prompts the Divine Reaper to reap the harvest of the Ages. Based
> upon the parable of the vineyard, that angel is probably Jesus Christ. {17}
> 
> THE FIFTH AND SIXTH SUPPORTING ANGELS:
> 
> And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And
> another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle,
> and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. -Rev 14:17-18
> 
> The angel with the sickle also has the power to reap the harvest of the Ages; He clearly represents
> the Bab. The altar angel with the power over fire, is probably Zoroaster.{17} The Zoroastrian Faith is
> noted for its fire altars, and is centered in that part of Persia where the Bab was manifested. Also, in
> verse 2:28, Zoroaster is connected with the "morning star," the Herald of a 'new Day.'
> 
> A TEST OF CREDULITY:
> 
> And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the
> great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood
> came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred
> furlongs. -Rev 14:19-20
> 
> [NIV: 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press,
> rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.]
> 
> Once again, the credulity of the literalist is put to the test! The literal conversion of 1,600 stadia is a
> distance of about 180 statute miles. The metrical height of a horse's bridle is about 60 inches. No other
> dimensions are given, but optimistically assuming a width of the sea of blood to be only one mile, the
> volume of this sea would require the deaths of about 60 times the total number of men, women and
> children existing on the surface of today's earth.
> Verse 20 must be recognized for what it is- a riddle. In order to solve it, we first recognize that
> 1,600 is 40-times-40. The number 40 appears many times in the Bible to signify extreme tests of long
> duration. The squaring of a number is its 'perfection.' A stadium was an ancient measure of the earth's
> surface. So, one implication of the riddle is that earthbound humanity 'outside the city' of the renewed
> Word of God (the New Jerusalem) will experience extreme spiritual tests over a long period of time.
> Now consider the height of a horse's bridle. Astrological constellations are frequently involved in
> 
> the Apocalypse. In this instance, the constellation of Pegasus, the Flying Horse, is suggested by the
> verse. Pegasus has 7 'spans' of stars between its hoof and its jaw. With this hint, we recall that the
> canonical height of a horse's bridle is 7-spans, where a span is the distance across the stretched hand
> of an adult, about 9 English inches. Remembering that 7 is the number of trial and punishment, again
> we see that extreme tests of the spirit await those excluded from the New Jerusalem.
> But why is the riddle expressed as a 'space of 1,600-times-7' ? Look again. The archetypal value of
> 1,600 is also 7. {18} Thus the occult dimension of the riddle is a 'space of 7-times-7.' 7-times-7 equals
> 49. This is the period of Divine Revelation, from the Declaration of the Bab in 1260 AH and ending
> with the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh in 1309 AH, a space of 7-times-7, or 49 lunar years.
> There are other correlations suggested by the riddle. 40 lunar years was the span of time of the
> Ministry of Bahá'u'lláh. The span of time from the Declaration of the Bab until the Ascension of
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá was 70-and-7 solar years, styled by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian, as the Heroic Age of
> the Bahá'í Faith.
> 
> CHAPTER 15 - HIS NAME REVEALED                                                                     ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> The world stage has been set in Chapter 14. In this Chapter, the name of the Leading Actor is
> announced.
> 7 more angels are introduced; these are the plague angels who will support the Divine Reaper in the
> great drama of the End of the Age.
> Those of the Piscean Age who managed to overcome the wicked cunning of the Houses of Umayyah
> and 'Abbas are extolled. John sees them standing in triumph as the choir on the Celestial Pavilion and
> singing the eternal song, the Message from God, the same song that was sung by Moses and Jesus
> during their own Dispensations.
> The sanctuary of the Tent of Testimony, alas, still existing in the heavenly realm, is opened. The
> Glory of God, Bahá'u'lláh, is also seen to exist in the sanctuary. Smoke from his power, just as it did in
> ancient days, fills the Temple, and no one is able to enter the Temple until the 7 plague angels empty
> their vials onto the earth.
> 
> THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUE ANGELS ARE INTRODUCED:
> 
> And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having seven last plagues; for in
> them is filled up the wrath of God. 2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them
> that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number
> of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of gold. -Rev 15:1-2
> 
> [REB: 2 ... those who had been victorious against the beast, its image, and the number of its name.]
> 
> Once again John is permitted to observe the sea of glass that represents the outermost surface of
> the firmament, the Celestial Pavilion. This time it is mingled with fire to symbolize the wrath of God
> and the Last Judgement. The angels have the number 7, symbolic of trials and punishments. Verse 2
> extols those inhabitants of the heavenly realm who have overcome the false doctrine of the Houses of
> Umayyah and 'Abbas (the beast and its image), and the blasphemous deception of wrongly-guided
> Caliphs (the number of its name).
> 
> THEY SING THE ETERNAL MESSAGE:
> 
> And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and
> 
> marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4 Who
> shalt not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and
> worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. -Rev 15:3-4
> 
> [REB: 3 ...; just and true are your ways, O King of the ages.]
> 
> The song of Moses and the Lamb is the eternal Message, the Word of God, renewed and readorned
> in every Dispensation. "In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of Jesus, the Gospel; in
> the days of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, the Qur'an; in this day, the Bayan (Book of the Bab);
> and in the Dispensation of Him Whom God will make manifest (Bahá'u'lláh), His own Book- the Book
> unto which all the Books of former Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book that standeth
> amongst them all transcendent and supreme." -BH {1}
> Verse 4 reflects the prophesies in Isaiah {2} regarding the glorious abode of the Rod out of the stem
> of Jesse, Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> THE HEAVENLY TENT IS OPENED:
> 
> And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was
> opened: and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and
> white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto
> the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. -Rev 15:5-7
> 
> REB: 5 ... the sanctuary of the heavenly Tent of Testimony was opened, ...]
> 
> John sees that the Tent of Testimony, authorized by Moses, still persists in the heavenly realm,
> although its existence on the earthly plane had long since faded. The sanctuary was that portion of the
> tent where people were allowed to assemble and worship. The Holy of Holies, in the shape of a perfect
> cube {3}, contained the Ark of the Covenant and was reserved as the special abode of Jehovah.
> In a deeper sense, the 'Tabernacle' is the Revelation of God descended upon man in the Temple of
> the Manifestation. "These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect the light of
> unfading glory, are but the expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles." "Aid me, O my
> Lord, to surrender myself wholly to Thy Will, and to arise and serve Thee, for I cherish this earthly life
> for no other purpose than to compass the Tabernacle of Thy Revelation and the Seat of Thy Glory."
> -BH {4}
> The seven plague angels are protected by golden girdles, a symbol of a new Faith. Their white linens
> symbolize cleanliness and holiness.
> 
> SMOKE FROM THE GLORY OF GOD:
> 
> And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able
> to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. -Rev 15:8
> 
> [REB: 8 The sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, ...]
> 
> Verse 8 alludes to an ancient supernatural event that occurred during the reign of Solomon: {6}
> 
> ...; and the house was filled with the cloud of the glory of the Lord. The priests could not continue to
> minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. -REB: 2 Chron 5:13-14
> 
> "The symbolic term 'smoke' denotes grave dissensions, the abrogation and demolition of recognized
> standards, and the utter destruction of their narrow-minded exponents." -BH {5} It is this 'smoke'
> 
> issuing from the spiritual power of Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God, that must be dissipated from the
> 'sanctuary' before the peoples of the world will be allowed to enter and worship Jehovah by His new
> name, Bahá'. The seven last plagues must be released before the smoke can be dissipated.
> In Greek, 'Glory of God' has a literal value of 1389, which has an archetypal value of 3. In Arabic,
> 'Bahá'u'lláh' has a literal value of 75, which also has an archetypal value of 3. The Greek word for
> 'Glory' has a literal value of 135 with an archetypal value of 9, identical to the literal value of Bahá'.
> 
> CHAPTER 16 - THE END OF THE AGE                                                                          ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> After revealing the name of the Divine Reaper in the previous chapter, the Apocalypse now
> summarizes the dramatic events surrounding the Advents of the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. The time setting
> of the drama is the mid-19th century; the place settings are in the regions of Persia, Turkey and Iraq. It
> is to be revealed in 7 Acts, each supported by one of the plague angels.
> The first plague is the religious controversy that befalls those fanatics in the Muslim world who
> have been deceived by the 'image of the beast,' the spiritual descendants of the House of 'Abbas.
> The second plague befalls all of mankind, the spiritual annihilation of the souls of 'every living
> creature' that must precede the creation of a new spiritual world.
> The third plague befalls the corrupt clerics of every religious Faith. Their teachings are transmuted
> from life-giving 'water' into death-dealing 'blood.'
> The fourth plague is the spiritual torment that befalls the corrupt clerics of 19th century Persia,
> causing many to blaspheme the name of 'Allah.
> The fifth plague is the spiritual torment and darkness that befalls the corrupt clerics of the 19th
> century sacerdotal order centered at Istanbul.
> The sixth plague is the loss of spirituality that befalls the Babi community exiled to Baghdad and its
> environs. This plague is accompanied by diabolical deceptions characteristic of the Umayyah;
> confusion is created among the Babi's by the claims of the false prophet Mirza Yahya.
> The Advent of Bahá'u'lláh is announced. He enters and departs the world stage 'unseen' like a thief
> in the night.
> The seventh and final plague is the 'piling up of sorrow' that befalls the entire human race, caused
> by false teachings and lies, the effects of which are being experienced today. Every human being
> experiences the 'test of the talent' foretold by Jesus Christ during his physical sojourn on earth.
> 
> [A detailed history of these events can be found in Shoghi Effendi's masterpiece, GOD PASSES BY.
> This dark period of history can hardly be visualized by the modern reader. Travelers {1} described the
> region as technologically backward, and often with despotic governments and corrupted priesthoods.
> Thanks to progressive 20th century leadership, the conditions that abounded there 150-years ago no
> longer prevail.]
> 
> THE PLAGUE ANGELS ARE GIVEN MARCHING ORDERS:
> 
> And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the
> vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. -Rev 16:1
> 
> The voice out of the heavenly Tabernacle is that of the Divine Reaper, Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> THE FIRST PLAGUE:
> 
> And the first went, and poured his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon
> 
> the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon those which worshipped his image. -Rev 16:2
> 
> Those with the mark of the beast refers to the Sunni sacerdotal order, under the control of the
> caliphate seated at Istanbul. Those who worshipped the image of the beast refers to the independent
> Shi'ah sacerdotal order centered in Persia. Recall that the first beast was the House of Umayyah, while
> the image of the beast was the House of 'Abbas. The two mainstream 19th century sacerdotal orders
> were the spiritual descendants and historical analogues of the beast and the image of the beast.
> The noisome and grievous sore caused by the first plague angel was the clamor of religious
> controversy and the sore of spiritual distress that beset the Muslim world following the Declaration of
> the Bab. Some estimates claim that more than 20- thousand devotees of the Bab were martyred, a
> great many under the severest of tortures.
> 
> THE SECOND PLAGUE:
> 
> And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and
> every living soul died in the sea. -Rev 16:3
> 
> The second plague angel empties his vial upon the realm of the spirit, and every living creature in
> that realm is caused to expire.
> It is one of the great mysteries of history that each Manifestation of God is the torchbearer of a new
> civilization.{2} For example, Jesus brought a Christian civilization into existence. In order for this to
> come about, the 'old world' of classical civilization had to be destroyed, sacrificed, to make way for a
> 'new world.' The inhabitants of the old world were totally unaware of the cataclysmic event, but the
> event would become apparent to future historians.
> In verse 3 we are informed of a much more profound cataclysm- the 'death' of EVERY living soul in
> the spiritual realm. This astonishing event will attend the Manifestation of the Divine Reaper, and is
> apparently unique to history. "Consider the hour at which the supreme Manifestation of God
> (Bahá'u'lláh) revealeth Himself unto men .... at the very moment preceding His Revelation, each and
> every created thing shall be made to yield up its soul to God. This is indeed the Day of which it hath
> been written: 'Whose shall be the Kingdom this Day?' And none can be found to answer."
> But following His Advent, a new world was created: "Verily, We have caused every soul to expire by
> virtue of Our irresistible sovereignty. We have, then, called into being a new creation, as a token of Our
> grace unto men. I am, verily, the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days." However, not every soul will
> necessarily be endowed with 'life' in the new world. In a prayer He says, "Praise be unto Thee, O my
> God! Thou art He Who by a word of his mouth hath revolutionized the entire creation, and by a stroke
> of His pen hath divided Thy servants one from another. I bear witness, O my God, that through a word
> spoken by Thee in this Revelation all created things were made to expire, and through yet another
> word all such as Thou didst wish were, by Thy grace and bounty, endued with new life." -BH {3}
> 
> THE THIRD PLAGUE:
> 
> And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became
> blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and
> shall be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou
> hast given them blood to drink; for they art worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so,
> Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. -Rev 16:4-7
> 
> The third plague angel empties his vial upon the mainstreams of spiritual guidance- the corrupted
> clergy and priesthood. They are the secret oppressors of the saints and prophets, and their teachings
> are transmuted from the water of life into the blood of death.
> 
> THE FOURTH PLAGUE:
> 
> And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men
> with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath
> power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory. -Rev 16:8-9
> 
> The fourth angel empties his vial upon the land of Persia, whose emblem is the sun. The bigoted
> and defiled among the Persian clergy are made to feel the fire of spiritual torment. Even so, they fail to
> repent of their malicious deeds and to submit to the Will of 'Allah.
> The Babi Revelation was born on May 23, 1844 in Shiraz, Persia. The claims of the Bab, the turmoil
> caused in Islamdom, and the rapidity with which the new Faith gained followers, caused the corrupted
> clergy to react violently. The help of the Shah was enlisted in an attempt to destroy the Faith of the
> Bab. The results were armed attacks upon His followers and popular uprisings in Nayriz, Mazindaran
> and Zanjan. Mass persecutions, torture and martyring were involved. Ultimately, the Bab was
> martyred in the public square of Tabriz on July 9, 1850.
> 
> THE FIFTH PLAGUE:
> 
> And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of
> darkness; and they gnawed their tongues in pain. And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
> pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. -Rev 16:10-11
> 
> [REB: 10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast; ...]
> 
> The fifth plague angel empties his vial onto Istanbul where both the caliphate and sultanate are
> seated. The regime of the Ottomans now experiences the same spiritual pain and darkness that had
> beset the regime of the Shah.
> As a consequence of the martyrdom of the Bab and the severe persecutions inflicted on the Babis, in
> August of 1852, two obscure and demented Babis made a futile attempt on the life of the Shah. The
> results were renewed persecutions and the imprisonment of leading Babis, including Bahá'u'lláh. It
> was during His imprisonment in the Black Pit of Teheran, 1852-3, that the 'Maiden of Heaven'
> appeared to Bahá'u'lláh and He became the Promised One of All Ages.
> On His release from the Black Pit, He was exiled to Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq was then a Turkish
> province. Shortly thereafter, the Sultan of Turkey and his ministers, as well as the Sunni sacerdotal
> order, joined hands with the Shah and the Shiah clericals of Persia and Iraq in an endeavor to stamp
> out, once and for all, the Faith and all it stood for. The result was a further wave of repressive
> measures.
> 
> THE SIXTH PLAGUE:
> 
> And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried
> up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. -Rev 16:12
> 
> The sixth plague angel empties his vial onto the region of the Euphrates river. The water of
> spirituality is dried up, clearing the way for the Kings of the East, Bahá'u'lláh and His Successors. {4}
> Following His exile in Baghdad on the banks of the Euphrates, the Babi community in exile lost its
> spirituality. Because of internal conflicts and bickering, Bahá'u'lláh left the Babi exiles and spent
> exactly two lunar years (1854-5) wandering in the mountain wilderness of Kurdistan. The way was
> being prepared for the return of Bahá'u'lláh and His public Declaration.
> 
> And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of
> the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working
> miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the
> battle of that great day of God Almighty. -Rev 16:13-14
> 
> The 'frogs' allude to the curse of Moses on the land of pharaoh, recounted in Exodus. {5} Although
> Moses and Aaron had this power over Pharaoh, so did the magicians of Egypt.{6} These unclean 'frogs'
> represent false teachings and deceptions. Miracles are wonders; here they are not of divine origin.
> The dragon and the beast refer to those clerics of Islamdom who will be under the influence of
> satanic forces. The false prophet is introduced as yet another competitor for the minds and souls of
> men.
> Although several would-be 'Prophets' arose to proclaim themselves to be the One foretold by the
> Bab, "the One Whom God will make manifest," the most notorious was the nominal head of the Babi
> Faith, the false prophet Mirza Yahya. Through the influence and intrigues of his henchman, the crafty
> and diabolical Siyyid Muhammad-i-Isfahani, Mirza Yahya succeeded in causing a serious breach in the
> ranks of the Babis-in-exile and prevented many of the very elect from recognizing the new
> Manifestation, Bahá'u'lláh. Reminiscent of the Surih of Joseph as interpreted by the Bab, Mirza Yahya
> was a half-brother of Bahá'u'lláh, and, as prophesied by the Bab, the plots of Mirza Yahya and
> Muhammad-i-Isfahani ended in ignominious failure.
> The Great Day of God Almighty is the Day of God, the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> HE COMES 'AS A THIEF':
> 
> (Ph) Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
> naked, and they see his shame. -Rev 16:15
> 
> [REB: 15 ('See, I am coming as a thief! ... ')]
> 
> The verse is parenthetical and calls for special understanding. It refers to the prophecy by Jesus
> that the Son of Man may return as a 'thief.' {7} A 'thief' is one who enters and departs 'unseen.' It
> warns us that the Advent of the Divine Reaper will not be apparent to the world at large, although,
> ultimately, the historical facts will become known.
> The Babi community left behind in Baghdad continued to decline in spirituality and prestige.
> Finally, after two years of pleading by the Babis, Bahá'u'lláh was induced to return. Following His
> return from the mountain wilderness of Kurdistan, Bahá'u'lláh, through His teachings and spiritual
> power, was able to renew the Faith of God. Hatred, fear, and jealousy of the renewed vigor of the Babi
> community by the corrupt Muslim clergy resulted in further persecutions and banishments of
> Bahá'u'lláh, first to Istanbul, thence to Adrianople, and finally to the prison city of 'Akka, near Mount
> Carmel in the Holy Land, thereby fulfilling many prophecies. {8}
> However, before Bahá'u'lláh began His arduous journey to Istanbul, He revealed himself as the 'One
> Whom God will make manifest' foretold by the Bab. His public Declaration took place at the Festival of
> Paradise, April 21 to May 2, 1863.
> It is interesting that He departed from the 'land of the Euphrates' immediately thereafter, going
> into further exile and virtual invisibility. Even His incredibly direct and powerful Tablets to the rulers
> of the world revealing His mission went unnoticed. Truly, Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God, like a thief,
> entered and departed unseen.
> 
> MUSTERING FOR ARMAGEDDON:
> 
> And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. -Rev 16:16
> 
> [REB: 16 These spirits assembled the kings at a place called in the Hebrew Armageddon.]
> 
> The foul frog-like spirits that dominate the corrupt rulers of the world will bring them and their
> followers to a great 'mountain of sorrow' like that which befell the Hebrews in the valley of Megiddo.
> 'Armageddon' is the compound of two Hebrew words 'Har' ('Mountain') and 'Megiddon' (poetic
> adaptation of 'Megiddo'). The valley of Megiddo was the scene of great suffering by the Hebrews
> during the reign of Josiah. Hence the 'Mountain of Megiddo' means a great piling up of sorrow.
> The verse alludes to and amplifies the wording of Zechariah:
> 
> "On that day the mourning of Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning over Hadad-Rimmon in the
> vale of Megiddo." -REB: Zechariah 12:11
> 
> The conflict of Armageddon characterizes the world-wide sorrow and distress that will result from
> false teachings and evil principles. The conflict follows the 'Hour' of Bahá'u'lláh and the third woe.
> Since His Declaration in 1863, the world has indeed witnessed a great piling up of sorrow. These
> sorrows follow from the destruction of the old world that must precede the rebuilding of a new world
> based on the principles and Divine Laws enunciated by Bahá'u'lláh. Among the more notable sorrows
> have been imperialism and economic exploitation; the Great Depression; two world wars of
> unprecedented ferocity and suffering; numerous smaller but deadly wars; the rise of communism,
> naziism and other extremist movements; nuclear weapons; international crime syndicates and drug
> trafficking; international terrorism; the suffering resulting from class struggle, racial struggle, and
> genocide on a massive scale; the collapse of marriage attended by unbridled sexuality, the sufferings of
> children, and widespread abortion; the world-wide pollution of the air, the soil, and the oceans. These
> sorrows are by no means finished, and the testimony of the righteous is not yet complete.
> 
> THE SEVENTH PLAGUE:
> 
> And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of
> heaven, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great
> earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
> -Rev 16:17-18
> 
> The seventh plague angel empties his vial into the air, meaning that the afflictions to follow will not
> be localized but will be world-wide. John hears the voices of those who fall into trials and temptations,
> the thunder of the violation of the Covenant, and the lightning of the anger and wrath of God. There is
> a great earthquake of doubts and disturbances in the world of man.
> 
> THE FALL OF BABYLON:
> 
> And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon
> came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
> And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail
> out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the
> plague of the hail; for the plague was exceeding great. -Rev 16:19-21
> 
> The great city is Babylon, the civilization of the corrupted Word of God. Profane civilization will
> degenerate into three parts personified as the 'three false gods,' Nationalism, Racialism and
> Communism.{9} Cities are institutions; islands are places of refuge in a sea of chaos, that is, churches;
> mountains are the great religions of the world. "So blind hath become the human heart that neither the
> disruption of the city, nor the reduction of the mountain in dust, nor even the cleaving of the earth, can
> shake off its torpor." -BH {10}
> 
> The hail is a rain of great spiritual tests. The word 'talent' comes from the Greek 'talanton'- a
> balance, or a thing to be weighed; hence it is a symbol of testing. Man will be tested by the Book of God
> revealed by the Balance, the new Manifestation of God: "In this most perfect balance (the Book of God)
> whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed." "The All-Merciful is come
> invested with undoubted sovereignty. The Balance hath been appointed, and all them that dwell on
> earth have been gathered together." "Say: This is the infallible Balance which the Hand of God is
> holding, in which all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth are weighed, and their fate
> determined, if ye be of them that believe and recognize this truth." -BH {11}
> 
> The 'talent' in verse 21 alludes to the Parable of the Talents in Matthew. In Matt 16:21, the disciples
> of Jesus ask Him to reveal the signs of His Second Coming and the time of the end of the Age. In
> 24:36, Jesus explains that He does not know WHEN the Hour will occur, since only the Father knows
> that information. Later, in 25:1, Jesus says (REB)
> 
> 'When the day comes, the kingdom of Heaven will be like this....'
> 
> Then, in verses 25:14-30, He reveals the extremely subtle Parable of the Talents.
> In essence, the Parable warns the future devotee at the end of the Piscean Age to risk all in order to
> gain salvation. The man going abroad (verse 14) is the recurring Son of Man, the Manifestation of God.
> He disappears from the world stage for an unknown period of time. But before He leaves, He entrusts
> His capital (spiritual legacy) to His servants (devotees). The distribution is unequal: to one servant He
> entrusts 5 talents; to another 2 talents; to the third He entrusts only one talent. The servant with the
> greatest portion of the capital, the one with 5 talents, risks (invests) the 5 and earns 5 more. The one
> with 2 talents risks the 2 and earns 2 more. The servant with only one talent plays it safe and buries his
> portion in the ground.
> When the Master returns, the two servants who risked their portions are rewarded (verses 21, 23):
> "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler
> over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The one who had been entrusted with only one
> talent and had buried his portion, explains (verses 24, 25): "Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard
> man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid,
> and went and hid the talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine."
> 
> Alas, the Lord calls this man a "wicked and slothful servant," confirms that he reaps where he has
> not sown and gathers where he has not strawed (verse 26), and explains that this should have been a
> warning to take a risk. He then takes the talent from the slothful servant and gives it to the one who
> had already gained 5.
> 
> When the Son of Man returns in the "Glory of his Father" {12}, he will reap where he has not sown
> and gather where he has not strawed. This is the reason for the fear expressed by the third servant, and
> the reason for the fear of those who reject the Manifestation of the Leo-Aquarian Age. But we should
> remember the admission of the Master [Jesus] that, he too, reaped where he had not sown and
> gathered where he had not strawed. Those deprived devotees who bury their small portion of the
> Master's legacy in the ground of fear and narrow mindedness, will have even that portion taken from
> them and given to others.
> 
> CHAPTER 17 - MYSTERIES REVEALED                                                                       ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> What follows is a test of the reader's spiritual and intellectual acuity. If his solutions to past riddles
> in the Apocalypse are correct, he will be able to solve the riddles in Chapter 17.
> The great whore, Babylon, is the civilization created by the corrupted Word of God. She is the
> mistress of the spiritual and political potentates of the world, and the secret cause of the world's
> abominations.
> The beast that "was" is the Persian Empire initiated by Cyrus the Great.
> The beast that "is not" is the Greek empire initiated by Alexander the Great.
> The beast that "is" is the Muslim empire initiated by the House of Umayyah.
> The great whore sits on the throne of the 7 dominions conquered by the House of Umayyah. But she
> also rules over the peoples of the 7 Churches of Asia.
> Five of the 7 dominions will have fallen after the Revelation and before they are conquered by the
> Umayyah; one will remain sovereign; one will be a new dominion carved out of West Turkestan, but
> will exist only until it is destroyed by Genghis Khan.
> The Persian-Greek empire will have had 7 un-repeated names of rulers by the time of the caliphate.
> The Caliph will be the 8th ruler of that empire, yet will represent one of the 7 Churches of Asia.
> The House of Umayyah will have 10 un-repeated names of chiefs, beginning with its secret king
> Abu-Sufyan, and ending with Ibrahim. Similarly, the House of 'Abbas that will take over the empire,
> will also have 10 un-repeated names of chiefs. The neo-Umayyad caliphate set up in Spain will
> continue the pattern of 10 un-repeated names.
> At the end of the Piscean Age, the illegitimate caliphate will oppose the Bab, but their efforts will
> fail, because the Bab is a Lord of lords, and King of kings. The Bab will declare an end to the
> Dispensation of Muhammad; the illegitimate caliphate will be extinguished.
> 
> And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me,
> Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth on many waters: With
> whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
> made drunk with the wine of her fornication. -Rev 17:1-2
> 
> [REB: 1 ... 'I will show you the verdict on the great whore, she who is enthroned over many waters.]
> 
> The great whore is Babylon, the wicked city of the corrupted Word of God. She sits enthroned over
> many nations, populations, races and languages. The world's rulers have made use of her servicesintoxicating lies and distortions, to reinforce their power over the masses.
> 
> THE WOMAN AND THE BEAST:
> 
> So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured
> beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. -Rev 17:3
> 
> Scarlet is the color of spiritual beauty in Islamdom. The 7 heads and 10 horns identify her steed at
> the end of the Piscean Age as the beast of the Apocalypse. The spiritual descendants of Abu-Sufyan, the
> Destroyer from the House of Umayyah, each bear the blasphemous title 'The Caliph.'
> The whore lives in the wilderness of spiritual desolation. "... such souls as tread the valley of
> arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of remoteness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow
> the dictates of the leaders of their faith." - BH {1}
> 
> THE WOMAN'S APPEARANCE DESCRIBED:
> 
> And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones
> and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. -Rev
> 17:4
> 
> The whore is blasphemously arrayed in the purple of royalty and the scarlet of spiritual beauty. She
> is bedecked with precious gifts bestowed upon her by her clientele, the corrupt priesthood and
> temporal leaders. She carries a beautiful cup containing the intoxicating brew of her perversions.
> 
> SHE IS BABYLON:
> 
> And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
> HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. -Rev 17:5
> 
> The verse explains that the great whore Babylon, the corrupted Word of God, is the secret source of
> all the world's abominations.
> 
> A RIDDLE:
> 
> And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and
> when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
> marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the
> seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not: and shall ascend out of the
> bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names
> were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that
> was, and is not, and yet is. -Rev 17:6-8
> 
> The beast that "was" is the Persian empire, {2} which was initiated by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE.
> The beast that "is not" is the empire of Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persian empire in
> 331 BCE; Alexander's empire was dismantled shortly after his untimely death less than a decade later.
> The beast that shall ascend out of the pit of error is the illegitimate caliphate, initiated by the House
> of Umayyah in 661 CE.
> The riddle describes the Umayyad empire as a continuation of the Persian empire, which, indeed,
> resembled it in culture, structure and prosperity. The incursion of Alexander, although introducing
> enduring cultural artifacts, in the perspective of history, was little more than a temporary interruption.
> The angel explains that the Persian empire was, is not, and yet will be revived. Ultimately, the
> illegitimate caliphate that will rule the revived Persian empire, will be destroyed (go into perdition).
> Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will marvel when they behold the Persian
> empire come into existence a second time.
> 
> And here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman
> sitteth. 10 And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and
> when he cometh he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the
> eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. -Rev 17:9-11
> 
> [REB: 9 'This calls for a mind with insight. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits
> enthroned. 10 They also represent seven kings: five have already fallen, one is now reigning, and the
> other has not yet come. When he does come, he is to last for only a little while. 11 As for the beast that
> was once alive and is alive no longer, he is an eighth- and yet is one of the seven, and he is going to
> destruction.]
> 
> The riddle concerns the steed on which the corrupted Word is mounted. John is told that the 7
> heads represent both 7 mountains and 7 kings.
> A 'mountain' is a symbol of a Faith. Thus he is told that the corrupted Word of God will dominate all
> of the 7 Churches of Asia that are listed in Chapter 1.
> A king governs a dominion, and thus there must be 7 dominions. These are the 7 dominions
> governed by the House of Umayyah. We have already listed these dominions in a previous chapter. Of
> the 7 dominions, 5 will have fallen and will be under the control of foreign powers before their
> conquest by the beast. These were the Roman-Byzantine dominion around Damascus (Palestine and
> part of Syria), the dominions of Arabia, Egypt, Africa (Libya), and Andalusia (Spain). One dominion
> 'is' and remains sovereign until the hour of the beast. This was Persia. The dominion which 'is not yet
> come' was Transoxania. It will 'continue a short space,' meaning that it will cease to exist with the
> invasion of Genghis Khan in 1218-1220 CE. {3}
> The beast that 'was and is not' was the Persian empire and its successor, the empire of Alexander. It
> had kings with 7 un-repeated names: Cyrus, Cambyses, Gaumata, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and
> Alexander. Therefore the Caliph became the eighth 'king' of the Persian empire. And yet he is 'one of
> the seven,' meaning that his empire is Islam, one of the seven Churches of Asia.
> Verse 11 says that (eventually) the beast will be destroyed. The caliphate was abolished by the
> Turkish Grand National Assembly on March 2, 1924, less than three years after the Ascension of
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
> 
> And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive
> power as kings one hour with the beast. -Rev 17:12
> 
> The angel explains to John that the 10 horns represent the un-repeated names of rulers who will
> receive ephemeral power from the beast, the illegitimate caliphate initiated by the House of Umayyah.
> At the time of the Revelation, circa 104 CE, these rulers had not yet appeared but would appear
> starting with the hour of the beast, circa 661 CE.
> We have already listed these 10 un-repeated names in a previous chapter. Summarizing very briefly,
> the first beast was the creation of the archenemy of Muhammad, Abu-Sufyan, the 'Destroyer' and the
> secret 'king' over the House of Umayyah (Rev 9:11). His name is un-repeated in the list of chiefs. After
> the murder of 'Ali, there were 14 Caliphs from the House of Umayyah, but with only 9 more unrepeated names of chiefs, beginning with Mu'awiya, the son of Abu-Sufyan, and ending with Ibrahim.
> In the 'wounded head that healed,' the Cordoban caliphate in Spain, there were 18 neo-Umayyad
> Caliphs, but again with only 10 un-repeated names of chiefs, beginning with 'Abd al-Rahman and
> ending with Sulayman.
> With the usurpation of the caliphate by the second beast, the House of 'Abbas, there were 10
> Caliphs with 10 un-repeated names of chiefs, beginning with As-Saffa and ending with Al-Mutawakkil.
> Thus the pattern of 10 names was repeated (at least) 3 times in the formative history of Islamdom.
> {4}
> 
> These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war
> with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they
> that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. -Rev 17:13-14
> 
> Verse 14 reminds us of the 'war' that the beast will make against the Lamb, recounted in Chapter 12.
> We recall that the Bab, being a Lord of lords, and King of kings {5}, was also the re-manifestation of
> the Twelfth Imam who mysteriously disappeared while still a child in the year 260 AH. "Verily He (the
> Bab) is the King of the Messengers and His Book is the Mother Book, did ye but know." "... the Ancient
> Beauty appeared in the year sixty (1260 AH), in the person of 'Ali-Muhammad, the Bab." "Thy Lord,
> the Most High (the Bab), addresseth thee, from His realm of glory ..." "... this, the Lord of days, ... the
> 
> Day in which the Beauty of the All-Glorious shone forth in the exalted person of 'Ali-Muhammad, the
> Bab." -BH {6}
> 
> And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
> multitudes, and nations, and tongues. -Rev 17:15
> 
> This defines the sea of humanity, verse 17:1. The corruption of the Word of God is ubiquitous, not
> limited to any single race, nation or culture.
> 
> And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her
> desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to
> fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be
> fulfilled. -Rev 17:16-17
> 
> The spiritual descendants of Abu-Sufyan, the Destroyer, will detest the corrupted Word of God, will
> make her spiritually desolate, and will condemn her with fiery words. God has ordained that they shall
> satisfy His Will and agree with each other, giving their dominions to the illegitimate caliphate until the
> end of the Piscean Age.
> 
> And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. -Rev
> 17:18
> 
> The great whore is identified as Babylon, the corrupted Word of God. She is the secret Mistress of
> the governors of the world.
> 
> CHAPTER 18 - THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON                                                              ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> This chapter announces the destruction of the great whore, Babylon, the wicked city [civilization] of
> the corrupted Word of God.
> The fall of her city is announced by a mighty angel [Gabriel?]. Her services have been used by the
> powerful and rich of the earth. The people of the earth are invited to assist in the administration of her
> punishment.
> The great whore pretended that she was still a fertile source of civilization, and that the Covenant
> was still her husband. Therefore her destruction will come at the last Day, the Hour of Judgement. The
> rich and powerful of the earth will be saddened by her demise, and the merchandise of her civilization
> will no longer be in demand.
> The corrupted Word will be 'thrown into the sea' because she has caused the spiritual downfall of so
> many souls of the world. The music glorifying the Churches will be silenced, and marriages will no
> longer be performed under her laws. Her great secret, that she was the hidden cause of war and
> martyrdom of the righteous, will become evident to all.
> 
> BABYLON IS FALLEN!
> 
> And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth
> was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is
> fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of
> every unclean and hateful bird. -Rev 18:1-3
> 
> Perhaps it is the archangel Gabriel, the Announcer, who informs John of the collapse of Babylon.
> Her city is twice fallen; fallen in heaven and fallen in earth.
> Birds are likened to souls or spirits, and may be unclean; "... We have warned the faithful to
> anticipate the appearance of the Birds of Darkness. There can be no doubt whatever that the croaking
> of the Raven shall be raised in certain lands, as it hath been heard in recent years." "Like the bats of
> darkness, they lift not their heads from the couch except to pursue the transient things of the world,
> and find no rest by night except as they labor to advance the aims of their sordid life."
> But birds can also represent clean souls or spirits: "Bursting through his cage, he will, even as the
> bird of the spirit, wing his flight to his holy and everlasting nest. -BH {1}
> 
> Since Bahá'u'lláh seized power over the spiritual realm in 1863, the material realm has witnessed a
> dramatic decline in the fortunes of the ecclesiastics and temporal rulers. The decline is world-wide, but
> the decline in the Christian world will be more evident to Western readers. Students of modern history
> of the last 150 years have long marveled at the sudden collapse of institutions and governments that
> had roots as remote as the Middle Ages. The Churches of Christendom have witnessed a decline in the
> power of their leaders, starting with Pope Pius IX who lost his dominion over the Papal States to
> Garibaldi in 1871, while the Russian Orthodox Church lost its power to the Bolsheviks in 1917.
> Protestant denominations have fared no better, and have lost their ability to influence governments
> and the morality of the citizenry at large. 'Revivalist' movements, whether from the left or the right,
> have had little enduring effect, and we witness the rear guard actions of Christendom in disarray and
> defeat.
> 
> For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have
> committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance
> of her delicacies. -Rev 18:3
> 
> Every civilization requires a guiding image. The guiding image determines the cultural values, and
> the standards of personal interactions of her citizens. The guiding image also sets the goals of the
> government, and forms the basis of the legal codes and the definition of 'justice.' On a more palpable
> level, the guiding image determines which material artifacts are 'goods' and which are not, thereby
> regulating the standards of industry, the media, the government and the arts, and, consequently, the
> distribution of money, power, influence and commitments.
> 
> The guiding image ought to be the Truth enunciated in the uncorrupted Word of God, or else it will
> create a tyranny, a war machine, or some other satanic form of social organization. And even though a
> civilization may have been launched by a divinely inspired image, the depletion of Truth through
> overlays of humanly-limited theological speculation, misinterpretation, or deliberate falsification will
> inevitably destroy her beauty and integrity, and she will become intolerable.
> It is because of the depletion of Truth that mankind has experienced repeated disasters during past
> Ages, and, in particular, the schizoid journey of the Piscean Age.
> 
> AN INVITATION:
> 
> And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of
> her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
> remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double
> according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. -Rev 18:4-5
> 
> [REB: 6 Pay her back in her own coin, repay her twice over for her deeds! Give her a potion twice as
> strong as the one she mixed.]
> 
> The victims of the injustice created by the corrupted Word of God are warned to withdraw from her
> in order to avoid her plagues and sufferings. Furthermore, they are invited to join in the
> administration of those plagues which will befall her in her final destruction.
> 
> How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for
> she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. -Rev 18:7
> 
> The verse uses symbols of Isaiah, {2} indicating the parallel of her fall with that of Babylon of the
> Chaldeans, her sorcerers, magicians and astrologers. The great whore pretended that she was still
> fertile, that her husband the Lamb was still alive, and that she was the Queen of the Covenant.
> 
> HER JUDGEMENT:
> 
> Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly
> burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. -Rev 18:8
> 
> The great whore will be destroyed at the Last Day, and she will be burned with the fire of spiritual
> torment.
> 
> And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail
> her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning. Standing afar off for the fear of
> her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
> come. -Rev 18:9-10
> 
> The judgment of the whore will come with the Hour of the Divine Reaper. Smoke is a palpable sign.
> Her destruction will be apparent to everyone who has eyes to see.
> 
> THE LAMENT OF THE MERCHANTS AND SEAMEN:
> 
> And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise
> anymore: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and
> purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner
> vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble. 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and
> ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and
> horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are
> departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which
> were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. And
> saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked
> with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! - Rev 18:11-16
> 
> [REB: 13 "..... and human lives."]
> 
> The merchants and traders of the Piscean Age have been made rich by making use of false doctrine,
> the services of the whore. The verses describe some of their commodities of luxury, and warns the
> traders in these 'goods' that their wealth and power will be seized from them.
> 
> For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships,
> and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her
> burning, saying, what city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried,
> weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the
> sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. -Rev 18:17-19
> 
> The wealth from the services of the whore of the Piscean Age will not be limited to any one country,
> nor even to one continent.
> 
> THE GREAT MILLSTONE:
> 
> Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
> And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with
> violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. -Rev 18:20-21
> 
> The metaphor of a millstone cast into the sea is used by Jesus in the synoptic Gospels. The great
> whore will suffer the fate of one who causes the spiritual downfall of another. {3} But the metaphor
> used in the context of Revelation suggests a less obvious meaning. The zodiacal wheel is likened to a
> great millstone. {4} In golden times at the beginning of a new Age, the mill grinds out peace, plenty
> and happiness. But as times worsen, the mill grinds out salt. Finally, at the end of the Age, it ends up at
> the bottom of the sea where it creates a vast whirlpool, a Maelstrom, and grinds out rock and sand.
> 
> And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all
> in thee; and no craftsman, of whatever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a
> millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in
> thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy
> merchants were the great men of the earth; and by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. -Rev 18:22-
> 
> The language of Jeremiah {5} is used once again to show the parallel to a Fall. But in Jeremiah's
> prophecy, the Fall is to be that of Israel to Babylon. In the context of Revelation, the physical city of
> Babylon will be a ruin as explained by Jeremiah. {6} It is a spiritual Babylon, the civilization created by
> the corrupted Word of God, that will fall at the end of the Piscean Age. The music played in
> glorification of the whore will be silenced. Those industries dependent upon her will grind to a halt.
> The Light of Guidance that she blasphemously carried will be snuffed out, and marriages will no longer
> be sanctified under her laws.
> 
> THE TRUE CULPRIT:
> 
> And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
> -Rev 18:24
> 
> We are again reminded that the corrupted Word of God is the secret cause of war and the murders
> of the righteous.
> 
> CHAPTER 19 - THE TRIUMPH OF BAHA'U'LLAH                                                             ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> After an introductory salutation, a 'wedding' between the Covenant and the purified and cleansed
> Word of God is announced. Those who are invited to the wedding feast are blessed.
> The 'Master' who is to preside over the feast is introduced. He is Bahá'u'lláh, who rides the white
> horse of Divine doctrine, but now called Faithful and True. Several of his attributes are described, and
> in particular his 'vesture dipped in blood,' signifying that he is the 'long lost Joseph' now returning in
> 
> triumph and power. Since he is the Lord of Hosts, he is accompanied by his retinue of 'heavenly hosts'.
> His servant, the angel 'in the sun,' invites the social rejects and disenfranchised to the feast, just as
> foretold by Jesus in the Parable of the Wedding Feast. The repast of the feast is to be the villains of
> past Ages, the clients of the great whore- the corrupted Word of God.
> Again, the final struggle for the minds and souls of men is alluded to. The battle is joined, and the
> villains of the Piscean Age are vanquished. The true meaning of the 'feast' thereby becomes manifest.
> 
> PRAISE UNTO GOD:
> 
> And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and
> glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God; For true and righteous are his judgments: for
> he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the
> blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia, and her smoke rose up for ever and
> ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the
> throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his
> servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. -Rev 19:1-5
> 
> The voice out of the throne is that of Bahá'u'lláh, the Bird of the Celestial Throne. He is to be the
> spokesman for God during the Leo-Aquarian Age.
> 
> And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many thunderings, saying,
> Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. -Rev 19:6
> 
> The voice of many waters and mighty thunderings is that of the Manifestations of God, and their
> many peoples, nations and languages.
> 
> THE BRIDE IS READIED:
> 
> Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife
> hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
> white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. -Rev 19:7-8
> 
> The language of Isaiah {1} is used here. The corrupted daughter of Babylon, cleansed and purified,
> is to be reunited with her husband, the eternal Covenant. The Lamb's Bride is to be the mother of a
> new civilization, a 'new Jerusalem.' It will replace the corrupted civilization of Babylon.
> 
> The symbolism of white linen is revealed.
> 
> THOSE INVITED TO THE WEDDING FEAST:
> 
> And He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
> And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he
> said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of
> Jesus: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. -Rev 19:9
> 
> [REB: 9 The angel said to me, 'Write this: "Happy are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of
> the Lamb!" ' He added, 'These are the very words of God.' 10 I prostrated myself to worship him, but
> he said, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your brothers who bear witness to
> Jesus. It is God you must worship. For those who bear witness to Jesus have the spirit of prophecy.']
> 
> The angel alludes to Jesus' Parable of the Feast. {2} John is told that the words are from God, and
> 
> he proceeds to prostrate himself before the messenger. However, John is admonished for this act, and
> reminded to worship the Originator of the message and not the Messenger. A true witness to the
> Prophethood of Jesus, will, himself, have the spirit of prophecy, and will look to God, the real Source of
> the Prophetic Spirit. During his earthly sojourn, Jesus often attempted to make his devotees
> understand this distinction:
> 
> "When you have lifted up the Son of Man you will know that I am what I am. I do nothing on my
> own authority, but in all I say, I have been taught by my Father." "To believe in me, is not to believe in
> me but in him who sent me; ..." -REB: John 8:28, 12:44
> 
> THE MASTER OF THE FEAST:
> 
> And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and
> True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. -Rev 19:11
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh is the Lord of Hosts, that is, the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. He is shown riding a
> white horse, a symbol of spiritual power and authority. Whereas in Chapter 6, the rider of the white
> horse was the corrupted Church, now the horse is ridden by Faithful and True, a synonym for many of
> the titles of Bahá'u'lláh.
> Examples of his titles that are equivalent to 'Faithful and True' are: Bearer of the Trust of God,
> Fountain of the Root of Knowledge, Well Spring of Revelation, Bird of the Throne, Word of Truth, Sun
> of Truth, Day Star of Divine Revelation.
> 
> 'Faithful and True' (Greek 'Pistos kai Alethinos') has a literal value of 1269 by gematria and an
> archetypal value of 9, the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh. There may be a double-entendre here; 1269 AH is also
> the date of the third woe, the Revelation to Bahá'u'lláh in the Black Pit.
> 
> His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that
> no man knew, but he himself. -Rev 19:12
> 
> 'Eyes as a flame of fire' was introduced in 1:14 and 2:18, and describes the stunning eyes of
> Bahá'u'lláh. The many crowns he wears are his many titles and his sovereignty over the Divinely
> revealed Faiths of the world.
> 360 variants of the word 'Bahá'' ('Glory') were written by the Bab on his mystic Tablet called the
> 'White Stone' (2:17). When this Tablet was delivered to his devotees, only 'Husayn-'Ali knew that the
> name referred to him, and that the Tablet revealed the Name of the next Manifestation.
> The Covenant is always transmitted through the Ages by the 'White Stone.' Although false prophets
> will always claim the 'White Stone' as their own, only the True Prophet, the Manifestation of God, is
> capable of revealing its hidden contents and through the power of His Utterance prove that its
> concealed Name refers only to Himself.
> 
> HIS VESTURE:
> 
> And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. -Rev
> 19:13
> 
> His 'vesture dipped in blood' alludes to the cloak of Joseph. {3} In the Genesis story, the brothers of
> Joseph become jealous over a beautiful multicolored cloak given to him by their father Jacob. They
> hatch a plot to get rid of Joseph and throw him into a pit in the wilderness. In order to explain the
> disappearance of Joseph to their father, they soak the cloak in blood as evidence that he had been
> devoured by a wild beast. The Genesis story goes on to recount the eventual triumph of Joseph over his
> 
> family in Egypt through the power bestowed upon him by pharaoh.
> The story of Joseph is a prophecy of the sufferings of Bahá'u'lláh and his eventual triumph. As a
> result of the confiscation of his property, Bahá'u'lláh was left without even a cloak to wear. His loved
> ones pieced together a multicolored cloak made of remnants of other garments. The resulting garment
> was then, literally, dyed red.
> Indeed, the sufferings sustained by Bahá'u'lláh are historic. Though born into a wealthy and
> powerful family (as was Lord Buddha), his property was confiscated, he was imprisoned in dungeons
> and jails, bound by massive chains, banished from place to place over a period of 40 years, was the
> target of numerous conspiracies and attempts on his life, was poisoned twice, and underwent the
> torture of the bastinado. "By the righteousness of God! The tribulations we have sustained are such
> that any pen that recounteth them cannot but be overwhelmed with anguish. No one of them that truly
> believe and uphold the unity of God can bear the burden of their recital. So great have been our
> sufferings that even the eyes of Our enemies have wept over Us, and beyond them those of every
> discerning person." -BH {4}
> The 'Word of God' (Greek ''O Logos Theou') has a literal value of 927 and an archetypal value of 9,
> the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh. Some of the titles of Bahá'u'lláh that are synonyms for this phrase are: Pen of
> the Most High, Voice of the Ancient of Days, the Mystic Herald, Voice From the Burning Bush,
> Fountain of Wisdom, Tongue of Eternity, Spirit of God, Pen of the Most Great Name.
> 
> HIS RETINUE:
> 
> And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
> clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
> rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
> God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF
> LORDS. -Rev 19:14-16
> 
> The weapon of the Lord of Hosts is the Sword of Truth. Even though his weapon is not physical, he
> rules the nations with a 'rod of iron,' not with a shepherd's hook. He is the Divine Reaper, and is KING
> OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.{5}
> Bahá'u'lláh has declared himself, in unequivocal terms, to be 'King of Kings.'{6} Although many
> have claimed that the title belongs to Jesus, nowhere do we find evidence that Jesus actually claimed
> this title or any of the other titles implied by these verses. There is substantial evidence in the New
> Testament that Jesus claimed the title 'Messiah' or 'Christ', but not the title 'King of Kings.'
> Paradoxically, the best evidence that Jesus, in truth, was the 'Messiah of the Jews' comes from the
> Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, wherein the spiritual rank of Jesus is exalted in unparalleled terms. Jesus
> alludes to this paradox in John:
> 
> 'When the Spirit of Truth comes .... . He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and make it
> known to you.' -REB: John 16:13,14
> 
> HIS DEVOTEES ARE INVITED:
> 
> And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in
> the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God: -Rev 19:17
> 
> [REB: 17 .... He cried aloud to all the birds flying in mid- heaven: ...]
> 
> The angel stands in the Sun of Truth and invites the birds of 'mid-heaven' to partake of the wedding
> feast of the Lamb.
> 
> In Jesus' Parable of he Wedding Feast, the Master of the household (the Manifestation) invites his
> friends and colleagues (devotees) to come to a magnificent feast. They all decline, giving one excuse or
> another. Finally, in anger, the Master tells his servant to
> 
> 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind
> and the lame ... I want my house full. I tell you, not one of those who were invited shall taste my
> banquet.' -REB: Luke 14:21-24
> 
> In 18:2 we learned that the civilization created by the whore of Babylon has become the "cage of
> every unclean and hateful bird." Now we see that the social rejects and disenfranchised of that
> civilization are to partake of the feast. In response to the question,
> 
> "Where, Lord [is to be the Kingdom of God]?"
> 
> Jesus answered,
> 
> "Where the carcass is, there will the vultures gather." -REB: Luke 17:20, 37
> 
> That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh
> of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and
> great. -Rev 19:18
> 
> The social rejects and disenfranchised are invited to consume the 'flesh' of those who have become
> rich and powerful through the use of false doctrine during the Piscean Age. The four horses and their
> riders of Chapter 6 are specifically included in the repast (the corrupt religious leaders, the
> warmongers, the captains of economic injustice, and the ungodly). The repast also includes those
> socially underprivileged who 'wear the wrong garments' to the feast {7}, that is, those who may be
> victims but who violate the Covenant.
> 
> "For many are invited, but few are chosen." {8}
> 
> HIS ENEMIES GATHER FOR BATTLE:
> 
> And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
> against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. -Rev 19:19
> 
> The caliphate and the other corrupt powers of the earth gather their forces in an attempt to destroy
> the Message of Bahá'u'lláh, the Divine Reaper.
> Besides the murders, imprisonments, torture and persecutions of Bahá'ís in the East, we see the
> forces of negation starting to gather in the West. 'Bahá'í-ism' is occasionally attacked from the pulpit;
> emotionally charged books that falsely label the Bahá'í Faith as a 'cult,' or as simply an 'heretical sect of
> Islam' are now available in bookstores; individuals and groups, both overt and covert, are attacking the
> Faith through various media.
> HIS ENEMIES TAKEN:
> 
> And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which
> he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These
> both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. -Rev 19:20
> 
> [REB: 20 The beast was taken prisoner, along with the false prophet who had worked miracles in its
> presence ...]
> 
> The annihilation of the caliphate, and the collapse of the 'Azali' movement (the partisans of Mirza
> Yahya) are specifically prophesied.
> 
> And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceedeth
> out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. -Rev 19:21
> 
> The remainder of those named in the indictment of verse 18 are to be vanquished by the Word of
> God emanating from the Pen of Bahá'u'lláh, the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.{9}
> 
> CHAPTER 20 - SATAN BOUND                                                                            ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> This chapter reveals the meaning of 'death,' 'resurrection,' the 'second death,' etc., and even gives a
> brief glimpse of events of the next thousand years! The sequence of events [beginning with the
> rejection of Jesus], is as follows:{1}
> 
> Rejection of Jesus the Messiah = First Death
> Acceptance of Bahá'u'lláh = First Resurrection
> Satan bound a thousand years
> Judgement of the dead
> Rejection of Bahá'u'lláh - Second Death
> The Millennium of Peace
> Satan released for a short time
> Gog and Magog wage war on the saints
> 'Fire from heaven' = another Manifestation of God (?)
> Second Resurrection
> Satan bound a second time
> 
> The chapter opens with satanic forces of deception being 'bound' for a thousand years, that is, the
> 'Millennium.' But we are warned that, afterwards, these negative forces will be loosed once again for a
> 'little season.'
> The power of spiritual dominion during the thousand years is to be given to those 'sitting on
> thrones,' that is, to the Bahá'í Universal House of Justice. The 'psyches' of the righteous of the Piscean
> Age are to be 'resurrected' and will reign with the Anointed One, Bahá'u'lláh, during that thousand
> years.
> The remaining 'psyches' will not become 'resurrected' until the end of the thousand years.
> After the thousand years, the satanic forces of deception will, once again, be loosed into the world.
> Another great 'war' is forecast, this time waged by the evil forces of 'Gog and Magog' against the 'camp
> of the saints' [Mount Carmel?] and the 'beloved city' [Haifa or Jerusalem?]. But 'fire from God'
> [another Manifestation?] will overpower the satanic forces of Gog and Magog. The 'Deceiver' and the
> guilty are to be judged and cast into the 'lake of fire' by One sitting on a 'great white throne'
> [Bahá'u'lláh or the next Manifestation?].
> 
> We recall that in a letter to the Leo-Aquarian Jews (the Church of 'Smyrna'), verse 2:11, those Jews
> who are able to overcome the false teachings within their Faith will be able to avoid the 'second death.'
> Their 'first death' followed from their rejection of the healing Message of Jesus. As a consequence,
> their Temple was destroyed, Jerusalem became a desolate ruin, and they were sent into a world-wide
> exile that lasted for almost two-millennia. The 'Exile' itself has become their religion, in which they
> 
> cling to the hope of a 'Messiah,' presumably a genetic descendant of David {2}, who will come to
> restore their kingdom and the glory of ancient days. Their religion has become a 'dead' religion of
> tradition, without 'spirit.'
> 
> SATAN BOUND A THOUSAND YEARS:
> 
> And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in
> his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
> him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him,
> that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he
> must be loosed a little season. -Rev 20:1-3
> 
> Following the triumph of Bahá'u'lláh, the forces of negation and deception will be held in check for
> a thousand years, the 'Millennium.' But, for a brief time following the thousand years, satanic forces
> will once again be released into the world of man.
> 
> JUDGEMENT AND THE FIRST RESURRECTION :
> 
> And I saw thrones, and they that sat on them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls
> of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not
> worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
> their hands; and they reigned with Christ a thousand years. -Rev 20:4
> 
> The power of spiritual dominion will be given to the Bahá'í Universal House of Justice who sit on
> nine THRONES {16} during the Millennium. The 'souls' of the righteous will be 'resurrected' and will
> reign with the Anointed One for the duration of the Millennium. Among those souls will be the martyrs
> of Jesus, and of those who died for the Word of God from every Divinely revealed Faith, and even
> those true Muslims who voted with their feet to avoid paying the taxes that kept the 'beast' alive during
> the Piscean Age.
> The 'resurrection' will be of 'souls' (Greek 'psyche'), not of 'bodies.' The meaning of this is that the
> heavenly attributes and virtues of the saintly and righteous of former Dispensations will become remanifested among those reigning with the Anointed One.
> 
> ".... 'In very truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and
> spirit. Flesh can give birth only to flesh; it is spirit that gives birth to spirit ..." "Whoever eats my flesh
> and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ... This is the bread which
> came down from heaven; it is not like the bread which our fathers ate; they are dead, but whoever eats
> this bread will live for ever." -REB: John 3:5-6, 6:54-58
> 
> "... Even as Jesus said: 'Ye must be born again.'{3} Again He saith, 'Except a man be born of water
> and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that
> which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' The purport of these words is that whosoever in every dispensation
> {4} is born of the Spirit and is quickened by the breath of the Manifestation of Holiness, he verily is of
> those that have attained 'life' and 'resurrection' and have entered the 'paradise' of the love of God. And
> whosoever is not of them, is condemned to 'death' and 'deprivation,' to the 'fire' of unbelief, and to the
> 'wrath' of God. In all scriptures, the books and chronicles, the sentence of death, of fire, of blindness, of
> want of understanding and hearing, hath been pronounced against those whose lips have tasted not
> the etherial cup of true knowledge, and whose hearts have been deprived of the grace of the Holy Spirit
> in their day. Even as it hath been previously recorded: 'Hearts have they with which they understand
> not.' " -BH {5}
> 
> "He (Jesus) said, 'If any man eat this bread, he shall live forever.' That is to say whosoever
> assimilates these divine perfections which are within me will never die; whosoever has a share and
> partakes of these heavenly bounties I embody will find eternal life; he who takes unto himself these
> divine lights shall find life everlasting.' How manifest the meaning is! How evident! For the soul which
> acquires divine perfections and seeks heavenly illumination from the teachings of Christ will
> undoubtedly live eternally. This is one of the mysteries of sacrifice." -AB {7}
> 
> THE SECOND DEATH:
> 
> But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
> resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath a part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
> hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
> years. -Rev 20:5-6
> 
> John learns that many 'psyches' will not be re-manifested in the First Resurrection. Those righteous
> psyches who are re-manifested will reign as 'priests' with the Anointed One (Bahá'u'lláh) for the
> duration of the Millennium.
> Apparently there will be many who do not accept the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. These will be
> excluded from the New Jerusalem that will 'come down from God out of heaven' in the next chapter.
> 
> SATAN RELEASED AGAIN; GOG AND MAGOG:
> 
> And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. 8 And shall go out to
> deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
> together to battle: and the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. -Rev 20:7-8
> 
> [REB: 7-8 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose from his prison, and he will
> come out to seduce the nations in the four quarters of the earth. He will muster them for war, the hosts
> of Gog and Magog, countless as the sands of the sea.]
> 
> The enigmatic forces of Gog and Magog that are the subject of Ezekiel {6} are introduced. Just
> exactly who these names represent has been the subject of much speculation and debate. Such
> speculation is fruitless, since the events prophesied in these and following verses are to transpire a
> thousand years from now, and prophecies are only helpful in elucidating the past, not in predicting the
> future. A few points will be stressed that are evident from these verses and other sources:
> 
> The forces are to be very numerous and will come from a wide region, perhaps the whole earth.
> At least a thousand years will have elapsed from the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. Ezekiel {8} informs
> us that Israel will have been restored and at peace for a long time.
> The object of the invasion will be to take spoils. {9}
> The invasion will fail through divine agency. {10}
> 
> Those are the salient points regarding Gog and Magog that can be gleaned from the biblical texts.
> But there are other points to be found in the Qur'an regarding Gog and Magog:
> 
> Their forces will "hasten from every high land." {11} A Figure (code-named?) "Dhoulkarnain"
> (literally 'The two-horned') will be given power by God to lead forces against Gog and Magog. {12}
> 
> SATAN BOUND A SECOND TIME:
> 
> And they went up to the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
> 
> beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that
> deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,
> and shall be tormented day and night for ever. -Rev 20:9-10
> 
> [REB: 9 They marched over the breadth of the land and laid siege to the camp of God's people and the
> city that he loves. But fire came down on them from heaven and consumed them.]
> 
> These are necessarily pure speculations: The 'camp of God's people' may allude to the Bahá'í World
> Center on Mount Carmel. The 'city that He loves' could be Jerusalem; then again it could be Haifa, or
> some other city that will be loved by God during the Millennium of Peace.
> The 'fire from heaven' correlates with Ezekiel {13} and the Qur'an {14}. The meaning is ambiguous,
> and it could mean the fiery words of a prophet or of another Manifestation of God. We shall have to
> wait and see.
> 
> THE GREAT WHITE THRONE:
> 
> And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face earth and heaven fled away;
> and there was found no place for them. -Rev 20:11
> 
> Again the words are ambiguous, probably by design. Is the One sitting on the throne Bahá'u'lláh, or
> is he/she the Manifestation who will follow Bahá'u'lláh? {15}
> No 'place' for whom? The answer is found in verse 14- "Hades and Death." After the Millennium,
> the Dragon is to be captured and imprisoned for a second time, and finally cast into the "lake of fire"
> where the beast and the false prophet are already bound.
> Some may be disappointed that the next thousand years is not an 'open book.' If it were so, there
> would be no test from heaven 'about the weight of a talent' for the next spiritual generation.
> Bahá'u'lláh has warned us not to expect another Manifestation of God until at least a full thousand
> years has transpired, but has not specified the maximum time for us to wait. The Writings also tell us
> that the 'Age of Prophecy' began with the Prophet Adam and ended with Muhammad, the 'Seal of the
> Prophets.' The 'Age of Fulfillment' began with the Bab, but its duration has not been revealed. We are
> told, however, that the future Manifestations will be 'under the shadow' of Bahá'u'lláh for, perhaps,
> five-hundred-thousand years.
> 
> THE SECOND DEATH:
> 
> And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book
> was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
> in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and
> hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
> works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. -Rev 20:12-14
> 
> [REB: 14 Then Death and Hades were flung into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death; ]
> 
> The 'second death' is the 'lake' of spiritual torment and unbelief. The sea of humanity is to be judged
> according to their deeds in the Balance of the Word of God.
> 
> And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. -Rev 20:15
> 
> CHAPTER 21 - THE HOLY CITY                                                                             ↩
> 
> SYNOPSIS:
> 
> After having a glimpse of the Millennium of Peace, John is now granted the inestimable privilege of
> seeing, in figurative form, the new Jerusalem that will attend the Manifestation of the Glory of God,
> Bahá'u'lláh. The new Jerusalem is to be the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus and the Jewish
> prophets of old.
> The chapter opens with John seeing 'a new sky and a new earth'; it is the future Age of Leo-
> Aquarius. New spiritual and material laws attend the new Age. The sea of uncertainty that attended the
> Piscean Age will have disappeared.
> The City of 'new Jerusalem' will replace Babylon, the wicked city. John sees the new Jerusalem
> descending, figuratively, from the cosmos. It is to be an earthly microcosm of the heavenly macrocosm.
> The new Law is characterized as the 'bride' that will be re- married to the Covenant- the Lamb. The
> Tabernacle of God, long since disappeared from the earthly realm, will, once again, exist on earth with
> mankind. Spiritual pain and the sorrow of death will disappear.
> The Alpha and the Omega, Bahá', will make all things new, and the Word of God will be disbursed
> throughout humanity without cost. Those souls who have overcome the false teachings of the former
> Faiths shall inherit all the City's spiritual riches, and they shall be sons of God. Those who are fearful of
> investing their single 'talent of silver,'the atheists, the despicable, etc., will be deprived of the spiritual
> riches of the new Jerusalem.
> John is carried to a high place where he can see the new Jerusalem in all its panoramic splendor.
> He sees that it has Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God, as its Governor. The City resembles, in microcosm,
> the heavens, with its twelve celestial gates (the zodiac), and with each gate guarded by an angel. As
> explained in Genesis 49, the names of the twelve tribes are inscribed on the gates. The 12 foundations
> are seen to be inscribed by the names of the 12 Apostles, just as Jesus had promised.
> The City has a pyramidal shape with sacred dimensions. An angel measures the Sacred City with a
> spiritual measure, a 'golden reed.' The occult pyramid, like the Bahá'í House of Worship, is seen to
> contain 9, the number of Bahá', in various parameters, and to fit perfectly inside the celestial sphere
> from which it descended, thereby marrying the material and spiritual laws in perfect harmony.
> The protective outer wall of the City is also seen to have sacred dimensions, but this time it is
> metered by the cubit, a sacred measure of the Perfect Man. The 'height' of the wall is twice-72 cubits,
> corresponding to the 144-multitudes who are to be redeemed from all Ages and Faiths.
> Even the materials used in the building of the Sacred City are seen to have spiritual significance.
> The 12 Foundation Stones represent the 12 Basic Principles of the Bahá'í Faith. Only those with the
> innocence of pearls will be allowed to enter the gates of the new Jerusalem.
> The City contains no physical 'temples,' that is, 'barriers' that separate God from man; Bahá'u'lláh is
> to give 'light' to the City while 'Abdu'l-Bahá is to be its 'lamp.' Neither is there to be a priestly
> hierarchy.
> 
> THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH:
> 
> And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
> there was no more sea. -Rev 21:1
> 
> "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." - REB: Matt 24:35
> 
> The prophecy of Jesus becomes fulfilled with this verse. The Precession of the Equinoxes has caused
> the 'heaven' or 'sky' (Greek 'ouranos') of the Piscean Age to give way to the sky of the Leo-Aquarian
> Age. By the 'law of correspondences' the 'earth' (Greek 'ge') has also been replaced by a new Era of
> human affairs. But even though we have a new sky and a new civilization, the words of Jesus are still
> 
> with us!
> The Divine Law is always composed of two parts: the eternal spiritual Law that remains unchanged
> from Age to Age, and the material Law that must be altered to accommodate the evolutionary changes
> in the human condition. For example, in the Leo-Aquarian Age, the Law of only One God, and the
> 'Golden Rule' are still in effect. But there is no longer ambiguity regarding the permissibility of slavery,
> or the equality of men and women. Also, we are living in a world of technology and science, a world
> inconceivable to the common citizen of the Piscean Age. The Law of the 'new earth' must accommodate
> these and other irreversible facts of human history.
> "No more sea" means that there will no longer be the 'sea' of chaos, of doubt and disbelief
> concerning the existence of God, or of life after death, and other Divinely revealed truths among the
> citizens of the new Jerusalem.
> 
> JOHN SEES THE NEW JERUSALEM:
> 
> And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
> bride adorned for her husband. -Rev 21:2
> 
> "O ye beloved of God! O ye children of the Kingdom! Verily, verily the new heaven and the new
> earth are come. The holy City, new Jerusalem, hath come down from heaven on high in the form of a
> maid of heaven, veiled, beauteous, and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on earth."
> -AB {1}
> The symbol of Isaiah {2} is alluded to. But in Isaiah, her husband is the Lord of hosts, the Holy One
> of Israel. In the Apocalypse, her husband is to be the Lamb, a symbol of the Sacrificial Hero and the
> Eternal Covenant. Either way, the symbol is valid, since the marriage symbolizes the renewal of he
> Covenant by the Twin Manifestation.
> 'Jerusalem' (Greek 'Hierousalem') has a literal value of 864 and an archetypal value of 9, the Seal of
> Bahá'u'lláh. 864 is exactly twice 432, the literal value of 'new name,' {3} which also has an archetypal
> value of 9.
> 
> THE TABERNACLE IS WITH MANKIND:
> 
> And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will
> dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
> -Rev 21:3
> 
> [REB: 3 I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne: 'Now God has his dwelling with mankind!]
> 
> The voice is that of Bahá'u'lláh, the Bird of the Celestial Throne.
> 
> THE END OF SPIRITUAL DEATH:
> 
> And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
> nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. - Rev 21:4
> 
> As in most of the Apocalypse, the words are to be taken spiritually. In the new Jerusalem, the belief
> in the eternal life of the spirit will be firmly grounded, no longer lost in a sea of uncertainty and doubt.
> The sorrow, crying and anguish of physical death will be eliminated. The verse alludes to Isaiah: {4}
> 
> .... take delight in Jerusalem and rejoice in my people; the sound of weeping, the cry of distress will be
> heard in her no more. - REB: Isaiah 65:19
> 
> The same chapter of Isaiah also quotes the words of Bahá'u'lláh: "Here am I! Here am I!",{5}
> spoken to a nation that does not invoke him by name. It also contains an interesting reference to Achor
> and Sharon: "....; they will belong to my people who seek me." {6} "But you that forsake the Lord and
> ignore my holy mountain, who spread a table for the god of Fate, and fill bowls of spiced wine in
> honour of Destiny, I shall destine you for the sword, ..." {7} "I am creating new heavens and a new
> earth!" {8} Greatly extended physical longevity is prophesied. {9} "The wolf and the lamb will feed
> together and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and as for the serpent, its food will be dust. Neither hurt
> nor harm will be done in all my holy mountain, says the Lord." {10} {11}
> 
> THE ALPHA AND OMEGA MAKES ALL THINGS NEW:
> 
> And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for
> these words are true and faithful. And said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
> and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. -Rev 21:5-6
> 
> The words are "true and faithful" because they come from "Faithful and True," the rider of the white
> horse in verse 19:11. Recall that Faithful and True has an archetypal value of 9, as does Alpha and
> Omega. In contrast to former sacerdotal orders that may have required a tithe or a payment in return
> for the dispensing of sacraments, the Word of God is to be disbursed free of charge in the new Age.
> The 'beginning and the end' alludes to:
> 
> "From the beginning I reveal the end, from ancient times what is yet to be; I say, 'My purpose stands, I
> shall accomplish all that I please.' I summon a bird of prey from the east- from a distant land a man to
> fulfil my design. ..." -REB: Isaiah 46:10-11
> 
> The words of Isaiah remind us of a claim of Bahá'u'lláh: "I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the
> Almighty."{30}
> 
> THE SAVED AND THE DAMNED:
> 
> He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the
> fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
> idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake of fire which burneth with fire and brimstone:
> which is the second death. -Rev 21:7-8
> 
> The "fearful" are the first on the list of those who will suffer the second death- those devotees of
> past Faiths who are afraid to risk their single talent of silver will not become sons of God, the citizens
> of the new Jerusalem. Atheists, the obscene and liars of every kind will suffer the same fate as
> murderers, fornicators (REB), sorcerers and idolaters.
> 
> JOHN IS PERMITTED TO SEE THE BRIDE:
> 
> And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last
> plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he
> carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy
> Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto
> stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as a crystal; -Rev 21:9-11
> 
> It has been an objective of man down through the Ages to mirror God's heavenly realm with
> physical structures. Now John witnesses the ancient dream becoming a reality as the holy City
> descends from the God of the heavens and the earth. The new Jerusalem is to exist on the earthly
> 
> plane, not suspended in space somewhere in the outer cosmos. It will be an earthly microcosm of the
> heavenly macrocosm.
> Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God, is to be the name of the Manifestation who will govern the new
> Jerusalem. His name is given for the second time in the Apocalypse, the first being in 15:8.
> The jasper stone, {12} already mentioned in 4:3, symbolizes the oneness of humanity, having many
> colors but particularly red, the hue of the human heart. Bahá'u'lláh's mission includes, as a paramount
> objective, the unification of mankind with all their various Faiths.
> 
> THE TWELVE GATES OF THE CITY:
> 
> And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written
> thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: On the east three gates; on
> the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. -Rev 21:12-13
> 
> The twelve gates correspond to the twelve zodiacal signs and their supposed divine (angelic)
> influences in the world of man.
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá {16} has revealed the significance of the twelve gates. His Tablets are summarized:
> According to the theories of astrologers (not to be taken literally {17}), the world of physical
> possibilities is determined by the dawning place of the phenomenal sun shining through those
> constellations. Similarly, the Sun of Truth manifests and pours forth His bounty in twelve
> constellations of holiness. The twelve constellations of holiness have been manifested in different Ages
> as the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve chiefs of tribes with Moses, the twelve Apostles of Jesus, and
> the twelve Imams of Islam. {18}
> The Heavenly Jerusalem, the sacred Law of God, therefore has twelve Gates or Stars of Guidance
> through which advancing souls enter into the City of God. Each one of the holy souls in the twelve
> constellations of holiness has received the power of Divine confirmation. Since, symbolically, the
> Twelve Gates surround the entire universe, all existence is under the shadow of these souls, and these
> Gates are the foundations of the City of God, the Divine Jerusalem.
> In contrast to the heavenly macrocosm that was considered to be a sphere, the base of the earthly
> microcosm is square, with sides oriented to the four cardinal directions and four corners symbolic of
> the equinoxes and solstices. We recall that the names on the gates were derived in Chapter 7 by
> correlating Genesis 49 with Revelation 7:5-8: {19}
> 
> Reuben/Aquarius, Zebulon/Pisces, Gad/Aries, Issachar/Taurus, Simeon & Levi/Gemini,
> Benjamin/Cancer, Judah/Leo, Dinah (veiled)/Virgo, Asher/Libra, Manasses/Flying Eagle,
> Joseph/Sagittarius, Nephtali/Capricorn.{13}
> 
> The zodiac as revealed in Chapter 7 has two remarkable differences from the pre-Piscean maledominated zodiac. Due to the coalescing of Simeon & Levi into the single sign of Gemini, a space in the
> zodiac is left for Virgo. Thus in the Piscean Age, womanhood was secretly elevated to her rightful place
> in the sun. This accounts for the influence of Virgo (though still veiled) in the holy Figures of Mary and
> Fatima. Secondly, the occult substitution of Manasses/Flying Eagle for Dan/Scorpio invalidated the
> theory that evil influences emanate from the zodiac through the sign Scorpio, which, according to
> astrological theology, derives its power from the God of the cosmos. Thus God became totally
> benevolent, the God of Love, and evil influences could no longer be attributed to Him. These principles
> are overtly elevated to the rank of revealed Law in the Leo-Aquarian Age.
> 
> THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WALL:
> 
> And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the
> Lamb. -Rev 21:14
> 
> In this case, the Lamb is Jesus, and his Twelve Apostles are memorialized forever by correlating
> their names with the Twelve Foundation Stones of the new Jerusalem.
> We have previously discussed the probable names of the Apostles corresponding to each of the
> twelve zodiacal signs. To review: {14}
> 
> Simon-Peter the Fisherman = Pisces; Levi the Tax Collector = Libra; Simon the Zealot = Aries;
> Thomas the Doubter = Taurus; James & John the Sons of Thunder = Gemini; Judas Iscariot the
> Betrayer = Scorpio. {15} Also Mary the Virgin (veiled) = Virgo. Less likely are Andrew, brother of
> Simon-Peter (also a fisherman) = Aquarius; Judas, son of James (also a fisherman) = Cancer.
> 
> But Scorpio is to be removed from his position in the zodiac in the Leo-Aquarian Age. As explained
> in Acts 1:26, Matthi'as was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot. Therefore the new sign replacing
> Judas Iscariot/Scorpio is Matthi'as/Flying Eagle. Unknown are the roles of Philip, Bartholomew and
> Matthew, who are probably to be correlated with Leo, Sagittarius and Capricorn.
> 
> THE SPIRITUAL METERING STICK:
> 
> And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall
> thereof. -Rev 21:15
> 
> "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." {20}
> 
> THE SACRED GEOMETRY:
> 
> And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with
> the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and breadth and height of it are equal. - Rev 21:16
> 
> The verse is ambiguous, but regardless of the assumptions made, the dimensions of the holy City
> can be shown to have occult significance.
> Although many geometric figures have equal length, breadth and height, the most ubiquitous are
> the cube and the pyramid. In a pilgrim's note {21} 'Abdu'l-Bahá explains that a pyramidal shape is
> intended by the verse, since it is a natural and enduring shape.
> Besides the symbolism of the pyramid as mirroring the natural and enduring qualities of the
> pristine Word of God, one recognizes the fact that pyramids have been built as sacred structures
> throughout the oecumene, the most impressive, perhaps, being those at Giza. {22}
> The 12-thousand furlongs of verse 16 correlate with the 12 signs of the zodiac, and the pyramid's
> base becomes 3-thousand furlongs (an earthly measure) on each side. But how do we measure the
> height of the pyramid? With only a golden rod, the only remaining dimension of the pyramid that can
> be readily measured is the slant edge, and this will be taken as its 'height.' And, indeed, a work by the
> ancient Greek historian Herodotus strengthens this conjecture, since the length of the slant edge was
> given to Herodotus as the height of the Great Pyramid by an Egyptian priest, circa 450 BCE.
> Thus the holy City becomes a perfect pyramid with all 8 edges equaling 3,000 units of earthly
> measure.
> The first inference that can be drawn from this geometry is that it will fit perfectly inside a
> hemisphere, with the square base just inside the circle. {22} The square, in astrological geometry,
> 
> represents the 'square earth,' while the circle represents the 'eternal circle of heaven.' By analogy, the
> square base of the pyramid represents the temporal Law of God that must be modified to fit contingent
> historical conditions, while the enclosing circle represents the eternal Law that remains unchanged
> throughout the Ages. The holy City thus 'squares the circle,' {23} the ancient dream of mystics
> throughout the Ages.
> The corners of the base of the pyramid represent the four 'pillars' of the Leo-Aquarian Age:
> Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Bab, and Shoghi Effendi.{24} The apex of the pyramid represents the
> Apex of the world {25} and points the way to the open door in heaven.
> The four sides of the pyramid correspond, not only to the four annual seasons, but to the four
> zodiacal seasons, one full zodiacal year {26} being the time required for the Precession of the
> Equinoxes to complete a full cycle of the zodiac. The last zodiacal season, beginning at the Age of
> Taurus and ending at the start of the Age of Leo-Aquarius, covered a period of about 6,500 years,
> roughly equal to the traditional duration of the Adamic Cycle.
> It can be shown with a little algebra {27} that the following parameters of the holy City will each
> have an archetypal value of 9:
> 
> The area of the base
> The perimeter of each triangular face
> The area of each triangular face
> The total area of the four triangular faces
> The total area of the pyramid
> The volume of the pyramid
> 
> That the dimensions of the holy City contain hidden meanings can be inferred by the emphasis
> placed upon them by Ezekiel. But the dimensions, like the holy City itself, are symbolic, not physical.
> Zechariah reveals that the real Jerusalem cannot be measured, nor will it have physical walls:
> 
> "... I myself shall be a wall of fire around it, says the Lord, and a glorious presence within it." -REB:
> Zech 2:1-5
> 
> THE HEIGHT OF THE WALL:
> 
> And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a
> man, that is, of the angel. -Rev 21:17
> 
> [REB: 17 Its wall was one hundred and forty-four cubits high, by human measurements, which the
> angel used.]
> 
> The verse alludes to the 'royal gift of the cubit,' a custom of antiquity in which the forearm of the
> priest-king was designated as the unit of measure that would prevail as the harmonizing principle
> (Egyptian 'neter') during his reign. The Manifestation, as both man and angel, is the Perfect Man and
> the Only Son of God during his Dispensation. He is, therefore, the measure of all things human.
> Twice-72 was first introduced in Chapter 7. Among other things, it is another clue to the identity of
> the Manifestation, since its archetypal value is 9, the literal value of 'Bahá'' and the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh.
> We now see the number connected with the 'wall' that will protect the holy City. The twice-72 'working
> arms' are the specially endowed and confirmed souls, the primal points or 'mustard seeds' cast over
> the soil of mankind, who will guard, nurture and protect the Heavenly Garden, the new Jerusalem.
> Recall that ancient Jewish mystics believed that YHWH had 12-times-6 three-letter names called
> the 'Divided Name of YHWH.' {31} Thus, in past Ages, each gate of the invisible zodiac emanated 6
> spiritual attributes. Because of the Twin Manifestation, twice-6 attributes are to emanate from each
> sign during the Leo-Aquarian Age.
> 
> Since the cubit is a 'spiritual measure,' its use is appropriate as a measure of the new Jerusalem. In
> astrological symbolism, the 144 cubits measure the spiritual attributes emanating from the heavenly
> realm that will enrich, guide and protect the citizens of the holy City.
> With the new clue, the number 9 is indicated 7-times in the dimensions of the new Jerusalem. {28}
> The dimensions of the new Jerusalem reflect the dimensions of the Bahá'í House of Worship, 'The
> Dawning Place of God's Praise.' Several of these highly symbolic structures now exist throughout the
> world. Their architectural canon has been enjoined by Bahá'u'lláh as having a dome, nine sides, and
> nine doors. It can be shown, again using the circular property of 9, that the following 7 parameters of
> these structures each have an archetypal value of 9:
> 
> The perimeter of the wall
> The area of the wall
> The area of the dome
> The volume of the dome
> The area of the floor
> The total area of the exterior
> The total enclosed volume
> 
> Besides being the literal value of 'Bahá'' and the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh, the 9 symbolizes the highest
> unity, being the greatest single digit number. The 9 doors represent the essential unity of man and the
> Divinely Revealed Faiths. In ancient number symbolism, 9 is the 'number of finality, judgement, and
> the fulfillment of prophecy.' It is also the 'Perfected Triad' (3-times-3).
> 
> THE MATERIAL OF THE WALL AND ITS FOUNDATIONS:
> 
> And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And
> the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first
> foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth,
> sardonyx; the sixth, beryl; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a
> chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. -Rev 21:18-20
> 
> The verses allude to Isaiah {32} in which the Bride, now purified and redeemed, is to be married to
> the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel. Her City will have foundations of sapphires, battlements of
> red jasper, gates of garnet, and boundary stones of precious jewels.
> In the context of Revelation, the stones have physical attributes suggestive of the spiritual attributes
> of the Twelve Basic Principles of the Bahá'í Faith. {29}
> 
> The material of the wall is jasper, symbolizing the Oneness of the World of Humanity, since it
> comes in many colors, but especially red, {33} the color of the heart.
> The City is of purest gold, meaning that only purity and heavenly virtues will be found inside.
> The first and foremost foundation stone is jasper, symbolic of the principle that Humanity Is
> actually One race.
> The second foundation stone is sapphire, a stone of truest blue, the color of justice, faith,
> inspiration, loyalty and truth. It stands for the principle of the Independent Investigation of Truth.
> The third foundation stone is chalcedony, a stone of purest white, reflecting all seven colors (seven
> Faiths) equally well. It stands for the principle that all Divinely revealed Faiths Are essentially One,
> since their common origin is God, the most manifest of the manifest, and the most hidden of the
> hidden.
> The fourth foundation stone is emerald, a stone with the green of nature, symbolizing harmony,
> unity, immortality and humility. It uniquely harmonizes with every other color, and stands for the
> principle that enlightened Religion should and Must Be the Source of Unity.
> 
> The fifth foundation stone is sardonyx, a stone of equi-layered red and white. It stands for the
> principle of the Equality of Men (red) and Women (white).
> The sixth foundation stone is sardius, a stone that changes color depending upon how it is viewed.
> The same is true of Science and Religion, and it stands for the principle of their eventual Agreement
> and Unity.
> The seventh foundation stone is chrysolite, a stone of exquisitely pure green, the color of absolute
> sincerity, truthfulness, purity and selflessness. Only when our hearts are pure and free of prejudice and
> superstition can our secret thoughts be engraved on the Chrysolite Tablet. The chrysolite stands for the
> principle of the Elimination of All Prejudice.
> The eighth foundation stone is beryl, a stone of bluish-green, combining the attributes of the
> sapphire and the emerald: justice, faith, inspiration, loyalty, truth, harmony, unity and humility. These
> attributes established in the hearts of men will permit the Establishment of Universal Peace.
> The ninth foundation stone is the golden topaz, the color of the sun. The light of knowledge and the
> glory of wisdom will follow when Universal Education is established throughout the world.
> The tenth foundation stone is chrysoprasus, of clearest green. It embodies truthfulness, justice,
> sincerity and purity. These requisites are necessary for a Spiritual Solution of the Economic Problem.
> The eleventh foundation stone is jacinth. Like one form of jasper, it is a clear red, the universal
> color, the color of the human heart. The heart of one race can understand the heart of another only
> when it can speak the same language. It stands for the principle of an Auxiliary Universal Language.
> The twelfth foundation stone is amethyst. Its violet symbolizes spiritual light, reverence, healing,
> serenity and poise. The World Parliament of Man must embody these attributes in order to guide
> mankind in a world at peace.
> 
> THE MATERIAL OF THE GATES:
> 
> And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city
> was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. -Rev 21:21
> 
> Pearl is the stone of innocence. Each gate is made of a single pearl, emphasizing that the innocent
> and only the innocent may enter therein. Once inside the City, they will walk on streets of golden
> purity.
> 
> NO TEMPLE IS NEEDED INSIDE:
> 
> And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. -Rev 21:22
> 
> [REB: 22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple was the sovereign Lord God and the Lamb.]
> 
> A 'temple' {34} is a place 'cut off.' In ancient times, the temple had separated enclosures with varied
> 'degrees of holiness.'
> In Exodus, {35} God promises to dwell among the Israelites forever, PROVIDED Solomon and his
> successors {36} are obedient to His ordinances, precepts and commands. For whatever reason,
> Solomon's Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar; Zerubabel's Temple was profaned by Syrians
> and Romans; Herod's Temple was destroyed by Titus. Each catastrophe implied to the Jews that they
> had become alienated from God.
> In the new Jerusalem, Temple worship is no longer needed, since there is to be no place 'cut off'
> from the blessings and the light of God. The Bahá'í House of Worship, contrary to commonly held
> misconceptions, is not a 'temple,' since it has no priesthood, no ritual, no altar, no pulpit, and no
> separated 'degrees of holiness'; it is literally, by name, intent and practice, a 'Dawning Place of God's
> Praise.'
> The most sacred of Bahá'í institutions is the 'Nineteen Day Feast' that is usually held in private
> 
> homes. It consists of three distinct sessions: worship, community business, and social. During the
> worship session, the Sacred Writings of the Faith are read and prayers are raised. The community
> business session includes plans, reports, letters from the Friends, etc., but is devoid of offering plates
> and conspicuous donations. The social session is just that, a time in which the Friends freely mingle,
> enjoy conversation and music, and share the delights offered by the host.
> 
> NO NEED FOR THE SUN OR MOON:
> 
> And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine on it: for the glory of God did lighten
> it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of
> it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be
> shut at all by day; for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the
> nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever
> worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. -Rev
> 21:23-27
> 
> [REB: 23 The city did not need the sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its
> lamp was the Lamb.]
> 
> The words allude to Isaiah {37}, who also speaks of the Glory of the Lord {38} and the Holy One of
> Israel. {40} The new Jerusalem is to be established with their Return from lands far away. {40}
> "No sun or moon" means that no priestly hierarchy will be needed in the City. The reason is that
> Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God, will be its light, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Lamb, will be its Lamp of
> Guidance.
> Isaiah tells us something else about this light:
> 
> 'The moon will shine as brightly as the sun, and the sun with seven times its wonted brightness, like
> seven days' light in one ....'- REB: Isaiah 30:26
> 
> The Moon of 'Abdu'l-Bahá will shine as brightly as the Sun of Bahá'u'lláh. The Sun of Truth will
> shine as brightly as seven former Days of Creation.
> In verse 23 the name of Bahá'u'lláh is given for the third and final time in the Apocalypse. John
> follows the ancient canon of repeating the name three-times to emphasize his supreme station.{41}
> The notion that 'thrice' implies the best or greatest has extremely ancient roots. Greek 'trismegistos' =
> 'thrice greatest.'; Latin 'ter felix' = 'thrice-happy' or 'happiest.'
> The practice of repeating three-times was, and still is used to emphasize a prayer or sacred ritual.
> The formula was adapted by practitioners of the occult arts in carrying out their rituals and
> incantations. ('Third time's a charm!') Samuel Taylor Coleridge employed it in his masterpiece KUBLA
> KHAN, the closing lines of which seem to presage the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh:
> 
> And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
> His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
> Weave a circle round him thrice,
> And close your eyes with holy dread,
> For he on honey-dew hath fed,
> And drunk the milk of paradise.
> 
> A 'Night' is the period between two Divine Manifestations when the Sun of Truth is not manifest
> among men.{42} In every past Dispensation there has been such a period. But Bahá'u'lláh's unique
> Dispensation is the 'King of Days,' the 'Day not followed by Night.' Thus in verse 25 we find that there
> is to be "no night" in the new Jerusalem.
> 
> CHAPTER 22 - EPILOGUE                                                                                   ↩
> 
> This, the final chapter of the Apocalypse, is an epilogue and conclusion.
> John sees the 'water of life' flowing from the Throne of Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, the Lamb, just
> as promised by Zechariah. On either side of the river, John sees the 'tree of life,' the Twin
> Manifestation, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. The 'fruits' from the Twin Trees are the blessings that flow
> from the 12 Basic Principles on which the Sacred City is founded. The ancient curse that caused the
> destruction of the physical city of Jerusalem in past Ages will have been overcome, because the new
> Jerusalem is to be a spiritual City, not prone to the capricious forces of worldly history. Its citizens will
> be able to converse 'face-to-face' with God, just as Moses had done. The name of God will be retained
> in the 'foreheads' of their minds, not in physical talismans or phylacteries.
> The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh will be the 'Day not followed by Night.'
> God promises that He is 'coming soon,' that He will become Manifest in the very next Age, and that
> the prophesied events revealed to John are to commence in the very near future. Bahá'u'lláh, the Alpha
> and the Omega, will come quickly bringing deliverance and redemption.
> The chapter ends with farewells and warnings. Jesus reminds us that he is an offshoot from David,
> not of the direct line of kings.
> Finally, John curses anyone who tampers with the written text of the Apocalypse.
> The last word in the Apocalypse is "Amen,"which has a literal value of 99 and an archetypal value of
> 9, the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> [Several voices are heard. The King James Version (KJV) does not include closed quotes, and the
> Revised English Bible (REB) is employed for determining the probable voices.]
> 
> Verses 1 through 5 are spoken by John.
> 
> THE RIVER OF LIFE:
> 
> And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as a crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
> and the Lamb. -Rev 22:1
> 
> [REB: 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the
> throne of God and of the Lamb]
> 
> The verse alludes to:
> 
> "On that day, whether in summer or in winter, running water will issue from Jerusalem, half flowing to
> the eastern sea and half to the western sea." -REB: Zechariah 14:8
> 
> The new Jerusalem will be the source of spiritual inspiration and guidance for all peoples, whether
> in the East or in the West. "We have caused the rivers of Divine utterance to proceed out of Our throne,
> that the tender herbs of wisdom and understanding may spring forth from the soil of your hearts." -BH
> {1}
> 
> THE TWIN HOLY TREES:
> 
> In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare
> twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the
> healing of the nations. -Rev 22:2
> 
> [REB: 2 down the middle of the city's street. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, ...]
> 
> The two 'trees of life' are the Twin Holy Trees, the Bab and Bahá'u'lláh. The 'twelve manner of fruits'
> are the blessings flowing from the Laws and Principles that are the twelve foundation stones upon
> which the City is founded.
> 
> NO MORE CURSE:
> 
> And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants
> shall serve him: -Rev 22:3
> 
> [REB: 3 Every accursed thing shall disappear. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his
> servants shall worship him;]
> 
> The authority of Bahá'u'lláh, the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Bahá will reside in the new Jerusalem. The only
> true God will be worshipped there, whose power will be manifested in the Universal House of Justice,
> sitting on God's 'holy mountain.' 'No more curse' may allude to:
> 
> "Jerusalem will be inhabited, and never again will a ban for her destruction be laid on her; all will live
> there in security." - REB: Zechariah 14:11
> 
> THEY SHALL SEE HIS FACE:
> 
> And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. -Rev 22:4
> 
> To 'see his face' is an allusion to the event in Exodus {2} in which Moses is permitted to converse
> with Jehovah face-to-face.
> Bahá'u'lláh is the Manifestation of Jehovah, and is the One who spoke with Moses on Sinai. Thus, in
> the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh we are permitted to see the 'face' of the Voice From the Burning Bush.
> 'In their foreheads' alludes to Revelation 14:1 in which we are told that the twice-72 multitudes of
> specially endowed working arms will have the name of the Father (Bahá'u'lláh) of the Lamb ('Abdu'l-
> Bahá) written in their foreheads. {3}
> 
> NO NIGHT:
> 
> And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God
> giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. -Rev 22:5
> 
> Again we are reminded that the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh is the 'Day not followed by Night.' The
> citizens of the new Jerusalem will not need the services of a church or a priestly hierarchy to guide
> them, since they will receive their spiritual light and guidance directly from God through His
> Manifestation.
> 
> THE LORD GOD PROMISES TO COME QUICKLY:
> 
> And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent
> his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7 Behold, I come quickly:
> blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. -Rev 22:6-7
> 
> [REB: 6 He said to me, 'These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord God who inspires the
> prophets has sent his angel to show his servants what soon must take place. 7 And remember, I am
> coming soon!' Happy is the man who takes to heart the words of prophecy contained in this book!]
> 
> The quote is by the plague angel who spoke to John in 21:9, 15 & 22:1. He reminds John that it is
> the Lord God who has inspired the holy prophets and Manifestations of the past, and will do so for all
> the Ages to come. When the plague angel speaks the words "I am coming soon!", he is speaking as the
> Messenger of God, Who reassures John that God will manifest Himself very soon. Indeed, He did so in
> the human Temple of Muhammad about five centuries after the Revelation.
> 
> DON'T WORSHIP THE MESSENGER!
> 
> And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship
> before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not:
> for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of
> this book: worship God. -Rev 22:8-9
> 
> [REB: 8 It was I, John, who heard and saw these things. When I had heard them, I prostrated myself
> to worship the angel who had shown them to me. 9 But he said, 'You must not do that! I am a fellowservant with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who take to heart the words of this
> book. It is God you must worship.']
> 
> Once again, John is warned against worshipping the Messenger instead of the Originator of the
> Message. When a Divine Messenger speaks in the first person FOR God, this does not equate him
> WITH God. Christians are especially prone to this error, although the devotees of all Divinely revealed
> Faiths commit the fallacy to various degrees. {4}
> 
> And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. -Rev
> 22:10
> 
> The Apocalypse is a prophecy of events that will commence very shortly. Indeed, the first great
> persecution of Christians prophesied in 8:7-9 began less than a decade after the Revelation to John,
> but the Advent of Bahá'u'lláh would not occur until after another eighteen lunar centuries. {5}
> 
> He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is
> righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. -Rev 22:11
> 
> The verse reminds us of the prophecy of Daniel:
> 
> "Many will purify themselves and be refined, making themselves shining white, but the wicked will
> continue in wickedness and none of them will understand: only the wise leaders will understand."
> -REB: Daniel 12:10
> 
> THE ALPHA AND OMEGA GIVES A FAREWELL AND A PROMISE:
> 
> And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall
> be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. -Rev 22:12
> 
> [REB: 12 'I am coming soon, and bringing with me my recompense to repay everyone according to
> what he has done! 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.']
> 
> Spoken by the plague angel for Bahá'u'lláh. The 'reward' alludes to:
> 
> "This is the Lord's [Jehovah's] proclamation to earth's farthest bounds: Tell the daughter of Zion 'See,
> 
> your deliverance comes. His reward is with him, his recompense before him.' " -REB: Isaiah 62:11
> 
> The title 'the Alpha and the Omega' is equated with the 'first and the last' {8} and 'the beginning and
> the end.'
> 'The Alpha and the Omega' is unique to the Apocalypse. It occurs a total of three-times in modern
> translations {6}, as does the title 'the Glory of God.' Its uniqueness suggests that its numerology should
> be investigated. Doing so reveals that it has an archetypal value of 9, the literal value of Bahá' and the
> Seal of Bahá'u'lláh.
> The title 'the first and the last' occurs in Isaiah {7} where it is equated with (REB) 'the Lord
> [Jehovah], Israel's King, the Lord of Hosts, his Redeemer.' Isaiah also declares that error-free
> prophecy is one proof of the validity of Divine inspiration.
> 
> THE SAVED AND THE DAMNED:
> 
> Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter
> in through the gates of the city. -Rev 22:14
> 
> [REB: 14 Happy are those who wash their robes clean! They shall be free to eat from the tree of life ...]
> 
> The Tree of Life is the Manifestation of God. "Through His potency the Trees of Divine Revelation
> have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent down in the form of a Prophet, bearing a
> Message to God's creatures in each of the worlds whose number God alone, in His all-encompassing
> knowledge, can reckon." -BH {10}
> 
> For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
> loveth and maketh a lie. -Rev 22:15
> 
> Spoken by John. This list of the damned should be compared to that of 21:8. Apparently 'dogs'
> include the fearful, the unbelieving, and the abominable.
> 
> "Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls to pigs: they will only trample on them, and
> turn and tear you to pieces." -REB: Matt 7:6
> 
> JESUS BIDS FAREWELL:
> 
> I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the
> offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. -Rev 22:16
> 
> [REB: 16 'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the offspring of
> David, the shoot growing from his stock, the bright star of dawn.']
> 
> Probably spoken by the first angel (verse 1:1). His testimony is to the Seven Churches of Asia. Jesus
> affirms that he is the 'root' of David, that is, the 'Ancient Root,' and therefore is a Manifestation of God.
> In addition, he claims to be the 'offspring of David,' though apparently not of the direct line of historic
> kings. Jesus also claims to be the 'bright star of dawn,' that is, the 'Herald' of a new day of God. {11}
> It is noteworthy that, once again, Jesus fails to claim the WORLDLY Throne of David, although
> many of his devotees must have considered him eligible for that position. Indeed, we now know the
> reason why Jesus did not claim the Worldly Throne of David. The fact that he was an 'offspring of
> David' automatically interdicted any claim that he might have had to that Throne. {16} But being an
> 'offspring of David' did not preclude his being the Messiah sitting on a SPIRITUAL Throne. Recall
> 
> ...... [Pilate asks] 'So you are the king of the Jews?'.... Jesus replied, 'My kingdom does not belong to
> this world. If it did, my followers would be fighting to save me from the clutches of the Jews. My
> kingdom belongs elsewhere.' -REB: John 18:33-36
> 
> [The New International Version begins a new paragraph at this point.]
> 
> JOHN'S CURSE:
> 
> And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst,
> come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify unto every man that
> heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add
> unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words
> of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy
> city, and from the things which are written in this book. - Rev 22:17-18
> 
> [REB: 18 I, John, give this warning to everyone who is listening to the words of prophecy in this book:
> if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book; 19 if anyone takes away
> from the words in this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and
> in the Holy City, which are described in this book.]
> 
> Perhaps Jesus should have had the last word at verse 16, but John addends a curse on those who
> would corrupt the text of the Apocalypse. It is noteworthy that John would have felt the need to do so,
> and it implies that corruption of the Word was not a rare occurrence in the early Christian Church.
> Indeed, corruption of the Word created the great whore of Babylon that has plagued Christendom
> during the Piscean Age, whose offspring is the mayhem that we now observe among the thousands of
> Christian sects. As archaeologists and antiquarians discover more pristine versions of Sacred Texts,
> the extent to which corruption has taken place will become more evident. One proven case is the
> Gospel of Mark. Although it is considered by biblical scholars to be the most reliable of the Gospels,
> nevertheless it is known to have had about twelve-and-a-half verses addended, and there may have
> been other alterations. The corruption of the Sacred Texts resulted in several hundred years of trialand-error before a canon of New Testament works could be accepted by a significant body of
> Christians, and even today the debate goes on.
> It is always tempting to a scribe or a translator to alter or add a word, a phrase or a verse to bring it
> more in line with his own concepts or those of humanly limited theologians and commentators. At
> other times, alterations may be accidental or even unconscious. It is probably because the Apocalypse
> is so cryptic that it has remained relatively free of such distortions. Candidly, no one knew where or
> how to alter the text. {12}
> Most of the alterations of the text of the Apocalypse are relatively benign, but there is one
> significant exception. An early version of the Apocalypse altered the number of the beast of the
> Apocalypse from 666 to 616, apparently to make the value equal to that of 'Nero Caesar,' {13} a blue
> ribbon villain that many early Christians considered to be the anti-Christ.
> 
> He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. -Rev
> 22:20
> 
> [REB: 20 He who gives this testimony says: 'Yes, I am coming soon!' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!]
> 
> The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be unto you all. Amen. -Rev 22:21
> 
> If not with Jesus' testimony at verse 16, the Revelation should certainly have ended with John's
> curse, but part of verse 20 and all of 21 seem to have been addended. {14} The addendum reflects the
> 
> ardent hope among the early Christians that Jesus would return in the flesh to establish the Kingdom
> of God during their own lifetimes.
> It is here that another great secret of the Apocalypse becomes evident! The last word of the
> Apocalypse is 'Amen,' whether or not we decide that the Apocalypse has been addended after John's
> curse. At several places in the Apocalypse we have been advised to consider 'the Alpha and the Omega.'
> Finally, at 22:13 we are advised to look at the 'beginning and the end, the first and the last.' And what
> are the first and last words of the Apocalypse? The first word is 'Apocalypse,' the last word is 'Amen.'
> The first word 'Apocalypse' has a literal value of 1512 which has an archetypal value of 9. The last
> word 'Amen' has a literal value of 99, which also has an archetypal value of 9.
> 'The Alpha and the Omega' appears three or four times, depending upon the version. {15} The
> expression has either the value 801 or 1332, also depending upon the version. In all cases, the
> archetypal value is 9, the number of Bahá' and the Seal of Bahá'u'lláh!
> 
> APPENDIX A: SOME NUMBER SYMBOLISM                                                                  ↩
> 
> This Appendix describes some numerological discoveries. Surely many more remain to be
> discovered. The definitions of terms used can be found in the INTRODUCTION.
> 
> SOME SUBJECTS THAT HAVE AN ARCHETYPAL VALUE OF NINE:
> 
> SUBJECT = LITERAL VALUE = ARCHETYPAL VALUE; [WHERE FOUND]
> 
> Greek Words and Phrases:
> 
> Apocalypse (First word) = 1512 = 9; [Title, 1:1]
> Amen (Last word= 22:20 or 22:21) = 99 = 9; [1:6, 1:7, 1:18, 3:14, 5:14, 7:12, 7:12, 19:4, 22:20,
> 22:21(?)]
> 'Alpha + Omega' ('First and Last') = 801 = 9; [1:8, 1:11(?), 21:6; 22:13]
> 'Alpha (spelled out {1}) + Omega' = 1332 (twice-666) = 9
> 'Faithful and True' (name) = 1269 = 9; [19:11]
> 'The Word of God' (name) = 927 = 9; [19:13]
> Glory (Greek for 'Kabowd') = 135 = 9; [4:9, 4:11, 14:7, 15:4, 16:9, 19:1]
> 'New Name' = 432 = 9; [2:17, 3:12]
> Jerusalem = 864 (twice-432) = 9; [3:12, 21:2, 21:10]
> 'The Glory of God of Israel' = 1746 = 9; [Ezekiel 8:4, 9:3, 10:19, 11:22, 43:2]
> 'A grain of mustard seed' = 1746 = 9; [Mat 13:31, 17:20; Mark 4:31; Luke 13:19, 17:6]
> 
> Numbers:
> 
> 666 (a sacred number!) = 666 = 9; [13:18]
> 144 (twice-72) = 144 = 9; [21:17]
> 144,000 = 144,000 = 9; [7:4, 14:1, 14:3]
> 1260 (3 1/2 'times') = 1260 = 9; [11:2, 11:3, 11:9, 11:11, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5]
> 
> Items:
> 
> Fishes in the net = 153 = 9; [John 21:11]
> Stanzas in THE HIDDEN WORDS = 153 = 9
> Parameters of the New Jerusalem = (various) = seven cases of 9 [21:16, 21:17]
> 
> Other:
> 
> The Almighty (Pantocrator) appears 9 times; [1:8, 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 16:14, 19:6, 19:15, 21:22]
> 
> SOME OTHER INTERESTING VALUES:
> 
> Glory of God (Greek) = 1389 = 3; [15:8, 21:11, 21:23]
> Bahá'u'lláh (Arabic) = 75 = 3
> 'Nine' (Greek word) = 111 = 3
> Messiah (Hebrew) = 358 = 7; [Dan 9:25, 9:26]
> 'Shiloh Come' (Hebrew) = 358 = 7; [Gen 49:10]
> Jesus (Greek) = 888 = 6; [14:12, 17:6, 19:10, 19:10, 20:4, 22:16, 22:20(?)]
> Christ (Greek) = 1480 = 4; [11:15, 12.10, 20.4, 20.6]
> Jesus Christ (Greek) = 2368 = 1; [1:1, 1:2, 1:5, 1:9, 12:17, 22:21(?)]
> Last sentence of Chapter 13 = 2368 = 1; [13:18]
> Son of Man (Greek) = 2260 = 1; [1:13, 14:14]
> Son of God (Greek) = 1934 = 8; [2:18]
> 
> TRIANGULAR VALUES:
> 
> The name 'Bahá'' is an Arabic word spelled Be, ha, alif, hamza (BHA'). The numerical values of the
> letters are 2, 5, 1, 1 {2}. Thus the literal value of Bahá' is 9. The triangular value of 9 is 45, the same as
> the literal value of 'Adam.' The word 'Bab' is spelled Be, alif, beh (BAB), which has a literal value of 5.
> The triangular value of 5 is 15, the same as the literal value of 'Eve.' Thus the two traditional names
> Adam and Eve, God's first two spiritual creations, are linked with the Twin Manifestation whose
> appearance was promised at the Last Day.
> 
> KLIMA:
> 
> It seems appropriate to apply klima as we did for YHWH. Expanding the word 'BAB' by klima:
> 
> B  Sum = 2
> BA  Sum = 3
> BAB Sum = 5
> 
> produces a total of (2 + 3 + 5) = 10, the value of the Y (Yod), the first letter in YHWH. The literal
> value of BAB, being 5, equals the value of the H (Hay), the last letter in YHWH. Thus the word
> 'BAB', which literally means 'the Gate,' is an expression of the 'first and the last.'
> 
> Expanding 'BHA'':
> 
> B   Sum = 2
> BH   Sum = 7
> BHA Sum = 8
> BHA' Sum = 9
> 
> The sum of (2 + 7 + 8 + 9) is 26, the literal value of YHWH. Thus we find the occult connection
> between BHA' and YHWH.
> 
> The word Bahá' (BHA') is loosely translated into English as 'Glory.' More accurately, it is equivalent
> 
> to the Hebrew word 'Kabowd,' a 'palpable manifestation.' The word 'Kabowd' is translated into
> Greek (again loosely) as 'Doxa.' We have noted several occult uses of the words 'Kabowd' and 'Doxa'
> in the Bible.
> Jewish mystics knew the significance of the letters 'B' and 'H.' They attached much importance to
> them and wrote commentaries about these letters.
> There is a Jewish legend that says that Solomon's Seal, considered a powerful talisman by the
> ancients, carried the Greatest Name, possibly the 'Kabowd' of 'El'.
> In the Buddhist Scriptures, the word 'BHA' occasionally appears, occultly disjointed from the
> adjacent Sanskrit Text.
> 
> NOTES                                                                                            ↩
> 
> NOTES TO INTRODUCTION
> 
> {1} BAHA'I SCRIPTURES, Sect 92.
> 
> {2} The 'Quadratura Circuli.' See Carl Jung, PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION
> 
> {3} The four elements + ether. See Ecclesiasticus 17:5.
> 
> {4} Appel and Haken, THE SOLUTION OF THE FOUR-COLOR-MAP PROBLEM, Scientific
> American, Oct, 1977
> 
> {5} Aristotle, DE CAEOLO
> 
> {6} Gen 7:2-3
> 
> {7} Gen 29
> 
> {8} 1 Sam 6:1
> 
> {9} Jer 25:11, 2910
> 
> {10} See Ps 90:4
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 1
> 
> {1} The 'Prophetic Cycle' began with the Dispensation of the Prophet Adam and ended with the
> Dispensation of Muhammad, the 'Seal of the Prophets.' The Advent of the Bab closed the Prophetic
> Cycle and opened the Age of Fulfillment. The 'Bahá'í Cycle' initiated by Bahá'u'lláh will consist of
> numerous Ages spanning a period of, perhaps, 500-thousand- years.
> 
> {2} From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, Aug 7,
> 1978. 'The Master' was a title bestowed by Bahá'u'lláh, upon his son, 'Abdu'l- Bahá.
> 
> {3} See Romans 1:2
> 
> {4} Matthew 8:22
> 
> {5} GWB, p 101
> 
> {6} Matt 13:14-19, 24:15; John 9:39; Acts 28:26-27; Cf. Is 6:9-10
> 
> {7} BOC, pp 192-6
> 
> {8} Isaiah 60:1-3; Luke 17:22-25
> 
> {9} TTJ; PT, p 51; SAQ, p 254; WAB, p 13; GPB, p 95
> 
> {10} GPB, p 95
> 
> {11} Isaiah 44:6
> 
> {12} Is 41:4, 14, 44:6, 47:4, 48:12, 59:19-21; Ps 24:7-10; Job 19:25; Jer 23:5-8. Cf. GPB, pp 93-99
> 
> {13} GWB, p 168
> 
> {14} In the original version of THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, I chose Justice as the symbolism of
> Parchment, and Harmony as the symbolism of Just People. Either way works, since Law is usually
> associated with Justice, and Justice is essential for generating Harmony.
> 
> {15} 'Thya' means a sandarac tree, a close relative of the cypress. The candle-shaped cypress was the
> emblem of Ormazd and Zoroaster. Ormazd was the name given to the God of Goodness and
> Spiritual Light.
> 
> {16} H. Smith, THE RELIGIONS OF MAN, is a popular treatment.
> 
> {17} WOB p 104
> 
> {18} WOB, p 104; GPB, p 169. As was the custom in that region, Bahá'u'lláh had dyed his hair and
> beard a jet black before his interview with Prof E.G. Browne in 1890. See Ustad Muhammad-'Aliy-i
> Salmani, (tr. Marzieh Gail), MY MEMORIES OF BAHA'U'LLAH, Kalimat Press, Los Angeles, 1982;
> H.M. Balyuzi, BAHA'U'LLAH, THE KING OF GLORY, George Ronald, Oxford, 1980, p.240
> 
> {19} Dan 2:32
> 
> {20} GWB, p 167
> 
> {21} Daniel 7:9, 13-14
> 
> {22} GWB, p 296
> 
> {23} GWB, p 104
> 
> {24} GWB pp 45, 183; WOB, p.104
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 2
> 
> {1} GWB, pp 179, 185
> 
> {2} WOB, p 115}
> 
> {3} Possibly mentioned in Acts 6:5.
> 
> {4} Cf. Gen 2
> 
> {5} The difficulties for Israel ensuing from the worship of Baal are recorded in 1st and 2nd Kings.
> 
> {6} GWB, p 195
> 
> {7} 'Thyine' means 'fragrant.' Cf. Rev 18:12 in KJV.
> 
> {8} The subject is further elucidated in Romans 1:3-4 and Hebrews 1:4-6.
> 
> {9} GWB, p 325.
> 
> {10} TAB, pp 92-4
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 3
> 
> {1} GWB pp 332, 323.
> 
> {2} GWB, p 132
> 
> {3} BOL; GWB, pp 269-270.
> 
> {4} That is, (8 + 6 + 4) = 18. Continuing, (1 + 8) = 9. Note that 432 is just one-half of 864.
> 
> {5} In THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, I proposed that Bahá'u'lláh was the one who "stands at the
> door and knocks." In revisiting the matter, it seems more likely, in the context of previous verses,
> that it is Muhammad.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 4
> 
> {1} Every astrological age actually has a double name, e.g. ARIES-Libra and AQUARIUS-Leo. The
> double name comes from the names of the stellar constellations or 'signs' where the sun rises at both
> the SPRING and Fall seasons of the year. This should become clearer in later verses. See the
> INTRODUCTION. I recommend de Santillana et al, HAMLET'S MILL.
> 
> {2} SAQ, pp 284-6
> 
> {3} With very little search, I found these twelves in less exalted circles: 12 Olympian deities, 12
> Titans, 12 knights of King Arthur's round table, 12 merry men of Robin Hood, and 12 Caesars in the
> canon of Seutonius. I'm sure that the list is quite extensive.
> 
> {4} What are the names of the 24 Elders seated around the throne of Bahá'u'lláh? I have been able to
> 
> locate only 20 that are authenticated: the Bab, the 18 Letters of the Living, and Haji Mirza
> Muhammad-Taqi. The names of the other 4 may be laying undiscovered in the Bahá'í archives, or
> may require a decision by the Universal House of Justice. In the meantime, I personally consider
> these exalted names as probable: Mirza Mihdi (the Purest Branch), 'Abdu'l-Bahá' (the Servant of
> Bahá'), Shoghi Effendi (the Guardian), and Bahiyyih Khanum (the Greatest Holy Leaf).
> 
> {5} AB, SAQ, p 71
> 
> {6} GWB, p 104
> 
> {7} BH: TAF. See commentary after Rev 1:12.
> 
> {8} BOC, pp 100, 103; GWB, p 258
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 5
> 
> {1} The REB is at variance with the KJV and the NIV. The REB reads: 'Do not weep; for the Lion
> from the tribe of Judah, the shoot growing from David's stock, has won the right to open the scroll
> and break its seven seals.' The word in KJV v. 5 is actually Greek 'Rhiza', a 'Root.'
> 
> {2} Ez 19:4
> 
> {3} 2 Kings 25:7
> 
> {4} The line of David is given in Ruth 4:18. Bahá'u'lláh is descended from Abraham through his
> third wife Keturah.
> 
> {5} 2 Kings 21:2-7. The Ark of the Covenant disappeared at about the same time. See Graham
> Hancock, THE SIGN AND THE SEAL.
> 
> {6} Jer 15:4, 36:30. The genetic root of David is given in Ruth 4:18-20. His throne was passed down
> from son to son until Jehoiakim. But by the dictum of the prophet Jeremiah, the reign of
> Jehoiakim's son was aborted. Instead, his brother Mattaniah-Zedekiah was appointed king by
> Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Kings 24:17) Even this branch was terminated by Nebuchadnezzar. (2 Kings
> 25:7) Apparently, with the demise of Jehoiakim, there were no further legitimate claimants to the
> worldly Throne of David from the direct line of David.
> 
> {7} Ps (REB) 132:17
> 
> {8} Matthew 22:42-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41. Jesus is referring to Psalm 110.
> 
> {9} in TTJ; PDC, pp 78-79; GPB, p 230
> 
> {10} 1 Sam 16:1; Heb 5:4-5, 7:3, 15. Also see Is 11; Is 63:10; Zech 12:7.
> 
> {11} John 18:36
> 
> {12} Gen 49:10
> 
> {13} See Rev 4:1
> 
> {14} The word 'Edom' means 'Red.' When Bahá'u'llah was later exiled to the Holy Land, the region of
> Edom was a part of 'Transjordan,' literally, 'the land beyond the Jordan river.' Basrah is a city in
> modern Iraq.
> 
> {15} To be explained in a later chapter.
> 
> {16} See INTRODUCTION.
> 
> {17} The Bab also plays a special role in the Book of Daniel, as can be seen by a careful reading of
> Daniel 10. This chapter of Daniel and others is discussed in I, DANIEL.
> 
> {18} BOC, p 164
> 
> {19} GWB, pp 244-5
> 
> {20} E.g., BOL and CB. See GPB, pp 239, 242.
> 
> {21} Genesis 2:9. In WOB, p 135, Bahá'u'lláh refers to 'Abdu'l- Bahá as the Branch from the
> Sadratu'l-Muntaha. In BOL, see paragraphs 100, 148, and Notes 128, 164.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 6
> 
> {1} Ps 114:7; 1 Chron 16:29-34; Joel 3:16; Amos 8:8; Is 13:13, 14:16; Hag 2:6-7; Heb 12:26-27
> 
> {2} Amos 8:9; Is 13:10, 60:19-20, 14:12; Ezek 32:7-8; Job 38:7; Num 24:17; Joel 2:31, 3:15; Acts
> 2:20; Jude 1:13; Matt 24:29; Obad 1:4; Gen 37:9-11
> 
> {3} Is 34:4; Matt 24:29-30
> 
> {4} Ps 114:4; Is 14:25-26, 2:2-3, 40:4, 65:23-25; Jer 48:8; Micah 1:3-4; Luke 23:30; 3:4-5; Dan 2;
> John 4:21
> 
> {5} Ps 18:2; Deut 32:4, 30, 31
> 
> {6} BOC, pp 33-34, 36, 37, 38, 41
> 
> {7} GWB, pp 44-45
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 7
> 
> {1} GWB, p 68
> 
> {2} GWB, p 68
> 
> {3} GWB, pp 331, 198, 218
> 
> {4} Gen 49. See Introduction.
> 
> {5} I.e., (1 + 4 + 4) = 9
> 
> {6} Rev 4:4
> 
> {7} Numbers 11:25-26
> 
> {8} See Introduction.
> 
> {9} See Introduction.
> 
> {10} See Martin Gardner, THE COLORING OF UNUSUAL MAPS LEADS INTO UNCHARTED
> TERRITORY; also Appel and Haken, THE SOLUTION OF THE FOUR-COLOR-MAP PROBLEM.
> 
> {11} Gen 49. See Introduction.
> 
> {12} The history of the zodiac is obscure, but it seems likely that Gemini was originally the first sign
> of the zodiac. If so, the zodiac was devised at least four astrological Ages ago, circa 6-millennia BCE.
> Some astrologers have suggested that the Cain-Abel myth may have been created during the Age of
> Gemini. An interesting theory! Then perhaps Cain was the star that announced the harvesting
> season (Genesis 4:3) and 'murdered' his brother when the Precession caused him to replace Abel,
> the star that announced the sheep birthing season (4:4). But, eventually, the Precession also caused
> Cain to lose his position in the sky (4:11). Thereafter, Cain became a 'wanderer' or 'planet' (4:13), no
> longer indicative of either the harvesting or the birthing season. His star was forced 'east of Eden'
> (4:16) during the Age of Taurus.
> 
> {13} Matt 19:28; Luke 22:30
> 
> {14} Rev 21:14
> 
> {15} Luke 6:12
> 
> {16} Mark 3:17
> 
> {17} John (REB) 13:21-30
> 
> {18} GWB, pp. 169, 213
> 
> {19} GWB, p. 189
> 
> {20} PMB, pp. 83-4
> 
> {21} Zech 11:7-14 (REB): "So I became a shepherd to the flock destined to be slaughtered by the
> dealers. ... I had lost patience with the flock and they had come to abhor me... 'I shall not be a
> shepherd to you any more..' I took my staff called Favor and snapped it in two, annulling the
> covenant which the Lord had made with all nations ... . Then they weighed out my wages, thirty
> pieces of silver... Then I broke in two my second staff called Union, annulling the brotherhood
> between Judah and Israel. " Curiously, Bahá'u'lláh was born on November 12, 1817. By
> conventional pre-Piscean astrology, Bahá'u'lláh would have been born under the sign of Scorpio. But
> by the new astrology of the Apocalypse, Bahá'u'lláh was born under the sign of Flying Eagle.
> 
> {22} See Nabil's Narrative (THE DAWN-BREAKERS).
> 
> {23} See Lady Blomfield, THE CHOSEN HIGHWAY.
> 
> {24} Another proof can be found in THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, Figure 16. Gad-Asher
> (ARIES-LIBRA) may represent the heroic age of Israel. See 1 Chronicles 7:40 and 12:14.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 8
> 
> {1} GWB, p 316
> 
> {2} SAQ, p 71
> 
> {3} Christians were also under attack from the Jews during the persecutions by Rome. Probably in
> response to Jesus' warning (Matt 24:15-6), at the sight of Titus' army coming to take Jerusalem in
> 70 CE, the Christians in and around Jerusalem fled across the Jordan river to Pella. This act of
> seeming desertion angered the surviving Jews, who, after the Fall of Jerusalem, carried out a
> campaign of terror against the Christians. The Christians responded in kind, and this internecine
> struggle lasted until Caliph Umar I conquered Jerusalem in 637.
> 
> {4} SAQ, p 66
> 
> {5} GWB, pp 21, 41
> 
> {6} The Bab: SWB, p 129 fn
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 9
> 
> {1} The Sunni caliphate was abolished in 1924 in the wake of the successful revolution in Turkey
> under Kemel Ataturk. The date of the destruction of the caliphate was 27 sabbatic years after the
> Crucifixion. A 'sabbatic year' = 7-decades. I place the date of the Crucifixion at 34 CE in accord with
> the prophecy in Daniel 9:26.
> 
> {2} SAQ, p 60
> 
> {3} GWB, p 43
> 
> {4} Qur'an: 42:11, 46:11, 73:15
> 
> {5} at 3:10.
> 
> {6} at 11:13 and 14:7.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 10
> 
> {1} Rev 1:7, 4:3, 1:16
> 
> {2} 1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chron 3:15
> 
> {3} Exod 13:21
> 
> {4} Ruth 4:21
> 
> {5} Is 11:1, 10
> 
> {6} I.e., (7 + 2) = 9
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 11
> 
> {1} Most of what follows is explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in SAQ, Chapter 11.
> 
> {2} 'AH' means 'After the Hegira,' the starting point of the Muslim calendar. The Hegira occurred in
> 622 CE. A lunar year is 354.367 days long. There are 1.03069 lunar years in a solar year of 365.242
> days.
> 
> {3} Exodus 7
> 
> {4} Ex 9:33
> 
> {5} Ex 4:9
> 
> {6} Ex 4:21
> 
> {7} 'Kyrios' was His most popular title, implying that many early believers considered Jesus to be a
> mystery deity. See Rudolf Bultmann, PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY IN ITS CONTEMPORARY
> SETTING.
> 
> {8} Is 45:1
> 
> {9} PMB, p 68. See also PUP, p 444.
> 
> {10} Some believe that the physical Ark is preserved in a sanctuary at Axum, Ethiopia. See Graham
> Hancock, THE SIGN AND THE SEAL.
> 
> {11} Dan 10:13, 21, 12:1; Rev 12:7
> 
> {12} See Chapter 1, Note 1.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 12
> 
> {1} Much of this chapter has been explained by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in SAQ, Chapter 13.
> 
> {2} REB: Gen 49:17
> 
> {3} Dan 12:1
> 
> {4} Dan 7:25 and 12:7. This is just one-half of the 7 'times' specified in Daniel 4:23. The starting
> point of the 7 times is discovered by correlating Daniel 2:1 with 4:29. The result is 3 years after
> Nebuchadnezzar came to power. This becomes 3 years after the year 605 BCE, or 602 BCE.
> 
> Seven times are 2520 lunar years, or 2445 solar years. Accounting for the fact that there is no zeroth
> 
> year in the common calendar, the seven times brings us to (2445 - 602 + 1) = 1844 CE. The Book of
> Daniel deals primarily with the first half of the 7 times; the Apocalypse deals primarily with the
> second half.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 13
> 
> {1} Commemorated in the fable ARABIAN NIGHTS.
> 
> {2} Dan 7
> 
> {3} See Dan 4:30.
> 
> {4} 'Abdu'l-Bahá is the 'Branch' of Isaiah 11:1 (KJV).
> 
> {5} 'The Sultan' means 'The Sovereign.'
> 
> {6} The 'Abbasids ended their career controlling only the dominion surrounding Baghdad,
> approximately the region of ancient Babylonia.
> 
> {7} Jesus is said to have been born at One AD, not Zero AD.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 14
> 
> {1} GPB, p 243
> 
> {2} GWB, p 13
> 
> {3} WOB, pp 103-104; GPB, pp 94-96
> 
> {4} WOB, p 111
> 
> {5} The archetypal value of 144 'thousands' is 9. That is: (1 + 4 + 4 + 0 + 0 + 0) = 9.
> 
> {6} At this point, it is worthwhile to consider the angels who deliver the various messages to John.
> Recall that 'Abdu'l-Bahá has informed us that there are many meanings to each word of the
> Apocalypse. In my opinion, there are meanings latent in the numbers, messages, and ordering of the
> angels beyond those already discerned. In the case of the six angels who are presented in this
> chapter, it seems to me that they probably represent the Mediators who prophesied the coming of
> Bahá'u'lláh, the Divine Reaper. These were Krishna, Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, Jesus and
> Muhammad. The Bab is a sixth Mediator who is a part of that Judgement, and who also warned us
> of the Advent of "One Whom God will make Manifest," Bahá'u'lláh. Three mediating angels have
> already appeared in this chapter. At verse 6 we find an angel preaching the 'everlasting gospel,' while
> at verse 8, we find one announcing the fall of the 'city' of the corrupted Word of God. The clues are
> scanty, and the conclusions correspondingly tenuous, but the wording of the two verses indicate to
> me that the first angel is probably Lord Krishna, who preached extensively of recurring Avatars,
> while the second angel probably represents the Great Reformer, Lord Buddha. In verses 9-11 the
> clues are more ample. Chapters 11, 12, and 13 offer extensive and credible evidence that the third
> angel is probably Muhammad.
> 
> {7} Genesis 11:9
> 
> {8} BOC, pp 84-90
> 
> {9} GWB, pp 14, 40-42; BOC, pp 76-77
> 
> {10} TSV, pp 4, 36-37
> 
> {11} and RSV: Daniel 7:13. (The REB translates Dan 7:13 and Rev 1:13 as 'one like a human being.')
> In the RSV Daniel, the one like the Son of Man is introduced to the Ancient of Days; but the Ancient
> of Days has characteristics resembling the one like the Son of Man in Rev 11:13! The seeming
> paradox can be resolved by the concept of different spiritual worlds as revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in his
> TABLET OF ALL FOOD. Daniel is witnessing the world of Lahut; John is witnessing the world of
> Jabarut.
> 
> {12} Without spirituality, man has no meaningful history. A human world totally devoid of
> spirituality would decay to the level of the brute, and history would cease.
> 
> {13} Matt 21:33-41
> 
> {14} Matthew 16:27
> 
> {15} In WOB, p 104, Bahá'u'lláh speaks with the VOICE of the Son of Man; this Tablet could be
> interpreted as meaning that He does not actually claim the title, but does claim the 'voice.'
> 
> {16} Is 11
> 
> {17} In THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, I suggested that the altar angel was probably Jesus Christ.
> The whole subject of the identities and symbolism of the various angels in the Apocalypse deserves
> more study by some enterprising scholar.
> 
> {18} That is, (1 + 6 + 0 + 0) equals 7.
> 
> {19} Micah 4:10; Ez 1:1, 28, 43:1-4; Zec 4. Cf. Ezra 5:2 & Zech 4:9. [The river Chebar or Kabar
> empties into the Euphrates at Babylon. 'Zerubabel' means 'Banished in Babylon.']
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 15
> 
> {1} GWB, p 270
> 
> {2} Isaiah 11
> 
> {3} The Ka'bih at Mecca is also a tent in the shape of a perfect cube. Plato in his TIMAEUS ascribed
> a cubical shape to the 'element earth.' The 4 fabrics of the Tabernacle and the priestly garment may
> have symbolized the 4 elements of fire, air, earth and water (Muller, HISTORY OF JEWISH
> MYSTICISM, p 14). In his TOPIGRAPHICA CHRISTIANA, the 6th century monk Cosmas likened
> the earth to the Tabernacle except on a greatly enlarged scale; the ground corresponded to the floor,
> the sky to its walls and ceiling.
> 
> {4} GWB, pp 47, 311
> 
> {5} BOC, p 76
> 
> {6} Also 1 Kings 8:11
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 16
> 
> {1} E.g., Lord Curzon, PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN QUESTION.
> 
> {2} The Civilizing Hero is called the 'God incarnate in man' by Arnold J. Toynbee and the 'Hero with
> a thousand faces' by Joseph Campbell.
> 
> {3} GWB, pp 151, 29; PMB, p 42; Qur'an 39:65-70
> 
> {4} There would be only three 'Kings of the East': Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> {5} Exodus 8
> 
> {6} Ex 8:7
> 
> {7} Matt 24:42-44; Luke 12:39-40; Rev 3:3.
> 
> {8} E.g., Is 35:2, 41:2: Jer 49:38; Ez 43:2; Hosea 2:15; Micah 7:12-15; Matt 24:3, 27, 36. In these
> prophecies, Assyria included old Babylonia, etc.; Elam was a region included in Persia; 'Achor'
> literally means 'trouble,' an occult name for modern 'Akka.
> 
> {9} SE: TPDIC, p 117
> 
> {10} GWB, p 39
> 
> {11} GWB, pp 198, 40, 136
> 
> {12} Matt 16:27
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 17
> 
> {1} GWB, p 18)
> 
> {2} In THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED published in 1981, I proposed Alexander's empire as the
> beast that 'was, is not, yet is.' Based on the analysis of A.J. Toynbee in his monumental A STUDY OF
> HISTORY, I have decided that the Persian empire is the correct solution to the riddle.
> 
> {3} From the date of the Apocalypse, circa 104 CE, until the beginning of Muhammad's
> Dispensation: Syria-Palestine was dominated by Romans, Persians and Byzantines. Arabia was
> dominated by Romans, Byzantines, Abyssinians and Persians. Egypt was dominated by Romans and
> Byzantines. Libya was dominated by Romans, Vandals, and Byzantines. Spain was dominated by
> Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Byzantines. West Turkestan, later to become Transoxania,
> remained an amorphous region dominated in turn by various invaders. Only Persia, under the
> Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanid dynasties, remained sovereign.
> 
> {4} If one counts only the mainstream Caliphs, there were also 10 un-repeated names of chiefs of the
> Seljuk dynasty that seized power from the 'Abbasids. See commentary, Rev 13:13- 14.
> 
> {5} In Rev 17:14, we find the epithet 'Lord of lords, and King of kings.' In Rev 19:16 we find the
> 
> epithet capitalized and reversed: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. The reversing of the
> epithet suggests that the 'Lamb' of 17:14 is not the same Figure as 'Faithful and True' of verse 19:16.
> In fact, 17:14 refers to the Bab while 19:16 refers to Bahá'u'lláh. Collectively, they are the 'Twin
> Manifestation.' See A NOTE CONCERNING TITLES in the INTRODUCTION.
> 
> {6} TOA; GWB, pp 77, 292, 145. The Bab is Lord of Lords, and King of Kings- BOC: pp 123-4
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 18
> 
> {1} GWB, pp 339-40, 181, 321
> 
> {2} Isaiah 47
> 
> {3} Luke 17:2
> 
> {4} As in the ancient Islandic legend of 'Amlodhi's Mill.' See de Santillana et al, HAMLET'S MILL.
> 
> {5} Jer 25:10
> 
> {6} Jer 51:58-64
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 19
> 
> {1} Cf. Isaiah 47 & 54
> 
> {2} Matthew 22:1-13. Repeated with variations in Luke 14:16-24.
> 
> {3} Gen 37:31-33
> 
> {4} BWF, p 47
> 
> {5} All caps to indicate that he rules over the other Kings of kings, and Lords of lords.
> 
> {6} BOL, p 49; GPB, p 206. Bahá'u'lláh was given the title 'Lord of Lords' by the Bab in the Persian
> Bayan: GPB, p 94.
> 
> {7} Matthew 22:12
> 
> {8} NEB: Matthew 22:14
> 
> {9} See A NOTE CONCERNING TITLES in the INTRODUCTION.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 20
> 
> {1} This sequence differs slightly from that proposed in THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED.
> 
> {2} See commentary Rev 5:5.
> 
> {3} John 3:7
> 
> {4} The resurrections that occurred during the Piscean Age were apparently suppressed and
> 
> minimized by satanic forces. Both Jesus and Muhammad prophesied that the Great Resurrection
> would occur but at a time known only to God. See, e.g., Luke 14:14; Matthew 24:36; Qur'an 99:2,
> 27:66-67.
> 
> {5} BOC, p 118; Qur'an 7:178
> 
> {6} Ez 38
> 
> {7} ROM, p 50
> 
> {8} Ez 38:8
> 
> {9} Ez 38:12
> 
> {10} Rev 20:9; Ez 38:21-23
> 
> {11} Qur'an 21:96
> 
> {12} Qur'an 18:82-96
> 
> {13} Ez 38:22
> 
> {14} Qur'an 18:100
> 
> {15} We note that the phrase "from whose face earth and heaven fled away" tends to favor the first
> interpretation since it correlates with Rev 6:12-17. On the other hand 'heaven and earth' (the former
> Spiritual and Material Laws of God) always 'flee' from the face of a Manifestation of God.
> 
> {16} Note that 'thrones' is plural. If there were a single individual who is to have the power of
> judgment during the Millennium, the word would be singular.
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 21
> {1} BWF, p 350
> 
> {2} Is 54:5-6
> 
> {3} See Rev 2:17, 3:12
> 
> {4} REB: Isaiah 65
> 
> {5} Is 65:1; BH: WOB, p 104; GPB, p 169
> 
> {6} Is 65:10
> 
> {7} Is 65:11-12
> 
> {8} Is 65:17
> 
> {9} Is 65:20
> 
> {10} Is 65:25
> 
> {11} The REB version of Isaiah 65:16 reads: "Anyone in the land invoking a blessing on himself will
> do so by God whose name is Amen, and anyone in the land taking an oath will do so by God whose
> name is Amen, for past troubles are forgotten; they have vanished from my sight." The REB is at
> variance with the KJV, the RSV and the NIV. These translate 'Amen' as the 'God of truth.' I do not
> know the rationale for these interpretations. However, assuming that 'Amen' is introduced as a
> sacred name of God in the new Age, what is its meaning? In Piscean Judeo-Christian usage, the
> word came to mean simply 'faithful and true!', a 'seal' or an echo of assent to the truth of a spiritual
> statement. In Rev 3:14 we find that usage of "Amen" in reference to Muhammad, the "faithful and
> true witness" to the Prophethood of Jesus. The 'Rx' symbol on a prescription drug has come to mean
> simply a statement of clinical potency, although it was originally an abbreviation of a prayer to
> 'Jupiter Rex,' the king of the Roman pantheon. Similarly, 'Amon' or 'Amen' was also the name of the
> chief god of upper Egypt whose worship was introduced near the beginning of the Age of Aries and
> flourished during the Egyptian Captivity. Literally, the name means 'Hidden.' In the words of
> Bahá'u'lláh, God is the 'Unknowable Essence,' and 'the most hidden of the hidden.' Apparently, in
> the Leo-Aquarian Age, the ancient title might become an acceptable appellation for God, since 'past
> troubles are forgotten.'
> 
> {12} REB: Ezekiel 28:13-16 lists some of the stones that will be given in this and later verses. The
> king of Tyre, adorned with semi-precious stones, once walked on 'God's holy mountain' (Carmel),
> but is brought down in disgrace "from among the stones that flashed like fire." Ezekiel {28} gives the
> dimensions of the holy City as 4,500 measures on each side and 18,000 measures around the
> perimeter. Both of these numbers have an archetypal value of 9. The dimensions of the altar {29}
> are given as 12 cubits on each side, which gives an archetypal value of 9 for its area. The altar is
> purified for 7 days. {30} The 7 'days' symbolize the seven Faiths (1:4) that precede the Faith of the
> Bab and Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> {13} Ezekiel 48:31-34 gives a list of names of the tribes as they are to appear on the gates of a
> prophetic city allotted to the tribes of Israel. Ezekiel's list is at variance with Revelation 7:5-8 and
> does not appear to have astrological significance.
> 
> {14} using Luke's 6:14-16 list.
> 
> {15} See Zech 11:13 and commentary Rev 7:5-8.
> 
> {15}{16} TAB, pp 92-94; WAB, pp 164-167
> 
> {17} AB: SAQ, pp 284-286
> 
> {18} AB: SAQ, p 67. See also Joshua 4 and Matthew 19:28.
> 
> {19} The orientation of the holy City follows the canon of the four cardinal directions. We find the
> same canon applied, for example, to the Giza pyramids. The three gates in each wall represent the
> three zodiacal signs centered about that cardinal direction.
> 
> {20} TAB, pp 92-94; WAB, pp 164-167
> 
> {21} Reported by E.T. Hall of Manchester, England on February 28, 1920.
> 
> {22} Recent discoveries by certain Egyptologists indicate that astrology played an important part in
> the design and placement of the Giza pyramids. In contrast to the pyramid of the new Jerusalem,
> 
> the Great Pyramid of Giza has a base that lies OUTSIDE the circle. There are many other interesting
> facts and speculations concerning the Great Pyramid of Giza, but only pertinent characteristics will
> be recited.
> 
> {23} That is, the 'Quadratura Circuli,' discussed in depth by Carl Jung in PSYCHOLOGY AND
> RELIGION, Yale University Press, 1971. See SOME NUMEROLOGY in the INTRODUCTION.
> 
> {24} Cf. Zech 1:8-21 with Rev 6:1-8, 7:1.
> 
> {25} See TAB, pp 538-40
> 
> {26} Approximately 25,920 solar years. Also called a Great Year or a Platonic Year.
> 
> {27} Proof not given here. Some of the results follow from the 'circular property of 9,' that is, any
> real, positive, non-zero number multiplied by 9 will have an archetypal value of 9.
> 
> {28} The interested reader may test other theories of his own, such as by letting each edge of the
> pyramid equal 12,000 measures, or by assuming a cubical shape for the holy City. Regardless of the
> assumptions posited, the number 9 will appear with high frequency in the archetypal values of the
> parameters.
> 
> {29} This interpretation of the 12 Foundation Stones is based on a pilgrim's note purportedly given
> to Shahnaz Waite by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. My typed copy contains many typographical and other errors. I
> have taken some liberties with the text of the note to correct obvious errors, make it more readable,
> and to elaborate on certain portions where I considered it productive to do so. In particular, I
> included 'justice' as an attribute of the sapphire in accordance with the ancient Egyptian
> priesthood's use of the stone to represent 'truth and justice.' The Twelve Basic Principles as listed
> here can be found in several issues of STAR OF THE WEST beginning with Vol 10, March 20, 1920.
> 
> {30} BH: TABLETS OF BAHA'U'LLAH, p 169
> 
> {31} Occultly derived from Exodus 14:19-21. (See KLIMA in the INTRODUCTION.) The set of 72
> names was further divided into 4 groups of 18 names in correspondence with the four letters of the
> Tetragrammaton, and apparently in correspondence with the four zodiacal seasons. Astrologers
> describe the attributes of a sign of the visible zodiac in 6-term combinations of: masculine or
> feminine; diurnal or nocturnal; commanding, melancholy, phlegmatic or sanguine; earthy, airy,
> fiery or watery; hot or cold; dry or wet. There are probably other secrets in the number 144 that will
> not be discussed here.
> 
> {32} REB: Isaiah 54:11
> 
> {33} Is 54:11
> 
> {34} From Lat. 'templus'; Hebrew for Temple is 'beth Jehovah' or 'hecal Jehovah,' a residence or
> palace of Jehovah.
> 
> {35} Ex 6:12-13
> 
> {36} See Mal 2:8; Mark 7:5-8.
> 
> {37} Is 60:11, 19-20
> 
> {38} Is 60:1
> 
> {39} Is 60:14
> 
> {40} Is 60:4, 9
> 
> {41} The Pantocrator is thrice-holy in 4:8.
> 
> {42} The Bab: SWB, p 129 fn
> 
> {43} See commentary Rev 7:5-8.
> 
> {44} In THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, I proposed that the Bab was the 'Moon' in this verse. The
> moon is a reflector of the sun's light. Since he was a Manifestation of God, the Bab was a 'Sun,' not a
> 'Moon.'
> 
> NOTES TO CHAPTER 22
> 
> {1} NTG, Aug 3rd.
> 
> {2} Ex 33:11. But in Ex 33:18, Moses seems unsatisfied with this arrangement and requests that he
> be permitted to see His 'Glory' (Heb 'Kabowd'). Psalms 73:24 reads (REB) "You guide me by your
> counsel and afterwards you will receive me with glory.
> 
> {3} We also note that Ez 9:3-4 (REB) reads: 3 "The glory of God of Israel ..... called to the man
> dressed in linen, with pen and ink at his waist. 4 'Go through the city of Jerusalem,' said the Lord,
> 'and mark with a cross the foreheads of those who groan and lament over all the abominations
> practiced there.' "
> 
> {4} Cf. Rev 1:17, 19:10.
> 
> {5} Cf. Rev 1:3, 10:4.
> 
> {6} REB, NIV and RSV: 1:8, 21:6 and 22:13. In the KJV, it also occurs (spuriously?) at 1:11.
> 
> {7} Is 44:6-7
> 
> {8} Jesus reveals that "many of the first will be last, and the last first." (REB) Mark 10:28-31; also
> see Matt 20:1-16. Jesus' words imply that many of those who are the first to accept his own
> Manifestation may be the last to accept the Manifestation of the Age to come. Confirmed Bahá'ís,
> even former atheists, readily accept the validity of the Manifestations of all previous Ages, including
> Jesus Christ and Muhammad.
> 
> {10} GWB, p 104
> 
> {11} Cf. Matt 2:2. The 'rising star' seen by the astrologers from the East (Zoroastrians?) was probably
> the great conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter that occurred in 6 BCE.
> 
> {12} A few variations in versions of the Apocalypse have already been noted. Certain Christian
> groups have rejected the Apocalypse altogether.
> 
> {13} in Hebrew! Later equally heroic attempts have been made to equate 666 to various favored
> villains. Besides the Caliph, Napoleon may have had enough villainous stature to qualify for the
> number, especially since he is the subject of Daniel 11:36-45.
> 
> {14} Bahá'u'lláh explains that the phrase 'the Alpha and the Omega' means 'the Word of God,' and
> thus it can be applied collectively to every Manifestation of God, since they "are regarded as one soul
> and the same person, ... utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith." However, Shoghi
> Effendi explains that, in the Apocalypse, the title specifically refers to Bahá'u'lláh. (BH: TTJ; WOB, p
> 115; SE: GPB, p 95
> 
> {15} at 1:8, 1:11(?), 21:6, 22:13.
> 
> {16} See commentary, Rev 5:5.
> 
> NOTES TO APPENDIX A                                                                               ↩
> 
> {1} In at least one version of the Apocalypse, the Alpha is spelled out while the Omega remains a
> single letter. The literal value of this version is 1332, which is twice-666.
> 
> {2} The hamza is a glottal stop with the value of 1, the same value as the alif.
> 
> SOME BAHA'I APOCALYPTIC WRITINGS
> 
> The following writings have been used as background material for much of this Commentary on the
> Apocalypse. They are described in more detail in THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED.
> 
> GENERAL:
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá: BS, Sections 92, 804
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá: TAB, pp. 285-6, 294, 678-81
> 
> 'Abdu'l-Bahá: SOW, Vol. 8, p 180
> 
> Shoghi Effendi: GPB, pp 48-9, 57-8, 93-100, 238-40
> 
> Mirza Asadu'llah: SOW, Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 3-4
> 
> Mirza Asadu'llah: SM, pp 112-19
> 
> CHAPTER number:
> 
> VERSES; AUTHOR; SOURCE
> 
> CHAPTER 1:
> 
> 4; Shoghi Effendi; BAHA'I NEWS, No. 77, Sept 1933
> 
> 7; Bahá'u'lláh; BOC, pp 71-3, 216-7
> 
> 4, 16, 20; The Universal House of Justice; Letter to individual believer, Aug. 7, 1978
> 
> 4; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SAQ, p 179
> 
> 8; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; PT, p 51
> 
> 8; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, p 95
> 
> 8; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SAQ, p 254
> 
> 8; Bahá'u'lláh; TTJ
> 
> 8; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; WAB, p 13
> 
> 11-16; Bahá'u'lláh; TOM
> 
> CHAPTER 2:
> 
> 17; Bahá'u'lláh; GWB, p 195
> 
> 17; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SOW, Vol 11, p 275
> 
> 17; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, p 677
> 
> CHAPTER 4:
> 
> 4; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, pp 7-8
> 
> 4; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SAQ, pp 86-7
> 
> 4; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, p 39
> 
> CHAPTER 6:
> 
> 12-13; Bahá'u'lláh; BOC, pp 33-4, 36-41
> 
> CHAPTER 9:
> 
> 12; Shoghi Effendi; M-to-A; pp 99-100
> 
> CHAPTER 11:
> 
> all; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SAQ, pp 53-71
> 
> 11-14; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, pp 49-50
> 
> 13; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, pp 53-54
> 
> 13; Mirza Asadu'llah; SM, pp 16-17
> 
> CHAPTER 12:
> 
> all; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SAQ, pp 77-82
> 
> CHAPTER 13:
> 
> 8; Louis Gregory & Mirza Abu'l-Fadl; SOW, Vol 13, No 14
> 
> 18; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; Two Tablets to individual believers
> 
> CHAPTER 16:
> 
> 16; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SOW, Vol 10, No 3
> 
> 16; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; 'ABDU'L-BAHA, pp 259, 438
> 
> 16; Shoghi Effendi; WOB, pp 4-7
> 
> CHAPTER 19:
> 
> 16; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, p 206
> 
> CHAPTER 20:
> 
> 3; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, pp 659-60
> 
> 4; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, pp 396-7, 429-30, 643-4
> 
> 7; Shoghi Effendi; Bahá'í News, No 89, Jan 1935, p 1
> 
> CHAPTER 21:
> 
> 1-2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; SOW, Vol 18, No 197
> 
> 1-2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, pp 538-40
> 
> 1-2; Shoghi Effendi; Bahá'í News, No 134, Mar 1940, p 2
> 
> 1-2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; PUP, pp 17-8, 35-6, 97-8
> 
> 1-2; Mirza Asadu'llah; SM, pp 37-40
> 
> 1-2; Bahá'u'lláh; ESW, pp 144-5
> 
> 1-2; Shoghi Effendi; GPB, p 213
> 
> 1-2; Shoghi Effendi; WOB, pp 204-6
> 
> 1-2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; PT, p 84
> 
> 1-7; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; BWF, pp 350-1 and WAB, pp 12-3
> 
> 2; Shoghi Effendi; ADJ, pp 64-7
> 
> 2; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; BWF, pp 380-1
> 
> 10-17; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, pp 92-4 and WAB, pp 164-7
> 
> 15; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; pilgrim's note to E.T. Hall, 1920
> 
> 19-20; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; pilgrim's note to S. Waite, circa 1920
> 
> 19-20; ?; SOW, Vol 10, Mar 20, 1920, pp 358-9
> 
> 22-23; 'Abdu'l-Bahá; TAB, pp 10-11
> 
> 23; Bahá'u'lláh; BS, Sect 47, p 117
> 
> 23; Mirza Abu'l-Fadl; SOW, Nov 22, 1902
> 
> SOME BIBLICAL REFERENCES
> 
> SYMBOLISM:
> 
> Wind- Gen 8:1; Ex 10:13, 19, 14:21, 15:10; Num 11:31; 2 Sam 22:11; 1 Kings 19:11; Ps 18:10, 78:26,
> 104:3, 107:25; Jer 49:36; Is 59:19, 60:19-20; Ez 37:9; Dan 7:2; Zech 2:6; Matt 8:26-7
> 
> Dogs and pigs: Matt 7:6
> 
> Millstone: Luke 17:2
> 
> 'Heaven and earth': Matt 24:35
> 
> Tower of Babel: Genesis 11:9
> 
> 'Tree of Life': Gen 2:9
> 
> Horn' as a name: Dan 7:8, 11, 20-24, 8:5-22
> 
> 'Horn' as a 'head': Ps 92:10, 112:9
> 
> 'See': Is 6:9-10; Matt 13:14-19, 24:15; John 9:39; Acts 28:26-27; Romans 1:20. Cf Matt 17:10-13 with
> 2 Kings 2:11 & Mal 4:5
> 
> 'Death,' 'sleep,' etc.: Gen 2:17; Ez 18:21-23; Matt 8:21-22, 10:28; John 11:25, 17:3; 1 Tim 5:6;
> 
> Raised from death: Romans 1:2
> 
> 'Clouds': Ps 97:2; Is 44:22, 50:3; Ez 30:1-3, 32:7-8; Zeph 1:14-15;
> 
> Stars shall fall, etc.- Matt 24:29-30
> 
> Rod of Iron- Is 11:4
> 
> 'Manna' = 'Word of God'- John 1:1-2, 3:34, 6:33 ff, 6:50-51,
> 
> 12:49; Wisdom 9:17
> 
> Door: Psalm 24:7-10; Ez 43:1-4
> 
> The rejected stone: Ps 118:22
> 
> 'Seven eyes'- Zech 3:9- 4:10
> 
> Seven suns: Is 30:26
> 
> Tree: Gen 2:9; Ps 1:3; Prov 3:18; Dan 4:10, 20-22; Matt 3:10, 7:19, 12:33
> 
> Sun and heat- Eccl (e.g.) 3:16, 4:1-16, 5:13, 18, 6:1; Is 49:10; Ps 121:6; Jonah 4:8; Mal 4:1-2
> 
> Water- Is 12:3, 49:10; Jer 2:13, 17:13; Ez 36:25; John 4:10-14; Zec 14:8
> 
> Hunger- Ex 16:3-4; Deut 8:3; Neh 9:15; Ps 34:10; Amos 8:11-12; Matt 5:6; Luke 6:21, 25; John 6:35
> 
> Fire: E.g., Is 1:25, 10:17, 30:27-33, 33:11, 66:15-16; Amos 2:5; Ps 29:7-8, 83:14-15; Mal 3:2-3; Jer
> 13:9; Heb 12:29
> 
> Grass and green things: Job 5:25, 8:16, 15:32, Ps 23:2, 37:2, 35-36, 52:8, 72:6, 90:5-6, 92:7, 102:4,
> 103:15-16, 129:6-8; Pr 19:12; Is 37:27, 40:6-8, 44:3-4, 51:12; Jer 11:16, 17:8; Ez 17:24; Hos 14:8;
> Micah 5:7; Luke 23:30-31; James 1:10-11; 1 Peter 1:24-25
> 
> Voices: Gen 4:10; Ec 5:3-7; Ps 55:3, 58:5, 74:23
> 
> Thunder, etc.: E.g., Ps 46:6, 77:18, 93:3-5, 104:7
> 
> Sea and dry land: E.g.: Exodus 14:16-29; Haggai 2:6-7
> 
> Rain: Ps 72:6; Pr 16:15; Is 5:6, 55:10-11; Jer 5:24, 14:22; Ez 1:28, 38:22; Hos 10:12; Amos 4:7; Zec
> 14:17-18; Matt 5:45
> 
> Hail: Ps 11:6, 105:22
> 
> Earthquake: Ps 114:7; 1 Chron 16:29-34; Joel 3:16; Amos 8:8; Is 13:13, 14:16; Hag 2:6-7; Heb 12:26-
> 
> Sun, moon and stars: Amos 8:9; Ezek 32:7-8; Job 38:7; Num 24:17; Acts 2:20; Jude 1:13; Matt
> 24:29; Obad 1:4; Gen 37:9; Deut 17:3; Ps 72:5, 121:6, 136:8-9, 148:3; Is 60:19-20, 14:12; 13:10,
> 30:26; Jer 31:35; Joel 2:10, 31, 3:15; Micah 3:6; Luke 21:25
> 
> Heavens rolled up: Is 34:4; Matt 24:29-30
> 
> Mountains, valleys: Ps 114:4; Is 14:25-26, 2:2-3, 40:4, 65:23-25; Jer 48:8; Micah 1:3-4; Luke 23:30;
> 3:4-5; Dan 2; John 4:21
> 
> Dens, islands, rocks: Ps 18:2; Deut 32:4, 30, 31
> 
> Fire and brimstone: Gen 19:24; Deut 29:23; Job 18:15; Ps 11:6; Is 30:33, 34:9; Ez 38:22; Luke 17:29
> 
> Birds: Gen 40:17-19; Lev 14:6-53; Ps 11:1, 35:7, 124:7; Jer 4:25, 5:27, 12:4-9; Ez 13:20, 39:4; Ec
> 10:20; Hosea 9:11, 11:11; Dan 4:33; Lam 3:52; Is 31:5, 46:11; Matt 13:32; Luke 17:20, 37
> 
> Frogs: Exodus 8
> 
> Altar: E.g., Ex 30:1, 27, 31:8, 35:15, 40:5; 1 Kings 1:50-51; 2 Chron 6:22; Amos 3:14; Matt 23:18-22
> 
> Dead (Gr: 'Nekros' = lit. or fig. 'dead')- all of Revelation except Rev 11; all N.T. direct quotes of Jesus
> except: Matt 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52, 10:30; John 6:49, 58, 11:14, 25
> 
> Dead (Gr: 'Ptoma' = 'a lifeless body')- Rev 11
> 
> Dead (Gr: 'Apothnesco' = lit. or fig. 'to die off')- Matt 9:24; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 6:49, 58,
> 11:14, 25
> 
> Dead (Gr: 'Anazao' = lit. or fig. 'be alive again')- Luke 15:24, 32
> 
> Alive (Gr: 'Zao' = lit. or fig. 'lively')- Rev 1:18, 2:8
> 
> Stand (Heb: ''Amad' = lit. and fig. 'arise')- Dan 12:1, 13
> 
> Awake (Heb: 'Quwts' = lit. or fig. 'arise')- Dan 12:2
> 
> 'mark' as a 'sign' or 'token' (Heb 'oth'): Gen 4:15; Deut 11:18
> 
> 'mark' as a 'signature' (Heb 'tawv'): Ez 9:4, 6
> 
> 'mark' as a 'badge of servitude' (Gr 'charagma'): Rev 13:16, 17, 14:9, 11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4
> 
> 'image' as a 'resemblance' (Heb 'tselen'): Gen 1:26
> 
> 'image' as a 'resemblance' (Gr 'eikon'): Matt 22:20; Mark 12:16; Luke 20:24; Rev 13:14, 15, 14:9, 11, !
> 5:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4
> 
> PARABLE AND ALLEGORY:
> 
> Allegory used in the Bible: Matt 13:10-23, 36-43, 15:8-20, 16:11-12, 17:11-13, 22:29-32, 26:26-28;
> Mark 4:10-12, 34; 1 Cor 2:13-14, 4:20, 10:1-4, 14:15-20; 2 Cor 4:18; Gal 4:21-26
> 
> Parable of the Vineyard: Matt 21:33-41; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 20:9-16
> 
> Parable of the Talents: Matt 16:21, 25:1, 14-30
> 
> Parable of the Feast: Matthew 22:1-13; Luke 14:16-24. Cf. Isaiah 47 & 54;
> 
> NUMBERS AND NUMEROLOGY:
> 
> Forty: Ex 24:18; Gen 7:4, 12, 8:6, 18:29, 50:3; Numbers 13:25, 14:33-34; Deut 2:7, 8:2-4, 25, 9:18-
> 25; 1 Kings 19:8; Ezek 4:6, 16:35, 24:18, 29:11; Jonah 3:4; 1 Sam 17:16; Matt 4:2; Acts 1:3; Ps 95:10;
> Micah (KJV) 7:15; Josh 5:6, 13:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2
> 
> '72'- Num 11:25-6; Luke (REB, NIV) 10:1
> 
> 'Thrice'- Ex 34:23-4; 2 Kings 13:18-19, 25; Matt 26:34; Luke 22:34; John 13:38; Acts 10:16
> 
> Seven times seven: Lev 25:8-12; Deut 16:9
> 
> Seventy times seven: Dan 9:24; Matt 18:21-22
> 
> Two olive trees: Zech 4:3, 11-14; Exodus 7; Ex 9:33, Ex 4:9, Ex 4:21
> 
> The 12 stones of the priestly breastplate- Ex 39:12
> 
> Four horses of heaven- Zech 6:2-3
> 
> Bonding of souls- Matt 13; Mark 4:30-34
> 
> AGES AND ASTROLOGY:
> 
> Future Ages: Ps 72:5; Matt 12:32, 24:3, 26:29, 28:20 (RSV); 1 Cor 10:11
> 
> Four corners: Zech 1:8-21
> 
> The cosmic machine- Ezek 1, 10
> 
> Cosmic seasons- Mark 13:28-29
> 
> Age of Aries- Acts 17:23 (Egyptian cult of Ram = 'Amon' = 'Occult')
> 
> 'Lamb of God'- John 1:29, 36
> 
> Age of Pisces- Matt 2:1-2
> 
> Golden calf (Age of Taurus)- Ex 32:23
> 
> Four horses of heaven- Zech 6:2-3
> 
> 'Forever' is an 'Aeon'- Cf. Matt 28:20 in KJV and RSV; 1 Peter 1:5, 20, 4:7; 1 Cor 10:11; Jude 18
> 
> PROGRESSIVE REVELATION:
> 
> Progressive Revelation: Heb 4:14, 6:20, 7:12; 9:15-28 (cf. 1 Tim 2:5 & 2 Cor 3:7-11)
> 
> Future Manifestations: Matt 16:27, 19:28, 24:3, 30, 44; Mark 13:26; Luke 9:26, 17:24-26, 30, 18:8;
> John 14:16, 17, 26, 15:26, 16:7, 8, 13
> 
> Jesus foretold by Moses: Deut 18:15-19; John 5:46
> 
> "Fierce as a Lion to Judah" (Third-Day prophecy)- Hosea 5:14 - 6:2. [The three 'days' are the
> Dispensations of Jesus, Muhammad and the Bab. The Bab's Declaration came a few weeks after the
> Edict of Toleration that permitted the Jews to resettle the Holy Land.]
> 
> New song- Is 42:9-10, 43:19
> 
> THE BOOKS WERE SEALED:
> 
> Dan 12:4, 8-9; John 16:12-13; 1 Corinthians 13:8-12
> 
> STATION OF A MANIFESTATION:
> 
> Son of God: John 10:34-35; Psalm 82:6-8; Romans 1:3-4; Heb 1:4-6
> 
> Jesus' relationship to Abraham: John 8:58
> 
> The Manifestation as a 'Mirror'- Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3-4
> 
> "I and my Father are one."- John 10:30
> 
> Autonomy of a Manifestation- John 5:26-27
> 
> RESURRECTION AND THE RAPTURE:
> 
> Born again: John 3:5-7, 6:54-8
> 
> The time known only to God: Luke 14:14; Matthew 24:36
> 
> The 'Rapture'- Cf. 1 Thess 4:16 and Ephesians 2:5-7
> 
> Resurrection: (Gr: 'Anastasis' = 'a standing up again' = lit. 'a resurrection from death' or fig. 'a moral
> recovery of spiritual truth')- Rev 20:5, 6; all direct quotes of Jesus in the Gospels (i.e., Matt 22:30-
> 31; Luke 14:14, 20:35-36; John 5:29, 11:25); also Matt 27:53, 12:18, 23; Mark 12:26-27; Luke 20:27,
> 33; John 11:24
> 
> Resurrection (Gr: 'Egersis' = lit. 'a resurgence from death' or fig. 'an awakening from inactivity')-
> Matt 27:53
> 
> Resurrection (Gr: 'Exanastasis' = lit. 'a rising from death')- Philippians 3:11
> 
> The 'Rapture':
> 
> Raised (Gr: 'Egeiro' = lit. 'to waken from sleep or death' or fig. 'to rouse from inactivity')- Eph 1:20
> 
> Raised (Gr: 'Sunegeiro' = lit. 'to rouse from death in company with' or fig. 'to revivify spiritually in
> resemblance to')- Eph 2:6
> 
> Caught up (Gr: 'Harpazo' = 'to seize' in various applications)- 1 Thes 4:17; Rev 12:5
> 
> Alive (Gr: 'Zao' [see above])- 1 Thes 4:15, 17
> 
> DISPENSATION OF BAHA'U'LLAH:
> 
> One name for God: Zech 14:9
> 
> One God: Eph 4:4-6; Gal 3:20; Mal 2:10
> 
> One shepherd: John 10:16
> 
> As bright as 7 suns: Is 30:26
> 
> Day not followed by Night- Zech 14:7
> 
> Deliverance of daughter of Zion: Is 62:11
> 
> Falcon from the east: Is 46:10-11
> 
> Word renewed at Babylon: Micah 4:10; Ez 1:1, 28, 43:1-4; Zec 4. Cf. Ezra 5:2 & Zech 4:9. [The river
> Chebar or Kabar empties into the Euphrates at Babylon. 'Zerubabel' means 'Banished in Babylon.']
> 
> "Here am I, here am I": Is 65:1
> 
> One like the son of man: Daniel 7:13
> 
> Marriage of the Lamb: Isaiah 47 & 54
> 
> Mystical references to Bahá' (Glory): Is 60:1-2; Hab 2:14; (Beth and Ayn:) 1 Kings 7:21; 2 Chron 3:15
> ; Exod 13:21; Ruth 4:21
> 
> Lord of Hosts, First and Last, Latter Day Redeemer, King of Glory: Is 41:4, 14, 44:6, 47:4, 48:12,
> 59:19-21; Ps 24:7- 10; Job 19:25; Jer 23:5-8
> 
> God of Glory: Acts 7:2
> 
> Spirit of Truth: John 16:12-15
> 
> Throne of Glory: Jer 14:21; Ez 1:26; Matt 19:28, 25:31
> 
> 'Zerubbabel' (= 'Banished in Babylon' = Bahá'u'lláh)- Haggai 2:23; Zech 3:9- 4:10
> 
> Rod of Jesse: Is 11:1, 10
> 
> Michael: Dan 10:13, 21, 12:1-4. [Also see Exodus 23:23. 'My Angel' = 'Michael' by rearrangement of
> the Hebrew letters. This is an ancient form of letter mysticism called 'temurah.']
> 
> Birth of Michael: Dan 12:1
> 
> The 'Return'- Luke 13:35; Matt 16:27, 17:10-13, 25:31-33
> 
> Thief in the Night- Matt 24:42-44; Luke 12:39-40; Cf. 2 Peter and Wisdom 17:19-18:1
> 
> Glory [= Heb 'Kabowd' = Gr 'Doxa' = 'palpable manifestation'] E.g.: Deut 5:24; 1 Sam 4:21; Ps 73:24;
> Is 3:8, 6:3; Ez 39:21; Matt 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 9:26, 21:27, 24:26
> 
> Glory of God: E.g.: Ex 16:7, 10, 24:16, 33:18, 40:34; Lev 9:6; Num 14:10; Ps 19:1, 24:7-10, 102:16,
> 138:5; Is 35:2, 40:5, 60:1, 11, 19-20; Ez 1:28, 3:12, 43:1-4, 9:3, 10:4, 18, 19, 11:22, 23; Hab 2:14; Hag
> 2:7; Matt 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 2:9, 9:26; John 11:4, 40, 17:5, 22, 24, 9:26, 21:27, 24:26; Acts 7:55
> 
> Glory of God at Babylon [at the river Kebar]: Ez 3:23, 8:4, 43:1-5
> 
> Glory of God fills the Sanctuary: 1 Kings 8:11; 2 Chron 5:14
> 
> Cloak dyed red; winepress, etc.: Gen 37:31-33, 49:11; Isaiah 63:1-3
> 
> Rejection of Bahá'u'lláh: Luke 17:22-25; Is 60:1-3
> 
> Forty-year Ministry: KJV: Micah 7:15
> 
> Israel's call to return: Is 5:24-26, 60:4, 9
> 
> THE BRANCH,
> 
> 'ABDU'L-BAHA: Isaiah 11:1 (KJV).
> 
> THE CHILD,
> 
> SHOGHI EFFENDI: Is 11:6
> 
> CARMEL:
> 
> Carmel: 1 Kings 19:8; Is 35:2; Jer 46:18, 50:19
> 
> Napoleon at Carmel: Dan 11:45 to 12:1
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh at Carmel: E.g., Is 35:2, 41:2; Is 65: Jer 49:38; Ez 43:2; Hosea 2:15; Micah 7:12-15; Matt
> 24:3, 27, 36. In these prophecies, Assyria included old Babylonia, etc.; Elam was a region included
> in Persia; 'Achor' literally means 'trouble,' an occult name for modern 'Akka;
> 
> OLIVE TREES:
> 
> Olive trees: Ps 52:8; Jer 11:16; Hos 14:6
> 
> Two olive trees: Zech 4:3, 11-14
> 
> BABYLON:
> 
> Fall of Babylon: Isaiah 47
> 
> Fall of Israel to Babylon: Jer 25:10
> 
> Babylon; Ps 137:8; Is 21:9, 48:14; Jer 29:15; Jer 50; Zec 2:7
> 
> Babylon in ruins: Jer 51:58, 64
> 
> Daughter of Babylon: Is 47
> 
> Word renewed at Babylon: Micah 4:10; Ez 1:1, 28, 43:1-4; Zec 4. Cf. Ezra 5:2 & Zech 4:9. [The river
> Chebar or Kabar empties into the Euphrates at Babylon. 'Zerubabel' means 'Banished in Babylon.']
> 
> DAY OF THE LORD:
> 
> A Day of the Lord = 'a thousand years': Ps 90:4
> 
> Woe: Is 3:9, 11, 5:8-22, 29:15; Ez 13:3, 18, 34:2; Luke 11:42-52
> 
> Woe attends a Day of the Lord: Amos 5:18
> 
> Rejection of Messengers: Matt 23:29-39; Acts 7:51-53
> 
> SATAN:
> 
> Leviathan: Is 27:1
> 
> Dragon: Is 51:9; Ezek 29:3
> 
> Scorpion: Gen 49:17-18
> 
> Serpent: E.g., Gen 3:1; Ex 4:4-5; Matt 10:16; Job 26:13; Is 27:1, 14:29; Amos 9:3. Cf: Numbers 21:9
> and John 3:14-15
> 
> Satan: E.g., Job 1:6 ff; Zech 3:1 ff; Matt 4:10, 12:26, 16:22; Mark 1:13; Luke 10:18, 13:16, 22:31; Acts
> 26:18
> 
> Evolution of 'Satan': Cf: 2 Sam 24:1 and 1 Chron 21:1
> 
> ZION:
> 
> Ps 65:1; Is 2:3-4, 59:19-21; John 4:21; Romans 9:33, 11:26; 1 Pet 2:6
> 
> ARMAGEDDON:
> 
> Megiddo: 2 Kings 23:29; 2 Chron 35:22; Zech 12:11
> 
> THE ABOMINATION THAT MAKES DESOLATE:
> 
> Dan 8:13-14, 11:31, 12:11; Ez 18:12; Matt 24:15, 29, 30; Mark 13:10, 14, 24-27; Luke 21:20, 24-28
> 
> THE COVENANT:
> 
> The Covenant- Gen 9:13; Ezek 1:28, 6:12-13; 16:62, 37:26; Jer 31:4, 31-34, 32:38-40; Luke 1:72; Is
> 52:9, 54:10, 59:21; Ps 33:11, 105:8-9; Hos 14:7; Amos 9:11; Mic 7:18-19; Heb 8:8
> 
> Violation of the Covenant: Malachi 2:8-10; Zep 3:9; Matt 16:18-19, 28:18-20; Mark 7:5-8, 16:15;
> Luke 24:47; John 21:15-17; 1 Cor 4:9, 9:1-27, 12:27-31, 15:9; 2 Cor 11:5-13, 12:11; Gal 1:17-19
> 
> SACRIFICE:
> 
> Blood sacrifice- Gen 22:13-14; Ex 24:4-8; Num 6:17, 28:9; Lev 4:32-35, 16:11; 1 Peter 1:19, 2:5; Heb
> 9:12-14, 10:4, 11, 12; Is 40:2, 53:4-5; John 1:29, 36; Rom 12:1
> 
> 'Lamb of God'- John 1:29, 36
> 
> ONLY BEGOTTEN:
> 
> Israel: Apoc of Ezra 6:55
> 
> Jesus: cf. John 1:18 in KJV and RSV
> 
> THE NEW JERUSALEM:
> 
> The new Jerusalem- Is 2:2-4, 9:6-7, Is 60, 62:1-2; Zec 14:9
> 
> Precious stones: Ezekiel 28:13-16; Is 54:11
> 
> No more curse: Isaiah 65; Zech 14:11
> 
> 'Running water': Zech 14:8
> 
> List of tribes: Ezekiel 28:13-16
> 
> 'wall of fire': Zech 2:1-5
> 
> PROPHETIC TIME SCALES:
> 
> A 'day' equals a 'year': Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6
> 
> A Day of the Lord = 'a thousand years': Ps 90:4
> 
> 'Forever' is an 'Aeon'- Cf. Matt 28:20 in KJV and RSV; 1 Peter 1:5, 20, 4:7; 1 Cor 10:11; Jude 18
> 
> 3 1/2 'times': Dan 7:25 and 12:7
> 
> THRONE OF DAVID:
> 
> Throne of David- 1 Sam 16:1; 2 Sam 7:12-16; Is 9:6-7; Ez 37:24; Mal 2:10; Zep 3:9
> 
> Sons of David cut off: Ezekiel 19:4; 2 Kings 21:2-7, 24:17, 25:7; Psalm 132:11-12; Jer 15:4, 36:30; Is
> 63:10; Zech 12:7
> 
> Ultimate victory: Gen 49:10
> 
> Jesus denies the Throne: Matt 10:34; John 18:33-36
> 
> KEY OF DAVID:
> 
> Is 22:22
> 
> MESSIAH:
> 
> Cyrus a messiah: Is 45:1
> 
> Prepare a lamp for him: Psalm (REB) 132:17
> 
> Not a son of David: Matt 22:42-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41; Psalm 110; John 18:33-36
> 
> DIVINE BESTOWAL:
> 
> David: 1 Sam 16:1;
> 
> Melchizedek, Jesus: Heb 5:4-5, 7:3, 15;
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh: Is 11
> 
> THRONE OF HEAVEN:
> 
> Jesus: John 18:36; Matt 19:28; Luke 22:30
> 
> APOSTLES OF JESUS:
> 
> As per Luke: Luke 6:12
> 
> Sons of thunder: Mark 3:17
> 
> Judas: John 13:21-30; Zech 11:7-14
> 
> GOG AND MAGOG:
> 
> Ez 38
> 
> SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                                  ↩
> 
> JUDEO-CHRISTIAN:
> 
> KJV: THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE
> NEB: THE NEW ENGLISH HOLY BIBLE
> REB: THE REVISED ENGLISH HOLY BIBLE
> NIV: THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE
> 
> RSV: THE REVISED STANDARD VERSION OF THE HOLY BIBLE
> Roland H. Bainton, CHRISTENDOM, Vol. 1, Harper and Row, NY, 1966
> Ernst Muller, HISTORY OF JEWISH MYSTICISM, Oxford, 1946
> Rudolph Bultmann, PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY IN ITS CONTEMPORARY SETTING, tr. Rev. R.H.
> Fuller, Meridian Books, World Publishing Co., Cleveland and New York, 1956
> F.H. Colson, G.H. Whitaker, PHILO, London, 1929
> Christopher Dawson, et al, SAINT AUGUSTINE, HIS AGE, LIFE AND THOUGHT, Meridian Books,
> the World Publishing Company, Cleveland, 1969
> Graham Hancock, THE SIGN AND THE SEAL, Crown Publishers, NY, 1992
> 
> MUSLIM:
> 
> QUR'AN: THE HOLY BOOK OF ISLAM
> Syed Aeer Ali, THE SPIRIT OF ISLAM, W.H. Allen Co., London, 1891; Christophers, 1935
> T.W. Arnold, THE PREACHING OF ISLAM, Scribners, NY, 1913 E.J. Brill, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
> OF ISLAM, Leiden, 1913-1942, 1960- 1966
> H.M. Balyuzi, MUHAMMAD AND THE COURSE OF ISLAM, George Ronald, Oxford, 1976
> 
> BAHA'I:
> 
> WAB- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA
> PT- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, PARIS TALKS
> CB- Bahá'u'lláh, THE COVENANT OF BAHA'U'LLAH (KITAB-I-'AHD)
> SWB- The Bab, SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE BAB
> SDC- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, THE SECRET OF DIVINE CIVILIZATION
> THW- Bahá'u'lláh, THE HIDDEN WORDS
> BOC- Bahá'u'lláh, THE BOOK OF CERTITUDE
> GPB - Shoghi Effendi, GOD PASSES BY
> WOB- Shoghi Effendi, THE WORLD ORDER OF BAHA'U'LLAH
> SAQ-, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, SOME ANSWERED QUESTIONS
> TDB- Nabil's Narrative, THE DAWN-BREAKERS, (trans. & edit. by Shoghi Effendi)
> BWF- Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, BAHA'I WORLD FAITH
> ROM- Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, THE REALITY OF MAN
> ESW- Bahá'u'lláh, EPISTLE TO THE SON OF THE WOLF
> PMB- Bahá'u'lláh, PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS
> GWB- Bahá'u'lláh, GLEANINGS FROM THE WRITINGS OF BAHA'U'LLAH
> TCH- Lady Blomfield, THE CHOSEN HIGHWAY
> WATAB- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, THE WILL AND TESTAMENT OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA
> ADJ- Shoghi Effendi, THE ADVENT OF DIVINE JUSTICE
> TPDIC- Shoghi Effendi, THE PROMISED DAY IS COME
> PUP- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE
> TAB- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, TABLETS OF 'ABDU'L-BAHA ABBAS, (3 volumes) 1940
> M-to-A - Shoghi Effendi, MESSAGES TO AMERICA (1932-46)
> 
> SM- Mirza Asadu'llah, SACRED MYSTERIES, 1902
> BS- Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, BAHA'I SCRIPTURES, 1923
> TTJ: Bahá'u'lláh, TABLET TO THE JEWS
> BOL: Bahá'u'lláh, THE BOOK OF LAWS (KITAB-I-AQDAS)
> TAF: Bahá'u'lláh, TABLET OF ALL FOOD
> TOM: Bahá'u'lláh, TABLET OF MYSTERIES
> TOA: Bahá'u'lláh, TABLET OF AHMAD
> NTG: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, London, NEARNESS TO GOD
> SOW: STAR OF THE WEST, republished by George Ronald, Oxford
> TOB: TABLETS OF BAHA'U'LLAH
> Adib Taherzadeh, THE REVELATION OF BAHA'U'LLAH, George Ronald, Oxford (4 volumes)
> Elena Maria Marsella, THE QUEST FOR EDEN, Philosophical Library, NY, 1966
> Abdu'l-Qasim Faizi, EXPLANATION OF THE EMBLEM OF THE GREATEST NAME, Bahá'í News,
> Wilmette, IL, Oct 1968
> Dhikru'llah Kadem, BAHA'U'LLAH AND HIS MOST HOLY SHRINE, Bahá'í News, Wilmette, IL,
> March 1976, No. 540
> Jamshed K. Fozdar, BUDDHA MAITRYA-AMITABHA HAS APPEARED, Bahá'í Publishing Trust,
> India, 1976
> William Sears, THIEF IN THE NIGHT, George Ronald, Oxford
> J.E. Esslemont, BAHA'U'LLAH AND THE NEW ERA, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, IL
> Ruhiyyih Rabbani, THE PRICELESS PEARL, Bahá'í Publishing Trust, London
> H.M. Balyuzi, 'ABDU'L-BAHA, George Ronald, Oxford
> Usted Muhammad-'Aliy-i Salmani, MY MEMORIES OF BAHA'U'LLAH, (tr. Marzieh Gail), Kalimat
> Press, Los Angeles, 1982
> H.M. Balyuzi, BAHA'U'LLAH, THE KING OF GLORY, George Ronald, Oxford, 1980
> 
> COMPARATIVE RELIGION:
> Hans Jonas, THE GNOSTIC RELIGION, Beacon Press, Boston, 1963
> Huston Smith, THE RELIGIONS OF MAN, Harper and Brothers, NY, 1958
> Edward Conze, BUDDHISM: ITS ESSENCE AND DEVELOPMENT, Philosophical Library, NY, 1951
> Jacques Duscesne-Guillemin, SYMBOLS AND VALUES IN ZOROASTRIANISM, Harper and Row,
> NY, 1966
> G.R. Driver, CANAANITE MYTHS AND LEGENDS, Clark, Edinburgh, 1956
> David Brady, THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND THE QUR'AN: IS THERE A POSSIBLE
> LITERARY RELATIONSHIP?, Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol 23, #2, Autumn, 1978
> 
> GENERAL HISTORY:
> Arnold J. Toynbee, A STUDY OF HISTORY
> Simeon L. Guterman, RELIGIOUS TOLERATION AND PERSECUTION IN ANCIENT ROME,
> London, 1961
> S. Runciman, THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE, 1453, Cambridge University Press, 1965
> V.V. Bartold, TURKESTAN DOWN TO THE MONGOL INVASION, 2nd ed., 1958
> Alexis Perrey, NOTE SUR LES TREMBLEMENTS DE TERRE, Academie Royale des Sciences des
> lettres et des Beaux Artes de Belgique, Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp.291-308 of the First Series, 1855
> O. Neugebauer, THE EXACT SCIENCES IN ANTIQUITY, Dover Publications, NY, 1969
> Milton K. Munitz, THEORIES OF THE UNIVERSE, FROM BABYLONIAN MYTH TO MODERN
> 
> SCIENCE, The Free Press, Macmillan Publishing Co., NY, 1957
> Lord Curzon, PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN QUESTION
> 
> SYMBOLISM:
> 
> Carl Jung, MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS, Doubleday, Garden City, NY
> Carl Jung, PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION, Yale University Press, 1971
> Carl Jung, PSYCHOLOGY AND ALCHEMY, Collected Works, Bollingen Series XX, NY, 1953
> Otto Rank, BEYOND PSYCHOLOGY, Dover, NY, 1958
> Jose A. Arguelles, THE TRANSFORMATIVE VISION, Shambhala, Berkeley, Calif, 1975
> Adelaide S. Hall, A GLOSSARY OF IMPORTANT SYMBOLS, Bates and Guild, Boston, 1912
> 
> ASTROLOGY:
> 
> Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend, HAMLET'S MILL, Gambit, Boston, 1969; David R.
> Godine, Boston, 1977
> Arthur M. Harding, PhD, ASTRONOMY, Garden City Publishing Co., NY, 1935
> Alan Oken, AS ABOVE, SO BELOW, Bantam Books, NY, 1973 Robert Hand, HOROSCOPE
> SYMBOLS, Whitford Press, West Chester, PA, 1981
> 
> NUMEROLOGY:
> 
> Plato, TIMAEUS
> Aristotle, DE CAELO
> E.W. Bullinger, NUMBER IN SCRIPTURE, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1986
> Carlo Suares, THE CIPHER OF GENESIS, Shambhala, Berkeley, 1970
> John Mitchell, CITY OF REVELATION, Garnstone press, London, 1972; Ballantine Books, NY, 1973
> Christopher Butler, NUMBER SYMBOLISM, Barnes and Noble, NY, 1970
> F.B. Bond and Dr. T.S. Lea, GEMATRIA, Basil Blackwell, Oxford
> Ernest G. McClain, THE MYTH OF INVARIANCE, Shambhala, Boulder and London, 1978
> 
> MATHEMATICS:
> 
> Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken, THE SOLUTION OF THE FOUR-COLOR- MAP PROBLEM,
> Scientific American, October, 1977
> Martin Gardner, THE COLORING OF UNUSUAL MAPS LEADS INTO UNCHARTED TERRITORY,
> Scientific American, Feb, 1980
> 
> SACRED GEOMETRY:
> 
> Matila Ghyka, THE GEOMETRY OF ART AND LIFE, Dover Publications, NY, 1977
> R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, THE TEMPLE IN MAN, The Autumn Press, Brookline, Mass, 1977
> Peter Tompkins, SECRETS OF THE GREAT PYRAMID, Harper and Row, NY, 1971
> H.E. Huntley, THE DIVINE PROPORTION, Dover Publications, NY, 1970
> 
> BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:
> 
> THE APOCALYPSE UNSEALED, Philosophical Library, NY, 1981 I, DANIEL: The most recent
> version can be downloded from http://members.aol.com/bennachti/riggs.htm
>
> — *The Apocalypse: An Exegesis (Used by permission of the curator)*