January 7, 1994
Dear Trevor,
In reading over your document, A ROD OF IRON, I find that you are confused on several points, and I will discuss them with you one at a time. First, in KNIGHT WITH A ROD OF IRON, on page 12 you quote Revelation 19:11, 15. Right after you quote, "and behold a white horse", you write, "[Muhammad's Revelation]". I don't know how you misconstrue this to mean Muhammad's Revelation. This has nothing at all to do with Muhammad. I am a knight of Baha'u'llah and not a knight of Muhammad. The horse that I ride is a white horse not an arabian horse. The white horse pertains to the pure Revelation of Baha'u'llah (free from the twisted theologies of the "Hands"), which I am reestablishing after the Covenant-breakers trashed it.
'Abdu'l-Baha stated that Jesus had a scepter of iron, a sword which was His tongue with which he separated the false from the true[1]. Also Psalms 2, prophesies that the "Son" (Jesus) would break them with a rod of iron:
I will declare the decree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou are my Son; this day have I begotten thee (verse 7). Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel (verse 9).
Jesus didn't have any children. All of his sons were his spiritual children, his apostles and disciples. They became his spiritual children through their belief in him which came about through his choosing and teaching them by means of his iron rod, his tongue. Thus they were a body of iron, but the rod, or leadership, of iron was his Apostles. As he appointed his apostles they were of iron (spiritual children). It was the same with Muhammad who had no son, his succession came through his daughter, Fatima (female represents the spiritual). He had twelve Imams, like Jesus had twelve apostles. I am the return of Jesus and thus I rule with a "rod of iron"which is the second International Baha'i Council. Like Jesus, I taught and appointed them, choosing them to be my apostles. I also separate the false from the true.
I have nothing at all to do with Islam. Islam came to a screaming halt with the Advent of the Bab. That is, with the advent of a new Manifestation the laws, ordinances and teachings of the previous Manifestation are annulled. The Bab abrogated the laws of Muhammad to prepare the way for the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah. The Bab's Dispensation lasted but 19 years and it came to a screaming halt with the Advent of Baha'u'llah.
You state: "The Knight of Baha'u'llah uses the Bab's administration so that the evil people can follow their own delusions, which prevents them from entering God's Kingdom on earth where they would be miserable because they could not continue their injustices to promote their greed for the material wealth of the world..." This is scurrilous! The Bab's administration was bizarre and I don't know anything else about it. The administration of 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi was the Baha'i administration, given by Baha'u'llah, delineated by 'Abdu'l-Baha and utilized by Shoghi Effendi to carry out the Divine plan given him by 'Abdu'l-Baha.
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1 THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE pp. 199, 292.
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Mason Remey, a fallible guardian, was mistaken when he said that Shoghi Effendi used the Bab's administration. He was going against Shoghi Effendi, being offensive. To go against Shoghi Effendi is to go against God (W&T, p. 11).
Mason Remey made a number of mistakes, but mostly when he claimed to be the infallible guardian. We believed him and thus he led us astray. Upon examination, we find that it was Shoghi Effendi's son, the IBC, that inherited his infallibility, not Mason Remey, who was not Shoghi Effendi's son. Mason Remey inherited the Davidic lineage (wood) from his father, 'Abdu'l-Baha. This is the executive branch (wood) of the IBC. The other members are appointed (iron). By them coming together in the Council they form the branch of purest gold (infallibility). What they decide is from God. The first IBC, however, showed that it did not inherit the spiritual within as they all violated the Covenant, therefore it had to be replaced (W&T p. 12), just like Muhammad Ali had to be replaced because he broke the Covenant.
God sent back his son, Jesus the high priest, to set up the true IBC. Shoghi Effendi's IBC had only 9 members, whereas the true council has 12, and they are Jesus' apostles according to the text in Revelation 21:12-14, and explained by 'Abdu'l-Baha:
Accordingly did Saint John the Divine tell of twelve gates in his vision, and twelve foundations. By that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God is meant the holy Law of God, and this is set forth in many Tablets and still to be read in the Scriptures of the Prophets of the past; for instance that Jerusalem was seen going out in the wilderness.
The meaning of the passage is that this heavenly Jerusalem hath twelve gates, through which the blessed enter into the City of God. These gates are souls who are guiding stars, as portals of knowledge and grace and within these twelve gates there stands twelve angels. By 'angel' is meant the power of the confirmations of God--that the candle of God's confirming power shineth out from the lamp-niche of those granted the most vehement confirming support.
These twelve gates surround the entire world, that is they are a shelter for all creatures. And further, these twelve gates are the foundation of the City of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and on each one of these foundations is written the name of one of the Apostle's of Christ[2] [the original said "the Spirit," meaning Jesus]. That is to say, each one maketh manifest the perfections, the joyous message, and the excellency of that holy Being (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha pp. 165-166).
The only way one can enter the Kingdom is through these twelve gates. If anyone tries to enter any other way they are thieves and robbers.[3] The twelve gates are my apostles and the appointed body (iron) of the second International Baha'i Council (gold). The head or the presidency is the hereditary member (wood), the guardian for life of that body. The woodand the iron give the council its infallibility, by making it a rod of purest gold. This IBC is international, universal, and is the foundation, by its decisions, on which the World Court, the International Tribunal and the Universal House of Justice are founded.
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2 A mistranslation, it should have said "Jesus." The word Christ pertains to Jesus' genealogy, therefore this translation was inappropriate as this has nothing to do with his genealogy.
3 John Chapter 1.
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Thou didst ask as to the tenth to the seventeenth verses of the twenty-first chapter of Saint John the Divine's Revelation. Know thou that according to mathematical principles, the firmament of this earth's brilliant day-star hath been divided among twelve constellations, which they call the twelve zodiacal signs. In the same way, the Sun of Truth shineth out from and sheddeth its bounties through twelve stations of holiness, and by these heavenly signs are meant those stainless and unsullied personages who are the very well-springs of sanctity, and the dawning-points proclaiming the oneness of God.
Consider how in the days of the Interlocutor (Moses), there were twelve holy beings who were leaders of the twelve tribes; and likewise in the dispensation of the Spirit (Christ), note that there were twelve Apostles gathered within the sheltering shade of that supernal Light, and from those splendid dawning-points the Sun of Truth shone forth even as the sun in the sky. Again, in the days of Muhammad, observe that there were twelve dawning-points of holiness, the manifestors of God's confirming help. Such is the way of it.
Accordingly did Saint John the Divine tell of twelve gates in his vision, and twelve foundations. By 'that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God' is meant the holy Law of God, and this is set forth in many Tablets and still to be read in the Scriptures of the Prophets of the past: for instance, that Jerusalem was seen going out into the wilderness.
The meaning of the passage is that this heavenly Jerusalem hath twelve gates, through which the blessed enter into the City of God. These gates are souls who are as guiding stars, as portals of knowledge and grace; and within these gates there stand twelve angels. By 'angel' is meant the power of the confirmations of God--that the candle of God's confirming power shineth out from the lamp-niche of those souls--meaning that every one of those beings will be granted the most vehement confirming support.
These twelve gates surround the entire world, that is they are a shelter for all creatures. [An earlier translation of this sentence reads: "this signifies that all existence is under the shadow of those souls".] And further, these twelve gates are the foundation of the City of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and on each one of these foundations is written the name of one of the Apostles of Christ. [The earlier authorized translation reads: "the Apostles of His Holiness the Spirit" (Jesus). Also the Bible says "the twelve apostles of the Lamb."] That is to say, each one maketh manifest the perfections, the joyous message, and the excellency of that holy Being. [The earlier authorized translation reads: "upon each of these foundations the name of one of the Apostles of His Holiness the Spirit is written. That is to say, the manifestation of the perfections, glad-tidings, virtues and high attributes of that holy soul."]
In brief, the Scripture saith: 'And he that talked with me had a rod made out of gold, that is, a measure, wherewith he measured the city and the gates thereof and the towers thereof.' The meaning is that certain personages guided the people with a staff grown out of the earth, and shepherded them with a rod, like unto the rod of Moses. Others trained and shepherded the people with a rod of iron, as in the dispensation of Muhammad. And in this present cycle, because it is the mightiest of Dispensations, that rod grown out of the vegetable kingdom and that rod of iron will be transformed into a rod of purest gold, taken from out the endless treasure houses in the Kingdom of the Lord. By this rod will the people be trained.
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Note well the difference: at one time the Teachings of God were as a staff, and by this means the Holy Scriptures were spread abroad, the Law of God was promulgated and His Faith established. Then followed a time when the staff of the true Shepherd was as iron. And today, in this new and splendid age, the rod is even as pure gold. How wide is the difference here! Know, then, how much ground hath been gained by the Law of God and His Teachings in this dispensation, how they have reached such heights that they far transcend the dispensations gone before: truly this rod is purest gold, while those of other days were of iron and wood.
What is being said here is that the rod or staff of wood depends on genealogy, like that of Moses. Moses' descendants were genealogical in the Levitical priesthood. Moses was of the tribe of Levi. The Levitical priests were succeeded father to son. The high priests were also genealogical descendants of Moses through his brother Aaron, which is ofwood. As the vegetable kingdom succeeds through genealogy, so also did the Davidic kingship, making Baha'u'llah a rod of wood and also His successors, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Mason Remey and Pepe.
Iron, on the other hand, comes into existence through the mental (spiritual) faculties of man, he discovers iron ore in the earth and through processes of extraction and metallurgy he refines the ore into pure iron. So also the spiritual successor, the rod of iron, comes into existence through a process of refinement. This is the appointed members or successors that do not depend upon genealogy, such as Jesus' twelve appointed apostles that had nothing to do with genealogy. He chose and trained them with the rod of iron, his tongue, or words, that had spirit and life. 'Abdu'l-Baha showed that iron was a symbol of the spiritual in the following quote:
Note that thy Lord hath manifested the Magnet of the souls and hearts in the Pole of the existing world, to which all the sacred hearts are attracted from the far distant lands and countries.
The iron body is attractable although at long distances away; but the earthen one is not although in contact and very close. Therefore, thank thou God for being an attractable body, to be drawn to the Magnet of the Kingdom of God.
Although Jesus was a rod of wood his tongue was a rod of iron. Muhammad was a genealogical descendent of Abraham a rod of wood, he appointed twelve Imams and trained them with the rod of iron, his tongue. The words of his tongue, written down by his secretaries in the Koran, made the Imams rods of iron. Likewise Jesus the Christ depended on genealogy, he was a male sperm descendent through his father Joseph all the way back to King David (see Luke 3:23-31). But Jesus as the high priest was not according to genealogy:
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 6:20). Without father, without mother, without descent,having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually (ibid 7:3).
This priesthood not being according to genealogy is not a rod of wood, but one of iron.
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4 Baha'i World Faith, p. 366
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When Jesus appointed his apostles who, were not of his genealogy, they were as a rod of iron. I, Jesus the high priest am not in accordance of genealogy (wood), but of iron. Thus I rule with a rod of iron. When I appointed and trained my apostles they were not according to genealogy, but of iron. I appointed these twelve gates to be the second International Baha'i Council, and God decreed in the Will and Testament that the guardian is the head of this council, whether Pepe likes it or not. This makes this council a council of purest gold. This council being of purest gold, it is infallible. Therefore, I myself am in obedience to it, however I guide this council through my liaison officer and through Neal Chase, who I appointed as Peter.
I am writing you this letter because you are way back in the back of the woods of understanding, having been very ill and unable to keep up with the progress of the Cause, as you state you have not been able to read the voluminous writings and research done by my apostles and disciples. We have been very understanding and patient and were all very happy that you were able to pull through your ordeal, and we don't want to burden you with things that may enervate you and cause a relapse. We are all praying for your complete recovery. There is one thing that you need to do and that is to read my bit: Understanding the Dichotomy enclosed and also my latest piece THE FOUR VEILS OF DANIEL AND THEN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, also enclosed. May God bless you and assist you to attain to the full heights of the Glorious Station that God has set aside for you. With my prayers in your behalf,
I remain your supporter,
Dr. Leland Jensen
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Source: Dave Cornell