otw2-11

THE BOOK OF REVELATION

CHAPTER 11

In the beginning of the eleventh chapter of the Revelation of Jesus to St. John (RSV) it is said:

1 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,"

This reed is a perfect man who is likened to a reed,... Whatever he utters is not from himself, but from the real flute player, and it is a divine inspiration. That is why he is likened to a reed; and that reed is like a rod, that is to say, it is the helper of every impotent one, and the support of human beings. It is the rod of the Divine Shepherd by which He guards His flock and leads them about the pastures of the Kingdom.

This rod is the Covenant in that the Covenant designates the reed who is that person who is to shepherd the flock. This person was Shoghi Effendi who was like a staff in the hand of God. Whatever he uttered was not from himself but was a divine inspiration. These persons are also symbolized as the temple itself, as they are the ones inside it, fulfilling its reality, which is spiritual.

The angel stood, saying, "Rise, and measure[31] the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein"; (KJV) that is to say, compare and measure: measuring is the discovery of proportion. That is, the relationships between things. Thus the angel said: "Compare the temple of God and the altar and them that are praying therein." That is to say, investigate what is their true condition, and discover in what degree and

__________________

31 The temple is measured by the Covenant. The Covenant is the measuring line mentioned in the Bible. For instance, most of the book of Ezekiel describes the temple being measured with this line. In the book of Zechariah it says: "I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it... and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem... I will be to her a wall of fire round about, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within her... And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day" (Zechariah 1:16; 2:5,11). The Covenant is called the firm cord in Baha'i scripture. "Extolled by the writer of the Apocalypse as the 'Ark of Salvation' and as 'the Cord stretched betwixt the earth and the Abha Kingdom,' this Covenant has been bequeathed to posterity in a Will and Testament..." (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 239).

257

state they are, and what conditions, perfections, behavior and attributes they possess; and make yourself cognizant of the mysteries of those holy souls who dwell in the Holy of Holies in purity and sanctity.

This temple is provided by the written Covenant which measures out the service at the altar, that is, the mission of the successors to Baha'u'llah who were in the station of sacrifice,[32] and the identity of these successors was likewise openly given: 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and the UHJ.

2 "but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months."

In the temple of Moses, the courtyard was an area surrounding the sanctuary and outside of it. This courtyard was open to all the regular people who weren't priests. Thus, the courtyard symbolizes the general body of believers. These believers circle around the temple, that is, the leader of the Faith. This courtyard also signifies the administration that the mass of believers participate in, as that is where they perform their service and make their offering. This courtyard is the rest of the administration outside of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi and the Universal House of Justice: It is the Hands, the National and Local Houses of Justice and the other auxiliary institutions.

This administration is "not measured" by the Covenant in that the persons who serve therein are not identified by name in the Covenant. It is also "not measured" because the Covenant only mentions that the Hands assist the Guardian and that we will have National and Local Houses of Justice, but all the rest of the details concerning the functioning of the administration are not given in the strict text of the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. Shoghi Effendi supplied most of these details of the administration, and he directed the Baha'is regarding the evolvement of the administration such as in his 10-year plan of 1953-1963. In this plan he guided them as to the raising up of spiritual assemblies, and gave many instructions relating to the administration and to outward or material things such as the purchase of land and the construction of Baha'i temple buildings.

In the beginning of this stage we are now in, which began after Shoghi Effendi's death when the Hands conquered the Baha'is, the Covenant was outwardly preserved (that is to say, the house which Shoghi Effendi built), but outside of this, the outer court was taken and given to the gentiles. Here, the gentiles signify those who were not faithful to the Cause of God, indicating the Hands of the Cause of God. 'Abdu'l-Baha warned of the fate of this house, and the Faith itself, if the Covenant was opposed:

__________________

32 "...every perfect person, every illumined, heavenly individual stands in the station of sacrifice" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 452).

258

The well-built house will be razed to the foundation, it will become like a useless tomb, the commands will be delayed and the waves of the sea of favor will be retarded. The sea of assurance will be cut off, the Breath of Life will cease to blow, the sails of the life-boat will be destroyed, the bright dawn will become dark evening, the dawning-point of desire will be covered under the clouds of regrets; all these troubles will become useless and all these sheddings of blood will be fruit-less; the pure blood of the martyrs will become defiled and the remembrance of the blessed Bab... will disappear from among men, and his influence will become non-existent. The whole fifty years of the troubles of the Blessed Perfection, the looting and plundering, the imprisoning threatening by dagger and sword; the shackles and chains will become forgotten and without result. It will become the source of joking and quarreling among the enemies, the source of their gaiety and rejoicing.[33]

The holy city that will be trampled underfoot for 42 months is the Covenant. The temple and its courtyard are found within this city of the Covenant, meaning that the successor to Baha'u'llah and the existence of the Baha'i administration (but not the details) are both provided for in this Covenant. So, the Hands will take over and control the body of believers, for the city is the habitation of the believers, and they will take control of the administration.

They will trample the Covenant underfoot for three and a half years. During the first two years of their takeover, the Hands said they would remain under the guidance of Shoghi Effendi's instructions concerning the house, i.e., the Universal House of Justice. That is, they professed that they would honor this Covenant. At this time it was only the National Spiritual Assemblies, the rest of the administration, the general mass of believers and the properties and funds that they took over.

But in November of 1959, the Hands threw out Shoghi Effendi's instructions for the evolvement of his International Baha'i Council (IBC) into the Universal House of Justice. Roughly three and a half years afterward, these instructions would be resurrected by the faith of a Promised One, meaning that after three and a half years this promised Defender would come forth in defense of the Cause of God.

This prophesies the duration of the rule of the Hands when they would have sway over God's people. During this time the Covenant was trodden under foot, which means that it lost its glory. But the Holy of Holies, which is the internal reality of the Covenant, was preserved and safe-guarded by God and this internal reality would descend upon a Promised One in the year 1963.

__________________

33 'Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, Book 5, Vol. 8, #16, p. 213.

259

This three and a half years is a prophecy of a Promised One, which took place in the year 1963, and when the period of three and a half years expired, the Covenant (the Holy City) began to prosper again. Anyone who examines the state of the Covenant at the hands of the Covenant-breakers thirty-three years ago, and who sees it now, will recognize how it is again honored.

This is the outward meaning of these verses of Revelation; but they have another explanation and a symbolic sense, which is as follows: this temple of God, the Covenant of God, is divided into two parts. That is, the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary or Holy Place. One is the fundamental basis which comprises all spiritual things, that is to say, it refers to the spirit and the divine force; this does not change nor alter. It is the Holy of Holies, which is the essence of the Covenant of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad, the Bab, and Baha'u'llah, and which lasts and is established in all the prophetic cycles. We cannot truly understand this essence but we recognize it as divine guidance. It will never be abrogated, for it is spiritual and not material truth. It means perfection, sinlessness, infallibility. The successors to the Manifestations are inwardly in this spiritual condition.

This divine force, this eternal Covenant will never be abolished; nay, it will last and remain established for ever and ever. This spirit will be renewed in each of the different cycles, for at the end of every cycle the spiritual Covenant of God (that is to say, the spirit) disappears from amongst those people where it once dwelt, and only the form subsists among them.

Thus, among the Hands, at the end of the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, which happened three and a half years (42 months) prior to the coming of the promised Defender, the reality of the Covenant of God disappeared from their midst; only a form without spirit remained. The Holy of Holies departed from among them, but the outer court of the Covenant - which is the expression used for the body of believers, the administration - fell into their Hands. In the same way, the fundamental principles of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah, which are the greatest virtues of humanity, have disappeared. Only a lifeless and imperfect form has remained in the hands of the clergy, the "Hands."

The foundation of the Covenant of God, which is spiritual and which brings the virtues of humanity, cannot be abrogated. It is irremovable and eternal, and is renewed in the cycle of every Prophet.

The other part of the Temple, the Holy Place, the Sanctuary, refers to the material world. This comprises the individuality of the successor, that is, the actual person. This

260

part of the Covenant of God, which refers to the outward form, changes in accordance with the times.[34]

For instance, the first successor of Baha'u'llah was 'Abdu'l-Baha. Then it was Shoghi Effendi. Next, it was to be Shoghi Effendi's son and successor, the International Baha'i Council. The International Baha'i Council was to pass through four different forms or stages to finally evolve into the Universal House of Justice, which itself will be composed of different individual members over the passing of time.

Briefly, what is meant by the term Holy of Holies is the spirit of the Covenant which will never be modified, altered or abrogated. It is divine guidance and the protection of God. The Sanctuary means the earthly, or material aspect of the Covenant, the successor to Baha'u'llah, the person having the divine guidance. The courtyard means the administration and the believers; and the City is the Covenant itself. This Covenant, which is described as the Holy City, was to be trodden under foot for three and a half years.

3 "And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

These "two witnesses"[35] are the Kitab-i-Ahd, the tablet of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah, and the tablet of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. That is, these two tablets comprise the book of the Covenant. The meaning of "witness" is one by whose testimony things may be verified. The Covenant is the testimony[36] by which the

__________________

34 These changes do not mean God has changed His mind. God always fulfills His Covenant and we must never accept that God makes a promise only to break it. In the Kitab-i-Ahd the material form of the second individual successor was changed from the identity of Mirza Muhammad-Ali to that of Shoghi Effendi, but the pattern remained exactly the same, there were two individual persons to succeed Baha'u'llah. This is how God fulfilled His Covenant, He didn't change His mind, His Covenant wasn't abrogated but this was His plan from the beginning, that Shoghi Effendi would succeed 'Abdu'l-Baha.

35 "Concerning the criterion of justness when proving some matter dependent on the testimony of two just witnesses" (Baha'u'llah, Questions and Answers, p. 130).

36 "To this same Covenant He has in His writings referred as the 'Conclusive Testimony,'... the 'Irrefutable Testament,' 'the all-mighty Covenant, the like of which the sacred Dispensations of the past have never witnessed...'" (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 238-239).

"Is it not enough for them that We have sent down unto Thee the Book?" "This is the tesimony which He, Himself, hath ordained; greater proof than this there is none, nor ever will be" (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 91-92).

"Inasmuch as Muhammad hath confined His testimonies to His Book and the His Family, and whereas the latter hath passed away, there remaineth His Book only as His one testimony amongst the people." (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 202).

261

identity of the leader of the faith is verified and thus the Covenant, which has two texts, is the witness. It is by the testimony of this Covenant that the presence of God on earth may be verified. Thus the purpose of these two tablets is to bear witness or testimony to the presence of God in the temple of God.[37]

Further, the meaning of a witness is one who is martyred, one who is in the station of sacrifice. The tabernacle of Moses was called the Tent of Witness but it was also called the Tent of Martyrdom. The two witnesses are symbolized by two cherubim of glory[38] looming above the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle.

The Hebrew word for witness and testimony is "'ed," pronounced "ayd." The equivalent of this in Arabic is the word "'ahd," as in Kitab-i-Ahd. Thus, the Covenant is the testimony and witness. This is where Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha put their testimony as to who would succeed them, or where the friends could find the presence of God after their departure.

The commands of these two witnesses would be performed for a period of 1260 Baha'i months. This means the Covenant would have effect for a period of sixty-five and a half years before the Hands would do away with it. Sixty-five and a half years from May 29th, 1892,[39] when Baha'u'llah's Kitab-i-Ahd went into effect, brings us to December 13 of 1957. It was at this time that the National Spiritual Assemblies (NSAs) of the Baha'i World began proclaiming allegiance to the Custodian Hands, ending their allegiance to the Covenant and consolidating the usurpation of the Hands. The Bible says you cannot serve both God and mammon (man). The NSAs decided to serve mammon, and not God, when they decided to follow the Hands. The Custodian Hands were elected by the rest of the Hands as the successor to Shoghi Effendi. This body of Custodian Hands is not provided for in the Baha'i Covenant but is a manmade creation of the Hands. This was to replace the successor Shoghi Effendi himself had appointed which was his SON,[40] the first International Baha'i Council (IBC), which was the Universal House of Justice in embryo.[41] The 1260 months brings us to the time when these Custodian Hands first began to take command of the Baha'i faith.

__________________

37 "...the light of God's Covenant is kindled and comes from the presence of God..." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the the West, Book 5, Vol. 8 #16, p. 215).

38 Hebrews 9:5.

39 The passing of Baha'u'llah.

40 i.e., a non-biological son, who was his direct descendant.

41 It was to go through four stages: infant, child, adolescent and then blossom into an adult. The Covenant-breaking Hands did away with God's plan for a plan of their own. They went directly from embryo to the adult stage without the head that Shoghi Effendi placed as the president creating for themselves a headless UHJ; A MONSTER.

262

The meaning is that the Plan of the Hands is now in effect over those believers and the Plan of God has been supplanted and no longer has any effect over these people. The effect of the Covenant is that it bestows life on the body of believers. When the Covenant ceases to have effect over the body, this life is withdrawn, the spirit disappears, and only the form subsists. The form that subsists is the body of believers and the administration. In addition, the form subsists in that the Hands did not do away with Shoghi Effendi's IBC entirely. They kept it around, but prevented it from coming to life and being born into the world of activity. They prevented it from taking command of the Baha'i Faith as the real successor, the son of Shoghi Effendi. Thus, in their hands, the IBC was an empty husk without spirit.

The Kitab-i-Ahd was the root, and the Will and Testament the branch, like Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha. It is said they are "clothed in sackcloth..." One meaning of "sackcloth" is that they were to be clothed in old raiment, not in new raiment; this is because the Covenant is the same Covenant of the past which has been around for thousands of years, but the peoples of other religions did not know its meaning.[42] Even the Baha'is did not comprehend the Covenant, or its importance, or its power. In other words, in the beginning the Covenant would possess no splendor in the eyes of the people, nor would the Cause appear new.

Also, sackcloth was a garment worn as a sign of grief, thus it is associated with mourning for the dead. The Covenant takes effect only at the death of the one who made it. Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha's deaths were received with much grieving and mourning on the part of the friends. Thus, outwardly these texts of the Covenant are clothed in sackcloth, the garment of mourning. Again, the Covenant is described as being clothed in sackcloth in the book of Ezekiel where it refers to the Will and Testament as a book on which are written words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

4 These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth.

These two are likened to "olive trees" because at one time all lamps were lighted by olive oil. In addition, the olive branch is a symbol of the descendants of David in the kingly line seated on the throne of King David, and both Baha'u'llah, who penned the Kitab-i-Ahd, and 'Abdu'l-Baha who penned the Will and Testament, were descended from this line of kings seated on the throne of David.

__________________

42 "... This Covenant is the Ancient Covenant,... It is the Testament and the Covenant and it is mentioned in all the tablets and in all the early Books and in the later tablets.... and in brief, it is the sum of all the sacred writings, ancient and modern!" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 8, #16, pp. 213-14).

263

Therefore, these two olive trees are the two books from which that spirit of the wisdom of God, which is the cause of the illumination of the world, appears. These lights of God were to radiate and shine; therefore, they are likened to two candlesticks. The candlestick is the abode of the light, and from it the light shines forth. In the same way the light of guidance would shine and radiate from these two illumined tablets of witness.[43]

Then it is said that they "stand before the Lord of the earth", meaning they are standing in the service of God, and educating the creatures of God, such as the barbarous peoples of the entire world. Because of the Covenant, the Baha'is were educated in such a way that, in those days, they reached the highest degree of civilization, and their fame and renown became worldwide. [44]

Standing before God means also that these two are the bystanders, the witnesses to the presence of God. That is, these two tablets of witness testify of the presence of God on earth in the persons of the successors to Baha'u'llah.

5 And if any one would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; if anyone would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed.

That is to say, no one would be able to withstand the Covenant. If a person wished to belittle its teachings and law, he would be surrounded and exterminated by this same law which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Covenant. This means that those appointed in the Covenant have the authority to expel Covenant-breakers from the Faith.

Everyone who attempted to injure, to antagonize and to hate the Covenant would be destroyed by a command which would come out of their mouth. And thus it happened. All the Covenant-breakers were vanquished, put to flight and annihilated.

__________________

43 "The lamp of the Covenant is the light of the world, and the words traced by the Pen of the Most High a limitless ocean." "The power of the Covenant is as the heat of the sun which quickeneth and promoteth the development of all created things on earth." ('Abdu'l-Baha, as quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 238-239).

"Can it be possible that after the dawning of the day-star [sun] of Thy Testament above the horizon of Thy Most Great Tablet, the feet of any one shall slip in Thy Straight Path?" (Baha'u'llah, as quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 250)

"Although to outward seeming the Sun of the Covenant has hidden Himself behind the clouds, and the Orb of the Testament is concealed, and on the holy horizon of glory, He has now set, and is lost to view - still His rays are shining from out His hidden place, and forever will His light shed down its splendours" (Shoghi Effendi, Bahiyyih Khanum, pp. 140-141).

44 "The light of the Covenant, in like manner, is the educator of the minds, the spirits, the hearts and souls of men." ('Abdu'l-Baha, as quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 238-239).

264

6 They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire.

This verse means that during this time, the Covenant itself would be the supreme commander. The law and teachings of the Kitab-i-Ahd, and the explanations and commentaries of the Will and Testament, are a heavenly bounty. If the ones appointed in this Covenant wish to give this bounty, they have power to do so. If they do not wish it, "no rain[45] may fall." In this connection rain stands for bounty.

Then it is said, "they have power over the waters to turn them into blood." In the days of Moses it is said that he turned the Nile to blood. The mission of the Kitab-i-Ahd is likened to that of Moses leading the people to the promised land and the power of the Will and Testament to that of Joshua crossing the Jordan and actually taking them into that land. That is, the Kitab-i-Ahd appointed 'Abdu'l-Baha who, with his explanations in the Will and Testament, leads them toward the promised land, and that Will and Testament appointed Shoghi Effendi who would have taken them into that promised land, but the people chose not to follow him. When the people refuse this guidance, it means their death. So, if they wished, they could turn water into blood, which also means that, for those who deny the Covenant, that which was the cause of their life becomes the cause of their death. The Covenant is the source of life.[46]

The Hands were provided for in the Will and Testament but it was this Will and Testament that they turned away from. That is to say, that which was the cause of their life, through their ignorance and pride, became the cause of their death. So the power of the Hands, which was to bring the message of Shoghi Effendi to the Baha'is, and which was like a lifeline for the Baha'is, became, due to the opposition, denial and pride of the Hands, the cause of the death, destruction, dispersion, degradation and poverty of the Baha'is.

'Abdu'l-Baha said these two witnesses have power to destroy the nations, meaning the National Spiritual Assemblies were spiritually destroyed by declaring loyalty to the Hands. The real power of this Covenant was to convert the manmade governments of the nations to the World Order of Baha'u'llah, thus Shoghi Effendi's plan, the constitution of the Universal House of Justice, was to take his appointed IBC to the stage of an

__________________

45 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "The testament of Baha'u'llah is a Rain of Goodness, a Sun of Truth, Water of Life, the Holy Spirit. Thus open your hearts to receive the full power of His Beauty, and I will pray for you all that this joy may be yours" (Paris Talks, p. 172).

46 'Abdu'l-Baha said, "He hath... breathed into the hearts of those who stand firm in the Covenant and Testament the breath of everlasting life" (Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 238).

265

actual legal, officially recognized court, that is, an actual governmental body, having a sovereignty, and not just a solely religious body such as the ineffectual church councils of Christian religions. In its final stage, this body would be the Universal House of Justice. The Hands did away with this plan for the Kingdom of God on earth and because of this, the nations of the earth will be destroyed in the catastrophes.

Then it is said: "Smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire," meaning that the Covenant also would have the power and the material force necessary to educate[47] the wicked and those who are oppressors and tyrants, for to this Covenant, God granted both outward and inward power, that it might educate and correct the ferocious, bloodthirsty, tyrannical nations, which are like beasts of prey.

These plagues are also the plagues described in the book of Revelation which come to the people because of the violation of the Covenant. That is, the force of the Covenant is such that, when the people attack it, great harm comes upon them, and sometimes this harm is so great, others are swept into it.

7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them,

The testimony is finished when the commandments of the Covenant have been performed, the institutions have been set up, the divine message is delivered, the Law of God promoted, and the heavenly teachings propagated. The intent is that the signs of spiritual life might be manifest in souls, and the light of the virtues of the world of humanity might shine forth, and complete development should be brought about among the Baha'is. That is the whole purpose of this Covenant - to bring about the establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth. The initial accomplishment of these things took place in the days of Shoghi Effendi. He set up all the institutions provided in the Will and Testament and the message was being delivered all around the earth in his ten-year world spiritual crusade. So the entire Baha'i world was poised to enter into the promised land.

"The beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them, and conquer them and kill them" means that the Hands, who attacked the Covenant from the pit of error, and who rose against the Kitab-i-Ahd and against the reality of the Will and Testament - in other words, the love of God - would create a beast, and this beast was their replacement for Shoghi Effendi's son. This beast was the nine Custodian Hands which the full body of Hands elected to run the faith.

__________________

47 "The light of the Covenant, in like manner, is the educator of the minds, the spirits, the hearts and souls of men" ('Abdu'l-Baha, as quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, pp. 238-239).

266

"The beast will make war upon [these two witnesses]," meaning a spiritual war. The beast, the Custodian Hands, would act in complete opposition to the teachings, customs and institutions of the Covenant to such an extent that the virtues and perfections which were diffused by the power of the Covenant among the peoples and tribes would be entirely dispelled, and the animal nature and carnal desires would conquer. Therefore, this beast making war against the Covenant would seem to gain the victory, meaning that the darkness of error coming from this beast was to have temporary ascendancy over the horizons of the world and kill the two witnesses. In other words, it would destroy the spiritual life which the Covenant spread abroad in the midst of the nations and entirely remove the divine laws and teachings, treading under foot the Plan of God. Nothing would thereafter remain but a lifeless body without spirit.

This was all because the Hands had decided that, since Shoghi Effendi had left no will[48] and no genetic son, the passage in the Will and Testament, "...after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants," was left unfulfilled. Their twisted concept is that the Covenant was changed by God Himself and therefore they were free to institute whatever plan they found suitable for the future progress of the faith. But this behavior towards God's Covenant, His testimony, has been exposed in Baha'i scriptures.[49]

8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

This means that, just as Jesus was crucified, Shoghi Effendi's plan was crucified. This plan was to be the fulfillment of Jesus' Covenant. Their "dead bodies" refers to the teachings of the ones appointed in the Covenant. These successors are the hollowed out reed, their teachings are the Plan of God, the Will of God Himself. From this hollowed out reed we get the leadership, instructions, guidance, training, directives, explanations, the law and the command of God Himself. That is, the direction they give, the course they chart, their heading, their objective, goal, and intention, their entire purpose and mission is to lead the people to the promised land, and take them into the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, that they might abide there forevermore.

__________________

48 Shoghi Effendi was not to appoint his successor in a will, but duiring his lifetime (W&T, p. 12), which he did when in 1951 he set up the first International Baha'i Council. This was his son, which Shoghi Effendi indicated the entire Baha'i world was to turn to upon his passing. Shoghi Effendi said that the constitution of this International Baha'i Council would endure for a half a million years, so where do these Covenant-breakers (Ruhiyyih Khanum and the Covenant-breaking Hands) get off doing away with it?

49 Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 15.

267

Divorced from the explanations of 'Abdu'l-Baha and the instructions of Shoghi Effendi, the people don't have the correct understanding of God's Will, the Baha'i Covenant. So "their dead bodies" means the Plan of God was taken away from the people (and taken out of the Baha'i administration) who remained like a dead body without spirit. This is because there is no spirituality without the Covenant. The people may have access to the Baha'i scriptures, but without the Covenant they will not receive the true meaning, and thus the spirit of the believers is cut off.

'Abdu'l-Baha said, "The Covenant of God in this day of manifestation is a lifeboat and ark of salvation. All true followers of the Blessed Perfection are sheltered and protected in this ark. Whoever leaves it, trusting in his own will and strength, will drown and be destroyed."[50] The ocean is the Baha'i Revelation. The people cannot cast themselves out of the Covenant and into this ocean and expect to survive. They cannot transmute the waters of that ocean into the breaths of life, the wine of understanding. It is only the power of the Covenant that can turn water into wine.

The "street" means in public view or out in the street meaning in the courtyard, the public area. It was in the courtyard that the plan was killed off when the "Hands" got control of Shoghi Effendi's Ten Year Plan, because in getting control of that, they got control of the Constitution for the Universal House of Justice (UHJ). Shoghi Effendi placed the "Hands" in charge of carrying out the Ten Year Plan, so this was very easy for them to pull off.

The body of the IBC was kept in public view, meaning the Hands kept mentioning it in certain messages, outwardly pretending to be proceeding with Shoghi Effendi's planned development of this IBC, but the spirit of this had already departed because they had secretly thrown out the Covenant.

The place "where their Lord was crucified," was Jerusalem. God's Plan, or Covenant, for the Kingdom of God on earth is the Holy City, New Jerusalem. The temple of this city is the successors to Baha'u'llah. The meaning of "Sodom and Egypt," is that when the Hands threw away this city of the Covenant, God's Plan for the Kingdom of God on earth, the New Jerusalem, they replaced it with Sodom and Egypt. Sodom means the body of the Custodian Hands and Egypt is the next body they created next. This was a body elected in 1961, and the Hands named it after Shoghi Effendi's IBC. Outwardly it was the same entity as Shoghi Effendi's IBC, but the resemblance was in name only. Therefore, there were two dead bodies lying in the street. The "Hands" took dominion over the Covenant. It was at this time that the plan of God and the divine teachings first disappeared, and a body without spirit remained.

__________________

50'Abdu'l-Baha, Ten Days in the Light of Acca, p. 48.

268

9 For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,

As it was before explained, in the terminology of the Holy Books three days and a half signify three years and a half. The meaning is that for about three and a half years the nations, tribes, and peoples would look at their bodies. That is to say, they would make a spectacle of the Plan of God. Although they would not act in accordance with it, still, they would not suffer their bodies --meaning the Plan of God - to be put in the grave. In appearance they would cling to the Plan of God and not allow it to completely disappear from their midst, nor the body of it to be entirely destroyed and annihilated. Nay, in reality they would leave it, while outwardly preserving its name and remembrance. This was because the Hands, after they took over the Faith in November of 1957, professed over and over that their intention was only to carry out the instructions of the beloved guardian, Shoghi Effendi, and even promised that they would do so, and the Custodian Hands continued this. However, in November of 1959 the Hands decided not to carry out the instructions of Shoghi Effendi after all and altered the Plan of the evolvement of Shoghi Effendi's IBC into God's UHJ. The Hands killed off this plan for the body, but they continued with their own plans for the evolvement of an IBC into a UHJ as if the plan of the IBC was still in existence, when in actuality the plan was already dead from their Covenant-breaking.

So outwardly in appearance they were continuing with the plan for Shoghi Effendi's IBC to evolve into God's UHJ by outwardly preserving its name and remembrance, but in reality they had abandoned the plan of God for another plan of their own. These dead bodies, the Custodian Hands and the IBC, like a corpse, has been exposed to public view for three and a half days, each day being counted as a year, and this period is the time from November of 1959 when the Hands threw out Shoghi Effendi's instructions once and for all, until April of 1963 when the promised one was to come forth.

If we convert these days to 19 day Baha'i months we get the exact date.

Those "peoples, tribes, tongues and nations" signify those who are gathered under the shadow of the Baha'i Faith, because at this time the Baha'i Faith had spread to almost every nation, (except the Soviet Union), people and tongue, and to all tribes of the earth. But these millions, now going by the name of Baha'i, were actually in allegiance to these Hands and not in allegiance to the Covenant. So they were not permitting the Cause and Law of God to be, in outward appearance, entirely destroyed and annihilated - for there are prayer and fasting among them - but the fundamental principles of the Plan of God, which are faith and belief, with the knowledge of divine mysteries, have disappeared. The light of the virtues of the world of humanity, which is the

269

result of the love and knowledge of God, is extinguished, and the darkness of tyranny, oppression, satanic passions and desires has become victorious.

The people forfeited all that these two witnesses had established, which was the foundation of the Covenant of God, and destroyed the virtues of the world of humanity (which are the divine gifts and the spirit of this Covenant) to such a degree that truthfulness, justice, love, union, purity, sanctity, detachment and all the divine qualities departed from among them. In the religion, only prayers and fasting persisted. This condition has only grown worse for them. It was as if these two witnesses were dead, and two bodies were remaining without spirit.

10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and make merry, and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.

Those "who dwell on the earth" refers to the other religions, such as the religions of Christianity and Islam. When they saw that the character of the Baha'i Faith was entirely changed, the Covenant of God forsaken, the Davidic lineage discarded and the executive branch abolished, that virtues, zeal and honor had departed from among them, they became happy. The people rejoiced that corruption of morals had infected the people of Baha, that they had become infected with the spiritual disease of Covenant-breaking, which is spiritual leprosy, and that they would, in consequence, be overcome by other religions. Thus, has it come to pass. Witness this people which had attained the summit of power, how degraded and downtrodden they are now.

The other religions "exchange presents" with one another, meaning they will help each other. These "two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth." Meaning, the two witnesses overcame the other religions of the world and conquered them. The other religions were jealous because the Baha'i Faith was unique in that it was the first world religion to have a clearly authorized Covenant written by the Pen of its Founder. This Baha'i Covenant overspread the earth, and through its power masses of the followers of other religions converted to the Baha'i Faith. But after Shoghi Effendi's death in 1957, Time Magazine (which is owned by the Catholics) published an article showing there was a lot of secrecy over the successorship of the Baha'i Faith, that different ones were arguing over the successorship, that the Hands were now running the Faith, and that this was not in accordance with what had previously been expected from the instructions in the Covenant, which was public knowledge even amongst non-Baha'is. Now the leaders of these religions rejoiced, claiming that the Baha'is were no less corrupt than the rest because it was apparent to everyone that there was some

270

tricky business (hanky-panky) going on with this matter of the Hands becoming the leader of the Baha'i Faith.

11 But after the three days and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell upon them that saw them.

"Three days and a half", as we before explained, is three and a half years. It is not the dead bodies that the "Hands" created which are to resurrect but the two witnesses that are to resurrect in new bodies. In the resurrection, the bodies that died do not resurrect. No! These have rotted and decomposed and gone back into the earth, so the "Hands" body of the Custodians and the false IBC they created in 1961 went on to rot as a headless body, a manmade government having the label of the Universal House of Justice but in reality being only a headless beast monster - a body without a head.

The reality of the Covenant had departed from amongst the followers of the "Hands" and only a mutilated form remained. Thus the "Hands" changed the spirituality of the Plan of God into materiality, and virtues into vices. The love of God had been changed into hatred, enlightenment into darkness, divine qualities into satanic ones, justice into tyranny, mercy into enmity, sincerity into hypocrisy, guidance into error, and purity into corruption.

Meanwhile, in another place in the world, the two witnesses were being resurrected. This resurrection was the same light returning in a different lamp. That is, the light returns in a new body. Those two witnesses are the Covenant, including its institutions which the Kitab-i-Ahd established and the Will and Testament and 'Abdu'l-Baha further explained and delineated.

"A breath of life from God entered them" means those foundations and teachings would again be established, and their establisher is Jesus, the Lamb, the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek. This breath of life is that invincible spirit of faith in God's Covenant. After Shoghi Effendi's death, this spirit was preserved and sheltered in the sanctuary of Jesus the high priest. In the prototype or microcosm of God's Plan symbolized in the temple system of Moses, the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and, having the vowel sound of the name of God, pronounce, or breathe out, the name of God for the forgiveness of the people's sins. The meaning is that it is only through faith in the Covenant that we are set free from sin and can attain to eternal life. At that time it was only in Jesus, the Lamb, the High Priest that the light of faith in God's Plan was preserved.

271

The "great fear" is the fear of God[51] burning in the hearts of those who perceive this Covenant and are faithful to it. This fear of God is that - out of their great love for God - the true believers want to please Him and are afraid they will disappoint Him. This fear of God is their shield and protection from spiritual downfall. The disease of Covenant-breaking is that they lose their fear of God and are no longer protected from spiritual downfall.

After "three days and a half", which by the terminology of the Holy Books is three and a half years, these divine teachings, heavenly virtues, perfections and spiritual bounties were again renewed by the appearance of the Promised One. The holy breezes were diffused, the light of truth shone forth, the season of the life-giving spring came, and the morn of guidance dawned. The Covenant again bestowed life and illumined the world with the light of truth.

12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up hither!" And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud.

This is like the metaphor of the ascension of Jesus on his first coming described in the Book of Acts 1:9 and this ascension of the Covenant is also depicted in Baha'i

__________________

51 "The word of God which the Abha Pen hath revealed and inscribed on the first leaf of the Most Exalted Paradise is this: Verily I say: The fear of God hath ever been a sure defence and a safe stronghold for all the peoples of the world. It is the chief cause of the protection of mankind, and the supreme instrument for its preservation. Indeed, there existeth in man a faculty which deterreth him from, and guardeth him against, whatever is unworthy and unseemly, and which is known as his sense of shame. This, however, is confined to but a few; all have not possessed and do not possess it" (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 63).

"He should cleanse his heart from all evil passions and corrupt desires, for the fear of God is the weapon that can render him victorious, the primary instrument whereby he can achieve his purpose. The fear of God is the shield that defendeth His Cause, the buckler that enableth His people to attain to victory. It is a standard that no man can abase, a force that no power can rival. By its aid, and by the leave of Him Who is the Lord of Hosts, they that have drawn nigh unto God have been able to subdue and conquer the citadels of the hearts of men." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 272)

"We have admonished Our loved ones to fear God, a fear which is the fountain-head of all goodly deeds and virtues. It is the commander of the hosts of justice in the city of Baha. Happy the man that hath entered the shadow of its luminous standard, and laid fast hold thereon. He, verily, is of the Companions of the Crimson Ark, which hath been mentioned in the Qayyum-i-Asma." (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 135)

272

scriptures.[52] The "cloud" is that the people's understanding of the return of Jesus and of the Covenant is clouded with false theologies and beliefs. The "heaven" that the Covenant ascends to is the heaven of God's presence on earth in the prophesied return of Jesus the Lamb who comes in this cloud. The meaning is that due to the explanations and commentaries of Jesus the Lamb, the Covenant would become so exalted in the minds of the believers that they would attain to a greater and deeper comprehension of its import and a higher understanding of its meaning, causing them to advance to a new level of spiritual evolvement. This was yet in the future. Meanwhile, amongst the non-believers, the understanding of the Covenant remained cloudy, such that they could neither perceive nor comprehend it.

13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The "hour" in Baha'i scriptures pertains to the coming of a Promised One.[53] Also in Rev. 3:3 it says, "If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you."

__________________

52 "Fear not if this Branch be severed from this material world and cast aside its leaves; nay, the leaves thereof shall flourish, for this Branch will grow after it is cut off from this world below, it shall reach the loftiest pinnacles of glory, and it shall bear such fruits as will perfume the world with their fragrance" (Shoghi Effendi quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 146).

In the above quote, 'Abdu'l-Baha refers to the Covenant as the Branch and in the following quote as the Standard: "One of the great events which is to occur in the Day of the manifestation of that Incomparable Branch is the hoisting of the Standard of God among all nations. By this is meant that all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation.... the One Standard... is the Divine Branch.... in this cycle of the Lord of Hosts all the nations and peoples will enter under the shadow of this Flag" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 65).

"Verily, the branch of command hath sprung forth from this root which God hath firmly planted in the ground of the will, the limb of which has been elevated to a station which encompasses all existence" (Baha'u'llah, Baha'i World Faith, p. 205).

53 "And when the hour at which Thy resistless Faith was to be made manifest did strike, Thou didst breathe a breath of Thy spirit into Thy Pen, and lo, the entire creation shook to its very foundations, unveiling to mankind such mysteries as lay hidden within the treasuries of Him Who is the Possessor of all created things" (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 15).

"This is the hour, O my Lord, which Thou hast caused to excel every other hour, and hast related it to the choicest among Thy creatures" (Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, p. 146).

273

The hour preceding this one was that of the hour of transition. With Baha'u'llah's death in May, 1892 the faith entered into a new hour. 'Abdu'l-Baha said they were in a new hour.[54] This hour pertained to the transfer of the light of the faith from the East to the West.[55] This period of time was called the period of transition by Shoghi Effendi, meaning the transition to the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth.[56]

The next hour, the one mentioned in this 13th verse, begins at the point that the light has been successfully transferred from East to West. This was on April 21st, 1963. This is when Jesus the Lamb fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 12:12: "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the 1335 days." This gives the date of 1963. The 1335 years are from the victory of Muhammad in 628 AD: 628 + 1335 = 1963 AD. It was on this date that the faith had a victory in that the return of Jesus began to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 3. This was with his being opposed and accused by the Satan of that period, Rex King, at the convention of Mason Remey's followers to elect a National Spiritual Assembly in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In this same year, further to the West from New Mexico, on the Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona, Elder of the Hopi Tribe, Grandfather David had a vision of this light. He saw it in the form of a seven-pointed star rising from the East. He told his people the meaning of this star was that the Pahana ("Bahana" or "Baha'i"), or the long-awaited Hopi White Brother was alive in the world, specifically in "Massaua"[57] or Missoula, Montana. The Hopi White Brother was the establisher of the Baha'i Faith, Dr. Leland Jensen, as the number seven indicates the Seventh Angel. Therefore the seven-pointed star is symbolic of Dr. Leland Jensen. It was the mission of "Blessed is He" (the Return of Jesus the high priest who came in 1963) to establish Baha'u'llah's

__________________

54 "This is a new Day, and this hour is a new Hour in which we have come together" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 213).

55 "For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man" (Mathew 24:27).

"The day is approaching, when ye shall witness how, through the splendor of the Faith of Baha'u'llah, the West will have replaced the East, radiating the light of Divine Guidance" (Shoghi Effendi quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 75).

56 Before this period of transition began there was a time delay of a year and about 4 months from when Baha'u'llah ascended on May 29th, 1892 to when the Baha'i Faith was first proclaimed in America on September 23rd of 1893 (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 256).

57 Massoua defined: "Book of the Hopi (Masaw); "From beginning of life to the day of purification" (Maasauu); "Truth of a Hopi" (Masauwa); "Meditations with the Hopi" (Massoua).

274

Court, the Universal House of Justice which was fulfilled in the establishment of the second International Baha'i Council in Missoula, Montana that is to evolve into the Universal House of Justice according to Shoghi Effendi's four-stage plan.

The Hopis were instructed to cease their migrations and settle down when they received the sign of this star. This occurred at the birth of Jesus.[58] The earliest Anasazi dwellings date from that time. Anasazi means "enemy" in the Navajo language and this was their word for the Hopis. Those cliff dwellings were the early settlements of the Hopi tribe. Thus the last time they had received a vision of this star was at the birth of Jesus.

The advent of Jesus in 1963 caused a great stirring and upheaval in the world at that time, especially in America. It is like the divine message is the sun; its heat and light are perceived by those who turn to the sun, the believers, but even those who remain unaware, like the beetles under the ground, can feel the heat of this sun. This was expressed in America as the 60s flower-child revolution which espoused Baha'i principles such as the end of warfare, the removal of prejudice, equality of men and women, the end of extremes of wealth and poverty, etc. This movement was rapidly followed by an upsurge in evangelical Christianity called the "Jesus Freak Movement" which was characterized by a renewed interest in the Bible among young people.

The "great earthquake" which occurred at that hour was also that of the earth-shaking doubts which plagued the believers. The great earthquake began to occur at that hour of April 21st, 1963. It was on this day that Rex King began a secret campaign to get the believers to accept him as the next guardian even though he did not fulfill the criteria of being a son and appointed. This inserted doubts about the Covenant in the minds of these believers. It was from this time that this seed of doubt was implanted and grew to the point where eventually all the believers fell away through whoring after false guardians.

After Mason declared to Rex King that Rex was Satan, Rex went to Joel Marangella and convinced him to declare himself the guardian based on a letter from Mason saying that after his death Joel would be the next guardian. However, this letter did not make Joel the next guardian as he would first have to be a son of Mason and only then could he be appointed by Mason as the next Guardian. Rex and Joel started a theology that

__________________

58 "In like manner, when the hour of the Revelation of Jesus drew nigh, a few of the Magi, aware that the star of Jesus had appeared in heaven, sought and followed it..." (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 64).

275

Joel was the "spiritual" son of Mason and formed their own splinter group separate from the Baha'is who accepted Mason as their guardian. Afterward, Rex split from Joel, taking many of the believers with him to form another splinter group. Based on the false theology of "spiritual" sons, Donald Harvey claimed to be the successor to Mason after Mason's death, and all the remaining believers except for the two Knights accepted this. In this manner, all the believers were eventually killed off in this spiritual earthquake of doubts.

At the same hour that the Covenant was being resurrected in the fulfillment of prophecy by the seventh angel, Jesus the Lamb, on April 21st 1963, it was being violated by the Covenant-Breakers who, under the guidance of the "Hands," were electing their bogus UHJ. This was not elected in accordance with the provisions of the Covenant.

The most simple and clear-cut provisions for the coming into existence of the UHJ are: it must be elected by all the nations (that is, by their National Houses of Justice); the ones participating in this election must be believers; it must have the Davidic King guardian for its hereditary (non-elected) president,[59] the executive branch; and it must be established on the foundation of Shoghi Effendi's four-stage plan, taking it through a gradual process of evolvement starting with an appointed International Baha'i Council, developing into an officially recognized International (World) Baha'i Court, transforming into a duly elected body (Supreme Tribunal) and finally efflorescing into the universally elected Universal House of Justice.

In 1963 there were approximately 170 nations in the world and, according to the Will and Testament the UHJ must be elected from National Houses of Justice in every nation as it is not meant to be merely international but universal. When the "Hands" called for the election there were only 48 National Spiritual Assemblies which had yet to evolve to the stage of sovereignty befitting the title "House of Justice." Many of the other nations were thought to be represented under the auspices of "Regional Spiritual Assemblies," thus many nations did not even have National Spiritual Assemblies of their own. None of the nations of the United Soviet Socialist Republics and its eastern European satellites behind the "iron curtain" (altogether between 15 and 30 nations) had Baha'is residing in them at this time, nor did they participate in this election.

__________________

59 "Divorced from the institution of the Guardianship the World Order of Baha'u'llah would be mutilated and permanently deprived of that hereditary principle which, as Abdu'l-Baha has written, has been invariably upheld by the Law of God.... Without such an institution the integrity of the Faith would be imperiled, and the stability of the entire fabric would be gravely endangered" (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 148).

276

The persons participating in this election were not obedient and faithful believers in Baha'u'llah, that is, in His Covenant, but were those who had turned their backs on this Covenant and followed after the "Hands," essentially forming a new sect of Baha'i.

This so-called "UHJ" did not evolve after the four-stage plan of Shoghi Effendi, as the "Hands" not only monkeyed with its first stage by appointing their own new members to it, but totally by-passed its second stage, the International Court (which Shoghi Effendi repeatedly insisted was an essential prelude to the true UHJ). They did this in order to separate the Davidic King from this plan.

Finally, there was no Davidic King seated as the executive president of this so-called UHJ, as the "Hands" had spuriously and treacherously labeled him a Covenant-breaker (which is an authority they did not have) and forbade the friends from associating with him or investigating his claim to the guardianship.

As this bogus UHJ fulfills none of the most simple and basic provisions of God's Covenant for its creation, it is not formed after God's law but is only a manmade creation. At best it could only be an International Spiritual Assembly but as it was created by Covenant-breakers it is actually a headless monster. Thus, there is no spirituality coming in contact with this body. There is no divine guidance[60] inspiring the decisions of this "UHJ" that the deluded followers of the "Hands" now turn to as the representative of God on earth.

The first decision of this headless monster was to ratify the "Hands'" decision that the guardianship had come to an end. This was a dastardly act because, of course, even the UHJ does not have the authority to alter God's Covenant. By acquiescing to and participating in this election the body of believers under the "Hands" were now also outside the provisions of the Covenant, making them Covenant-breakers. This Covenant-breaking sect of the Baha'i faith is now the largest group of "Baha'is," calling themselves the Baha'i World Faith.

"And a tenth of the city fell" means the future of the Cause was cut off from these people. The City is symbolic of the Covenant. This Covenant is also symbolized as the Tree of Life. Shoghi Effendi,[61] in writing of the process of the Divine Plan of God's

__________________

60 "For instance, the Universal House of Justice, if it be established under the necessary conditions - with members elected from all the people - that House of Justice will be under the protection and the unerring guidance of God" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 173).

61 Shoghi Effendi's comments preceding this paragraph make it clear that the consummation of God's Plan in the Universal House of Justice and in a world spiiritual civilizaton was dependent on future crusades and that this was not to be an overnight thing but a long process: "...a crusade [1953-63] that will,... in itself, pave the way for, and constitute the prelude to, the initiation of the laborious and tremendously long process of establishing in the course of subsequent crusades... the framework of the Administrative Order of the Faith,... and of eventually erecting in these territories still more pillars to share in sustaining the weight and in broadening the foundation of the Universal House of Justice" (Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World, p. 153).

277

Covenant with man for this 6,000 year period of the Adamic cycle, stated that the 10th stage of this Covenant lay yet in the future after 1963:

Then, and only then, will the vast, the majestic process, set in motion at the dawn of the Adamic cycle, attain its consummation - a process which commenced six thousand years ago, with the planting, in the soil of the divine will, of the tree of divine revelation, and which has already passed through certain stages and must needs pass through still others ere it attains its final consummation. The first part of this process was the slow and steady growth of this tree of divine revelation,... as a direct consequence of the light and warmth imparted to it by a series of progressive dispensations... and of the vernal showers of blood shed by countless martyrs in their path. The second part of this process was the fruition of this tree, 'that belongeth neither to the East nor to the West,' when the Bab appeared as the perfect fruit and declared His mission in the Year Sixty in the city of Shiraz. The third part was the grinding of this sacred seed, of infinite preciousness and potency, in the mill of adversity, causing it to yield its oil, six years later, in the city of Tabriz. The fourth part was the ignition of this oil by the hand of Providence in the depths and amidst the darkness of the Siyah-Chal.... The fifth, was the clothing of that flickering light,... in the lamp of revelation, after an eclipse lasting no less than ten years, in the city of Baghdad. The sixth, was the spread of the radiance of that light,... in Adrianople, and later on in the fortress town of Akka, to thirteen countries in the Asiatic and African continents. The seventh was its projection, from the Most Great Prison,... across the seas and the shedding of its illumination upon... the American, the European, and Australian continents. The eighth part of that process was the diffusion of that same light... [starting in 1944] over ninety-four sovereign states, dependencies and islands of the planet,... utilizing the agencies of a newly emerged, divinely appointed Administrative Order, and which has now culminated in the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah's Mission [1952-53]. The ninth part of this process - the stage we are now entering - is the further diffusion of that same light over... both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, through the operation of a decade-long world spiritual crusade whose termination will, God willing, coincide with the Most Great Jubilee commemorating the centenary of the declaration of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad [1963]. And finally the tenth part of this mighty process must be the penetration of that light, in the course of numerous crusades and of successive epochs of both the Formative and Golden Ages of the Faith, into all the remaining territories of the globe through the erection of the entire machinery of

278

Baha'u'llah's Administrative Order in all territories, both East and West, the stage at which the light of God's triumphant Faith shining in all its power and glory will have suffused and enveloped the entire planet. This present Crusade, [1953-1963]... will... contribute effectually to the acceleration of yet another process of tremendous significance which will carry the steadily evolving Faith of Baha'u'llah through its present stages of obscurity, of repression, of emancipation and of recognition... to the stage of establishment, the stage at which the Faith of Baha'u'llah will be recognized by the civil authorities as the state religion,... a stage which must later be followed by the emergence of the Baha'i state itself, functioning, in all religious and civil matters, in strict accordance with the laws and ordinances of the Kitab-i-Aqdas,... a stage which, in the fullness of time, will culminate in the establishment of the World Baha'i Commonwealth, functioning in the plenitude of its powers, and which will signalize the long-awaited advent of the Christ-promised Kingdom of God on earth - the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah - mirroring however faintly upon this humble handful of dust the glories of the Abha Kingdom. This final and crowning stage in the evolution of the plan wrought by God Himself for humanity will, in turn, prove to be the signal for the birth of a world civilization, incomparable in its range, its character and potency, in the history of mankind - a civilization which posterity will, with one voice, acclaim as the fairest fruit of the Golden Age of the Dispensation of Baha'u'llah, and whose rich harvest will be garnered during future dispensations destined to succeed one another in the course of the five thousand century Baha'i Cycle." (May 4, 1953)[62]

God instructed us to heed the voice of Baha'u'llah, He in turn instructed us to heed the voice of 'Abdu'l-Baha and 'Abdu'l-Baha turned us to Shoghi Effendi. What path is there to the kingdom if we cannot or will not heed the voice of God? Shoghi Effendi laid out the path to the kingdom, and the faithless "Hands" and those who opted to follow them turned aside from that path and devised a new way of their own which is the path that leads down to Hell and damnation and the black pit of doom and destruction. Now, because of those God-damned Covenant-breakers, the entire world has to go through the four winds of destruction.

This deluded body of people fell away from this 10th stage, the glorious future of the faith that was cut off from them when the "Hands" did away with Shoghi Effendi's four-stage plan for the evolvement of the UHJ.

__________________

62 Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Baha'i World, pp. 153-156.

279

The "seven thousand people [who] were killed in the earthquake" are mentioned in the Old Testament as the seven thousand persons of Israel who did not succumb to the violation of Jezebel in the days of Elijah the Prophet.[63] Jezebel was the queen over the northern kingdom of Israel, which was the ten tribes that split from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin (forming the southern Kingdom), and thus separated themselves from the Davidic Kingship. Jezebel led the ten tribes of the northern kingdom into the apostasy of the worship of Nimrod (Baal) and Ashtoreth (Semiramis). This Northern Kingdom of Israel is a prototype of when Israel under its new name of Baha'i separated from the Davidic Kingship when the "Hands" opposed Mason in 1960. The queen of this northern kingdom of Israel was Jezebel, a prototype of Ruhiyyih Khanum. This will be elucidated more fully toward the end of this Book.

The meaning is that there were 7000 persons between 1957 and 1963 who did not succumb to the "Hands."

These 7000 were all the known followers under Mason and the ones who would have accepted Mason but were prevented from hearing of his claim to the Davidic Kingship by the oppression of the "Hands."

Gradually, because of their doubts, their lack of absolute faith in God's Covenant, even these 7000 persons perished spiritually, and only two believers, the two Knights of Baha'u'llah, remained faithful to the provisions of the Covenant for the successor to the Davidic Kingship: that he must first be a son and then be appointed by the previous guardian in his lifetime. These two were the only ones upon Mason Remey's death in 1974 who knew and accepted that Joseph Pepe Remey was the next guardian after Mason. These two Knights were the "rest [that] were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven" meaning they had the fear of God in their hearts.

These two Knights were firm in the Covenant all the way through the violation of the Hands. They are the earthly counterpart to the two witnesses in heaven

__________________

63 "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (1 Kings 19:18).

"Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand" (1 Kings 20:15).

"God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace" (Romans 11:2-6).

280

(the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament) symbolized by two cherubim of glory watching over the Ark of God's Covenant.

14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

There are many meanings concerning this subject of "woe". This woe is not the actual coming of the Manifestation but in that day woe is for the neglectful, woe is for the sinners, woe is for the ignorant. The "ignorant" are those who oppose the Manifestation on His coming. The "sinners" are those who break the Covenant after His ascension. The "neglectful" are those who remain unaware of His coming and those who profess belief but who neglect His Covenant. These three conditions are in themselves three woes. 'Abdu'l-Baha has already explained the woe of those in opposition to the Manifestation at His coming, so the woe of the sinners and the neglectful are left to explain.

The meaning of "woe is for the sinners" (the woe of Covenant-breaking) is mentioned in the second chapter of Ezekiel, where it is said: "And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and, lo, a written scroll was in it; and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe." This scroll is the book of the Covenant which has two texts, the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament. The front part is the Kitab-i-Ahd which came first. This also is the part that is within, as it describes it in the fifth chapter of Revelation as a "scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals." The Will and Testament is the part written on the back as it comes after the Kitab-i-Ahd and is sealed with seven seals. These words of lamentation, mourning and woe found in the Will and Testament refer to the violation of Mirza Muhammad-Ali; that is, 'Abdu'l-Baha's description of his violation in the Will and Testament.

Baha'u'llah also used the term "woe" in reference to Covenant-breaking. He said of those who would oppose 'Abdu'l-Baha, "Woe, great woe, betide him that opposeth and injureth Thee.... the fire of hell torment him who is Thy enemy".[64]

'Abdu'l-Baha, quoting Jesus, said, "'Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore if thy hand... offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee...' And in the 21st chapter and 38th verse of the Gospel of Matthew, He says: 'But when the husbandmen [stewards] saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir, come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out

__________________

64 Quoted by Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 243.

281

of the vineyard and slew him.'"[65] This describes the violation of the "Hands," the woeful violation of the Covenant in the Baha'i Dispensation. This woe is mentioned in the Bible where it says of the conclave meeting of these "Hands" when they took over the faith, "Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine; and who make a league, but not of my spirit,..."[66]

These "Hands" in order to take over the Baha'is, threw out the executive branch, the son of 'Abdu'l-Baha (Mason Remey), who was to receive the inheritance of the Davidic throne or kingship. This hereditary king, Mason Remey, was to take his seat as the president of the UHJ, but instead the "Hands" did away with Shoghi Effendi's instruction for how to progress to the UHJ in order to try to do away with this kingship. Then they claimed that Mason had broken the Covenant and declared him to be a Covenant-breaker but they did not have the authority to do this - they had only usurped that authority. In doing this the "Hands" were able to oppress the right of the believers to independent investigation of the truth. The believers dared not associate with Mason or any of those who accepted his claim as they would then be, likewise, under the threat of removal by the "Hands."

The "woe" of the neglectful indicates the trials that come to the people. For those who claim belief in the Manifestation but neglect His Covenant, the "woe" is that they fail the test and succumb to the leaders of Covenant-breaking or fall into doubts and temptations. Those who are neglectful and remain unaware of Baha'u'llah's coming includes all the rest of the people on earth. These do not escape from woe by trying to stay out of the issues. Woe comes to the earth itself because the violation on the part of those who were in heaven, the heaven of the Baha'i faith, sets up a negative vibration that affects even the material world.

An example of this is the earthly "woe" that occurred with the flood when the peoples who received Adam's Covenant violated it. They brought great destruction on themselves but the other peoples on earth suffered also. Another example is that at the coming of Moses there was a great physical catastrophe that consisted of many plagues: the waters of the Nile were made foul and undrinkable, the plagues of the frogs, gnats and flies, the death of the cattle, the boils which became sores, the heavy hail, the locusts, the thick darkness and the death of the first-born of men and cattle. Likewise, 'Abdu'l-Baha explained that an earthquake occurred in Shiraz after the martyrdom of the Bab: the city was in a turmoil, many people were destroyed and great agitation also

__________________

65 Baha'i World Faith, p.432.

66 Isaiah 30:1

282

took place through diseases, cholera, dearth, scarcity, famine and afflictions, the like of which had never been known. Remaining uninvolved is no protection but is like the ostrich with its head in the sand.

It says in Baha'i scripture that the earth will suffer for the woes that have been inflicted upon Baha'u'llah's Covenant: "May the world and all that is therein be a ransom for Thy woes."[67] Thus, in the eighth chapter of Revelation it says, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth..." and in chapter 12 it says, "woe to earth and sea."

Due to the three main violations during the Baha'i Dispensation, there are three further woes that will afflict all the peoples of the earth after the first wind of destruction, WWIII. In this book of Revelation it describes the woes of violation that occur in Islam, the Babi Faith and the Baha'i Faith as the bottomless pit and the pit of error. So in chapter 9 it says the pit is opened with smoke coming out, and that there is an angel of this bottomless pit. In this chapter (11) it says the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit makes war on the two witnesses, and then it says the second woe is past and the third woe is soon to come. Then in chapter 12:12 it says woe "to earth and sea," meaning the next is a combination of woe to those who call themselves Baha'is - that is, the sea - and woe to those who are on the earth - that is, those who are of other religions. Thus in chapter 13 it describes a beast coming out of the sea and another coming out of the earth.

The woes are what happen to those who take the wrong path. God has set aside a great station for all of the believers. This station is so great that to have just a peek of it would so overwhelm a believer that he would commit suicide in order to obtain it; so God keeps it veiled from us. In order to get this very great station, one must earn it and pass all the tests. Those who go against the plan of God lose this great station and in the next life are dispirited, as they have lost everything. The Holy scriptures call this condition Hell. The losers in this day are those who cling to the takeover of the faith by the Covenant-breaking Hands. It is like in the days of Baha'u'llah when they clung to Mirza Yahya and in the days of 'Abdu'l-Baha when they clung to the takeover of Muhammad Ali.

__________________

67 "Ponder in your hearts that which He hath foretold in His Tablet of the Divine Vision that hath been spread throughout the world. Therein He saith: 'Thereupon she wailed and exclaimed: "May the world and all that is therein be a ransom for Thy woes. O Sovereign of heaven and earth!"' Reflect upon these most exalted words, and comprehend the purpose of this hidden and sacred mystery" ('Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 17).

283

Getting back to the violation of the Hands, this in itself was three beasts and three woes. The body of the Custodian Hands was the first, the IBC they elected in 1961 was the second and the UHJ they elected two years later in 1963 was the third. That is why it is said, "The second woe is past; behold the third woe cometh quickly!"

So, as it says in verse 6, the water was turned into blood, meaning the people were in opposition to the Covenant, but Jesus turned water not into blood but into wine. This is the wine of the New Covenant: that is, after all these violations of the Hands have occurred, Jesus was to return in 1963 and give a new understanding of this Baha'i Covenant. The only way to escape from the multiple woes of this day is to find the Covenant and remain firm and steadfast.

GOD GIVES THE SOLUTION

15 Then the seventh angel[68] blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever."

Revelation 8:2 depicts seven angels who receive seven trumpets. The first four were the four angels holding back the four winds of destruction (Rev. 7:1). Ali, the establisher of Muhammad's Revelation, is the fifth angel. Quddus, the establisher of the Bab's Revelation, is the sixth angel, and the seventh angel is Jesus on his second coming, Leland (the land), the establisher of Baha'u'llah's Revelation.

Daniel gave three dates for the return of Jesus: 1844 in the Bab (or "Door"); 1863 in the return of Christ, Baha'u'llah and 1963 for the return of Jesus. He is prophesied by many titles: the Lamb, the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, the knight on the white horse, the seventh angel, Blessed is he,[69] etc. These are just a few of his titles.

'Abdu'l-Baha explained the seventh angel:

The seventh angel is a man qualified with heavenly attributes, who will arise with heavenly qualities and character. Voices will be raised, so that the appearance of the Divine Manifestation will be proclaimed and diffused. In the day of the manifestation of the Lord of Hosts, [during

__________________

68 Hebrews 1:4 shows that Manifestations, such as Jesus and Baha'u'llah, are greater in station than angels. Thus this angel is not Baha'u'llah.

69 Blessed is he who comes to the 1335 days. This date is 1963. The 1335 years are from the victory of Muhammad in 628 AD: 628+1335=1963 AD.

284

the dispensation of Baha'u'llah] and at the epoch [the 100 year anniversary of Baha'u'llah's proclamation or April 21st, 1963 ad][70] of the divine cycle of the Omnipotent which is promised and mentioned in all the books and writings of the Prophets - in that day of God, the Spiritual and Divine Kingdom will be established, and the world will be renewed; a new spirit will be breathed into the body of creation; the season of the divine spring will come; the clouds of mercy will rain; the sun of reality will shine; the life-giving breeze will blow; the world of humanity will wear a new garment; the surface of the earth will be a sublime paradise; mankind will be educated; wars, disputes, quarrels and malignity will disappear; and truthfulness, righteousness, peace and the worship of God will appear; union, love and brotherhood will surround the world; and God will rule for evermore --meaning that the Spiritual and Everlasting Kingdom will be established. Such is the day of God. For all the days which have come and gone were the days of Abraham, Moses and Christ, or of the other Prophets; but this day is the day of God, for the Sun of Reality will arise in it with the utmost warmth and splendor.[71]

When 'Abdu'l-Baha says he will arise, this means he will arise to combat the Great Violation of the Covenant-breaking "Hands" and reestablish back into the faith the plan of Shoghi Effendi, that is, to have the International Baha'i Council go through the four stages to become the Universal House of Justice, with the descendant from David, 'Abdu'l-Baha's son Mason Remey, seated as its president. By reestablishing God's plan he is establishing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in the heaven of God's plan. The "kingdom of the world" means the man-made governments already in place will become Baha'i nations. One by one they will join their sovereignty into God's plan and when all nations are ready for this, there will be a universal election, inclusive of all nations, to elect the Universal House of Justice.

16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces, and worshipped God...

__________________

70 The word "epoch" is also used to divide the 100-year period into quarter century periods of 25 years each. Shoghi Effendi wrote, "The Faith is divided into three Ages: the Heroic, the Formative, the Golden Age, as has been outlined in His Writings. The Heroic Age closed with the Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha. [1921] The Formative Age is divided into epochs. The first epoch lasted 25 years" (Shoghi Effendi, Directives of the Guardian, pp. 2-3). Adding 25 years from the year of 'Abdu'l-Baha's ascension (1921) brings us to 1946. Adding 25 years to 1946 brings us to the date of 1971. This was the year the Promised One made his public proclamation that he fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 3.

71 'Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 66.

285

In the past the number of holy souls was always twelve;[72] but this great Day of the establishment of God's Kingdom as an actual sovereign government requires that the number should be doubled. These "twenty-four" great persons are followers of Baha'u'llah and of Jesus the Lamb.

These twenty-four elders "sit on their thrones" showing that they are the Apostles who have returned with Jesus the Lamb. On the Thursday evening before he was crucified, Jesus gathered with his 12 Apostles at the Last Supper and made a Covenant with them, saying, "You are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."[73]

These "elders", or Apostles, are judges meaning they are members of the court - the International Baha'i Council. The first set of twelve are seated in the International Baha'i Council. These twelve are the gates through which "the blessed enter into the City of God"[74] mentioned in Revelation 21:12-14. The second set of twelve elders are also Apostles; they are the backup, or substitutes, for the twelve gates so that there will always be twelve gates in session. These twenty-four elders are "before God" meaning that while serving in the IBC they are in the presence of God.[75]

In the Dispensation of Moses this Plan of God was symbolized in a worship system having the tabernacle at its center. The innermost sanctuary of the tabernacle was called the Holy of Holies which contained the Ark of the Covenant. This ark was

__________________

72 Such as the 12 apostles of Jesus the Christ, the 12 Imams of Muhammad, etc

73 Luke 22:28-30

74 "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. 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. 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).

75 "Whoso hath recognized the Day Spring of Divine guidance and entered His holy court hath drawn nigh unto God and attained His Presence, a Presence which is the real Paradise, and of which the loftiest mansions of heaven are but a symbol" (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 70).

"By attaining, therefore, to the presence of these holy Luminaries, the "Presence of God" Himself is attained" (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Iqan, pp. 141-143).

286

sheltered beneath the wings of two cherubim of glory. These two cherubim are symbolic of the two witnesses in heaven and the two Knights were the two witnesses on earth. Moses taught that the presence of God hovered between these two cherubim above the Ark of the Covenant. Inside this ark was God's Plan for the Universal House of Justice. The force of God's Covenant is such that it ensures the presence of God on earth at all times. There is never a moment where God has abandoned us. God has made a Covenant with humanity that He will never leave us alone and today the presence of God on earth is the second International Baha'i Council which is the Universal House of Justice in its infant stage.

17 ...saying, "We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, that thou hast taken thy great power and begun to reign."

These elders are humble and submissive to the Will of God and do not prefer their will above God's Will. It is through this extreme humility and submission that they are prepared to receive the divine guidance. They give thanks to God for sending the Manifestation, Baha'u'llah, and for sending His Establisher, Dr. Leland Jensen, who is Jesus on his return as the Lamb. Baha'u'llah's establisher will issue the truth of the Covenant which is the spirit of the world of humanity bestowing everlasting life. It is only through this Covenant that the Baha'i Revelation can be truly understood.

Through His Universal House of Justice - which has been set up in the world by Jesus, the Lamb - Baha'u'llah will subdue the world through spiritual power, not through war and combat. This Universal House of Justice, the second International Baha'i Council, will conquer the nations through peace and tranquillity, not by physical force. It will establish this heavenly kingdom through true love, and not by the power of war. It will promote these divine teachings through kindness and righteousness, and not by weapons or harshness.

God's son, the second International Baha'i Council, will so educate the nations and peoples that all the racial, cultural, political and religious differences will be overcome. This child is the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 11:6-9:

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

These animals are symbols of nations and peoples. They are symbolized by beasts because they are not spiritual. The child that leads them into the Kingdom is the

287

second International Baha'i Council when it has evolved into its second stage. It is different than the earthly man-made governments in that it is created by God Himself. Just as a human being has a soul and animals do not, this child has spirituality, whereas the governments of the world do not. The "sucking child" is the UHJ in its infant stage (the second International Baha'i Council) and the "weaned child" is this UHJ in its next stage of development (the International Baha'i Court). The authority of this Court will be acknowledged by the four beast nations after the thermonuclear war. After that, one by one, the different nations will be ready to join this body. At this stage it will become internationally elected. Finally, when each and every nation is ready to participate there will be a universal election. This takes it into the stage of the Universal House of Justice.

This in turn will lead to a great spiritual civilization. The former spiritual sickness of humanity - war, hatred, prejudice, fanaticism, etc. - will be completely removed, and all the peoples will attain perfect union and reconciliation and will be gathered under the shadow of the blessed tree of life, this Baha'i Covenant. But before this can come about the world will see a thermonuclear war fought between the United States, England, France and Russia.

18 "The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth."

The nuclear war will be followed by the wrath of God - three further winds of destruction in the form of natural catastrophes: the meteor, the great earthquake and the shifting of the earth's crust. This is because the other nations that are not directly involved in the nuclear war will not repent of their former ways. Their governments will still be corrupt and their peoples will still follow their apostate religions. They will not turn to the one true God, but will cling even more fiercely and triumphantly to their former ways. This includes the followers of the Covenant-breaking "Hands." All this is in opposition to God and these nations must also go through the winds of destruction and be purified.

The "dead" that are to be "judged" refers to those who are deprived of the Spirit of God. This spirit was explained by 'Abdu'l-Baha: "Today the pulsating power in the arteries of the body of the world is the spirit of the Covenant - the spirit which is the cause of life. Whosoever is vivified with this spirit, the freshness and beauty of life become manifest in him, he is baptized with the Holy Spirit, he is born again, is freed from oppression and tyranny, from heedlessness and harshness which deaden the spirit, and attains to everlasting life."[76]

__________________

76 'Abdu'l-Baha, The Covenant, p. 127.

288

Those who are deprived of the Spirit of God refers especially to those "Baha'is" who are not under the Covenant but who are under the takeover of the Hands. They are deprived of the spirit as this spirit is cut off from those who are not firm in the Covenant. Baha'u'llah wrote, "He who denieth the Covenant and the Testament is rejected by God..."[77] and 'Abdu'l-Baha also, "Any soul who violates the Covenant and Testament in the least degree, immediately he is cut off..."[78] and, "Know ye this: that if any person is the least doubtful about the Covenant, he is immediately cut off - although he may be the greatest among men. The harmful results of such an event will appear in the future; therefore, give your utmost attention to this question."[79]

This is the time for these Covenant-breakers to be judged with justice meaning that they must account for their deeds and receive their just deserts. Their deeds will be weighed in accordance with their motive for doing them. God knows the innermost secrets of men's hearts. If they did good deeds purely for the love of God, they will be rewarded; but the deeds done in the name of the Hands and that bogus UHJ are worthless. No reward will ascribe to them for those deeds because such deeds do not promote the true Cause of God, His Covenant or His Plan. Many of these people believe that service in that administration which the Hands took over (and which is now under the auspices of the bogus UHJ) will bring them automatic salvation. Poor, misguided followers of the Hands! This concept is totally absent from the writings of Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha or Shoghi Effendi. These positions in the administration are just that - positions, not stations.

The only way to receive one's station, the one that has been reserved particularly for you by God, is to first of all turn to His Covenant. It is not enough to say you believe in Baha'u'llah. You must be in connection with Him through His Covenant. This Covenant was given by Baha'u'llah and further explained by 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi; but after Shoghi Effendi died, this Covenant was thrown out of the Baha'i World Faith by the Hands. The only source of salvation for any of these people is to turn their backs on the false plan of the Hands and receive the divine elixir of the true Covenant of God from Jesus the Lamb. But the vast majority of these so-called Baha'is will not do this because in reality they are under the rule of death. They do not have salvation and cannot be set free from sin because they will not turn to God's Covenant. Instead they look to men, and turn to them for leadership. They see this as their salvation thinking to advance themselves by attaching themselves to this person or that

__________________

77 Baha'u'llah, as quoted in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 211.

78 'Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 8, #16, p. 216.

79 'Abdu'l-Baha, Star of the West, Volume 8, #16, pp. 219-20.

289

person who is a high muckety-muck admired by others. They are dead to the true and absolute Reality that it is only what God thinks of them that establishes their position in the grand scheme of things and that mere mortal men cannot advance them one jot in this life or the next.[80] Only the deeds done purely out of love for God will accrue to your spiritual advancement. This is the service that is acceptable at the threshold; but the deeds done to be seen of men are as worthless dust staining the heart.

Finally, the judgment has to do with God's Promised One. God sends His Promised One into the world and how the people treat him and what they think of him is their judgment of themselves. He is like a mirror and what they see is only a reflection of themselves. As it says in 2nd Samuel 22:26-8, "With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless; with the pure thou dost show thyself pure, and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse. Thou dost deliver a humble people, but their eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down." Everyone's salvation is in their own hands; it is between them and God only. The judgment of their relationship to God is through the presence of God on earth in His Promised One; that is, through whether or not, and to what degree, they believe in him.

The righteous of God's people are referred to as "thy servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear thy name." They will be rewarded by God's endless bounty which He will shed upon these holy ones causing them to shine like stars on the horizon of eternal honour. This is because God will confirm them in their efforts to establish the truth of Baha'u'llah's message in the world. 'Abdu'l-Baha wrote, "Truth is God's guidance, it is the light of the world, it is love, it is mercy. These attributes of truth are also human virtues inspired by the Holy Spirit."[81] The righteous will have victory.

The "destroyers of the earth" are those persons who are neglectful of God's Will. These are primarily the corrupt governments and the corrupt clergy. The governments of the four beast nations in the UN security council - the US, England, France and Russia - will destroy one-third of mankind in one hour of the oncoming thermonuclear war.

The "destroyers of the earth" are also that for thousands of years the corrupt clergy has been destroying the "earth" of men's hearts from being able to turn to God. In Christianity they have done this by inserting mythical Jesus in the place of the real Jesus who only wanted to turn the people to the One True Invisible God. Amongst the Covenant-breaking, so called Baha'is, this was done by inserting the Hands' plan in the

__________________

80 Neither can they hold them back.

81 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 121.

290

place of God's Plan. Now a bogus UHJ takes its seat in the temple proclaiming itself to be the presence of God. The other world religions have done the same thing each after their own fashion and they are all apostate.

These "destroyers" will finally be forced to realize that they are entirely deprived, but then it will already be too late as the nuclear destruction will be upon them. Their blindness will be manifest, and the truth of the visions of seers such as Nostradamus will be plain to all. The world will be forced to recognize the knowledge and wisdom of the people under guidance, those under the provisions of Baha'u'llah's Covenant. They will stand in stark contrast from the ignorance of the people of error. Thus the destroyers will be destroyed as they will be exposed and the peoples will turn to them for guidance no longer.

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

In Moses' dispensation, he set up a physical tent called the tabernacle in which there were two chambers: an outer one called the sanctuary, and an inner one called the Holy of Holies in which was the Presence of God ('shekinah'). Moses appointed his brother Aaron to be a high priest in this temple, and Aaron's descendants to be the high priests after him, one at a time in succession. In this physical Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant (a box) covered in gold, and in this box Moses placed his Covenant and the scrolls of the law. The Holy of Holies was so sacred that the only one allowed to enter the presence of God in the Holy of Holies was the high priest. Standing before the Ark of the Covenant, he would read and meditate on the meaning of the Law, discern the meanings and explain them to the king and the ordinary priests who would then teach the people. Once a year the doors of the temple would be opened wide, and the people could see the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant. This system protected the unity of Israel because it provided for one unified understanding of the Law as taught by one high priest.

The Mosaic system of worship was recognized by the Christians as being a shadow and imitation of what was to come in the future. There are several significant aspects to this. The Dispensation of Moses was primarily concerned with the physical realm due to the level of evolvement of the people of that time. It prescribed many ordinances concerning the regulation of the details of daily living. But when Jesus came he said, "my kingdom is not of this world." His Dispensation gave virtually no instructions about physical living but was primarily concerned with spiritual education and prophecies of future events. In addition to this he had no biological children - his physical lineage did not continue - but his successors were his spiritual children, i.e., the Apostles.

291

Jesus' kingdom was not of this world but he taught the believers to teach his Gospel - the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. This Gospel of Christianity and the Covenant of Jesus was that anyone could be grafted into this promise through the spirit of faith.[82] Jesus' Covenant was primarily for the gentiles (the nations) and this Covenant was not under the Mosaic dispensation but transcended it. For these reasons Jesus' Covenant could not be placed in the physical Holy of Holies, but only in the temple in heaven, the heaven of prophecy of future events concerning God's Plan. The temple in heaven is the ideal temple, not made by hands. This is why it was written, "For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself...."[83]

The Book of Hebrews, chapters 5-10, explains that Jesus, though not an Aaronic high priest, is the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek.[84] As the high priest he institutes a new Covenant of spiritual successors,[85] ministering in the true sanctuary in heaven.[86] It is in the Holy of Holies of this temple that the full meanings of the Covenant (the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament) are found. Only a High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, Jesus on his return, can enter the Holy of Holies of the temple in the heaven of prophecy in order to explain the meaning of the Covenant to the people. Through his explanations and commentaries he takes this Covenant from the heaven of prophecy and places it in the Holy of Holies of the temple in the heaven of fulfillment.

In the Book of Hebrews we are told Moses was instructed to build a temple or tabernacle in the wilderness: "... when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, 'See that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.'"[87] Moses was raised in the household of the Pharaoh in Egypt and had access to the libraries at Alexandria which contained the blueprints of the inner chambers and passageways of the Great Pyramid of Giza. These blueprints were the "pattern" and the "mountain" was the Great Pyramid. When Moses was on Mt. Sinai God reminded him of those blueprints that he had been shown in his youth. The tabernacle which Moses directed to be built thus had the same pattern as that of

__________________

82 This was faith based on proof.

83 Hebrews 9:24.

84 Hebrews 5:5-6, 6:20 and 7:3, "He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life...."

85 Hebrews 9:15.

86 Hebrews 8:1-2, 9:24.

87 Hebrews 8:5.

292

the pyramid, having an outer courtyard and a tent with two chambers: the outer sanctuary (or Holy Place) and the Holy of Holies.

In the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Holy of Holies is depicted as the 'King's Chamber.' It is the chamber of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Baha'u'llah. Soon after Dr. Leland Jensen had made his proclamation in Ezekiel's Temple in Deer Lodge on April 29th 1971, he began to explain the meanings of the passageways and chambers of this great edifice. The passageways are a chronological time scale. The Ascending Passageway starts with the exodus of Moses in 1456 B.C. and becomes the Grand Gallery (outer courtyard) with the advent of Jesus, specifically, when he began his mission in 30 AD. The Grand Gallery comes to an end at the Great Step (the altar) with the proclamation of the Bab in 1844. From the start of the Great Step, the pathway of the chronological time scale continues as it passes through the Ante-Chamber (the sanctuary, pertaining to the Bab) and comes to an end at the entrance of the King's Chamber (Holy of Holies) which indicates the proclamation of Baha'u'llah on April 21, 1863 when He appeared in the Holy of Holies, beginning His mission.

Baha'u'llah was in this 'King's Chamber' when He wrote His Covenant, 'Abdu'l-Baha was in it when he wrote the Will and Testament, and Shoghi Effendi was in this Holy of Holies when he continued the Covenant and expounded it to the world. But the full understanding and meaning was never revealed to others. Shoghi Effendi said those in his time they were standing too close to these documents to comprehend their full meaning, only in the future would they be revealed and understood.[88] Then when he set up the first IBC he said future generations would view it as the greatest event, second only to the three central figures of the Baha'i Faith (the Bab, Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha).

The Hands and Mason Remey destroyed this edifice of the Holy Council. What Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi established while in the Holy of Holies[89] was thrown out before it became manifest in this material world. Now there is only one narrow course for its reestablishment: the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek. There is only one room in the temple that contains the Ark of the Covenant: the Holy of Holies. The High Priest alone has the authority to go into that Holy of Holies, stand before the Ark of the Covenant in the presence of God, take the scroll (Rev. 5:1) and

__________________

88 "We stand indeed too close to so monumental a document to claim for ourselves a complete understanding of all its implications, or to presume to have grasped the manifold mysteries it undoubtedly contains. Only future generations can comprehend the value and significance attached to this Divine Masterpiece..." (The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 8).

89 The Holy of Holies in the temple that was in the heaven of fulfillment of prophecy.

293

reveal its full meanings. This High Priest has already returned. The Holy of Holies itself prophesies of him.

In the Holy of Holies of the Great Pyramid are 100 red granite stones lining the walls, which represent 100 years. These 100 years are the same 100 years that 'Abdu'l-Baha related to the prophecy of Daniel in reference to the great teacher - "blessed is he who waiteth and cometh to the 1335 days" (1335 years). 'Abdu'l-Baha explained that this 1335 year date corresponded to the 100-year anniversary of Baha'u'llah's proclamation on April 21st, 1863. The great teacher, "blessed is he," was to come on April 21st, 1963. It was on this date that Jesus the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek came out from the heaven of prophecy and went into the heaven of fulfillment of that prophecy. He began his mission on April 21st, 1963 when he was opposed by Rex King, the Satan of Zech. 3:1. It was at this point that he entered the Holy of Holies. God had prepared him for his mission. Dr. Leland was raised a third generation Baha'i. He sacrificed and taught the Faith his whole life, and he rose up to defend the Faith, thus God brought him into a highly spiritual state of enlightenment in which he was able to perceive the true spirit of the Faith.

To continue with the prophecy: The floor of the Holy of Holies was covered with 108 stone slabs, representing 108 years, and the ceiling is made of 9 beams, representing 9 days. These 108 years and 9 days is the time from the date of Baha'u'llah's Proclamation on April 21st, 1863 to the proclamation of Jesus the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek on the ninth day of Ridvan, April 29th 1971 (a Baha'i holy day).

Dr. Leland Jensen, who fulfills these prophecies, is the only person who entered the chamber into the presence of God before the Ark of the Covenant on April 21st, 1963, to fight against Satan. The proof of this, and the proof that Leland is the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, is that he alone fulfills the prophecies for Joshua (Jesus) the High Priest of Zechariah chapter three, who is opposed by Satan and who wears the dirty garment.

In 1971, after his proclamation and while in the Holy of Holies (i.e., the spiritual state of comprehension, knowledge, discernment, realization and understanding), he saw the scroll (the Kitab-i-Ahd and Will and Testament) in the Ark of the Covenant, but he could not comprehend its full meanings as it was sealed with seven seals. In 1969 he had entered into Ezekiel's Temple in Deer Lodge, Montana, a replica of the ideal temple of the heaven of prophecy, which, with its physical completion in 1912, became a symbol of the temple in the heaven of fulfillment. After he entered this temple he began to fulfill his mission. He began to break the seven seals starting in 1971 with his explanation that the passageways of the Great Pyramid were a chronological time scale giving the dates for the appearance of the seven Manifestations before the advent of the twin Manifestations of the Bab in the Ante-Chamber and Baha'u'llah in the King's

294

Chamber. He continued to break the seals, which were in seven sets of seven. With the breaking of the seventh seal he was able to look into the scroll and comprehend the full meaning of this sacred document.

Jesus on his return, Dr. Leland Jensen, is the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek. Enshrined in the Holy of Holies is the Ark of the Covenant which contains the two tablets of the law: the scroll of the Covenant, written within and on the back, and the Kitab-i-Aqdas. The meaning of "the ark of his [God's] covenant was seen within his temple" is that Dr. Leland Jensen was in the Holy of Holies, comprehending the full meaning of the scroll. To be in the Holy of Holies is to be in the spiritual state of comprehension and understanding of God's Covenant.

Only the High Priest can go into this Holy of Holies and explain the meaning of the Covenant to the world. Only Dr. Leland Jensen has the authority as the High Priest, Jesus the Son, to go into his Father's house in heaven (Baha'u'llah's Revelation), open wide the doors and teach the true and hidden meaning of the Covenant and Testament. Thus the temple in heaven was "opened" by the explanations of Jesus the Lamb, who promotes and protects Baha'u'llah's Covenant.

Ultimately this temple in heaven signifies the plan of God.[90] When the veils have been parted so that the eye can see all the way into the Ark of the Covenant, the eye would also see the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies signifies the essence of the Divine Law, the eternal reality of the Law of God, which is renewed in every Dispensation. This means the Divine Teachings and heavenly mysteries are established and understood and the path to the fulfillment of all that God has promised in all past dispensations has been laid bare for the seeker. The essence of the teachings of God will be realized in the world of existence, and the darkness of ignorance and lack of knowledge will be dispelled. The renown of God will overspread the East and West, and the proclamation of the Cause of God will fill the world, until it becomes a new world, and enlightenment will prevail.

And "the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple" also means the prophecies have been fulfilled, the Covenant has been explained and the hidden meanings of the Covenant have been made known. Thus, the Ark of the Covenant is visible.

Before this, the people had been separated from the Will of God. This was because after Shoghi Effendi's death in November of 1957, the Hands went to look for his Will and Testament. They told the people that they couldn't find this will and that there was no will; therefore, they would have to themselves decide the future of the Baha'i

__________________

90 'Abdu'l-Baha explained, "The real Temple is the very Law of God..." (Baha'i Scriptures, p. 328).

295

faith. In reality, Shoghi Effendi had already given the Will of God to the people in a public cablegram91 in January of 1951, six years before he died. This set up an early stage of the UHJ as Shoghi Effendi's successor according to the instructions in the Covenant itself. But the Hands cancelled Shoghi Effendi's instructions for the development of the UHJ. Thus the Baha'is under the Hands no longer knew what God's Will was. This Will is symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

The only person allowed in the Holy of Holies is the high priest. Jesus the Lamb has returned as the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. He has gone into the Holy of Holies and taken the scroll of the Covenant (the Kitab-i-Ahd and the Will and Testament) out of the Ark and explained their meanings. Through the explanations and commentaries of the Lamb, those who are following the Arch Covenant-breakers (Ruhiyyih Khanum and the Hands) - and who are adhering to their headless,[92] manmade "Universal House of Justice" can come out from this dastardly violation of the Covenant. With the return of Jesus the Lamb, the High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, the divine Covenant is found, and the people can adhere once again to the Will of God.

Once they turn to God's Will, they will continue to be guided. This is through the re-establishment of Shoghi Effendi's son in the world. Whereas Moses set up the temple, Jesus on his first coming appointed his Apostles. It says in the New Testament that these Apostles and the members of the household of God were the temple, "... members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles... the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."[93]

Jesus on his return also appoints his twelve Apostles. This appointed body forms the first stage, the foundation, of the Universal House of Justice. This is the second International Baha'i Council (sIBC) and it is to evolve into the UHJ after passing through

__________________

91 "Proclaim National Assemblies of East and West weighty epoch-making decision of formation of first International Baha'i Council, forerunner of supreme administrative institution destined to emerge in fullness of time within precincts beneath shadow of World Spiritual Center of Faith... further functions in course of evolution of this first embryonic International Institution, marking its development into officially recognized Baha'i Court, its transformation into duly elected body, its efflorescence into Universal House of Justice ...Hail with thankful, joyous heart at long last the constitution of International Council..." Shoghi Effendi, Cablegram, January 9, 1951 (Messages to the Baha'i World, pp. 7-8).

92 That is, without the executive branch as the head.

93 Ephesians 2:19-22

296

various stages according to the Will of God given through Shoghi Effendi - Shoghi's four-stage plan.[94]

And there were "flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail." It was in the spring of 1991, shortly after Dr. Jensen had appointed the IBC, that the message of the hidden meanings[95] of the Covenant first became known amongst the Baha'is who had accepted him. Afterward a storm of Covenant-breaking occurred from a few[96] who did not want to accept the truth of the Covenant. Loud noises were raised both for, and against the Covenant. An "earthquake" of doubts took place, and even those who professed belief fell into trials and temptations. Eventually, however, a hail of torments beat upon these violators of the Covenant. Even as they witnessed the followers of the Lamb going forward, they themselves were degraded and dispersed.

Likewise, when this message goes out to the world, there will be a great storm. The lightnings of the anger and the wrath of God will flash. The message of the seventh angel thundering against the violation of the Covenant will resound around the entire world. The apostate faith of the Covenant-breakers in their false "UHJ" will be shaken. A hail of torment will beat upon the violators of the Covenant. And those who profess belief in Baha'u'llah, but who do not accept His Covenant unreservedly, will fall into trials and temptations. The violators of the Covenant (those who follow the Hands and their false "UHJ"[97]) will be degraded and dispersed, and the faithful Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant will be cherished and glorified, for they cling to the Book of the Testament and are firm and steadfast in the Covenant. These are those who "follow the Lamb wherever he goes."[98] To them the doors of success and prosperity will be opened in all directions, and the signs of goodness and heavenly blessings will be made plain.

The "flashes of lightning, loud noises, peals of thunder, earthquake, and heavy hail" are also symbolic of what will take place in the material world when the seventh angel sounds his trumpet; i.e., this book. The "flashes of lightning" are the inter-continental missiles which will streak across the sky, "peals of thunder" are the exploding of

__________________

94 However the New Testament also reveals, "...the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age)" Hebrews 9:8-9.

95 The seven mysterious provisions itemized in Chapter 10.

96 These persons are discussed in more detail in the last chapter under the church of Sardis.

97 Known as "Baha'i World Faith."

98 Rev. 14:4.

297

the nuclear bombs. The "heavy hail" is the fallout. The "loud noises" are the sounds of destruction and the groaning of the people, and the "earthquake" is the fear that will overwhelm them.

'Abdu'l-Baha in the book Some Answered Questions explained the first six verses of chapter 12 of Revelation as applying to Islam. In his explanation the dragon pertained to corrupted Islam, to the dynasty of the Umayyeds who dominated the Muhammadan religion, and the son of the woman pertained to the advent of the Bab. The Babi dispensation only lasted for 19 years and was replaced by the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. Although 'Abdu'l-Baha's explanations of the first six verses of chapter 12 were true and fit the situation, he didn't explain the rest of the verses, 13-17. The reason is that there is another explanation of chapter 12 that pertains to the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, and the establishing of His kingdom in the world today. "Every knowledge hath seventy meanings," (Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 255). This is as follows.

298