THE BOOK OF REVELATION
CHAPTER 12
1 And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
A "portent" is a sign. This sign appears in the heaven of the Revelation of God. This is also in the heaven of prophecy. As Baha'u'llah fulfills prophecy, He comes in the potency of the greater Covenant. He became conscious of being the Manifestation through a vision of a beautiful maiden. This maiden is the "woman clothed with the sun," and is that Revelation which was revealed by Baha'u'llah.
The "sun" with which she was "clothed," and the "moon" which was "under her feet," are symbols of the greater and lesser Covenants of Baha'u'llah. The sun symbolizes Baha'u'llah and the greater Covenant, as He brings the direct light of innate infallibility, being a Manifestation. The moon symbolizes 'Abdu'l-Baha and the lesser Covenant. As the sun confers its light upon the moon, so too does Baha'u'llah confer the light of infallibility (conferred infallibility) upon 'Abdu'l-Baha and the subsequent successors who reflect the light of Baha'u'llah's Revelation.[99]
The sun produces the light, and the moon reflects that light. The lesser Covenant exists in order to reflect the Revelation to the people. Thus, the light coming from this woman shines out in various degrees, in one degree of light in the greater Covenant and in another degree of light in the lesser Covenant. The degree of the light of the sun, the greater Covenant, is the Revelation, and the degree of the light of the moon, the lesser Covenant, is the explanation and interpretation of that Revelation.
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99 "There are two kinds of priorities: one is essential and is not preceded by a cause, but its existence is in itself, as, for example, the sun has light in itself, for its shining is not dependent on the light of other stars. This is called an essential light. But the light of the moon is received from the sun, for the moon is dependent on the sun for its light; therefore, the sun, with regard to light, is the cause, and the moon becomes the effect." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 116)
"The other Prophets are followers and promoters, for they are branches and not independent; they receive the bounty of the independent Prophets, and they profit by the light of the Guidance of the universal Prophets. They are like the moon, which is not luminous and radiant in itself, but receives its light from the sun." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 164)
"So the moon which is in the heavens, however far it might evolve, could never become a luminous sun, but in its own condition it has apogee and perigee." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 233)
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The mission of Baha'u'llah's Revelation is the birth of God's Covenant into the material world.[100] This Covenant is sometimes compared to the Holy City (the Jerusalem of God), sometimes to a bride, and again to the new heaven and new earth. For instance, chapter 21 of Revelation says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away;... And I saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband...." The reason for these various symbols is that this Covenant shines out in various expressions from the will of God as expressed through the various successors of Baha'u'llah.
The lesser Covenant of Baha'u'llah was further delineated by 'Abdu'l-Baha. The culmination of it was set forth by Shoghi Effendi in his four-stage plan for the evolvement of the UHJ. This four-stage plan is the constitution of the UHJ and was the first heaven. The first earth signifies Shoghi Effendi's appointed body of the IBC. It says the first heaven and first earth passed away. The meaning is that the heaven of Shoghi's plan and the material expression of it, his appointed IBC, was done away with by the corrupt Hands.
This woman is also a symbol of the Law of God, the Covenant of Baha'u'llah, that afterwards took refuge with Dr. Jensen. This is referred to in Baha'i scriptures as the "Maid of Heaven, the Offspring begotten by the Spirit of Baha"[101] meaning this Covenant was revealed by Baha'u'llah.
The four-stage plan of Shoghi Effendi is another expression of this lesser Covenant, and is depicted as a bride in chapter 21 of Revelation. It is depicted in Baha'i scriptures as the "handmaiden" sent out by the maid of heaven.
Whereupon the maid of heaven looked out from her exalted chamber . . . thereupon she summoned unto herself one maiden from her handmaidens . . . and commanded her: "Descend into space from the mansions of eternity, . . ." She then descended with such an adorning as to illumine the heavens and all that is therein . . .[102]
The handmaiden sent out from the Maid of Heaven, is the four stage plan of Shoghi Effendi which is born of the lesser Covenant.
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100 "The Revelation of Baha'u'llah, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations,..." (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 163).
101 Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 284.
102 Baha'u'llah, Tablet of the Holy Mariner.
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As the message of Jesus is "the Son" in relation to the message of Baha'u'llah "the Father," so this lesser Covenant is the "Offspring begotten of the Spirit of Baha." The existence of this offspring in the abstract realm (or heaven of God's plan), is symbolized as female. When it is depicted as being manifest in the material world, it is symbolized as male. The true meaning of the Revelation bearing the title of the "Son of God" now becomes apparent. It is the mission of Jesus on his return to establish in the world this son -- the International Baha'i Council -- the manifestation in the world of Baha'u'llah's lesser Covenant as set forth in Shoghi Effendi's plan.[103] In other words, the lesser Covenant is the offspring of Baha'u'llah which comes to fruition in the IBC/UHJ.
With the return of Jesus, the Covenant is renewed. The New Jerusalem, Jesus' new Covenant, descends out of heaven with him on his return. The new heaven is the reestablishment of the Covenant in the world by Jesus the Lamb and the new earth is the appointment of the body of the IBC with Jesus appointing his twelve Apostles. It says, "...on her head a crown of twelve stars." These twelve stars are the twelve Apostles of Jesus on his return, who are the promoters of the Covenant of Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance. There is now no way to the Father except through this Son, the IBC.[104]
2 she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
The "child" she carried was the first embryonic International Baha'i Council (IBC) which was to succeed Shoghi Effendi.
Her "pangs of birth" refer to the great difficulties, troubles and afflictions that fell upon this Covenant in bringing forth its child. This was due to the Hands who took over the faith and violated this Covenant. They did away with the plan of Shoghi Effendi and set up a plan of their own, by-passing the embryonic IBC.
She was "in anguish for delivery" means the woman was in need of assistance, as the time of birthing was upon her. With the death of Shoghi Effendi this IBC was to be born into the world, but because of the Hands this process was artificially terminated.
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103 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God." (John 3:16-21)
104 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
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The return of Jesus the Lamb, Dr. Leland Jensen, comes to the aid of this woman. He is the doctor who would deliver her. That is, not only would he reinstitute this Covenant in the world, but in so doing would set it free of these troubles and afflictions. So this son is delivered by the return of Jesus. Jesus on his first coming had the title "Son of God" because he delivered the message of the "Son of God." Just like the ice-cream man is called the "ice-cream" man, not because he is ice-cream, or is made out of ice-cream, but because he delivers ice-cream. Jesus on his return brings the fulfillment of Jesus' mission, he delivers the Son of God, the IBC, into this world.
This maid of heaven, the lesser Covenant of Baha'u'llah, fell into the greatest difficulties and endured great troubles and afflictions until a perfect offspring was produced, i.e., the lineal descendant of Shoghi Effendi. This perfect offspring was to be reared in the bosom of this Covenant, which was as its mother. The child referred to was the IBC, which was in truth born from the Covenant of Baha'u'llah that was delineated by 'Abdu'l-Baha and further developed by Shoghi Effendi in his four-stage plan. That is to say, the holy reality of the IBC finds a reality in the kingdom of that Covenant. Its existence is in and through that Covenant. This is because it is the child of the maid of heaven, having been promised by that Covenant, on page 11 of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha as the lineal descendant of Shoghi Effendi. Also, page 12 of the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha instructs Shoghi Effendi to appoint his own successor, so he set up the IBC as an appointed, not elected, body which would go through stages of evolvement, finally evolving into its stage of maturity, the UHJ. So this four stage plan is likened to a servant or handmaid of the lesser Covenant as it provides for the bringing forth of the IBC/UHJ, the child of the lesser Covenant.
Because of the oppression of the Hands in their takeover of the Faith, the child was carried up to God, to be born into the world at a later date.
3 And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.
The color red is associated with the Baha'i Faith. A dragon is a winged serpent, indicating the religious intellect, in this case the twisted intellect of the Hands. The "red dragon" represents the Hands of the Cause of God who had no real existence after the passing of Shoghi Effendi. Ruhiyyih Khanum resurrected them and had the Baha'is turn to them instead of to Shoghi Effendi's son, the first IBC, which Shoghi Effendi designated as his successor.
With the passing of Shoghi Effendi, his widow, Ruhiyyih Khanum, said she seized the power and authority of the leadership of the Faith.[105] This leadership was seized
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105 Ruhiyyih Khanum, Ministry of the Custodians, preface, p. xix, introduction, p. 1
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from Shoghi Effendi's son, the first IBC. Ruhiyyih Khanum had the Baha'i world turn to the Hands instead of to the IBC. These Hands positioned themselves as the religious head (or clergy) of the Baha'i faith. Then they had a conclave and voted themselves to be the ones who would carry out Shoghi Effendi's plan, which, two years later in 1959, they abolished for a plan of their own.
Shoghi Effendi's plan was for the IBC (with the members he had appointed) to go through four stages: the International Baha'i Council; an International (or World) Baha'i Court to be established on Mt. Carmel in 1963; then at a later date its body would be elected, becoming the Supreme Tribunal; and then in the fullness of time it would effloresce (blossom), when the whole world became Baha'i, into the Universal House of Justice.
Shoghi Effendi's council had 'Abdu'l-Baha's son as its head (or president): its executive branch. The Covenant-breaking Hands did away with the executive branch and finally the IBC altogether, establishing a headless monster in its place in 1963, which they shamefully called the Universal House of Justice.
The "seven heads," as in 'Abdu'l-Baha's explanation, are seven dominions. When Shoghi Effendi appointed his Hands he assigned them to a region or dominion. These assignments were divided up into seven areas of the world: the Holy Land (Palestine), America (North and South), Africa, Asia (including the Middle East), Europe, Britain and the Pacific (Australia, including the islands in the Pacific Ocean).
The "ten horns" of this dragon were the ten auxiliary boards, two on each continent, that reported to the Hands, through which the Hands controlled and intimidated the National Spiritual Assemblies and thus all the believers.
The "seven diadems upon its head" are seven powers and authorities that the Hands usurped in order to permanently assure their position:
1. Direction of the Institution of the Hands of the Cause of God, instead of the guardian directing the Hands..
2. Making and implementing the decisions as an assembled body of members constituting the leadership of the faith, in the place of the IBC leading the faith..
3. Appointment of the successor to Shoghi Effendi, instead of the guardian's appointment of his own successor.[106]
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106 "We nominate and appoint from our own number to act on our behalf as the Custodians of the Baha'i World Faith... to exercise... all such functions, rights and powers in succession to the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith..." (Legal documentation from the Hands of the Cause quoted in Ministry of the Custodians, p. 30)
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4. Direction of the National Spiritual assemblies, instead of the IBC directing them..
5. Direction of Shoghi Effendi's Ten Year Plan, instead of the IBC directing it..
6. Direction of the IBC, instead of the council directing them.
7. Naming and expelling "Covenant-breakers" instead of the IBC expelling them.
The first person the Hands expelled was Mason Remey, the guardian, but without a guardian the Hands ceased to exist.[107]
4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth;
A "third of the stars of heaven" refers to the laws, which can be divided into three parts: teaching the Cause, living the life and firmness in the Covenant. The third part which the Hands threw out of the Baha'i faith was firmness in the Covenant, as they threw out the Covenant. This inevitably led to the other parts being thrown out as well.
"And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth" means the Hands were standing near the woman to take over her child, the promised lineal descendant of Shoghi Effendi. The Hands were waiting to get possession of the promised descendant, which was to come from the line of Shoghi Effendi.
This child was set up by Shoghi Effendi in 1951. This was the first IBC, the Universal House of Justice in embryo. This council never met as a body and was not activated, meaning it was still in the womb and not yet born into this world of activity during the days of Shoghi Effendi. The members of this council were appointed by Shoghi Effendi and not elected. They received individual instructions from Shoghi Effendi, and he announced to the entire Baha'i World that this embryo would be born into the world of activity by 1963. The Hands sought to take over this entity.
5 she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.
This "male child" was the IBC, the promised lineal descendent of Shoghi Effendi, which was conceived from the Covenant. The iron rod is a symbol of power and might, meaning that with divine power and might it will shepherd all the nations of the earth. The rod of iron by which the child rules the nations is the mandate of the lesser Covenant through which the IBC has conferred infallibility.[108]
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107 see Will and Testament, pp. 12,13
108 see Isaiah 11:6
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In 1959 the Hands ignored this child in embryo and set up something quite different, going against Shoghi Effendi. The child was "caught up to God" meaning it was preserved in God's plan with God's Promised One, the return of Jesus the High Priest, or the Lamb. This is because the will and desire to honor Shoghi Effendi's instructions and establish them in the world was kept alive in this Promised One. It was also caught up to his throne, the Davidic throne that 'Abdu'l-Baha's son, Mason Remey, sat upon, because at that time this Promised One was not yet conscious that he was the Promised One but was adhering to the leadership of Mason Remey. This child is depicted as descending back from heaven in chapter 21 as the bride or handmaiden. This means that the four stage plan is reinstitued through the new Covenant of Jesus, Dr. Leland Jensen when he sets up his Apostles as the IBC.
Consider how this verse corresponds to what happened. The plan for the evolvement of the IBC was thrown out by the Hands. It then departed from them and went to the Promised One who was now the center of God's Kingdom. Eventually, Shoghi Effendi's son was born into the world as the second IBC, in 1991.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The Covenant fled to the wilderness, meaning to the vast country of America. America was the place where the Promised One dwelt and thus it became "the place prepared by God;" the abode and dwelling place, and the center of the Covenant. [109]Twelve-hundred and sixty days (or three and a half years) after the Hands destroyed
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109 "The continent of America," wrote Abdu'l-Baha in February, 1917, "is, in the eyes of the one true God, the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide, and the free assemble." (Shoghi Effendi, quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 53)
"The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually." (Shoghi Effendi, quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 76)
"The full measure of your success," He declares in another Tablet, "is as yet unrevealed, its significance still unapprehended. Ere long ye will, with your own eyes, witness how brilliantly every one of you, even as a shining star, will radiate in the firmament of your country the light of Divine Guidance and will bestow upon its people the glory of an everlasting life." (Shoghi Effendi, quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 77)
"Should success crown your enterprise, America will assuredly evolve into a center from which waves of spiritual power will emanate, and the throne of the Kingdom of God will, in the plentitude of its majesty and glory, be firmly established." (Shoghi Effendi, quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 78)
"It is in the light of these above-quoted words of Abdu'l-Baha that every thoughtful and conscientious believer should ponder the significance of this momentous utterance of Baha'u'llah: "In the East the light of His Revelation hath broken; in the West have appeared the signs of His dominion." (Shoghi Effendi, quoting Baha'u'llah, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 78)
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the religion of Baha'u'llah, in 1959, the child of the Covenant of God became manifest through the Promised One who came in 1963.
The IBC was not to be elected but was to become the Baha'i World Court with the members appointed by Shoghi Effendi. The Hands got the whole plan of Shoghi Effendi all messed up, making it a great debacle. Their object was to set up a Universal House of Justice out of nothing, without going through the four stages, as Shoghi Effendi's plan called for. Their plan eliminated the World Court stage and the elected Supreme Tribunal stage and zipped to electing what they designated a Universal House of Justice.
The true UHJ must be elected from all nations.[110] This so-called UHJ was not elected by all nations, as there were no Baha'is in Russia or in the many nations of the Soviet Union at that time.[111] And if that isn't enough to show that the UHJ created by the Hands is false, it also excluded the guardian, which is a must in order to have Baha'u'llah's Universal House of Justice as set forth in the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha. This was such a glaring violation of the Covenant that the guardian, Mason Remey, in his first encyclical letter, expelled these Hands from the Baha'i religious faith for Covenant-breaking.[112]
They are Covenant-breakers of the worst sort. All the Baha'is should have shunned them. Instead, they stayed with them and caught their spiritual disease of leprosy. In order to get rid of this horrible disease it requires the remedy of the divine physician, Dr. Leland Jensen, who was sent by God. He was prophesied by the name he would come in,[113] the address where he would be found,[114] the date of his arrival (1963),[115] and by his mission to cure this dreadful, almost fatal spiritual disease. Those lepers who refuse his medicine will die in their sins, and there is no freedom of choice in the next life,
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110 "By this House is meant the Universal House of Justice, that is, in all countries a secondary House of Justice must be instituted, and these secondary Houses of Justice must elect the members of the Universal one." (Will and Testament, p. 14)
111 When the Soviet Union was established it became atheistic. All religions were banned. The Baha'i Temple was confiscated, turned into a museum and finally torn down. There were no Baha'is left, much less an administration.
112 This act was later ratified by the second IBC.
113 Leland; "the land" (Zech 3:9)
114 The "stone with 7 eyes before him" (Zech 3:9), which is a stone wall surrounding the prison in Deer Lodge Montana, where he resided for four years.
115 Daniel 12:12 "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty five days [years]." 1335 added to the date of the victory of Muhammad in 628 AD is April 21 1963, when he began his ministry. 628+1335=1963.
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so they can't come back and have a second chance. They have to have his medicine now in this life.
7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
The name Michael means "one like God." This Michael is mentioned in chapter 12 of Daniel as "the great prince." Baha'u'llah's father sat on the throne of King David, making Baha'u'llah the great prince and this verse refers to Baha'u'llah, who Manifested God. Michael (one like God) is Baha'u'llah Who is a Manifestation of God. His angels are God's heavenly army led by the Knight of Baha'u'llah seated upon a white horse (Rev. 6:1-2 and 19:11-16). This knight is Dr. Leland Jensen who was knighted a Knight of Baha'u'llah by Shoghi Effendi in 1954.
This war was foreshadowed in the writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi.
We have only to refer to the warnings uttered by Abdu'l-Baha in order to realize the extent and character of the forces that are destined to contest with God's holy Faith.... He...uttered these prophetic and ominous words: 'How great, how very great is the Cause! How very fierce the onslaught of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth. Ere long shall the clamor of the multitude throughout Africa, throughout America, the cry of the European and of the Turk, the groaning of India and China, be heard from far and near. One and all, they shall arise with all their power to resist His Cause. Then shall the knights of the Lord, assisted by His grace from on high, strengthened by faith, aided by the power of understanding, and reinforced by the legions of the Covenant, arise and make manifest the truth of the verse: "Behold the confusion that hath befallen the tribes of the defeated!" Stupendous as is the struggle which His words foreshadow, they also testify to the complete victory which the upholders of the Greatest Name are destined eventually to achieve.[116]
Evidences of increasing hostility without, persistent machinations within, foreshadowing dire contests destined to range the Army of Light against the forces of darkness, both secular and religious, predicted in unequivocal language by Abdu'l-Baha, necessitate in this crucial hour closer association of the Hands of the five continents and the bodies of the elected representatives of the national Baha'i communities the world over for
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116 Shoghi Effendi, quoting 'Abdu'l-Baha, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 17-18
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joint investigation of the nefarious activities of internal enemies and the adoption of wise, effective measures to counteract their treacherous schemes, protect the mass of the believers, and arrest the spread of their evil influence.[117]
Shoghi Effendi said this Army of Light was the Knights of Baha'u'llah.[118] The Knights of Baha'u'llah are the two knights who remained firm in the Covenant. These knights are supported by the legions of the Covenant. These legions are the new believers, including the 144,000, raised up by the knights. These are the angels of Michael and they fight against the dragon, that is, the cult of the Covenant-breakers.
These Covenant-breakers who follow the Hands accuse the true Baha'is, who are faithful to the Covenant, of being the Covenant-breakers. They shun the true Baha'is, and thus have created a wall of oppression which keeps the pure-hearted and sincere seekers from investigating the truth of the Covenant and captive in their apostate group.
The heavenly army is the prophesied 144,000 of Revelation chapter 14. The battleground of this war in heaven is over the minds and hearts of these 144,000. The false teachings of the dragon are thrown down from having a position of ascendancy in their minds. These false teachings of the Covenant-breakers will be thrown down once and for all, and that will mark the point in time when the Kingdom is established.
8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
That is, the dragon and his angels were no longer spiritual. The dragon is not spiritual but a concept of an ugly, mythical, winged monster that was concocted by the Arch Covenant-breakers to replace the provisions of the Covenant that they abandoned. Thus, there was no longer any place for them in heaven, as heaven is the abode of the believers.
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
The "devil" symbolizes the mind's rejection of the truth and of the Promised One. This appropriately applies to the Covenant-breakers. With the passing of Shoghi Effendi they set up a headless monster in the Baha'i faith in place of the true Universal House of Justice. Thus, the dragon was "thrown down to the earth" meaning it was no longer
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117 Shoghi Effendi, March, 1957, Messages to the Baha'i World, p. 123.
118 Citadel of Faith, p. 120 and Messages to the Baha'i World, p. 44.
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spiritual, but secular. Being cast down from heaven to the earth symbolizes that it lost all of its spirituality, becoming completely apostate.
Ruhiyyih Khanum, the wife of the guardian, Shoghi Effendi, was spiritual. Shoghi Effendi gave his wife, Mary Maxwell, the name Ruhiyyih Khanum, which means "spirit-like lady." The Hands of Shoghi Effendi were also spiritual. But when Ruhiyyih Khanum murdered her husband and seized the reigns of authority and set the Hands up to make the decisions in the place of Shoghi Effendi's son (the first IBC), they were no longer spiritual but counterfeit; a fake. The ancient serpent is the twisted intellect of the Arch Covenant-breakers, and their angels are the goon squads (nincompoops) that they send out to keep their deluded followers ignorant.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come" refers to the re-establishment back into the Baha'i faith of the Davidic Kingship (which the Covenant-breakers threw out). The Greek word Christ means Messiah ben David, a descendant of David that is anointed. Baha'u'llah is a descendant of David through the line of kings seated upon the throne of David, from Solomon on down. Baha'u'llah was anointed with the Holy Spirit, as was Jesus. Baha'u'llah's descendants are the re-established Davidic Kingship, beginning with Abdu'l-Baha, then His son Mason Remey, and Mason's son, Joseph Pepe Remey Aghsan, and his son.
The "authority of his Christ" is the authority of the guardian, as the executive, to enforce the Baha'i laws in the world, both the laws of the Aqdas as well as those legislated by the UHJ. Without this power of enforcement the Baha'i civilization is a reality on paper only.
The "accuser of our brethren" is the Arch Covenant-breakers, or the dragon. Without foundation they accuse the brethren, who are loyal to the Covenant, of being Covenant-breakers. This artifice and stratagem is a maneuver to deceive and outwit the defenders of the Covenant. It's a device, a trick, a red herring[119] to obtain advantage by twisting the facts. They call the faithful "Covenant-breakers" to detour their followers from realizing that they themselves are the Covenant-breakers. This keeps them
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119 Used to divert the attention of their followers from recognizing that they are followers of the Covenant-breakers, making them Covenant-breakers also.
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from investigating and recognizing their plight as followers of the treacherous corruption of the violation of the Covenant by the Arch Covenant-breakers, to whom they are now loyal.
These accusers have "been thrown down" meaning they are exposed as having been the Covenant-breakers. In other words, the corrupt administration set up by the Hands will be cast down from its position of exaltation in the minds of the 144,000, who then will see it for what it is: a monster.
11 "And they have conquered him [the dragon] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."
Blood is a symbol of the Covenant.120 Thus, the blood of the Lamb is the Covenant that he conquers both the apostate Christians and the dragon. This is the greater Covenant of prophesied name, date, address and mission fulfilled by Dr. Leland Jensen.
"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony" means that the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes has explained the testimony of the sacrificial Lamb, who is the Spirit of Prophecy. In Revelation, chapter 19, verse 10 it says: "For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." By these explanations of the prophecies by Jesus the Lamb, the Kingdom of God is established.
"The word of their testimony" also means that these 144,000 testify to their belief in this Covenant. They will be followers of the Lamb. This battle is won through the explanations and commentaries of Jesus the Lamb, Dr. Leland (the land) Jensen. Those who teach these explanations and commentaries are those who accept God's Covenant, including every clause of 'Abdu'l-Baha's sacred Will and Testament, as championed by the one who comes in the name, date, address and mission prophesied for the return of Jesus the High Priest.
12 "Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"
Those who "dwell" in the heaven of the Baha'i Revelation are those who believe in Baha'u'llah's Covenant, the Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant.
Again, "the devil" symbolizes the mind's rejection of the truth and the Promised One. When the Covenant-breakers see that their wickedness is exposed they will come down in great wrath for they know "that their time is short." They are the great losers in
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120 "And he [Jesus] took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the Covenant'..." (Matthew 26:27,28)
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both this life and in the next, as God has prophesied complete victory for the legions of the Covenant, led by Jesus the Lamb.
Those who usurped the administration for their own aggrandizement and empowerment violated every clause of 'Abdu'l-Baha's sacred Will and Testament, leading the Baha'i world that followed them down the road to total destruction. This will be along with all the other corrupt religions, in the judgement in which everyone will receive what they deserve: "O ye peoples of the world! Know, verily, that an unforeseen calamity is following you, and that grievous retribution awaiteth you. Think not the deeds ye have committed have been blotted from My sight. By My beauty! All your doings hath My Pen graven with open characters upon tablets of Chrysolite."[121]
That is, after the 144,000 have been gathered and sealed on the forehead and saved from the oppression and apostasy of that Covenant-breaking administration, the four winds of destruction will be let loose upon earth and sea. This is also explained in Rev. 7:3. These four winds are: a thermonuclear war, a meteor striking the earth, a great earthquake and the earth's shifting crust.
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child.
The dragon "had been thrown down to the earth," means that the Hands are then exposed as being secular, no longer spiritual, but apostate, that is, untrue.
The outward emphasis made by the group under the Hands is upon "living the life" and the twelve basic principles of the faith. Thus they pursue the morality of the Faith even while cutting off all attainment to it through their violation of the Covenant. This is described in Romans 9:30-32: "What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; but that Israel who pursued the righteousness which is based on law did not succeed in fulfilling that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it through faith, but as if it were based on works."
So followers of the Hands pursue the image of being firm in the Covenant claiming, for instance, that living up to the laws is firmness in the Covenant, whereas that is living the life only. In reality, their salvation and righteousness is not through works but through faith only.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times and half a time.
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121 Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pp. 209-210.
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This wilderness is America (freedom from religion or seperation of church and state). The two wings of the eagle is an allusion to America as the eagle is the symbol of the United States.
In terms of the greater Covenant, that is, the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, this woman was brought to America in 1893.
The "time, times, and a half time" is also expressed in some places as three-score and a half. That is a "time" can mean a "score" of 20 years. This gives three times of 20 years each, plus a half time (or half a score of ten more years), totalling 70 years. If taken from 1893 when the Baha'i faith was first proclaimed in America, the 70 years bring us to 1963, the year when the Promised One comes forth in America.
Daniel prophesied the 1963 date, "Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty five days." These are 1335 solar years from the victory of Muhammad in 628 AD to the year 1963 AD. 628+1335=1963. In Baha'u'llah and the New Era it states, "'Abdu'l-Baha's Tablets make it clear that this prophecy refers to the one-hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Baha'u'llah in Baghdad, or the year 1963."[122] This is the date that "Blessed is he" Jesus the Lamb (Leland) began his mission.
In terms of the lesser Covenant (the plan of Shoghi Effendi for the evolvement of the UHJ), this woman was brought to America in 1963. This is when the Covenant-breakers established a headless monster on Mt. Carmel in place of the woman in 1963. So the woman fled from them, coming to America.
Time is a continuation or successive existence capable of division into measurable proportions; a decade is a period of ten years. The times, two times, and half a time is three and a half decades, or 35 years. This period began in 1963, when Jesus the Lamb began his mission, and thirty-five years later brings us to 1998 when he will have a complete victory.
If we take the 70 years (mentioned previously) from 1921 when 'Abdu'l-Baha's Will and Testament took effect upon his death, it brings us to 1991 when the embryonic IBC was finally born into this world. This 70 year gestation period--which starts with the conception--is the time during which the spirit of the Covenant is nourished and then gives birth to the second IBC.
This Covenant is symbolized as a woman or female, it is the bridge between the spiritual and material worlds. The union of spiritual and material in the world order of
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122 Baha'u'llah and the New Era, p. 303, 1953 edition.
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Baha'u'llah is through the attracting force of this Covenant. Because it is not only material but has this female aspect making it spiritual, the second IBC is not merely secular[123] as is the false "UHJ" of the Hands; it is alive and can grow and learn, developing from perfection to perfection.
Verily, I say unto thee that the gifts of thy Lord are encircling thee in a similar way as the spirit encircles the body at the beginning of the amalgamation of the elements and natures in the womb; the power of the spirit begins then to appear in the body gradually and successively according to the preparation and capacity to receive that everlasting abundance.[124]
With this IBC/UHJ at its center and head, the Baha'i faith, unlike past dispensations, is like a living organism and will never become trapped in dead traditions and dogmas.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood.
The serpent is the twisted intellect of the Covenant-breakers. The water is their twisted concepts that come from their mouth against the Covenant of Baha'u'llah, which is the woman. The flood is the main-stream Covenant-breaking Baha'is pouring out their venom (corruption) against the Covenant. (There is a parallel to this in Scandinavian prophecies.[125])
Shoghi Effendi warned, "They will assail not only the spirit which it inculcates, but the administration which is the channel, the instrument, the embodiment of that spirit."[126]
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123 "Secular,...4. pertaining to the world or to things not spiritual or sacred; relating to or connected with worldy things; disassociated from religious teaching or principles;... " (Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary)
"It [the Baha'i government] thus unifies and correlates the principles separately laid down by Baha'u'llah and Abdu'l-Baha, and is indissolubly bound with the essential verities of the Faith. To dissociate the administrative principles of the Cause from the purely spiritual and humanitarian teachings would be tantamount to a mutilation of the body of the Cause, a separation that can only result in the disintegration of its component parts, and the extinction of the Faith itself." (Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 5)
124 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 367
125 Please refer to Part I.
126 Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 18
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16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth.
The earth is "the land" (le land). Dr. Leland Jensen came to the help of the woman, the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, and "the land," Leland, swallowed up the river. This can be compared to the event of Moses' serpent (intellect) swallowing up the Pharaoh's priest's serpents.[127] That is, Moses' arguments won out over Pharaoh's priest's arguments. So the explanations and commentaries of Jesus the Lamb will win out over the five to eight million Covenant-breaking Baha'is. Their lives will be cut very short, as this argument will be cut off by the thermonuclear war that is upon us, and they will perish in its fire (hell's fire).
17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
The dragon was angry with the woman, that is, angry with the Covenant of Baha'u'llah. So the dragon makes war on anyone who abides by the Covenant of Baha'u'llah. Those who "keep the commandments of God and bear the testimony of Jesus" are the Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant; they accept the explanations and commentaries of Jesus the Lamb.
The "rest of her offspring" are the 144,000 who have signed a card with the apostate group, but they will leave that apostasy. And when they come under the provisions of the Covenant, they will be persecuted by the Covenant-breaking administration.
The dragon is seen standing on the sea shore. The faith is often symbolized as an ocean in which the impurities are brought up out of it by the waves and cast onto the shore as foam. Thus the ocean cleanses itself. So it is upon the shore or the beach, where all the sand is found, that the impurities have been cast out to, and this is where the dragon stands, again showing that this dragon is the apostasy. The sands are the millions of Baha'is under the apostasy of the Hands.
When we apply these verses from chapter 12 to the past, as 'Abdu'l-Baha did in his explanation (see Some Answered Questions, pp. 77-82), we discover that the first
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127 This is described in Exodus, Chapter 7. Moses goes to Pharaoh to offer his proofs that he is the Manifestation. Moses throws his rod down upon the floor and it becomes a serpent. Pharaoh calls out his wizards. They have rods too, and they throw their rods down to the floor and their rods also become serpents. Then the serpent of Moses' rod swallows up all the other serpents. The serpent is a symbol of the intellect. The wizards of Pharaoh were trying to overpower Moses with all their pagan teachings but he overcame and swallowed up their arguments with his teachings, which were from God.
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flight of the woman, New Jerusalem, into the wilderness, was after Jesus was crucified. Jesus was crucified at Jerusalem so this spirit fled from that place to Mecca. 'Abdu'l-Baha, commenting on chapter twelve of Revelation wrote, "He then saith that the woman fled into the wilderness, that is, the Law of God was carried out of Palestine to the desert of Hijaz [the area of Mecca], where it remained 1260 years . . . "[128] The Dispensation following that of Jesus was the dispensation of Muhammad. Muhammad moved the prayer direction from Jerusalem to Mecca.
Applying these verses to the events of the Dispensation of Muhammad, 'Abdu'l-Baha explains that the dragon is corrupted Islam. Islam started to become corrupt after Muhammad died and Omar announced that they would elect a successor instead of allowing Muhammad's appointed successor, Ali, to take his position at the head of Islam. This election formed the Sunni branch of Islam headed by the caliphate. The result of this corruption was that the enemy of Islam, Muawia, was elected to be the Caliph in 661 AD. Muawia's dominion was from Palestine.
Chapter 12 mentions the 1260 days twice (Rev. 12:6,14) because ultimately, the woman fled from Palestine twice. This dragon that had "pursued the woman" and chased her into the wilderness was corrupted Islam. The dragon ruled the Mid-east for 1260 years. Adding the 1260 years to 661 brings us to 1921 when this dragon lost its power after the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany in WWI.
'Abdu'l-Baha's explanation of what happened with the Revelation of Muhammad has a direct correlation to what happened with the Revelation of Baha'u'llah. As Omar and his followers threw out Muhammad's successor and plan, and established something of their own, so to did the Hands throw out Baha'u'llah's successor and Plan, and established something of their own. The reason 'Abdu'l-Baha gave the explanation he did is because he knew that the same thing would happen in the Baha'i faith as was prophesied numerous times by Baha'u'llah Himself.
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128 Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p. 172
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