Thief in the Night or The Strange Case of the Missing Millennium

6. No need of the sun

Isaiah foretold that for those of the House of Israel who were faithful to the end:

“… the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward … And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places …”¹

Wherever the feet of Bahá’u’lláh have walked in Israel, the old waste places have been built up and beautified. His name means ‘the Glory of God’.

Isaiah prophesied:

“And the Redeemer shall come to Zion …”²

In the next verse he declared:

“… this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord …”³

In the very next verse, Isaiah proclaims:

“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”⁴

Bahá’u’lláh came to Zion (Israel) from the East. He wrote a special book called the Book of the Covenant, in which he outlined the future of his Faith through all time. His Faith has its world-centre on the side of the ‘mountain of God’. His name means ‘the Glory of God’.

In yet another place, Isaiah says:

“… behold your God will come … he will come and save you … the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the Glory of the Lord …”⁵

Bahá’u’lláh pitched his tent on Mount Carmel which faces the silver city of ‘Akká and is backed by the plain of Sharon. His name means ‘the Glory of God’.

In yet another chapter, Isaiah speaks of the day of the One Shepherd and His fold. He says:

“Behold, the Lord God will come with a strong hand … He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm …”¹

He also foretells of that time:

“And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”²

Bahá’u’lláh came to Israel, where he declared that all men were the sheep of one sacred fold, that his mission was to gather the scattered ‘lambs’ of God into one family, one mankind. His name means ‘the Glory of God’.

Ezekiel said:

“And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east … and the earth shined with his glory.”³

And again:

“And the glory of the Lord came into the house by way of the gate whose prospect is towards the east.”⁴

Christ also spoke of the great Shepherd of the one fold, saying:

“But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”⁵

Christ also said:

“… the Son of man shall come in the Glory of his Father.”⁶

This was yet another way of saying: ‘the Glory of God’. Bahá’u’lláh came from the East. He came by way of the door, the Báb. His name means ‘the Glory of God’ or ‘the Glory of the Lord’.

The Book of Revelation, like Isaiah, mentions both the first and second coming of Christ; and in the second appearance foresees ‘the Glory of God’. St. John recounts his vision, saying:

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away …

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven …

“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it …”¹

Christ Himself foretold this day of the new Jerusalem, when He would come in the Glory of the Father. A Samaritan woman objected strongly to the fact that Christ was changing the place of worship, which had been sacred to her people from ancient times.

“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”²

Christ answered her saying:

“Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.”³

I found through my research that the new Jerusalem is the Law of God which comes down from heaven with the Messenger or Messiah. Wherever He dwells is the new Mount Zion. Jerusalem means ‘possession of peace’. Zion means ‘monument raised up’.

Revelation states that God

“… showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

“Having the Glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious …”⁴

The Book of Enoch also speaks of this new name in the last days:

“They blessed, glorified, and exalted because the name of the Son of man was revealed to them.”¹

Enoch also said:

“He (God) spoke to holy Michael to discover to them the sacred name, that they might understand that secret name.”²

This new name was established, Enoch says, through ‘the instrumentality of the holy Michael.’³

This is the same Michael whom Daniel said was like unto God, a Prince of Persia, who would stand up for the children of God in the last days. He gave the date for this event, 1844.

“Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo the light of the Countenance of God … hath been lifted upon thee … Rejoice, for God hath in this day, established upon thee His throne.”⁴

In that same Tablet, I found the following words written by Bahá’u’lláh:

“Call out to Zion, O Carmel … the City of God … hath descended from heaven.”⁵

He adds:

“Beware lest thou hesitate or halt.”

The Book of Habakkuk declared:

“The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”⁶

To my surprise, I found that although the world at large was still quite unaware of the coming of Bahá’u’lláh, there were believers in his Faith in over 8,000 centres of the world, scattered in more than 250 counties, and in most of the islands. I carefully studied a map of the world that was dotted with places to which his Faith had spread. [1991—190 countries, 45 territories and about 130,000 localities.]

Habakkuk foretold that this vision he had of the Glory of the Lord would take place at the time of the end. He said:

“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it.”¹

Habakkuk also warned that men would see this wondrous truth and would not believe the testimony of their own eyes and ears. At the time of the end when the ‘Glory of God’ was ‘in His Holy Temple’, Habbakkuk prophesied that men would

“… regard and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.”²

Had I found the ‘work’ which God had ‘worked’? Of one thing I felt confident. Beside the proof, He shall be known as ‘the Glory of God’, I could write: Fulfilled.