The families of the earth shall be blessed

7. The families of the earth shall be blessed

I had already discovered one remarkable way in which Abraham and Bahá’u’lláh were linked together, as set out in Section 3. I now found another statement which linked them together and demonstrated that Bahá’u’lláh was descended from the Father of the Faithful. This said: “He derived His descent, on the one hand, from Abraham through his wife Katurah, and on the other from Zoroaster, as well as from Yazdigird, the last king of the Sásánian dynasty. He (Bahá’u’lláh) was moreover a descendent of Jesse, and belonged, through His father, Mírzá ‘Abbás, better known as Mírzá Buzurg—a nobleman closely associated with the ministerial circles of the Court … to one of the most ancient and renowned families of Mázindarán.”¹

Thus, Bahá’u’lláh was of the ‘seed’ of Abraham, being descended through Abraham’s third wife, Katurah. This in itself I found to be a most interesting clue, for among the writings of the British Israelites, as well as among those of some millennial scholars, reference is made to the fact that the latter-day Messiah would be descended from Katurah, the third wife of Abraham.

In the latter days of His life, Abraham took Katurah to wife. In the latter days in the life of His House, Israel, it is promised that the sons of Katurah, with all the young lions of her family shall stand for the Lord God in the land of Israel.

This belief was based upon the prophecies in Ezekiel which speak of the battle of Armageddon. When the great princes of evil come down from the north from the land of Gog and Magog against ‘my people of Israel’, the Lord promises that:

“Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee (Gog), Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey?”²

Then, promises the Lord, He will destroy Gog, with the help of these faithful ones:

“I will rain upon him (Gog), and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.”¹

This is the same description given for the last days by Revelation, and the Second Epistle of Peter, when the ‘Lord will come as a thief in the night’. These young lions of Sheba and Dedan who will be in Israel at the side of the Lord, are the promised descendants from the line of Katurah, Abraham’s third wife. This descent is given in the book of Genesis:

“Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him … Jokshan … and Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan.”²

Ezekiel says that all this will take place in ‘the latter years’.³ In the chapter preceding the account of the descendants of Sheba and Dedan, Ezekiel foretells that the two Houses of Israel will be united in that day. This, Ezekiel declares, will be part of the ancient Covenant that God made with Abraham. This prophecy foreshadows the reunion in the last days, not only the physical union of Judah and Israel, but also the symbolical reunion of the two spiritual Houses of Judaism and Christianity.

The Lord tells Ezekiel:

“I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

“And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all …”⁴

In the very year in which Bahá’u’lláh’s Faith began (1844), the Edict was signed which permitted this gathering of the children of Israel. Since the day of Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival as a prisoner in Israel, the Holy Land has become an independent State, and one nation. Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings declare that one of the fundamental principles of his Faith is the union of the Jews and Christians.

Ezekiel concludes this prophecy with God’s promise that the Shrine of the Messiah shall be eternally placed in Israel:

“I will make a covenant of peace with them … and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.”¹

The ‘sanctuary’ of Bahá’u’lláh is a place of great beauty in the midst of Israel.

Isaiah speaks of this same great ‘gathering’. He prophesies:

“Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.”²

Three verses before, Isaiah foretells that when this ‘gathering’ takes place, the Lord will say to the holy mountain:

“Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”³

In yet another place, Isaiah speaks of this great ‘gathering’. He says:

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion …”⁴

Eight verses before in this same chapter, he prophesies that when this ‘gathering’ takes place

“… Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord.”⁵

In yet another place, Isaiah prophesies the great ‘gathering’. He says:

“He (the Messiah) shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs …”¹

Six verses before in that same chapter, Isaiah foretells that when this ‘gathering’ takes place

“… the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together …”²

Almost invariably, the time of the ‘gathering’ of the children of Israel was associated with the appearance of ‘the Glory of the Lord’.

This gathering or return began in 1844. It reached its climax in 1948 with the formation of the State of Israel. Bahá’u’lláh, after reaching Israel as a prisoner, himself prophesied that this would come to pass. His name, we know, means ‘The Glory of the Lord.’

Ezekiel prophesied:

“My tabernacle also shall be with them … my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”³

No one knows where His Holiness Moses lies buried. There is much doubt and dispute about the resting-place and tomb of His Holiness Christ. Yet, the exact spot of the Shrine, ‘tabernacle’ or ‘sanctuary’ of Bahá’u’lláh is known. It has been placed in the ‘midst’ of Israel ‘for evermore’. Each year thousands upon thousands of people visit this sacred spot. The Christian writer, Arthur Moore, says it is a “place of international pilgrimage. On Sundays and holidays the citizens of Haifa of all faiths come for rest and recreation …”⁴

I was about to close my evidence on the relationship of Abraham and Bahá’u’lláh when I came upon another series

of highly interesting and provoking prophecies which added considerable spice to The case of the missing millennium.