That
City is none other than the Word of God revealed in every age and
dispensation.
In the days of Moses it was the Pentateuch; in the days of
Jesus,
the Gospel; in the days of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, the
Qur'án;
in this day, the Bayán; and in the Dispensation of Him Whom God
will
make manifest, His own Book -- the Book unto which all the Books of
former
Dispensations must needs be referred, the Book that standeth
amongst
them all transcendent and supreme.
--
Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah,
p. 264
"The holy City, new Jerusalem" -- The era of Baha'u'llah
O
ye beloved of God! O ye children of His Kingdom! Verily, verily the new
heaven
and the new earth are come. The holy City, new Jerusalem, hath
come
down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven, veiled,
beauteous,
and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on earth.
The
angelic company of the celestial Concourse have joined in a call that
hath
rung throughout the universe, all loudly and mightily acclaiming:
"Hail,
O City of God! Abide Thou, and make Thy habitation with the pure,
virtuous
and holy servants of Thine; for they are Thy people, and Thou
art
their Lord."
--
Compilation, Baha'i World Faith, p. 350
"City
of God" - "the holy city, new Jerusalem" -- Prophecy about Muhammad
and
the 12 Imams in the Book of Revelation.
12:1
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the
sun,
and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
--
Bible: Revelation
21:1
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the
first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
21:2
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of
heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
--
Bible: Revelation
The
Law of God is also compared to an adorned bride who appears with most
beautiful
ornaments, as it has been said in chapter 21 of the Revelation of St.
John:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out
of
heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." And in chapter 12, verse
1,
it is said: "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed
with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars."
This woman is that bride, the Law of God that descended upon Muhammad.
The
sun with which she was clothed, and the moon which was under her feet,
are
the
two nations which are under the shadow of that Law, the Persian and Ottoman
kingdoms;
for the emblem of Persia is the sun, and that of the Ottoman Empire
is
the crescent moon. Thus the sun and moon are the emblems of two kingdoms
which
are under the power of the Law of God. Afterward it is said: "upon her
head
is a crown of twelve stars." These twelve stars are the twelve Imáms,
who
were
the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators of the people,
shining
like stars in the heaven of guidance.
--
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 68
"City
of God/Jerusalem" -- The dispensation of Moses followed by that of
Christ
referred to in the Book of Daniel.
9:25
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment
to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built
again,
and the wall, even in troublous times.
9:26
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for
himself:
and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city
and
the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the
end
of
the war desolations are determined.
--
Bible: Daniel
To
conclude: in the Book of Daniel, from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the
martyrdom
of Christ, seventy weeks are appointed; for by the martyrdom of
Christ
the sacrifice is accomplished and the altar destroyed. This is a
prophecy
of the manifestation of Christ. These seventy weeks begin with the
restoration
and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, concerning which four edicts were
issued
by three kings. The first was issued by Cyrus in the year 536 B.C.; this
is
recorded in the first chapter of the Book of Ezra. The second edict, with
reference
to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, is that of Darius of Persia in the
year
519 B.C.; this is recorded in the sixth chapter of Ezra. The third is that
of
Artaxerxes in the seventh year of his reign--that is, in 457 B.C.; this
is
recorded
in the seventh chapter of Ezra. The fourth is that of Artaxerxes in
the
year 444 B.C.; this is recorded in the second chapter of Nehemiah.
But
Daniel refers especially to the third edict which was issued in the year
457
B.C. Seventy weeks make four hundred and ninety days. Each day, according
to
the text of the Holy Book, is a year. For in the Bible it is said: "The
day
of
the Lord is one year." Therefore, four hundred and ninety days are four
hundred
and ninety years. The third edict of Artaxerxes was issued four hundred
and
fifty-seven years before the birth of Christ, and Christ when He was
martyred
and ascended was thirty-three years of age. When you add thirty-three
to
four hundred and fifty-seven, the result is four hundred and ninety, which
is
the time announced by Daniel for the manifestation of Christ.
But
in the twenty-fifth verse of the ninth chapter of the Book of Daniel this
is
expressed in another manner, as seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and
apparently
this differs from the first saying. Many have remained perplexed at
these
differences, trying to reconcile these two statements. How can seventy
weeks
be right in one place, and sixty-two weeks and seven weeks in another?
These
two sayings do not accord.
But
Daniel mentions two dates. One of these dates begins with the command of
Artaxerxes
to Ezra to rebuild Jerusalem: this is the seventy weeks which came
to
an end with the ascension of Christ, when by His martyrdom the sacrifice
and
oblation
ceased.
The
second period, which is found in the twenty-sixth verse, means that after
the
termination of the rebuilding of Jerusalem until the ascension of Christ,
there
will be sixty-two weeks: the seven weeks are the duration of the
rebuilding
of Jerusalem, which took forty-nine years. When you add these seven
weeks
to the sixty-two weeks, it makes sixty-nine weeks, and in the last week
(69-70)
the ascension of Christ took place. These seventy weeks are thus
completed,
and there is no contradiction.
--
`Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 40
