Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 3
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 79--
Chapter Three
LETTERS TO RECENT FAITHS
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write;
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of
God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that
thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found
thy works perfect before God.l
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and
heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou
shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
This letter is addressed to the Buddhists who are accused of
keeping alive the name of Buddha but of being dead to the message
of the spirit. God, speaking through Baha'u'llah, threatens to
send His Manifestation as a "thief," meaning One Who enters and
departs "unseen."_/1 Furthermore, the time of His Advent may not
be announced beforehand.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have
not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with
me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in
white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out
of the book of life, but I will confess his name
before my Father, and before his angels.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 80--
Raiment, garment, clothing, etc. mean character or attributes of
the soul. "Say: From My laws the sweet smelling savor of my
garment can be smelled, and by their aid the standards of victory
will be planted upon the highest peaks." "Clothe thyself with
the essence of righteousness, and let thine heart be afraid of
none except God."--Baha'u'llah_/2 Verse 4 alludes to those
Buddhists who defile their red and yellow robes by violating
their true purposes.
The Book of Life is the record of those deserving eternal life.
"O thou who art the fruit of My Tree and the leaf thereof! ...
Wert thou to sacn the pages of the Book of Life thou wouldst,
most certainly, discover that which would dissipate thy sorrows
and dissolve thine anguish."--Baha'u'llah
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia
write; These things say he that is holy, he that is
true, he that hath the key of David, he that
opentth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no
man openeth;
8 I know thy works; behold, I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast
a little strength, and hast kepy my word, and hast
not denied my name.
Philadelphia is the Church of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is
transmitting this letter to His Church. Therefore, verse 8
refers to "my word" and "my name."
Both Jesus Christ and Baha'u'llah are holy, true, and have the
Key of David. The Key of David is the power to pen and close a
door of history, that is, a new Age. Jesus Christ opened the
Christian Age; the Bab was the Door to the Baha'i Cycle that will
consist of numerous Ages covering a period of approximately 500
thousand years._/4
Although Christians recite the words of Jesus their inner
meanings have been largely forgotten. For that reason the
Christians are weak and divided.
9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of
Satan,
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 81--
which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie;
behold, I will make them to come and worship before
thy feet, and to know that I ahve loved thee.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I
also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them
that dwell upon the earth.
The original Christians were true Jews because they had accepted
the Prophet of the new Day of the Lord._/5 Jews who become
Baha'is must first accept Jesus Christ as a Manifestation.
The "Hour" is the "time of the end," the "Hour" at which the Bab
and Baha'u'llah declare Their
Mission.* It is a time of *See Rev 11:13; <11:13>;
temptation because the reluctant 14:7; ch. 16.
and negative forces of the
existing social order conspire to prevent the Revelation from
performing its work of creative reconstruction.
When the Bab declared His Mission in 1844, the bigoted among the
Muslims of Persia arose to prevent the renewed Word from becoming
manifest throughout the contingent world. The Christians were
spared the temptation to participate in this repression. Even
the Christian regiment that was commanded to execute the Bab was
unable to do so through Divine intervention._/6 Today the whole
world is being tested to determine whether it is worth of
receiving the new Revelation.
11 Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown.
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and
I will write upon him the name of my God, and the
name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I
will write upon him my new name.
13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 82--
A crown is a symbol of reward and authority. "To go no more out"
means that the believer will never again separate himself from
the Covenant.
"New" is repeated twice, so that we cannot look for the same name
but a new name. The new name of God is Baha, and the new name of
the Manifestation is Baha'u'llah. "O Concourse of the Son
(Christians)! Are ye hidden from Myself because of My
Name?"--Baha'u'llah_/7 The "city of my God," the new Jerusalem,
is the renewed Word of God and
divine civilization.* "Once in *Equivalent to the "Dharma
about a thousand years shall this of Lord Buddha's
City be renewed and readorned... teachings.
That City is none other than the
Word of God revealed in every age and dispensation."
--Baha'u'llah_/8
Jerusalem 'Iîpoçäá^næ has a literal value of 864 and an
archetypal value of 9, the number of Baha. 864 is twice the
literal value of new name káIçoç oçæá, 432, which also has an
archetypal value of 9. (See Revelations 2:17.) The word
"Jerusalem" means literally "Sacred Peace."
14 And unto the angel of the church of Laodiceans
write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and
true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor
hot; I would thou were cold or hot.
16 So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Amen is Hebrew for faithful and true. The promise of Muhammad
was that He was a true witness of the Day of God. "In the Qur'an
it is said that God addressed Muhammad, the Messenger of God,
saying: 'We made you a Witness, a Herald of good news, and a
Warner.' That is to say, We have established Thee as the
witness, the giver of good tidings, and as one bringing the wrath
of God."--'Abdu'l-Baha_/9
The beginning of the creation of God is the beginning of a new
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 83--
Day of God. In these verses God is addressing the Muslim Faith
through His Manifestation
Muhammad.* *Muhammad is one of the
two Witnesses mentioned in
Revelations 11:3.
To be cold is to be indifferent; to be hot is to be zealous; to
be lukewarm is to be bigoted. The devotees of all Faiths have
often confused bigotry for zealotry.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing and knowest not
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the
fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of
thy nakedness do not appear, and annoint thine eyes
with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent.
Gold is purified by fire; man is purified by spiritual suffering
and repentance. God would even rebuke and chasten those He
loves. He therefore warns them to be zealous and to repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him
and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with
my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches.
In these verses, Baha'u'llah alludes to His Herald, the Bab. The
Bab was the next Manifestation following Muhammad. His title
means the Door or Gate._/4 To those who recognized His voice
speaking through the Bab and followed that voice, Baha'u'llah
literally came to sup with them. Both the Bab and
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 84--
Baha'u'llah proclaim that the Bab's Revelation actually came from
Baha'u'llah._/10
The words of Ezekiel confirm the close relationship between the
Bab and Baha'u'llah. "Afterward he brought me to the GATE that
looketh toward the east, and behold, THE GLORY OF THE GOD OF
ISRAEL came from the way of the east; and his voice was like the
noise of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory... And
the GLORY OF THE LORD came into the house by way of the GATE
whose prospect is toward the east."_/11
Note in verse 21 that Baha'u'llah sits _with_ His Father on His
throne. This fact will become important in Chapter 4. <G #4>
Notes to Chapter Three
1. The Revelator, Manifestation, Prophet, etc. usually, but not
always, appears on earth and departs without mankind being aware
of the Great Event until years, even centuries later. The
realization that Jesus was a Revelator was not generally known
for several centuries. On the other hand, Muhammad was widely
recognized as a Revelator during His lifetime. Compare II Peter
3:10 and Wisdom 17:19ff, 18:1.
2. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, pp. 332,323, <G
#4>.
3. Ibid, p. 132.
4. The concept of the "Door" that opens a new Age reminds us of
Janus, the old Roman god of doorways, to whom was ascribed the
origin of all things, particularly civilzation and religion.
Legend has it that the worship of Janus and other religious
institutions was first introduced into Roman culture by the gread
adept of the Etruscan mysteries, Numa Pompilius. The month of
January bears his name. See Psalm 24:9-10.
5. The Jews were the only people exempt from emperor worship
following the assassination of Caligula, 41 AD. It was,
therefore, an advantage to the early Christians to be recognized
as the only "true" Jews. Reference 14, pp. 53-54.
6. The story of the miraculous episode is described in _Nabil's
Narrative, Reference TDB [_The Dawn-Breakers_].
7. From the _Kitab-i-Aqdas_, quoted in _Star of the West_, Vol.
4, No. 1, March 1913.
-----------------------------------------------Start of page 85--
5. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, pp. 269-270; Is
2:2-4, 9:6, 62:1; Sec 14:9.
9. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 57.
10. _Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, Ch. CXXXV, pp.
291-294, 244, Ref. 21, p. 296.
11. Ezekiel 43:1-4. See also Hebrews 2:14; Psalm 24:7, 50:2,
102:16; Isaiah 35:2, 40:5; Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38.