Apocalypse Unsealed: chapter 11
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Chapter Eleven
THE COURSE OF ISLAM
The next three chapters are directed specifically to Islam.
Chapter 11 and part of Chapter 12 have been interpreted by His
Holiness 'Abdu'l-Baha_/1 and have been paraphrased by the writer
of this book. The events alluded to are unfamiliar to most
western readers, and it is recommended that the references be
consulted. The events in the prophecies are correlated in figure
18 [p. 148].
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod:
and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the
temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship
therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave
out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the
Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under
foot forty and two months.
The Perfect Man is likened to a flute (hollow reed) from which
come beautiful melodies played by the Divine Flute Player, God.
The rod is the rod of the Divine Shepherd, used to guide the
weak. Using the Perfect Man as his
cubit,* John is asked to discover *See verse 21:17.
the conditions, perfections,
behavior, and attributes of those who dwell inside the Holy of
Holies. But he is told that the court of the temple, that is,
the physical temple, will be
overrun by the Gentiles for 42
"months" or 1260 lunar years.Å_/2 ÅA "month" is 30 years.
Lunar years are meant because the See Table, Chapter 2.
Muslims use the lunar calendar. <G #6>
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+----------------+
| First Woe |
| Muhammad |
--| 622 AD |
| |----------------|
| 'Ali |
| +----------------+
|
| |
+----------------+
| | Fall of |
| Jerusalem |
| | 637 AD |
+----------------+
| |
|
1 +----------------+
2 | Rise of | +----------+ +----------------+
6 | Bani-Umayya | | War | | Beast overcome,|
0 | First beast |----| in |----| persecutes |
| 661 AD | | Heaven | | the Bride |
l |----------------| +----------+ +----------------+
u | Abu-Sufyan |
n +----------------+
a |
r |
+----------------+ +--------------------------------+
y | Beclouding | | Pure word of God |
e | of Islam |----| (the Bride) |
a | The Caliph | | flees into wilderness |
r +----------------+ +--------------------------------+
s |
|
| +----------------+
| Rise of |
| | Abbasid- |
| Turkish Empire |
| | Second Beast |
| 749 AD |
| +----------------+
|
| |
+----------------+
| | Second Woe | +--------------+ +--------------+
--| The Bab | | Martyrdom | | Earthquake |
| 1844 AD |----| of the Bab |----| at |
|----------------| | and Quddus | | Shiraz |
| Quddus | +--------------+ +--------------+
+----------------+
|
|
+----------------+ +---------------+
| Seventh Angel | | Temple of God |
| Sounds |----| opened in |
| Trumpet | | Heaven |
+----------------+ +---------------+
|
|
+----------------+
| Third Woe |
| Baha'u'llah |
| 1852-3 AD |
+----------------+
PROPHECIES TO ISLAM
Chapters 11 to 13
Figure 18
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This is the span of time covered by
the dispensation of Muhammad,
ending in 1260 AH.* (1260 AH *"AH" means "After the
coincides with 1844 AD of the Hegira," the beginning
Christian calendar.) Thus John is point of the Muslim
being told that the Holy City, calendar.
Jerusalem, will be given over to
the Gentiles for the duration of the Dispensation of Muhammad.
When Jerusalem was conquered by the Muslims early in the seventh
century AD, the Christian Bishop Sophronius place a condition
upon the bloodless surrender of Jerusalem--that the Jews would be
strictly excluded from the Holy Land._/3 During the next twelve
hundred years, Palestine gradually became a land of desolation.
In the year 1260 AH the Edict of Toleration was promulgated by
the Turks_/4 allowing the Jews to reenter the Holy Land, ending
the "time of the Gentiles" and the "abomination that makes
desolate."_/5 (These events were prophesied by Jesus._/6)
Throughout this period the Holy of Holies, that is, the spiritual
Law of God, was respected and left inviolate.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out
of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if
any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be
killed.
The angel says that God will give power to His two Witnesses,
Muhammad and 'Ali, <11:3 #1, 11:3 #2> whose prophecies clothed in
sackcloth will prevail for 1260
years.Å They are the two olive ÅA "day" is a year. See
trees and the two candlesticks Table, Chapter 2.
(sources of spiritual
illumination) standing in the service of God. If anyone will
hurt them, the power of the
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Law will come from their mouths and their enemies will be
exterminated.
Clothed in sackcloth or in old raiment means that, in the
beginning, their cause will not appear new. Muhammad's spiritual
law (love, humility, detachment, moderation, justice, reverence,
etc.) corresponds to that of the Gospel, while most of the laws
relating to the material world of man (fasting, forms of worship
and prayer, business transactions, indemnities, marriage,
divorce, slavery, etc.) correspond to the Pentateuch.
Olive trees_/7 refers to the fact that lamps were fueled by olive
oil in the first century and are, therefore, like candlesticks,
sources of spiritual illumination.
The enemies of Muhammad and 'Ali were vanquished and put to
flight by the power of their words.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not
in the days of their prophecy: and have power over
waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth
with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony,
the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit
shall make war against them, and shall overcome
them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of
the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom
and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
The verses say that They will have the power to cut off the
bounties of heaven (rain) and will have the same Prophethood as
Moses; that is, to turn the waters into blood_/8 and to smite
the earth with all plagues as often as they will._/9 And after
they have performed that which they were commanded, the beast
(the Bani-Umayyad dynasty)_/10 that ascends out of the pit of
error will arise against the religion of Muhammad and the
reality of 'Ali and gain the victory, so that the virtues and
perfections diffused by the power of these two Witnesses will be
entirely dispelled. The religion of God will lie as a body
without spirit in the region
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of the Middle East* that is under *RSV translates the word
under the control of the Bani- "spiritually" in verse 8
Umayya._/11 as "allegorically."
Turning waters into blood means that that which was the cause of
their life, through their ignorance and pride, became the cause
of their death. To smite the earth with plagues means that they
have the power to chastise, correct, and educate the tyrannical
and bloodthirsty. Rain in this case means bounty from heaven.
To kill them means to destroy the spiritual reality of their
teachings.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues
and nations shall see their dead bodies three days
and an half and shall not suffer their dead bodies
to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice
over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one
to another; because these two prophets tormented
them that dwelt on the earth.
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of
life from God entered into them, and they stood upon
their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw
them.
A "day" is also a "time" or 360
years.Å Therefore three days and a Å1 "day" = 1 "year" = 360
half are 1260 years. The prophecy years = 1 "time." See
says that the nations, tribes, and Table, Chapter 2.
peoples of Islam will make a
spectacle of the Religion of God, only clinging to it in an
outward appearance and not allowing the "body" of observances to
be destroyed. This they will do for 1260 years, the duration of
the Dispensation of Muhammad. The other nations of the earth
will rejoice to see the corruption of morals that will infect the
people of Islam, and they will assist each other (give gifts)
because the two Prophets had been a torment to them.
But after 1260 years the Divine teachings, heavenly virtues,
perfections, and spiritual bounties of Muhammad and 'Ali will
again be renewed by the appearance of the Bab and Janabi-
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Quddus._/12 <11:3 #1, 11:11-14> Great fear will seize the
populace.
The Religion of God was renewed by the Bab with the help of
Quddus and His other disciples during His six-year ministry
beginning May 23, 1844 AD. His Declaration that He was the One
foretold in numerous prophecies of Islam and other Faiths, and
that He was the Forerunner of the Promised One of All Ages
(Baha'u'llah) caused great fear among the Muslims, leading to
armed attacks, confiscation of property, torture and martyrdom of
the followers of the Bab.
As 'Ali was to Muhammad, Quddus was to the Bab. He was the Bab's
promoter and most devoted disciple, second only to the Bab in
spiritual rank among His disciples. The disciples of the Bab
were called the Eighteen Letters of the Living.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying
unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to
heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake,
and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the
earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and
the remnand were affrighted, and gave glory to the
God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third
woe cometh quickly.
The voice is from the invisible heaven. They heard the voice of
God saying, "You have performed all that was proper and fitting
in delivering the teachings and glad tidings, you have given My
message to the people and raised the call of God, and have
accomplished your duty. Now, like Christ, you must sacrifice
your life for the Well-Beloved, and be martyrs."
--'Abdu'l-Baha_/13 <11 #1>
The Bab and Quddus ascended to heaven on a "cloud of glory." The
Bab was publicly executed by a firing squad of 750 soldiers on
July 9, 1850, the 15th of Sha'ban 1266 AH. The body of Quddus
was destroyed by fire. Many of their enemies "beheld them," that
is, they testified to their greatness and perfection,.
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The earthquake prophesied in verse 13 occurred in Shiraz, the
birthplace of the Bab, in the year 1268 AH._/14 Those who were
not killed were frightened, lamenting, praying, and glorifying
God.
The second woe, the Advent of the Bab, is past. The third woe,
the Advent of Baha'u'llah, will
follow shortly.* <11:3 #1, G #6, *The third woe appeared in
11:14 #1, 9:12 #1> the year Nine of the Babi
Dispensation, 1269 AH.
The "hour" is the "time of
the end." See <11:13>
<9:12>
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before
God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and
worshipped god,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou
hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast
reigned.
The word "Christ" comes form the Greek _Christos_, meaning
Messiah, King, or Anointed One._/15 All of God's Manifestations
are Anointed Ones. It is in this sense of the word that
Baha'u'llah asks of God: "Make this known unto them (the
servants of God), that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from
Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: 'All
dominion is Thine O Thou Begetter of the Spirit (Jesus)..."_/16
Verse 15 reasserts that the Kingdom of God on earth will follow
the blast of the seventh angel._/17
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is
come, and the time of the dead, that they should be
judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them
that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest
destroy
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them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and
there was seen in his temple the ark of his
testament: and there were lightnings, and voices,
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The prophecy says that with the seventh blast, the nations will
be angry because God's teachings oppose the passions of the other
peoples, and all who do not follow His precepts will be deprived
of His everlasting bounty, and veiled from the light of the Sun
of Reality. At that time, those who are deprived of the spirit
of the love of God and do not have a share of the sanctified
eternal life will arise and receive that which they deserve. The
righteous_/18 will be distinguished by endless bounty, making
them shine on the horizon of eternal honor. At that time the
neglectful will be deprived, making manifest the blindness of the
blind and the ignorance of the people of error.
The temple of God in heaven will be opened and the Divine
teachings will be diffused in all directions. The Book of His
Testament and the Epistle of the Covenant_/19 <11:13 #1, 11:13
#2> will be established. There will be a great storm of the
spirit. There will flash the lightnings of the anger and the
wrath of God, the thunder of the violation of the Covenant, and
even those who professed belief will fall into trials and
temptations. <G #8>
(The Covenant was broken by the archbreaker of the Covenant,
Mirza Muhammad-'Ali, a half-brother of 'Abdu'l-Baha. _God Passes
By_, p. 246.)
Notes to Chapter Eleven
1. _Some Answered Questions_, Chapters XI and XIII. <11 #1; 12
#1>
2. The year 1260 also figures prominently in the history of the
Christian Church. The twelfth century Calabrian abbot, Joachim
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of Flora, deduced that the 1260 days meant that the end of the
papacy would occur in 1260 AD. This interpretation had serious
repercussion on the Church and influenced the arguments of early
Protestants. (Reference 14, pp. 217, 233, 241.)
3. See Reference 12, p. 127.
4. The exact date of the Edict of Toleration was 21 March 1844
AD. In the Jewish calendar this date is the first of Nisan. It
was exactly 2300 years from the first of Nisan, 457 BC, the day
on which Ezra left Babylon in compliance with the decree given in
the seventh year of Artaxerxes. This date figures prominently in
the Book of Daniel. (See Appendix B of this book.) The number
of days from the fall of Constantinople until the Edict of
Toleration was 142,731.
The date of the second woe was the Declaration of the Bab, May
13, 1844 AD, the 5th day of Jamadiyu'l-Avval, 1260 AH. This date
also corresponds with the birth of 'Abdu'l-Baha, designated by
Baha'u'llah as the Center of the Covenant and the Mystery of God.
5. See Daniel 8:14 and Luke 21:20. Israel's call to return will
be given by the Lord of Hosts, Baha'u'llah. (Isaiah 5:24-26)
6. Matthew 24:15, 29, 30; Mark 13:10, 14, 24-27; Luke 21:20,
24-28.
7. The dyad of olive trees is a symbol also used in Zechariah
4:3, 11-14 to represent the Bab and Baha'u'llah.
8. Exodus 4:9. See also Psalm 72:6.
9. Exodus 4:21.
10. Many Biblical scholars equate the "beast" with the so-called
"Antichrist." (See II Thessalonians 2:1-4.) The doctrine of the
Antichrist rests upon questionable premises, especially in view
of I John 2:18, 22, 4:3. Although the Bani-Umayyad dynasty can
be considered as an Antichrist in the sense of I John 2:22, it
was composed of a group of rulers instead of a single individual.
If there ever was such an individual it was Haji Siyyid
Muhammad-i-Isfahani who is often called the "Antichrist of the
Baha'i Revelation" because of his actions against Baha'u'llah and
His Revelation. (Reference 21, p. 233.) The "antichrists" of II
John, verse [1:]7 were the Gnostics who believed that Jesus was
actually a god and only seemed to have come in the flesh.
(Reference 14, p. 65.)
11. In the allegory of the _Zohar_, Egypt is the home of
spiritual darkness. (Reference 4, p. 108.) In Gnostic writings,
Egypt symbolizes the material world. (Reference 3, p. 118.)
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12. See _The Dawn-Breakers_.
13. _Some Answered Questions_, p. 64.
14. The earthquake of 1268 AH was accompanied by cholera, famine,
and havoc. God Passes By_, p. 53; _Some Answered Questions_, p.
65. In addition to the earthquake described in Revelation 11:13,
an earthquake shook Constantinople (Istanbul), the seat of the
caliphate, on the day following the martyrdom of the Bab.
"Juillet.--Le 10, 3h. 10 m. du matin, a Udine, forte secousse
ondulatoire de quelque duree. Entre 3 et 4 heures du matin, a
Trieste and Goritz, tremblement ondulatoire. Dans le courand du
jour, deux nouvelles secouses legeres a Goritz.
"Le meme jour, un peu avant 5 heures du matin, a Constantinople,
une secousse du N. au S., sans dommages.
'Ya-t-il la plus d'un fait? C'est peu probable. La difference
des longitudes and l'inexactitude des heures indiquees peuvent
laisser supposer l'identite.
"Je lis encoure dans la lettre de M. Meister: 'nuit du au 15
(sic) entre 11 heures du soir and 8 heures du matin, 6 secousses,
dont la plus forte a 2 h. 45m.' S'agit-il du 11 au 12, et de
Goritz, Trieste ou Constantinople?"--Reference 34.
15. Originally "messiah" or "anointed one" was simply a king.
for example, Cyrus is called an anointed one in Isaiah 45:1. The
term gradually became identified with the Messiah of the Age of
Redemption. The greek rendering, _Christos_, became simply a
proper name in early Christendom. The title "Kyrios" was the
most popular designation of Jesus, characterizing Him as a
mystery deity. (Reference 20, pp. 81, 86, 90, 93, 176, and 216
n. 38.)
16. _Prayers and Meditations of Baha'u'llah_, p. 68.
17. See Revelations 10:7.
18. In the early Church the term "prophet" meant a preacher.
(Reference 14, p. 56.)
19. _God Passes By_, p. 239, 249. Shoghi Effendi names
'Abdu'l-Baha as the "Ark of His (God's) Testament."