arthra

I was interested in posting some of the prophecies regarding the Coming of Messiah. I got this list and citations from scripture from another forum:

The Sanhedrin will be re-established (Isaiah 1:26)

Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance (Isaiah 2:4)

The whole world will worship the One God of Israel (Isaiah 2:17)

He will be descended from King David (Isaiah 11:1)

The Moshiach will be a man of this world, an observant Jew with "fear of God" (Isaiah 11:2)

Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership (Isaiah 11:4)

Knowledge of God will fill the world (Isaiah 11:9)

He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations (Isaiah 11:10)

All Israelites will be returned to their homeland (Isaiah 11:12)

Death will be swallowed up forever (Isaiah 25:8)

There will be no more hunger or illness, and death will cease (Isaiah 25:8)

All of the dead will rise again (Isaiah 26:19)

The Jewish people will experience eternal joy and gladness (Isaiah 51:11)

He will be a messenger of peace (Isaiah 52:7)

Nations will recognize the wrongs they did Israel (Isaiah 52:13–53:5)

For My House (the Temple in Jerusalem) shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:3–7)

The peoples of the world will turn to the Jews for spiritual guidance (Zechariah 8:23)

The ruined cities of Israel will be restored (Ezekiel 16:55)

Weapons of war will be destroyed (Ezekiel 39:9)

The Temple will be rebuilt (Ezekiel 40) resuming many of the suspended mitzvoth

He will then perfect the entire world to serve God together (Zephaniah 3:9)

Jews will know the Torah without Study (Jeremiah 31:33)

He will give you all the desires of your heart (Psalms 37:4)

He will take the barren land and make it abundant and fruitful (Isaiah 51:3, Amos 9:13–15, Ezekiel 36:29–30, Isaiah 11:6–9)

You'll note most of these prophecies come from Isaiah and then from Ezekiel and so on..

I propose to see how many of these prophecies relate to being fulfilled in the Baha'i Era.

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arthra

The Sanhedrin will be re-established (Isaiah 1:26):

First let's examine what a "Sanhedrin" is ...

the High Court of 71 sages in Jerusalem which served as the supreme authority on Jewish law

The supreme judicial council of the Jews from about the third century bce until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 ce, its deliberations were ...

A Sanhedrin (סנהדרין; συνέδριον, synedrion, "sitting together," hence "assembly" or "council") is an assembly of twenty-three judges mandated by Jewish law to be created in every city.

Now let's look at the scriptural verse in Isaiah 1:26

And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

(King James Version)

Today the Universal House of Justice convenes at the Baha'i World Centre. It is the supreme authority of Baha'i law. It is an elected Council or Assembly of believers.. As part of the plan for this Instution mentioned in the Kitab-i-Aqdas there will be elected someday Houses of Justice in every jurisdiction where Baha'is reside in every city.

From the Notes of the Kitab-i-Aqdas we find the following:

"In referring to the House of Justice in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, Baha’u’llah does not always explicitly distinguish between the Universal House of Justice and the Local House of Justice, both of which institutions are ordained in that Book. He usually refers simply to "the House of Justice", leaving open for later clarification the level or levels of the whole institution to which each law would apply."

Abdul-Baha also explains:

Today this process of deduction is the right of the body of the House of Justice, and the deductions and conclusions of individual learned men have no authority, unless they are endorsed by the House of Justice. The difference is precisely this, that from the conclusions and endorsements of the body of the House of Justice whose members are elected by and known to the worldwide Bahá’í community, no differences will arise; whereas the conclusions of individual divines and scholars would definitely lead to differences, and result in schism, division, and dispersion.

Once these House of Justice are established in every city they establsih righteousness and faithfulness fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 1:26 above.

The only religious institution today that can fulfill this prophecy in my view is the House of Justice as established by Baha'u'llah.

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arthra

Once he is King, leaders of other nations will look to him for guidance (Isaiah 2:4)

Looking at the verse of Isaiah 2:4 we find:

4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.


I see this as a process over time.. not something that's accomplished over night.. Humanity through painful growth and steps forward will experience both progress and regress but overall there will be progress toward the goals of world peace and reconciliation..

The guidance came from Baha'u'llah while He was imprisoned and in exile addressed to the then world leaders in what is today entitled the Summons of the Lord of Hosts.

See:

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SLH/



He advised world leaders to set up a representative world parliament and an international court of arbitration to settle disputes.. Today the United Nations is probably closest to the World Parliament envisioned by Baha'u'llah and while there have been many draw backs and some failures there have been some notable successes. There is an International Court of Arbitration that is sponsored by the United Nations.

See:

http://www.icj-cij.org/documents/ind...p1=4&p2=2&p3=0

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arthra

"The whole world will worship the One God of Israel (Isaiah 2:17)"

The verse Isaiah 2:17 has:

"The pride of man will be humbled And the loftiness of men will be abased; And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day..."

When it refers to "the LORD alone" it is the monotheistic God..that is one God which was the God of Abraham, Jacob and Isaac and Ishmael and all the other Prophets and Messengers of God. The word in Hebrew is the Ineffable Name that is not pronounced.."yeh·ho·vä' ". Generally Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam recognize God as One and in Hinduism there is a monotheism as well.

One could say that the "God of Israel" is today probably worshipped by more people than any other diety in that the same God is in the major religions.. Of course this is an ongoing process.

The verse refers to "that day" which means in my view a Day of Judgement or Resurrection and applies to today when the newest Revelation from God has dawned... this is to fulfill the prophecies earlier in the major world religions.

"Bear thou witness that verily He is God and there is no God but Him, the King, the Protector, the Incomparable, the Omnipotent."

--Bahá'u'lláh

Bahá'í Prayers, 1991 ed., Tablet of Ahmad, p. 210.

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

- Exodus 20:3

Moses, in Deuteronomy 6:4, and Christ, in Mark 12:29, stated:

"...Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord."

"There is no god except He. Be He glorified, high above having
any partners."

- Qur'an 9:31

The Bab, in a prayer on page 192 of Selections from the Writings of the Bab, wrote,

"All praise be unto Thee, O Thou besides Whom there is none other God."

and again, on p. 61, the Báb unequivocally states,

"Indeed God is but one God, and far be it from His glory that there should be aught else besides Him."

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arthra

He will be descended from King David (Isaiah 11:1). The Moshiach will be a man of this world, an observant Jew with "fear of God" (Isaiah 11:2) Evil and tyranny will not be able to stand before his leadership (Isaiah 11:4)

Let's check our the scriptures cited above:

I'm actually including more verses than Isaiah 11:1 as there is more description included in the succeeding verses as we can see:

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together;
and a little child will lead them.



That Baha'u'llah was "A shoot [that] will come up from the stump of Jesse" was stated by Shoghi Effendi and here is a source for that:

Bahá'u'lláh was a Descendant of Abraham Through Both Katurah and Sarah -- Jesse, Son of Sarah, was the Father of David and the Ancestor of Bahá'u'lláh

"Regarding your question concerning the Jesse from whom Bahá'u'lláh is descended: The Master says in 'Some Answered Questions' referring to Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10, that these verses apply 'Word for word to Bahá'u'lláh'. He then identifies this Jesse as the father of David in the following words: '...for Joseph was of the descendants of Jesse the father of David...', thus identifying the Jesse of Isaiah, chapter 11, with being the father of David. Bahá'u'lláh is thus the descendant of Jesse, the father of David.

"The Guardian hopes that this will clarify the matter for you. It is a tremendous and fascinating theme, Bahá'u'lláh's connection with the Faith of Judaism, and one which possesses great interest to Jew and Christian alike."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 11, 1942)

Here is the reference to Abdul-Baha's statements in Some Answered Questions:

http://www.bahai-library.com/writing...ha/saq/12.html

and note the following revealed statements from Baha'u'llah HImself:

THE Most Great Law is come, and the Ancient Beauty ruleth upon the throne of David. Thus hath My Pen spoken that which the histories of bygone ages have related. At this time, however, David crieth aloud and saith: 'O my loving Lord! Do Thou number me with such as have stood steadfast in Thy Cause, O Thou through Whom the faces have been illumined, and the footsteps have slipped!'

(Baha'u'llah, The Proclamation of Baha'u'llah, p. 89

and

Indeed all the Prophets have yearned to attain this Day. David saith: 'Who will bring me into the Strong City?'[1] By Strong City is meant 'Akká. Its fortifications are very strong and this Wronged One is imprisoned within its walls. Likewise it is revealed in the Qur'án: 'Bring forth thy people from the darkness into the light and announce to them the days of God.'[2]
[1 Psalms 59:9; 108:10.]
[2 Qur'án 14:5.]

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 258)


Baha'is believe that "the Spirit of the Lord" did indeed rest upon Baha'u'llah.

The "rod of His mouth" refer to His principles and teachings which are needed for today and timely indeed to deal with war, poverty and social injustice.

The prophecy about the

"The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat..."

Refer to reconciliation of peoples and nations as well as religions that have been at odds for centuries and will be reconciled today by His principles that aim at world unity.

Being an "observant Jew" as a requirement of the Messianic Figure does not however seem to be supported by the scrtipture above but it is apparently the expectation of many.. this may be something that developed in Judaism over time.

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arthra

He will include and attract people from all cultures and nations (Isaiah 11:10)

The scripture of Isaiah 11:10 has:


Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.

The verse is inthe prophetic sense..as it uses the terms "...in that day.." and the future tense: The nations WILL resort to the root of Jesse Who WILL stand .. And His resting place WILL be glorious.." so it is a prophetic vision.

The "root of Jesse" has already been mentioend above:

That Baha'u'llah was "A shoot [that] will come up from the stump of Jesse" was stated by Shoghi Effendi

The term "glorious" in the Baha'i view applies to Baha'u'llah. Another version has " his sepulchre shall be glorious". The Hebrew word "Kaa-bode" means
glory, splendour, honour, abundance. The word "kaabode" is theologically related to "Baha" accroding to Stephen Lambden. It is the Glory around which God appears.

Stephen Lambden wrote:

The word Bahá' seems to have no equivalent or cognate in Biblical Hebrew. Theologically, it is represented by the Hebrew word kabód = 'radiant glory'. Translated into Biblical Hebrew, Bahá'u'lláh would be Kabód YHWH. Several verses in the book of Isaiah could be understood to predict the manifestation of Bahá'u'lláh and the radiance, the "glory" of the believing Bahá'í: "And the glory of the Lord (kabód YHWH) shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together" (Isaiah 40:5); "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord (kabód YHWH) has risen upon you ... the Lord (YHWH) will arise upon you, and his glory (kabód) will be seen upon you... Then shall you see and be radiant." (Isaiah 60:1, 2b; 5a). Similar prophecies are made elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible. In his Epistle to the Son of the Wolf Bahá'u'lláh cites a few verses from the book of the prophet Isaiah (146). In certain Arabic translations cited by Him, they contain the word Bahá' – with reference to his Manifestation. Isaiah 2:10 refers to "the glory of His majesty (Bahá'azamatihi)" and 35:2b makes reference to the time when people "shall see the glory of the Lord (majd al-rabb) and the splendour of our God (Bahá'a iláhiná).

Source:

http://bahai-library.com/bsr/bsr03_1...mbden_baha.htm

One could point to the rich diversity of the world Baha'i community as evidence of the "nations" resorting to the Cause of Baha'u'llah.

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arthra

All Israelites will be returned to their homeland (Isaiah 11:12)

The scriptural verses reads:

And He will lift up a standard for the nations And assemble the banished ones of Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.

In the past hundred years or so this prophecy would certainly seem to have been realized....

Beginning around the mid nineteenth century the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire began to liberalize and allow people to travel throughout the Empire this was called the Edicts of Toleration or Tanzimat so Jews began to travel back to the Holy Land...

The Tanzimat (Ottoman Turkish: تنظيمات), meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876....

The reforms attempted to integrate non-Muslims and non-Turks more thoroughly into Ottoman society by enhancing their civil liberties and granting them equality throughout the Empire.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzimat


The Zionist movement of returning to Israel also began near the close of the Nineteenth century:

The political movement was formally established by the Austro-Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century.[6]

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zionism


and the Balfour Declaration promised a homeland for the Jews in the British mandate area of Palestine.

http://www.zionism-israel.com/Balfou...ation_1917.htm


By 1948 the state of Israel was establsihed and recognized by the United Nations and since that time Jews from around the world have been accepted there.

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