A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
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The Time of the End |
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And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. …
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which
are written may be fulfilled. … for there shall be great
distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they
shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away
captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden
down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall
be fulfilled.—Luke xxi, 20–24.
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Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall
come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive
many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see
that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to
pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and
ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And
then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another,
and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall
rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall
endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end
come.—Matt. xxiv, 4–14.
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In these two passages Christ foretold in plain terms, without
veil or covering, the things that must come to pass before the
coming of the Son of Man. During the centuries that have
elapsed since Christ spoke, every one of these signs has been
fulfilled. In the last part of each passage He mentions an event
that shall mark the time of the coming—in one case the ending
of the Jewish exile and the restoration of Jerusalem, and in the
other the preaching of the gospel in all the world. It is startling
to find that both of these signs are being literally fulfilled
in our own times. If these parts of the prophecy are as true as
the rest, it follows that we must be living now in the “time of
the end” of which Christ spoke.
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When Alláh said: “O Jesus! Verily I will cause thee
to die, and exalt thee towards Me, and clear thee of the
charges of those who disbelieve, and will place those who
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follow thee [that is, Christians] above those who disbelieve
[Jews and others], until the Day of Resurrection; then to
Me shall be your return, so I will decide between you concerning
that in which you differed.”—Súrá iii, 54.
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“The Hand of God,” say the Jews, “is chained up.”
Their own hands shall be chained up—and for that which
they have said shall they be cursed. Nay! outstretched are
both His hands! At His own pleasure doth He bestow gifts.
That which hath been sent down to thee from thy Lord
will surely increase the rebellion and unbelief of many of
them; and We have put enmity and hatred between them
that shall last until the Day of Resurrection. Oft as they
kindle a beacon fire for war shall God quench it.—Súrá v,
69. And of those who say, “We are Christians,” have We accepted the Covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were taught; wherefore We have stirred up enmity and hatred among them that shall last till the Day of Resurrection; and in the end will God tell them of their doings.—Súrá v, 17. |
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These words also have been literally fulfilled in the subjection
of the Jews to Christian (and Muslim) peoples, and in
the sectarianism and strife which have divided both Jews and
Christians among themselves during all the centuries since
Muḥammad spoke. Only since the commencement of the
Bahá’í era (the Day of Resurrection) have signs of the approaching
end of these conditions made their appearance.
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