SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS The period of 1844 was a period of zealous expectancy of the return of the Messiah all around the world. The prophecies did not speak of an exact date of the appearance of the Messiah, but of the dramatic events which would gradually lead up to that wondrous day. History recorded the following events that happened in the world during this time, pointing to the signs and fulfillment of the prophecies foretold in the Bible. _________________________________________________________ Part 1: The signs in the Heavens. In the Book of Revelation, it promised that one from the seed of Abraham would unseal the Books in the last days. This Lamb of God was pictured in the visions as having seven eyes. These seven eyes were said to be the seven spirits (religions) of God which He had sent forth into the world up to that time. It was to be the Books of these seven great religions that the Messiah would unseal. Strangely enough it’s interesting to know that up to time to the coming of the Bahai Faith, there had been exactly seven great revealed religions. When this Lamb of God, according to the sixth chapter of Revelation, opened the Books and unsealed their meaning, one of the seals which He broke open concerned the signs which would be written in the heavens. These signs would appear prior to that days or years of His coming. These signs, given in Revelation were the signs which the millennial scholars searched through history to find during their 1844 enthusiasm. The Book of Revelation prophesied: chapter 6:12-13 1. ‘…..and, lo, there was a great earthquake.” This was the first sign which was to appear 2. ‘…..and the sun became black as sac-cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood’ The moon became as blood This was to be the second sign. 3. ‘And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of mighty wind.’ This was the third sign which was to appear. This was the final promise, and would be seen just before the coming of the Messiah in the last days. Baha’u’llah wrote of these signs in the heavens in his Book of Certitude, saying that the meanings hidden in such words as those of Revelation were symbolical, although in some cases they had an outward physical fulfillment as well. Baha’u’llah’s explanation of their true inner meaning is given in the Wine of Astonishment in the chapter When the Stars Fall from Heaven. There were many interesting discoveries of events unearthed by the millennial scholars and leading up to the year 1844. Some of them were quite astonishing. Others were certainly dramatic. These happenings caused a great stir among the people of those days. The three signs of Revelations which would appear in succession, leading up to the day of the return of Christ were, in order: 1. The great earthquake. 2. The darkening of the sun and the moon. 3. The falling of the stars from the heavens. The Books of Isaiah, Joel, Daniel, Zechariah, and the New Testament of Christ Himself, had all foretold that these things would take place. Following these events, the ‘great and dreadful’ day of the Lord would appear, and then the Messiah would come, bringing the end of the world. Some bible scholars felt that all of these events mentioned in Revelation would take place in one great upheaval, and that the world as we know it would pass away forever. Most of them, however, felt that these three events would take place successively, each one in turn heralding a closer approach of the footsteps of the Messiah, until, shortly after the last of the three, the star-fall, He would appear. In careful studies by some scholars, it indicated clearly that the ‘end of the world’ mentioned in Scripture was obviously symbolical. It was referred to in some writings as the ‘end of the whirl’ or the ‘end of the cycle’ or the ‘end of the age’. Scholars found that there were two Greek words used for world, one was kosmos, the other was aion. Kosmos means the material world and aion meant an age or era. This phrase ‘end of the world’ occurs seven times in the New Testament. Aion is used each time, never kosmos. When the disciples of Christ asked Him about the ‘end of the world’ and His return, it is aion that is used. When Christ refers to the ‘harvest at the end of the world’, it is aion. When Christ says, ‘so shall it be at the end of the world, once again it is aion. Clearly Christ’s return marks the end of an age or the end of an era. Bizarre as it seemed, a record of three just such events as are mentioned in Revelation, happening in exactly the order foretold. Incredible? Perhaps, but nevertheless true. An account of one millennial scholar who made a study of the historical events leading up to the 1840 period. When he had completed his search, he made the following statement: ‘As we look, we find the events recorded (in Revelation), following on in the order predicted.” These events which he listed were as follows: 1. The Lisbon earthquake, 1775. 2. The Dark Day, 1780. 3. The Falling Stars, 1833.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 00:28:40 +0000
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