Fulfilling the World’s Messianic Hopes

As He was preparing to leave Baghdad Baha’u’llah announced that he was the one whose advent had been foretold by the Bab—and that he also was the one foretold in the holy books of all previous religious dispensations.

Baha’u’llah taught that his coming signaled the fulfillment of all of these ancient promises. His purpose in coming is none other than to usher in God’s kingdom on earth, wherein humanity will live in peace, justice, and unity under God’s law:

Old Baghdad

The time foreordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation. Happy is the man that pondereth in his heart that which hath been revealed in the Books of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. Meditate upon this, O ye beloved of God, and let your ears be attentive unto His Word, so that ye may, by His grace and mercy, drink your fill from the crystal waters of constancy, and become as steadfast and immovable as the mountain in His Cause.

…This is the Day which the Pen of the Most High hath glorified in all the holy Scriptures. There is no verse in them that doth not declare the glory of His holy Name, and no Book that doth not testify unto the loftiness of this most exalted theme. Were We to make mention of all that hath been revealed in these heavenly Books and holy Scriptures concerning this Revelation, this Tablet would assume impossible dimensions. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 12-13.

Other passages from Baha’u’llah’s writings extol the greatness of his revelation:

Great indeed is this Day! The allusions made to it in all the sacred Scriptures as the Day of God attest its greatness. The soul of every Prophet of God, of every Divine Messenger, hath thirsted for this wondrous Day. All the divers kindreds of the earth have, likewise, yearned to attain it. – Ibid, p. 11.

The excellence of this Day is immensely exalted above the comprehension of men, however extensive their knowledge, however profound their understanding. – Ibid, p. 108.

Peerless is this Day, for it is as the eye to past ages and centuries, and as a light unto the darkness of the times. – quoted by Shoghi Effendi in Advent of Divine Justice, p. 79.

Referring to His own station Baha’u’llah wrote:

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behoveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 10-11.