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No Other Name Under Heaven
In the New Testament we read:
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (act 4:12) see
Consider a prophecy that sheds brilliant light on the subject of names: the prophecy foretelling the coming of John the Baptist. This reveals a powerful lesson taught by Jesus Himself.
In the Old Testament it is promised that the prophet Elijah will return before the coming of the Messiah:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: (mal 4:5) see
In the Old Testament (2 kings 2:11) it states that Elijah was taken up into heaven, and he was to return to the world. However, no one with that name ever returned. see
Imagine what the Jews must have expected from this prophecy: Elijah will come and will herald the Messiah-what a joy his coming will be! He will be welcomed and loved by the Jews, and will return that love, for is this not why he was to come-as a mighty sign and gift from God?
How they must have pictured in their minds Elijah descending from heaven on that chariot of fire spoken of in the Old Testament. How the religious leaders must have looked forward to His coming. Elijah would no doubt pay special respect to those of them who were maintaining the sanctity of their holy rituals, who were preserving the Jewish law, and teaching the scriptures to the people.
But let us look at what actually happened:
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. (mat 17:10-13) see
We see here that the scribes rejected Jesus as the Christ because they were waiting for the literal fulfillment of the prophecy of Elijah-they were clinging to a name and an image that they had made in their minds.
The disciples asked John if he was Elijah:
Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. (joh 1:21) see
The key to understanding Elijah's return is illustrated by Luke in the following verses:
And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias. (luk 1:16-17) see
The spirit and power of Elijah are what returned, not the physical body. So, in essence, Jesus taught that by "return" is meant the return of the spirit and power. Without understanding this inner meaning, we are lost in trying to understand how John could have been the return of Elijah.
Further to the theme of names, Isaiah states:
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (isa 7:14) see
The Messiah's name, intended as "Immanuel," became "Jesus," and, again, there was no warning in the prophecy that this would occur.
The Bible explains that God tests our hearts:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (heb 4:12) see
Baha'u'llah confirms that the Word of God has the power to test our hearts:
It is evident unto thee that the Birds of Heaven and Doves of Eternity speak a twofold language. One language, the outward language, is devoid of allusions, is unconcealed and unveiled; that it may be a guiding lamp and a beaconing light whereby wayfarers may attain the heights of holiness, and seekers may advance into the realm of eternal reunion. Such are the unveiled traditions and the evident verses already mentioned. The other language is veiled and concealed, so that whatever lieth hidden in the heart.. may be made manifest. (kiq 254-255)
Names have meaning, and they function as titles in the Bible. Elijah means "Yahwe is my God." John means "God is gracious." Immanuel means "God with us." Jesus means "He Who Saves."
And Baha'u'llah means "The Glory of God." Jesus said that He would come with a new name:
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (rev 3:12) see
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (rev 2:17) see
To the Baha'is, Christ has returned in the Glory of the Father, and has returned with His new name, Baha'u'llah.
The objection that Baha'u'llah cannot be the Return of Christ because of His Name is based on the same reasoning as the objection that John cannot be Elijah, or that Jesus cannot be Immanuel.
There are other titles mentioned in the Old Testament that refer to Jesus: Prophet, Faithful Priest, Redeemer, Son, Lord, Shepherd, Servant, Holy One, Leader, Commander. These are a few among the many names and titles given to Him. But at the time that they were given, no one could have imagined that they would refer to the Son of a carpenter. It was only after Jesus appeared that their meaning became evident.
This same principle applies to two titles that Jesus Himself gave, and which refer to Baha'u'llah.
Jesus spoke of His Return, and also of the coming of the Comforter and of the Spirit of Truth which, He makes clear, refer to the same reality.
Christ said:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (joh 14:16-17) see
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (joh 14:26) see
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (joh 15:26) see
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (joh 16:13-14) see
Baha'u'llah proclaims that He is the Comforter that Jesus promised:
The Comforter Whose advent all the scriptures have promised is now come that He may reveal unto you all knowledge and wisdom. Seek Him over the entire surface of the earth, haply ye may find Him. (wob 104-105)
In the following tablet addressed to the rulers of the Christian world, Baha'u'llah identifies Himself as the Spirit of Truth:
O kings of Christendom! Heard ye not the saying of Jesus, the Spirit of God, 'I go away, and come again unto you?' Wherefore, then, did ye fail, when He did come again unto you in the clouds of heaven, to draw nigh unto Him, that ye might behold His face, and be of them that attained His Presence? In another passage He saith: 'When He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.' And yet, behold how, when He did bring the truth, ye refused to turn your faces towards Him, and persisted in disporting yourselves with your pastimes and fancies. Ye welcomed Him not, neither did ye seek His Presence, that ye might hear the verses of God from His own mouth, and partake of the manifold wisdom of the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise. Ye have, by reason of your failure, hindered the breath of God from being wafted over you, and have withheld from your souls the sweetness of its fragrance. (gwb CXVI)
Baha'u'llah explains that the Return of Christ and the coming of the Comforter are the same:
To them that are endowed with understanding, it is clear and manifest that, when the fire of the love of Jesus consumed the veils of Jewish limitations, and His authority was made apparent and partially enforced, He, the Revealer of the unseen Beauty, addressing one day His disciples, referred unto His passing, and, kindling in their hearts the fire of bereavement, said unto them: 'I go away and come again unto you.' And in another place He said: 'I go and another will come, Who will tell you all that I have not told you, and will fulfil all that I have said.' Both these sayings have but one meaning, were ye to ponder upon the Manifestations of the Unity of God with Divine insight. (kiq 20)
Christ speaks of what the Comforter would do when He came:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. (joh 16:7-8) see
Baha'u'llah, in His Writings, does reprove the world of sin, as Jesus promised:
Gracious God! So great is the folly and perversity of the people, that they have turned their face toward their own thoughts and desires, and have turned their back upon the knowledge and will of God-hallowed and glorified be His name! (kiq 171)
Though immersed in the ocean of misbelief, yet with your lips ye profess the one true faith of God. (hwd, Persian No. 200) see
Baha'u'llah glorifies Jesus, as Jesus said that He would:
Reflect how Jesus, the Spirit of God, was, notwithstanding His extreme meekness and perfect tender-heartedness, treated by His enemies. So fierce was the opposition which He, the Essence of Being and Lord of the visible and invisible, had to face, that He had nowhere to lay His head. He wandered continually from place to place, deprived of a permanent abode. (gwb XXIII)
It was also prophesied by Jesus:
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (joh 10:16) see
Jesus did not say that these other sheep would know Him as Jesus (His flesh) but that they would recognize His Voice (the Eternal Word).
Of course, these statements of Jesus are subject to widely differing interpretation. Some Christians say that the "Spirit of truth" came at Pentecost. Now consider: if the Spirit of Truth was to guide the Church into all truth, and the Spirit of Truth had come some two thousand years ago, why then, has Christ's Faith been split into so many sects? Isn't "truth" one?
Paul himself states, long after Pentecost, that all truth had not been revealed during his time:
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. (1co 13:9) see
Baha'u'llah has said that He is the Spirit of Truth, and that He has come to guide us into all truth. He has unsealed the Scriptures, as prophesied by Christ, explaining their meaning, revealing their inner significance. Like Jesus, He came with a new Name, one that no one was expecting.
Baha'u'llah means the "Glory of God," the "Glory of the Lord," the "Glory of the Father." This name is mentioned many times in the Bible. Below are a few instances:
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (mat 16:27) see
The prophet Ezekiel was exiled to Babylon near the ancient river of Chebar which was located near the present-day city of Baghdad where Baha'u'llah spent ten years of His exile. There Ezekiel wrote this reference to Baha'u'llah's name:
Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. (eze 3:23) see
Again, Ezekiel writes:
And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. (eze 43:1) see
Baha'u'llah arrived in what is now Israel from the way of the east. He was exiled there from Adrianople by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
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