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When Baha'u'llah speaks of the tribulation, He states that its occurrence precedes and accompanies the appearance of every Manifestation (Certitude 31). This assertion and the symbolic nature of these signs are supported by the testimony of the Bible. All of the events prophesied in verse 29 of Jesus' Olivet Discourse were also prophesied in the Old Testament. (112:1) From a Baha'i point of view, the Old Testament prophesied that Jesus' First Advent would be accompanied by the darkening of the sun and moon, by the stars falling from heaven, and by Jesus Himself coming on the clouds of heaven. It is possible to argue that these signs also refer to the Second Advent, but it cannot be denied that they refer to the First Advent because their fulfilment is clearly indicated in the New Testament. (112:2) Peter proclaimed to the people of Judaea that Jesus had fulfilled prophecies very much like those whose fulfilment Christians await today. As Peter proclaimed the appearance of Jesus, he said, 'this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel'. He then quotes a prophecy containing this verse: (112:3) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the LORD. (Acts 2:16, 20. See also Joel 2:28-32) (112:4) The way in which Christian commentators have tried to explain this verse is very interesting. Matthew Henry, for example, recognizes that Peter clearly interprets this prophecy as referring to the First Advent of Christ, but his attempt to understand this literally is quite problematic. Verse 20, he states, refers literally to the destruction of Jerusalem: (112:5) Secondly, the terrible presages of that destruction are here foretold: There shall be wonders in heaven above, the sun turned into darkness and the moon into blood; and signs too in the earth beneath, blood and fire. Josephus, in his preface to his history of the wars of the Jews, speaks of the signs and prodigies that preceded them, terrible thunders, lightnings, and earthquakes; there was a fiery comet that hung over the city for a year, and a flaming sword was seen pointing down upon it. The fire and vapour of smoke literally came to pass in the burning of their cities, and towns, and synagogues, and temple at last. (Matthew Henry's Commentary, vol. VI, 21)
(112:6)
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