Intermission

Dearly loved Readers,

This short note is to let you know that we are going to take a break for a few months. We have realized that we read and studied part 1 of this great book 3 times before we began writing this blog, but have not yet really studied the entirety of part 2 before writing about it.

We feel that this needs to be done before we continue.

Come this autumn we will continue writing again, and hopefully be able to share our thoughts about what we have learned during this time: how to apply it to our lives, to our service to the Faith, and to the current needs of the Plan.

We hope that you will continue to join us in our journey, and truly look forward to any thoughts or insights you may have.

With love and prayers,

Samuel and Mead

Paragraph 148

Although the commentators of the Qur’án have related in divers manners the circumstances attending the revelation of this verse, yet thou shouldst endeavour to apprehend the purpose thereof. He saith: How false is that which the Jews have imagined! How can the hand of Him Who is the King in truth, Who caused the countenance of Moses to be made manifest, and conferred upon Him the robe of Prophethood—how can the hand of such a One be chained and fettered? How can He be conceived as powerless to raise up yet another Messenger after Moses? Behold the absurdity of their saying; how far it hath strayed from the path of knowledge and understanding! Observe how in this day also, all these people have occupied themselves with such foolish absurdities. For over a thousand years they have been reciting this verse, and unwittingly pronouncing their censure against the Jews, utterly unaware that they themselves, openly and privily, are voicing the sentiments and belief of the Jewish people! Thou art surely aware of their idle contention, that all Revelation is ended, that the portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the day-springs of eternal holiness no sun shall rise again, that the Ocean of everlasting bounty is forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest. Such is the measure of the understanding of these small-minded, contemptible people. These people have imagined that the flow of God’s all-encompassing grace and plenteous mercies, the cessation of which no mind can contemplate, has been halted. From every side they have risen and girded up the loins of tyranny, and exerted the utmost endeavour to quench with the bitter waters of their vain fancy the flame of God’s burning Bush, oblivious that the globe of power shall within its own mighty stronghold protect the Lamp of God. The utter destitution into which this people have fallen doth surely suffice them, inasmuch as they have been deprived of the recognition of the essential Purpose and the knowledge of the Mystery and Substance of the Cause of God. For the highest and most excelling grace bestowed upon men is the grace of “attaining unto the Presence of God” and of His recognition, which has been promised unto all people. This is the utmost degree of grace vouchsafed unto man by the All-Bountiful, the Ancient of Days, and the fulness of His absolute bounty upon His creatures. Of this grace and bounty none of this people hath partaken, neither have they been honoured with this most exalted distinction. How numerous are those revealed verses which explicitly bear witness unto this most weighty truth and exalted Theme! And yet they have rejected it, and, after their own desire, misconstrued its meaning. Even as He hath revealed: “As for those who believe not in the signs of God, or that they shall ever meet Him, these of My mercy shall despair, and for them doth a grievous chastisement await.” Also He saith: “They who bear in mind that they shall attain unto the Presence of their Lord, and that unto Him shall they return.” Also in another instance He saith: “They who held it as certain that they must meet God, said, ‘How oft, by God’s will, hath a small host vanquished a numerous host!’” In yet another instance He revealeth: “Let him then who hopeth to attain the presence of his Lord work a righteous work.” And also He saith: “He ordereth all things. He maketh His signs clear, that ye may have firm faith in attaining the presence of your Lord.”

Which verse is He referring to at the very beginning of this paragraph? The two previously quoted at the end of paragraph 147, in which the Jewish people of that time said that God's hand was chained up.

Now, before we begin to look at various nuances in this paragraph, we want to note the flow of ideas in here: While there are many theories about the circumstances around these verses, Baha'u'llah does not seem to care about that. He is more concerned about the purpose that these verses serve. This regularly seems to be His method: look at the purpose and don't get caught up in pointless details.

So here, in this paragraph, He summarizes these verses as the Jewish peoples saying that God cannot send another Messenger. Of course, this is nothing new. This argument is used by many people of all sorts of faiths. But it is interesting to note the difference between saying that God is incapable of sending another Messenger, and just not recognizing the current One. That latter is not the argument here.

No. Baha'u'llah wants to focus our attention on the argument that God is unable to send another Messenger. Really? That's absurd. How could God be powerless to send another Messenger? Baha'u'llah refers to the people that use this argument as both "small-minded" and "contemptible".

They are "small-minded" because they are unable to conceive of the astonishing greatness and bounty of God. They believe that the Book of God found in their faith is somehow the final Book of God, and that He is somehow unable to add more.

They are "contemptible" because this notion is not worthy of consideration.

 
Over and over again we hear people arguing that we should neither add nor take away from the Bible. Some will cite Matthew, "For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The most famous example of this is found in Deuteronomy 4:2, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it..." Of course, if we take this literally, than anything after Deuteronomy should not be in the Bible and this would include most of the Tanakh and all of the New Testament.

 
There are others who claim that God has said all He needed to say in their holy Book, even though Jesus Himself says, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

 
So why does Baha'u'llah mention this argument here? Because it has gained ground. There are many people who use this argument. Baha'u'llah is merely pointing out the absurdity of it. But if we believe all the other things in the Qur'an, especially all those statements about "attaining unto the Presence of God", then we cannot accept this facile argument.

In many ways this brings us back to the beginning of Part 2, paragraph 103. Way back in that paragraph Baha'u'llah talks about the Messengers of God, "in whatever age and cycle they are sent down", and reminds us that "God doeth whatsoever He willeth, and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth." We are never in a position to say what God can or cannot do.

Those quotes at the end of this paragraph really help us see a path. First, we need to believe that God will send another Messenger. Every single Faith, including the Baha'i Faith, talks about the coming of yet another One. And always remember that every Faith began with small numbers, so don't let the fewness of believers turn you away. Next, be sure to do good. If we do not "work a righteous work", what is the point of our life? Finally, remember that it is God Who orders all things, not man.

To believe that we are somehow in control, and that our knowledge is infallible, leads us only to "the bitter waters of (our) vain fancy", and not to the life-giving waters of the Lord.