Rocky Mountain Baha’i

God Instructs the People of Israel to Construct a Temple

The final set of instructions that Moses received on Mount Sinai concerned a temple for the worship of the One, True God. This temple would be constructed so the presence of God could continue to remain with the Israelite people, after Moses was dead. The temple would have an outer room and an inner room. The inner room would be called the Holy of Holies and the outer room would be called the sanctuary. Outside the rooms there would be a place to sacrifice the people’s best goats and lambs. The blood of these animals would atone for the sins of the people.

The sins of the people of Israel could then be forgiven like this: The men from the tribe of Levi would be the priests, and they would be scattered among the people throughout all the land. Once a year, there would be a day of atonement. The people would tell the Levite priests what their sins were, and on the Day of Atonement the priests would take the best animals of the people and go to the tabernacle of God.

God told Moses to make Aaron, his brother, the high priest over all the other priests. All the priests would then make Aaron aware of the sins of the people and the animals would be slaughtered. Then the blood from these animals would be spread on the sanctuary walls to atone for the sins of the people. Then Aaron would go into the Holy of Holies, whisper the name of God, and the sins of the people would be forgiven.

Thus an order of high priests was set up. Only the descendants of Aaron could be high priests, and they were called High Priests after the Order of Aaron. Aaron became the sole interpreter of Moses’ covenant, and he was the only Israelite who knew the name of God. While everyone knew the consonants in the name of God were YHWH, only the High Priests after the Order of Aaron knew the vowels for the name of God, and only the high priests were allowed to enter the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle.

Next Time, God Promised to Put His Words in a Prophet’s Mouth Instead of Thundering from a Mountain

God also promised one other thing when Moses was on the mount. He promised to fulfill the people’s request when they said, “let not God speak to us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19). Moses told the people what God had said:

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me (like Moses) from among you, from your brethren-him you shall heed-just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the Lord said to me, ‘They have rightly said all that they have spoken. I will raise up f or them a prophet like you (like Moses) from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.’” (Deut. 18:15-19)

Thus the Lord promised to send another Prophet to the people, a Prophet like Moses, who would speak the words of God to the people, just as Moses was doing. God made this promise so the people would not have to tremble in fright before the Lord when He appeared in a fire, or in a great dark cloud, or in lightnings, thunderings, loud trumpet blasts, and smoke. This Prophet would be named Immanuel, as was foretold by the prophet Isaiah, and he would be a descendant of Jacob’s son Judah.

Review of Moses’ Covenant

Altogether Moses lived 120 years. He spent forty years growing up in Egypt as the adoptive son of the Pharoah’s daughter. He spent the next forty years in the Midian desert, where he learned how to survive in the desert. Finally, Moses spent the last forty years of his life taking the Israelites out of Egypt toward the promised land of Canaan. God spoke to Moses from a cloud on Mount Sinai. God made a three-part covenant with the people of Israel, saying they would be blessed and enter the promised land if they obeyed God, cursed and scattered if they didn’t, and eventually they would be regathered. The people refused to obey, so they spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, until everyone from the previous generation had died. This is because they had become corrupt by living among the idolatrous Egyptians. God was angry with the people on account of their willingness to doubt God He did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land. Rather than punish the people, God sanctioned Moses, who suffered on their behalf (Deut. 3:26). For more information, see the document titled The Covenant of Moses, on this site.

Finally after 40 years, Joshua led the Israelites over the River Jordan and into the land of Canaan.

Brief Synopsis of the Remaining History of the Old Testament

Following is a short synopsis of some of the remaining historical books of the Old Testament, which cover the history of the Israelites from the time they entered the Promised Land. During that time, the two of the three parts of Moses’ covenant were fulfilled. The Israelites were blessed and rose to become the most revered nation on the planet. Then they broke the covenant and they were cursed and scattered, by being taken into captivity in Assyria and Babylon.

In the books of Joshua and Judges, the Israelites successfully conquered the land of Canaan, but they disobeyed God by worshipping idols and deities. Neighboring nations invaded and oppressed them. God saved them by designating judges or rulers to lead them and help ward off their enemies.
The two books of Samuel, First Samuel and Second Samuel, cover the rise of the nation of Israel and of King David’s reign over Israel. The people asked their high priest Samuel to appoint a king over them, because Samuel’s sons, who would have succeeded him, were corrupt.

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds  which they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, hearken to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” …So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking a king from him. “…And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No! But we will have a king over us that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.” (Samuel 8:7-20)

Samuel appointed Saul to be their king, but Saul disobeyed God, so God chose David to be king. Saul then attempted to kill David, but failed.

The Covenant to Abraham that “Kings will come forth from your descendants,” is fulfilled in King David, and the First Part of Moses’ Three-Part Covenant, The Blessing, is also fulfilled during David’s Reign

After Saul died, David arose to become a great king over a great kingdom. He conquered Israel’s surrounding enemies and established Jerusalem as the religious and political center of Israel. The rituals of the temple worship that had been established by Moses in the desert, with the high priests after the order of Aaron, the sacrifice of animals, and the tent of worship, were continued. David began erecting a temple made of bricks, stones and mortar, a temple to the One, True Invisible God. Great promises were also made to David:

Thou hast said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: `I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.’” (Psalm 89:3-4)

“And as for you, if you walk before me, as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘There shall not fail you a man to rule Israel.’” (2 Chr. 7:17-18)
“’Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.” For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel…. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.’” (Jeremiah 33: 14-17 & 22)

In spite of the fact that Israel rose to great heights under David, after David died, trouble started brewing. The first part of Moses’ Covenant had been fulfilled. Israel had become a great nation. Under David’s son Solomon, however, Israel entered into the second part of Moses’ Covenant: the curse. The Old Testament books titled 1 Kings and 2 Kings record the events of Israel’s demise.

God blessed David’s son Solomon with immense wisdom, and Solomon expanded Israel into a great empire. He also finished the great temple to God that David had started to build in Jerusalem. Solomon became great and revered among all the nations, and many kings from other nations sent their daughters as gifts to Solomon. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. God had not limited the number of wives that Solomon was allowed to have, but He had instructed Solomon not to marry any foreign wives. Solomon disobeyed and married many foreign wives.

“Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, E’domite, Sido’nian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, ‘You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods’; Solomon clung to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.” (1 Kings 11:1-3)

In addition, Solomon built temples to other gods and bowed down before them. This was the turning point. The Israelites then passed out from under the covenant, and began following other gods, just as Solomon had done. The Israelites were now going to be under the second part of Moses’ covenant, the curse. They would soon be captured by other nations, taken into captivity in foreign lands, and scattered.

For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ash’toreth the goddess of the Sido’nians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD commanded. Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, ‘Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.’” (I Kings 11:4-13)

Solomon disobeys God by worshipping other deities, and, at his death, the kingdom splits into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah. A host of evil kings leads the two kingdoms away from worshipping God. Despite the attempts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha to halt Israel’s wrongdoing, the two kingdoms fall to the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. Jerusalem is destroyed, and the people are sent into exile.

The Writings

The Writings are placed after the historical books in the Christian Bible. Some of these are narratives covering the time of Israel’s exile in other nations and its eventual return to the homeland. The Book of Esther, for example, tells the story of an unassuming Jewish girl who becomes the queen of Persia and boldly saves the Jewish people from genocide.

Many of the Writings are books of poetry and wisdom, among the most important literature in the Old Testament. The Book of Job is a lengthy dialogue investigating God’s justice and the problem of human suffering. The Psalms are lyrical poems and hymns-many attributed to King David-that express humankind’s longing for God. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes-similarly attributed to the wise King Solomon-offer sayings and instructions about the meaning of life and ethical behavior. Lastly, the Song of Solomon (also attributed to Solomon) is a romantic, lyric dialogue between a young woman and her lover.’

The Old Testament Prophets

Now you are in a better position to appreciate the situation that a number of the remaining authors of the Old Testament were in when they wrote their books. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Micah, Zechariah and Malachi all contain prophecies for the coming of the first and/or second Messiah. After Solomon broke the Covenant and the Israelites were under the second part of Moses’ Covenant, the curse, and after all twelve tribes had been taken into captivity, many of the believers started praying for the third part of Moses’ Covenant, the Regathering, to come into play.

When Moses was alive, the Presence of God dwelt in the burning bush, and the people knew Moses was a mouthpiece for God’s words. When Moses was about to die, he set up the temple, which then housed the presence of God, which was like a cloud upon the temple.

“And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would go onward; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not go onward till the day that it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.” (Exodus 40:35-38).

After Solomon bowed down before idols and broke the Covenant, leading the people astray, the presence of God fled from the temple. They had committed an abomination, or a great misdeed before the Lord. Therefore, their temple became desolate of the presence of God. The practice of animal sacrifices, and burnt offerings, ceased to exist. The burnt offering was “taken away” (Daniel 12:11). The temple was now desolate of the presence of God, and the breaking of the Covenant was referred to as the abomination of desolation, or the abomination that caused the desolation of the temple.

Daniel was one of these pure-hearted believers who prayed to God for the third part of Moses’ Covenant to be fulfilled. Daniel and the other prophets prayed these prayers, and as a result, they received visions telling them how and when the temple would be restored.

“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy hill of my God; while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He came and he said to me, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your supplications a word went forth, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the word and understand the vision….” (Daniel 9:20-23)

Three dates were given to Daniel for the time when the temple would be restored to its rightful state. The first of these dates was for the coming of the first Messiah, Jesus. The third date was for the coming of the second Messiah, Baha’u’llah. The second date was for the coming of the Bab, Who was also a prophet, and came just prior to the coming of Baha’u’llah. The coming of a prophet just prior to the coming of the Return of Christ is not a well-known fact among Christians, yet the date for His coming is right in the Bible. The coming of this “forerunner” prophet is much more thoroughly understood among the Moslems, because this prophet was to be a descendant of Muhammad. In Islam, He is called the Mahdi or the Hidden Imam.

So the dates given to Daniel for the restoration of the temple were dates for the coming of new Prophets from God, Who would once again bring God’s Presence to earth, like Moses had. Following is the first date given to Daniel for the restoration of the Presence of God on earth:

“Seventy weeks of years are decreed concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.” (Daniel 9:24)

According to Numbers 14:34, the way this is figured is, “for every day a year.” Seventy weeks of years would therefore be 70 weeks x 7 days/week = 490 days. If you apply the formula: “for every day a year,” this means 490 years. OK, 490 years from what? This is figured “from the going forth of the word to restore and build Jerusalem” (Daniel 9:24)

After the Israelites were taken into captivity, they were not allowed to return to their homeland until the Persian Kings had conquered their captors. The Persians believed in the Prophet Zoroaster, Who was a Prophet of the One, True Invisible God. Therefore, they did not have a problem with the Israelites worshipping this same God. The King of Persia made a decree that allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. He wrote a letter to Ezra, who was the high priest of the Israelites:

“This is a copy of the letter which King Ar-ta-xerx’es gave to Ezra the priest. …And now I make a decree that any one of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.’” (Ezra 7:11-13)
This happened in 456 B.C. If you look in a dated Bible, in Ezra 7, you will see this date. Four hundred and ninety years from that time, Jesus was crucified on the cross in 34 A.D. Jesus had the Presence of God within Him, just as Moses did. His name meant “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). When he was crucified, he was known as the sacrificial lamb (Isaiah 53), and his crucifixion put an end to animal sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27), and began the symbolic sacrifice in the Eucharist, or the drinking of the wine and the eating of the bread (John 6). He entered into a temple not built by hands, a temple in heaven (Heb. 9:24). In this way, the Presence of God was restored in the temple, but the temple was “not built by hands.” Nevertheless, this date given to Daniel in a vision, for the restoration of the Presence of God in the temple, was fulfilled, albeit not in the way the Israelites expected. And as a result, they missed the whole thing.

Daniel then goes on and gives two more dates. These dates are for the coming of the Mahdi and the Second Messiah. They are figured from the time of Muhammad. When Muhammad came, he put an end to the symbolic sacrifice, or the drinking of the wine and the eating of the bread. So when Muhammad came, the symbolic burnt offering was “taken away” completely. When Muhammad came, He brought a new calendar, one that is figured by the moon rather than the sun. It is called the Lunar Calendar. The second and third dates given to Daniel in his visions, were figured from the time Muhammad took away this symbolic sacrifice of the bread and wine:

“And from the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up….” (Daniel 12:11)

The two time spans that Daniel gives, namely, 1260 years and 1290 years, figure EXACTLY to the dates for the coming of the Mahdi and the Messiah, or the Bab and Baha’u’llah. The Christian calendar dates for the coming of these two figures are 1844 and 1863 A.D. All this information is covered more in-depth in the “Purpose of Life and the Proofs for the Return of Christ” document on this site.

But now perhaps you understand some basics. One, God makes and renews His basic Covenant with His people, every time a prophet comes. Two, God attempts to establish His Presence among His people, by leaving behind laws, practices and teachings for His people, so they can remember Him and dwell with His Presence among them. Ultimately, the goal is for God to win over the hearts of all people. The realm of God’s Kingdom is not the things of this earth. It is the hearts of His people (please refer to Baha’u'llah’s Covenant, which is on this site, and read this for yourself). When God is enthroned in the hearts of all people, all people will abide by His Laws and worship Him in His Essence with purity and in a way that pleases God. The Laws people must follow have already been revealed. They are contained in the Most Holy Book, which is on this site.

But alas, the believers in God are so feeble, they most often break God’s Covenant as well as His Laws, and make a free will choice to do their own thing instead. Because of this, great catastrophes will come upon the earth before mankind will be purified enough to put down his weapons of wrath, and turn with pure hearts to God, and reflect His Presence in their hearts.