The day of the Lord has come as a thief in the night, and the government is upon His shoulder. Carmel and Sharon see the Glory of the Lord.

Great is thy blessedness, O earth, for thou hast been made the foot-stool of thy God, and been chosen as the seat of His mighty throne.

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

[Two Greek words are used in the New Testament for the world: Kosmos and Aion. Kosmos means the material world and Aion means era or age. Aion is used each time. Christ is thus referring to the end of an age or dispensation, and not a physical world—newer Bibles also use ‘age.’]

1. “take heed that no man deceives you. For many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and shall deceive many.” (Matt. 24:4-5).

The list of messiah claimants is long, but there is only one Christ who came in the flesh:  Jesus Christ.  "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."  (John 16:13).  "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God..."  (1 John 4:2-3).  "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  (I John 4:1).  "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (I Thess. 5:21). "By their fruit you will recognize them."  (Matt 7:16-20).

2. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars…For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” (Matt. 24:6-7).

The Thirty Years War (1562-1598) and French Wars of Religion (1618-1648) between Protestants and Catholics, the Napoleonic Wars (1804-1815) and the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) involving European Powers, The War of 1812 (1812-1815) between America and the British empire, The First Opium War (1839-1842) between the U.K. and China, the American Civil War (1861-1865), several Ottoman Wars, and of course the World Wars, among others. The four famines of the 1800s; The major Influenza and Cholera pandemics occurring from 1729-1920; Earthquakes have shaken the earth repeatedly, including the quake prophesized in Zechariah 14:4; which all reveal that at any moment this prophecy could be seen as fulfilled, and likely sometime in the 19th century.

3. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14).

Many publications in the mid-1800’s stated that the Bible was being preached in every nation (ref. A Hundred Years of Missions by Leonard, Eight Dissertations by Faber, Our Day in the Light of Prophecy by Spicer, An Exposition of the Prophecies by Dowling, etc…). “In 1816, the American Bible Society was formed. George Storrs, in the newspaper “Midnight Cry,” on the 4th of May, 1843, stated that these two societies [British and American]…were spreading the Gospel of Christ in every part of the world” (ref. Thief in the Night by Sears). As a result, Biblical scholars predicted that this prophecy would be fulfilled by 1844.

4. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, stand in the holy place...” (Matt. 24:15).

Christ warns that the ‘day and hour knoweth no man,’ but also refers to Daniel, who gives general time prophecies; however, Daniel’s prophecies are sealed until the end time (Dan. 12:9). They have now been unsealed: Daniel prophesies 70 weeks (in 9:24) (A day for a year: Num. 14:34 & Ezk. 4:4-6) (70 weeks = 490 days = 490 years) after the Order to restore Jerusalem (457 BC) (Ezra 7) the ‘Messiah will be cut off.’  Thus, 457 + 33 [Crucifixion Age] = 490 years. Using 457 B.C. for Daniel’s desolation prophecy (in 8:13-14): 2300 days (years) from 457 BC (no year 0) gives year 1844. Daniel 9:25, 12:7, & 12:11 are all unsealed (ref. Some Answered Questions and Lights of Guidance). 

5. “…Jerusalem shall be trodden down…until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled…then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:24-27).

In 70 A.D., Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman Titus, and the Jews were exiled exactly as had been foretold by Christ. The Holy Land was hence occupied and ruled by Gentiles (non-Jews), until the Ottoman Empire, who ruled Jerusalem, was pressured to an agreement called the Edict of Toleration on Mar. 21, 1844 (ref. Public Record’s office—London), initiating a stop to the persecution of Christians and permitting religious freedom in its territory, and for the first time began the Restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land, followed by WWI and the fall of the Ottoman Empire—described in the Book of Revelation as the eighth and a beast (Rev. 17:11), its ruler described as a prideful king (Dan. 11:36), an anti-Christ (1 John 2:22), and a man of lawlessness (II Thess. 2), and defeated at the Battle of Armageddon-1918 (Rev. 16:16).

In the 19th century, a venerable figure surnamed Bahá'u'lláh [Aramaic meaning the Glory of the LORD] claimed to be the long-awaited Spirit of Truth. He was imprisoned and held captive by the Ottomans for nearly half a century for His claim, yet His revelation did not cease.

'In a hundred volumes, the repositories of priceless precepts, mighty laws, unique principles, impassioned exhortations, reiterated warnings, amazing prophecies, sublime invocations, and weighty commentaries...[He] proclaimed...the Mission with which God had entrusted Him. To emperors, kings, princes, and potentates, to rulers, governments, clergy, and peoples, whether of the East or of the West, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, or Zoroastrian, He addressed for well-nigh fifty years, and in the most tragic circumstances, these priceless pearls of knowledge and wisdom that lay hid within the ocean of His matchless utterance...'

He testified, "Ye are but vassals, O Kings of the earth! He Who is the King of kings hath appeared, arrayed in His most wondrous glory, and is summoning you unto Himself..." His call was unmistakable, yet most of the sovereigns failed to Heed it. "Had they hearkened unto Me," He proclaimed, "they would have beheld the earth another earth." History recounts their fate:

†Andrew Johnson - 17th President of the United States.  Impeached by the U.S. House.  see epistle

†Napoléon III - President of the French Second Republic.  Last monarch of France.  see epistle

†Alexander II - Emperor of the Russian empire.  Assassinated. see epistle
 
†Franz Joseph I - Emperor of Austria-Hungry.  Austria-Hungarian Monarchy dissolved. see epistle
 
†Abdülaziz I - The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.  Forced to abdicate.  see epistle

†Nasser al-Din Shah - King of the Persian Empire.  Assassinated.  see epistle
 
†Pope Pius IX - Pope of the Catholic Church.  Last pope to hold temporal power.  see epistle
 
†Wilhelm I - King of Prussia.  Died after two assassination attempts.  Wilhelm II - Successor to the throne.  Last German Emperor and King of Prussia.  see epistle
 
†Queen Victoria - Monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.  Longest reign of any British monarch. 
Marie of Edinburgh - Queen consort.  First Royal to accept Bahá'u'lláh. see epistle

CALL OUT TO
ZION, O CARMEL,
AND ANNOUNCE
THE JOYFUL
TIDINGS:
HE THAT WAS
HIDDEN FROM
MORTAL EYES
IS COME