Fulfillment Long Foretold—The World in Waiting
Across this series, we have traced humanity’s spiritual quest through anticipation and longing. Judaism waited for “the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple” (Malachi 3:1). Christianity foresaw “the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). Islam yearned for the Qá’im or Mahdi—when “the earth will shine with the light of its Lord” (Qur’an 39:69). Ancient societies looked for avatars or world-redeemers: the Fifth Buddha, the Shah Bahram, the Saoshyant, the Kalki.
By the 19th century the world’s “spiritual winter”—marked by religious exhaustion, division, and global upheaval—had reached its coldest point. Yet from Shiraz to Jerusalem, every prophet’s mantle hung with expectation. Something utterly new was due.
The “Son of Man Coming in His Glory”—Prophecy Meets History
Every Revelation spoke of a unique Day—a time when justice would cover the earth, when the “nations would be gathered,” when, as Jesus prophesied, “the Son of man shall come in His glory ... and before him shall be gathered all nations” (Matthew 25:31–32).
Throughout this series, we explored how each Manifestation ushers in not just belief but civilization-shaping blueprints: Moses with law, Christ with love, Muhammad with unity. Yet all pointed forward to a further fulfillment—a single, planetary transformation. In the sweep of sacred history, Bahá’u’lláh’s declarations, collected in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, stand where prophecy becomes public address—where the “advent of the Promised One” becomes a summons to every ruler, every faith, every individual.
The Manifestation Proclaimed—Bahá’u’lláh’s Address to the Nations
On April 21, 1863, Bahá’u’lláh declared Himself He Whom God shall make manifest—the Promised One awaited by all faiths. That was more than a mystical event; in His writings from Ottoman exile, Bahá’u’lláh set precedent: always before, revelation had been directed to a people or circle; now, He summoned all humankind.
“O kings of the earth! Give ear unto the Voice of God, calling from this sublime, this fruit-laden Tree, that hath sprung out of the Crimson Hill... There is none other God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.”[^1]
No longer was this a hidden message, nor a call for marginal belief, but a world-claim:
“Set your hearts towards the Face of God, and abandon that which your desires have bidden you to follow, and be not of those who perish.”[^1]
The Summit of Prophecy—The Lord of Lords Is Come
The Tablets collected in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts mark a new moment in religious history: open, universal, unmistakably bold. To the Pope, symbol of Christendom, Bahá’u’lláh announces:
“O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He Who is the Lord of Lords is come overshadowed with clouds, and the decree hath been fulfilled by God, the Almighty, the Unrestrained. ... He, verily, hath again come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time. Beware that thou dispute not with Him even as the Pharisees disputed with Him without a clear token or proof ... Leave thou the world behind thee, and turn towards thy Lord, through Whom the whole earth hath been illumined.”[^2]
This is not secret esoterica; it is a claim to fulfillment:
“The Word which the Son concealed is made manifest. It hath been sent down in the form of the human temple in this day. Blessed be the Lord Who is the Father! He, verily, is come unto the nations in His most great majesty.”[^3]
“This is the day whereon the Rock crieth out and shouteth, and celebrateth the praise of its Lord ... ‘Lo! The Father is come, and that which ye were promised in the Kingdom is fulfilled!’”[^4]
Justice, Warning, and Global Invitation—Tablets to the Powers
These proclamations were not reserved for the papacy. Every throne is summoned. To Napoleon III of France—then the world’s most powerful sovereign—Bahá’u’lláh declared:
“O King of Paris!... By God, the True One! The Most Mighty Bell hath appeared in the form of Him Who is the Most Great Name ... Wert thou to incline thine inner ear unto all created things, thou wouldst hear: ‘The Ancient of Days is come in His great glory!’ Everything celebrateth the praise of its Lord.”[^5]
His voice extends to every people and class:
“Arise, in My Name, amongst My servants, and say: ‘O ye peoples of the earth! Turn yourselves towards Him Who hath turned towards you. He, verily, is the Face of God amongst you, and His Testimony and His Guide unto you.’”[^6]
The repercussions of ignoring this blueprint are made plain:
“For what thou hast done, thy kingdom shall be thrown into confusion, and thine empire shall pass from thine hands, as a punishment for that which thou hast wrought.”[^7]
The Blueprint for World Order—Unity, Justice, and a New Civilization
In Tablet after Tablet, Bahá’u’lláh calls not for “tolerance” or private reform, but a new standard of civilization:
“Lay not aside the fear of God, O kings of the earth, and beware that ye transgress not the bounds which the Almighty hath fixed ... Compose your differences and reduce your armaments, that the burden of your expenditures may be lightened ... Heal the dissensions that divide you ... Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest...”[^8]
He frames the “well-being of mankind” as impossible without unity—spiritual, political, and economic:
“That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith.”[^9]
The Temple Fulfilled—A Living Model for Humanity
Prophecy’s ancient images—a Temple, a City of God, a World Kingdom—come to life not as metaphors, but as a lived, transformative civilization:
“Thus have We built the Temple with the hands of power and might, could ye but know it. This is the Temple promised unto you in the Book. Draw ye nigh unto it. This is that which profiteth you, could ye but comprehend it. Be fair, O peoples of the earth!... Set your faces towards it. Thus have ye been commanded by God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”[^10]
This “Temple” is neither stone nor symbol alone. It encompasses institutions, community, law, consultation—true structures for unity and justice.
Stepping Into the Day of God—Invitation and Challenge
The Summons of the Lord of Hosts closes private and collective loopholes alike. The invitation is world-embracing:
“Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self...”[^11]
“Regard ye the world as a man’s body, which is afflicted with divers ailments, and the recovery of which dependeth upon the harmonizing of all its component elements. Gather ye around that which We have prescribed unto you, and walk not in the ways of such as create dissension.”[^12]
This is the explicit fulfillment at the heart of every “Son of Man” prophecy—an invitation to gather, build, and transform.
The New Blueprint—The Glory Shines: Will We Build?
History now asks: Will we answer the Summons and move from prophecy to action? Will we build not only temples of worship but a world order reflecting the sovereignty of unity, the dignity of every soul, and the oneness proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh?
What does it mean, in our age, to heed the Summons of the Lord of Hosts? How do we live the blueprint—global in vision, concrete in practice—written by the Manifestation in our own time?
With hope and responsibility,
—Wade Fransson
References & Further Reading
[^1]: The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Súriy-i-Mulúk, pars. 2–4.
[^2]: ibid., Pope Pius IX, par. 102.
[^3]: ibid., Pope Pius IX, par. 112.
[^4]: ibid., Pope Pius IX, par. 113.
[^5]: ibid., Napoleon III, pars. 131–132.
[^6]: ibid., Napoleon III, par. 134.
[^7]: ibid., Napoleon III, par. 138.
[^8]: ibid., Súriy-i-Mulúk, pars. 7–8, 182.
[^9]: ibid., Queen Victoria, par. 176.
[^10]: ibid., Súriy-i-Haykal, par. 276.
[^11]: ibid., Queen Victoria, par. 173.
[^12]: ibid., Queen Victoria, par. 152.
All quotations from The Summons of the Lord of Hosts (official text). Other scripture as cited.
In every age, bridges are built from prophecy to fulfillment. The clouds have parted, the Glory shines. Now comes the task of stepping forward—not only as witness, but as builder.
