According to Baha'i beliefs, Jesus has a preexistent soul and a preexistent Spirit.
Jesus and Baha’u’llah were humans, just like you and I. He had special powers and capacities, so they were
above other humans; but they were also human. The third station is what differentiates Manifestations of God from all other humans:
“Know that the Holy Manifestations, though They have the degrees of endless perfections, yet, speaking generally, have only three stations. The first station is the physical; the second station is the human, which is that of the rational soul; the third is that of the divine appearance and the heavenly splendor.
The physical station is phenomenal; it is composed of elements, and necessarily everything that is composed is subject to decomposition. It is not possible that a composition should not be disintegrated.
The second is the station of the rational soul, which is the human reality. This also is phenomenal, and the Holy Manifestations share it with all mankind.
The third station is that of the divine appearance and heavenly splendor: it is the Word of God, the Eternal Bounty, the Holy Spirit. It has neither beginning nor end, for these things are related to the world of contingencies and not to the divine world. For God the end is the same thing as the beginning.”
Some Answered Questions, pp. 151-152
38: THE THREE STATIONS OF THE DIVINE MANIFESTATIONS
According to Baha'i beliefs, Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit until his baptism, but even before that He was not the same as an ordinary man because he had innate knowledge that no other men possess, and I believe He got that knowledge when His soul preexisted in heaven with God before He was born on earth. The same applies to Baha'u'llah since Manifestations of God all have the same nature. They are not God, but above an ordinary human and that is why they can act as mediators between God and man.
Jerusalem was the physical birthplace of the Messiah since Jesus was the Messiah, but Jesus was not the only Messiah.
Christ was not prophesied to return to Jerusalem.
18. Lightning from the East
I now began an earnest search for clues that would tell me something about the place in which the Messiah would appear. Two interesting things came to light. For the first coming, Daniel had given the
time and Micah had given the
place. Daniel had prophesied exactly when the Messiah would appear the
first time and when He would be slain. Micah had said of the place: “But thou,
Bethlehem … out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.”(
Micah 5:2)
Daniel had also prophesied with even greater exactness the
time of the second coming of the Messiah in 1844 (see p. 20). Therefore, I turned to Micah for a possible clue as to the place of His second appearance. I was richly rewarded. In
Micah 7:7 and 12 I found:
“I will wait for the God of my salvation … In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria …” (
Micah 7:7, 12)
The Assyrian Empire at one time covered the entire area in which both Daniel and Micah lived out their lives. Therefore, I chose to study those parts of the Empire, in which these two prophets traditionally lived and taught. To my surprise, I found that there were many other clues to follow as well. Gradually one led to another, until a definite picture began to emerge, and I knew at least in which direction to turn my gaze.
The book of Ezekiel spoke of a great Figure who would come in those days. He said: “And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east.” (
Ezekiel 43:2)
This was clearly a reference to the
second coming of Christ and not the
first, for Jesus did not come from the way of the East, He came from north and west of Jerusalem. Isaiah in like manner spoke of the wondrous Figure who would come from the East. Isaiah said that it was God Himself Who had
“… raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings.” (
Isaiah 41:2) Even Christ Himself pointed to the direction from which He would appear in the day of His
second coming. Speaking of that day, He said:
“For as the lightning cometh out of the East … so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”(
Matthew 24:27)
The Jewish Oracles, the Sibylline books, prophesied that the ‘King Messiah’ of the time of the end would come ‘from the sunrise’.(The Messianic Idea in Israel, J. G. Klausner, 1956, p. 376). Daniel had written his words of millennial prophecy while in the East. In fact, he was in Elam, a part of ancient Persia, when he foretold with such startling accuracy the exact time of both the
first and the
second comings of Christ. It was in the capital city of Persia, Shúshán, (Ancient Susa, Khúzistán, south-west Írán) that Daniel had the prophetic vision that revealed the year 1844 as the time for the return of the Messiah. Daniel not only gave the
time 1844, but he also directed attention to the
place, saying that ‘Elam’ (Persia) would be given as a place of ‘vision’ in the latter days (
Daniel 8:2). The Prophet Jeremiah speaks of things that ‘shall come to pass in the latter days’ and in the verse preceding this, he says: “And I will set my throne in Elam (Persia) … saith the Lord.”(
Jeremiah 49:38). I came across a prophecy well known among the Arabs. Speaking of
the time of the end, it said:“When the promised One appears, the ‘upholders of His faith shall be the people of Persia.’”
(The Dawn-breakers, Nabíl, p. 49).
All these prophecies clearly showed that the Messiah would come from the East, and they put a strong emphasis on the territory of Persia. It was something definite to go on. The circle was narrowing.
William Sears, Thief in the Night, pp. 73-75
Daniel 8:2 And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.
It appears as if the Throne was set in Elam, not in Jerusalem, as many Christians believe.
The Lord was prophesied to set His throne in Elam, from which the Messiah would rule.
Elam is modern-day Persia, where Baha’u’llah was born.
Jeremiah 49:38 And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
When that verse was recorded Elam existed and the verses for the coming of the Lord refer to the latter days.
Jeremiah 49:39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
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