Do Baha'i's believe that the "great tribulation" has already taken place? (
Matthew 24:21) It is that event that heralds the coming of Christ to end the rot once and for all.
He will introduce his Kingdom by crushing all other human rulerships out of existence, according to Daniel. (
Daniel 2:44)
Has
Matthew 24:29-31 already happened?
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens to their other extremity."
The great tribulation began with WWI in 1914. WWII was essentially an extension of this same war.
When Jesus came He predicted the destruction of the Jewish temple (Matthew 24:1-2). This happened in 70 AD about 40 years after He predicted it. This was the beginning of the great tribution for the Jewish people. Jesus described it as the abomination that leads to desotation (Matthew 24:15). This was a fulfilment of prophecy in Daniel 9:24-27.
Matthew 24 is known as the Olivet discourse as it was near the Mount of Olives. It was the last major sermon of Christ recorded in the synoptic gospels before He was crucified. Jesus's warning is crystal clear about what is going to happen. There is no "If the Jewish people, don't accept me, then this will happen". It was apparent after 3 years of Jesus's ministry the Jewish people, except a small number, were never going to accept Him. The desolation that caused abomination or the destruction of the Jewish temple was the start of an extremely difficult time for the Jewish peoples like none that had been (Matthew 24:21). They would be driven from their homeland and prevented from freely returning until the nineteenth century. So the tribulation came
after Jesus was crucified and was a direct consequence of the Jews response to His message.
Jesus also warned against false prophets (Matthew 24:23-26). It was a time of Messianic expectation and so others around that period of time who made claim to be the Messiah. The most notable of Jewish Messianic claimants was Simon bar Kokhba.
Simon bar Kokhba - Wikipedia
Despite the devastation wrought by the Romans during the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), which left the population and countryside in ruins, a series of laws passed by Roman Emperors provided the incentive for the second rebellion. Based on the delineation of years in Eusebius' Chronicon (now Chronicle of Jerome), it was only in the 16th year of Hadrian's reign, or what was equivalent to the 4th year of the 227th Olympiad, that the Jewish revolt began, under the Roman governor Tineius (Tynius) Rufus, whereas Hadrian sent an army to crush the resistance. Bar Kokhba, the leader of this resistance at the time, punished any Jew who refused to join his ranks. Two and a half years later, the war had ended. The Roman Emperor Hadrian at this time barred Jews from entering Jerusalem; a new Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, was to be built in its place.
The second Jewish rebellion took place 60 years after the first and established an independent state lasting three years. For many Jews of the time, this turn of events was heralded as the long hoped for Messianic Age. The excitement was short-lived, however, and after a brief span of glory, the revolt was crushed by the Roman legions.
One of the problems I have with the interpretation of apocalyptic scripture by fundamentalist Christians is their tendency towards literal interpretation leading to a belief that a series of miraculous and highly implausible events will happen. Further, there is magical thinking. We just need to wait for the apocalypse to happen and Jesus is going to come and make it all better. I don't believe G-d works this way and if we want to understand how G-d works we look to history
and scripture. In that sense the return of Christ will have similarities to when He came the first time (Thessalonians 5:2-4). As the sincerity of hearts were tested when Christ came the first time, so to they are tested again. History repeats itself.
So when Biblical prophecy was fulfilled through the twin Manifestations of the Baha'i Revelation, it was similar to what happened after Christ came. Governmental and religious leaders of the Christian world largely ignored Baha'u'llah's summons that the One whom had been promised in the gospels had come. Baha'u'llah wrote to Pope Pious IX, Czar Alexandra II of Russia, Queen Victoria of England, Napolean III of France and Wilheim Kaiser I of Germany and in no uncertain terms made clear who He was and what needed to happen and why.
Beginning in 1867 in Adrianople and continuing later in ‘Akká, Bahá’u’lláh wrote to the kings and rulers of the world, including Emperor Napoleon III, Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Tsar Alexander II, Emperor Franz Joseph, Pope Pius IX, Sultan Abdul-Aziz, and the Iranian ruler, Nasiri'd-Din Shah.
In these letters, Bahá’u’lláh openly proclaimed His station as a Messenger of God. He urged the leaders to pursue justice and disarmament and exhorted them to band together into a commonwealth of nations, warning them of the dire consequences should they fail to establish peace.
Bahá’u’lláh writes to the rulers of the world - The Life of Bahá'u'lláh
As the Jews had either ignored and rejected Christ's message, so too did the Kings and leaders of the Christian world reponded in kind to what Baha'u'llah had to say.
The temporal power of the Papacy finally ended in 1870, the very year Baha'u'llah wrote to him. Napolean III was defeated in battle and humiliated a year after receiving his second letter. The family of the Tsar lost power and were killed in 1917 with the Russian revolution. Europe, the heart of Christianity since the Emperor Constantine converted in the 4th century, became engulfed in two wars and the great depression over a 31 years period. By the time WWII ended in 1945 the world had changed forever. The world that had largely been ruled by the Euroean powers had been rolled up with the disintegration of these Empires and a new world order was established. This was the great tribulation.
In regards the specific prophetic fulfilment of Matthew 24:30 Baha'u'llah explained these words in great detail.
Bahá'í Reference Library - The Kitáb-i-Íqán, Pages 3-41
The sun and moon are not those of the visible universe. The sun is the
Sun of Truth or the light of G-d that shines through Revelations such as those of Moses, Jesus or Baha'u'llah. So when the sun bcomes dimmed it means the truth is obscured. The moon and stars are like the luminaries of these great teachings, so when their light no longer shines or they fall from heaven it means they have become corrupted. So the leaders of religion and the saints fell from heaven. It can't be a star literally falling from heaven as the world wound end in an instant. The changes and deterioration in religion lead to great oppression and darkness. Baha'u'llah explained the greatest oppression is when one seeks truth but the conditions of religion have been so utterly corrupted he is no longer able to find that truth. These were signs that accompanied not only the advent of Christ, but Baha'u'lllah too.
The clouds of heaven that Jesus appears on in Matthew 24:31 symbolise loftiness and glory. What greater loftiness and glory could than One who brings teachings from G-d such as Moses, Jesus, and Baha'u'llah did. Clouds can also obscure truth. So the clouds of men's traditions and false expectations become a barrier to the truth he seeks and being able to see that truth. The Jews exemplified this principle in the time of Christ when their understanding and expectation based on their vain imaginings predominated.
Bahá'í Reference Library - The Kitáb-i-Íqán, Pages 41-80
I see Baha'i's taking a bit of scripture here and a bit there, but none of it adds up. True peace will never come about by man. He will never accomplish peace on earth.....there will be a cry of peace and security...but it will be short lived.
Its much better to quote one verse that is relevant to the discussion than to take a shot gun approach and quote many verses that are not properly understood. Besides that, too much quoting can border on proselytizing that is against the RF rules.
1 Thessalonians 5:2-3...
."For you yourselves know quite well that Jehovah’s day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.”
There wasn't too much safety for the peoples of Europe from WWI to WWII. Many other places in the world were affected too.