The Manifestations Purpose pg. 61-67
The Revealers of the Word of God are one and the same in essence; yet in each age the latest Manifestation of God manifests a greater measure of truth while containing within Himself and His Revelation the essence and reality of the former religions.
When a new Revelation is sent down by God, the preceding religion loses its spirit. Only its form remains. The power and efficacy with which its teachings were once endowed by the Almighty are withdrawn and the laws which were once the mainstay of its social institutions are abrogated. Its followers, if they are to remain faithful to their Prophet, will turn to the new Messenger of God who embodies the spirit of former Manifestations. If they fail to do this, not only will they be worshipping a form without spirit and turning to darkened horizons but, in denying God’s latest Manifestation, they will be denying the essence of their own Prophet. In one of His Tablets Bahá’u’lláh has confirmed this in these words:
“Be thou assured in thyself that verily, he who turns away
from this Beauty[1] hath also turned away from the Messengers
of the past and showeth pride towards God from all
eternity to all eternity.”
-Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá’u’lláh has appeared at the historic time of humanity’s coming of age. All that His Revelation bestows upon mankind existed potentially in the Dispensations of the past, but to reveal it then would have been premature. The analogy of the human being will demonstrate this fact, for a child has all the limbs, organs and potential faculties of an adult, but not until he attains maturity can he use them fully.
Through Bahá’u’lláh, the glory of God’s Revelation to mankind is unveiled, a glory which the Manifestations of the past foretold. Indeed, Their purpose throughout all ages was to herald the coming of Bahá’u’lláh and prepare mankind for His advent. Muhammad was the last to do so, referring to Himself as the ‘Seal of the Prophets’, for His was the last Dispensation of the prophetic cycle of religion. With the appearance of the Báb, this cycle closed, and He announced Bahá’u’lláh, Whose Mission was not to foretell the Day of God, but to inaugurate it, as God’s supreme Manifestation. These words gleaned from His Tablets illuminate the greatness of His Revelation:
“Be fair, ye peoples of the world; is it meet and seemly for
you to question the authority of One Whose presence ‘He
Who conversed with God’ [Moses] hath longed to attain, the
beauty of Whose countenance ‘God’s Well-beloved’ [Muhammad]
had yearned to behold, through the potency of Whose
love the ‘Spirit of God’ [Jesus] ascended to heaven, for
Whose sake the ‘Primal Point’ [the Bab] offered up His life?
Seize your chance, inasmuch as a fleeting moment in this Day
excelleth centuries of a bygone age… Neither sun nor
moon hath witnessed a day such as this… It is evident that
every age in which a Manifestation of God hath lived is
divinely ordained and may, in a sense, be characterized as
God’s appointed Day. This Day, however, is unique and is
to be distinguished from those that have preceded it. The
designation ‘Seal of the Prophets’ fully reveals and demonstrates
its high station.”
-Bahá’u’lláh
[Adib Taherzadeh]
What I have read in some other Baha’i books is that there are smaller cycles churning as a part of larger cycles. The Adamic cycle would be considered a larger cycle and the Manifestations between Him and the Bab are the smaller cycles within. When the Bab came, he sealed off this Ancient cycle and opened the “GATE” for the immense cycle Baha’u’llah would begin. The name “The Bab” means “The Gate” and Baha’u’llah’s dispensations is said to last for over 500,000 years.
