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This is the significance of the well-known words: “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together.” Behold the ignorance and folly of those who, like the nations of old, are still expecting to witness the time when these beasts will feed together in one pasture! Such is their low estate. Methinks, never have their lips touched the cup of understanding, neither have their feet trodden the path of justice. Besides, of what profit would it be to the world were such a thing to take place? How well hath He spoken concerning them: “Hearts have they, with which they understand not, and eyes have they with which they see not!”

What is the significance? This refers to the last sentence from the previous paragraph that says "how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the Divine springtime, breathing from the Riḍván of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity, and have drunk from the cup of His singleness."

Once again, as we saw throughout Part 1, Baha'u'llah is lamenting the state of those people who see these passages as being interpreted literally. And then, interestingly enough, He links together understanding and justice, pointing out that these literal interpretations have neither.

But why here? What does this have to do with His essay on sovereignty? It might just be a reminder to not interpret this sovereignty literally, as the uncle seemed to want to do. Over and over in Part 1 He talked about how these verses from Jesus, quoted in Matthew 24, had myriads of meanings, and that the literal should not be seen as the only one. Here, He seems to be making the same point, but with something more relevant to the questions of the uncle.

As usual, though, it seems that He is talking to a far greater audience than just the uncle. It seems that He is warning us, too, to avoid literalism. If we cling to literal interpretations, He seems to say, then we will not understand the true and deeper spiritual meanings within the text. And if we don't understand, then we will not be able to act with justice, that "best beloved of all things in (His) sight".

There is another point, though, that catches our attention. Why is He choosing this particular verse to examine in this paragraph? Is it just because of the obviousness of it? The sheer absurdity of trying to take it literally? Or is there, perhaps, more?

As you can no doubt guess, we think there is more.

To get a better understanding of this verse, we decided to go back to the source, Isaiah 65. As we read through it, it seemed that there were a lot of references to Baha'u'llah, the Bab, and everything that was happening at the time.

The very beginning, with its references to a nation that is not called by His name, and stretching out His hands to even the rebellious, seems to apply to every Day of God. Even in Long Obligatory Prayer, Baha'u'llah has us say "and by the words 'Here am I, Here am I,' which Thy chosen Ones have uttered in this immensity..." These very words we say every day hearken back to this chapter of Isaiah.

Later, though, in Isaiah 65:9 and 10, He makes all these references to the Holy Land. One that sticks out for many Baha'is is the reference to the Valley of Achor. Now, some Baha'is mis-interpret this as the Valley of Akka, which it isn't. The Valley of Achor is south of Jericho, which is quite some distance away. And yet, 'Abdu'l-Baha clearly says, "It is recorded in the Torah: And I will give you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. This valley of Achor is the city of ‘Akká, and whoso hath interpreted this otherwise is of those who know not." So does that mean He is wrong? Well, the Valley of Achor literally means the Valley of Repugnance, so named because of the horrific events that happened there. That is the literal interpretation of the name. Perhaps 'Abdu'l-Baha is telling us that it is not a literal interpretation of the original Valley of Achor, south of Jericho, but rather this new valley of repugnance, Akka, so named "repugnant" because of the terrible things that happened there in Baha'u'llah's life. We don't actually know, but it is the only way we can reconcile this.

But just a few verses later, Isaiah refers to the holy mountain, and Gad and Meni. The holy mountain could easily be Mount Carmel, and Gad and Meni refer to general names for stars and constellations, as well as Jupiter and Mercury. Given all that Baha'u'llah has already said about the stars and the heavens in Part 1, this could be another oblique reference.

Verse 17 on, though, is all about the new creation and new Jerusalem. It seems to us that He is clearly referencing this, drawing the attention of the careful reader to all the wonderful statements that occur in that incredible Book.

So what does all this mean? Well, read the last half of Isaiah 65 and see for yourself. It is a promise of great things that will happen in the time of the Promised One. And when we look at all the various prophecies of Isaiah, we feel it is good to be reminded of them. Surely it must have been a source of great comfort to the Babis, too, as they suffered such hardships at the time this book was written.

Up until now, in this book, Baha'u'llah has had us continually looking to the past. It seems that here, He is also asking us to look to the future.

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The following is an evidence of the sovereignty exercised by Muḥammad, the Day-star of Truth. Hast thou not heard how with one single verse He hath sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel? All the signs and allusions concerning the Day of Judgment, which thou hast heard, such as the raising of the dead, the Day of Reckoning, the Last Judgment, and others have been made manifest through the revelation of that verse. These revealed words were a blessing to the righteous who on hearing them exclaimed: “O God our Lord, we have heard, and obeyed.” They were a curse to the people of iniquity who, on hearing them affirmed: “We have heard and rebelled.” Those words, sharp as the sword of God, have separated the faithful from the infidel, and severed father from son. Thou hast surely witnessed how they that have confessed their faith in Him and they that rejected Him have warred against each other, and sought one another’s property. How many fathers have turned away from their sons; how many lovers have shunned their beloved! So mercilessly trenchant was this wondrous sword of God that it cleft asunder every relationship! On the other hand, consider the welding power of His Word. Observe, how those in whose midst the Satan of self had for years sown the seeds of malice and hate became so fused and blended through their allegiance to this wondrous and transcendent Revelation that it seemed as if they had sprung from the same loins. Such is the binding force of the Word of God, which uniteth the hearts of them that have renounced all else but Him, who have believed in His signs, and quaffed from the Hand of glory the Kawthar of God’s holy grace. Furthermore, how numerous are those peoples of divers beliefs, of conflicting creeds, and opposing temperaments, who, through the reviving fragrance of the Divine springtime, breathing from the Riḍván of God, have been arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity, and have drunk from the cup of His singleness!

This is all under the topic of true sovereignty, and how the Bab demonstrates His sovereignty. As we can see, He is using the story of Muhammad to demonstrate the similarity to the story of the Bab.

Here, in this paragraph, we are being asked to consider what we have heard, namely that with a single verse Muhammad "sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel". This leads to a basic question, though. Which verse? Nobody really knows, it could be any of them. But it doesn't really matter, does it? After all, as Hooper Dunbar says in his study guide to this book, a "verse such as 'Verily, I am the Messenger of God unto you all' (7:18) uttered by Muhammad would produce the results mentioned." So rather than try to figure out the history behind this, let's look instead at the paragraph itself.

One thing that stands out for us is the idea that this verse, whichever one it may be, is a blessing for the righteous, and "a curse to the people of iniquity". It reminds us of paragraph 61, where Baha'u'llah says, "such deeds and words are the fire of vengeance unto the wicked, and inwardly the waters of mercy unto the righteous". This is a concept that He has already introduced to us, so the idea of the dual nature of the Word should not come as a surprise. But to find the positive side of this nature, it is not with the mind that we must search. "Were the eye of the heart to open," Baha'u'llah informs us, "it would surely perceive that the words revealed from the heaven of the will of God are at one with, and the same as, the deeds that have emanated from the Kingdom of divine power."

This is where we must turn, we read time and again, if we want to begin to discover the inner meaning of the Word, and come to a better understanding of the nature of the Manifestations.

It brings us right back to paragraph 2. We "must cleanse (ourselves) of all that is earthly". We have to cleanse our ears from idle talk, our minds from vain imaginings, our hearts from worldly affections, and our eyes from that which perishes. If we do, then haply, with luck, we might attain that station which God has destined for us, as Baha'u'llah says in paragraph 1. But if we don't cleanse ourselves, then we won't even have that chance. And who can judge our decision? Well, that is the role of the Manifestation. After all, He is the Sovereign.

But here we must be cautious. We are not the judge. We cannot judge another's decision. That is not our role. As Jesus so famously said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Here, in this paragraph, Baha'u'llah makes reference to those who "warred against each other, and sought one another's property", those fathers who "turned away from their sons", those lovers who "shunned their beloved". These examples are a very active stance. They are not the passive acceptance of another's decision, but the condemnation of someone for believing differently. Sure, those who don't follow the new Message may not be "arrayed with the new robe of divine Unity", but that doesn't mean that they are actively against the new Faith.

It seems as if Baha'u'llah is, in actuality, giving us three examples. There are those who are "so fused and blended through their allegiance" that they become a new creation. There are those who rebel to such an extent that they create this state of war. And then there are those, not mentioned, who sit by and do nothing.

We want to strive to be in that first category. But we also want to be careful not to slip inadvertently into that second category, condemning those who believe differently.

* * * * *

As we were re-reading this paragraph, we noticed another interesting path here. Of course, as we re-read all these passages, we continually discover new pearls hidden within these words. It is what we would expect. Most of the time, we don't share them, for we don't want to burden you with too much of our own thoughts.

Today, however, we felt that this was interesting enough to share.

At the beginning of the paragraph, He says that one singles verse "sundered light from darkness, the righteous from the ungodly, and the believing from the infidel". Here, it begins with the light, and by contrast the darkness, through its absence. This light shines on all, from the righteous all the way through to the ungodly, and everyone in between. These are the personality types, if you will. Based on this spiritual personality type, the reaction can be either to become a believer, or to be recognized as "ungodly". From the light, to the person, to the reaction: we find this an interesting path He has shown us.

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Consider, how great is the change today! Behold, how many are the Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How numerous the nations and kingdoms who have sought the shelter of His shadow, who bear allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves therein! From the pulpit-top there ascendeth today the words of praise which, in utter lowliness, glorify His blessed name; and from the heights of minarets there resoundeth the call that summoneth the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His Faith and to put off the garment of unbelief, none the less confess and acknowledge the greatness and overpowering majesty of that Day-star of loving kindness. Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences of which thou dost on every side behold. This sovereignty must needs be revealed and established either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or after His ascension unto His true habitation in the realms above. What thou dost witness today is but a confirmation of this truth. That spiritual ascendency, however, which is primarily intended, resideth within, and revolveth around Them from eternity even unto eternity. It can never for a moment be divorced from Them. Its dominion hath encompassed all that is in heaven and on earth.

"Consider". Ponder, reflect: how often has Baha'u'llah asked us to do this throughout the book? Previously He asked us to "Consider the past", but now He is asking us to consider today.

Although He is asking this of the uncle of the Bab, He is also asking it of us. Rather than look at the "today" of the 1860's, we have decided to look at the today of... well, today.

Right now, leading up to the year of 2020, there is a lot of discussion about religion. Many people are atheist, deriding religion at every turn, presuming that you have to be some sort of blithering idiot to even consider the possibility of a God. On the other hand there is a huge rise in religious fanaticism, where people presume that you must be some sort of evil incarnate if you dare to believe anything differently than they do. Triumphalism, no matter one's belief, has taken hold of our civilization like we haven't seen since the Protestant wars in Europe those many years ago.

Baha'u'llah, here, has asked us to consider the change today, the difference between how people regarded Muhammad during His life, and how they regard Him now. The change is quite remarkable. And He is alluding to the truth that the people of the world will regard the Bab quite differently in the future from how they do today.

When we consider today, we discover fanaticism and atheism, with very little in the middle. The Bab, however, called us to unity and a new understanding of God. This really comes into play when we look at those two extremes. But as the Universal House of Justice said, "The scriptures have not changed; the moral principles they contain have lost none of their validity." We can see that people truly do find solace in their sacred scriptures, but need a new definition of God to be able to move forward. This is, perhaps, the truth that the atheists are unconsciously recognizing.

This is something that every Manifestation of God does; They give us new definitions to work with. They raise our vision and give us a greater awareness of the world around us, and a more effective way to make a difference. They truly infuse in each word a new meaning, and through this, allow us to climb to undreamt of heights in the spiritual realms.

Their "spiritual ascendancy... resideth within" Them, and is eternal. It takes a while, though, for the world to catch up to that. It takes years, generations, and sometimes centuries, for us to recognize this. But recognize it we will.

For now, we have the advantage of knowing these new definitions that Baha'u'llah, as well as the Bab, has given us. We can work with them and see new truths in the scriptures, both our own and those of old, which allow us to conceive of ideas that had previously been unthinkable and unbelievable.

And this leads us back to the uncle of the Bab. Why didn't he recognize his Nephew? In short, it's because one of the things he was looking for was an earthly sovereignty. He had his own fixed ideas, based on the teachings of the culture at the time, of what the Promised One would look like, and the Bab didn't meet that criteria. Slowly, over the length of this Book, Baha'u'llah has helped him reassess his perspective, and re-examine his belief about the sovereignty of the Promised One. He has helped him come to a new understanding of what sovereignty truly is.

It's all about detachment. Remember detachment? That was a major theme in Part 1, and is now the necessary ingredient to begin to see the truths that Baha'u'llah is offering here.

When considering new definitions, you have to be able to move beyond the old ones. You have to be detached from the old in order to see the benefit of the new.

And here it is worth noting that Baha'u'llah is not trying to convince anyone of anything, but is, instead, sharing a perspective for consideration. He is systematically going through these ideas, moving from one concept to the next, and allowing the reader to try and keep up. And perhaps that is one of the reasons why the Guardian considered this a how-to book for teaching. Baha'u'llah is showing us how to recognize a Messenger of God, and, beyond that, how to share that realization with others.

* * * * *

As we re-read this paragraph again, another point leapt out to us, namely that of contrasting the high and the low. While it doesn't add anything to what we wrote above, it still caught our attention and we felt impelled to mention it here, as a post script.

He begins by mentioning "the change today", and then describes a series of similar changes. The "Sovereigns who bow the knee", "the pulpit-top.... in utter lowliness", "the heights of minarets.... that summoneth the concourse of His people". Over and over He moves the imagery from above to below. Whether it is the Kings who bow the knee, or those preachers standing high in the pulpits speaking with humility, or the call from the top of the minaret to the concourse of people below, we find ourselves moving back and forth from top to bottom.

The Manifestation of God, however, seems to reverse this. He appears lowly at first, and then later ascends to His recognized Sovereignty. Baha'u'llah appears to be flipping this whole concept of sovereignty on its head, and is carrying us along with Him through this imagery. He is asking us to consider a new definition of what it truly means to be a sovereign, and not to fall back into the old, and shallow, definition that we commonly use.

When we understand the importance of recognize this true definition of sovereignty, then we will recognize "how great is the change today".