Please don't get the wrong idea everybody, im not a fanatical fundamentalist and am wary of posting this that you may think so. Im a student of history of religions and find this one to be peculiar and unique...Dan
BTW, the commentary throughout is from a member of BUPC
posted from the website of the Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant:
"As he [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ' Tell us, when will this be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" (Matthew 24: 3; RSV).
Here the disciples ask Jesus three questions: when are you coming, what will be the sign of your coming and what is the sign of the close of the age? Jesus then gives many signs which you can read on your own, but we will focus on the conclusive sign He gives for the close of the age:
"So when you see the desolating sacrilege spoken of by the prophet, Daniel; standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)." (Matthew 24:15; RSV).
Here Jesus Himself doesn't give you the date, but he says to turn to the book of Daniel, the book that gave the date for Jesus Himself, for the date at which the Second Christ will come. Jesus tells us to go to the chapter which speaks of the desolating sacrilege and the holy place. This is as follows:
"Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to the one that spoke, 'For how long is the vision concerning the continual burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled under foot?' And he said to him, 'For two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state." (Daniel 8:13-14).
Here Daniel mentions the "transgression that makes desolate," and also the "sanctuary." These are the "desolating sacrilege" and the "holy place" that Jesus told us to look fort so we know we're in the right place.
In the 43rd chapter of Ezekiel we read about the temple. Ezekiel was a high priest, and he was concerned with the re-establishment of the temple. He told us that the re-establishment of the temple would be the coming of the Bab and Baha'u'llah. Here Daniel tells us about the sanctuary of the temple being restored to its rightful state.
When Nebuchadnezzar took the Jews into captivity, he removed the ark of the Covenant from the Holy of Holies and brought it to Babylon where it was lost. After this the Jews rebuilt the temple and the sanctuary, but they lacked the ark of the Covenant to complete the Holy of Holies. So the Jews wanted to know when their sanctuary would be fully restored. In the above prophecy, Daniel says this will be in 2300 days, and since in prophecy each day is a year, these are 2300 years.
These 2300 years start from the time that the abomination of desolation came to an end—457 B.C., when the edict was issued to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. From 457 B.C. to the birth of Jesus gives us 456 years. This leaves 1844 years left over, which means that the 2300 years come to an end in 1844 A.D. This is the date Jesus indicates that the sanctuary would be restored.
Under the law of Moses, the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of sheep
and goats. According to the 7th, 8th, and 9th, chapters of the Book of Hebrews, Jesus cleansed the sanctuary not with the blood of sheep and goats but with his own blood. But now we are looking for the birth of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven that Jesus told us to pray for, so we're looking for the cleansing of the sanctuary on earth. The date we are given is 1844.
Baha'u'llah's forerunner the Bab started the Baha'i calendar in 1844.
direct link to the passage:
http://www.bupc.org/bahai-firesides.pdf
And the result, again mankind wasn't ready. Baha'u'llah and the Bab were exiled, imprisioned their entire lives. Its no wonder we don't get sent more of these "prophets". They're waiting for us to grow up and mature.