The Great Pyramid and the Bible
PYRAMID'S MESSAGE NOT IN HIEROGLYPHICS —
PASSAGES AND CHAMBERS REVEAL GOD'S PLAN
Having the Pyramid's passages and chambers before us, it will be asked: By what method is the plan of God represented therein? Did He cause His message to be inscribed in hieroglyphics upon their walls? Egypt is pre-eminently the land of the hieroglyph, for in all of its temples, tombs, sphinxes and obelisks these abound. We would not, therefore, be surprised if the walls of the interior parts of the Great Pyramid were covered with this strange writing. But we do not so find it.
With the exception of a few red marks on the walls of the four upper "Chambers of Construction," discovered by Col. Howard Vyse in 1838 when he excavated his way upward to these low spaces, the Pyramid is devoid of any kind of ancient script. The markings referred to by Col. Vyse are ill-defined, and quite unlike the finely carved hieroglyphics everywhere to be found in Egypt, being merely "quarry marks" roughly executed with red paint, and intended to guide the builders in their placing of the stones. Among these rude figurings are the cartouches or royal ovals of two kings, named Khufu, or Cheops, and Nu-shufu. Nu-shufu is said to have been a brother of Cheops, and was co-regent with him in the fourth dynasty, when the Great Pyramid was constructed.
There are no markings in the lowest of the Chambers of Construction, to which access seems to have always been possible. It is not, therefore, by hieroglyphics that God's "pillar" witnesses to the Divine Plan of Salvation as contained in the Holy Bible, but by symbol, measure and angle, and by this means more effectually than by any system of sculptured writing.
MAN'S FALL—THE DESCENDING PASSAGE
As each salient feature of the plan of salvation unfolds from the Scriptures, we find that the Great Pyramid in some manner contains corroborative evidence.
The first man, Adam, was created perfect, and placed in the garden of Eden, where he enjoyed life and communion with his Maker. He could have retained these favors, but failing in the test of obedience to which God saw good to subject him, he lost all. "By the disobedience of one, sin entered into the world," and there began the downward course of mankind deeper into depravity and death; for the sentence passed upon Adam extended through him to all of his posterity, as the Apostle declares: "In Adam all die" (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:22).
In the Pyramid the Descending Passage illustrates the downward course of the human race, and the final destruction in death is symbolized by the Subterranean Chamber, or Pit. In the beginning, Adam is pictured standing outside on the solid rock, enjoying the full light of heaven. Immediately, when he transgressed, he entered the night of sin and death, represented by the dark Descending Passage in the interior of the Pyramid. Toward the end of his "day" of condemnation, Adam died. When God pronounced the sentence of condemnation against Adam, saying, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die" (Gen. 2:17), we must not understand that the "day" referred to was one of 24 hours, for according to the record of Adam's death he had lived for 930 years. For the Pyramid's method of indicating Adam's 1,000-year "day" of condemnation, see Vol. 2 of Great Pyramid Passages. And his children, born in degradation and powerless to retrace their steps, have perforce continued on the downward way.
The lower mankind descend the dimmer becomes their path, until there is barely sufficient illumination to remind them of the brightness and freedom originally enjoyed by father Adam. When they pass the bend at the lower end of the passage, they lose even that little trace of light, and are compelled to go in complete darkness till they fall into the Pit of death.
THE OATH-BOUND COVENANT
When passing the sentence of death, God did not leave our first parents without a little hope. He stated the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15). This judgment upon the tempter inspired hope in Adam and Eve that there might be a reversal of their death sentence; for the vulnerable part of a serpent is its head. Thus God was pleased to reveal that the great "seed of the woman," Christ, would eventually by means of the Truth bruise the head of the "father of lies" and destroy him forever (Heb. 2:14).
God did not then state, however, that when the Adversary would be destroyed the human race would be released from condemnation. It was not until 2,081 years had passed that anything was said respecting favor. To Abraham this promise was made, that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (see Great Pyramid Passages, Vol. 2, p. 244). It is recorded that Abraham believed God and his faith was accounted to him for righteousness (Rom. 4:3). In due time Isaac, the seed, was born; yet during the lifetime of Abraham, God did not manifest His pleasure. The promise was renewed with Isaac and later with Jacob, but even in their days the world was still far from being blessed. Nevertheless, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob died in firm belief that the promise would be fulfilled—for God had sworn by an oath, and because He could swear by no greater He had sworn by Himself, that all nations would surely receive a blessing (Gen. 22:16-18; Heb. 6:13-19). The Ancient Worthies believed in the resurrection of the dead (Heb. 11:17-21, 35, 39, 40).
THE LAW AGE—FIRST ASCENDING PASSAGE
When Jacob was about 130 years old he entered Egypt, and there his descendants multiplied greatly, in fulfillment of what God had said: "I will there make of thee a great nation" (Gen. 46:2, 3). At the time of Moses this nation was called out of Egypt to be separated to Jehovah. He then made a covenant with the Israelites, that if they observed His Law it would give them life; but if they failed, the "curse of the law" would be visited upon them. This opportunity of attaining life was new, for the Apostle tells us that "death reigned from Adam to Moses" (Rom. 5:14).
We can thus appreciate the feelings of elation with which the Israelites exclaimed when Moses gave the commandments: "All that the LORD hath spoken we will do" (Ex. 19:1-8). They thought they could render obedience and so gain life; but they little understood the imperfection of their flesh (Rom. 7:18) and they soon found it impossible to pass the exacting requirements of God's perfect law—the Divine Law blocked the way of life.
By what method does the Great Pyramid corroborate the Scriptural plan stated thus far? As the Descending Passage illustrates the downward course of the human race to the Pit, or "chamber of death," so, by contrast, the ascending passages illustrate the upward ways to life. It was to the people of Israel, separated from the world at the Exodus, that the first offer of attaining life was given. The First Ascending Passage, therefore, represents the Jewish Dispensation.
One requires, when walking down the Descending Passage, to keep his head and back bowed very low, for the passage is only four feet in height; and it is so steep that progression down its slippery floor is both painful and dangerous. The visitor cannot fail to realize how aptly this descending way illustrates the groaning condition of mankind burdened under the yoke of sin, sickness and pain, and laboring downward to death.
But when he reaches the junction of the First Ascending Passage, he finds that he is not here required to stoop, but can stand upright, and so relieve his aching back and head. No longer being compelled to look down the way of death, he can throw back his head and look up the passage which symbolizes the upward way of life, and can experience the joy of the Israelites when God covenanted with them through Moses the Law, which was "ordained to life" (Rom. 7:10). The hard portion of the Descending Passage floor, on which he now stands, symbolizes the firm footing which the Jewish nation then had with God (see diagram, previous chapter).
But the visitor's joy will be short-lived, for looking more intently above him he will presently perceive, when his eyes become accustomed to the darkness of the place, the lower end of the Granite Plug, and it will be forcibly impressed upon him that this upward way is closed; even as the Jewish nation when they had leisure to consider the perfect law of God, found it an impassable obstacle in the path of life. How effectually, therefore, does this Granite Plug, barring all progress up the Ascending Passage, symbolize the Divine Law blocking the way to life!
Remember how, when Moses was in the mount, the people made a golden calf and worshiped it, thus transgressing one of the most important requirements of God's Law—Ye shall have no other gods before me. Ye shall not bow down before graven images. God in anger threatened to blot out the nation, but Moses interceded and besought God rather to blot him out and spare the people (Deut. 9:14; Ex. 32:30-32). It was not possible for Jehovah to accept the offer of Moses, who was himself imperfect; but we see how this was used by Jehovah as a figure or type of Jesus Christ offering Himself on behalf of the Jews and becoming a "curse" for them (Gal. 3:13).
Thus Moses inaugurated the Law, while 1,647 years later Christ, the antitypical Moses, "took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross" (Col. 2:14). If we measure the length of the First Ascending Passage upward from the lower end of the Granite Plug and to this add the length of the Plug itself, thus giving due weight to this important symbol of the Divine Law, we shall find that the total measurement in pyramid inches exactly agrees with the length of the Law Dispensation until Christ became the end of the Law Covenant for believers.
By this time measurement, the line of demarcation between the First Ascending Passage and the Grand Gallery is proved to indicate the date of Christ's death and resurrection, i.e., Spring, 33 A.D. A large number of distinct time measurements demonstrate that the line of the north wall of the Grand Gallery indicates the date of the death and resurrection of Christ, when the Jewish Law Age ended, and the Gospel Age began. (These time measurements, and many others, are fully dealt with in Great Pyramid Passages, Vol. 2.)
The Jewish nation was permitted to exist; but as it is impossible for God to overlook sin, sacrifices were instituted which year by year made atonement. These oblations served as types and shadows of the better and everlasting sacrifices to come and gave that people a typical standing with God (Heb. 10:1).
THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW AGE
As they could not actually attain life by the Law Covenant owing to the inherent weaknesses of their flesh (for the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sins—Heb. 10:4), why did God deal with the Israelites for so many centuries?
The Apostle briefly states one reason: "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us [Jews] unto Christ" (Gal. 3:24). The nation, during its Dispensation, or Age, nominally observed the statutes and requirements of the Law, which like a schoolmaster taught and disciplined the people and prepared them to receive the Messiah. Thus the Jewish nation is typically represented as progressing upward along the First Ascending Passage, ignoring for the time being the Granite Plug, which actually prevents any possibility of ascending this way, even as the Jews could not really pass the test of the Divine Law and gain life.
THE KING'S AND QUEEN'S CHAMBERS—SPIRIT AND HUMAN LIFE
The full significance of the passageways of the Pyramid will be more clearly understood, if we first notice the symbolical meaning of the building's chambers.
We have recognized that the Subterranean Chamber represents the condition of death; so we understand life is represented by the upper chambers. The lowest form of life which can be attained and maintained by man is human life in its perfection, as possessed by Adam before his fall. This condition of human life is symbolized by the Queen's Chamber. The highest form of life to which man may aspire, under certain arrangements ordered of the Lord, is the spirit life. This condition of spirit life is symbolized by the King's Chamber.
The King's Chamber is constructed entirely of granite, and the Queen's Chamber of limestone. Both of these materials are perfect, but the limestone is inferior to the granite in hardness and durability and also in value, thus figuratively agreeing with the Scriptural declaration: "Thou hast made him [man] a little lower than the angels" (Psa. 8:4, 5).
The symbolical contrast between the upper chambers and the Pit is emphasized by the absence of ventilation in the latter. Air is necessary for life, and the fact that the King's and Queen's Chambers are both ventilated, is further evidence that these apartments represent conditions of life. But whereas the air channels of the granite chamber were always open, those of the limestone chamber were originally sealed at their inner ends.
This difference symbolically teaches, in accordance with the Bible, that the Divine spirit life is from everlasting. The perfect human life, on the contrary, is not from everlasting; but even as air channels were provided for the Queen's Chamber, which when unsealed rendered that apartment habitable, so God has made provision whereby human life will become eternal. (It is probably not without significance that the air channels of the Queen's Chamber, as already mentioned, were discovered and opened in 1872, exactly 6,000 years from the creation of Adam.
CHRIST'S FIRST ADVENT
If the First Ascending Passage symbolizes the "law-schoolmaster" leading the Jews to Christ, then the Pyramid should, by some reasonable method, represent Christ standing, as it were, at the upper end of the passage ready to receive them. This feature of the Lord's plan is shown in the following manner:
The Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus was "made of a woman," that He was "made flesh" (Gal. 4:4; John 1:14). But He was not born with fallen mankind on the downward course of the Descending Passage, but in the "Queen's Chamber" condition of human perfection; for in Him was no sin; He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Heb. 7:26).
While perfect human life is particularly symbolized by the Queen's Chamber, the plane of human perfection is represented by the level of the floor of that chamber. Thus the further truth that Jesus was "made under the law" (Gal. 4:4) is shown in the Pyramid by the fact that the line of the floor of the Queen's Chamber, when projected northward, intersects the floor of the First Ascending Passage 33½ inches exactly from its upper extremity (see diagram above).
By the Pyramid method of indicating time, these inches represent the 33½ years of our Lord's earthly life, during which He was subject to the Law (Luke 2:27; Matt. 5:17). He was therefore ready to receive the Israelites at the end of their Dispensation, as the Scriptures state: "He came unto his own" (John 1:11).
At thirty years of age Jesus was baptized at Jordan. His immersion in water symbolized His consecration unto death, and His raising out of the water His resurrection in "newness of life." John the Baptist declared that he saw the holy Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and heard a voice from heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:16, 17).
Jesus had always been a son of God, but now He was a Son in a special sense, begotten to the same nature as the Father (John 5:26). During the 3½ years from His begetting of the Spirit at Jordan, Christ as the New Creature laid down His human life in sacrifice until it was consummated at Calvary. The third day after His crucifixion He was "born from the dead" a glorious spirit being of the Divine nature (1 Pet. 3:18).
Just as the full 33½ years of our Lord's life as an Israelite subject to the Law is indicated by the corresponding number of inches at the upper end of the passage which represents the Law Age, so His 30 years as a perfect man separate from the world, is indicated by the connected measurement of 30 inches along the line of the Queen's Chamber floor level, the "Plane of Human Perfection" (for this measurement see diagram above).
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