THE GREAT PYRAMID
It is most important to be able to see deeply into the mind of an influential person. Through the Scriptures we can acquire an insight into the mind of the writers of the Bible. When it comes to individuals who operate outside the Spirit of God it is most important to understand how psychologically sound is the mind of that person before we decide to follow him. After examining the works of Charles T. Russell it is difficult to comprehend how anyone with a sound logical mind could follow his teachings.
Pastor Russell introduced occultism into his
sect by teaching that the pyramids in
According to Russell only by studying his books could one understand the divine mysteries the pyramids held and how they fit into the God’s “Divine Plan.”
Pastor Russell considered his doctrine to be an inspiration from God, but it has a more earthly occult origin. Pastor Russell relied heavily on Numerology and Pyramid logy when composing is theories.
Pyramidologists used elaborate measurements to discover hidden codes built into the halls, chambers, and dimensions of the Great Pyramid. They tried to link measurement to events in Christianity in an attempt to prove that their idea of what the Bible said was literally true. Pyramidlolgy has historically been practiced by occultists, cultist and misled Christians.
Numerologists manipulate numbers of discover hidden meanings. It is easy to come up with a starting calculation that leads to a hidden revelation. Finding these hidden revelations is just a “Pick and Choose --Hit or Miss” game. Numerology has been practiced by sorcerers, fortune tellers and astrologers.
The following pages are taken from Chapter 10, of Thy Kingdom Come third volume of Studies in the Scriptures, 1910 edition. The following work by Pastor Russell speaks large volumes of his spiritual and biblical knowledge.
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THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S GREAT STONE
WITNESS AND PROPHET, THE GREAT PYRAMID IN
Why of special interest to Christians. The Great Pyramid a Storehouse of Truth- Scientific, Historic and Prophetic, - Bible Allusions To It- Why, When And By Whom Built. - Importance Of Its Location-Its Scientific Lessons- It’s Testimony Concerning The Plan of Redemption – The Plan Of The Ages. The Death And Resurrection Of Christ Indicated.- The Down-ward Course Of The World, Ending In A Great Time of Trouble.-The Nature Of The Trouble.- The Great Reformation Movement Marked.- Length Of Jewish Age Indicated.- The “ High Calling” Of The Gospel Church Shown.- The Course Of The Church’s Consecrations.- The End Of The High Calling Marked. Date Of The Second Advent Of Christ. - How Restitution Blessing For The World Are Indicated.- The Course Of The World During The Millennial Age.- Its End.- Contrast Of The Two Conditions, Human And Spiritual, As Indicated In The Pyramid.- The Pyramid Refutes Atheism, Infidelity And All Evolution Theories, And Verifies Both The Plan Of The Bible And Its Appointed Times And Seasons.
“In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.” –Isa. 19: 19, 20.
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Viewed from whatever standpoint, it acquires new interest to every Christian advanced in the study of God’s Word; for it seems in a remarkable manner to teach, in harmony with all the prophets, an outline of the plan of God, past , present and future.
The Great Pyramid, however, proves to be a storehouse of important truth- scientific, historic, and prophetic- and its testimony is found to be in perfect accord with the Bible, expressing the prominent features of its truths in beautiful and fitting symbols.
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But it is a strong corroborative witness to God’s plan; and few students can carefully examine it, marking the harmony of its testimony with that of the written Word, without feeling impressed that its construction was planned and directed by the same divine wisdom, and that it is the pillar of witness referred to by the prophet in the above quotation. And yet, since it was evidently a part of God’s purpose to keep secret, until the Time of the End, features of the plan of which it gives testimony, we should expect that any reverence to it in the Scriptures would be, as it is, somewhat under cover- to be recognized only when due to be understood.
Isaiah, as above quoted, testifies of an altar and pillar in the land of Egypt, which” shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt.” And the context shows that it shall be a witness in the day when the great Savior and Deliverer shall come to break the chains of oppression and to set at liberty Sin’s captives- of which things our Lord preached at his first advent. {Luke 4:18} The scope of this prophecy is but dimly seen, however, until Egypt is recognized as a symbol or type of the world of mankind , full of vain philosophies, which only darken their understandings, but ignorant of the true light.
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The Son of God was in the world for a time
for the sake of those he came to redeem and deliver but he was called out
of it –
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Then Jehovah will show himself a great Savior: and he has already prepared the Great Pyramid as a part of his instrumentality for convincing the world of his wisdom, foreknowledge and grace.
While the additional, corroborative evidence
given by the Great Pyramid to the written Word of God will be a fresh cause
of rejoicing to the saints, it is manifest that its witnessing is chiefly
intended for the world of mankind during the Millennial age. The testimony
of this peculiar and remarkable witness will give to mankind fresh ground
for faith and love and zeal, when in due time their hearts are prepared for
the truth. It is remarkable, too, that {like the Plan of the Ages in the written
Word} this stone “Witness” kept silence until now, when its testimony shall
shortly be delivered to {
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Jeremiah {32:20} when speaking of God’s mighty
works, declares that he hath “set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day.” God
showed signs and wonders in
The Lord’s questions and statements to Job {38:3-7}, concerning the earth, find a remarkable illustration in the Great Pyramid , which is believed , in itself and by its measurements, to represent the earth and God’s plan with reference to it. The illustration used is that of a building, and we believe that it fits only to a structure of pyramid shape. The language, while it applies primarily to the earth, is framed to fit the illustration given in the Great Pyramid. First, the preparation of the foundations, the rock on which the Great Pyramid is built, is noted. Second, the arrangement of its measures, a feature very prominently shown in the Great Pyramid, which abounds in significant measurements. “Who hath stretched the line upon it?” The perfection of the shape of the Great Pyramid, and its exactness in every respect, prove that its construction was guided by some master architect. “Whereupon are the sockets there of made to sink?” The Great Pyramid has four corner socket-stone sunk into the solid rock. “Or who laid the corner-stone thereof?” A pyramid has four corner-stones, but the reference here is to one particular cornier-stone—the top stone.
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This ancient structure being thus repeatedly referred to in the Scriptures, we cannot doubt that, if questioned, this “Witness” of the Lord in the land of Egypt will bear such testimony as will honor Jehovah, and fully correspond with his written Word.
It was not until we had come into the time called in Daniel’s prophecy “the Time of the End,” when knowledge should be increased, and the wise should understand God’s plan {Dan. 12:4,9,10} that the secrets of the Great Pyramid began to be understood, and our questions began to have a reasonable answer.
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A few years after Prof. Smyth’s return, came the suggestion that the Great Pyramid is Jehovah’s “Witness,” and that it is as important a witness to divine truth as to natural science. This was a new thought to Prof. Smyth, as well as to others. The suggestion came from a young Scotsman, Robert Menzies, who, when studying the scientific teaching of the Great Pyramid, discovered that prophetic and chronological teachings co-exist in it.
And, further, we see that this store-house of knowledge, like the major part of the Bible store, was kept purposely sealed until its testimony should be needed and appreciated.
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Prof. Smyth has concluded that the Great Pyramid was builded in the year 2170 B.C., reaching this conclusion, first, from astronomical observations. Perceiving that the upward passage angles correspond to a telescope, and that the “Entrance Passage” corresponds to an astronomer’s “pointer,” he set about to investigate to what particular star it could have pointed at any time in the past. Calculations showed that a Draconis, the dragon star, had occupied a position in the heavens which looked directly down the entrance, at midnight of the autumnal equinox, B.C. 2170. Then, considering himself as an astronomer at that date with his pointer fixed upon a Draconis, and considering the ascending passages as though they were a telescope, which they much resemble, he calculated what constellation or what notable star would have been before his telescope thus fixed at the particular date indicated by his pointer, and found that it must have been the Pleiades. So wonderful a coincidence convinced him that the date of the Great Pyramid’s building was thus indicated; for a Draconis is no less a symbol of sin and Satan than Pleiades is a symbol of God and the center of the universe. The Great Pyramid thus indicates that its Architect knew of the prevalence of evil and of its domination over the downward course of mankind, and indicates also what lies beyond all human sight- that the only hope for the race is Jehovah.
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A realization of the fact that the Great Pyramid exhibits a wisdom of design which the Egyptians could not have possessed—a divine wisdom which must have been worked out under the supervision of some inspired servant of God---has led to the conjecture that Melchizedek was its builder. He was “king of Salem {that is, king of peace} and priests of the Most High God,” and as a person and type occupied so high a position as to be a blesser of Abraham, who also paid him tithes. Of this we can know little, except that Melchizedek was a great and peaceful king, and that he lived about that time, and not far distant from the site of the Great Pyramid.
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Its Peculiar Location.
The Great Pyramid is situated on an elevated rocky plain,
overlooking the river Nile, not far from the city of Cairo, in
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of
ITS SCIENTIFIC LESSONS
The Great Pyramid speaks to us, not by hieroglyphics, nor by sketches, but only by its location, its construction and its measurements. The only original marks or figures found were in the “Construction Chambers” over the “King’s Chamber”; there are none whatever in the passages and rooms of the Pyramid proper… Suffice it, therefore, that we merely suggest the manner in which it teaches the scientist. For instance: The measure of the base of the four sides, at the level of the “sockets,” added, is found to be as many pyramid cubits as there are days in four years, to the fraction—including the leap year fraction. The measures diagonally across the base from northeast to southwest, and from northwest to southeast, added, give as many inches as there are years in the precessional cycle. This cycle astronomers had already concluded to be 25,827 years, and the Great Pyramid corroborates their conclusion. The distance to the sun it is claimed is indicated, by the height and angle of the Great Pyramid, to be 91,840,270 miles, which almost exactly corresponds with the latest figures reached by astronomers. Astronomers until recently had calculated
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this distance to be from ninety to ninety-six millions of miles, their latest calculation and conclusion being ninety-two millions. The Great Pyramid has also its own way of indicating the most correct standard of all weights and measures, based upon the size and weight of the earth, which it is also claimed to indicate… Commenting upon the scientific testimony and the location of this majestic “Witness,” Rev. Joseph Seiss, D.D. suggests:
“There is a yet grander thought embodied in this wonderful structure. Of its five points there is one of special pre-eminence, in which all its sides and exterior lines terminate. It is the summit corner, which lifts its solemn index finger to that sun at midday, and by its distance from the base tells the mean distance to that sun from the earth. And if we go back to the date which the Pyramid gives itself and look for what that finger pointed to at midnight, we find a far sublimer indication. Science has at last discovered that the sun is not a dead center, with planets wheeling about it, and itself stationary. It is now ascertained that the sun also is in motion, carrying with it its splendid retinue of comets, planets, its satellites and theirs, around some other and vastly mightier center. Astronomers are not yet fully agreed as to what or where that center is. Some, however, believe that they have found the direction of it to be the Pleiades, and particularly Alcyone, the central one of the renowned Pleiadic stars. To the distinguished German astronomer, Prof. J. H. Maedler, belongs the honor of having made this discovery. Alcyone, then, as far as science has been able to perceive, would seem to be ‘the midnight throne’ in which the whole system of gravitation has its central seat, and from which the Almighty governs his universe. And here is the wonderful corresponding fact, that at the date of the Great Pyramid’s building, at midnight of the autumnal equinox, and hence the true beginning of the year* as still preserved in the traditions of many nations, the Pleiades were distributed
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over the meridian of this Pyramid, with Alcyone (A Tauri) precisely on the line. Here, then, is a pointing of the highest and sublimest character that mere human science has ever been able so much as to hint, and which would seem to breathe an unsuspected and mighty meaning into that speech of God to Job, when he demanded, ‘Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?’“
ITS TESTIMONY RELATING TO THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION
While every feature of the Great Pyramid’s teaching is important and of interest, our greatest interest centers in its silent but eloquent symbolism of the plan of God—the Plan of the Ages… In this aspect of its teaching, the Great Pyramid, viewed from without, has a beautiful significance, representing the plan of God completed, as it shall be at the end of the Millennial age. The crowning feature will be Christ, the acknowledged Head over all; and each other stone will be fitly framed into the glorious building, complete and perfect. All this chiseling, polishing and fitting process will then be completed, and all will be bound and cemented together, to each other and to the Head, with love. If the Great Pyramid, as a whole, represents the plan of God complete, its top corner-stone should represent Christ, whom God hath highly exalted to be Head over all. And that it does represent Christ is indicated, not only by its exact fitness as a symbol of Christ,* but also by numerous references to the symbol by
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prophets and apostles and by our Lord Jesus himself.
Isaiah (28:16) refers to Christ as the “precious corner-stone.” Zechariah
(4:7) refers to its placement at the top of the completed edifice, with great
rejoicing, saying, “He shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings,
crying, ‘Grace, grace unto it.’“ Doubtless when the head-stone of the Great
Pyramid was laid there was great rejoicing among the builders and all interested
in it, to see this crowning feature of the finished work. Job also (38:6,7)
speaks of the rejoicing when the chief corner-stone was laid, and he specifies
the head, or crowning corner-stone, by mentioning the other four corner-stones
first, saying, “Whereupon are the socket-stones made to sink? or who laid
the corner-stone thereof, when the morning stars sang together and all the
sons of God shouted for joy?” (See margin.) The Prophet David, too, refers
to our Lord, and uses a figure of speech exactly corresponding to that of
this stone “Witness” of
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The pyramid figure represents perfection and completeness, and speaks to us in symbol of the plan of God, showing that “in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he will gather together [into one harmonious family, though on different planes of being], under one Head, all things in heaven and on earth, under Christ”—all not being conformable being cut off. Eph. 1:10; 2:20- 22—Diaglott
HOW THE INTERNAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID OUTLINES THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION
But while the outward testimony of this great structure is thus complete, and in accord with God’s written revelation, its inner construction is even more wonderful. While its outward form illustrates the completed results of God’s Plan of Redemption,* the inner construction marks and illustrates every prominent feature of that plan as it has developed from age to age, down to its glorious and complete consummation. Here the stones upon the various levels or planes represent the perfection of all who, under Christ Jesus our Head, shall become conformed to God’s perfect will,
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as we have already seen from Scripture testimony. Some
will be perfected on the human plane and some on the spiritual and divine
planes or natures. Thus the floor of the “King’s Chamber” is described as
being on the fiftieth course of masonry, that of the “Queen’s Chamber” on
the twenty-fifth course, and the lower end of the “First Ascending Passage,”
if extended by the “Plug,” as will presently be shown, would reach down to
the basal line of the Pyramid. Thus from its base-line upward the Great Pyramid
seems to stand as an emblem of God’s plan of salvation, or lifting up out
of sin and death, provided for all mankind. The base-line thus corresponds
with the date of the confirmation of God’s promise to typical
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Gallery,” the ceiling of which is at seven times the
height of the passages leading to it. The low “Ascending Passage” is supposed
to represent the Law dispensation, and
On a level with the floor of the “Grand Gallery” at its lower end, there starts a “Horizontal Passage” under it, which leads to a little room commonly termed the “Queen’s Chamber.” At the upper end of the “Grand Gallery” is another low passageway, leading into a little room called the “Ante-Chamber” which is of very peculiar construction, and which to some has suggested the idea of a school—a place for instruction and testing.
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It has been speculated by some that there are yet other rooms and passages for future discovery; but we do not share this opinion; to us it seems that the passages and rooms already discovered fully serve the divinely intended purpose in witnessing to the entire plan of God.
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THE GREAT PYRAMID’S TESTIMONY CONCERNING
THE PLAN OF THE AGES
In a letter to Prof. Smyth, Mr. Robert Menzies, the young Scotsman who first suggested the religious or Messianic feature of the Great Pyramid’s teaching, said: “From the north beginning of the Grand Gallery, in upward progression, begin the years of our Savior’s life, expressed at the rate of an inch to a year. Three and thirty inch-years, therefore, bring us right over against the mouth of the Well.” Yes, that “Well” is the key, so to speak, to the whole story. It represents not only our Lord’s death and burial, but also his resurrection. This last is shown by the feature already noted, that the mouth of the “Well” and its surroundings look as though an explosion had burst it open from beneath. Thus our Lord burst the bonds of death, thereby bringing life and immortality to light-- opening up a new way to life. (Heb. 10:20) It was not possible for him to be holden of death (Acts 2:24), is the seeming language of the torn rocks surrounding the upper opening of this “Well.” As the “Well” was the only way of access to each of these upward passages of the Great Pyramid, so by the death and resurrection of our Redeemer is the only avenue to life on any plane for the fallen race. As the “First Ascending Passage” was there, but impassable, so the Jewish or Law Covenant stood as a way to or offer of life, but a useless or impassable way to life: none of the fallen race ever could or ever did reach life by walking its prescribed course. “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified” to life. (Rom. 3:20) That, which the “Well” symbolizes
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viz., the ransom, is the only way by which any member of the condemned race can reach the grand provision of the divine plan—lasting life. Years before this suggestion, that the “Grand Gallery” represents the Christian dispensation, Prof. Smyth had, by astronomical observation, fixed the date of the building of the Pyramid at B.C. 2170; and when Mr. Menzies suggested that the floor-line inches of the “Grand Gallery” represent years, it occurred to some one that, if that theory were true, the measuring of the floor-line backward from the lower edge of the “Grand Gallery,” down the “First Ascending Passage” to its junction with the “Entrance Passage” and thence upward along the “Entrance Passage” toward the Pyramid’s entrance, should discover some mark or indication in the passageway to correspond, and thus prove the date of the Pyramid’s construction, and the correctness of the inch-year theory. This, though not unreasonable, was a crucial test, and the service of a civil engineer was obtained to visit the Great Pyramid again and make very accurate measurements of passages, chambers, etc. This was in 1872; and the report of this gentleman was confirmatory to the last degree. His measurements show the floor-line just described to be 2170 1/2 inches to a very finely ruled line in the walls of the “Entrance Passage.” Thus the date of its construction is doubly attested, while the floor-lines of its passages are shown to be scrolls of history and chronology, which shall yet be generally heard as “a witness unto the Lord in the land of Egypt.”…. When we first came to appreciate what we have already mentioned of the testimony of the Great Pyramid, we said.
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at once, If this, indeed, prove to be a Bible in stone; if it be a record of the secret plans of the Great Architect of the universe, displaying his foreknowledge and wisdom; it should and will be in full accord with his written Word. The fact that the Pyramid’s secrets were kept until the close of six thousand years of the world’s history, but that it now begins to give its testimony as the Millennial Dawn draws on, is in perfect harmony with the written Word, whose abundant testimony relative to the glorious plan of God has likewise been kept secret from the foundation of the world, and only now is beginning to shine forth in its completeness and glory… The Scriptural time-proofs which we have considered show that this trouble was due to date from the time of Christ’s Second Advent (October, 1874), when the judging of the nations would commence, under the enlightening influences of the Day of the Lord. This is shown in the Great Pyramid thus: The “Descending Passage,” from the entrance of the Great Pyramid, leading to the “Pit” or “Subterranean Chamber,” represents the course of the world in general (under the prince of this world), into the great time of trouble (the “Pit”), in which evil shall be brought to an
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end. The measuring of this period and determining when the pit of trouble shall be reached are easy enough if we have a definite date—a point in the Pyramid from which to start. We have this date-mark in the junction of the “First Ascending Passage” with the “Grand Gallery.” That point marks the birth of our Lord Jesus, as the “Well,” 33 inches farther on, indicates his death. So, then, if we measure backward down the “First Ascending Passage” to its junction with the” Entrance Passage,” we shall have a fixed date to mark upon the downward passage. This measure is 1542 inches, and indicates the year B.C. 1542, as the date at that point. Then measuring down the “Entrance Passage” from that point, to find the distance to the entrance of the “Pit,” representing the great trouble and destruction with which this age is to close, when evil will be overthrown from power, we find it to be 3457 inches, symbolizing 3457 years from the above date, B.C. 1542. This calculation shows A.D. 1915 as marking the beginning of the period of trouble; for 1542 years B.C. plus 1915 years A.D. equals 3457 years. Thus the Pyramid witnesses that the close of 1914 will be the beginning of the time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation—no, nor ever shall be afterward. And thus it will be noted that this “Witness” fully corroborates the Bible testimony on this subject, as shown by the “Parallel Dispensations” in Scripture Studies, Vol. II, Chap. VII. Nor should any doubt the fact that the forty years of “harvest” began in the fall of 1874 because the trouble has not yet reached so portentous and unendurable a stage; and because, in some respects, the “harvest” period since that date has been one of great advancement in knowledge. Remember, too, that the Great Pyramid figures and illustrations including the diagram of the “Pit” were drafted by Prof. Smyth without any reference to this application.
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The shape and finish of this lowest room or “Pit” are peculiarly significant. While the top and parts of the sides are regular, it has no floor—its rough, unfinished bottom dropping lower and lower to its eastern side, giving reason for the name, “Bottomless Pit,” sometimes applied to it. This room speaks of liberty and freedom as well as of trouble, of elevation as well as of degradation; for, as the traveler reaches it, cramped and weary from the crouched position enforced by the smallness of the “Entrance Passage,” he here finds not only a step downward into greater depths, and upon “a troublesome floor,” very uneven and broken, but he finds a great elevation also, part of this room being much more lofty than the passageway to it, which is suggestive of greatly enlarged room for his mental organism. How true this is to facts, too. Can we not already see that the spirit of liberty has reached the masses of civilized nations? We do not pause here to consider the consistencies and inconsistencies of the liberties being felt and claimed by the masses—both are suggested in this room by the elevation of the top and the depression of the bottom: we merely note the fact that the light of our day—the Day of the Lord—induces the spirit of liberty; and the spirit of liberty, coming in contact with the pride, wealth and power of those still in control, will be the cause of the trouble which the Scriptures assure us will eventually be very great. Though as yet it has scarcely begun, kings and emperors and statesmen and capitalists, and all men, see it coming, and” men’s hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after the things coming”; for the powers of the heavens are being shaken, and shall ultimately be removed. The evil systems—civil, social and religious—of “the present evil world” will there sink into oblivion, into destruction, which the subterranean chamber or “Pit” also symbolizes.
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For we regard the “Pit” as not only a symbol of the overwhelming trouble which will involve the present order of things in an overthrow and destruction (because of their inconsistency with the better order of things to be established under God’s Kingdom), but also as a symbol of the certain end of every being who continues to pursue the downward course, and who, under the full enlightenment of the Millennial age, will refuse to break off his sins and pursue righteousness.
Notice another item in this connection: The “Entrance Passage” has a regular slope downward until it nears the “Pit,” when it ceases to slope and runs horizontally. Measuring backward from the entrance of the subterranean chamber or “Pit” to the juncture of the horizontal with the angling portion of the passage, we find the distance to be 324 inches; consequently, the beginning of the level portion of the passage marks a date 324 years before 1915, viz., the year 1590. This would seem to say that at that date (A.D. 1591) something transpired which had a great influence upon the course of civilization, and which in some measure arrested its downward tendency. What transpired at that time? What great movement, marked by that date, has had such an influence?
Unfortunately we find no exact measurements of this portion of this downward passage and we are convinced that Prof. Smyth’s diagrams are not sufficiently accurate to justify confidence in “paper measurements” based upon them. An unconfirmed measurement is 324 Py. inches, which measured backward, would indicate about the year A.D. 1590, or “Shakespeare’s day.” However, we attach no weight to this suggestion.
One thing is certain—that low downward passage represents the course of the world, as the upward passages represent the course for the “called” Church. The change from a downward to a horizontal path would therefore seem to imply moral or political enlightenment, or favorable restraint from the downward course.
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But while the above measurements were giving their harmonious testimonies, another measurement seemed quite out of harmony with the Bible account; viz., that of the “First Ascending Passage,” which presumably represented the period from the time of Israel’s exodus from Egypt to the birth of our Lord Jesus.* The Bible account of the time, as already given, + we could not doubt, having demonstrated
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its correctness in so many ways. It showed the time from
the exodus from
Master-Builder had placed it there to stay, that we might hear its testimony today corroborating the Bible, as to both its plan and its chronology.
In measuring this passage with its “Plug,” we should consider it as though it were a telescope, with the “Plug” drawn out until the upper end reaches the place originally marked by the lower end of it. The distance downward from the north entrance of the “Grand Gallery” to the lower end of the granite “Plug” is 1470 inches, to which if we add the length of the “Plug,” 179 inches, we have a total of 1649 inches, representing 1649 years; and the one inch-year of difference between this and the 1650 years shown by the Bible chronology of that period is easily accounted for when we remember that one end of this granite “Plug” had been considerably chipped by those who endeavored
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to force it from its fixed position in the passageway. Thus, exactly, does the stone “Witness” corroborate the testimony of the Bible, and show that the period from the exodus of Israel from Egypt until the full end of their national favor,* A.D. 36, was 1650 years. But let none confound this period with the period shown in the Parallels of the Jewish and Christian dispensations— showing the two ages to be each 1845 years in length, the one from the death of Jacob to A.D. 33, and the other from A.D. 33 to A.D. 1878. And not only was this an ingenious way of hiding and yet furnishing the length of the period from the exodus to the birth of our Lord (to be, in due time, a corroboration of the Bible testimony), but the careful reader will readily see that it could have been done only in some such way, for two reasons: First, because the Jewish dispensation and favor not only began at the death of Jacob, before the exodus from Egypt, but also ran into and parallel to the Christian dispensation for the thirty-three years of our Lord Jesus’ earthly life; and, second, because to have made the “First Ascending Passage” long enough to represent fully the Jewish age in year-inches would have necessitated the making of the Pyramid still larger, which in turn would have destroyed its scientific features and lessons. Let us now examine the “Grand Gallery,” at the end of the “First Ascending Passage,” noting also its symbolic testimony. It is seven times as high as the “First Ascending Passage.” It has seven courses of overlapping stones in its walls, of smooth, highly polished and once beautiful, cream-colored limestone. It is twenty-eight feet high, though very narrow, being only six feet broad anywhere, but contracted to three feet at the floor and less at the roof.
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What a wonderful illustration is given in this “Grand Gallery” of the course of the true Christian Church and of the path of the little flock of over comers during the long
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period of the Gospel age. Its once beautiful, cream-white walls and ceiling, formed of regular overlapping stones, all sloping upward, give not the history of the nominal Church, as some have supposed—else they would be far from regular and upward—but they tell of God’s great favor bestowed during the Gospel age, the “high calling” to certain liberties and privileges, offered conditionally to all the justified during the Gospel age, opened up by the Well—the ransom.
The lofty height of this “Grand Gallery”—seven times the height of the passage representing the Jewish dispensation (seven being a symbol of completeness or fulness)—represents that fullness of blessing contained in the Abrahamic promise, which is actually set before the Gospel Church. The “King’s Chamber,” at the end of the “Grand Gallery,” represents the end of the race to which the present high calling leads all the faithful; and this “King’s Chamber,” as we shall shortly see, is a most apt symbol of the ultimate destiny of the Church. By the “Well” (which represents the ransom), at the very entrance of this Gallery, and which all must recognize who enter upon this way, our justification is beautifully symbolized. Thus the Great Pyramid tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”
The apparently interminable length of the “Grand Gallery” shows how long the Gospel age has appeared to individual members of the Church, while its narrowness well represents the “narrow way to life”; and its steepness, the difficulty with which the way is pursued, and the continual danger of backsliding to those who fail to watch vigilantly their steps. Yet, within the confines of these walls of divine favor is the safety and security of all those who continue in well-doing, who continue to grow in grace, to ascend the difficult way, to “walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.”
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Looking upward along the “Grand Gallery,” we see that it has an end as well as a beginning. Thus we are told that the exceeding great and precious privileges extended during this Gospel age will some time cease—the wonderful high calling to joint-heir ship with Christ, as his “bride,” will terminate when a sufficient number to complete the “little flock” shall have accepted the call. That which this stone “Witness” thus points out in illustration, the written Word makes very plain, showing, as we have seen, that the privilege of running for the great prize of the “high calling” belongs exclusively to the Gospel age. It was never granted to any before—our Captain, Jesus, being the first to whom it was offered, the first to accept its conditions of sacrifice and the first to enter into its rewards. The south end of the “Grand Gallery” as positively marks the end or limit of the call to the divine nature as the north end of it marks the beginning of the offer of that great favor.
But since the “Grand Gallery” represents our “high calling” of God, let us look beyond and note what this call leads to in the case of each individual. We have already seen in the Scriptures that we are called to suffer with Christ, to become dead with him, and afterward to enter into his glory. And all this we find strikingly symbolized in the peculiar manner by which entrance is gained to the “King’s Chamber,” at the end of the “Grand Gallery.” The way by which those who accept the “high calling” may enter the heavenly glory, represented by the “King’s Chamber,” is not direct. They must first be tested in all points and be found obedient to the will of God, else they cannot enter into the rest that remaineth. This, the Scriptural teaching, and experience of all running for the great prize, is thus forcibly illustrated by the Great Pyramid. As the call leads to consecration and lessons of sacrifice, so the “Grand Gallery” leads to certain low passages which
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symbolize these. Having arrived at its upper end, the traveler must stoop very low at the doorway or passage which leads into the “Ante-Chamber.” This stoop symbolizes the consecration or death of the human will, the beginning of the self-sacrifice, whereunto all are called who would attain to the divine nature. How much this self-sacrifice means is known only to those who have accepted the call, and who have actually surrendered the human will.
This low passage, representing consecration, being passed, we are in what is known as the “Ante-Chamber.” Here the floor ceases to be limestone: from this point onward the tread is to be on solid granite, which may be interpreted as a new standing, or a standing as “new creatures.” But when placing foot upon the granite floor, to enter upon the new standing as new creatures, a huge obstruction of granite is noticed: it is known as the “Granite Leaf.” This, like a drop-door, partly closes the way, leaving only a low passage like the one just passed, forty-four inches high, so that we must stoop again before we can enjoy fully the privileges represented in the “Ante-Chamber.” This “Granite Leaf” represents the divine will, and seems to say to one who has just passed the low passage representing the surrender of his own will, “It is not enough that you should sacrifice your will, plans and arrangements; you might do all that, and then take up the will and plan of another; you must not only sacrifice your own will, but you must bow to the divine will, and accept it instead of your own, and become active in God’s service, before you can be counted a new creature and an heir of the divine nature.”
The “Granite Leaf” passed; we stand unhampered upon the granite floor in the “Ante-Chamber.” (See illustration.) This is a peculiar room: its walls are different from each other; it seems to have a kind of wainscoating on parts; and in some of its walls grooves are cut. It certainly seems
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to be full of lessons not yet fully deciphered. However, the suggestion of those who have visited it, that it resembles a schoolroom, seems in perfect harmony with what we should expect as representing the experiences of those sanctified ones begotten of the Truth. This “Ante-Chamber” symbolizes the school of Christ, and the discipline—the trials of faith, patience, endurance, etc.—to which all are subjected who have made a full consecration of themselves to the will of God; which affords them opportunities for overcoming, and for proving their worthiness of a place, as over comers, with Christ in his coming reign of glory. If we be without such lessons and trials, we are not sons and heirs on this divine plane. (Heb. 12:8) It is in the present life, after our consecration to his service, that God schools and disciplines us, and thereby not only tests our fidelity to him, according to our covenant, but also prepares us to sympathize with others in trial and trouble, over whom he wills shortly to make us rulers and judges. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3.
And not only the death of the will, but also actual death, must be passed before we enter fully and actually the conditions of our “new,” “divine nature.” And this, too, is shown by the stone “Witness”; for at the farther end of the “Ante-Chamber” is a very low passage through which entrance to the “King’s Chamber” is gained. Thus the “King’s Chamber,” the grandest and highest room of the Pyramid, becomes the symbol of the perfection of the divine nature to be gained by the “little flock,” the few overcomers chosen out of the “many called” (whose calling is symbolized by the “Grand Gallery”), who pass through self-sacrifice and trial (symbolized by the “Ante-Chamber,” and the low passages into and from it).
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Hence it is that the “Grand Gallery” is shown as commencing at our Lord’s birth. It does not, therefore, symbolize the Gospel age, for that did not commence until Jesus had made an end of the Law age by his sacrifice on the cross, thirty-three years after his birth; but it does symbolize the high or heavenly calling (through sacrifice) to the divine nature—the “King’s Chamber.” Our Lord Jesus was thus called from the moment of his birth; and, since Pentecost, all justified believers are called to the same high privilege, however few accept the call to sacrifice, and however few make their calling and election sure by hearty compliance with the conditions—walking in the Master’s footsteps. And the length of time during which this “high calling” to the divine nature lasts, and when it ceases, is what is indicated by this “Grand Gallery’s” length and termination, as already shown. The “King’s Chamber,” which can be reached only by way of the “Grand Gallery” and the “Ante-Chamber,” is in every way the highest and noblest apartment in the Great Pyramid, and fitly symbolizes the divine nature.
Mr. Henry F. Gordon, describing it, says: In the Great Pyramid granite is used to symbolize divine things or the divine nature, just as gold symbolized it in Israel’s typical Tabernacle and Temple: the low passages leading into the “Ante-Chamber” and into the “King’s Chamber” correspond to the veils before the Holy and the Most Holy; and the granite coffer, the only furniture in the “King’s Chamber,” corresponds to the Ark of the Covenant, which was the only furniture in the Most Holy of the Tabernacle and the Temple. What in the one was gold, in the other is granite, and of the same symbolic significance.
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Nor is this all: we find that the same great truths which were symbolically represented in the two apartments of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the Holy and the Most Holy, and their separating veils, are exactly matched in the Great Pyramid by the teachings of the two apartments, the “Ante-Chamber” and the “King’s Chamber,” and their low separating passages. The “Ante-Chamber,” like the Holy of the Tabernacle, represents that condition of relationship to God, as a reckoned new creature, and joint-heir with Christ of the divine nature and glory, which the believer enters when, after accepting forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God through the ransom, he presents his justified self a living sacrifice to God’s service. As the first veil of the Tabernacle represented the consecration or resignation or death of our own will, and the full submission to God’s will, so the low entrance to the “Ante-Chamber” symbolizes this same great event, which begins the newness of life in all who will ever be members of the royal priesthood.
This test, representing the laying of our all upon the altar, having been passed, the believer is no longer reckoned as a human being, but as a “new creature,” a “partaker of the divine nature.” Though, as a matter of fact, he will not be made an actual sharer of the divine nature until he shall have faithfully learned the lesson of obedience to the divine will, in the actual experiences and daily sacrifices and schoolings of the present life (represented in the “Ante-Chamber” walls, of peculiar construction, and in the Table of Shew-bread, the Golden Candlestick and the Incense Altar in the Holy of the Tabernacle); and not until he shall have passed through death itself (represented by the second veil of the Tabernacle and by the second low passage leading into the “King’s Chamber” of the Pyramid); and until, by a share in the First Resurrection, he shall have entered with Christ into the fulness of the promised divine nature and glory—his everlasting portion, symbolized in the “King’s Chamber.”
Thus the Great Pyramid witnesses, not only the downward course of man in sin, but also the various steps in the divine plan by which preparation is made for his full recovery from the fall, through the way of life, opened up by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
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It will be noticed from the illustration that the granite floor does not reach quite to the front of the “Ante-Chamber,” while the granite of the ceiling reaches the full length of the room. This seems to teach a lesson in harmony with what we have already seen to be a feature of the divine plan, as it relates to those called-out ones who are seeking to enter upon the divine nature. The first low passage symbolizes the consecration of the believer’s human will, which really gives him entrance into the “Holy” or sanctified condition as a prospective heir of glory and immortality, represented in the “Ante-Chamber,” whose granite ceiling now covers him; yet such a one is not to be considered as having entered fully into the new nature until “quickened” into activity and newness of life; and this test is represented by the “Granite Leaf,” which, from its peculiar position, hanging, as though ready to drop and thus block all further progress, seems to say,
“Pilgrim, even though you have come thus far and have consecrated yourself to God, unless you become quickened by the spirit of the truth to activity in his service, you will still have no real standing in the divine nature to which you have been called or invited.” The three steps by which the called ones of the Gospel age are to enter the glory of their Lord are thus marked in the Great Pyramid as well as in the Scriptures. They are (1) Consecration, or begetting of the spirit through the Word of truth, symbolized by the low passage into the “Ante-Chamber”; (2) Quickening to active service and sacrifice through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, symbolized by the low passage under the “Granite Leaf”; (3) Birth of the spirit into the perfect likeness of our Lord by a share in the First Resurrection, symbolized by the low passageway into the “King’s Chamber.”
THE NATURAL AND SPIRITUAL NATURES SHOWN.
By reference to the illustration, page 333, it will be noticed that an imaginary line drawn through the vertical axis of the Great Pyramid would leave the “Queen’s Chamber” and its “Horizontal Passage,” the “Entrance Passage,” the “First Ascending Passage” and the “Grand Gallery,” all on the north side of that line or axis, and only the “Ante-Chamber” and the “King’s Chamber” on the south side
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of it. By this arrangement the designer of the Great Pyramid (Jehovah) points out to us the distinction of natures, as noted in Vol. I, Chap. x.
The “Queen’s Chamber,” representing the perfection of humanity after the Millennial age shall have restored all the obedient and worthy ones to the moral likeness of the Creator, teaches, by the fact that its back or farthest wall is on a line with the Pyramid’s axis, that, thus restored to God’s image and likeness, though still human, mankind will be close to the divine nature—as close as one nature could be to another nature of which it is a likeness. And all the upward passages leading in the direction of that axis teach that the desires and efforts of God’s people are all to be toward human perfection, while those of the called-out Church of the Gospel age are to go beyond human perfection. They, as joint-heirs with Christ, are to enter into the fulness of the divine nature.
The fact that the “Subterranean Chamber” or “Pit,” representing trouble and death, does not lie wholly on the same side of the vertical axis as the “Queen’s Chamber” and its passage does not militate against this interpretation; for, strictly speaking, it is no part of the Pyramid structure at all. It lies under the Pyramid, far below its basal line. But it may have another lesson to impart. A vertical line from its farthest wall would pass exactly along the farthest wall of the “Ante-Chamber”; and the lesson drawn might be, in harmony with the Scriptural warning, that it is possible for some who have entered the “Holy” or sanctified condition (who have been begotten by the word of truth, and who have even been quickened by it) to commit the sin that is unto death—the second death.
So, then, the relation of the location of the “Pit” to the axis, if it have any significance in connection with the arrangement of the Pyramid above it, would seem to indicate that the second death—endless, hopeless destruction—will be the penalty, not only of the wilful sinfulness of men who, during the Millennial age of blessed opportunity, will refuse to go on to human perfection, but also of any of those sanctified during the Gospel age, who wilfully reject Christ’s proffered and previously accepted robe of imputed righteousness.
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Another item worthy of note in connection with the vertical axis of the Great Pyramid’s structure above its basal line is this: our Lord’s first advent and his death, marked by the “Well’s” mouth, are on that side of the Pyramid’s axis which represents the human nature; and its location on the same level as the passage leading to the “Queen’s Chamber,” which symbolizes human perfection, is also noteworthy. The Great Pyramid thus seems to say: “He was made flesh”—the man Christ Jesus gave himself “a ransom for all”; yet he knew no sin, was holy, harmless, separate from sinners, and had no part whatever in the downward, sinful course of Adam’s race (symbolized in the passage to the “Pit”). Moreover, the location of the “Grotto” and the fact that it was natural and not hewn are significant. It evidently symbolizes the death of our Lord Jesus. The fact that it was natural teaches that the Lord’s sacrifice of himself was not an expediency, but a foreordained, prearranged matter in Jehovah’s plan, before the outworking of the plan symbolized by the Pyramid began. The fact that it is located above and not below the basal line of the Pyramid seems to teach another lesson in harmony with the Scriptures—that though our Lord died as a ransom for sinners, he did not descend into sin and degradation, but even in his death was within the limits and bounds of the divine plan, as symbolized in the Pyramid structure above the basal line.
This will be another “crucial test,” not however a test of God’s Word and its wonderful testimony, which is paramount to all others, but a test of this stone “Witness.” Will it further prove its divine architecture by confirming the Scripture testimony? or will it show more or less of a discrepancy? Should it corroborate the Bible account particularly and minutely, it would indeed well merit the name given it by Dr. Seiss—”A Miracle in Stone.”
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Well, we can say nothing less of it; for its testimony agrees fully and in every detail with the entire plan of God as we have learned that plan from the Scriptures. Its wonderful correspondences with the Bible leave no room for doubt that the same divine inspirer of the prophets and apostles inspired this “Witness” also. Let us examine some of these harmonies particularly. Call to mind that the Scriptures showed us that the full end of Gentile power in the world, and of the time of trouble which brings its overthrow, will follow the end of A.D. 1914, and that some time before that date the last members of the Church of Christ will have been “changed,” glorified. Remember, too, that the Scriptures proved to us in various ways—by the Jubilee Cycles, the 1335 days of Daniel, the Parallel Dispensations, etc.—that the “harvest” or end of this age was due to begin in October, 1874, and that the Great Reaper was then due to be present; that seven years later—in October, 1881—the “high calling” ceased, though some will be admitted to the same favors afterward, without a general call being made, to fill the places of some of the called ones who, on being tested, will be found unworthy. Then look at the manner in which the stone “Witness” testifies to those same dates and illustrates the very same lessons. Thus:
The floor-line of the “Grand Gallery,” from the north to the south wall, has been twice very carefully measured in recent years, and three distinct sets of measures have been obtained. One measure (a) is from the wall at the north end, measured to the “Step” and then—omitting its riser or front—along its upper surface, the walking surface of the “Grand Gallery’s” floor; another measure (b) shows the length measured through the “Step,” as though the “Step” were not there; another measure (c) gives the entire surface of the floor and up the front or riser of the “Step” and along its top surface. Prof. Smyth found the first of these measures (a) to be 1874 Pyramid inches, the second (b), 1881 Pyramid inches, and the third (c), 1910 Pyramid inches; while Mr. Flinders Petrie reports these measures eight-tenths of an inch longer. A reasonable estimate, therefore, and undoubtedly very nearly a correct one, would be to call these figures (a) 1875, (b)
1882 and (c) 1911 Pyramid inches.
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Now we inquire, If the inches of the floor-lines of these passages represent a year, each, as claimed and admitted by Pyramid students, what date would these measures of the “Grand Gallery” indicate as the end of the high calling to the divine nature, which the “Grand Gallery” symbolizes? We answer, that in applying these inch-years to our present reckoning of time, we must remember that our date A.D. is one year and three months behind the actual date, as shown in Vol. II, pages 54-62. And while this would make no difference in calculating a period from a fixed date B.C., or from a fixed date A.D., it should be recognized in this case. Where the same event, the birth of Jesus, is the starting point, the error in our date A.D. must be allowed for, to reach correct results. For simplicity we will take our erroneous A.D. as the standard, and will scale down the Pyramid figures to correspond, by deducting one and one-fourth inches from them, so that they will correspond with our common reckoning. Thus reduced, they would show (a) 1875 less 1 1/4 equal 1873 3/4; (b) 1882 less 1 1/4 equal 1880 3/4; and (c) 1911 less 1 ¼ equal 1909 3/4, and give the dates (a) October, 1874, (b) October, 1881 and (c) October, 1910A.D.
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Is not this a most remarkable agreement between this stone “Witness” and the Bible? The dates, October, 1874, and October, 1881, are exact, while the date 1910, though not furnished in the Scriptures, seems more than a reasonable one for some important event in the Church’s experience and final testing, while A.D. 1914 is apparently well-defined as its close, after which the world’s greatest trouble is due, in which some of the “great multitude” may have a share.
Nor is this all of the wonderful symbolism of the Great Pyramid. Its marvelous harmony with the divine plan is still further shown in another remarkable feature. We should expect that the date of the two great events connected with the close of this age, viz., (1) our Lord’s second advent and (2) the beginning of the harvest, would in some manner be marked at the upper end of the “Grand Gallery,” even as his death and resurrection are marked
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by the “Well” at its lower end. And in this we are not disappointed. In the upper or south end of the east wall, at its top, high above the step, there is an opening connecting with the unfinished space above the “King’s Chamber,” as shown on the diagram. In the Pyramid’s symbolic language that opening says, “Here a heavenly One entered—One who needs no floors to walk upon, but who can come and go like the wind.” And Prof. Smyth’s careful measurements of this south wall of the “Grand Gallery” inform us that it is not exactly perpendicular, but leans over at the top seven inches.* The Pyramid thus says to us, “Seven years before the close of the high calling [before October, 1881] the great One from the heavens will enter.” And it further indicates that from that time—October, 1874—gradually, as indicated by the sloping of the south wall, the call would be drawn to a close and fully end in October, 1881. This, it will be noticed, is in exact accord with the Bible’s testimony as outlined in this and preceding volumes Millennial Dawn.
And let it be remembered, too, that we who understood the Scriptural presentation of these times and seasons had nothing to do with the taking of these measurements of the Great Pyramid; and that they who took the measurements knew nothing of our application of the prophecy at the time the measurements were taken, nor do they yet, so far as we know. We ask, therefore, Could such exactness in matters which concern six thousand years of history on the one hand, and thousands of inches of Pyramid measurements on the other, be a mere accidental coincidence? Nay; but verily truth is stranger and more wonderful than fiction. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
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Now if we adopt the clearly marked close of the special call and favor of the Gospel age, 1881, as the date at which the call to restitution blessings was due to have a beginning, and if we regard the lower terminus of the “Well” as marking that date (1881), we find something of interest by measuring back along that “Entrance Passage” to the original entrance of the Pyramid. This distance we find to be 3826 pyramid inches, thus representing 3826 years. And if our supposition be well founded, 3826 years before A.D. 1881 some notable event must have occurred. And as we search the historic records of God’s Word to see if any notable event occurred at that time, we find a remarkable confirmation of our supposition; for, just 3826 years before A.D. 1881, which would be B.C. 1945, Isaac, the typical seed of promise, became the heir of all his father Abraham’s wealth, and was thus in position to bless all his brethren—Ishmael, the son of Hagar
(type of fleshly
Thus the “Entrance Passage,” from the outside edge down to the nearest edge of the passage connecting with the “Well,” marks in year-inches the period of time from the day the typical Isaac (in whom typically centered the promise of blessing to the world) became heir of all, B.C. 1945, to A.D. 1881, when the blessing was actually due to the world through the antitypical Isaac—the Christ, the heir of all things. Gal. 3:16, 29.
We measure the time from the date of Isaac’s inheritance, and consequent privilege of blessing his brethren, to the year A.D. 1881, thus: Isaac came into possession of his inheritance at the death of his father Abraham, which occurred 100 years after the Abrahamic Covenant was made (for Abraham was 75 years old when the Covenant was made, and he died at the age of 175 years). Then from the Covenant to the death of Jacob, Isaac’s son, was 232 years;* and from the time that Isaac came into his inheritance—100 years after the Covenant was made—to the death of Jacob would be 132 years (232 years less 100 years). To this we add the 1813 years from the death of Jacob to our Anno Domini, and we have the date 1945 B.C., the date
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when the typical Isaac came into possession of all that Abraham had. (Gen. 25:5) And this 1945 years B.C. added to the 1881 years A.D. makes the 3826 years indicated in the Pyramid inches as the length of time that must elapse between the typical blessing of his brethren by the typical seed, Isaac, and the blessing of the whole world through the antitypical Isaac, the Christ. Does the question arise with any, what beginning of restitution work was marked by October, 1881? We answer: Nothing occurred which the world could discern. We still walk by faith and not by sight. All the preparatory steps toward the great restitution work since the date 1881 are to be reckoned as droppings of the great shower of blessing which shall ere long refresh the whole earth. That which occurred in 1881, like that which occurred in 1874, can be discerned only by the eye of faith in the light of God’s Word. It was the date of the close of the high calling, and hence the date for the beginning of restitution announcement—the Jubilee trumpet. About that date the author, and, so far as he knows, no one else, had noticed the distinction between the call to the divine nature, open during the Gospel age, and the opportunity for restitution of human perfection and all that was lost in Adam, due at the close of the Gospel high calling.*
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the world will be invited to come and receive life everlasting in the Millennial age.
As the upper apartment, known as the “King’s Chamber,” represents the divine nature, and the “Grand Gallery” represents the call to it, so the one under it (the “Queen’s Chamber”) represents the perfect human nature; and the way to it illustrates the path to life in which the world must walk to reach human perfection during the Millennium. Both of these ways, and hence both of these ultimate results, were opened up and made possible by the ransom-sacrifice which the Mediator gave on behalf of all: all of which is forcibly indicated in the Pyramid by the “appearance of an explosion,” which opened the mouth of the “Well,” and gave access to the two passageways (intended to symbolize the call of the Church now, leading to the divine nature, and the call of the world during the Millennium, leading to the restitution of human perfection).
Thus the Great Pyramid, in harmony with the Scriptures, declares that “Christ brought life [restitution to human life, represented in that called the “Queen’s Chamber”] and immortality [the divine nature, represented in that called the “King’s Chamber”] TO LIGHT, through the Gospel”—the good news of redemption. 2 Tim. 1:10.
The only entrance to the “Queen’s Chamber,” or to the “Grand Gallery,” was by way of the “Well,” the “First Ascending Passage” having been originally impassable by reason of the granite “Plug.” Thus the stone “Witness” testifies that by the Law Call or Law Covenant none of the fallen race could reach either life (human life) or immortality (the divine nature). Though the “First Ascending Passage” was a way, yet none could walk in it. So the Law Covenant was a passageway to life; but because of the weakness of the flesh, none could walk in it so as to attain the life offered. (Rom. 3:20) The cross, the sacrifice, the ransom, is thus specially marked by this stone “Witness,” just as in the Scriptures it is more prominently marked than any other feature of the plan. “No man cometh to the Father but by me,” said Jesus. “I declared unto you first of all that which I also received [first of all], how that Christ died for our sins,” said Paul. (1 Cor. 15:3) “The ‘Well’ [representative of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection] is the
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only way to life and immortality,” says the Great Pyramid. The passage to the “Queen’s Chamber” is low, and the traveler must humbly bow his head to its requirements. The path of right-doing has always been one of humility and will be so in the Millennium, when all will be required to bow to the strict regulations of Christ’s Kingdom. He will rule with an iron rod. (Rev. 2:27) He will then lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and to his greatness and power every tongue must confess, and to his rule and law every knee must bow; so that in his day the humble and righteous, and they only, shall flourish.\ Isa. 28:17; Rom. 14:11; Psa. 92:12,13
The “Queen’s Chamber” symbolizes the end of the restitution work—human perfection—in that it has seven sides, counting the floor one side, and the roof two sides, as shown in the diagram. The path to it tells the same story of sevenness, or perfection, for the floor of it is depressed for one-seventh of its length. And not only is the number seven a general symbol of perfection and completeness, but it is specially suggestive in this connection, since the Millennial age is the seventh thousand years of the earth’s history, and the one in which perfection is to be attained by the willing and obedient of the race.
Prof. Smyth remarks the peculiarity of the floor of this “Queen’s Chamber” and the passageway leading to it, that it is rough and entirely unfinished, thus differing from the other passages, which were originally very smooth, probably polished. This, he suggests, may indicate that its floor is not subject to measurement by year-inches as are the other passages—as if the Pyramid by this unevenness would say, “Time-measures are not recorded here.”
But though the Pyramid inch-year is not observed in the passage to the “Queen’s Chamber,” nor in its floor, another matter did require to be shown, namely, the way of restitution to perfect life and perfect human organism. As this perfection of human nature is illustrated in the “Queen’s Chamber,” so the way to it represents the seven thousand years of experience and discipline through which the fallen human race must pass before full restitution to perfection can be gained. Inasmuch as the first six-sevenths of the passageway to the “Queen’s Chamber” is extremely low,
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it represents the six thousand years past, and illustrates the extreme difficulty and humility necessary to walk a justified life, even on the part of such as sought so to walk—the patriarchs, prophets and others, justified through faith-during this six thousand years of the reign of sin and death. On the contrary, the last seventh of the way represents the Millennial age, just dawning upon men. Its height being nearly twice as great indicates that during the coming thousand years of grace and peace on earth men can progress with comfort and ease toward full perfection.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the faithful prophets walked that way—entering by the “Well”—by faith in the ransom-sacrifice of Christ, which they represented by typical sacrifices before our Lord’s death, and before the stone “Witness” pointed to it; for in God’s purpose and revelation Christ was the slain Lamb of atonement from before the foundation of the world.
As the “King’s Chamber,” by its ventilating tubes, indicates that it symbolizes a permanent residence, an everlasting condition, so the “Queen’s Chamber” symbolizes the fact that the condition of human perfection, when reached, may be made an everlasting state; for it also has similar ventilating tubes or air passages provided. In one case we may say it symbolizes a permanent condition, and
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in the other that it may be made a permanent or everlasting condition, because this is the fact as indicated both by the Scriptures and by the testimony of the stone “Witness.” The Scriptures say of those who attain the condition represented by the “King’s Chamber,” that they partake of the divine nature, and are immortal, or proof against death—that they cannot die thereafter. And they show that those others who reach the full restitution, and stand the last test of loyalty, at the end of the Millennial age, though they will not possess that quality termed Immortality, which is essentially an element of the divine nature only, will be supplied with life everlasting under provisions already arranged by the great Architect of the plan of salvation. If they abide in harmony with God and in obedience to his will, they will live forever.
The Great Pyramid declares these same truths; for while the “King’s Chamber” had open ventilators, the ventilators in the “Queen’s Chamber” were originally peculiarly covered. The air-tubes were complete from the outside of the Great Pyramid to within about half an inch of the surface of the inner walls of the “Queen’s Chamber,” the stones on either side of the “Queen’s Chamber,” except the said half-inch in thickness, having been chiseled out, showing design on the part of the Great Pyramid’s Architect, just as every other feature shows it. Mr. Waynman Dixon made this discovery while examining the walls of the “Queen’s Chamber.” He noticed that the wall at a certain spot sounded hollow, and, breaking through the surface, he found one ventilating tube; and then by the same process he found its mate in the opposite wall. Thus the Pyramid, in harmony with the Scriptures, declares that ample provision has been made, whereby the perfect human condition, represented by the “Queen’s Chamber,” may be an everlasting condition to each one who conforms to its regulations and laws.
And now, having heard it speak, what shall we think of the stone “Witness” and its testimony? Such testimony would be peculiar and striking indeed, even if there were no scriptures found to bear on the subjects examined; but when the Scriptures had already clearly and positively declared to us these same circumstances and dates, before the
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Pyramid’s testimony was heard, its wonderful agreement with and corroboration of the same become doubly significant and striking.
Some may scoff at the testimony of this stone “Witness,” as they also scoff at God’s written Word; but to their scoffs we answer: Account for this peculiar fitness of things, or else venture to prophesy of the future, and see how your prophecies will result. Prove to us that it requires no inspiration to foretell future events.
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The voice of this wonderful “Witness” brings forcibly to mind the words of our Lord on that notable occasion of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when he typically presented
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himself to Israel as their king, amidst the acclamations of the whole multitude of his disciples, who were loudly praising God for the mighty works that had been done, saying, “Blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord! peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” And when the Pharisees were urging him to rebuke them, he answered, “I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40) And so it is today: while the King of glory has actually come, and while the great majority of his professed living witnesses, who should be loudly rejoicing, and saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, are dumb—some from fear of being put out of the synagogue, and some from drowsy slothfulness, or from the intoxication of worldliness which keeps them in ignorance of the time of our visitation—lo, the very stones of this Great Pyramid of Testimony are crying out in no uncertain tones. Every inch of this massive structure is eloquently proclaiming the wisdom and power and grace of our God.
Firmly incased in this solid rocky structure, beyond the power of nature’s storms or of the ruthless hand of the destroyer, the outline drawings of God’s great plan have stood for four thousand years, prepared to give their testimony at the time appointed, in corroboration of the similarly revealed, but for ages hidden, testimony of the sure Word of Prophecy. The testimony of this “Witness to the Lord in the land of Egypt,” like that of the written Word, points with solemn and unerring precision to the final wreck of the old order of things in the “Pit” of oblivion, and to the glorious establishment of the new, under Christ Jesus, the great Chief Corner-stone of God’s eternal building, in conformity with the lines of whose glorious character all things worthy of everlasting existence must be built up under him. Amen! Amen! Thy Kingdom come! Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven!
Winged Solar Disk
This is a form that the god Horus Behudety (Horus of Edfu) takes in his battles with Seth. The god Thoth used his magic to turn Horus into a sun-disk with splendid outstretched wings. The goddesses Nekhbet and Uazet in the form of uraeus snakes joined him at his side. This emblem has been found on Russell’s publications for over fifty years. Also proof that his writings were influenced by Egyptology.
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A grave marker says volume of who is interned there. It states the great accomplishments that were achieved in that person’s lifetime. It also states what was most important to that individual or in what regard his or her piers held them at. Below is the grave marker above Pastor Russell’s grave. He was viewed as the “Laodician Messenger “or “The angel of the church of the Laodiceans” found in Revelation 3:14.
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Below is the memorial erected by the Watchtower Society in honor of Pastor Russell. Note Pastor Russell’s grave in the background.
This pyramid was placed as a memorial, expressing to onlookers on what was most inspirational in Pastor Russell life. This stone witness testifies about Pastor Russell’s and his followers’ true beliefs, and the origin of the doctrines of the WTS. Note the cross and crown emblem of the WTS, and also the "Watchtower And Tract Society" carved in stone.
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