The Pillar of Witness: A Scriptural View of the Great Pyramid (1876)
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Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at http://books.google.com/ STORAGE B 2V1 B 448529
OF
WITNESS
A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF THE GREAT PYRAMID.
CAPTAIN B. W. TRACEY, R.N.
BY
CAPTAIN B. W. TRACEY, R.N.
LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TUBBOR
SI QUAR RIS PERINSULAM ANGELAM
CIRCUMSPICE
Designed and Drawn by THE REV. F. R. A. GLOVER, M.A.
M = Kaliph al Mahmoon's Forced Entrance, circa, A.D. 850.
To A.D. 850, Period of absolute concealment: From A.D. 850 to 1865.
The Sign "Un-interpreted" and practically concealed until September, 1872:
Capacity Coincidences: Pyr. Coffer = 71,250 Pyr. Cubic Inches. Ark of the Covenant of Moses = 71,250 Pyr. Cubic Inches: 1 Chaldron = 4 Quarters Wheat (Tem. Edgar the Peaceable) = 71,250 Pyr. Cubic Inches. Pyr. Inch = 365 days - 5 h. + 48 m. (say) 49·7 sec. 9181·05 Pyr. Inch = 9140 Brit. Inch. 1·001 British Inch. = 1 Pyr. Inch. In Ante-Chamber: 1·03·03° = Θ Dha. 116·2
Designed and Drawn by The Rev. F. R. A. GLOVER, M.A.
THE
PILLAR OF WITNESS:
A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
BY COMMANDER B. W. TRACEY, R.N.
"Truths that the Theorist could never reach, And observation taught me, I would teach."
LONDON:
W. H. GUEST, 29, PATERNOSTER ROW.
DUBLIN: CARSON, GRAFTON STREET.
EDINBURGH: JOHN MENZIES & CO., HANOVER STREET.
1876.
All rights reserved.
LONDON: PRINTED BY ROBERT BANKS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET STREET.
To CHARLES CASEY, ESQUIRE,
AUTHOR OF "PHILITIS,"
I Dedicate this little Biblical effort. To him and PROFESSOR PIAZZI SMYTH it owes much. Both have aided by criticising the original draft. And to the former, for his kindness in contributing a Prefatory Chapter, I desire this Dedication to be the expression of my grateful acknowledgments.
I anticipate that, far beyond anything that I have done, others, more learned than myself, will eventually discover Scriptural confirmation of Mr. John Taylor's theory.
When I think of his discernment of the sacred character of the Great Pyramid, of Professor Piazzi Smyth's scientific proofs, and of Mr. Charles Casey's conception that Messianic signs would be found in the building, I cannot but adore the grace of God in each and all.
B. W. TRACEY.
On reading "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid," I felt something should be done in the way of Biblical explanation. I wrote a short Drawing-room Lecture thereon, and delivered it at the special request of Miss M. A. Williams (the energetic Honorary Secretary of the Anglo-Ephraim Society), at her residence..
Further prayerful searches, and the encouragement received from friendly brethren of eminent Christian attainments, have led to the following effort to draw attention to what I believe to be the Witness God has appointed to be known in these last days according to Isaiah xix. 19,20.
"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."
It is so often urged that a Pillar cannot be "the Great Pyramid" that I can hardly feel thankful enough to Doctor Moses Margoliouth (one of the first Hebraists of the day, and Editor of "The Hebrew Christian Witness") for the following translation of the word rendered "Pillar," and which can hardly fail to gratify the reader. It is as follows, and will be found on pages 541-2 of this year's (1875) volume :—
[The translators of the Old Testament, into English, have arbitrarily rendered two different Hebrew words—namely, מטזAYBHAH, and אמмоOD—by the same term, even "Pillar." This is one of a multitude of mistranslations which has caused a great deal of confusion of words and ideas amongst unlettered—as far as the sacred tongue is concerned—in the companies of modern would-be Biblical critics and expositors. The word MATZAYBHAH means an erection, a pile, a mausoleum—a durable structure to commemorate some important historical event. It is the word which the sacred writers employed in Gen. xxviii. 19; xxxi. 51, 52; xxxv. 20; in 2 Sam. xviii. 18; and in Isaiah xix. 19. In none of those places, in the Authorised Version, does the term pillar accurately represent the meaning of the original. We are pretty sure that if the translators had been acquainted with the structures, and their mode of erection, which the Egyptians called PIROMI, the Greeks, after them, πυραμίς, πυραμίδος, and Shakespeare, after the Greeks, Pyramid, they, the translators, would have employed the last-named term in all the above-named Scripture passages. The word AMMOOD is pretty accurately represented by the word PILLAR. The word in the original imports exactly that which the Latin PILA, and all its cognates, means,—a pier, a column, a buttress, &c., to support a building, a roof, and other things after its kind.
We consider Professor Piazzi Smyth justified in his considering the word Matzaybhah, in Isaiah xix. 19, to mean a Pyramid. But whether the Prophet meant the Great Pyramid known as that of CHEOPS is another question. Isaiah seems to have foreseen a MATZAYBHAH that was to be piled up, and not one that had already, for ages and ages past, been erected. Our correspondent is right; the word altar wherever it occurs in Scriptures it is in reference to sacrificial purposes.—EDITOR H. C. W. and P. I.]
The learned Doctor leaves it an open question whether "the Great Pyramid" is the witness referred to or not—this intimates doubt—now as I have no doubt on the point, I consider it a duty to state my reasons for this opinion.
Prophecy is a ray of light, given us by the infinite mercy of God, in His eternal counsels, for our warning and guidance; hence we find frequently in Scripture things spoken of the future as if they were present things, thus: Gen. xlix. 10—"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah." Here we have the sceptre in the eternal counsels of the Almighty long before manifested to the world.
Again we read in the Prophet Isaiah, chapter lxi. 1—"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek," &c., read on to 4th verse.
We know this was read by our Saviour, and that He closed the book when He came to the day of vengeance—which will as assuredly come as the day of good tidings—yet all is spoken of as present things—so with Isaiah xix.
9—"In that day," it appears to me, can only have reference to the time when "the Great Pyramid," from its position being in the midst of Egypt and on the border thereof, will be recognised as the "Pillar" of witness referred to by the prophet.
A reference by Professor Piazzi Smyth to a thesis by Charles Casey, Esq., of Pollerton Castle, Carlow, leading to a confirmation of its Messianic character, induced me to write to him, and a long correspondence ensued, to my benefit and that of the reader, as the prefatory chapters will shew.
I have also made the acquaintance of, and received some suggestions from, Mr. Matthew Henry Habershon, whose work, "The Wave of Scepticism and the Rock of Truth," is well calculated, in a condensed form, to neutralize the infidel theories of the age, and whose recent lecture on "the Great Pyramid," soon to be published, is an admirable summary of the important characteristics which the building is found to possess.
I here insert the following notice of the Lecture from the British Architect of October 22,1875, as highly confirmatory of the Scriptural views I am endeavouring to uphold:—
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
On the 11th instant a Paper was read before the Young Men's Society in connection with Park Church, Highbury, London, by Mr. M. H. Habershon, author of "The Wave of Scepticism and the Rock of Truth," when some interesting particulars were given respecting that mysterious monument of antiquity, the mighty Pyramid of pyramids. He referred to the recent careful measuring of the building by the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor Piazzi Smyth, who, with much skill and perseverance, spent four months in testing what others have previously stated respecting it.
Taking the Professor's volumes as his authority, Mr. Habershon described the wonderful scientific characteristics of the structure, its difference from all the other pyramids, its mysterious passages and chambers, the like of which no other pyramid possesses, the remarkable peculiarity that its dimensions have a relation to the size of the earth, the range of its orbit, its mean distance from the sun, and its mean density, and the especial feature that the pyramid, both outside and inside, is expressive of the proportion of the diameter of a circle to its circumference, that is, of the well-known multiple, 3.14159, &c., of which, with geometricians, the Greek letter π is the sign.
He said, "It is built on a scale of measurement which is Hebrew and not Egyptian, the difference being indicated by their respective cubits, the latter being 20.7, and the former 25 pyramid inches. Ezekiel refers to the difference where he says—xliii.13—"The cubit is a cubit and a hand breadth." This corresponds with the conclusions of Sir Isaac Newton, Sir John Herschel, and other scientific men who have written about the Hebrew cubit, that prominent measure in the Bible, and which Moses designates "the cubit of the Lord your God."
Did the architect know that, consequent upon the sides of the base of his building being made 365.242 cubits, the two diagonals of the square added together would be the same in inches as the orbit of the precession of the equinoxes is in years, viz., 25,827?
Did the architect know that in making the height of the pyramid 5813.01 of these inches that they were the length of the radius of a circle of the same measure as the perimeter of the base that he was "squaring the circle"—that the height of his building multiplied by 10 hundred millions—that is 1 09 —would give the mean distance of the earth from the sun? And did he know that the inch of which he took 25 to define his cubit, was a unit of which 500 millions reach from pole to pole of the earth? According to which this cubit is one ten-millionth part of the earth's semi axis of rotation. A better line, says Sir John Herschel, from which to take a unit of linear measure than the meridian line through Paris, which the French savants divided into 10 million parts to get their metre.
If the architect of the pyramid knew all this, he was more scientifically learned than the wise men of Paris, eighty years ago, and than any of whom history tells us from his day until modern times.
The precession of the equinoxes determines when the pyramid was built, for only in the year 2170 B.C., of all that period of 25,827 years, were the two stars, a in Draconis, and the chief star of the Pleiades, in the positions indicated by the situation of the building in regard to them. Both, the Scottish Astronomer shows, were in that year, at the same moment, on the meridian, and that moment was when a in Draconis, the then Pole Star, as previously proved by Sir John Herschel, was in a line with the descending passage. And this number 2170 is emphasised in another way, for, measuring the floor of the passages backwards from the entrance to the grand gallery, 2170 inches end exactly at a line significantly draw on either wall, evidently by the architect, who, that the whereabouts of the line might be indicated, makes the masonry at that particular point, oblique instead of rectangular.
How is this coincidence of years and inches to be accounted for? Only in one way. The central facts of Christianity harmonise with it. If Jesus be the Messiah of Hebrew expectation and Christian belief; if He be the Son of God, and He descended into our world and "died for our sins according to the Scriptures," the event was of sufficient importance for the Great Pyramid to be built, if only to indicate the date of His advent, and confirm, in the far-off ages, and where science and the critical faculty have attained their highest development, that gracious and loving message to mankind which is known to us as the Gospel. The Great Pyramid is a certain proof that at least one man was divinely instructed in some things, and therefore it is not incredible that those other things which we learn from the Bible, and which are utterly beyond the limits of man's reasoning powers to find out, had a supernatural origin and are of Divine authority.
In conclusion, I can only say I have striven to do my best by a prayerful searching of the Scriptures; and I fervently trust that no reader will be able to point out that I have in any way strained them to establish any human crotchet, but hope they will acknowledge I have presented them only in a plain and simple way. I now close by soliciting a calm perusal, an unprejudiced judgment, and a charitable construction.
PREFATORY.
Our age is marked by a peculiar mental activity, which, in its broad swing, tends towards learning rather than wisdom, and may be truly said to exhibit as its leading feature the deformity of irreligious speculation. The circle of our so-called philosophers is as a wheel without a nave; for God is not in all their thoughts, and hence, we are flooded with theories which exhibit the awful results which follow when man becomes wise in his own conceit, and is given over to false delusions that he may believe a lie: and the terrible decree goes forth: "He is joined to his idols: let him alone." A sad and sorry sight it is to the Christian man to note
"The frets and fumes of sect and sceptic,
And all that reason, grown dyspeptic,
By swallowing forced and noxious creeds,
From downright indigestion, breeds."
A recent and notable illustration of this has been given in the inaugural address of the late President of the British Association, who is recognised by the unregenerated as the High Priest of Philosophy, and who proclaimed a nebulous origin, and cloud consummation of all things—but who, on being put to the blush by sound criticism of his Alpine lucubrations, confessed that his belief in God and eternal life, and his rejection of truth, depended, or was consequent on, certain "moods" of mind.
The pitiable mania of Darwin's re-hashed theory, in which the heathen inanities of Democritus and Epicurus are reproduced for acceptance by rational beings, is an illustration of the godlessness in the mind of the teacher, and his unhappy disciples, from whose souls faith has been cast out by credulity.
The conscience of man, when darkened by the withdrawal of Divine light, is of a verity the most demonised power, the most terrible of evil states; for who will deny that the monster Torquemada was conscientious in inflicting unspeakably horrid tortures on the thousands of his victims? or that in all ages, wherein the children of God have suffered for the truth, that the instruments of Satan were not prepared for their mission by having their conscience darkened, so that they believed a lie?
The present paramount duty of Christian men is to rebuke sharply those who deny the faith once delivered to the saints, and to set forth the truths of the glorious Gospel of the grace and mercy of God towards man, in the hope that those who are now being led away by the teachings of a philosophy (falsely, so called), may be turned to a knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
In the following pages it is proposed to show forth the testimony of the Great Pyramid to the inspired truth of the Hebrew Scriptures; an evidence which has been sealed up in this vast monument for four thousand years, until in this generation it has been brought to light with a force and fulness which have effectually confuted the linguistic sophistry of those who deny, not only the prophetic revelations of the Bible, but even its historic record.
Against the great body of learned sceptics, the rigid scientific proofs of pregnant design, existing in the structure of the Great Pyramid, stand forth, challenging test, and defying contradiction, matters of actual fact, above the reach of argument, and beyond the range of cavil, demonstrated irrefragably by the work of a man who has measured that immense structure with a laboriously minute accuracy, as low as the hundredth part of an inch, and whose eminent capacity for the work was aided by the most perfect instruments which modern skill has produced; showing this soul of design as pervading not only the great monument as a whole, but vitalising with the highest order of truth every portion of its internal structure, and forcing on the most obdurate sceptic the conviction that the architect of the Great Pyramid was inspired by a knowledge totally unknown to the mass of mankind in his age, which knowledge he symbolized by measure, line, and angle, with an infinite accuracy in this mountainous mass of masonry, thereby making it a veritable "Pillar of Witness" to all subsequent generations of men.
The conclusions which have followed as a corollary from the readings of the Pyramid measures in their cosmic, scientific, and prophetic revelations, are denied by those only who have the temerity to assert that the entire series of truths exhibited are accidental coincidences! a proposition so monstrous, that it can only be explained by the fact that, as a class, sceptics are the most credulous of mortals outside the domain of their special incredulity.
Among the great body of Christians, there are many who have been at times troubled, if not shaken in their faith, by the specious attacks which have been made against the foundation of their belief, by writers, who have persistently denied the inspiration of the Scriptures; and to such the Pyramid revelations are of the most inestimable value; for here in this immoveable monument, raised under divine guidance eight hundred years before the birth of Moses, will be found foreshown the three great dispensations recorded in the Bible, viz., that intervening between the dispersion at Babel, and Moses; the Hebrew dispensation ending with the birth of the Messiah, and the Christian dispensation now approaching its completion. And, more than these, there is found recorded in this "pentateuch of stone," the sign of the birth of Christ, engraved 2170 years before the song of the angels was heard by the shepherds at Bethlehem.
It is to this view of the Great Pyramid, that the Author proposes applying his abilities. Having worthily won the decorations of heroic duty in the service of his country, and having now, in the fulness of years, devoted myself to the study of the prophecies, he has set himself to show the consonance existing between the primary revelations of Philitis in the Pyramid; and the secondary revelations of Moses in the Bible.
In a work, written with this special object, the reader must not expect to find more than a cursory allusion to the scientific features of the structure, but, if a thorough acquaintance with such is desired, the great work of the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Piazzi Smyth, must be consulted, viz., "Life and Work at the Great Pyramid." Published by Isbister & Co., Ludgate Hill, London; or the latest work of the same Author, "Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid," issued by the same firm; or should a more condensed account be desired, a pamphlet by the writer, viz., "Philitis." Published by Carson Bros., 7, Grafton Street, Dublin; and Guest, 29, Paternoster Row, London, may be profitably read.
In this connection it may be in place to say that, as regards the cosmic knowledge exhibited in the Pyramid by its architect, the period of equinoctial precession, hitherto supposed to have been first discovered by Hipparchus the Greek, is here found accurately given by Philitis, as is also the distance of the sun from our globe; that distance being different from any heretofore computed quantity, but that to which the astronomical corrections of the past centuries have been steadily tending; and with which the recently received computations of the French and German "Venus Transit" corps closely, almost exactly, agree.
The abstruse problem of the mean temperature and density of the earth is also solved; and a standard of weight and measure for all time, and all nations, provided in the indestructible granite coffer found in the King's chamber, while the mathematical problem of the quadrature of the periphery is exhibited in the primary rule of the vast monument's construction. The number of days in the solar tropical year are given, as also many other cosmic and astronomical facts; which, in a brief notice like the present, must remain unnoticed.
But while the astronomical and cosmic revelations of the Pyramid are alike valuable and interesting, the glory of this "Pillar of Witness," its ethical expression, and the crown of that glory—is it sunequivocal testimony that Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee, was the Messiah; who, in the fulness of its recorded time, was made flesh and dwelt amongst men, in whom was seen the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
To an exposition of the consonance of Pyramid and Bible revelation, the Author of the following chapters has devoted himself; and it is refreshing to find that the same spirit is working in widely-separated portions of the earth. In the United States and Canada the Pyramid has had Christian expositors; in France, the Abbè Moigno Chanione, de St. Denis, has translated Professor Smyth's last volume, and supplemented it by a forthcoming work of great power, in which the theories of Tyndall, Owen, Hooker, Lubbeck, and Bois Ramond, are vigorously disposed of; from the East we have record of the progress of the venerable and Rev. R. A. Glover, who is traversing the Indian territory of Great Britain, lecturing with astounding results to audiences drawn from every class and creed of the population; while from our Antipodes—New Zealand—comes up the strong voice of a learned and venerable divine in advocacy of the Pyramid truths, founded in a study of the subject for eleven years; and thus may it so result, that the present contribution to the literature of the subject will tend to confirm the belief, that
"Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again, The eternal years of God are hers! But error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies amid her worshippers."
July, 1875.
CHARLES CASEY.
THE PILLAR OF WITNESS:
A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF
THE GREAT PYRAMID.
CHAPTER I.
"Wisdom is justified of all her children."—Luke vii. 35.
"Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old."—Matt. xiii. 52.
"We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel."—Num. x. 29.
"THE BIBLICAL evidence touching this mighty and most unique monument of sacred and prophetic purport, is deserving of more intimate and peculiar study than we have yet bestowed upon it." Our Inheritance in Great Pyramid.—Second edit.
The above opinion of Professor Piazzi Smyth will find an echo in the heart of every Christian. The Professor himself, however, has so interwoven Scripture elucidations with his scientific proofs, that he has left little to be done beyond collating and presenting them in one view, as a connected whole, in perfect accordance with every isolated extract. This expressed opinion shews how fully he believes in the perfect harmony of Scripture and science, and that he holds, like David of old, Scripture above everything; and seeing the light it sheds on the Great Pyramid, it is as if he exclaimed with David, "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name;"* and as a witness of this truth, the Great Pyramid is the greatest witness the world can shew—it has no cartouche, no image, or writing; and yet it speaks to all mankind what can be universally understood of a Higher Intelligence that dwarfs into insignificance the sophistic puerilities of your Tyndalls, and Darwins, and Huxleys.
It proclaims its Architect as knowing "The end from the beginning;" solid as its structure is its teaching, and very consoling to the Christian as a testimony against the demoniacal theories, alas! so prevalent at the present time.
Believing in the inspiration of the Bible, and that it alone gives a true account of the Creation, and that the "Great Pyramid" is the oldest pre-historic building in existence; it will be my endeavour to throw such Scripture light on its erection and ultimate object as God in mercy may enable me; but desiring it may be particularly understood from what I write that it is simply "A Scriptural View," open to correction, I only come forward as a pioneer, and hope and pray more effective efforts will follow.
Scripture is a mine of heavenly treasure, even of the wisdom that cometh from above; hidden in its deep recesses of glowing descriptions of metaphorical illustrations, it nowhere stultifies itself, and its most opposite allusions are invariably found to harmonise and display the glorious attributes of the Almighty. But, as Solomon says, we must search for her as for hid treasure, "then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God;"† and our Saviour appends the glorious promise, "Seek, and ye shall find."‡
Now St. Paul gives directions for this search, telling us, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." § This is a declaration of common sense that can be understood; and Scripture shews clearly that the foolish wickedness of idolatry is the result only of continued wilful disobedience to this precept: for God has not said, "Seek ye My face in vain,"* but from the beginning has invited us to come to Him, and shews us throughout His Holy Word there is no other way of salvation.
Hence those who will not come may see the result in the glowing description of St. Paul:—
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful: but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
"And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." \dagger
Egypt from first to last exemplifies the truth of this: and all the characteristic buildings of Egypt still do the same with their multitudinous and idolatrous paintings, sculptures, &c., &c., the demoralizing stock-in-trade of those who, in the present day, lay claim to the learned title of being "Egyptologists," and have the central of Egyptian Museums filled precisely with these profane things, and no knowledge of what constitutes the excellence of the Great Pyramid.
I desire here to draw attention to the altered position of mankind in relation to God after the flood. To Adam, before his fall, God said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." \dagger
To Noah and his sons God says, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."
"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hands are they delivered." § From these two declarations we find that dominion and subjection were lost at the Fall, and were recoverable only through the promised seed of the woman, our Lord Jesus Christ, "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto Himself."*
It is impossible to imagine that Adam or Noah were left ignorant of this great truth; and we can fully comprehend the great wickedness that occasioned the dispersion in building the Tower of Babel; but there was something more deeply mysterious and prophetically significant in the building of the Great Pyramid, both as a present testimony in shewing forth this important truth, and as a lasting witness for God to be fully revealed as such, against the idolatry and scepticism of these last days.
How vain and futile have been the efforts of man to unravel the secret of its Builder; and this mighty monument stands on the earth like Melchisedek, without parentage, to all our savants—it is beyond them even to imagine where the science of its Architect came from, and all their ideas of it are based on the traditions of Egyptian enmity: which in itself is almost proof positive it was erected as a witness for God—principally to unfold the truth of His Holy Word—which, as I hope by God's grace to be able to shew, alone gives us the knowledge of its Architect; and that it displays externally and internally such proofs of its being built by inspiration that it is impossible to be denied, since it shews more knowledge of the heavens and the earth at the time of its erection than human science has yet attained to—and, marvel of marvels, this knowledge, by the mercy of God made known at the exact time when required as a witness for God, when the pride and vanity of human intellectuality was poisoning the mind and hardening the hearts of thousands. Let our eminent professors bring their atomic or evolutionary theories against it, if they dare—they could only obtain what the Egyptians of old did when it was built—a fearful looking for of judgment, which prevented their molesting it.
'Tis a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; and to oppose human theories to such a godlike erection as this is known to be, is awful to contemplate. Let all who are advocating theories subversive of the Gospel truth, that salvation is in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, be thankful the day of grace is not yet past; and the Lord Jesus has declared He will not cast out any that come to Him.*
Having stated the futility of man's efforts during long past ages to unravel even the date of its erection—much less the great secrets it held—I draw attention to the way in which its wonders have been made known to us in this century. There is a very long list of enquirers and theories which I have nothing to do with, my object being to shew the gradual growth of knowledge pertaining to it in Christian men, it being God's good pleasure its developments should come from His believing children. According to the best of my judgment I should name them thus, viz., Professor John Greaves and Sir Isaac Newton, as two remarkable forerunners, and then Colonel Howard Vyse, John Taylor, and Professor Piazzi Smyth. Those who wish to know the names others will find them enumerated in Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, by the Professor; to be had of Isbister and Co., 56, Ludgate Hill. They will find no names omitted, from the greatest to the least of those who aided him by suggestions, or whose previous searches aided him in his self-imposed work. Sir Isaac Newton in his writings—more especially his work on Cubits—first threw out views that originated further enquiry; then Colonel Howard Vyse, at great expense, worked hard at measurements, &c.; but it pleased God to bless the late John Taylor with the Scriptural insight into its erection. His views stimulated the heart of his Christian friend, Piazzi Smyth, whose searches have been so greatly blest.
I now desire to call thoughtful consideration to what I believe to be the germ of all the discoveries given, first in part to John Taylor, and then more fully and precisely to the Professor; it shews how great and wonderful is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit's guidance when prayerful humility guides the Scriptural student.
In Job xxvi. 7, it is said of God the Creator, "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."
Then in the thirty-eighth chapter it is written, "Where wast thou (the Lord answers Job out of the whirlwind), where wast thou when I LAID THE FOUNDATIONS of the earth? declare if thou knowest (hast) understanding."*
"Who hath laid the MEASURES thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?"
"Whereupon are the FOUNDATIONS thereof FASTENED (the SOCKETS thereof 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?"
Now "this description, if applied to the earth, that well-known ball of dense and heavy matter, revolving in its endless course through thin ether or practical vacuity, is not only, not exactly, but not in any degree, agreeable to the teaching of modern science; nor indeed to any other account of the earth as a whole, and in its position in space."
But here it was given the late John Taylor to be the first living man to discern in the above Scripture an earthly type of a heavenly erection, † its foundation stones being inserted in sockets of the living rock, point to this—a Rock being the type of Christ as shown by St Paul.
"For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ," the allusion being to the Israelites in the wilderness. Now we find Christ in "laying the foundations of the earth."* And what says David in the Psalms, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein."
"For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." \dagger
Hence we find in the quotations from Job that God hangs the world upon nothing. Though the foundations are in the seas, there is evidently proof here of the Great Pyramid being a type, Christ
use of types, and without their aid we could not express, nor even conceive of operations so far above man's power of comprehension as the works of creation.
"As the FOUNDATIONS of the Great Pyramid were LAID in the limestone rock on which it was built, so are the foundations of the earth mentioned here; but in another place in Job we are told that the Almighty 'hangeth the earth upon nothing.'
"As the MEASURES of the Great Pyramid were determined by means of a LINE which was STRETCHED UPON IT, so are these terms applied in the Book of Job, to shew that the earth itself was more, as it were, by measure; and that a line, in the hand of the Almighty, was the means by which this measurement of the earth was effected.
“‘Whereupon are the SOCKETS thereof made to SINK,’ is the marginal reading for ‘Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened;’ and it is the more literal rendering.” Dr. S. Lee, in his new translation of the Book of Job, explains made to sink, by “have been impressed; and he refers to Exodus xxxvi. 24, for a parallel passage, where the sockets of the posts of the Tabernacle are described. It is remarkable that the word sucle, or SOCKET, is the very term made use of by the French philosophers in 1801, when they speak of that indentation at each extremity of the Great Pyramid, in which the lower corner stones, which formed the casing stones at the lower angles, had been originally laid before the casing was destroyed. Thus we see that the earth is mentioned as having had its foundations sunk as into a socket, because the Great Pyramid was so imbedded; but in no other way could any term like this have been considered appropriate.”
Prov. viii. 29.
† Psa. xxiv. 1—2.
the Rock being the foundation, and the building being crowned with that head-stone "which the builders refused."*
The discovery of the true cosmic and Messianic character of the Great Pryamid was given by Divine Providence to Professor Piazzi Smyth: he was accompanied by his wife, who was literally a help-mate to him; the fact of her going with a cheerful heart, determined to endure privation, and aid as far as possible her husband, is shown in the large private outlay—scraped together for this purpose from a very small income—occasioned in prosecuting his researches, and is proof of a unity of heart, soul and spirit, that we never find, save in those to whom God has given to seek Him and promote His glory. This is remarkable, for when God created man, it is stated "male and female created He them;" that they were really one, is evident from the description of Eve's creation, inasmuch as there was no second breathing for her to become a living soul: they were inseparably one, physically and spiritually.
This was shown, moreover, in type: as regards Christ and His Church, as shown by St. Paul; and further by the fact that neither Adam nor Eve were cursed, though the ground was, for their sakes, and an enmity put between the serpent's seed and the woman's, to try the latter—woman being a type of the Church; and that God might be glorified in the result. HENCE ALL PROPHECY, which has been shown in the New Testament as the only testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is manifest, moreover, in the Mosaic dispensation: the High Priest being obliged to be a married man, or he could not make atonement for the sins of Israel on the GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT. Now it is remarkable that the secrets of this great witness for God, as a Messianic monument, was given to a man and his wife. One in heart, soul and spirit, striving through the love of God, for the glory of God, as already shown in Mrs. Piazzi Smyth, not so much by her leaving all the luxuries of the most civilized capital in the world, from her high position, but from her cheerfully joining in the sacrifice of her husband's hardlyearned means.
Common heroism in woman may be rare; but the love of God is beyond humanity.
When I contemplate Professor Smyth and his wife on the summit of the Great Pyramid, with the Great Playfair Alt Azimuth instrument, measuring the heavens and the earth, I am lost in wonder, love and praise. It exemplifies the unity of Adam and Eve by the Holy Spirit, given to us after the Fall, through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, thus we see the type after the Fall still surviving. "Oh! that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."* CHAPTER II.
"That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."—Matt. xiii. 35.
THE special reference of our Lord to the Old Testament demands our strictest attention, for we find in the 52nd verse, the Scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, brings forth out of his treasures things new and old—thus in the New Testament we not only find confirmation of the prophecies of the old—but such light is thrown on prophecies yet unfulfilled, as shows their unity in one object, viz., the glory of God in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. So much is this so, that unless we can see their unity on all points of scriptural truth, we may rest perfectly satisfied we have not attained to a right interpretation: it is by this test I hope to establish "The Great Pyramid" a Messianic erection: and for this purpose let us look in the Scripture account of the creation, and up to the 12th chapter of Genesis, and I believe we shall find such salient points connected with "The Great Pyramid" as the prophets after Moses and those in the New Testament confirm. In doing so I solicit a little latitude if I am not so concise as a more accomplished writer would be. I will try, however, to be as terse as I can. I commence with Genesis 1 to verse 6.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
"And the earth was without form and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
"And God saw the light that it was good : and God divided the light from the darkness."
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
It pleased God in His mercy to give us a description of the creation adapted to our intelligence, sufficient for all the purposes we need; and He has given us His Holy Word to see in His mighty works His glorious majesty in all His mighty, eternal attributes of justice, love, mercy, and immutability, and all that was requisite for our eternal salvation to know of the creation God has given us by Solomon, in Proverbs viii. (which requires to be studied throughout), and where we shall find our Lord joined in the work of creation and "His delights with the sons of men," hence we find our Lord as second person of the Trinity is alone manifest to us throughout Scripture, for "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." *
Having mentioned our Lord as the second person in the Trinity, I call attention to the fact that the 1st verse declares the Trinity, as does the 1st verse of John's Gospel, for the Hebrew reads "Elohim" (plural) for God, and for the "Spirit of God." Ruach Elohim, which means "Spirit of the Covenanted Ones." It has also pleased God to reveal, for prophetical purposes, the length of creation days, viz., 1,000 years, for Adam was to die the day he sinned, and he lived to be 930 years old: this is plain also from other Scriptures, as in Psa. xc. 4,—"For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." St. Peter† makes a positive assertion on this specific point, for he says, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day:" He says this in reference to the end of the world. There is an old tradition in the House of Elias that the world would last as many millenaries as it was days in creating. I mention this because "The Great Pyramid" apparently points to this; it would be presumption in me to make a positive assertion : it will be for Christians to judge for themselves when I lay the Pyramid data before them.
On the second day, God made the firmament and divided the waters. The 19th Psalm is a beautiful and sublime exposition of the firmament when God lit it up with His glory on the fourth day.
On the third day, the earth and seas were created, and the fruitfulness thereof. Here let us pause a moment on the words, "In the beginning." When God gathers the waters and calls them seas, and says let the dry land appear—it is almost implied they were in existence before. Prying into the rocks for for salvation, or religion, even by professed Christians, seems to me worse than folly. Surely! the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Rock on which we are told to rest our faith, but to search the rocks for the confirmation of our faith seems absurd in the extreme; especially as the so-called science of geology cannot search the foundations of the earth;* and its theories, therefore, even with regard to inorganic, dead matter, are crude and undigested, and must remain so. Yet geology has pretended to deny and combat some Biblical truths; while the language of some geologists flauntingly condemns the Bible. God has preserved His people from "intruding into those things which man hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind;"† but, be it as it may, neither geology nor any other material science is the way to teach the Gospel or establish Christian truth. It is true "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasures therein,"‡ in the 7th verse of the same chapter this is explained, "The works of His hands are verity and judgment: all His commandments are sure." This is very different from prying into what the world was, and how it was formed before God said, "Let the dry land appear." Believing "The Great Pyramid" to be a Messianic erection, we may rejoice in its revelations, seeing how true is Scripture. "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion."
I desire here to draw attention to the following, extracted from Doctor Hannah's Bampton Lecture of 1863. Lecture V. 164-5, where he writes thus on Genesis: "The first four chapters are rather theological than historical: they belong to the head of pure revelation, rather than to that of ordinary narrative. They embody matter which no conjecture could have searched, which no tradition could have furnished, the fundamental truths about God's purpose and God's workings in creation: and about the innocence, the sin, and the fall of man."
This appears to me to be true to Scripture; and viewed in the light of these sentiments we get to see wondrous things not discernible by any other theory, the word quoted "theological" must include prophetical views or we shall lose half its beauty.
We now come to the fourth day, when God garnished the firmament with the glories of the heavens, and gave those wondrous creations to sympathize with the earth, and be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.
We know from the Scriptures this earth was prepared for the glorious manifestation in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ of the wondrous mercy and love of God in our.redemption, and it is in this view more than any other we behold, "That the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork," † for they are created intelligences. "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of My mouth." ‡ Surely nothing can be plainer, for what says St. Peter, § "Of which salvation (ours) the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you."
"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that shall follow."
"Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven: which things the angels desire to look into."
Angels marvelling at the wondrous condescension of God: shows us that the work of God on our earth is not for us only but for His praise and glory throughout the heavens—their desire is to see more and more of His wondrous love and mercy—they do not seek to know how God created this earth, it is sufficient for them to know that God did create it. And let us say with David, * "Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens."
"Let them praise the name of the Lord; for He commanded and they were created." Doing this we are in sympathy with the inhabitants of heaven.
There are numerous Scriptures that show the sympathy of angels with us—let one suffice: † "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety- and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
We know from the Scripture that the sun, moon and stars are spoken of metonymically: one example may suffice to show this, as in Joseph's dream, where the patriarch and prophet Jacob distinctly recognises them as standing for himself, wife and sons (Genesis xxxvii. 9, 10). Again, our Saviour is called "The Sun of Righteousness," ‡ "The bright and Morning Star," § and the angels of the Churches are called stars; and addressed as the earthly ministers presiding over the Churches (Rev. i. 20, and ii. 1); thus it is evident those bright orbs were placed in the firmament for our benefit: they teach us to look up, not down, and their fructifying influence on the earth the most ignorant feel and know; seed time and harvest demonstrate this; but I wish to go a little farther. Seeing how often Moses, Isaiah and others of the prophets apostrophize the heavens and the earth, is it not probable there is allusion to something definite on the earth, as a witness for God in connexion with the heavens, that when revealed should be as palpable to our earthly senses, as the heavens are to our mental contemplation?
I think so, and that "The Great Pyramid" will prove to be this witness. Let us remember our Saviour says, "I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world." It is needless almost to say, we know this by the Holy Spirit given to us, which is gradually leading us into more and more knowledge of prophetic truth. In a letter I re-received from Charles Casey, Esq., of Pollerton Castle, Carlow, he points out very forcibly a solid reason for the mystery of "The Great Pyramid" not being earlier unfolded. He says, "But suppose the case of Moses being inspired to write a book succeeding 'Genesis' and before 'Exodus,' called, let us say, 'Pyramid,' stating that this structure had been builted under Divine inspiration, and contained the highest cosmic and ethical truths—what would have been the result? why, this, That the building being found to contain no written inscription, its character as a record would have been transferred to its substance, and it would have become the most gigantic idol in the world."
We now come to the fifth day, when God said "Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven."
It is remarkable that our Saviour's ministry was in the commencement of the fifth millenary of the world to fulfil the law contained in the Pentateuch in five books; that our Lord came to give us light and life, and the fowl may be said to be our prototype, inasmuch as the doctrine of the resurrection preached by our Lord, who said "I am the resurrection and the life," enables our souls to soar above the earth. Thus we see our Lord crowning the ministry of Moses as lawgiver and prophet, and it seems to me a marvellous wonder that five should be "The Great Pyramid" number, and that it should be crowned by that headstone, type of our Lord, at the placing of which "the stars of heaven sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." But there is also another wonder connected with it that would be more marvellous still, if "The Great Pyramid" is not a Messianic erection, viz., its metrology is the same as "The Ark of the Covenant," and the Pyramid cubit the same as that which Moses declared to be the cubit of the Lord our God.
"On the 6th day we find God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so."
"And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them."
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
One of the fruits of geological search has led to the theories of the two creations, a preadamite man, and a trinity of worlds all this serves to show we are no better now than when before the Flood "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually," † for viewed in its proper Scriptural light all is harmonious—there is no second creation, no discordance between the 1st and 2nd of Genesis, as is attempted to be shown—in fact, they both blend together; and the second, evidently given us for our everlasting joy in this world and the next, opening out to us prophetically and typically our union in the Lord Jesus Christ: the dual union of the first Adam is shown in the first chapter—the dual union of Christ and His Church is shown in the second.
Hence the condescending love and mercy of God gave us the wonderful explanation of Eve's creation, foreknowing we should need it after Adam's fall. I would call attention to three things: 1st, there was no second breathing of the breath of life into Eve, she was one with Adam, "A living soul:" does not this beautifully accord with the declaration in the first chapter, "Male and female created He them." 2nd, It should be noticed as to the result: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh:" this being stated before the Fall shows the prophetical character of this chapter.
3rd, The dual union of Christ and His Church is beautifully shown from the 25th verse to the end of the 5th chapter of Ephesians. I quote only two verses, earnestly beseeching the reader to consider the whole.
30th—"For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones."
32nd—"This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church."
I would here call attention to the deep sleep God caused to fall on Adam before making Eve out of one of his ribs. Now we know our Lord came of Eve without the man, thus leading up to our heavenly Creator, and out of the side of our Saviour came forth blood and water, hence the deep sleep that fell on Adam would serve to typify ALL sleeping in Jesus till the Church is completed through the atoning sacrifice of Christ's wounded side.
It is strange the writers on the theories I have mentioned make no allusion to our second creation, spoken of by St. Paul: "For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works;"* again in Colossians:† "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him."
Surely! if they saw clearly we are really created anew in Christ Jesus, they would see in that 2nd chapter of Genesis, love, mercy, and our everlasting union in Christ without any incongruity—and they would see in the 5th verse a simple metonomy, alluded to by our Saviour and easily understood, viz., "Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up."‡ The Garden of Eden is so evidently typical of the "New Jerusalem" as to call for little comment. It was lost to us at the Flood, and, may be, will prove to be the "New Jerusalem," increased and beautified for the redeemed Church—but this is an hypothesis for which I have no scriptural ground. The 19th verse, which so many stumble at, is evidently a prophetic metonomy: "And out of the ground the Lord formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them, and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." This is precisely what our Lord will do when He calleth His own sheep by name, and apportions their place in His eternal kingdom. To give a name denotes property in the person or thing, thus Christ was named from heaven to denote God's property in Him. And when our Lord said when on earth, speaking of Herod, "Go ye and tell that Fox," the metonomy carries with it an allusion to the Fall, for though Adam and Eve were not cursed but only judicially punished, yet the ground was, and as we live by its produce, we have animal characteristics to contend with: thus an apostate is said to return "as a dog to his vomit, or a sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."§ The allusions in Scripture to our animal nature are too numerous to mention; but in the judicial punishment of Adam and Eve we can see judgment tempered with mercy, for in labour is health, and a woman's happiness in a husband she can respect and look up to, and by the sweat of our brow we gather the fruits of the field for our natural life.
So the "blood and sweat" of Gethsemane and the cross secured for us eternal life. And the promised seed of the woman came and fulfilled the promise made to Adam when sentence of death was passed on him and the hope of eternal life given to him. So let us never forget "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy."* CHAPTER III.
"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."—Rev. xiii. 8.
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."—Rom. xii. 3.
I now come to the sacrifices of Cain and Abel, one of which was accepted—the other rejected. As I may not go out of Scripture, I of course look on the sacrifice of Abel as a type of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on Calvary, and on Abel himself as representing Jesus—the Lord being both our Altar and Sacrifice. Cain, on the contrary, typified those who exclaimed, "We will not have this man to reign over us,"* inasmuch as he would not bring a sin offering—faith in which secured Abel's acceptance.
I have looked over many learned works, and find on one point all agree, and that is, that the appearance of God was Anthropomorphous; indeed I cannot conceive it otherwise. This being so, I conclude our Lord appeared as Melchisedeck—King and Priest of the Most High God. I cannot but think the whole relation, if prayerfully considered, shows this; for He had the power to accept or reject the sacrifice, and the power of giving a judicial sentence.
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