A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
The Great Pyramid’s builder knew all the dimensions
of Earth and had a command of engineering, astronomy, and mathematics that
would be impressive even today. If this guy didn’t have supernatural capability
himself, he was certainly assisted by Someone who does. (Note: I first posted
this article on Jan 23, 2005. I offer it again as a follow up to the recent
article entitled “What’s
To Become Of Egypt.”)
In that day there will be an altar to the LORD
in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a
sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out
to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and
defender, and he will rescue them.(Isaiah
19:19-20)
During a group discussion on the New Jerusalem,
a question about its configuration was raised. Revelation
21 only says that
it’s 1400 miles square and 1400 miles tall and to me that conjures up an image
of a cube. But some see a pyramid, and when you think about it, John could have
been describing just that. One thing led to another and pretty soon the subject
of the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt came up. Someone asked me to conduct a
study on it someday and I agreed. Here goes.
The
Great Pyramid
Th Great Pyramid was most likely built in the
22nd century BC. Its construction required 10 years of planning and preparation
and then 100,000 men spent 20 years completing it.
It’s different from all the other pyramids in
Egypt. For one thing it’s made of stone, not bricks, and is the only one that’s
not solid. There’s a series of passageways and several chambers inside.
All of the 80 or so other pyramids came later, are grossly inferior copies, and
unlike the Great Pyramid were used as gigantic headstones covering the tombs of
the Pharaohs. (The Great Pyramid never served as a tomb.)
Since it’s located both on the border
between Upper and Lower Egypt (Giza means border in Arabic) and in the heart of
the two Egypts, the Great Pyramid seems to be referenced in the Isaiah passage
above. And since the context of the Isaiah passage is the End Times, the
connection with the New Jerusalem may not be so far fetched after all.
(Originally two separate kingdoms, Upper Egypt
and Lower Egypt were joined together to become one. Upper Egypt is in the south
and is more mountainous. Lower Egypt in the north was comprised mostly of the
Nile delta region and the adjacent plains. The Biblical name for Egypt is
Mizraim and literally means 2 Egypts since it’s the dual form of its root,
Matzor. Mizraim was a son of Ham whose descendants first settled Egypt.)
Some
Fascinating Details
The Great Pyramid was built on a 13-acre base
made level to within less than 1″. 900 million cubic feet of granite
blocks were used in its construction. To this day engineers can’t explain how
the workers managed to fit those huge blocks together so carefully in building
a monument nearly 500 feet high. Some of the larger ones weighed nearly 80
tons.
It originally had a face of polished white
limestone consisting of 115,000 stones finished on all six sides to within .01
inch of perfectly straight. Cut on a bevel, they fit together with seams of
less than 1/50th of an inch. They were then cemented together and polished to a
high sheen. It’s said that the pyramid shone as if made of light itself and
could be seen from over a hundred miles away.
The entire structure rests on 4 foundation
stones that fit into sockets cut into the bedrock. These stones are designed to
compensate for changes in temperature. They keep the pyramid square and level
at all times, and in fact it’s square on every course.
It faces due North more accurately than we can
position buildings today so that each side faces the four cardinal points of
the compass. Its shadow has predicted equinoxes and solstices.
Originally it was to have a solid gold
capstone that was a scale model of the pyramid itself. It was never put in
place because the builders rejected it. Only on a pyramid can a capstone also
be the head of the corner. (Psalm
118:22 and Matt.21:42)
A single entrance on the North side opens into
a passageway that slopes down 150 feet to the base where it descends another
200 feet into the bedrock on a line that’s straight to within 1/4 of an inch
over its 350 ft. length. The passageway, several chambers and all the air vents
were pre-cut into the stones before they were placed and appeared in their
finished form as the stones were fit together.
On one day in history the angle of this
passageway looking up from the bottom pointed directly at the north star.
If you could have drawn a line straight up from the pyramid into the sky on
that day you would have intersected the exact center of our galaxy. That day
was the vernal equinox in 2141 BC. Such an alignment happens only once every
26,000 years. As we’ll see below, the builders apparently knew this in advance
and planned their construction accordingly.
The Great Pyramid was also built exactly in the
center of Earth’s land mass. Equal amounts of land are contained in each of the
quadrants drawn off its 4 corners. Its height of 454 feet is the same as the
average height above sea level of all land on earth.
The sides are concave at the bottom. Their
curvature conforms to the curvature of the earth’s surface, so if you could
draw a circle extended from any two adjacent corners it would equal the
circumference of Earth at the Equator.
The Sacred cubit was the unit of measure used
in building the Great Pyramid. Unlike the standard and royal cubits referenced
in the Bible, its length is 25 pyramid inches, which are about the same as the
inch used today in the US. These units of measure were carved into the wall,
and can serve to decode the pyramid’s dimensions. For instance, multiplying the
sacred cubit times 10 million equals the polar radius of earth. Multiplying the
total weight of the Pyramid by 1000 trillion equals the weight of planet Earth.
In Hebrew each letter has a numerical
value. The Pyramid’s height in inches equals the sum of all the letters in the
Hebrew text of Isaiah 19:19-20 (5449). Air shafts keep the
temperature inside at exactly 68 degrees, the same as the mean temperature of
Earth. If you could walk up the side of the pyramid you’d rise 9 feet in
vertical elevation for every 10 feet you cover.
It contains one piece of furniture, a box the
same size as the Ark of the Covenant. It’s located in the King’s Chamber, a
room with the same cubic volume as the bronze laver in Solomon’s Temple. It’s
just barely too big to fit through the passageway, so it had to have been
placed there as pyramid was built, over 1000 years before God gave Moses the
Ark’s dimensions.
The main passageway descends at an angle of 26
degrees 18 minutes and 9 seconds. This is called the Christ angle because a
line drawn from the Pyramid to Bethlehem is 26 degrees 18 minutes and 9 seconds
from true north. At the bottom of the entry passageway is a rough hewn chamber
called the bottomless pit. Together the passageway and chamber symbolize the
fall of man from Adam’s sin, a gradual descent straight into Hell.
Markers carved into the wall in advance are
keyed to the vernal equinox in 2141 BC, the only day in history when the stars
lined up with the pyramid as described above. Whoever did the carving knew
ahead of time that this would happen and designed the lengths of the various passageways
to serve as time lines to predict significant future events. For example, the
distance from the starting marker to the place where a steep, low ceiling
passageway up to the King’s Chamber intersects the down sloping entry
passageway foretells the date when the Law was given at Mt. Sinai. It
symbolizes the opening of another path for man, this one a difficult climb
leading him back to God. Part way up to the King’s chamber another short
passageway leads off to another room called the Queen’s chamber. The distance
to that passageway converts to the year Jesus was crucified and symbolizes the
relief from the hard way of the Law that was purchased at the cross.
So it appears that the Queen’s chamber
represents the Church. The Grand Gallery just before the King’s Chamber
consists of 7 levels of polished pink granite and symbolizes the Millennium.
And the King’s Chamber represents eternity. Pyramid buffs see many other
significant dates in Christianity foretold in the lengths of the various
passageways and chambers, but so far the date of the 2nd Coming has eluded
them.
Who
Built The Great Pyramid?
The identity of the architect is unknown, but
three candidates come to the top of most lists:
1. Eusibius quotes an Egyptian historian
named Manetheo who attributes construction to the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings who
came from Arabia, conquered Egypt without a battle, destroyed their pagan
temples and converted Egypt to monotheism. They built the Great Pyramid and
then left for Judea. Job, after whom a book of the Bible is named, might have
been part of this group. A generation later the Egyptians reverted to paganism.
2. Some say Enoch, making the Pyramid a
pre-flood monument like the nearby Sphinx. If you measure a side from corner to
corner in sacred cubits it equals 365.242, the number of days in our year and
Enoch’s age when he was raptured. (Because of their concave nature there are
three ways to measure a side. One way equals the solar year, as above. The
second way equals the sidereal year, slightly longer at 365.256, and the third
equals the anomalistic year of 365.259 days. The last two are used mostly in
astronomy. If that isn’t astonishing enough for you, keep in mind that none of
these measurements would apply until 1300 years later when the length of the Earth’s
orbit increased by 5.25 days.)
3. Most popular is Shem, son of Noah. Though
born before the Great Flood, Shem outlived 8 of the first 9 generations that
followed it, and even outlived Abraham. Some believe Shem was the priest called
Melchizedek in Genesis 14.
No matter which of these options appeals
to you, the facts remain that the builder knew all the dimensions of Earth and
had a command of engineering, astronomy, and mathematics that would be
impressive even today. Think of it. This guy knew the weight and curvature of
the Earth, the irregularity of that curvature at the poles, the location and
size of every land mass and its height above sea level, Earth’s mean
temperature, its latitude and longitude scales, the exact direction of true
north, the locations of the stars, and the fact that 1300 years later the
Earth’s orbit would change, increasing by 5.24 days.
He knew how to make things absolutely level,
straight, and square, and how to pre-cut and position gigantic pieces of stone
so that when in place they fit so perfectly that every course is level and
square even today. He knew how to calculate the coefficients of expansion and
contraction and compensate for them. The list goes on. If this guy didn’t have
supernatural capability himself, he was certainly assisted by Someone who does.
Belief
By Evidence
Like Noah’s Ark, the Sphinx and others, the
Great Pyramid may be evidence for generations yet future to us. It’s obvious
supernatural design and construction make it a unique witness to the Glory of
God.
In Old Testament times people gained and
maintained their belief in God through the evidence of His existence. God
caused earthquakes, dried up rivers and seas, made city walls fall down, and
sent fire and hail on His enemies. And anyone could come to Jerusalem to
witness His presence first hand. Fire from Heaven consumed the sacrifices
on the altar. No matter from what direction or with what velocity the wind
blew, smoke from the altar always rose straight up into heaven.
According
to Jewish tradition, each fall on Yom Kippur the scapegoat was brought before
the High Priest and the sins of the nation were transferred to it. While the
people watched, a scarlet
ribbon was tied from one of the goat’s
horns to a door of the Temple. As the goat was led into the wilderness this
ribbon was snipped leaving some hanging on the door and some on the goat’s
horn. At a designated place the goat was pushed off a cliff to its death. At
the moment of the goat’s death the piece of ribbon on the Temple door changed color
from scarlet to white fulfilling Isaiah 1:18. “Though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” All these things were plainly visible,
irrefutable evidence of God’s presence.
Belief
By Faith
When the Lord Jesus came, all that changed. No
more great and fearful events to prove God’s existence. The greatest of all had
happened. He had come to dwell among us. Following His death the ribbon never
changed colors again.
On Resurrection Sunday He rose from the grave
having conquered sin and death. That evening He appeared to His disciples in
the Upper Room. Thomas was absent and refused to believe the others. The
following Sunday He appeared again and this time Thomas was there. Though
the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with
you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out
your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have
seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.”(John
20:26-29)
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed. He was speaking of His Church and the incredible blessings that
would accrue to our benefit. The age of belief by faith alone had arrived.
Soon
the Church will disappear and the Lord told us that as the end approaches,
people on Earth will again see much evidence of His existence. It’ll be like
Old Testament times again. Obvious miracles,
huge natural disasters, uncontrollable
weather, until finally the skies will open and like flashes of lightning that
are visible from the East to the West, every eye will behold His Glorious
Appearing.
During the time leading up to His return, I
believe Noah’s Ark will reappear, and the true origins of monuments like
Stonehenge, Easter Island and others will become known as evidence of God’s
existence. And one day the Great Pyramid will be restored and once again stand
in Egypt as the monument and witness to the Lord that Isaiah prophesied,
bringing salvation to the people there. When they cry out to the LORD because of their
oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. (Isaiah
19:20)
In that day there will be a highway from
Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria.
The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be
the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD
Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my
handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-25) 02-19-11
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