The Kingdom of Israel

“Careful examination of the First Ascending Passage discloses wonderful symmetry in the arrangement of its masonry. As pointed out in Vol. I, Pars. 460-470 (The Great Pyramid, Part 23 on the forum or Part 20 on blog), the special feature of this passage is its unique “Girdle-stones,” with their remarkable “pointers” (See Plate CXXVIII below). This feature is so peculiar that one is led to the conclusion that these “Girdle-stones,” as Professor Smyth named them, must have been inserted for some purpose other than mere stability, especially as in no other passage are such encircling stones to be found.

Investigation has revealed that the three upper Girdles, which are especially distinguished from those in the lower reach of the passage by their “pointers” (the strange little inset stones in the dark gray areas of our illustration above), were placed there by the great Master-Builder for the purpose of indicating certain outstanding dates in the history of the nation of Israel.

The first or highest Girdle marks the prominent date 455 B.C., when Nehemiah received his commission and built the walls of Jerusalem. The second Girdle marks the date of the last typical jubilee-year observed by the nation of Israel. The third Girdle marks (1) the commencement of the Kingdom of Israel, and (2) the setting up of the typical temple of Solomon. Let us now examine these time-measurements in their order, beginning first with the third or lowest Girdle.

The typical kingdom of Israel is usually considered as having begun with king Saul, but it should be remembered that the Lord said to Samuel on that occasion: “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7). From the time that the children of Israel entered Canaan, God was their King (1 Sam. 12:12); and even when men occupied the throne the kingdom was still the Lord’s (See Deut. 17:14-19; 1 Chron. 28: 5; 2 Chron. 9:8; 1 Sam 12:20-25). Consequently, the commencement of God’s typical kingdom on earth was in spring of the year 1575 B.C., when the nation entered the land of promise (Canaan).

The date of the termination of the typical kingdom 606 B.C., was at the dethronement of the last king, Zedekiah. This took place by the decree of the Lord as expressed through the prophet Ezekiel: “And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord; Remove the diadem and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it [the kingdom]; and it shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it him” Ezek. 21:25-27. There the Lord declared that his kingdom on earth would come to an end with the dethronement of Zedekiah, but not for ever.

When Christ, “whose right it is” as the greater Son of David, would come in power and great glory, God’s Kingdom would then once more be established on earth; even though the fact of the presence of the returned King of Israel, and the inauguration of his Kingdom power, as the Lord explicitly declared, would be known only to the few faithful watchers at the first. During the interim, while the nation of Israel has been “abased,” the Gentile nations have been “exalted” to universal dominion. But these “Times of the Gentiles” have now expired; and Christ has taken to himself his great power and has begun to reign in righteousness (Remember the words spoken by our Lord in Luke 17:20, “The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation“). He will first destroy all the kingdoms of this world, and then inaugurate his rule of peace.

In Section IV (The Chronological Periods Examined) we saw that Zedekiah was carried captive to Babylon in the 4th month of his 11th year, and that in the 7th month, which, according to the Bible chronology, would be Autumn of the year 607 B.C., the last remnant of the rebellious people was driven out of the land of Palestine, from which time it lay desolate without an inhabitant for 70 years. As the nation of Israel entered their land in Spring 1575 B C., and continued as a kingdom from that date until the land was made desolate, the total duration of the typical kingdom was 968½ years (1574¾ B.C. minus 606¼ B.C.). At the end of the 70 years of desolation the nation returned to Palestine, but, in accordance with the decree of God, subject to Gentile dominion during the whole of the “Times of the Gentiles.” The restoration of the kingdom was not to begin till these “Times” were fulfilled (Luke 21:24), then Christ would become the King of Israel. His dominion will be an everlasting dominion (Dan. 7:9-27).

Section XLII (Part 10 in our study) explains how the Great Pyramid indicates the complete duration of Israel as a Nation separate from the rest of the world. Let us now see how the complete duration as a Kingdom is represented. It will be remembered that Autumn 69 A.D.,  when at the end of their “harvest” period of 40 years the Nation “died” (ceased to exist as a Nation), is indicated by the east edge of the upper end of the Well-shaft, which symbolizes hades, the death-state. The cessation (death) of Israel as a Kingdom is also marked by the same edge.

Starting from the lower edge of the third Girdle, as marking the date of the beginning of the Kingdom of Israel, Spring 1575 B.C., and counting a Pyramid inch to a year, up the middle of the floor of the passage to the point opposite to the mouth of the Well (See the NOTE); then, turning sharp to the right and traveling along the 21 inches to the edge of the little horizontal passage leading to the shaft, down the 26 inches to the floor of this little passage and along its length of 55 inches to the east edge of the perpendicular shaft, this edge will be found to indicate the date Autumn 607 B.C., the year when Zedekiah was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and thus when the Kingdom of Israel entered hades, the death-state, i.e., when it ceased to exist as a Kingdom.

NOTE: It will be noticed that this measurement is about 1 ½ inches short of the point which is exactly opposite the center of the mouth of the Well (11.81 Pyramid inches instead of 13.31 to actual center). The date autumn of 607 B.C. is not, there-fore, indicated by the center of the east edge of the shaft of the Well, but at a point on that edge which is about 1½ inches north of the center. This, which at first seems not so decisive as the measurement of Section XLII (Part 10 in our study), appears nevertheless to be an intentional feature; for in three other time-measurements where the same date, 607 B.C., would seem as if it should be marked by the north edge of the Well, we find instead that it is marked by a point which, like the one now dealt with, is also about 1½ inches short of the north edge. These three time-measurements will be considered in Section XLVIII (“The Seven Times of the Gentiles”).

The 1½ inches we speak of in the above paragraph is the nearest round figure to the precise amount of shortage; an exact scientific feature fixes the figure at 1.5395+ Pyramid inches. Deducting this shortage from the sum of the standard Pyramid- inch measures that enter into this time-measurement, the total length of which corresponds in inches to the 968½ years from 1575 to 607 B.C., we find that the floor-distance of the north, lower, edge of the third girdle-stone should be 829.8905+ Pyramid inches down from the upper end of the First Ascending Passage. This distance is a fair mean of all the practical measures taken by us in 1909, the difference from the absolute mean being merely a 50th part of an inch.

Converting our practical British-inches measures into their corresponding value in Pyramid inches, the distance of the north edge of the third Girdle-stone, which edge is vertical, down from the upper end of the passages, is:

Along floor-line, West side, 829.9692; East side, 829.17.

Along roof-line, West side, 829.8693; East side, 830.4687.

Professor Flinders Petrie gives only one measure, 830.0691.

(Great Pyramid Passages Page 224-227, par. 592-599)

Once again we continue with our next post.