The Watchtower Society and John and Morton Edgar - A2Z.org

Pyramid inches from the floor of the lowest portion of the Descending Passage up to the floor of the King'sChamber.Now let us come back to this Descending Passage at the lower part. Certain features are marked here. The lowerend of the "Well" is at this place. You notice that it is not in the roof of the Descending Passage but in the side.If we measure back from the edge of the pit, which we have seen represents the date October, 1915, we shallfind that the upper edge of this lower end of the Well represents the year 1296 A. D., and the junction of thedescending portion with the horizontal portion the year 1592. Between these two dates, 1296 and 1592 iscomprised the period of the Reformation. The Reformation began at Avignon, 1309, which is represented by themiddle of the well., but that was brought about by the work of Boniface VIII., who was appointed Pope in 1295A. D., and who shortly afterwards published the famous bull "Unam Sanctam," in which he said that no mancould get into heaven except by his sanction. Philip the Fair, King of France, objected to this and made the Popeprisoner. The Pope died and another was appointed who had sold himself to the King of France. In this way theshackles of the captive spiritual Israelites in "Babylon the Great" were loosened and the prisoners were allowedto go free and build the spiritual temple of the reformation. That was exactly in the middle of the papalmillennium. The work of reformation went on step by step after this until about the year 1592 when its progress,so far as Christendom in general was concerned, had stopped. By that time we find that the Protestants haddivided into three great parties, or church state systems, the Lutherans, the Anglicans and Presbyterians. Weknow that since shortly before the end of the 16th century there has never been a country previously RomanCatholic that has become Protestant, or previously Protestant that has become Roman Catholic. Then again weknow that although the head of the "beast" was fatally wounded by the work of Martin Luther, nevertheless itrecovered from this wound; in other words we know that the papacy, because of the division among theProtestants had become stronger in the meantime. The result, then, was that so far as Christendom in generalwas concerned, the reformation had ceased, and men had bound themselves firmly with their creeds;nevertheless, we know that a work of cleansing still went on in the sanctuary.Beyond the point indicating the year 1592 the passage is more constricted than the part above it, showing howmen had bound themselves; nevertheless this part is horizontal so indicating that through the reformation andthrough the invention of printing there has been greater enlightenment than before. Near the edge of the pit wefind a portion of 'the passage where it is roomier. If we measure backward we find this part represents the timeof the American War of Independence and the French Revolution - a time when men were freeing themselves,only again to be bound.Now, dear friends, let us come back to the bottom, of the Well and see what that represents. We have alreadypointed out that the well represents hades, the death state, and also the fact that the resurrection of Christ isrepresented by the appearance of an explosion at the top. In other words the Well represents the ransomsacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.Now at the upper edge of the lower end of the well we have the year 1296. If we measure straight across itswidth of 28 inches you will find that the lower edge represents the year 1324; but if you measure down alongthe incline the date represented at the lower edge will be found to be 1328. In other words, the lower edge ofthis well at the bottom represents the years of the work of Marciglio, 1324 to 1328 A. D. Marciglio was the firstof the reformers, the one who built the spiritual temple of the Reformation. Some people call Marciglio theMorning Star of the Reformation, but that title is generally applied to Wycliffe, because although Marciglio'swork was a great work, nevertheless it was Wycliffe who pointed out the error of transubstantiation, andpointed men to the true ransom s crifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Marciglio prepared the way for Wycliffe thetrue morning star of the Reformation. Mareiglio's date is represented here at the lower end of the well, andWycliffe's date, 1378, A. D., we shall find represented at the North edge of the upper end of the well. It was in1378 that Wycliffe came out as a reformer and pointed men to the true ransom -sacrifice and so prepared the