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

world for Martin Luther with his great doctrine of justification by faith.The ultimate result of the ransom is to bring about the blessing of all the families of the earth, to bring about therestitution of all things, the condition symbolized in the Pyramid by the Queen's Chamber. This condition ofhuman perfection will come to pass by the year 2874, A. D. If we measure in Pyramid inches from the Northedge of the upper end of the Well along the dotted line representing the spring of 1378, A. D., we shall find thatthe entrance of the Queen's Chamber represents the date 2874 A. D., when men will be ushered into the post -millennial condition. Thus we find Marsiglio indicated at the bottom of the well organizing the work of theReformation, and preparing the way for Wycliffe, who showed men the true ransomsacrifice of our Lord, JesusChrist, and so prepared the world for the times of restitution.The First Ascending PassageWe shall now consider the First Ascending Passage, representing the Law Covenant. As we go down theDescending Passage, representing the present evil world, we find that the portion of its floor which is oppositethe entrance of the First Ascending Passage is extremely hard, different from the portions above and below. Atthis point the floor is so hard that with a sharp instrument you will not be able to make a mark on it. This wasintended partly for the purpose of exact measurements, but it also seems to indicate the fact that when theIsraelites were called out of Egypt to be the people of God and given the law, they had a firm footing with God.Owing to the fact that the triangular stone has been removed from the entrance of the First Ascending Passage,we find that at this point we no longer need to stoop; we can stand upright and so ease our aching backs. We arethus able to appreciate the joy which the Israelites must have experienced when freed from their bondage inEgypt and can sympathize with them when on being given the law, they cried joyfully, "All these things we willdo."But whenever we begin to ascend this passage we find something blocking the way-the "Granite Plug," the Lawof God; we cannot go up. The Israelites found a law in their members warring against the law of their minds sothat they could not do what they would and the evil that they would not, that they did. Thus the way which wasordained unto life was found to be unto death. But God, by means of the atonement sacrifices, which he causedto be repeated year after year, reckoned it to the Israelites as if they were going up this way; they were typicallyjustified, and those of them who, like Father Abraham, saw Christ's day, the great Millennial Day, with the eyeof faith, and were glad, and who were faithful unto death, will, as shown in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, beawakened perfect, but not without us, the followers of Christ. Accordingly, let us proceed up this FirstAscending Passage. We can do so by the passage forced by Al Mamoun, through the soft limestone around thegranite plug. This forced hole was no original part of the Pyramid, but God evidently allowed it in order that wemight explore the First Ascending Passage. When we get into this passage we find that the way is steep. Theangle of inclination upwards is exactly the same as that of the Descending Passage downward. It is dark andsteep and slippery; so slippery is this passage that when Piazzi Smyth was measuring it, he tried at first to stickhis lighted candles on the floor, but invariably they slipped down to the granite plug; and when his measuringrod slipped out of his hand the same thing happened to it. The passage, then, is dark and steep and slippery, andthe height of the roof above the floor is scarcely four feet. Does not this wonderfully represent the Israelitesgroaning under the yoke of the law, stumbling in the darkness, having no doubt a lamp to their feet, the Word ofGod, but a lamp which, at that time shone but dimly compared to the way it is shining now. And as they go upthis passage laboriously they slip every now and then and they have nothing to hold on to when they do slipbecause they are under the law and not under grace. Those Israelites among them who were faithful, and whowere looking for the coming of the Messiah must have rejoiced when they reached the end of that lawdispensation, when the Messiah did come. Being burdened by the law they must have rejoiced when they heardthe gracious words of our Master, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavily laden and I will give yourest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your