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

GOD'S PLAN OF SALVATION IN THE GREAT PYRAIIIDshouted: "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." The At thirty years of age Jesus was baptized at Jordan. Hiehard portion of the descending passage floor on which he now immersion in the water symbolized his consecration to death, andstands, symbolizes the firm footings which the Jewish nation his raising out of the water his resurrection in "newneas of Iife."-had with God when given the law.John the Baptist declared that he saw the Holy Spirit descendingBut the visitor's joy will be short-lived, for, looking more in- upon Jesus in the form of a dove, and heard a voice from Heaventently above him, he will presently perceive when his eyes become safing: ''This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."more accustomed to the darkness of the place, the lower end of (Matt. 3:16, 17.) Jesus had always been a son of God, but hethe granite plug, and it will be forcibly impressed upon him that Was now a son in a Special sense, begotten to the same nature asthis upward way is closed; even as the Jewish nation when they the Father. (John 5~26). During the three and one-half Yeamhad leisure to consider the perfect law of God, found it an im- from his begetting of the Spirit at Jordan, Christ as the "newpasable obstacle in the way of life. How effectually, therefore, creature" laid down his human life in sacrifice until it was condoesthis "granite plug" barring all progress up the ascending summated at Calvary; then the third day after his crucifixion hepassage, symbolize the Digine law blocking the way of life! was "born from the dead," a glorious spirit being of the DivineRemember how, when Moses was in the mount, the people nature' tFirst Pet. 3:18')made a golden calf and worshipped it, thus transgressing one What was God's purpose in leading the Jewishof the most important of God,s shallChrist! When we turn to Gal. 3:16, we shall see that the "seedno other gods besides me. Ye shall not bow down beforeof Abraham" which was to bless all the families of the earth wasgraven images." ~~d in anger threatened to ,,lot out the a.ole Christ. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.nation, but Moses interceded and beseeched the Lord rather to He not, 'And to seeds,' as many; but as One,blot him out and spare people--~eut. 9:14; E ~. 32:30-32.thy seed,' which is Christ." Thus we see that although Isaacof course it was not possible for ~ ~ to accept h the ~ offer ~ ofwas~thehseed of promise (for God had said "In Isaac shall thyM ~ who ~ was ~ himself ~ imperfect; , but we how this was usedseed be called"), yet he was not the seed, but merely a figure orof the ~~~d as a figure or type of J~~~~ himself on behalftype of the great spiritual seed, Christ. But why, if Christ wasof the Jews and becoming a "curse" for them.the seed, were the Jews the only nation led to him? God hadsworn by an oath that all the families of the earth were to receiveb he ~ewish nation was permitted exist; but as it was im~os- a blessing, yet the other nations were aliens and strangers, havingsible for the Lord to forgive their sin, sacrifices were instituted no hope and without ~~d in the world. (Eph. 2:12.)which year by year made atonement. But these sacrifices weremerely typical (for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and The apostle reveals the purpose of God in thus specially dealingof goats should take away sins-~eb. 10:4), and only gave thewith the Jewish nation. In Gal. 3:29, he says: "If ye beJewish nation a typical standing with God.Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to thepromise." It would seem at fint sight that the apostle wasAS the ~ews could not actually attain life by the law owing to contradicting himself when, in verse sixteen of this third chapterthe inherent weaknesses of their flesh, we would wonder why the Galatians he is so careful to impress the thought that Abraham'sLord dealt with them for 80 many centuries; but the apostle seed is only one, and then in the twenty-ninth verse heexplains the reason when he states that '(the law was our School- addresses the church and says: "If ye be ChristJs, then are yemaster to bring us [the Jews] unto ~hrist"--Gal- 3:24- The Abraham's seed," as if there were many after all. But the apostlenation, therefore, during its dispensation or age, was nominally his meaninghis first epistle to the Corinthians \12:12)represented as keeping the statutes and requirements of the law, where he says: u~~~ as the body is one and bath many members,which like a schoolmaster, taught and disciplined the people, SOand all the members of that one body, being many, are [neverthatwhen the ~essiah would come they ~ould be prepared to theless] one body, so also is Christ." It was for this purpose,receive him as the great deliverer. In the Great Pyramid, that they might become urnembers in particulrrr~~ of the ,lgreattherefore, the Jewish nation are in symbol typically represented ,titypical of Abraham of which Jesus was the "head, thatas ~ro~ressing upwards along the first ascending Passage (ignoring the Lord led the Jews under the law--schoolmaster to Christ.for the time being, the granite plug which actually prevent8 anypossibility as ascending this way, even as the Jews codd not All the members of this seed must also be, like their "Head,"really paas the test of the Divine law and thus gain life). spirit beings; and thus we read that to as many of the Jews aareceived Jesus, "to them gave he power to become the sons ofwhen ~hrist came at the end of the Jewish age he came as a ~ ~ even d to , them that believe on his name "John 1:12. Just as~erfect man, holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. Jesus is the Son of ~ ~ SO those d , who exercise faith in him becomeAs the first ascending passage symbolizes the "law-6choolma~ter1' his brethren, sons of the heavenly Father.-Heb., 2:11. Theleading the Jews to Christ, we would expect that in some Way the faithful Jem presented their bodies a living sacrifice as Jesuspyramid would represent Christ standing, as it were, at the had done (Ram., 12:1), and God begat them to the spirit nature.upper end of this passage ready to receive them. The Pyramid This important change is stated in John, l:13.-"~ch weresymbolizes this feature of the plan of God in the following manner: born (or, rather begotten), not of blood, nor of the will of theWe have recognized that the subterranean chamber symbolizes flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."the condition of death, so, we would understand, the conditions In the verse in Corinthians already quoted (1 Cor., 12:12)of life are symbolized by the upper chambers. The lowest form where the apostle likens Christ to a human body, we learn thatof life which can be attained and maintained by the race is memberships in the great Spiritual seed is limited to a definitehuman life in its perfection, like that possessed by Adam before foreordained number. It is seldom that a man has more or lesshis fall. This condition of life is symbolized by the queen's membera in his body than God set at the beginning when hechamber. The highest form of life which man may attain, under created Adam. If a child is born with, say, six fingers on hiscertain circumstances arranged by the Lord, ig the spirit life. hand, the medical profession call it a monstrosity, it is so unusualThis condition of spirit life is symbolized by the king's chamber. and very unsightly; and I understand that the extra finger wouldThe king's chamber is constructed entirely of granite and the not only be useless, but would hinder the useful employment ofqueen's bhamber of limestone. Both of these materi'als are the other fingers. By this illustration the Lord desires to teachperfect, but the limestone is inferior to the granite in hardness us that there will not be one more member in the body of Christand durability and also in value. This fact symbolically agrees than he has foreordained. Then should a man lack, say, thewith the Scriptural declaration: "Thou hast made man a little index finger of his right hand, he is greatly inconvenienced andlower than the angels."constantly feels his need of the missing finger. Here again theJesus, as we have seen, mas born a woman," he was Lord desires to impress on us the exactness of the membershipflesh;" but he is not represented in the Pyramid as being born of the body of Christ, that there will be not one less than thewith fallen mankind on the downward course of the descending foreordainednumber.passage, symbolical of death, but on the plane or level of the I believe the number is revealed in the book of Revelation asqueen's chamber, symbolical of human perfection; for in him was 144,000. That this is not a symbolical, but an exact number,no sin, he was separate from sinners. The Scriptural statement seems certain from the fact that in the same chapter (Rev. 7:)that Jesus was, additionally "born under the law," is symbolized reference is made to another company, aleo spirit-begotten. Inin the Pyramid by the fact that the level of the floor of the queen's the 9th verse we read: "I beheld, and lo, a great multitudechamber, if projected northwards, will intersect the floor of the which no man could number." It is not probable that thisfirst ascending passage thirty-three and one-half inches exactly mu!titude is so great that no one could actually count them, butfrom its upper extremity. By the Pyramid method of indicating rather, that none can state their number, God having left ita year, these thirty-three and one-half pyramid inches represent indefinite.the thirty-three and one-half years of our Lord's earthly life, To the Jews was given the first opportunity to fill up theduring which period he waa subject to the law. He was there- appointed membership in the Body of Christ. One would havefore ready to receive the Jewish nation at the end of their dis- expected that the Israelites, laboring under the yoke of the,lawpensation, as the Scriptures state: "He came to his own." in their vain endeavour to gain life, would have gladly embraced(John 1:ll.)the proferred aid of Jesus when, at the end of their age, he stretched