The "Stage"

The Giza Plateau

How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.—Daniel 4:3

Russell Shallieu

The pyramids at Giza have captured the attention and imagination of those who have gazed upon their lofty heights since time immemorial. Like sentinels the pyramids have been mute witnesses to history as it unfolded over more than four millennia. Napoleon’s declaration, “Soldiers, from the height of these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you,” well expresses the reality and endurance of these monuments.

Before the Egyptian caliphs pillaged the exterior casing stones for building purposes in about 900 A.D., the smooth polished surfaces reflected the brilliance of the sun in the western (Sahara) desert. This dazzling spectacle was not limited to just a secular audience but was also seen by familiar biblical personalities including Abraham, Joseph and his family, ­Moses and his family, and an even more notable family which was escaping a deadly decree: Joseph, Mary, and the young child Jesus. “[­Joseph] arose [and] took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt and was there until the death of Herod” (Matthew 2:14,15).

But it wasn’t until the English astronomer John Greaves published a work in 1646 entitled Pyramidographia, or A Discourse of the Pyramids in Aegypt, describing the pyramids’ significance in general and that of the Great Pyramid in particular, that interest was kindled in the scholarly and scientifically-minded community. The French furthered the historical and scholarly cause with the Napoleonic expedition of 1798, but scientific objectives were not realized on any great scale until the work of William F. Petrie. More importantly, the work of Robert Menzies, Joseph Seiss, Piazzi Smyth, and John and Morton Edgar opened the door to understanding the biblical message of the pyramid.

As if to complement the Great Pyramid and its counsel, we find that the Lord has provided other structures of lesser quality to illustrate certain spiritual lessons. The Great Sphinx and Solar Boat also have a story to tell as we shall see.

For example, the sun is the center of our solar system and well illustrates the dependence a Christian has upon Jesus, the true “Sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4:2). Likewise everything on the plateau depends upon the Great Pyramid, the focus of attention on a kind of theatrical stage. Some scholars suggest a true pyramid is most likely a solar symbol. One finds the distance from earth to sun indicated by the height of the Great Pyramid (that height multiplied by 10⁹ yields the distance from earth to sun). The Great Pyramid is a nearly perfect pyramid and a fitting solar symbol. Nevertheless, a point of greater importance is that the plateau illustrates the history of man, i.e., the trial, fall, and redemption of Adam’s progeny.

The prophetic meaning of Isaiah 19:19-21 describing an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD, has been explained in the preceding article. The photograph below shows how dramatically the Great Pyramid fulfills Isaiah’s words.

In the Bible “Egypt” is often used to illustrate the entire human race; thus it is no surprise that the Great Pyramid is also situated in the center of earth’s habitable land mass in the sense that a line of latitude passing through the Great Pyramid divides the earth into two hemispheres of equal land mass; a line of longitude does the same thing.

Each hemisphere contains an equal area of landmass

Consider the evidence that provides a link to the focal point of the plateau, the Great Pyramid. Imagine you are a witness to its construction in 2170-2140 B.C. Over the course of thirty years some two and one-half to four ­million blocks of core masonry, each weighing about two and one-half tons, have been chiseled for positioning in this great temple-like building. Of all these building blocks, only the top stone seems an apparent misfit. Unlike all the others, it is a pyramid unto itself—its shape being in reality a perfect pattern for the rest of the building—but not recognized for its significance until the structure is nearly complete. How fitting then is the example that Jesus was, in a symbolic sense, this very stone, the stone the builders rejected: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).

Because of its design, a pyramid has one unique corner compared to the other four. The apostles Peter and Paul, and our Lord himself, seem to allude to the Great Pyramid in Egypt for by no coincidence the Great Pyramid, according to historical record, has been, and still remains, devoid of its top stone. But as the Bible suggests, Jesus will one day take his rightful position: “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed [i.e., rejected], the same is made the head of the corner” (1 Peter 2:6, 7). Paul writes, “[We] are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).

Jesus is the pattern to which the entire structure must conform: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting” (1 Timothy 1:16). Faithful Christians must be conformed to his likeness if they are to be a part of the temple, dwelling place, or house of God. “For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his son” (Romans 8:29, ASV). “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5).

The Counterfeit Copy

The Great Pyramid has a primary ­importance on the plateau. The second pyramid is both naturally, as well as symbolically, a [crude] copy of it. The prophet Zechariah, in what would otherwise be an unsolvable riddle, alludes to this: “Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it” (Zechariah 4:7). Even as our Lord is the rightful heir and will one day be recognized as the head, typified by Zerubbabel, of a righteous kingdom, it is also true that God has permitted Satan to establish a kingdom of his own, a distorted copy or counterfeit of the true and perfect original pattern. Satan’s kingdom, like the second pyramid, is on a course for ­destruction. Mountains represent kingdoms in Scripture (see Job 9:5; Psalm 46:3; Psalm 48:1; Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 13:4). Satan from the very beginning has desired to rule and have a dominion even as does the heavenly Father: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north” (Isaiah 14:13).

This lesson in contrasts—of good versus evil —is also shown in Egypt by the design of its numerous temples. Each temple, with scarcely an exception, has a two-compartment sanctuary with an outer court, patterned after the Holy and Most Holy compartments of the ­Tabernacle and Solomon’s temple, structures that predated Egyptian temples of this design. The ­Tabernacle and temple were of Divine commission; temples in Egypt were constructed ­under pagan influences. Similarly, where the Lord instituted various animal sacrifices to typify things spiritual, the great Adversary promoted the notion that the animal itself was to be revered as if it were a god of one sort or ­another. Hence, the Egyptians worshiped the Apis bull, the Horus ­falcon, the Anubis jackal, Bast cat, Thoth ­baboon, and Wadjet cobra, among others. As we read, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

Another proof that the second pyramid is a false copy of the Great Pyramid is the rather famous (as well as conspicuous) Great Sphinx. It is directly associated with the second pyramid by a causeway (a pavement similar to a roadway) connecting the second pyramid to a lower valley temple next to the Sphinx. The Sphinx is a most peculiar structure; it is formed from a natural outcrop of limestone rock, 240 feet long and some sixty-six feet high from ground level. Unlike all other statues in Egypt which have the head of an animal and the body of a man, the Sphinx has the body of a lion and a man’s head—similar to that found in Babylon and associated with Nimrod. The Scriptures clearly identify the Adversary as not only the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), but also as a Christian’s predator: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Satan is a master at copying. In this peculiar formation he has capitalized on this imagery of a lion to copy the role of a far greater “lion” than he, namely, Jesus: “One of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof” (Revelation 5:5).

Many scholars think the Great Sphinx represents the sky-god, Haremakhet (“Horus on the Horizon”). This reminds us of those angels who sinned and are characterized as fallen ­angels, whose domain is described by the Greek word Tartaroo found only in 2 Peter 2:4, a likely reference to earth’s outer atmosphere. Paul refers to ­Satan, the prince of the fallen angels, as the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).

From a more common point of view, but nevertheless significant, the Arabic name ­ascribed to the Great Sphinx is Abu el-Hol (“Father of Terror”). Even the word “sphinx” (“living idol”) suggests the identity of one who has usurped the rightful position of another: “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 26:1).

Thus we conclude that Satan has masterminded a counterfeit kingdom in the second pyramid and Sphinx complete with disciples who follow his deceptive practices: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

The Flood

The Giza Plateau has yet another story to tell and that story relates to Noah’s flood. Noah, like his son Ham, migrated to Egypt and was joined much later by Shem. We do have evidence within the plateau that is suggestive of this cataclysmic event and its importance not only to this biblical family but also to humankind. This evidence is the ­Solar Boat, or Bark, which was discovered in 1954 and is ­today housed in a museum on the south side of the Great Pyramid. The boat, and another that remains in situ, was originally contained in a rectangular rock pit, covered by eighty-one sixteen-ton limestone blocks. Over the course of more than sixteen years, it was carefully removed and reassembled like a complicated puzzle into a fully fashioned boat measuring over 130 feet long with a displacement of about forty tons. According to Egyptian mythology such a boat would provide transport for the pharaoh and his entourage across the River Styx to the safe harbor of the afterlife. But more importantly, according to biblical reckoning, this boat would serve as a reminder that Noah and his family were carried from what otherwise would have been certain death to a new life, a new beginning. Their lives were spared by means of a “bark” of considerably greater size. After the flood which destroyed everyone else, Noah and his family regenerated the human race.

As “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1) even to the point where we can perceive the gospel written in the stars, one day it will be apparent to all that God has placed the Great Pyramid as his witness upon this plateau to illustrate his plan for man!