Show THE BO BOOK booe OK OF or ABR abb ABRAHAM HAM it Us genuineness established 13 reynolds CHAP X XA AbidA braham ani avi aa a pyra the uses q ae the pyramids py zhe the th i e coffer go f firer d baptismal font fon f symbolism in baptism joc for dead the next task which we have assigned ourselves is to show from the ancient pyramids of egypt that the true system of astronomy as taught by god to abraham was known to those who raised these mighty structures to do this we desire to draw attention and consider separately three points the historical reasons we have for believing that abraham sup bup Pr Intended the erection of the py pyramids i or more particularly the first brator or gr dur at pyramid of chebis tha the reasons why these vast structures were built and the uses usei for which they were designed 3rd ard the direce direct evidences from froin the dimensions form of the pyramid of che choops ops aps t that sit fit tend endro to prove that its builders were av acquainted quain qua tined liNed fed ted with we the jaws lawai i ern the starry worlds the pharaoh or king ring ing of eg egypt t who i P generally regarded aalthe valthe oa the builder of iho tiia first pyrma pyramid I 1 Is known to secular history by the name naffie of to him and his actions in closing the idolatrous temp tomp temples leFt of egypt we have referred in jn a previous loui ioui chapler chapter as we well weil as to the statement of herodotus that the egyptians egy so detested hii his memory that they would not even mention his name hence he states stat esy ess ubey they commonly call the pyramids 1 after a shop herd who at that time fed his flocks about the place remarking on the above statement mr procter the celebrated astronomer writes the mention of the shepherd Phili tion who fed his hia flocks about the place where the great pyramid was built is a singular feature of Hero dohl dohm 6 jk j reada leada ilke ilku like some strange misinterpretation of the story related to him by the egyptian priests it is obvious atthe it the word Phili tion did not cepres represent e i nt a pe people olle boia person I 1 thid thia person eison elson must have been verv very eminent and d distinguished ming wing blahe J a herd jling jiing lot not adem phep shepherd hera herd raiv suggests that Phi litis iltis wasa wab was pious provably bly a ghe shepherd p h CR a princ prince 0 fro from nit hil palestine perhaps orphilia i time tibe i ent prof smyth c comes omes to nerv the conclusion thal that same she mite prince nce a contemporary of but rather rither older than the tho patriarch Abraham 1 visited egypt at this thu timo time and obtained such influence luedde inn oven ovet the lindof mind of cheop a aa as to th pei persuade hini him to erect erbet the pyramid according to smyth the prince was no other than ehi chi zedek king of salem balem and the influence he exerted was supernatural perna per natural it beems seems seems beems tolerably clear that certain shepherd chiefs chiefa who came into egypt during choops reign were connected in some way with the designing of the great Xyr pyramid amid it is clear also that they were men of a different religion from the egyptians and persuaded to abandon the religion of his pepie peppie y pepie sf tf 11 if josephfa Jose be correct professor deductions regarding melchi chi zedek are wrong for the former 1 says aye 1 that the egyptians were taught astronomy by abraham without fc followed abraham into egypt t instead of preceding him w which ich though possible we haye have no account of in any of the sacred writings mr mi proctor If urther further Ny writes rites fin gin gln in the first place the history of the pyramids shows that tho the erection of the first great pyramid was in all probability either suggested to choops by wise men who visited egypt from the east or else some important information conveyed to him by such visitors caused him to conceive the idea of building the pyramid in either case wo we may suppose p oses as the history indeed suggests buit suit gel 9 that these learned men whoever they may havo have beon been remained in egypt to superintend the erection of the tho structure the astronomical peculiarities which form so significant a portion of the great pyramid were probably provided entirely under the direction of f the shepherd chiefs who had exerted so strange an influence upon the mind of king choops it is certain in any case that they the shepherd chiefs opposed to idolatry and we have hav thus some means of inferring who they were or whence they came we know that one particular branch of one particular race mee in the east was characterized by a most marked hatred tf bf idolatry in all its for forna forra raaf ii and the bible record shows that members bersot of this chaldean family jamily visited e 10 egypt from timo time to time they wehe were shepherds too which accords with wan the tho account of herodotus 9 but having formed the opinion on grounds sufficiently assured that the strangers who visited egypt and superintended super euper intended the building of the great pyramid were kinsmen of the patriarch abraham it is cottery nob not very difficult to degle degie decide what was waa the subject respecting g which they had such exact information they or Dr their parents had h hid come from the land of or 66 chaide ans and thep they wei douht doubt loa ioa a askan ed in all the wisdom of their heir chaldean kinsmen they were masters in fact of the astronomy of their day dax a science for which the chal deans had bad shown from the earliest a ag gp esthe most remarkable aptitude its it is highly probable that the astronomical knowledge of the tho chaldean Ch aldeana in the days ef of terah and abraham was much more accurate than that possessed by the gr greeks geks in the time 12 mp M r proctor ultimate ultimately jy comes to the conclusion that the arranger called Phili tion by herodotus n may 1 a ya feh foh fei er aught that appears have b been e e n abraham Abra hani hanl himself our next inquiries are aro with regard to the causes or dr reasons that led to the erection of the pyramids ana BIN to the purposes for which they were used various theories have been advanced on these points some hay have supposed that these vast structures were associated with the religious rites of the ancient egyptians others have suggested that they combined the purposes of tombs and temples again that they were astronomical observatories also that they had primarily astrologi cal import it has also been argued that they were de fences against the sands of the great desert or places tf M f aa lint P Q iv anvar flows of the 9 nile 3 the ap i idea rj e a has also b been zen advanced t hat that they were granaries somewhat after the manner of those erected under the direction of joseph the israelite I 1 A very little reflection will vill manifest that some of the suggestions are entirely untenable take for in instance stance the notion that they were gra gru granaries narles icso if so what avast a vast waste of material how entirely does their structure and form them for such A a purpose As wise a people as their builders bui bul idera must have been would scarcely sear scar culy coly have cons constructed truc tei tel a mountain of masonry with two or three relatively small rooms therein for such a purpose there is some show of reason for believing that some of them were tombs and temples combined but this will wili not mot hold good with regard to the pyramid of choops nothing found therein has hag given the least groundwork for the supposition that it was used for sepulchral purposes in what IsI islley called the kings chamber was found an empty stone chest br or coffer without a iid ltd but bat in form foiada orm orja ornament ament and material it is entire jy indifferent different differ eit to the usual sarcophagus used by the ther ancient egyptians for the reception of the embalmed embalm ed dead two 0 the reasons advanced above as applied to the j pyramids p of choops are worthy of our consideration abt sat that it vias nias was an observatory T thai that it was associated with the religion of the ancient egyptians the reasons for fon believing it fo to have been built as an observatory are cogent and numerous there can beno doubt that in many respects it wak was wab intended by its bull buil builders d to typify astronomical truths evidence in proof of bf which vl will be hereafter adduced it has been suggested that the tha granite coffer cofler found in what is naw now called tha the kings hinges chamber simply that it may have a distinctive name was filled in whole or in part aa as circumstances required with water and that the face of the heavens was reflected therein through the slanting passages that pointed di erectly to the polar star that this conf coff conler cofler arwas was used as a receptacle for water 1 ia highly probable from the fact that a well welt tapping the waters of the nile is found in the chamber in this inner chamber surrounded by this vast mass of masonry removed as far as p possible possible from the atmospheric and electric perturbations eions existing on tho earths eartha bur sur face it is argued that using the water in the coffer as a mirror the most accurate observations could be taken that were then possible according to certain arabian historians there were placed in the great pyramid divers celestial spheres and stars and what they Beve seve severally rally raily operate in their aspects and the perfumes which are to be used beed to hem them and the books which treat ot of these matters matter the evi evl evidences dences that it was an edifice erected for sacred purposes are not so strong as those that can be brought forward in favo favor r of its astronomical uses we incline to the opinion that it combined both purposes ur oses but ut we are aro scarcely wiling willing toad to admit it that if it was wag a temple P le it was a erected by a believer in t that at looked upon osiris and associate deities as the true aoda soda the atul stylo of lins tins vast 8 structure truc ture and the temples erected by the followers erlof of that faith are the antipodes of each other the perfect purity of othe the pyramid from every idolatrous ornament and references as well as us all attempts t to 0 glorify the wealth might or wisdon of ltd its hum human an builders makes it diner differ entirely enan generically and radical radically y from ril all ordinary egyptian temples pictured from top to bottom with the praises of their false gods besides it is Js asserted as before shown that the man who built tuia this pyramid shut up the tem temples ples pies a ary very inconsistent act p if he be were a worshipper wor shipper at their shrines we hold the opinion that if this pyramid was used for religious purposes ses aes atall it was fit lit connection with the doctrines taught by abraham and if the lord permitted the patriarch ti to preach to the egyptians that principle of the gospel known to nn ing aa apt baptism for th thi dead we can well imagine the use which tu to the coffer in the kings chamber was applied indeed the idea that the coffer cotter was a baptismal font has been suggested by more than one gentile writer but if it were used especially in the ordinances dl din ances anees for the salvation of those who had passed from this sphere of action the symbolism would be almost perfect for we tv heart of an artincal artin artiC leal caf cal mountain that could be reached only through a straight stony gate and anday by a long narrow harrow and lus lug bassage passage yas Jas sage how accurately these thead the valley of the shadow of death and the grave and how perfect the imagery of going into the heart of this solid mountain to act for those who had been laid away in the sepulchre there is one thing that greatly streng strength thelis ers eBS the idea that if its uses were religious they were jt it ia is that thievery thi this svery very coffer is of the exact capacity of the ark of the covenant of moses day also that an odgin originally ally aily marked off portion of the chamber in which the coffer stands is of the exact capacity of the brazen sea aea or baptismal font in solomons Bolo mons temple surely there is something more than a mere coincidence in this it la Is worthy of note abat the tho root of the name or Phi litis signifies elf nines a lover loven over of truth a most appropriate name namo for lorf Abra abraham hilm bilm lbryant fB tB ryant faber fabers goodsir and others a to be continued |