Isaiah 19, 20: Oracle Against Egypt: Chapter 25: The Great Altar

Isaiah 19:18 says,

¹⁸ In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.

This verse makes little sense without some explanation. First of all, we do not know which “five cities” were to fulfill this prophecy, but no doubt they were a representation of the entire land of Egypt. One of the cities the prophet calls “City of Destruction.” Bullinger comments:

“The prophet was speaking of the City of Cheres, or Sun City, which the Greeks later called Heliopolis, which carries the same meaning. The Greek word Helios, ‘the sun,’ was their Sun god, and so they saw Helios as the Greek name for the Egyptian Sun gods, Ra and Atum.”

Dr. Bullinger tells us that Isaiah altered cheres to heres, substituting hey for chet, thereby altering the name to the “City of Destruction.” No doubt Isaiah altered this name to show his disdain for the city that worshiped Ra-Atum, the Sun god. The prophet implies that their false worship would lead them into destruction.

So it is clear that Heliopolis was one of the “five cities” in the verse above. It was one of the oldest cities of Egypt and is now called Ayn Shams, a northeastern suburb of Cairo. The ancient Egyptians called their city lwnw, and since they used only consonants, historians today do not know how to pronounce it. But the biblical name in Hebrew is On (Gen. 41:45, 50), pronounced “Own,” and so no doubt this is approximately how the Egyptians pronounced it as well. On means “strength, vigor” and is a reference to the light of the sun, or strong sunlight. To the Egyptians, On probably referred to the supposed strength and power of the Sun god.

At any rate, Isaiah altered the name to prophesy the destruction of the city and its false gods. Yet he gives us no clue about the other four cities. Dr. Bullinger suggests that these were probably Leontopolis, Daphne, Migdol, and Memphis.

Isaiah says that the day will come when these cities “will be speaking the language of Canaan,” Bullinger says that this was a reference to the Hebrew language of the dominant people in Canaan—that is, the Israelites. The prophet was implying that the Egyptians were to come into agreement with (i.e., speak the same language as) the Hebrews. Hence, they will be “swearing allegiance to the Lord of hosts.”

The same idea is repeated in Isaiah 45:23, where we read that every tongue will “swear allegiance” to the Lord. As a type of the world, Egypt represents all who will bow their knees to Christ and swear allegiance to Him.

This, then, is how Isaiah introduces his prophecy about the repentance of Egypt from their worship of false gods when they learn the true nature of the God of Israel.

Three Witnesses of Divine Revelation

The first Bible was transmitted through pictures and sign language of the constellations that God named at the beginning of time (Gen. 1:14; Psalm 147:4). These constellations and individual stars originally prophesied of the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom. The Great Pyramid was a second witness, written in stone, prophesying the passage of time through the passages within the Pyramid itself, an inch representing a year in history. Hence, the Great Pyramid has been called The Bible in Stone.

The third witness, of course, began with Moses, who began writing the Bible that we have today. But our present study focuses on the Great Pyramid that was mentioned in Isaiah 19:19, 20, for here we see its prophetic purpose as a sign of the salvation of the world (i.e., “Egypt”).

The Great Pyramid

Isaiah 19:19, 20 says,

¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt; and a pillar to the Lord near its border [between Upper and Lower Egypt]. ²⁰ It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion, and He will deliver them.

The Great Pyramid is located on what was once the border between Upper and Lower Egypt and, in fact, at the midpoint of that border where the Nile Delta begins. The Great Pyramid was the point where the Nile Delta quadrant fanned out toward the Mediterranean Sea. Isaiah says that this “altar to the Lord” will be located “in the midst of the land of Egypt…near its border.”

The numeric value of Isaiah 19:19, 20 (above) is 5,449, which is the precise height of the Great Pyramid when measured in Pyramid inches. A Pyramid inch is equal to 1.00106 British inches and is the basic unit of measure that was used by the original builders themselves. It was also one five hundred millionth of the length of the polar axis of the earth. Hence, the Pyramid inch is more scientific than the modern inch, although our modern inch was based on the Pyramid inch.

Each of the four base lengths of the Pyramid are 365.242 Pyramid inches. This number represents the precise length of a solar year measured in days. The Pyramid was built on good science.

The Pyramid was constructed 286.1 Pyramid inches off centered, so that the capstone would not fit on it. Pyramidologists call this “the displacement factor.” And so the capstone was never placed on the top (or “head”). Prophetically speaking, the capstone was rejected by the builders. It is clear from studying the Pyramid itself that this was deliberate and prophetic, because the capstone represented Jesus Christ.

Psalm 118:22, 23 prophesies, saying,

²² The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone [or “head of the corner,” KJV]. ²³ This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

The head of the corner is a capstone on a pyramid. Christ was rejected, because He did not fit on the main body of the Pyramid which represented the people themselves in their natural state. This was meant to portray how mankind since Adam has been incompatible and out of sync with the character of Christ.

The character/nature of mankind, then, has been “displaced” from the nature of Christ, and the Pyramid sets forth this truth in numerical terms (286.1). This comes out in the biblical chronology when we see that God called Abraham 286.1 rest years from Adam to begin rectifying the displacement factor. The call of Abraham took place 2003 years from Adam, which I noted in Appendix D of my book, Secrets of Time.

The timing of Abraham’s call suggests that this was the biblical start of a long-term rectification that was to culminate with the coming of Christ and His coronation as the King of the World.

The only solution to the world’s problem is the descent of Christ, as if the capstone were coming down out of heaven to fit on the Great Pyramid. That event was prophesied in Zech. 4:7, “he will bring forth the top stone [or “headstone, capstone”] with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

The body of the Pyramid is built on 203 layers of stone, divided by the King’s Chamber on the 50^th layer of stone (Jubilee). Above the King’s Chamber are 153 layers of stone (the Sons of God). Likewise, the length of the so-called “Grand Gallery” in the Pyramid is 12 x 153 Pyramid inches in length. These numbers have prophetic significance in relation to Christ and the sons of God. (The Hebrew term, beni h’elohim, “sons of God,” has a numeric value of 153.)

Thousands of years ago the Great Pyramid was probably built by Shem, son of Noah, although the astronomical reference point dates it back to the Vernal Equinox in 2141 B.C. Shem later built Jerusalem and set up his city-state, taking the title of Melchizedek.

History suggests that Shem built the Great Pyramid through the knowledge of astronomy and mathematics that was passed down to him from Enoch. Hence, the structure was called Pa-Hanoch, or “House of Enoch.” It stands as a silent witness of God’s word and promise to Egypt—and, by extension, to the whole world.

The Pyramid as a Prophetic Sign

Isaiah tells us that the Great Pyramid (“altar to the Lord”) will be a sign to Egypt “in that day.” What day? Obviously, it is the day of Egypt’s salvation, the time when Egypt swears allegiance to the Lord of hosts (Isaiah 19:18). It is therefore an end-time prophecy, for we have not yet seen that day.

More broadly, Egypt represents the world itself, particularly in its role as the oppressor of Israel prior to the days of Moses. Hagar, the bondwoman, was also an Egyptian, showing the bondage factor associated with Egypt in contrast to Sarah, the free woman.

Isaiah 19:20 says that the Great Pyramid “will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts.” In what way? What will be its silent testimony? To understand that fully, one would have to study the dimensions and lengths of each passage, along with the three main rooms. That is a very long and detailed study in itself, into which few would dare to venture. Adam Rutherford wrote four excellent volumes on Pyramidology from 1957 into the 1960’s.

The bottom line is that according to Isaiah, the Great Pyramid bears witness to the day when Egypt—and, indeed, the entire world— “will cry to the Lord because of oppressors.” In today’s context, that means they will come to recognize that their government and religion has been oppressing them or enslaving them for a very long time.

When they cry out to the true God, “He will send them a Savior [yasha] and a Champion [rab, “great, mighty”], and He will deliver them.” This is obviously a messianic prophecy of Christ (Yeshua) coming to save Egypt and the world.

Isaiah 19:21 continues,

²¹ Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.

It will be interesting to see if this prophecy is fulfilled officially in a ceremony at the actual site of the Great Pyramid. Certainly, the coming of Christ is pictured in the placement of the capstone after the displacement factor has been rectified so that Christ the Head can be joined to the body with no objection or rejection.

Their “vow to the Lord” will be their swearing allegiance to Christ—something which the prophet speaks about later in Isaiah 45:22-24.

In conclusion, we see that the salvation of Egypt and the world comes through judgment, the purpose of which is to turn the hearts of the people, rather than to destroy them. So Isaiah 19:22 says,

²² The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.

The Egyptians are God’s children. God is responsible to discipline them so that they will repent and “return to the Lord,” so that He may heal them and save them all.

The Great Pyramid has stood for thousands of years as a silent witness testifying of the salvation of Egypt and the day when Christ is recognized by all as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The great principle of the restoration of all things is inherent in this prophecy. It is based on the idea that divine judgment results in “healing,” not utter destruction or eternal damnation, as so many have thought.