The “Seventy Weeks”

The honor of becoming members in the great spiritual Seed of Abraham was the exclusive privilege of the people of Israel till the end of their “seventy weeks” of favor (See Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II Chapter 3).

It is interesting to note that the complete period of 4162 years of the world’s history from the time of Adam’s fall till the end of Israel’s 70 weeks, is equally divided into two grand periods of 2081 years, the central point of division being signalized by God’s great promise to Abraham, namely, that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. See the diagram above, which in itself explains this feature. (According to the custom of ancient nations previous to the giving of the law, the beginning of the year of Adam’s fall is 4126 ¼ B.C., and the beginning of the year when Abraham received his covenant of promise is 2045¼ B.C. 4126 ¼ B.C. minus 2045¼ B.C. equals 2081 years; and from the beginning of the year of Abraham’s covenant, till the full end of the exclusive Gospel favor to his natural seed, is a period of similar length, for 2045¼ B.C. plus 35¾ A.D. equals 2081 years.)

The 70 weeks (490 years) began to count from the time when Nehemiah received his commission and built the walls of Jerusalem. This was in the 20th year of the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia (Compare Dan. 9:24-25, with Neh. 2:1-20; 6: 15). At the end of this volume we give proofs that Artaxerxes ascended the throne in 474 B.C., and that his 20th year was, therefore, 455 B.C.

The Prophet Daniel foretold that the Messiah would come at the end of the first 69 of these symbolical “weeks,” and in fulfillment of this, namely, in Autumn 29 A.D., God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and thus declared him to be the Messiah. During the 70th and last week, in the midst of which the Messiah was “cut off” in sacrifice (as shown in diagram above), the Gospel favor went forth to the nation of Israel, first as a whole through its representatives, and then, after the death and resurrection of the Lord in Spring 33 A.D., to the individuals of the Nation; but in Autumn 36 A.D. the exclusive favor to Israel ceased, and the Gentiles were now given equal opportunity to become members in Abraham’s spiritual seed. The year 455 B.C. was therefore a very important date in the Age of Israel, and we find that it is indicated in the First Ascending Passage by the south, or upper, edge of the first Girdle-stone.

When the law was “taken out of the way ” by Christ, and the faithful among the Israelite’s were ushered into the favor of the Gospel Dispensation represented by the Grand Gallery, they gladly began the ascent and exulted in the freedom of the high-calling, so different from the bondage of the law covenant under which they had been laboring. But the majority of the nation, the “chaff” class, through willful unbelief, turned aside and ceased to enjoy the exclusive favor of the invitation to joint-heirship with the Messiah.

This is indicated by the little passage which leads out of the Grand Gallery to the shaft of the Well, and the exact date of the end of their 70 weeks of favor, Autumn 36 A.D., is indicated by the vertical line of the Grand Gallery west wall. The moment they passed beyond this line, they were outside of the Grand Gallery privileges, and were obliged to take their lot as individuals along with the Gentiles, so far as the high-calling was concerned.

Tracing this time-measurement (as in Section XLII, “The Nation of Israel’s period of Separation from the World”, Part 10 in our study), we begin in the central line of the First Ascending Passage, at the point where the upper, or south, edge of the first Girdle runs across the floor. This joint-line marks the date 455 B.C., the beginning of the 70 weeks of exclusive favor to Israel. From here we ascend the floor-line to opposite the north edge of the Well-mouth, horizontally southward to opposite the center of this mouth, then sharp to the west (right) to the edge of the mouth itself, down vertically to the floor of the small westward passage which leads to the shaft of the Well, and along this floor’s central line to the point vertically underneath the line of the Grand Gallery’s west wall. This final point marks, by this time-measurement, the date 36 A.D., the full end of the 70 weeks of favor to Israel, 490 inch-years. (See the two diagrams on pages 206, and 207.)

NOTE: The details of the above-mentioned time-measurement require, if the precise 490 inches are wanted, that the floor-distance from the upper end of the First Ascending Passage to the upper edge of the first Girdle be 384.5292 Pyramid inches (although absolute precision in the indication of time-measurements need not be insisted upon, provided the dates in connection with them are pointed to with a reasonable amount of accuracy. It is in the scientific features that greater precision is necessary; and these will be dealt with in Vol. III of Great Pyramid Passages).

According to Professor Flinders Petrie, the distance in question is 385 British inches, or 384.615 Pyramid inches, which is less than a 10th part of an inch more than the precise requirement. Our own measurements are:

Along floor-line, East side, 385.1145; West side, 384.615.

The distance down the West side is therefore practically in agreement with the time-measurement; and there are probably reasons why the distance down the East side is about ½ an inch more.

The distance down the roof-line is nearly an inch less, as follows (upper edge of first Girdle):

Along roof-line, East side, 383.86575; West side, 383.616.

The distance along the roof-line was purposely made less than along the floor-line, the top half of this first girdle being made with a thicker stone than the lower half, as can be seen in our Plate CXXVIII, page 282, of Vol. 1 Great Pyramid Passages. The reason for the difference is explained in the next Section, No. LII.

Great Pyramid Passages Page 244-247 par. 644-650