Joseph Enters the Scene
A noted man who helped Cheops in building the Pyramid was named Souf. He was "chief of the works of Khufu" (Rawlinson's Egypt, ch. 14). This man has been an enigma to the historians (see Maspero's Dawn of Civilization, pp. 363-364). Elsewhere he is called "Saf-hotep" — meaning "Saf the servant." He was apparently one of 12 brothers who built the Labyrinth — the "Pentagon" of Ancient Egypt — for Amenemhet III (Wathen's Antiquities, p. 142). Certainly there is no doubt who "Souf" was! He could be none other than Joseph!
The name given Joseph by Pharaoh was "Zaph-nath-paaneah" (Gen. 41:45). The Egyptians still call Joseph "Yousuf." Certainly there need be no doubt when Cheops lived!
A corrupted Egyptian story records an incident in the later life of Cheops or Khufu, in which he calls an aged Egyptian sage to his palace (Budge's Egypt, vol. II, p. 43). The sage lived 110 years. Joseph died at 110 years of age (Gen. 50:26). There can be no mistaking this coincidence!
Cheops Wrote Scripture
Not only did Cheops worship Amen or On — that is, Jesus Christ; he also wrote Scripture! Manetho, the Egyptian historian, wrote of Cheops: "He was arrogant toward the gods, but repented and wrote the Sacred Book . . . a work of great importance" (see Wathen's Antiquities, p. 268; and Budge's Egypt, vol. II, p. 31).
But which Sacred Book?
Certainly none of the Sacred Books of Egypt's pagan religion — for Cheops closed their temples and forbade their worship. Was this Sacred Book an Egyptian Book? No! Cheops, remember, was of foreign race — and it is quite obvious that Cheops's Sacred Book was not preserved by Egyptians who later opposed his religion.
A clue to the answer is found in Egyptian records. Cheops has another name — Saaru of Shaaru (Petrie's History of Egypt, vol. I, p. 37). Saaru is another name "for the inhabitants of Mt. Seir" (Rawlinson's History of Egypt, ch. 22). Khufu, then, was a foreign King whose domain extended from Mt. Seir to Lower Egypt during and after the time of Joseph. Petra is in Mount Seir. Dr. Meredith and I visited, in 1957, the domain of Cheops, both in Egypt and in Mt. Seir.
Mt. Seir was famous in history as the "Land of Uz" (Vol. III of Clarke's Commentary, preface to Book of Job). Uz was a descendant of Seir the Horite (Gen. 36:28). The Arabs preserve a corrupt record of Cheops of Mt. Seir or of the Land of Uz. They call him the "wizard of Oz."
Now what individual who dwelled in Uz was arrogant, repented of his sin and wrote a Sacred Book?
None other than JOB!
And the Sacred Book is the Book of Job!
Job — as Mr. Armstrong long ago perceived — could be none other than the Cheops who built the Great Pyramid! The ancient Greeks called Job "Cheops" — pronouncing the letters "ch" almost as if they were an "h." We call Job "Hiob" in German — and we pronounce the final "b" as if it were a "p" much as the Greeks did. Plainly, Cheops is but an altered pronunciation of Job!
Job Was a King!
When Job was being tested, he cried out that he wished he had died: "Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not expire when I came out of the womb . . .? Then had I been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves" (Job 3:11-14).
Job buried with kings? — of course! He was of a royal family. Notice: "Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. After my words they spake not again . . . I . . . sat as chief, and dwelt as a KING in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners" (Job 29:21-25).
Job left a great monument in stone — the Great Pyramid. It swelled his pride. Bildad, one of Job's friends, taunted Job: "Thou that tearest thyself in thine anger, shall the earth be forsaken of thee? Or shall the rock be removed out of its place" (Job 18:4, Jewish translation).
What? — the earth not to be forsaken of Job even if he were to die? Of course — the rock monument he built would remain for ages, would not "be removed out of its place"! What rock monument? — the Great Pyramid!
Now turn to Job 38:4-6. Here is God's response to Job. Notice that the verses presuppose Job a great builder. Now paraphrase God's answer to Job. Compare it with the book of Job and the accompanying article Where is God? (By Robert Gentet).
"You, Job, laid the foundations of the Great Pyramid, but where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? You, Job, determined the measures on the Pyramid in Egypt, but who determined the measures of the earth and stretched the line upon it? You, Job, fastened down in sockets the foundations of the pyramid, but whereupon are the foundations of the earth fastened? You, Job, were not able to lay the Pyramid's capstone, for your work was not absolutely perfect, but I laid the cornerstone of the earth," said God.
That whittled Job down to size! He was not as big as he himself presumed.
But Who Was Job
Cheops lived in Joseph's time. So did Job! Job lived in the generation after Esau, for one of his friends was Eliphaz the Temanite (Job 2:11). Eliphaz was the father of the Temanites (Gen. 36: 11) and the son of Esau, Jacob's brother (verse 10). Eliphaz and Joseph were first cousins.
Job lived before the Mosaic law which permitted only Levites to sacrifice. Notice that Job sacrificed to God for his family as was customarily done in patriarchal times (Job 1:5; 42:8).
None of the conversation in the book of Job refers to the exodus under Moses. But the flood is still uppermost in the minds of the people (Job 22:17-18).
Cheops or Job came to the throne in 1726 B.C. That date is proved in the forthcoming book on World History. Surprisingly that is the year in which Jacob entered Egypt with his family. A coincidence? Consider this! Coming into Egypt with Jacob in 1726 was a grandson — named Job! "And these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons . . . And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Phuvah and Job, and Shimron" (Genesis 46:13).
In I Chronicles 7:1 Job's name appears as Jashub or Iashub: "And the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four." From the name Jashubor Iashub the Egyptian historian Manetho derived the name Suph of Suf for Cheops. Similarly he spelled the name Joseph as Suph — by dropping the first non-consonantal syllable.
Cheops or Job was Joseph's nephew. He exhibited vast mathematical and astronomical knowledge in building the pyramid. Was this kind of knowledge a characteristic of the tribe of Issachar, from which Job sprang? Let I Chronicles 12:32 answer: "And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do . . ." Jewish commentators understand this to mean mathematical and astronomical knowledge, including the body of information by which the Hebrew calendar was determined and the annual festivals arranged.
Why Pyramid Built
Job lived long before the time of Daniel. Even in the time of Daniel and the apostles, the dates for the prophetic future were not opened to understanding. If they were not permitted to know the times and seasons, certainly Job would not have known them, much less built the pyramid to fit chronology!
Yet adherents to pyramidology contend that Cheops did know these things.
I have beside me now the works of David Davidson, Adam Rutherford, and others. Each tries to build a chronology for the future by measuring the dimensions of the Great Pyramid with the "pyramid inch." Dr. Meredith and I saw the little stone protrusion in the Pyramid which these people contend is the key to the revelation of the pyramid. But they have no way to know whether this little protrusion should measure the pyramid and determine chronology, or whether it was for some other purpose.
Even if one has accurately measured the pyramid, how are they going to know which point means which year? Davidson starts with a certain point in the Pyramid and calls it the day of the crucifixion — Friday, April 7, 30 A.D. Since that date is proved wrong by the Bible, all his chronology is in error.
Another takes the same point and calls it the date of the crucifixion, Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. Since that date may be proved wrong, too, his chronology errs.
THE OBVIOUS FACT IS THAT NO STANDARD EXISTS WHICH MIGHT REVEAL WHICH STONE OR WHICH SCRATCH ON A PASSAGEWAY MEANS A PARTICULAR YEAR. The pyramid was built for another purpose than to reveal chronology. We do not yet know all the factors surrounding the building of the Pyramid. But it is a monument, undoubtedly designed by Job, to commemorate what Joseph did for Egypt and to mark the border of the territory given to Joseph's family in the land of Egypt by Pharaoh.
Pharaoh gave Israel the land of Goshen (Gen. 47:11). The land of Goshen extends from Palestine westward to the Nile River (Gen. 15:18). It included what is now the Suez Canal. Pharaoh long ago gave it to the family of Joseph, but today Egypt has seized control of it. How far south along the Nile River does the land of Goshen run? To the border between Lower and Middle Egypt — in the very region where the Great Pyramid is located! Because the Great Pyramid stands at the border between these two divisions of Egypt, many have taken Isaiah 19:19-20 to refer to the pyramid. Certainly the "altar" mentioned in this verse is not the pyramid. God forbids any altar of carved stone (Exodus 20: 25-26).
But the Great Pyramid may be the pillar which Isaiah referred to, and it might be again dedicated in the future as a pillar or monument of witness to what the Eternal — the Amen — will do in delivering Egypt from the revived Roman Empire. A pillar is sometimes used in the Bible as a borderline (see Genesis 31:52).
We might also consider whether the pyramid was designed by Job to be the tomb or resting place of Joseph's mummy, before it was carried up out of Egypt by Moses (Exodus 13:19). Cheops or Job, according to the ancient historians, was not buried in it. The sarcophagus in the "King's chamber" was empty in ancient times. No treasures were hidden in the Pyramid's inner recesses. And it was anciently open to visitors from Greece and Rome.
The Great Pyramid was built, according to Herodotus, over a period of about 20 years in the 3 months of each year during which the Nile overflowed and the people were idle. Its construction therefore did not occupy slave labor, but idle labor. And through it, perhaps, the Egyptians gained their freedom from Pharaoh. Josephus, the Jewish historian, states that Joseph did return the land to the Egyptians (Antiquities, bk. II, ch.7, §7).
And what better thank offering could the Egyptians have given than donating of their idle time to build a monument designed and directed by Job as a perpetual witness to the all-ruling, Eternal God who sent Joseph to save the Egyptians!
God's Government is also in the form of a pyramid. Christ is the rejected "capstone" (Psalm 118:22). What more fitting monument could Job have built than this to the God whose Government rules invisibly over the world and who sends His prophets to warn it before every calamity.