“THE PRECIOUS THINGS OF EGYPT.”
By Lee S. Wheeler
“The precious things of Egypt,” are spoken of in Dan. 11:43 as coming into the possession of the king of the north in “the time of the end.” Egypt has long been the basest of kingdoms in fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Poor in natural resources, and inferior in its products, yet, like desolate Palestine and the ruins of Babylon, it has treasures of a rare sort. The value of Egypt’s monumental remains to Biblical and historical research, is due to the discovery of the inscribed slab of black stone incidentally dug up on the Rosetta branch of the Nile, in August, 1799, the next year after the “time of the end” began. It furnished the key to the ancient languages of Egypt, and is called the Rosetta stone. The time had come for these old stone books, so long held in Egypt’s dead hand, to be opened. The Master had need of them. Infidelity was spreading from France into all the world. Many were led into doubt about Moses, and the Bible accounts of God’s “wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea.” Ps. 106:22. It was known that in this land the fragments of temples and tombs, half buried in sand, were covered with strange writing, the meaning of which, now lost, men could never expect to discover; and it was a wonderful coincidence of Providence when men were led to stumble onto the key to all this, just at that time—the time foreseen by the prophet. And it is because of the light which is reflected upon the Bible by these remains, from the times of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, that they are counted “the precious things of Egypt.” Various societies in Christian lands have since labored earnestly in bringing to light these treasures, and placing them in the principal museums of Europe, England, and America; but so far the work has always been attended with much difficulty, as the Turkish government controls everything. After their work is done under circumstances of great inconvenience, the excavators cannot bring away with them much that is most valuable, because, the government officials representing the interests of the museums at Constantinople and Cairo will, as a rule, part with only what they do not particularly care for. Soon after this fact was related to me by a curate of an Eastern university, which has succeeded in securing one of the best collections in this country, the force of it suddenly flashed upon me while speaking, as I thought of Dan. 11:43. “He shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt.” It seems to me that this is an unquestionable evidence that the “king of the north” here mentioned is the Turkish power. A recent writer says that “the vast halls of the museum at Cairo have been filled to overflowing with the treasures of the past.”