Israel left Egypt but never fully left its idolatry, ultimately leading to its demise. In a forgotten tale from the 1800s, the United States brought Egypt’s gods to its shores. But God may have left a message in the idol to warn us of falling into ancient Israel’s destiny.
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The United States Brings an Idol Out of Egypt
In 1880 an emissary of sorts arrived from Egypt to the new world. Arriving on a steamship in the Hudson River, crowds waved their hats and handkerchiefs at the peered at the ship hoping to glimpse its celebrated passenger.
The ship’s passenger was an emissary from a pharaoh who reigned 3,500 years before. Yet the emissary bragged of this pharaoh’s military conquests as the “bull of victory” and his god-ordained destiny as the son of the sun god, Ra. It further glorified a second Pharaoh, Ramses II as the chosen son of Ra who shines on the horizon like the “orb of the sun”.
Though these boasts seemed odd to the freedom-loving Americans, they celebrated nonetheless. See, this emissary was not a person, but rather a 69-foot tall obelisk, which had just completed a cross-Atlantic journey from Alexandria.
Not only did this obelisk glorify two kings, but it also glorified the Egyptian gods, Thot, Tum, Ra, and Osiris. This practice was typical for these Egyptian monuments, which were thought to be inhabited by the god’s spirit to whom the obelisk was dedicated.
This particular obelisk, known as Cleopatra’s Needle, was placed on a high place in Central Park, on the site of a new art museum in 1881. But was this obelisk art, or did it bring something more sinister to the United States?
A Foreign Idol in the Homeland
The Bible is clear that God despises idols. He is a jealous God and will not share our worship with false gods. The question is whether this was an idol to the Americans or simply art?
The answer is in how they treated the monument. Let’s start by examining the primary attributes of an idol.
Characteristics
There are four general types of idols described in the Bible. These include carved images, pillars, engraved stones, and altars (Leviticus 26:1, Deuteronomy 7:5). According to Strong’s, the Hebrew word for pillar, matstsebah, specifically refers to Egypt’s obelisks in several scriptures. These references can be found in Deuteronomy 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles.
Placement in a High Place
Idols are almost always associated with high places in the Bible. The Bible mentions high place(s) over 100 times in reference to idols. Cleopatra’s Needle was placed on Graywacke Knoll in Central Park, one of Manhattan’s highest places.
Worship
Idols are worshipped. The Pharoah who commissioned this obelisk was Thutmose III (1458-1425 BC). In addition to erecting obelisks, he instituted ritual ceremonies at their feet to present offerings to the god(s) they glorified.
While many of the people who attended the obelisk’s dedication were not intentionally worshipping it, they did just that.
For the laying of its foundation’s cornerstone, 9,000 Freemasons gathered for a grand parade and ceremony. According to eyewitnesses, every vantage point was taken and the streets, balconies, and windows were crowded. Every division of the Freemasons was headed by a plumed band that formed symbols as they walked.
Crowds surged to see its dedication, blocking stairways and sidewalks in all directions. And to celebrate its arrival, ladies wore mechanical lead pencils around their necks in the shape of the obelisk. New York merchants, including a needle company, passed out trading cards in honor of the artifact. One such card hailed the erecting of an Egyptian obelisk in the new world as the “greatest achievement of the nineteenth century!”
Offerings
Most significantly, a time capsule was placed under its steps, an offering of sorts. The steps at the obelisk’s base are like a footstool to the gods of this monument. The Bible frequently describes a footstool as a place of submission.
Inside the capsule was an assortment of items. These items included a Bible, a copy of the Declaration of Independence, an 1870 U.S. census, a proof set of coins from 1880, a dictionary, the complete works of Shakespeare, books, medals from U.S. military branches, a model propeller of a Civil War ship, industrial metals, an encyclopedia of engineering, documents from various agencies, and Freemason’s emblems.
This may seem like a harmless collection of memorabilia; however, the nature of these items reveals that this assortment was anything but harmless.
Under this footstool, they placed representations of our God, our country’s freedom, our population, our financial system, our language, our literature, our media, our military, our industry, our technology, and our government. This was in essence, placing representations of the whole nation under the footstool of Egyptian gods!
(Note: there was also a small “mysterious” box placed in the time capsule by the promoter of the obelisk transfer. The contents of this box are unknown. See “Post Script” for more details.
The Repercussions of Worshipping Idols
God instructed Israel from the start that if they remained in His laws they would receive His blessings. However, if they turned from Him and worshipped idols, there would be dire consequences. These consequences included famine, plagues, and enemy attacks (unless they repented). God’s forbidding of Idol worship is prominent in His law. The first two commandments refer to this idol worship and it is mentioned in the Bible in reference to sin more than any other sin.
As punishment for idol worship, God divided Israel’s land and sent enemies against their cities to breach their walls, destroy their cities, and exile the people. This was in accordance with His laws (Leviticus 19 and 20). Could God have been any more emphatic of the seriousness of idol worship?
And, as Israel was consecrated to God, the United States was also consecrated to God. After his inaugural address, George Washington and the members of the House and Senate did so at St. Paul’s chapel in New York City in 1789.
So if God warned Israel of its idol worship, is it possible that God also left the U.S. a message encoded in the placement of this idol?
See The First American Idol and the Hidden Warning of the Enemy to Come – Part II to find out.