MASONRY IN THE GREAT LIGHT
The Short Talk Bulletin of December, 1931, on “The Three Scripture
Readings,” described the symbolic significance of the passages from
scripture used in conferring the three degrees.
Masonry in the Bible is not confined to these three poems in prose.
Masons are taught to look to the Great Knight for spiritual comfort,
as the inestimable gift of God to man for the rule and guide of his
faith and practice. If he searches intelligently, he will there find
much Masonic teaching, an amplification of ritual, a continuation of
symbolism as beautiful as it is intangible, as lovely as it is
ethereal.
At the door of every Lodge stands the Tiler with a drawn sword in his
hand. How apt to this office is this verse:
“So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of
Eden, Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24)
A man not a Mason is not permitted in the Lodge; the Tiler’s sword
“turns every way” to keep the path to the tree of spiritual life to
be found in every Lodge.
In the opening of the Lodge is mention of the widowed and the
fatherless, that we may never forget a Mason’s duty to those whose
natural protector is no more.
“A father of the fatherless and a judge if the widows, is God in his
holy habitation. (Psalms 68:5) Learn to do well; seek judgment,
relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
(Isaiah 1:17)”
In these two passages are the charity teachings which Masons follow;
the very heart of that care of the lonely and the orphan which is at
once a Master Mason’s duty and his pride. He who visits his
Jurisdiction’s Masonic Home, and there sees the helpless helped, or
is happy to contribute to the support of the Charity Foundation,
Grand Lodge Charity Fund or Lodge gift, can be comforted that he
follows the inspired teaching of these words from the Great Light.
In many Grand Lodges there is much discussion as to the “Doctrine of
the Perfect Youth” which proclaims that a man must be unmaimed to be
accepted as a candidate. Modern ideas in some Grand Lodges lean
toward relaxing the severe restrictions; others still cling to the
old idea that he who has lost a member - even a finger - must suffer
for the good of the whole Order, that the Ancient Landmark be
preserved. Some quotations from the Old Testament seem to show that
the priests of Israel regarded physical perfection much as the
Fraternity has done:
Only he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the altar,
because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries; for I
the Lord so sanctify them. (Leviticus 21:23) Ye shall offer at your
own will a male without blemish, of beeves, or the sheep, or of the
goats. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for
it shall not be acceptable for you. (Leviticus 22:19-20)
On the other side of the question, and bearing vitally on the
principle that Masonry is universal, and no respecter of race or
creed, is this clear exposition:
“But Peter said, Not so Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is
common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second
time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. Then Peter
opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:14-15-34-35)”
Where is a man first prepared to be made a Mason? Think of the
essential symbolism and then read:
“For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. (Samuel 16:7)”
The Great Light shadowed forth the truths of our symbolism and the
teachings of the three degrees long before Operative Freemasonry, as
we know it, came upon the earth to extend and promote the
dissemination of those great principles on which all true character
making is based.
After a candidate enters the Lodge by the West gate, the first
question asked him sets the key to all that the degree may be to him;
he who answers this solemn inquiry must be sodden minded indeed if he
visualizes not the serious import and the glorious future of the
ceremony thus anticipated. Long, long ago sweet singers sang:
“In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do
unto me, (Psalms 56:11) Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and
lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6) Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he
trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for the Lord Jehovah
is everlasting strength. (Isaiah 26:3-4)”
Masons know the benefit of Lodge prayer. Never the Lodge is opened
but a petition to the Most High is a part of the ceremony; never a
degree is conferred but humble petition to Deity forms an important
part. The Bible is filled with exhortations regarding prayer, which
show the essentials of asking what we may receive. Familiar though
we are with these beautiful passages, recall this one here:
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye
shall receive. (Matthew 21:22)”
Nothing equivocal, nothing hidden or obtuse about that promise; a
clear cut statement from the lowly Son of Man who walked by Galilee;
a truth acceptable alike to Jew and Gentile, Mohammedan, and Parsee,
Buddhist and Christian, profane and Mason.
By slow degrees, in a solemnity which no man who has experienced it
can ever forget. the initiate approaches the Holy of Holies - the
Sacred Altar of Freemasonry - there to assume obligations of such
importance that no man who takes them upon his heart and conscience
is ever quite the same thereafter. The old testament is filled with
stories of the altar, of places of worship built of rude stones in
the open, of silver and gold in Temples, of high hopes and devout
hearts in tents in the wilderness. Most tender and touching, as well
as most symbolic from the Masonic viewpoint, are these verses:
“And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I
give this land; and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who
appeared unto him. (genesis 12:7) And he said, Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of
Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one the
mountains which I will tell of. (Genesis 22:2) And they came to the
place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on
the Altar upon the wood. (Genesis 22:9)”
If a man have not a humble and contrite heart before the Altar of
Freemasonry it were better for him not to kneel. For the Altar is a
symbol of sacrifice. Abraham was required to give his very heart;
true, it was but a test, but he knew it not. How many times may the
Freemason be required to sacrifice before the Altar of Freemasonry as
a test only - and know it not? Here must he offer up selfishness,
and learn to live for others; here he must enter into a solemn pact
with his brethren that they are, to him, more important than he can
be to himself; here he must lay pride and egotism and selfish
independence, and bow not only his head but his very soul before the
Great Architect of the Universe. Brethren cannot know if the
sacrifice is real or but lip service, but he is a brave initiate
indeed who does not believe that One knows in what spirit and with
what self-abnegation he lays his sacrifice upon our Altar; even as
Abraham of old.
We are told to read the book of Ruth; many if not most rituals follow
almost exactly these words:
“Now this was the manner in former times in Israel concerning
redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man
plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor; and this was a
testimony in Israel. (Ruth 4:7)”
“Redeeming and Changing” refer to property in general and land in
particular; he who had given his land as security for a debt,
redeemed it just as we can pay off a mortgage on our house.
“Changing” is an old word for selling; he who sold his land “changed”
it to another owner. We sign a paper, and perhaps acknowledge it
before a Notary Public, by swearing to it. Our ancient Jewish
brother plucked off his shoe as a testimony that he sold that which
he had a right to sell. It is not improbable that the custom arose
from the inability of a shoeless man to run away; it is analogous to
removing the glove before we offer our hand, as Knights of Old
stripped off their mailed gauntlet before shaking hands, in testimony
that they feared no enemy.
It would be easily possible to extend this Bulletin for many pages,
and still remain in the Entered Apprentice Degree; the obligation,
the bringing of light, the poor, the house not made with hands, the
northeast corner, the lambskin - practically all the symbols of our
initiatory ceremony can be amplified and made clearer by an
intelligent reading of the Holy words. But space forbids.
The Fellowcraft Degree is often less appreciated than its inner
meaning deserves. It is no mere stepping stone to the Master’s
Degree, not a ceremony designed only to stretch out the process of
initiation and make the neophyte wait a bit longer before he receives
full Masonic Light. It holds a series of teachings of such
importance that no brother may truthfully declare himself a good
Mason who has not taken at least its essentials into his heart.
We are taught of the “glorious works of creation” as indicating the
“perfections of our divine creator.” What is glory? Here is not
meant fame, applause, the exalted opinion held of a man by his
fellows; but the glory which is the sunset, the glory which is great
music, the glory which is inspiring poetry. The “glorious” works of
creation are those which inspire man with reverence and awe, those
which the Great Light typifies in:
“When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained: What is man, that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalms
8:3-4)”
Freemasons are taught to reverence the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Save to attend divine services, or to lay away a departed brother, no
Lodge may meet or work on the Sabbath, for Freemasonry, not a
religion, is an upholder and supporter of all religions.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made;
and rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in
it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
(Genesis 2: 1-2-3) I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and
keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they
shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I and the
Lord your God. (Ezekiel 20:19-20)”
How many craftsmen built the Temple? Curiously enough; many rituals
do not strictly follow the plain statement in the Old Testament,
which reads:
“And he set three score and ten thousand of them to be bearers of
burdens, and four score thousand to be hewers in the mountain, and
three thousand and six hundred overseers to set the people awork.
(2 Chronicles 2:18)
The wages for these laborers and overseers, as all who ever heard a
Middle Chamber Lecture know, were paid in corn, wine and oil - the
currency with which those of olden times bought and sold.
“And behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber,
twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand
measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty
thousand baths of oil. (2 Chronicles 2:10)”
The word “corn” is not mentioned, but our “corn” is a generic term
for all the grains of the Israelites, and has no reference to maize.
The Wages of a Fellowcraft of these modern days are paid in symbolic
corn, wine and oil; the refreshment of mind and soul which comes from
brotherhood practiced, duty well done, lessons humbly learned; wages,
indeed, far more valuable than their ancient prototypes of fruit of
the land and the vineyard waiting only for the worthy Fellowcraft to
stretch forth his hand to take.
It is hardly necessary here to draw attention to those passages of
Scripture which are the foundation for that part of the Middle
Chamber Lecture which deals with the pillars in the Porch, the
passage of the Jordan and the war between the Ephramites and the
Gileadites; much of our ritual follows the words of the Old Testament
(Judges) almost exactly. The fellowcraft follows his brethren of
olden time who “went up the with winding stairs to the middle
chamber, and out of the middle into the third.” (I Kings 6:8)
In our Middle Chamber we find a Holy of Holies indeed, for here is
displayed that Letter “G” which is the very essence of Freemasonry.
Never the Lodge or Grand Lodge which has not some such symbol; in all
lands and climes and Jurisdictions is some sign of the Most High in
the East.
“G” is not in the Bible as a symbol, but other letters are:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Rev.
1:8).
And God said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you. (exodus 3:14)”
Here the cryptic phrase “I AM THAT I AM” is a symbol, just as our
Letter “G” is a symbol; the inspired prophet who wrote the Old
Testament knew the value of the symbol, even as we know it. So when
for the first time the Fellowcraft hears of the significance of the
Letter “G” in the East, he is kin to those ancient teachers and
spiritual rulers who wrote of God with symbols, even as we so typify
Him.
Omitting many another Scripture reference to the teachings of this
beautiful degree we pass on to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.
Some Lodges of some Jurisdictions exemplify an especially beautiful
lesson from the contention and confusion which existed among the
workmen of the Temple at the time of the tragedy. In these Lodges
the Master instructs the brethren, if any have any cause of
difference with their fellows, to leave the Lodge room, nor return
until that quarrel is reconciled. Authority for this is found in
several places in the Great Light - whether or not it be the practice
in most of our American Grand Jurisdictions matters not; to be at
odds with a brother of the lodge is not to live the true Masonic
spirit.
Ponder these instructions:
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest
that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before
the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and
then come and offer thy gift. (Matthew 5:23-24) Moreover if thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault
between he and thee alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained
thy brother. (Matthew 18:15) And if he trespass against thee seven
times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying,
I repent; thou shalt forgive him (Luke 17:4)”
In the Master’s Degree a brother must pray for himself.
Happy is he who has the prayers of his fellows, standing as one among
a united group, all for one and one for all. But in the life of
every man comes the time when the prayers of others avail not; when
he stands spiritually naked and alone before the Great White Throne,
there to offer up his petition with none to say “In too, speak for
him.” So is the brother about to be raised taught to pray, alone
with his God. It is good here to recall the words which promise that
such prayers are heard:
“In my distress I call upon the Lord, and cried to my God; and he did
hear my voice out of his Temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.
(Samuel 22:7) In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; for
thou wilt answer me. (Psalms 86:7)”
All Master Masons find a peculiar significance in the expression “the
clefts of the rock.” How many know the symbolic, as well as the
historic meaning of the phrase? In our ceremony it is place of
hiding which availed not against those who had the right and
righteousness on their side. In symbolism it is an emblem of the
uselessness of pride and self-sufficiency; no clefts of the rock -
nay, not caves nor valleys nor mountain tops not any hiding place
upon earth - exist where sin may hide either from itself or from the
All Seeing Eye.
“The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in
the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his
heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though then exalt
thyself as the eagle and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. (Obediah 1:3-4)
Fifty pages would not supply space for all the beautiful allusion to
Masonic truth and Light which a careful perusal of the Great Light
discovers. But enough, perhaps, has been quoted to show that
Freemasonry is in the Bible in full measure, pressed down and running
over. We who have so much from the Scriptures to be a part of our
ceremonies, have left far more than we appropriated.
Two final quotations; even as the raising and the Substitute Word
form the very crux and climax of the Sublime degree; so are these the
head of the corner of all the many Scriptural expositions of
symbolism to be found in the Rule and Guide of Our Faith.
“So shall ,y word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. (John 1:1)”
“SO MOTE IT BE!”
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