Fwd: MasonicTravels.com Newsletter

[Paul Mundy]

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From: On The Level - Freemasonry Newsletter and Blog <Ken.D...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 12:13 AM
Subject: MasonicTravels.com Newsletter
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MasonicTravels.com Newsletter

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ECCLESIASTES Xii - INTERPRETATION Posted: 07 Oct 2009 03:18 AM PDT These writings are poetical and figurative expressions alluding to life from youth to senility. They cannot be forced into any single line of interpretation, and the meaning must be decided upon by the reader in the same manner as that of his impression of a Supreme Being. There could be several meanings or translations of most verses but the general interpretation is, according to the Bible, that 'The Fear of God is the Chief Antidote of Vanity.' Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them: 'Serve, fear, and revere the Most High in the days of your youth while you still have the ability and stamina, before the troublesome times approach when you become weary with age and you will say; - "I have no pleasure in life, all desires and enjoyment of my youth have left me."' While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 'While the eyesight is still good, the outlook on life is bright, and you have the ability to overcome difficulties that arise before the clouds of old age set in.' In the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows shall be darkened. 'When man becomes decrepit and feeble, and his spine shall bend with the weight of age, and the legs bow, and the teeth decay and are removed causing biting and mastication to become difficult, his eyesight is failing and he can no longer see or reason with accuracy'. And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and He shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of MUSIC shall be brought low; 'He does not travel as he used to because of his feebleness, he has slowed down in movement and activities; he does not require the sleep that he did in his younger days and although he may not hear them, he awakens at daybreak with the birds, his hearing is failing badly and he does not receive all sound of voice or music, the treble scale goes first.' Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: 'He cannot climb as he used to, hills are a concern and his equilibrium is failing, he is afraid of what he cannot do with the coming of old age; many of his physical pleasures and desires are no longer of interest, the hair turns to white like the blossoming almond tree, and any weight is a burden as is the burden of keeping and looking after himself. He knows he is going to die and his friends and mourners will be left to this mortal domain.' Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. 'The "silver cord" refers symbolically to the spinal marrow. Its loosening is the cessation of all nervous sensibility. The"golden bowl"could be the brain, which is rendered incapable of performing by the approach of death; the heart could be the “fountain” and/or the “cistern”,and the “pitcher” the great vein that carries the blood to the right ventricle of the heart, while the 'wheel' might represent the great artery which receives the blood from the left ventrical.' Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. 'We are taught that the body was created from dust and is returned to dust upon death. The spirit that was the gift of the Creator is returned from whence it came.' Compiled from questions and answers on this topic and -from the 'Manual for Masonic Instructors and Students' as well as personal interpretations of the writer. Submitted by V.W. Bro. George E. Zwicker of Corinthian Lodge No. 101. -- Free E-mail Masonic Newsletter If you enjoy our website and newsletter, then please e-mail your lodge Brethren and let them know about us too. Thank you! Check out the Masonic Store -- Thousands of items!

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PAUL R MUNDY

[Paul Mundy]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: On The Level - Freemasonry Newsletter and Blog <Ken.D...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Oct 24, 2009 at 12:10 AM
Subject: MasonicTravels.com Newsletter
To: pmu...@optonline.net

MasonicTravels.com Newsletter

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Solomon and the Temple - Beyond the Craft Posted: 23 Oct 2009 04:01 AM PDT Masonic tradition informs us of the Temple of Solomon which was opened on Mount Moriah in the year of the world 2992 yet we never learn what became of Solomon or the Temple. In the Second Book of the Chronicles, we discover that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel for forty years and was buried in the city of David. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, followed his father to the throne. The Temple retained its original splendor for only thirty-three years. In the year of the world 3033, Shishak, King of Egypt, having made war upon Rehoboam, took Jerusalem, and carried away the choicest treasures. From that time to the period of its final destruction, the history of the Temple is but a history of damage, repairs, idolatry and subsequent restorations to the purity of worship. One hundred and thirteen years after the conquest by Shishak, Joash, King of Judah, collected silver for the repairs of the Temple, and restored it to its former condition in the year of the world 3148. In the year 3264, Ahaz, King of Judah, robbed the Temple of its riches, and gave them to Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, who had united with him in a war against the Kings of Israel and Damascus. Ahaz also profaned the Temple by the worship of idols. In 3276, Hezekiah, the son and successor of Ahaz, repaired portions of the Temple which his father had destroyed, and restored pure worship. But fifteen years later he was compelled to give the treasures of the Temple as a ransom to the King of Assyria who had invaded Judah. Hezekiah is supposed to have restored the Temple after his enemy had retired. Manasseh, the son and successor of Hezekiah, fell away to Sabianism which is the worship of the sun, moon, and the stars; and desecrated the Temple in 3306 by setting up altars to the host of heaven. Manasseh was then conquered by the King of Babylon, who in 3328 carried him beyond the Euphrates. Subsequently repenting of his sins he was released from captivity, and upon returning to Jerusalem he destroyed the idols and restored the Altar of Burnt Offerings. In 3380, Josiah, who was then King of Judah, devoted his efforts to the repairs of the Temple and replaced the Ark of the Covenant in the Sanctuary. In 3398, in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar, then King of Chaldea, carried some of the sacred vessels to Babylon. Seven years afterward he took away another lot; and finally, in 3416, in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, he took the city of Jerusalem, entirely destroyed the Temple, and carried many of the inhabitants captive to Babylon. For the fifty-two years that succeeded the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar that city saw nothing but the ruins of its ancient Temple. In the year of the world 3468 or 536 B.C. Cyrus gave permission to the Jews to return to Jerusalem, and there to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. As soon as the Decree of the Persian monarch had been formally announced to his Jewish subjects, the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Priests and Levites, assembled at Babylon under the command of Zerubbabel and prepared to return to Jerusalem, for the purpose of rebuilding the Temple. (Zerubbabel, who in the Book of Ezra, iscalled Sheshbazzar, the Prince of Judah, was the son of Shealtiel and the grandson of King Jehoiakim, or Jeconiah, who had been deposed by Nebuchadnezar and carried as a captive to Babylon.) Some few other Tribes also accompanied him to Jerusalem but the greater number remained in Babylon; even of the Priests, who were divided into twenty-four courses, only four courses returned. Cyrus also restored to the Jews the greater part of the sacred vessels of the Temple which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and five thousand and four hundred were received by Zerubbabel, the remainder being brought back by Ezra many years later. Only forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty Israelites, exclusive of servants and slaves, accompanied Zerubbabel, out of whom he selected seven thousand of the most courageous to act as advanced guards at the head of the people. Their progress homeward was not without danger for we are informed that at the Euphrates river they were opposed by the Assyrians. Zerubbabel, however, repulsed the enemy and most of the Assyrians were slain in battle or drowned in their retreat across the river. The rest of the journey was uninterrupted, and after a march of four months, Zerubbabel arrived at Jerusalem. Scarcely had the workmen commenced their labours, when they were interrupted by the Samaritans, who asked to unite with them in the construction of the Temple. The Jews, who looked upon the Samaritans as idolaters, refused to accept their services. The Samaritans as a consequence became their bitter enemies and caused the ministers of Cyrus to put such obstructions in the way of the construction as to seriously impede its progress for several years. With such difficulty and danger were the works conducted during this period, that the workmen were compelled to labour with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other. As in the building of the Temple of Solomon, the Iyrians and Sidonians were engaged to furnish the timber from the forests of Lebanon, and to conduct it in the same manner on floats by sea to Joppa. The general plan of the Temple of Zerubbabel was similar to that of Solomon but it exceeded it in almost every dimension by one-third. The manner of the death of Zerubbabel is not recorded in Scripture. We have, however, reason to believe that he lived to a good old age, since we find no successor of him mentioned until Artaxerxes appointed Ezra as the Governor of Judea, fifty-seven years after the completion of the Temple. The Temple was not effaced again until after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under the emperor Titus in 70 A.D. So began the Jewish exodus from Palestine which would not see them return to Palestine until the end of the 19th century. Other Pictures of King Solomon's Temple King Solomon's Temple King Solomon's Temple  Sources of Information: Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. King James Bible. Merit Students Encyclopedia. Submitted by Bro. Brian Wilker, Tecumseh Lodge No. 144, G.R.C., Stratford, Ont.

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PAUL R MUNDY