STB-82-08
Music By Brother J. L. F. Mendelssohn sym. No. 3 Mov. No. 3
RULE and GUIDE
The memorial address given in honor of their
deceased Brethren by Most Worshipful Brother
Geoffrey M. Davies, PGM, at the 107th Annual
Communication of the Grand Lodge of Manitoba in
1982, was based upon "The Master's Blueprint," by
the late Brother and Rabbi Sheldon Gordon of lonic
Lodge No. 186, Duluth, Minnesota. It is with
pleasure we share it with you as a Short Talk
Bulletin .
In an ancient collection of Jewish literature
appeared a statement by a teacher who lived
some 2000 years ago, who was not very well
known, and about whose real identity there appears to be some doubt. With reference to the
parchment scrolls of the Holy Bible, he said:
"Turn it and turn it again for everything is in it.
And contemplate it and grow gray and old over
it and stir not from it for you can have no better
rule than it. " What this almost anonymous
teacher said some 2000 years ago is of deep
meaning in Masonry, for he described one of
the Great Lights of Freemasonry-the Holy Bi-
ble which is our rule and guide of faith.
Our ritual makes great use of Holy Scripture and, of course, the Bible itself plays a vital
and dynamic role in the work and thought of
Masonry. If we, as Masons follow the admoni-
tion and guidance of this teacher to turn to the
Bible and turn to it again, we will find many
concepts which give us a deeper insight into the
great teachings of Masonry and correspondingly, we will find that the wisdom of Masonry
adds another dimension of meaning to many
passages of the Sacred Text. A great teacher of
Judaism once described the Bible as being
God's blueprint in the creation of the world.
let us, then, as builders consult the Master's
blueprint.
There is a very natural tendency for the in-
ividual Freemason, once he has achieved the
sublime degree of a Master Mason, to pay little
attention to the insights and teachings of the
two initial degrees through which he reached
at great height. As Shakespeare says in Julius
Caesar, "But 'tis a common proof that
lowliness is young ambition's ladder where to
the climber upward turns his face. But when he
once attains the upwards rounds, he then unto
the ladder turns his back, looks in the clouds,
scorning the base degrees by which he did as-
cend." But our degrees are closely intercon-
nected and mutually supporting one building
on, and incomplete without the other.
Much is said in the Bible of the construction
of Solomon's Temple, the magnificent edifice
. . .rivalling and perhaps surpassing the architectural wonders of all history. The Bible
also records a humble construction which had,
in the realm of the spirit, a significance at least
as great as that of Solomon's Temple. . .When
Moses returns to the people, having stood at
Sinai's heights, he is told by God to construct
an altar for Him, of simple and pure unhewn
stone. The foundations of that altar are to be
made of rock upon which no iron has come. In
the lodge, the E.A. is the unhewn stone, the
rock upon whose surface no iron has yet come,
and we would do well to remember the great
meaning of this for Masonry and to impart to
our Brothers of the First Degree the high and
noble level which they have attained, and what
it is we expect of them. It is the Bible which
gives us this insight. The unhewn stone of the
altar built by Moses represents the foundation
of the lodge.
In the Entered Apprentice Degree, we are
urged to the great task of moral improvement
and betterment, to learn to subdue our passions
that we may emerge the better man, indeed the
better servant of God. David on his death bed,
giving his son Solomon a father's final word of
guidance, turned to the building of the great
temple, the House of the Lord. It is written,
"And David said to Solomon: My son, as for
me, it was in my heart to build a house unto the
name of the Lord My God, but the word of the
Lord came to me saying, 'Thou has shed blood
abundantly and hast made great wars. Thou
shalt not build a house unto my name because
thou has shed much blood upon the earth in my
sight.'" (I Chro. 22:7) Notwithstanding
David's great attributes as a singer of psalms,
the shepherd who could see so clearly the shepherding love of God for man, he was also a man
of violence, of bloodshed, quick to indulge his
appetites and his passions. Thus God forbid
such a one who was unable to subdue and refine
himself, to build His temple. In this great
building work, this Temple of Solomon, at its
very inception, we find further illumination of
the great Masonic teaching which urges us to
refine ourselves and to learn to subdue our passions- ". . .that we may be enabled the better to
show forth His glory and contribute to the happiness of mankind."
The Fellowcraft Degree is likewise heightened in significance and deepened in meaning by
the Volume of the Sacred Law. The Operative
Fellowcraft was instructed in the science of the
builder and was entrusted with the working
tools which required care and diligence, selectivity and refinement in their use. We, as
Speculative Masons, expect of the Fellowcraft a
degree of proficiency in the builder's art,
whether that be the physical building of the
operative mason or the spiritual and moral
uplifting of the Speculative Mason. Again, turning to the V.S.L., the Book of Exodus tells us
of the construction of a sanctuary in the
wilderness during the period when the Children
of Israel wandered about in the Sinai Peninsula
preparing themselves for their ultimate entry into the Promised Land. And we read, "and the
Lord spoke unto Moses saying, 'See I have called by name Bezalel. . .of the tribe of Judah,
and I have filled him with the spirit of God in
wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge
and in all manner of workmanship, to devise
skillful works; to work in gold and in silver and
in brass and in cutting of stones for setting and
in the carving of wood to work in all manner of
workmanship. ' " (Ex. 31:1-6)
Bezalel was appointed as Moses' deputy in
the construction of the sanctuary. The skills
which were his indicate that he may serve us as
a model and a prototype of the F.C. degree. He
is not to make the sanctuary on his own, he has
yet to achieve the Master's status, for he works
under Moses, but he has reached a significant
level of his development as a human being and
as a skilled artisan and is therefore prepared to
build a sanctuary, a place, a dwelling for God
and for man. Now it is important for us to pay
careful attention to the words of scripture
which describe Bezalel, for the key notion here
us not merely that he has achieved wisdom and
knowledge, but the manner in which he has
achieved this understanding. "And I have filled
him with the spirit of God in wisdom and in
understanding and in knowledge." We must
never forget that our skills and our knowledge,
our understanding and our insight, while refin-
ed by dedicated teachers within the great fraternity of life--and for us within the sacred halls
of the Blue Lodge--stem ultimately from the
gracious endowment of God. Knowledge is itself a sacred trust and responsibility. The
wisdom, the skill to build, challenges us to
build something worthy of the divine imprint,
that we may earn wages celestial as well as earthly.
And so we come to the sublime degree of
Master Mason. In the Book of Genesis, we are
afforded an interesting insight into the theme
found in the climax of our Hiramic drama
when one is raised to that sublime degree and
when we concern ourselves with the great Lost
Word. Much as been written on this subject
within and beyond the confines of our Fraternity. Its symbolism is a deep and meaningful one.
Many have been the scholars who have attempted to determine its origin. In the Book of
Genesis, we are told that Jacob spent a lone
night by the Ford of the River Jabbok. Jacob
wrestled with an angel and said, "Let me go for
the day breaketh." And he said, "I will not let
thee go except thou bless me." And he said un-
to him, "What is thy name?" And he said,
"Jacob." And he said, "Thy name shall be
called no more Jacob but Israel, for thou has
striven with God and with men and hast
prevailed." And Jacob asked him and said,
"Tell me, I pray thee, thy name." And he said,
"Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my
name? And he blessed him there. " (Gen.
32:26-30) The name, two names, play a great
role in this drama. The name which Jacob can
never learn, the name of the Angel, the name of
God; and the name which is conferred on him
as he is reborn.
The Hebrew word for Israel is made up of
two parts, the first coming from a verb which
means to wrestle, to struggle; and the second,
coming from one of the names of God; as it is
explained that Jacob has striven with God and
with man and has prevailed. Now there is a
concept here which is of great meaning to us as
Master Masons. The word which we seek and
its great secret will never come to us through
idle speculation. We must confront life, strive
with it, and force it to yield us its blessing even
as did the great Patriarch Jacob. Our strength
will lie in deeds of morality and righteousness,
our tools, the skills of our Craft. Thus, the
means of achieving and recovering the Lost
Word--the meaning of the Lost Word--is to
strive with life with vigor, with firmness, and
with purity of intent.
We speak, in Masonry, of the quest for
light, by which we mean understanding. We
know that the creation of light was the first
great act of God as recorded in the Bible. And
the continuing source of light is God. As the
Psalmist reminds us: "Thou coverest thyself
with light as with a garment, who stretcheth out
the heavens like a curtain." (Psalm 104) It is the
light from that celestial source which gives
significance to our work as Masons. It guides
and directs us in our labors as builders and
designers of a better world. But as we strive for
this better world, let us remember what was
taught in the lovely Song of Solomon, preserved in the Book of Psalms, "Except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain." (Psalm 127)
Building with God, the true Master of our
Craft, building under His guidance and with
His light, is the purpose of Masonry. And if we
so build, if we rear up and erect such as sanctuary for His spirit and for our brothers as was
said of the great work of Moses, "For the cloud
of the Lord was upon the tabernacle." (Ex.
40:38)
The spirit of God inhabited that abode. If
our Masonic work is truly dedicated, that spirit
will inhabit the structure which we erect. This is
our goal--that we may build a sanctuary by our
deeds in which God may dwell. Then we may be
sure that in the end of our days, we shall find
our abode in that house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.
MASONRY
IN THE HOLY BIBLE
where to Find it
Entered Apprentice
Psalm 133
Psalm 16- 1
Ist Kings 7 - 21
Ist Kings 6 - 7
Ist Chron. 22
2nd Chron. 3
Isaiah 9 - 2
Ruth 4 - 7 - 8
Ruth 2 - I
Ruth 4 - 18 - 22
Fellow Craft
Exodus 17 - 9 - 11
Ruth4-7-21 -22
Ist Kings 7 - 21
2nd Kings 23 - 17
Judges 12- 17
Samuel 12- 17
2nd Chron. 2 - 15
Amos 7 - 7
Exodus 17 - 11
I st Kings 6 - 8
Ezek. 40 - 22
Ezek. 44 - 5
Master Mason
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
Gen. 4 - 22
I st Kings 6 - 8
Ist Kings 7 - 13 - 14
I st Kings 3 - 30
Psalm 10 ~ 12
Job 14- 1-2-5-7
Ezek. 8- 16
Ezek. 11 - I
Ezek. 40 - 20
Ezek.44- 1 -5
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