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Something to Think About

WHERE”S WHERE IN
ROYAL ARCH MASONRY?

Temple Mount, Jerusalem

The fourth place we encounter in the Royal Arch Degrees is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, in the Most Excellent Master’s Degree. In this degree, the Temple is completed.

According to the Bible, King David purchased a threshing floor owned by Aravnah the Jebusite (2 Samuel, 24:18-25) overlooking Jerusalem upon the cessation of a plague, to erect an altar. He wanted to construct a permanent temple there, but as his hands were "bloodied," he was forbidden to do so himself, so this task was left to his son Solomon, who completed the task c. 950 BC. After standing for 410 years, the First Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians in 586 BC.

The Most Excellent Master’s Degree is set at the time after the completion of the Temple when it was dedicated by King Solomon. Solomon's speech to the people and his marvelous prayers were followed by an enormous offering of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. A great public feast followed.

So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days. On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people. (l Kings 8:65, 66)

The account in 2 Chronicles tells us that fire from heaven ignited the offerings on the altars as Solomon finished praying.

The feature that set apart the Solomonic Temple from other Temples in the ancient world is that there was no idol in it. It contained only the Mercy Seat over the Ark and the Cherubim overshadowing the Mercy Seat. This declared to the world that idols are unnecessary for God to be present.

Today, the Dome of the Rock is where Solomon’s Temple once stood. The Dome of the Rock was erected by the Muslim ruler Abd el-Malik in 688-691. Because of its situation on bedrock, the numerous earthquakes over the centuries have not caused significant damage to the structure (unlike its neighbor Al Aqsa mosque). This shrine was covered by a lead dome from 691 until it was replaced with a gold-colored covering in the early 1960s. Because of rust, the anodized aluminum cover was again replaced in 1993 with a gold covering.

Muslims consider Jerusalem the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. The mosque and shrine are currently administered by a Waqf (an Islamic trust) that has been granted almost total autonomy by the State of Israel starting in 1967.

The Temple Mount was open to the general public until September 2000, when Palestinians began throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area. Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians. The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003.

Steven G. Tiner M\ E \ Past Grand High Priest of Arkansas